The 39th General Assembly (3)

  The so-called grand court meeting is naturally a major administrative activity that all officials of the first-class in Chang'an must attend. According to the Tang law, officials below the fifth rank cannot enter the palace to meet the emperor without an imperial edict. Therefore, those who participate in the grand court meeting are all officials above the fifth rank who have influence on the affairs of the Tang Dynasty, and can be said to be similar to the White House state banquet-like important activities.

  Suning's previous position was the sixth-grade Langzhong Road Military Governor, but now that the war is over, the temporary Langzhong Road Military Governor has naturally been abolished. Doesn't Li Jing's General Manager also be abolished? So Suning currently only has a third-class county marquis title and no official position. In theory, he should not see the emperor, but as an important contributor to this great victory, Suning must go to the temple to accept the reward, and after the reward, Suning will also have the right to meet the emperor.

  The main gate of the imperial city, Zhuque Gate, slowly opened, and with the opening of the main gate, the bronze bell of the Temple of Heaven rang out, a total of 99 times! The heavy and thick sound pierced through the stillness of dawn, proclaiming to the entire Chang'an City the pride of the Tang Dynasty, the pride of the Emperor. Civil and military officials stood in two rows, clearly distinguished, Sun Ning and Changsun Chong stood side by side behind Li Jing, they were Li Jing's direct subordinates in this battle, so for convenience of receiving rewards, they stood behind Li Jing.

  To be honest, although I had been to the Forbidden City in Beijing before, but at this time looking at the imperial palace of Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty, Su Ning really felt that the declining third empire of China was not comparable to the second empire of China which was like a rising sun. Some people say that the personality of the founding emperor often affects the personality of a dynasty, so Li Yuan and Li Er who came from a noble family created the magnificent, open and inclusive Tang Dynasty, while Zhu Yuanzhang's twisted personality made the Ming Dynasty give people a feeling of being eerie and strange, although it was very strong.

  Su Ning has been to Xi'an City, but the Xi'an City of the 21st century can't be compared with Chang'an City, the capital of the Tang Empire in the early 7th century. The city of Chang'an, which had been ravaged and enslaved by foreign tribes, no longer retains its former glory. Even the name "Chang'an", symbolizing the grandeur and prosperity of the nation, was changed to "Xi'an", a name that carries a hint of narrow-mindedness and petty domesticity. The difference is like heaven and earth, with one being noble and the other being humble...

  At this thought, Su Ning felt extremely regretful. At this moment, Su Ning decided that in his lifetime, he must personally lead the army to conquer the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and wipe out the Tubo kingdom with his own hands!

  The bronze bell of the Temple of Heaven's 99th and 81st chime has ended, and the officials who should leave have almost finished their journey. Suning followed the main team to the largest palace in the Great Tang Empire at present - Taiji Hall, which is also the venue for the Grand Court meeting.

  Out of admiration for ancient royal architecture, Su Ning looked up carefully and exclaimed: Ah! What a grand scale! With carvings of dragons and phoenixes, it's unknown what kind of divine beast is majestically sitting on the flying eaves with its teeth bared and mouth open, looking like it's half-paralyzed. Look at those strange shapes, they're almost like the legendary True Dragon's nine sons who don't resemble each other; The thirty-six sections of stairs, when standing at the bottom you can't see the top, and when standing at the top you can't see the bottom. With such a high terrain, there are also several tall poles stuck in the ground, haha, if it doesn't get struck by lightning, it would be really strange...

  No wonder the ancient royal palaces always ended up being struck by lightning in the summer, then burned down by a big fire, and it was said to be heavenly punishment, forcing the emperors to issue an edict of self-blame with trepidation, and then again wasting manpower to rebuild even more solid palaces.

  In front of the palace gate, a dignified and neatly dressed eunuch stood upright, shouting in a loud voice: "The grand court is now in session! All ministers, pay your respects!"

  Hey! How come this eunuch's voice is so thick and rich? It doesn't have the slightest hint of those effeminate, nasal tones you often see in TV dramas. Listening to it gives me goosebumps all over; This eunuch in front of me clearly hasn't been a man for many years, not even a single whisker can be seen, but that voice is still so thick and rich, with a hint of heroic spirit in it, what talent!

  After his loud voice, the large team of courtiers began to move forward. The Taiji Hall is huge, but it can't accommodate more than 2,000 people at all. Usually, there are only a hundred or so people in the early morning court, and this time they were packed in like sardines in a can. In order to ensure the spaciousness of the palace and the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, the vast majority of officials could only stand outside the Taiji Hall, shivering in the cold spring wind for several hours or even longer...

  In terms of official position and noble rank, Su Ning should have been among those unfortunate officials who were made to stand in the cold wind, but now it was clearly unnecessary. As the main characters of this grand court meeting, Su Ning, Su Dingfang, and Longsun Chong took their seats at the head of the row of military generals, second only to the many expeditionary generals.

  Let's get back to the topic. Actually, there is no need to kneel down at this time. The situations where one would typically kneel down are roughly as follows:

  First, at the sacrificial ceremony to ancestors and gods, even the emperor had to kneel down on both knees, let alone others; or when meeting formally at a grand court assembly, one had to kneel down; also, for those who committed great crimes, being deprived of the right to stand before the emperor, they had to kneel down. Additionally, when facing parents and having angered them, one also had to kneel down; furthermore, people of lowly birth or slaves, when facing noble aristocrats, had to kneel down as well.

  Other situations only require a bow or single-knee kneeling, such as in the military where single-knee kneeling is required for military salute, not as a consistent etiquette. Before the Northern Song Dynasty, officials could sit on cushions with the emperor during court sessions without needing to kneel; double-knee kneeling was reserved for grand ceremonies. After the Northern Song Dynasty, officials had to stand and did not need to kneel until the Ming Dynasty when Zhu Yuanzhang strengthened imperial power, leading to increasingly severe enslavement of the people. Of course, at that time, frequent kneeling was also not required.

  The one that requires kneeling down and calling out "long live" at the drop of a hat, is the Qing dynasty, there's no other branch; The so-called "master" and "slave" titles, all started with the Qing dynasty, before that, dignity was taken very seriously, couldn't be insulted casually, that's why there's the saying "a man has gold under his knees".

  So, Suning comfortably sat on the soft cushion, although he was not used to the kneeling etiquette at this time, but there were no chairs, and he could only make do. After all, the emperor was also in the same posture, and everyone was the same.

  Of course, when the emperor arrives, all officials need to stand up and come to the center of the palace to kneel down and shout "Long live the Emperor" three times; so when Li Er wore a dragon robe and wore a Tongtian crown, he came out with a strong wind, and all the ministers, including Li Jing, bowed their heads and came to the center of the hall to kneel down, facing the emperor and shouting "Long live the Emperor" three times. At this time, Su Ning naturally had no choice but to follow suit, following everyone together, shouting: "Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor."

  After three shouts of "Long live the Emperor", Suning, who was standing in the front row, could see Li Erbai on the high platform, so he secretly took a look at Li Erbai. Li Erbai looked very handsome, really handsome, not just ordinary handsome, and his noble birth and long residence in a high position showed a strong sense of majesty and dignity, which added to his appearance. He was indeed a once-in-a-thousand-years emperor!

  Su Ning maliciously wondered if this narcissist often admired his handsome face in the copper mirror, but that copper mirror could only reflect a shadow.

  At this time, Li Er was closing his eyes, seemingly in a very enjoyable state, with his body slightly leaning forward, showing an aura of boundless nobility. Then he opened his eyes and shouted loudly: "All officials, stand at ease!" The voice was full of magnetism, carrying a faint sense of pressure that filled the imperial court. Even Su Ning felt it, and at this moment, Su Ning suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Was this what it meant to have an awe-inspiring presence? Was this the aura of an emperor?

  The brilliant Emperor Li II made Suning not dare to raise his head, hastily following Li Jing and others to stand up and shout "Thank you, Your Majesty" before returning to his seat. Emperor Li II spread out his hands, kneeling majestically on a soft cushion under the service of two eunuchs by his side. His majestic gaze swept across the entire court, and when he saw a very unfamiliar young man sitting below Li Jing and Li Shiming, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Emperor Li II's mouth. He had seen Changsun Chong and Su Dingfang before, those two were still below him, so this person's identity was already obvious - Suning, who had set fire to Yingshan!

  A few days ago, a memorial from Li Shimin was delivered by fast horse. After reading it, Emperor Taizong of Tang was greatly shocked and thought that such an ingenious idea would bring a hundred benefits to the Great Tang without any harm. At the same time, Emperor Taizong also knew that this idea was proposed by Su Ning.

  "The grand court is in session! The ministers are presenting their reports!" That eunuch who had not spoken like a man for a long time opened his mouth again, and the sound of his voice echoed through the Taiji Hall. The function of the grand court was roughly the same as that of the government work report meeting later on, generally held once a year, usually in the first month, but could be postponed under special circumstances, such as this time's victory at Yingshan, which destroyed a powerful country, and to wait for the results, Emperor Li II postponed the grand court.

  Since it was a work report meeting, the officials from the three provinces and six departments came to give their reports. As a result, Su Ning had the good fortune to see many famous ministers of the Zhenguan era, listen to their teachings, such as Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Wei Zheng, Wen Yanbo and other prominent figures from the Lingyan Pavilion or the Zhenguan era. Listening to their reports, Su Ning really felt like he had returned to his university classroom. As he listened on, he fell asleep...

  This sound is so weird, it makes you want to fall asleep but also doesn't dare to sleep. In a half-dreaming and half-waking state, there's always a kind of dizzy feeling that's both comfortable and uncomfortable. At this time, if I could give Su Ning a bed, she would definitely be able to sleep until the end of the world. Originally thought it was a bit fun, but who knew it was as boring as being in class with the teacher, sigh!

  Of course, everyone understands that the purpose of this grand gathering is not to listen to these guys boasting and flattering each other, but rather to celebrate our great victory in this war. Haven't you seen that Li's face has already turned somewhat unpleasant? However, Comrade Wei Renjing just wouldn't end his lengthy speech, he had to go against Li, and Li could only helplessly let him continue. In Comrade Wei Renjing's view, when doing things, one must be serious and thorough, cannot give up halfway!

  The warm spring sun carried golden light into the Taiji Temple, very warm, extremely warm, letting those officials who had been standing in the cold wind for a long time breathe a sigh of relief and move their frozen bodies; since the light was already sufficient, the candles were no longer needed, and the palace attendants carefully removed all the candles, fearing to disturb these important national officials.

  Finally, Comrade Wei Renjing ended his lengthy work report of tens of thousands of words. Although it was quite speechless, from this point alone, it can be seen that Comrade Wei Renjing is indeed very dedicated to his work. However, it's clear that Emperor Li doesn't like it. This time was originally meant for celebrating the achievements of meritorious officials, and calling you here to make a report was just going through the motions, doing some window dressing, warming up. Who let you take this work report seriously? Didn't we already discuss it in the Two Instruments Hall?!

  Li Er's belly was full of grievances but had nowhere to vent, his eyes glanced at Su Ning who was in a fierce tug-of-war with Zhou Gong, his eyelids secretly signaling to Su Ning to do that shameful thing, his body swaying back and forth, carrying the head on his neck left and right, as if Comrade Wei Ren's work report was so fascinating, if you didn't look closely, you'd really think this was a refined scholar.

  Emperor Li was taken aback, feeling a mix of surprise and annoyance. A young man like him, daring to sleep in front of the entire court and me! This is no ordinary person, I must bring him closer to take a good look at whether he has any potential worth cultivating.

  With a keen interest in Su Ning, Li Er spoke solemnly: "All ministers and officials devoted themselves to state affairs, worked hard for the country, assisted me in governing the world, and achieved remarkable achievements. My great Tang Dynasty is thriving, and I am deeply gratified. I hope that all of you will continue to work hard and create a prosperous scene for my great Tang Dynasty!"

  Li Er's words set the tone for this grand court meeting of government work report, and finally ended this dull and uninteresting old man's storytelling session. The spirits of all the officials present were suddenly lifted, and they shouted in unison: "We obey your orders!"

  Su Ning was shocked awake, Zhou Gong looked at himself with infinite sadness and anger, his upper and lower eyelids were infinitely resentful of being beaten by Su Ning's stick...

  What's going on? Is the grand assembly over? Can I go home and sleep in now?