I want to be emperor

Chapter 941 Wang Tu attends the state banquet
It was around six o'clock in the morning on New Year's Eve in Chengshun's 40th year.

In a suburban manor in Jinling City, Wang Tu, who was wearing a big red robe and court dress and already had a big belly, was sitting on a soft spring sofa. He took out his pocket watch and looked at it, frowned slightly, and then said to the maid next to him: "Go and urge Madam. It’s getting late!”

The maid next to her nodded immediately and left quickly.

Wang Tu put the pocket watch back into the pocket of his court uniform, and then picked up the teacup...but after a slight hesitation, he put the teacup down.

Today is a big day for the dynasty, and it is also a big day for his king. He cannot lose his etiquette in front of the king because he drinks too much tea and feels anxious.

New Year's Eve is an extremely important festival in the political arena of the Chu Empire, because on this day, the emperor will hold a Spring Festival state banquet to welcome the New Year with his ministers.

After years of evolution, the Spring Festival state banquet has become a ceremonial event with a strong political flavor. Together with the plowing ceremony of the first month and the harvest ceremony of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is one of the three most important large-scale political occasions in the Chu Empire.

Countless imperial subjects are all proud to participate in the above three major activities.

Among them, the Spring Festival state banquet is even more important politically, and even serves as an occasion to evaluate the achievements of ministers in the past few years to a certain extent.

Because aside from the real important ministers of the court, high-ranking nobles, and outside the clan, only subjects who have made major achievements and had significant influence in the past few years are eligible to receive royal invitations and participate.

The reason why we say they are subjects is because the invited subjects, in addition to civil servants with outstanding political achievements and military generals with outstanding military exploits, will also include scientific researchers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and even ordinary workers and farmers who have outstanding achievements and significant and positive influence.

Regardless of industry or status, as long as your performance is outstanding enough, you will have the opportunity to receive an invitation from the royal family to the Spring Festival state banquet.

Similarly, this is actually the same for officials... There are so many officials in the empire, and there are a lot of second-grade officials, but those who can really participate in the state banquet according to their positions and grades are actually only the ministers of the various ministries or the actual agents of a ministry. Zuo Shilang and other high-ranking officials of comparable status, and military generals include generals and lieutenant generals who actually act as agents.

Other ordinary second-grade civil servants and even ordinary lieutenant generals are not qualified to receive invitations directly.

There is only one way to get an invitation, and that is to make significant and outstanding achievements in the past few years. Only in this way can you have a chance to get an invitation letter.

As the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, Wang Tu was able to get an invitation letter not because he did an outstanding job in his position as the right minister of the Ministry of Industry. In fact, he was transferred to another position just last month.

What really made him get this invitation letter was his previous position as Chief Envoy to Guangdong for many years before his transfer and his earlier position as Guangdong Senator.

During his tenure as a senator, he was in charge of industrial development affairs. After Chengshun was promoted to Guangdong Chief Envoy in 37, he oversaw local economic and people's livelihood affairs.

By vigorously promoting industrial construction, agricultural support, building transportation and many other measures, he has made Guangdong's economy very good. Its economic aggregate has ranked second in the country, second only to Jiangnan Province.

Because of his outstanding achievements in long-term development of industry and commerce, he was transferred back to the economy last month and promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Industry. If nothing else, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry is just a transitional position for him, and he will most likely be transferred to another locality to serve as a governor.

After serving as a governor, one can expect to be promoted to a ministerial post, or to be promoted to the left assistant minister in a powerful department, thus gaining access to the royal study.

But even the current Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Industry is still a senior official of the empire.

Because the second rank is the rank of right minister, left minister, and governor of each province.

A few of the second-rank Zuo Shilang are already qualified to enter the Imperial Study Room and become co-organizing ministers, truly entering the decision-making level of the Great Chu Empire.

Of course, there are very few such examples. Those who usually have this kind of situation are those who still hold the title of Zuo Shilang of the second rank, but are actually directly responsible for the actual affairs of a powerful department.

This situation mainly occurs when the minister of a certain department enters the imperial study and becomes the counselor. After becoming the counselor, he often needs to be in charge of a lot of affairs. Even if the minister is a super workaholic, it is impossible for him to be in charge of many affairs. , and can also be personally responsible for the specific affairs of the department where the official's position is located.

This also led to the emergence of such a situation in the high-level political circles of the Great Chu Empire, that is, in some institutions, there would be a second-rank Zuo Shilang who was actually in charge of a certain powerful institution, and then there would not only be a Right Shilang under him, but It's the two right-hand ministers...

A typical example is the institution of the Inspectorate, because almost all the previous 'Censors of the Capital' in this organization have been ministers... This has also led to the fact that the 'Censor of the Capital' in this organization has become a virtual duty in a sense.

Therefore, for a long time, the person actually responsible for the specific affairs of this department has been the censor of the left capital, and then there will be two censors of the right capital.

The reason why this situation occurs is because the Council of Ministers in the Great Chu Empire, whether they are counselors or co-organizers, do not have actual duties, let alone grades and salaries. Even the office location is Luo. Zhixue's private study room, which is also the imperial study room.

The so-called Counselor is just a verbal title. To be precise, it is a civilian title. There is no such title in official documents. Some are just "Admission to the Royal Study Room and Counselor for military and political affairs", while Co-organizers are "Admission to the Office." The imperial study room co-organizes important military and political affairs'.

What stands out is that it comes and goes when called upon, which reflects the authority of the imperial power.

But what the actual ministers do is no different from what cabinet ministers do in the traditional sense.

It can even be said that the difference between the counselors of the Great Chu Empire and the cabinet ministers of the former Ming Dynasty is not in their powers, but in their appointment and dismissal. The cabinet ministers of the former Ming Dynasty were recommended by the ministers, and the emperor could only choose to accept or not accept it... ...In practice, it is basically impossible to refuse, because the result of the court recommendation means the opinion of the bureaucratic group (at least the majority, otherwise it will not pass the court recommendation), and the emperor will not refuse unless he completely falls out with the officials.

As for the counselors of the Great Chu Empire, they were directly selected and appointed by the emperor. They were appointed and dismissed at will, without even formal procedures, just a decree...

This is a manifestation of the high concentration of imperial power!
However, the special nature of the counselors and co-ministers having no rank or position also means that these counselors and co-ministers still need their own official positions. You have to have an office and somewhere to get paid. !
Similar situations also occur in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other powerful institutions.

Then this also led to the situation where some ranks seemed to be only from the second-grade Zuo Shilang or the Right Capital Censor to become the co-organizing minister.

Because their actual political status is actually equivalent to that of the second-rank ministers, and they are also the second-rank ministers of powerful institutions.

Therefore, in terms of grade, Wang Tu's current grade has reached the threshold of the empire's decision-making circle, but he still needs follow-up efforts to truly enter the decision-making circle.

Not every second-grade official can cross the threshold of the Imperial Study Room.

However, this was still too early for Wang Tu. After all, more than a month ago, he was only a third-grade chief envoy.

But the future is bright, but not all chief envoys can get invitations to the Spring Festival state banquet. Only those with outstanding achievements can get invitations.

And Wang Tu is one of them.

Wang Tu attached great importance to this Spring Festival state banquet. This was the first step for him to truly integrate into the core power level of the empire. For this reason, he got up early in the morning.

Wear court clothes, have a simple breakfast and get ready to go.

However, unlike ordinary court meetings, he was not the only one attending the Spring Festival state banquet. According to the rules, he was also required to bring his female family members with him.

During the Spring Festival state banquet, Luo Zhixue entertained the courtiers in the previous dynasty, while the queen entertained the courtiers' female relatives in the harem, one after the other to show the emperor's favor.After waiting for several minutes, Wang Tu saw his wife Wang Chen come out. At this time, Wang Chen also put on her third-grade Madam Haoming's court dress.

After seeing his wife coming out, Wang Tu stood up and said, "Let's go, it's a bit late. The road into the palace will be congested today, so we have to leave early!"

When Wang Tu settled in Jinling City, he did not choose to live in the inner city that was closer to the palace... The main reason was that Jinling City was close to the palace. Large houses with better environment were more expensive, while smaller houses with poorer environment were cheaper. Some, but it doesn't fit his identity... so he can only settle down in the outer city.

It would be fine if he took up his post in Beijing alone. He could just find a smaller house in the inner city.

But Wang Tu took office with a large family. It was not easy for this family to settle down. The house had to be large and decent, the surrounding environment should not be too bad, and it should not be too far from the Yamen... And it was not easy to live in the capital itself. These nice houses are very expensive.

Wang Tu has been an official for many years, but he has not made much money. He only occasionally brings in some risk-free extra income to support his family.

After all, he is also a senior official of the empire. The life of this family should be more decent. Although his current salary of two to three thousand yuan a year is barely enough, it is still a bit nervous.

Of course, when he is an official at this stage, even if he makes a lot of money, he would not dare to blatantly buy a mansion in the inner city to live in.

This official's legal income is basically a certain amount. If you spend a large amount of money that obviously exceeds your legal income, you will definitely attract the attention of the censor.

Over the years, Wang Tu has been focused on going to the imperial study, and according to the pace of his promotion, Wang Tu is indeed expected to go further, and he will not hinder his progress due to small things such as corruption and bribery.

Living in the outer city, it was okay to go to the yamen to work on weekdays. After all, although the yamen of the Ministry of Industry was also in the inner city, it was not far from the outer city.

However, entering the palace on a day like today seems relatively far away.

And because there were so many people entering the palace today, they had to queue for a long time to enter the palace... This palace gate is not that easy to enter, because there are so many people attending, and they have to undergo security inspections, and the speed is not fast.

Therefore, it is necessary to leave early, otherwise it will be bad if it is too late and you will be late.

Wang Tu and his wife each rode in a two-horse carriage, accompanied by secretaries, maids and security personnel in front and behind.

After going out, Wang Tu also saw several neighbors going out one after another. Many of the community where he lived were senior officials, and they were also eligible to attend the Spring Festival state banquet.

The carriage swayed forward all the way. It was fine when we were in the outer city, the road was clear, and we were able to enter the inner city when it was daylight.

After entering the inner city, Wang Tu found that many patrol police were on duty early in the morning on the surrounding main roads, and blockades were even set up at some important intersections.

This is naturally to avoid the safety of a large number of senior officials, nobles, clans and other people attending the Spring Festival state banquet along the way.

Otherwise, it would not be good to have an accident on such an important occasion.

Therefore, on such important occasions, the patrol police in Jinling City are also very busy. They need to maintain road traffic order and strengthen security arrangements.

The closer we get to the palace, the slower the carriage moves. Especially once we get within a thousand meters of the palace, the main road leading to the palace is already crowded with all kinds of luxury carriages.

Wang Tu didn't even have to stick his head out to see... The luxurious carriages in front and behind him were all dignitaries and their wives, or they were industry representatives specially invited by the royal family.

Under such circumstances, Wang Tu could only sit patiently on the carriage and slowly move forward with the carriage.

After walking for almost an hour on this short kilometer journey, Wang Tu and his wife's carriage arrived in front of the palace gate.

There are a large number of Guards soldiers on duty in front of the palace gate, and there are also security personnel from the Imperial Household Agency's Guards Office in black uniforms who are carefully checking everyone entering the palace one by one.

It is precisely because of this detailed safety inspection that there is a huge traffic jam outside...

Soon, Wang Tu and his carriage passed the security inspection and then passed the palace gate. However, after passing the palace gate, although in theory this place belonged to the palace area, in fact it was not.

This part of the area is actually a large open grassland with some buildings scattered around. These buildings are mainly office buildings of the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial Palace, the Military Academy, the Imperial Study Room and other institutions.

There are also barracks for the Guards, where thousands of Guards soldiers are stationed all year round to provide protection for the palace.

Wang Tu and others also got off the carriage here. The carriage will park here, and the coachman, secretary, maid and other entourage will also stop and wait here.

Wang Tu and his wife walked forward, and met some familiar colleagues on the way to say hello and hello.

As the crowd continued to move forward, they arrived at a palace wall. Behind this palace wall was actually the palace in the traditional sense.

Here, they had to undergo security inspections, and men and women began to be separated. The men, that is, the officials and nobles, went from here to the front hall to attend the state banquet hosted by the emperor.

The women, that is, the female dependents of officials and nobles, went to the harem from the other side to participate in the state banquet held in the palace.

Wang Tu watched his wife go to the harem with other Haoming wives, while he himself went to the front hall with other officials.

After passing the security check and entering the front hall area of ​​the palace, Wang Tu could not help but feel excited when he saw the huge Chengtian Hall in front of him, which was built according to the traditional style and layout.

This is not the first time he has come to Chengtian Palace. In the early years when he was still serving in the Hanlin Academy, he came here many times... Later he was sent to other places to serve. When he returned to Beijing to report on his work, he caught up with the imperial meeting and also came here. Attend the Great Court Meeting.

But those big court meetings are of little practical significance. There are too many people participating... Officials in Beijing, retired officials, nobles, clans, etc. above a certain level can participate!

However, this kind of Spring Festival state banquet is different. Except for industry representatives who have made special contributions (including a very small number of middle and low-level officials), the other serious civil servants who can attend are at least second-rank officials, and most of them are current officials.

Although there are some high-ranking officials, there are only a handful of former counselors who stay in the capital and live in the capital. No high-ranking officials below this level can come...

The number of participants is smaller and the level is higher, so the gold content will naturally increase.

Therefore, this is also the highest-level political occasion that Wang Tu has participated in in his life.

(End of this chapter)