The fifth day of the second month, meeting.
When the morning light was just peeking out, 22 scholars dressed in Tianxia robes stepped onto the stone steps of the mountain path of the inner city platform and came to the Hall of Sages to pay their respects to the Sage of Tianxia.
Some of the people here had white hair while others were still in the prime of their youth. However, all of them had a straight back and powerful footsteps. Their bodies had an indescribable spirit that caused others to feel awe and veneration from looking at them.
They were all Tianxia soldiers. The oldest was now 119 years old, and the youngest was only 31 years old.
After paying their respects to the past sages, these Tianxia soldiers walked down the back steps of the Hall of Sages and headed in the direction of the Commissar Hall.
At this time, in front of the main hall of the governing department, Liu Fengquan had already led the officials of the six major yamen offices and a group of administrative officials to welcome them on the square in front of the door.
Right now, the sun had yet to rise, and the morning glow was only faintly visible. This group of people stood here, their robes slightly damp with morning dew. Other than the occasional suppressed coughing, there was not much sound around them. It seemed very spacious and cold.
Looking from the air, one could see the four corners of the inner city platform. There were raised banners and rows of soldiers everywhere. Below them were rows of yamen guards and officers. Occasionally, there were Army of God soldiers dressed in Victory Border uniforms walking around.
After a period of time, the figures of the Tianxia soldiers appeared in everyone's line of sight. Liu Fengquan roused himself and waited for the people to gradually come closer before he went forward to welcome them. The affairs official behind him also moved his feet and followed along.
The two sides greeted each other on the square for a while. Then, the group of Tianxia soldiers was welcomed in. They walked all the way to the meeting hall in the center of the governing department.
Here, the Tianxia soldiers were all divided into two rows, revealing a wide aisle in the middle. The main seat on the high platform was empty. That was the seat for the Governor. It was not because Governor Yang Jue was still young. According to the rules, he could not appear at the meeting before he was 18 years old.
There was a row of seats on the left and right side of the staircase that was just below the main seat and one level lower.
The seats on the left were mainly for the officials of the various offices. They represented the governing power of the Protectorate General.
The seats on the right were reserved for the Senior Commandant and the Guard Commandant. The two of them controlled the majority of the Protectorate's military strength and represented the most direct will of the Protectorate.
However, there were no seats reserved for Xuanfu and the Army of God, because in today's ritual structure, these two families were only responsible for resisting supernatural forces, and did not have the right to participate in governance and direct military forces.
At each meeting at the beginning of the year, many Tianxia scholars would raise reasonable suggestions to the Governor-General. The Governor-General would then discuss and explore them. If the suggestions were accepted and the Governor had no objections, then they would be implemented within the year.
Liu Fengquan had just brought the yamen officials to his seat when he heard the continuous rhythmic sound of drums outside. He said in a low voice, "The Senior Commandant and the Guard Commandant should have arrived."
The door to the meeting hall was pushed open from the outside. First, two armored soldiers walked in, standing on either side. Then, Commandant An Youting walked in with large strides, dressed in a ramrod straight military uniform. Behind him followed Commandant Yang Qiang, and behind him were more than ten personal bodyguards and officials.
Everyone rose and greeted the two of them.
After the ceremony, An Youting and Yang Ying came to the seats on the right and sat down.
However, because the meeting was mainly about governance, as long as it did not involve military matters, as the military leaders of the Protectorate General, the two of them would not interfere in the meeting.
At this time, two black-clothed officials with expressionless faces walked out. They stood at the two corners of the meeting hall and sat down behind a lacquer table that had been set up earlier.
These two people were the officials of the Governor's Hall of Records. They would record everything they heard and saw today and bring it back for the Governor to look over. They would also record it in a document for future reference.
This was also to remind everyone present that they needed to think twice about everything they said today.
At this time, Yang Ying whispered to an old official beside her, "Wu Zuowen, this time, Sir should be able to be elected as a 'Scholar', right?"
Wu Zuowen thought for a moment and carefully replied, "Replying to Guard Commandant, Zhang Canzhi was able to be elected by the Education Palace and the Security Patrol Association. There was also no opposition from the Commissar. There is still a high chance."
Yang Ying was more confident than anyone else and said, "En! Sir will definitely be able to become a Scholar! "
Wu Zuowen lowered his head and said, "Guard Commandant is right."
At this time, outside the main hall, on the watchtower in the west corner, there was a man in his thirties who was equipped with a waist blade. He wore Victory Border clothes and a cloak. He had a neat beard above his lips, two eyebrows like swords, and a stern gaze.
A strong wind blew over from the platform, causing the clothes on his body to flutter continuously.
This was the Army of God's newly appointed Left Military Marquis, He Jiang.
For this time, the Army of God had sent a total of two marquises. Apart from him, the other was the Right Military Marquis, Pang Gong. This person was responsible for protecting the other corner of the Commissar.
There were two squad leaders at He Jiang's side. One of them looked in the direction of the Commissar and said with a malicious tone, "Marquis, do you think that if we charge in at this time, we can capture all of the upper echelons of the Commissar Estate in one fell swoop?"
He Jiang shot him a glance and said, "Gao Ao, you are too unbridled. Is this something you can say here?"
Gao Ao laughed and said, "Isn't there a military marquis here? What am I afraid of?"
He Jiang snorted and said, "Xuanfu's people are just across the way. Don't let them get hold of any information that can be used against you. Otherwise, I won't be able to protect you."
"Xuanfu?" Gao Ao revealed an expression of deep disdain. "If it were up to me, we should have competed with them long ago. The Commissar Estate should be managed by our Army of God. That whatever beacon tower should be toppled as soon as possible!"
He Jiang glanced at Xuanfu's location and recalled what he had been told after becoming a military marquis. Fear appeared in his eyes as he said, "You don't understand."
Inside the Great Hall, the youngest Xia Shi stood up and bowed to the two people at the head of the table. He said, "Duke Kuang, Duke Yu, what do you two elders think the topic of this meeting should be?"
Duke Yu stroked his beard and said, "We have a total of twenty-two people here today. The rest are either seriously ill or unwilling to come here. In order to avoid a difficult division, I think we should select the new blood first?"
Duke Kuang agreed and said, "Yes, this is also a proper matter."
Duke Yu said, "Good. Then let's first present the candidates for this time's selection for everyone to take a look."
The young Xia Shi took out a booklet from his sleeve and opened it in front of everyone. He said in a clear voice, "There are a total of four candidates nominated this time. Linzhi, Ningguang, and Xuancheng academies jointly nominated 'Xu Wenyue, Tan Shizhi, and Qi Yinliang'. "
After reading this, he paused for a moment and said, "Taiyang Academy's candidate is … Zhang Yu." After he finished speaking, he put away the book and raised his head to look up.
A middle-aged man in his sixties asked, "Is Taiyang Academy only going to nominate one person?"
The young Xia Shi said, "Yes. Originally, there was another candidate called Yao Jinchu. However, Taiyang Academy seemed to feel that it was inappropriate for the two of them to be listed together, so they moved him away."
The middle-aged Xia Shi nodded and did not ask any more questions.
Duke Kuang then asked, "Is everyone from the public inquiry here?"
The young Xia Shi replied, "They're all here. They're all sitting on the porch seats in the outer hall."
"Then, let's first …" Duke Kuang's memory seemed to be a little bad. He paused for a moment and the people beside him reminded him softly before he continued, "Let's call Xu Wenyue, who was nominated by Linzhi Academy, up here first."
At this moment, in Kui Wen Hall of Taiyang Academy, Superintendent Chi and the other Prefects were sitting there, waiting for news from the government residence.
Superintendent Chi thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any omissions?"
Hong Xueling immediately leaned over and replied, "Superintendent, most of the problems have been solved. The key is the last three inquiries. Whether it's the government inquiry, the government inquiry, or the public inquiry, we can only influence a portion of the people. We can only rely on Master Zhang to deal with the rest."
At this moment, in Linzhi Academy, Superintendent Dong Lu was also pacing back and forth in the main hall. From time to time, he would stop in front of the painting of 'Embracing Mountains' and look at it in a daze.
He was broad and fat. When he stood there, he was like a wall, blocking everyone's view.
After a long time, he asked, "Lin Xueling, do you think we can push someone up this time? Why do I feel a little guilty? "
Lin Xueling, who was standing behind him, quickly said, "Don't be anxious, Superintendent. The key to this matter is the three inquiries. That Zhang Yu from Taiyang Academy is someone who recommended himself. He's not someone who is truly knowledgeable. We have Shang Xueling. With the three inquiries, we can definitely make him reveal his true colors!"
Superintendent Dong waved his hand and said, "Now that things have come to this, you don't have to say such nice words in front of me. That Zhang Yu is definitely someone who is truly knowledgeable. Otherwise, why would Chi Chao nominate him? Isn't this a joke? "
Lin Xueling said, "You're right, Superintendent. However, Zhang Yu is still young. Even if he's knowledgeable, he doesn't have the ability to govern. However, the people we nominate are different. Every one of them is an elite in the academy and has been to other places to participate in governing. This is something that Zhang Yu can't compare to."
Superintendent Dong wasn't convinced by him. Governing and governing were two different things. Scholars mainly proposed governing strategies. Moreover, governing strategies were only one kind. Other than that, there were also matters such as regulation, remonstrance, abolition, and so on. Just having experience in governing wouldn't be much of an advantage.
However, these words made him feel a little more at ease. The people on his side did have an advantage over the people nominated by Taiyang Academy.
After waiting for almost an entire summer, a teacher walked in quickly. He cupped his hands and said, "Superintendent, there was a report just now. It said that Teacher Xu and Teacher Tan were summoned to the meeting hall an entire summer ago."
Superintendent Dong's fat body suddenly turned around and asked anxiously, "How is it?"
The teacher cupped his hands and lowered his head, saying, "There hasn't been any news yet. However, when I received this news, I heard that Teacher Qi had also entered the meeting hall. The only one left is the person nominated by Taiyang Academy. I believe that the results of the scholar selection will be out soon."
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