a month ago.

Luodu.

Ziwei City.

Early summer, afternoon.

A jujube tree grows beside the side wall of the main hall with red walls and tiled roofs. Its age is unknown, and its lush branches and leaves almost reach into the window.

"I see—I see—"

The warm sun scorched the brown-skinned cicadas on the branches and kept chirping.

But it didn't disturb the people at the window at all.

Wow——

In the center of the table filled with papers, on the empty table, a pile of small wooden sticks of the same length were scattered.

They were frequently manipulated by the wrinkled palm of a hand.

There were constant clattering sounds, and small wooden sticks were being moved around.

It's not like playing, the old withered palms are playing with them very seriously.

Upon closer inspection, this pile of small wooden sticks is not messy, but has a vague pattern.

Next to this pile of small wooden sticks, there is a thick booklet.

The other one is holding a slender wolf-hair pen in his withered palm, slowly writing lines of regular characters on a certain page of the thick book.

The regular characters are neat and neat, one stroke after another, just like engraving, without any spirituality.

On the thick volume, the ink characters that have not yet dried are boring numbers:

[Millet, more than 2,357,000 stones],

[Silk, more than 3,719,000 feet],

[hemp, five hundred and fifty...]

etc.

The fat old man knelt down in front of the desk, bent over and lowered his head, his eyes very close to the pages of the album.

Habitually squinting eyes and registering accounts with dry hands.

It turns out that the pile of small wooden sticks in the fat old man's hand was a scheme.

It is similar to Ouyang Rong's abacus and abacus in his previous life, but it is more complicated and inconvenient.

The fat old man is settling accounts.

There are piles of papers on the table in front of me, and the back side of the table is painted in wine red.

The palms and wrists that had been manipulated by the old man were smooth and oiled, and were faintly reflective.

This fat old man in official uniform, with squinted eyes and wrinkles, seems to be working at his desk by the window, doing boring accounting day after day throughout the spring, summer, autumn and winter.

If you move your eyes upward, past the towering desks, you can see that the fat old man's work station is at the top of the entire hall.

In addition to him, there were more than ten officials in the palace.

They sat behind their desks and focused on their work.

There are young and strong men who are majestic, and there are old men who are as deep as a deep pool at dusk. They are all in official uniforms, with neat fish bags. Looking around, you can see a sea of ​​crimson official uniforms, most of which are fifth grade or above.

More than a dozen officials were calm and composed, implying noble appearance.

On the corridor outside the hall, from time to time, officials in green robes rushed to the hall with documents in their arms.

But as they approached the palace gate, they unconsciously bowed their heads slightly, entered the palace, and presented official documents to the Feiyi officials. These foreign officials spoke in thin voices, appearing cautious, as if they were afraid of disturbing anything.

As a result, the main hall and the more than ten officials working in the hall seemed more serious and profound.

However, when the eyes of these officials in scarlet robes were cast on the work station at the innermost part of the hall, with a small green window in the background.

After seeing the figure of the ordinary fat old man quietly settling accounts, they all lowered their heads slightly, lowered their eyes, and continued to work with a flash of awe in their eyes.

Speaking of which, this solemn office hall, in terms of luxurious decoration, is inconspicuous in the entire luxurious palace city.

Not to mention competing with the Zichen Palace, not far away, where the Empress Wei went to the palace in the morning.

But it's called Zhongshu Province...no, it's called Fengge.

One of the highest authorities in the city of God.

At the simple workstation by the window, the fat old man was immersed in settling accounts. Occasionally he would hide his book and look at the green branches outside the window, murmuring with a frown:

"It costs money again..."

He shook his head and continued to work at his desk.

As the cicadas chanted desperately, the sun on the branches of the jujube trees gradually began to set towards the west.

"clang--"

The rhythmic sound of ringing bells resounded among the buildings of Ziwei.

The second quarter of the first lunar month is the next time.

In the main hall of Feng Pavilion, more than a dozen officials in scarlet clothes did not raise their heads, but kept their heads down while doing their work.

However, at the workstation next to the small window at the top, the fat old man put down his pen and folded the book, immediately got up, left the desk, passed by everyone, and walked out of the hall.

More than a dozen officials in scarlet clothes let out a sigh of relief, then stood up one after another, packed their things, and left the palace.

A Feiyi official had a smile on his face.

This is the good thing about this Feng Pavilion's top official who spends his days settling accounts tediously. He never delays the meeting and leaves when the time is right.

Even the last time the Queen passed by Feng Pavilion on a whim and entered the palace to offer condolences and inspection, the fat old man was the same way and did not allow His Majesty to occupy everyone's time on duty.

Ziwei City is the main palace of the Zhou Dynasty and a symbol of imperial power.

It is located at the highest point in the northwest corner of Luoyang, the sacred capital.

The entire Ziwei City is roughly composed of two main bodies: Ziwei Palace and the Imperial City.

Ziwei Palace, inside, is the residence of the Queen and the place where she governs and goes to court.

Outside the imperial city, there are five provinces, Santai and other central government offices inside, as well as buildings for receiving foreign guests.

Therefore, there are very few official offices that can be located in Ziwei Palace and are close to the emperor. Almost all of them are the highest institutions of real power or etiquette.

For example, this Phoenix Pavilion.

Feng Pavilion is located in the inside, but the fat old man who was the first to leave Feng Pavilion was the first official to walk to Yingtian Gate, one of the main entrances of Ziwei Palace, and waited for the door to open and leave the palace.

Everyone was left behind.

However, as time passed, a group of veterans and young officials who were at the core of the Zhou Dynasty gradually gathered outside Yingtian Gate and waited for the door to open.

Seeing the familiar figure of the fat old man in front of him, a small number of officials gathered and stepped forward.

Words such as "Master" and "Mr. Di" were spat out from the mouths of this small group of distinguished officials.

The fat old man, who was meditating in his sleeves in front of the city gate, turned around and bowed slightly in return.

The old man who stepped on the lower value was none other than Di Fuzi, the famous Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the respectful elder of the country in the mouth of Empress Wei.

The word "Master" is originally a title within the Confucian sect. It comes from the real name of a high-ranking scholar and is considered one of the highest honors in the Confucian sect.

It is conceivable that the old man has a high status in the hearts of scholars all over the world.

As most of the civil servants in the Manchu Dynasty were scholars, they naturally used the title "Master" more frequently, which was used interchangeably with the honorific title "Di Gong".

Gradually, people all over the world called him this way. As for Di Fuzi's real name, no one gradually knew it.

Under Ying Tianmen, facing his colleagues.

The fat old man smiled broadly.

The conversation was quite humorous.

With this being the case, the atmosphere is naturally harmonious.

After a while, the time came, and the imperial guards at the top of the city opened the city gate as usual.

All the ministers went out one after another.

As soon as they left the city gate, several palace servants who had been waiting for a long time came forward, with a luxurious sedan behind them. They respectfully handed over:

"Welcome to you, Master, please get on the sedan chair."

Master Di shook his head and declined, took the reins from the old servant, got on his horse, and rode away.

The palace servants who accepted the emperor's order had no choice but to pick up the empty sedan and follow the fat old man on horseback back to the mansion.

All around, the ministers who boarded the carriages of various houses opened the curtains and smiled at the sight, which seemed to be a habit, and some people were envious.

Sitting in a sedan chair is not something that ordinary Zhou officials can enjoy. Only senior ministers who are old and highly respected can enter and leave the court in a sedan chair.

It's just that Mrs. Di didn't seem to be used to the Queen's compassionate arrangement.
To be continued...