They were considered serious and responsible officials, which were rare in the Qing Dynasty.

As someone who has traveled through time from the future, I shouldn't make such a stupid mistake.

He felt that this matter should not be borne by Zhang Yuxiao and others, and besides, they could not afford it.

And since he was a guest invited by Zhang Zhidong, if something went wrong, the Yamen would not be able to hold him accountable.

"Oh...so that's what it is."

The little assistant seemed to be relieved, and his pale and feeble expression suddenly became energetic. He warned: "Young Master, please rest here and wait. I will pick you up later."

"Yeah." Chen Tianhua nodded.

The clerk in the ceremonial room hurriedly walked out.

Chen Tianhua guessed that he went to explain the situation to the shogunate office responsible for the discipline of the entire court.

I was afraid that I would be late and the punishment for going up to the peak would be reduced.

"The Governor of Liangjiang, Mr. Zhang, has arrived..."

At this time, a high-pitched voice sounded in the main hall.

The big drum outside the main hall door beat loudly, "dong dong dong..."

Chen Tianhua found that he was the only one in the side hall, so he secretly peeked into the lobby through the half-open door.

I saw Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang and the governor of Liangjiang, surrounded by his bodyguards with wild goose feather swords hanging on his waist and several staff, walking like a dragon and a tiger walking from the side of the screen into the high-level terrace of the lobby.

.

"Kowtow to the Governor."

All the officials sang loudly, in unison, and knelt down on the ground, uniformly and vigorously.

"Please take a seat and get up!"

Zhang Zhidong raised his right hand to signal.

Damn, this posture of ascending to the hall is a bit like the emperor's early court appearance in Zijin City. It seems that Zhang Zhidong's idea of ​​​​the earth emperor has long been in mind.

He was dressed in a yellow five-clawed python robe, with a dark blue patchwork suit outside, a flying fish shawl, and a red-petaled bamboo hat with an official hat with three eyes and feathers, and the ruby ​​bead on the top of the hat was shining brightly.

He had a half-foot-long gray beard and was sitting in the governor's seat.

Chen Tianhua has seen this kind of scene countless times in later movies and TV dramas, but when he was actually there, he felt completely different.

"Thank you, sir!"

After the ceremony, the officials stood up one after another. They all stood with their heads down, their hands hanging down or holding thick memorials in their hands. They did not dare to look up or look around. Otherwise, it would be rude and they would be impeached afterwards.

Zhang Zhidong, who is sixty-six years old this year, still looks very energetic. He is sitting upright on the Taishi chair, looking down, accepting the kneeling of the officials.

The expression on his face was normal, with no hint of happiness or anger.

Decades of training in officialdom have developed his majesty and domineering attitude, and his face shows confidence and determination to dominate everything, which is completely different from the time when he first opened the church.

There is a staff member standing on both sides of the platform. There is a table on the left hand side, and a secretary staff member is writing the meeting minutes.

The two staff members standing on the edge of the platform read out the decrees promulgated by the Liangjiang Governor-General's Office, which mainly focused on regulations on doing business, running enterprises, and cooperating with foreign businessmen.

Next, it is time to speak freely and tell people what they have to say.

The general rule is to proceed from front to back, with those of higher rank speaking first, and passing the word down little by little.

Chen Tianhua took a quick look and found that many people were holding memorial notebooks in their hands. When it was his turn to speak, he opened the small notebook.

This posture is similar to that of later generations when there were no laptop computers. At that time, many people took out their notebooks to take notes during meetings.

This kind of lobby would be very tiring to sit in. Zhang Zhidong would have to sit in it with his back straight, and it would take at least half a day.

It would be strange if I didn't strain my lumbar muscles after a trip to the lobby.

…

The side hall of the administrative office is a place where bureaucrats take a temporary break and drink tea after discussing matters for a long time.

There is a small garden in front of the hall. It is early summer at this time, and it is full of birds and flowers, and the willows are blowing in the clear air, which is pleasing to the eye.

Chen Tianhua didn't want to listen to the lectures in the main hall, which were all about trivial matters such as sesame seeds and rotten millet. He just walked in the garden in front of the side hall and admired the flowers.

After wandering around for more than half an hour, the concierge assistant came over. He asked the clerk in charge of reception in the side hall to brew a pot of Biluochun and said:

"Master, please have a cup of green tea here. Sit here patiently for a while. The meeting in the lobby will be longer. The governor will summon you after he retires. Usually the shogunate will send someone to inform you."

"I still have some things to do in my humble position, so I won't accompany you. Please be patient and wait."

After hearing this, Chen Tianhua quickly raised his hands and bowed: "If you please, Chen will be waiting here."

The ancillary assistant finally felt relieved and left the side hall of the government office with a quick stride.

Looking at this situation, their reception room is quite busy. It may be because Zhang Zhidong and the others are leaving Jiangning.

Chen Tianhua sat uneasily in the side hall, sipping tea and waiting patiently.

Unexpectedly, the wait was unexpectedly long. From early morning to almost noon, there was no sound of anyone coming in.

From the initial anxiety to the current boredom, Chen Tianhua's patience was worn away bit by bit.

After wandering around the side hall several times, he noticed that the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls were all authentic works by famous artists, and he pretended to appreciate them carefully.

I visited the small garden several times.

Even the fine Biluochun tea was tasteless to him.

Chen Tianhua hadn't noticed yet, but his actions at this time had already surprised the young Yamen waiting in the side hall.

The officials who can wait in the side hall to be summoned alone are not only the governor's favorite generals, but also his confidants.

This is a great honor to be an official.

All the officials who came here were frightened and respectful. If they asked him to sit and wait, they would not stand and watch.

But this young out-of-town official was dressed smartly in casual clothes. He was well-behaved before, but after only two hours, he started to feel restless.

He actually treated the office side hall as his own study room, pacing back and forth, going in and out of the garden, admiring calligraphy and paintings with his hands behind his back, and murmuring words.

Chen Tianhua, who was bored, probably realized that someone was staring at him, so he turned around and smiled at the young yamen servant.

The young yamen servant who met his eyes was startled. He quickly straightened his head and looked straight into space.

The brocade stool under the buttocks is soft and comfortable to sit on. Unfortunately, there is no backrest. Sitting for a long time makes the back and abdominal muscles feel uncomfortable.

He was tired, rested his head on his knees, closed his eyes and rested his mind, and slowly fell asleep.

…

Vaguely, Chen Tianhua felt that someone had entered. His alertness was extremely high, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

"Young Master has kept you waiting for a long time. Please go with your duties."

A deep voice sounded in Chen Tianhua's ears.

He was a middle-aged man wearing a melon cap, a silk gown, and a fair face.

"Where to go? Lord Li Fangzhang asked Chen to wait here for the Governor to withdraw!"

Chen Tianhua is now highly focused and his brain is spinning rapidly, fearing that something will go wrong again.

The middle-aged staff member stared at Chen Tianhua with yellow and cloudy eyes, and stared at Chen Tianhua with great displeasure. His fair face was so gloomy that you could squeeze water out of it.

Looking up, it is very similar to having constipation, very uncomfortable.

"Huh ... what is Zhang Yuxiao? He is busy receiving the Japanese delegation now, and his job is Feng Zhang Xiang Shuai's mouth. He came to ask the young master to have lunch together."
Chapter completed!