Five hundred and ninetieth chapters old and strong
After Liu Mingzhi and the civil and military officials calmly and calmly walked out of the Qinzheng Palace, Xiao Chengzi, the general manager of the palace, had already led dozens of palace maids and eunuchs to rush towards the palace gate.
Song Qing carefully put the letter into his wristband and strode towards Liu Mingzhi, who was leading the way in the crowd.
"Your Majesty, I will first deliver the letter to the North, and then hurry up and rush to the New Army camp. We will meet at the New Army camp."
"Okay, be careful. The matter of food and fodder for a hundred thousand troops is not a trivial matter. We must not make any mistakes."
"I understand, I will retire first."
Song Qing hugged Young Master Liu with a solemn expression, held on to the saber on his waist and ran towards the palace gate first.
Liu Mingzhi looked at his elder brother Song Qing's retreating figure, looked up at the rising sun in the eastern sky, and silently quickened his pace.
After a while, Liu Mingzhi and his party arrived outside the palace gate.
Xiao Chengzi and dozens of palace maids and eunuchs were waiting silently on the west side of the palace gate. When they saw Liu Mingzhi who was the first to walk out of the palace gate, he waved the whisk in his hand and hurriedly greeted him.
"Your Majesty, I have prepared the carriage. Your Majesty, please get on board."
Liu Mingzhi turned his head and glanced at the luxurious but not extravagant carriage more than ten steps away, heavy and yet exuding nobility, and smiled lightly and shook his head.
"Little Chengzi."
"The old slave is here."
"Do you think I have any intention of riding in a carriage the way I am dressed today?"
Little Chengzi couldn't help but be startled for a moment, and subconsciously took a look at the mighty armor on Young Master Liu and immediately understood what was going on.
Seeing Young Master Liu's smiling expression, Xiao Chengzi saluted repeatedly with an expression of fear.
"This old slave is confused, Your Majesty forgives me. This slave is confused, Your Majesty forgives me."
"Okay, I don't mean to blame you."
"Old slave, thank you Your Majesty."
Liu Mingzhi once again glanced at the carriage not far away, then turned to look at Xia Gongming and other elderly ministers behind him.
I am still young and strong, and I really don't need to ride in a carriage. However, just because I don't need it doesn't mean that Xia Gongming, Du Chenghao, Song Yu and other senior ministers don't need to ride in a carriage either.
Especially Xia Gongming, an old man who is nearly eighty years old.
He is now so old and a scholar that it is really inappropriate for him to ride a horse.
At Xia Gongming's current age, according to the rules, he should have retired and returned to his hometown ten years ago to enjoy his old age. Even ten years ago, it was already too late.
Liu Mingzhi couldn't bear to let him still work hard for national affairs at such an age. However, the current situation in the court could not be separated from this upright old man.
Although he couldn't bear it, for the sake of the overall situation, Liu Mingzhi could only grit his teeth and let him continue to play his role in the court for a few more years.
Fortunately, although Xia Gongming, an old man, was upright and always made trouble for himself, the emperor, even when things were fine, he was quite reasonable in his dealings with others.
He also understood in his heart that Liu Mingzhi kept him and refused to allow him to retire and return to his hometown out of helplessness.
Although he occasionally complained, he still performed his duties conscientiously and never slacked off in handling political affairs.
Xia Gongming successively experienced the Dalongweihe dynasty, Li Zheng dynasty, Li Baiyu dynasty, and Li Ye dynasty. In addition to his own dynasty, Xia Gongming was already a veteran of the Five Dynasties.
It is not an exaggeration to say that it is an evergreen tree in the Dalong Temple.
Xia Gongming's actions throughout his life lived up to the word "Gongming" in his name.
He may have had the selfish selfishness common to everyone in small matters, but when it came to serious matters, he was truly fair and transparent.
Xia Gongming, an old man, was not a particularly good minister in the eyes of several emperors, including Liu Mingzhi himself.
After all, no emperor would particularly like this kind of minister who would make the emperor feel uncomfortable no matter what happened.
However, no emperor can live without such upright ministers who dare to speak out and give advice.
For the emperor, although he was not a "good" minister, he was definitely a good official.
A good official who not only has no ambitions, but also truly cares about the people of the world.
Liu Mingzhi looked at Xia Gongming, smiled lightly and pointed to several carriages a dozen steps away.
"Old Aiqing, Du Aiqing, Song Aiqing, Qin Aiqing... I am wearing armor, so there is no need to ride in a carriage.
I wonder how your dear friends plan to travel? Will they ride horses like me, or take a carriage to the new army camp?"
Liu Mingzhi did not directly ask Xia Gongming and other elderly ministers to ride in the carriage, but asked them what they thought and let them make their own decisions.
The older people get, the less they want to obey their elders. If I directly order them to ride in the carriage, these old foxes may have their own random thoughts.
For example, does His Majesty's move imply that we old bones are getting older and it's time to retire and return to our hometowns and hand over our rights to the young people below?
If they had this idea and took the initiative to say goodbye and return home one by one, they would be very uncomfortable.
Above the temple, sometimes every word and action must be carefully considered!
Xia Gongming looked in the direction of Young Master Liu's finger, glanced at the carriages more than ten steps away, looked away and shook his head respectfully.
"Your Majesty, although I am now old, my six skills as a gentleman have never fallen behind.
Your Majesty, you are riding a horse, how can I ride in a chariot?
The distance between the city gate and the new army camp is still small, so I dared to ride to the new army camp just like your majesty."
Xia Gongming, the old man, had already taken the lead in expressing his stance. Song Yu, Du Chenghao, Jiang Yuanming... and others also bowed in unison.
"Reporting to your Majesty, I am also riding on horseback."
As for the generals such as Rong Weihou and others, they laughed and patted their chests.
"Your Majesty, although I am already old now, it is still easy for me to charge into battle, let alone on horseback. We are also riding on horseback."
"Okay, since all my dear friends are still as heroic and ambitious as ever, let's ride on horseback together."
"I respectfully invite your Majesty to mount your horse."
Liu Mingzhi exhaled heavily, smiled lightly and waved to Liu Song, who was holding the reins of the horse.
"Liu Song, quickly bring my mount over."
"I obey, little one."
Liu Mingzhi took the horse rein from Liu Song, got on the horse and looked sideways at the civil and military officials behind him.
"My dear friends, please mount your horse and follow me to the new army camp."
"I obey your orders."
The civil and military officials all hugged Mr. Liu and walked directly towards the mount guarded by the Forbidden Army officers on the east side.
In Dalong, where both civil and military officials rode horses, every time civil and military officials came to court, they rode horses to the palace. There were only a handful of officials riding carriages, so their mounts were guarded by the imperial guards outside the palace gate.
Yang Sen, the commander of the imperial army, walked quickly to Liu Mingzhi's mount and saluted.
"Your Majesty, King Wuyi has just informed me to summon three thousand soldiers of the Forbidden Army to escort you all the way. Before you leave the palace, I have ordered your lieutenants to rush to the school grounds and gather three thousand soldiers to wait outside the city gate.
At the same time, I have sent people to clear the main road in the city, so your Majesty can safely ride out of the city."
"Well, I understand, you can continue to be on duty."
"I obey, and I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty."