Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 63 Autumn Banquet
In front of the Governor's Office, several military officials in red official robes dismounted from their horses.
As Deng Yao and his companions were leading their horses to the government office, an eunuch from the palace came forward, took the reins from them, and led the horses away.

Deng Yao looked up at the tall gate of the Governor's Mansion in front of him and let out a breath.
Two days ago, they were training soldiers in the camp outside the city, but suddenly an imperial decree came from the palace, asking all the generals above the rank of guerrilla commander to attend a banquet in the palace two days later, saying that His Royal Highness the Regent wanted to reward the generals in the army.
Deng Yao looked at the officials in red and blue robes constantly entering and leaving the Governor's Mansion, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. If these officials were sent out, they would probably be either a prefect or a governor.

He had only stood in front of the door for half an hour, but he had already met seven or eight officials of the fourth or fifth rank. It could only be said that this place was worthy of being the center of the imperial court. There were red robes everywhere, and green robes were worse than dogs.

Originally, he would have just attended the banquet, which was no big deal, but he was informed by Li Mingzhong that only the lieutenant generals were allowed to attend the banquet.

That is to say, the general will not be present at this banquet. Deng Yao is the highest-ranking general in the Gui army who will be attending the banquet today.
Deng Yao was worried. This was a banquet for the regent. The general was not there, so he had to control the reckless men in the army. He must not let them cause any trouble at the banquet, otherwise the Gui army would lose face.
Deng Yao thought of this and looked behind him. There were twelve imperial guards attending the banquet, three lieutenant generals, nine guerrillas, and

At this time, everyone in the army looked a little nervous. Looking at the generals who looked reserved, Deng Yao couldn't help but nod secretly. Being reserved is good, being reserved is good. If you know how to be careful with your words and actions, nothing big will go wrong.
Although they hadn't even stepped into the governor's mansion yet, Deng Yao was secretly hoping that the banquet would end soon so that he could safely bring these rough guys back to the army.
Deng Yao was looking at the tense faces of the crowd, feeling satisfied. But when he saw a red-robed general behind them, his face suddenly darkened.

At the back of the crowd, a sturdy man wearing a third-grade tiger and leopard military uniform was seen. His burly figure made the red official robe bulge.

The sturdy man in a military official's robe was pulling at his new official robe left and right, pulling it to the left and right, twisting his body as if there were lice crawling on it. It was Yang Yandi!
"We've already arrived at the Governor's Mansion, what are you doing here?"

Deng Yao's face darkened, he looked at Yang Yandi in front of him and spoke in a deep voice

"You've come just in time. Come and see if my official robe is wrinkled."

Yang Yandi didn't notice Deng Yao's bad look at all, instead he started to pull up his clothes.

Deng Yao looked at Yang Yandi who was completely unaware and couldn't help but cover his forehead. If anything happened today, it would definitely be caused by this guy.
"Why is this official robe you just bought yesterday wrinkled? If you keep pulling it down, it will become wrinkled even if it isn't wrinkled already," Deng Yao lamented.

"That's right, this shady shop actually dared to sell me a robe for 15 taels. If they dare to give me second-hand goods, I will directly rip up their shop." Yang Yandi stopped after hearing this and snorted.

The regent took the throne, and the court conferred titles on him. Almost every official in the city was promoted. There were probably hundreds of civil and military officials in the entire Zhaoqing city who were promoted this time.
Officials were promoted, which was a great event to bring honor to their ancestors, so they naturally had to change into new official robes as soon as possible. Therefore, official robes in Zhaoqing City were extremely scarce for a while, and the price was rising day by day.

In fact, when the news of the establishment of the King of Gui spread in the city, some well-informed shops had already begun to quietly prepare stocks. It was difficult to mobilize the accessories of officials at all levels for a while, but they had a way to get official robes.
The court robes of Ming Dynasty officials were all plain red, blue and green. If you don't look closely, no one will notice the details of the patterns. What really stands out is the patch on the front of the clothes.

Therefore, all the clothing and hat shops in the city bought a large number of patches of various colors from other places. When the patches were transported to the city, they would sew the patches onto the three-color clothes. In a blink of an eye, they could make a large number of official robes.
But even if the shops were prepared, there were still too many officials to be rewarded, and the official robes in the city were still in short supply, especially the military officer robes.
There are now a total of 30,000 to 40,000 troops inside and outside Zhaoqing City. The largest number of people rewarded this time are military officers. The orders for military officer robes in some clothing stores are even scheduled until next month, which shows that military officer robes are scarce in the city at this time. The reason why Yang Yandi was able to buy the new official uniform first was because of his status as a member of the Imperial Guard.
The shop owner heard that Yang Yandi was a general of the Imperial Guards, and thought that after the Imperial Guards were stationed in the city, they might ask the Imperial Guards for help. That's why he gave him this official robe. Otherwise, Yang Yandi would have to wear his old official robe to attend the banquet today.

Yi Zhi, who was also wearing the third-grade tiger and leopard martial arts uniform, looked at Yang Yandi who was still mumbling to himself and couldn't help laughing.
"You are such a hottie, you actually get nervous. I thought you were as brave as iron. But you, Yang Yandi, actually get scared one day."

"This is my first time to meet the emperor. What's wrong with being nervous? Aren't you nervous?" Yang Yandi said as if it was natural. He stared at Yi Zhi in front of him.

Yi Zhi was about to make a joke, but when he heard the words, his mind changed and a hint of approval appeared on his face.

This was to see the emperor. They had been in the army for more than ten years, and the highest official they had ever seen was the governor. To them, the emperor was like a god, just a name that was passed down among their mouths.

Many Jinshi scholars only saw the emperor's back once in their lifetime, when their names were on the list of successful candidates. As for Juren scholars, there were many who had never seen the emperor in their entire lives.

The Jinshi and Juren were like the gods of literature in each prefecture and county. Who could have thought that these warriors in the army would one day see the emperor?
"Didn't you also attend the ceremony on the day His Highness ascended the throne? How come this is your first time meeting the emperor?"

Deng Yao looked at Yang Yandi, who was excited and eager to try, and said helplessly
"How does that count? On that day, I stood outside the palace and kowtowed. I kowtowed until I felt dizzy following that group of civil officials."

"When I came to my senses, His Highness had already entered the hall. I was standing outside the hall and only saw a silhouette. How can this be considered as seeing him?" Yang Yandi said with dissatisfaction.
The other generals nodded in agreement when they heard this. After entering the city, they had been rehearsing day and night with the ceremonial officers for two days. However, when the ceremony really started that day, they just kowtowed and did not see His Royal Highness the Regent at all.
"Not only our Gui army will come to this banquet, but also Jiao Hou's imperial guards and the governor's Guangdong army. When you enter the palace, don't act like you did in the army. You can only drink when His Highness raises his glass. You are not allowed to drink a drop of wine at other times."

"If you cause trouble in the palace and lose face for our Gui army, you will see how the general will deal with you when he returns." Deng Yao glanced at the generals present with a serious expression.

"Yes"

The generals were also shocked when they heard this, and they all responded
"I know. We are His Highness' personal soldiers. Do you really think we are like those other reckless men? Old Deng, you are so long-winded. How can you be just like the general? It's really unpleasant," Yang Yandi said with dissatisfaction.
Deng Yao's face darkened. I know, I'm talking about you, Yang Yandi!
Deng Yao wanted to say a few more words, but the eunuch who was leading everyone into the palace was already walking towards them.
Deng Yao had no choice but to give up. He took a deep breath, gestured to the people behind him, and followed the eunuchs leading him into the governor's mansion.

Some students have reported that the pace of the last few chapters is a bit slow. If you are impatient, you may be able to, uh... skip to Chapter 66 and start reading
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(End of this chapter)