Outside the court, rows and rows of ministry buildings could be seen.
These were the buildings of the twelve ministries, lined up on the main street, each one looking grand and having various decorations of their respective ministries.
Yunyin didn't have time to observe these as he followed the procession down the road. Slowly, ministers and their camp would split off, going to their respective ministries.
The Ministry of Revenue's spot was the second one on the right, their neighbour to the left being the Ministry of Commerce, to the right the Ministry of Households, and across the street the Ministry of Officials.
One Grand Minister, fourteen Ministers, and twenty eight Assistant Ministers entered the ministry one after another, their procession truly grand.
Just after entering the reception, Yunyin saw the people up front stopping, while looking at a raised podium where the Grand Minister of the Ministry of Revenue stood, observing all of them.
Once everyone was inside, he nodded with a kind face, "Today's court has been dismissed, and the evening court will also not take place. Of our Ministry of Revenue, only one province had an urgent issue today. We shall work together to solve this urgent matter as fast as possible."
His words were simple yet they carried a weight, pressuring all the ministers to let go of any thoughts and work together to help each other. Though Yunyin felt that since the speech was so simple, it was likely the Grand Minister trusted the Ministers would act accordingly.
"We will follow the Grand Minister's words!" the ministers up front cupped their hands and shouted, while the officials behind dared not say anything, only following the cupping and lowering their heads.
The Grand Minister only nodded one last time before walking off the podium, turning around and walking up to the second floor of the ministry.
Once he was out of their sight, the ministers all stood up and walked left and right around the large podium, and stairway.
Yunyin followed them and saw them leaving the ministry through a door in the back. When he was out, he saw a grand view of several buildings lined up, each three stories tall and quite large.
The ministers entered their respective ministries' offices, and Yunyin followed the Assistant Minister Ying to the Yueling Province's office.
As a general court official, he had been in the grand building but never in the offices in the back, so it was a new sight for him.
Inside the building, there were quite a few servants working, scribes carrying scrolls, and guards patrolling the security.
He followed right behind Fuliang up the stairway to the second floor, where there was a large meeting room. Next to him were dozens of officials, all of different ranks, walking quietly and solemnly.
The urgent issue the Grand Minister talked about wasn't their case, but their case was only a few days away from becoming urgent, so they were all worried about what to do.
On the second floor was a large meeting room for all the officials of this ministry to discuss matters.
There was a large table, with thirty-one seats –
The Minister of the Yueling Province's Ministry of Revenue, Minister Ruan Zhenan sat on the head of the table, Assistant Minister Ying sat to the right and Assistant Minister Puyan sat on the left. Following were four seats for the four fourth-rank Directors, eight seats for the fifth-rank Custodians, and sixteen seats for the sixth-rank Managers.
Around the table was a large line of seats, 28 in total, for the officials ranging from the ninth rank to the seventh rank.
Yunyin looked at this and chose a seat behind Assistant Minister Ying. Turning over, he saw that Wenyan's seat was behind the director…
"Fuliang, Su, have you thought about this issue?" Minister Ruan asked the two assistant ministers next to him.
Puyan Su, a slightly older middle-aged Assistant Minister, spoke up right away, "Our province's issue is extremely important, I have various ideas. Why don't I assist Assistant Minister Ying?"
Zhenan looked at him, his eyes concealing everything, yet this mere gaze silenced him.
Ying Fuliang ignored him as he talked about the issue directly, "The dismissal will definitely delay the court for at least three days, and with an urgent matter happening in the southern inner province, a suspected outbreak of a plague, our own matter will be delayed for at least another two days.
Minister Ruan, yesterday I've already formed a general plan to solve a part of the problem, the court's ruling will only be required for the issue of budget at the end, while the solution can be done with the combined authority of the our ministry, the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Households, and finally the Ministry of Works.
Considering the court's dismissal, the other ministries should work with us without an issue.
The solution should be implemented in around a week, and results will show in at most two weeks – we can implement it right away and report the results in two weeks." Fuliang explained it directly, cutting chase and planning to go out right away.
Ruan Zhenan nodded when he heard this. Finding a solution in less than a day, solving everything and requiring as little assistance from the court as possible, this was the way a Minister controlling a province's Ministry should be like.
"Then let's do this. The issue of budget…"
"Director Li, along with several officials, will discuss the issue of budget."
"It's good you have everything in your hands. In that case, you can directly go to the province and oversee your solution's implementation." The minister said as he waved his hand, telling them to leave.
The whole time, Yunyin naturally said nothing, not only because it wasn't his place, but also because… of his shock!
This was clearly a case of 'acting first, reporting later'!
How would they implement any solution when there isn't even any budget to do so?
This wasn't a case of embezzlement, this was a clear case of siding the emperor!
Yet how come no one in the ministry reacted weirdly, as if this was common practice?