The Great Zhou Dynasty held court audiences on the fifth, fifteenth, and twenty-fifth days of every month.
Laws were made by men. If the Son of Heaven had urgent business, he could also convene court at short notice, and no official dared fail to attend.
Major affairs, however, were ordinarily settled on those three days...
For all sides needed time to prepare.
Thus, between court audiences, the Grand Secretariat held additional deliberations, consulting repeatedly so that it could present detailed proposals to the emperor at the Regular Court Audience.
Under Great Zhou's system, the Cabinet Council laid the plans, while the Regular Court Audience delivered the decisions.
Plans were made in darkened chambers; decisions were pronounced in the bright hall.
All affairs under heaven proceeded from this.
The tenth day of the fourth month, Jinghe Year Fifteen.
In the Duty Room of the Hall of Literary Depths, four Grand Tutor's Chairs stood on either side of a long table.
The charcoal fire had been removed, the spring windows stood half open, and a faint breeze passed through the room.
Today's Cabinet Council had originally been called to prepare draft rulings for the Regular Court Audience five days later.
By custom, the position on the Suzhou Silver Case was to be settled here before being submitted for Imperial Review.
The four cabinet ministers took their assigned seats, dressed in purple robes and jade belts, their expressions varied.
As the Cabinet Council began, Fang Qi drew on the written proposal in his sleeve and settled the matter with a single declaration.
"The Su Silver Case has been resolved. The silver should naturally go to the ministry.
Putting it into the Imperial Treasury would lack justification; dividing it with the Ministry of War would imperil our foundations. In my view, there