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Even some green-robed officials, who were not qualified to step foot inside certain palace gates, were dragged in to make up the numbers.
One after another, the long-serving old clerks with graying hair knelt outside the palace gates, sighing deeply as they chanted the "Memorial on Sending off the Troops," "To be intimate with the worthy and distance the petty is why the Former Han flourished; to be intimate with the petty and distance the worthy is why the Later Han fell..."
Those unaware of the situation might think they had suffered some grave injustice!
If the timing were different, such a grand scene would surely become the talk of the town amongst Luoyang's common folk after their meals.
Indeed, the history books might even record it in bold strokes: in such a year and month, the emperor was unworthy, and his ministers pleaded forcefully...
