Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 82 Promotion
Imperial City, Xuanwu Gate,

The civil and military officials summoned by the King of Qin had different expressions on their faces as they gathered outside the Xuanwu Gate.

What came into view was the once vermilion city gate that had been burned to charcoal black and had to be chiseled apart before it could be opened.

After being led into the city gate by the personal guards of the Prince of Qin's Palace, the scene was in an even greater mess.

Although the bodies had been moved away and there were not necessarily any broken limbs, the white marble steps leading to the Hall of Supreme Harmony were covered with blood stains that had not yet been washed away and arrows scattered in the cracks of the stones, allowing the ministers to get a glimpse of the fierceness of the night fight.

He took a deep breath and walked up the stone steps. Even one of the palace doors was damaged.

All the officials walked into the hall with their heads down, looking straight ahead, and stood on both sides according to their civil and military ranks.

In the main hall, the dragon throne on the stone steps was empty. There was a small table and an armchair on the left side of the dragon throne. Behind the table sat the King of Qin, and next to him was Dai Quan, holding a stack of yellow imperial edicts in his hands, waiting for the King of Qin to speak.

Emperor Yuanqing's close attendant and the palace chief eunuch Dai Quan are both by the side of Prince Qin, so there is even less to say.

The civil and military officials and royal family members of the Qin King's faction were all secretly happy, while the four kings and eight dukes, including officials involved with King Kang, looked pale and grief-stricken at this moment.

Of course, those who are very cunning will have a face as calm as an ancient well.

Obviously, Shi Rui, the son of Duke Shanguo and the heir to the rank of First-Class General of the State, does not fall into this category.

When he saw the King of Qin, tears immediately welled up in his eyes. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, refusing to get up.

Seeing this, the King of Qin smiled calmly and said, "General Fuguo, why do you have to be like this? I have not remembered your fault. However, you are beyond my expectations. I thought I could meet you last night."

Shi Rui remained silent and just kept bowing his head.

Seeing that everyone was present, the King of Qin signaled to Dai Quan, who then cleared his throat and said sharply, "Your Majesty has an order."

Slowly unfolding the imperial edict, Dai Quan read out again: "The Emperor, in accordance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: 'The second prince, Prince Qin, is of pure character, intelligent, benevolent and filial, capable of maintaining peace in the country through military means and governing the world through literary means. He is the best choice for the crown prince. Inheriting the legacy of our ancestors and for the sake of the country, I now appoint Prince Qin Liu Hong as the crown prince, and he will move into the East Palace today to oversee government affairs.'"

Dai Quan closed the imperial edict and said, "I decree this!"

Afterwards, he presented the imperial edict to the King of Qin with both hands.

After hearing the imperial edict, all the kneeling officials said in unison: "Long live His Majesty, and long live His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, a thousand years and a thousand years."

The imperial edict did not even appoint a tutor for the crown prince, but let the prince of Qin supervise the government, proving that Emperor Yuanqing had handed over all the affairs of state to the prince of Qin. And it was only a matter of time before the prince of Qin actually ascended the throne.

The King of Qin looked around at all the officials, raised his hand and said, "All the ministers, please stand up."

After a pause, the King of Qin continued, "You all came from Xuanwu Gate, and you must have heard about what happened last night. King Kang colluded with the northern barbarians and rebelled, intending to kill my father and me and succeed to the throne. Fortunately, his conspiracy did not succeed and he has been executed."

"Now the government and the country are in turmoil, and there are powerful enemies outside. I do not want to implicate so many people and make people panic. The main culprit has been executed, and I will not pursue the ministers who were previously involved with Prince Kang's palace. As long as they are dedicated to the public and govern for the people, I will not bring up this old account again."

"General Fuguo, you should also stand up. Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, we still need everyone to work together."

Prince Beijing Shui Rong suddenly stepped out of the queue and asked, "May I ask your Highness the Crown Prince, how do you want to deal with Jia Daihua, the first-class mighty general of Ningguo Mansion?"

Shui Rong was young and had just inherited the title. He rarely spoke in the court. When he spoke this time, all the officials were surprised. The King of Qin nodded and said, "This is also the second thing I want to say."

Facing the ministers again, the King of Qin said, "Jingying Jiedushi Jia Daihua secretly mobilized troops to the capital to help King Kang's rebellion. But because he failed to join the battlefield and did not cause any casualties, I planned to exempt him from the death penalty of confiscating his property, and my father agreed to this. However, the death penalty can be exempted, but the living punishment cannot be escaped. As for how to deal with him, what do you think?"

The ministers below looked at each other, and were speechless for a moment.

After all, the Rong and Ning mansions had made great military achievements since the founding of the country and were respected by the people. Moreover, because the old Dukes were of good character, they rarely made enemies even among the civil officials. Now, the two Dukes of the second generation, one was unknown whether he was alive or dead, and the other was as good as dead, and no one wanted to add fuel to the fire at this moment.

The main reason is that we haven't figured out what the King of Qin meant, whether he really would not deal with the rebellion that followed King Kang.

Zhongshu Zuocheng An Jingzhong bowed and asked, "Your Highness, how do you plan to deal with Shi Chong, the deputy commander of the Yulin Army, and Sun Qi, the Prince Kang's mansion?"

The King of Qin said, "These two men are the King Kang's right-hand men. They fought on the battlefield. If their crimes are pardoned, I'm afraid it will not reassure the soldiers. Let's confiscate their property and exile them first."

An Jingzhong added: "In this case, it is most appropriate for General Jia to be punished equally for the same crime."

At the right time, someone raised a different opinion. The Minister of Finance Zhao Gongjin said, "As your highness said, General Jia did not cause any casualties, so his crime should be lighter. It is better for him to reflect on his mistakes in prison. Right now, the government and the country are in need of soldiers and generals. If the northern barbarians attack, General Jia will be able to use his talents."

The King of Qin, out of selfishness, did not want to harm his meritorious ministers, so he said, "Okay, as you say."

"Ningguo Mansion's Jia Daihua is ordered to resign his title and official position. Apart from his title, his descendants are not allowed to enter the government for three generations. Ningguo Mansion was ordered to build a mansion. Considering that the ancestral temple of the Jia family's meritorious service is still there, I will show some mercy and allow it to be used temporarily."

Dai Quan was taking notes quickly, and then heard the King of Qin say, "There are rewards and punishments. The third thing I want to do is to reward some of the meritorious officials who have wiped out the rebels."

Hearing this, all the officials were shocked. The name that would be mentioned next would be the key point that each faction needed to win over.

"Dongfang Zhi, a former Jinshi, served as a doctor in the Shaanxi branch of the Secretariat. He was promoted to the third rank of the Secretariat as a minister for his contribution in suppressing the rebellion."

When the first person was rewarded, the officials did not react much. Everyone knew that this person was a close aide to the King of Qin and had already been promoted to a high position in the previous dynasty.

"Yue Ling, the commander-in-chief of the Qin Palace's imperial guards. He made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion and defeated the invaders on the battlefield. He was promoted to the rank of General Xuanwu, the same as the Privy Council."

After he finished speaking, the whole room was in an uproar.

It was normal for a military officer to be promoted to a higher rank, or even to be directly appointed as a governor in a frontier area to gild his reputation. However, it was not right for him to directly enter the Privy Council, a position of the fourth rank, which was the most important of the two courts, and compete with civil officials for jobs.

The Left Prime Minister An Jingzhong, who had always been known as a loyal minister, spoke up again and asked, "Your Highness, I know that Commander Yue has made many contributions, but he has no meritorious service. It may be inappropriate for him to serve in the Privy Council. For a military commander, it would be better to confer a title and reward Commander Yue for his achievements."

Whenever the prime minister spoke, there were inevitably voices of agreement.

The King of Qin frowned slightly, looked around, and showed displeasure. He slammed the table and said, "In previous dynasties, there were examples of people entering the court as officials because of military merit. Why can't it be the same in our dynasty?"

"What's more, now is a time of turmoil. Shouldn't I make use of Yue Ling? There is no room for negotiation on this matter!"

"Next, because the Beijing camp was damaged, Shandong Governor Yin Taihe was transferred to select elite troops to supplement the Beijing camp and go to Beijing to temporarily serve as the governor of the Beijing camp..."

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(End of this chapter)