Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 85 The curtain of 'Shengwu's rule'!!! (The third update yesterday, late.)
【Your name is Chu Shizhao. 】

[You are the fourth prince of Emperor Yongjin. Your mother's name is Lu Luofei. She was born in an ordinary official family. She is also one of the few poor people in the royal family. This makes you not noticed in the royal family.]

[And your father, Emperor Yongjin, had an eldest son when he was a vassal king. This son should have been the most worthy heir to the throne in his heart. However, after Emperor Yongjin inherited the throne of Emperor Zhengguang and entered the court as a younger brother, he died for no reason. Not long after, Emperor Yongjin married into the Wang family in order to consolidate his rule, and then he gradually gained a firm foothold.]

[Emperor Yongjin, who ascended the throne at an early age, quickly dealt with internal and external conflicts. He first appeased the gentry in Guanzhong and gained their support. He also followed Emperor Zhengguang's strategy of weakening the Jiedushi, but he used a gentle approach and took his time.]

[In line with the meticulous thinking of Emperor Yongjin, he spent three years establishing the Three Prefectures Army and redividing the system. In order to ease social conflicts, he clashed with a large number of aristocratic families and tried to revive the rules and regulations, but encountered great resistance and often woke up at night. ]

[However, Emperor Yongjin did not change his original intention. He knew that the shortcomings of the Great Zhou Dynasty were already deep. If they were not corrected, the country would surely perish. He tried to implement new laws and work hard to govern the country. Even though there were many conflicts and contradictions between him and the aristocratic families, he relied on a combination of hard and soft methods and spent ten years to make the Great Zhou Dynasty's national politics increasingly stable. However, in the thirteenth year of Yongjin, Emperor Yongjin's beloved youngest son ate unclean food in the palace and died of poisoning. ]

【Since then, Emperor Yongjin became superstitious about Taoism and prayed for immortality. He did not attend court for a long time and gave up managing government affairs. He asked all officials to assist him in all matters, and the foundation of his ten-year career was destroyed. The Great Zhou Dynasty fell into a stage of national decline.】

[Yongjin Restoration lasted less than three years. Because of the Yongjin Emperor's deteriorating attitude and violent character, he constantly appointed eunuchs to suppress civil and military officials, which made the government increasingly dark. Therefore, it is also said that "the Great Zhou actually perished in Yongjin, not Kaiyang."]

[In the 30th year of Yongjin, Emperor Yongjin had neglected government affairs for nearly a decade, and corruption was rampant in the Great Zhou. Emperor Yongjin fell seriously ill and died, passing the throne to Emperor Kaiyang Chu Shixu.]

[Soon after, the Chang'an Rebellion broke out, and Emperor Kaiyang was murdered by the traitor Ma Su'an, and the Great Zhou Dynasty existed in name only.]

【What can I do? It's fate!!!】

[Chu Shizhao, the fourteenth great-great-grandson of Emperor Gaozu of Zhou and the son of Emperor Yongjin, was in trouble in the "Burning Jin Case" but did not die. He was saved by the female official Yin Meiyu and was able to escape. During the three years of wandering, Chu Shizhao realized the truth in Longchang and comprehended the great principles of how to behave in the world. He practiced the attitude of unity of knowledge and action, and demonstrated the benevolence and righteousness of a king.]

[When the South was in danger, he almost single-handedly saved the country from collapse.]

[In the Battle of Poyang, he fought an almost impossible battle in which the few defeated the many, and became a god in one battle, shocking the north and the south. After unifying the south, he rescued the people of Hebei who were in distress by the Zhang River, and led them across the river, and his benevolence will be passed down through the ages.]

[It took eight years to defeat King Huai, destroy Yan Ming, settle Longxi, fight Sichuan and Shu, and annex the four directions. Three years after the fall of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Chu Shizhao, as the son of Emperor Yongjin, unified the world again.]

[When you ascended the throne, you felt the people's feelings and realized the suffering of the people after the long war. You also observed that people's livelihood was in decline after nine out of ten houses were empty. Therefore, you quickly understood a truth - 'When the country prospers, the people suffer; when the country perishes, the people suffer'. ]

【So, Chu Shizhao set up an ambition to become an emperor. 】

[When fighting, he must quell the troubles in all directions and make the enemy dare not invade again.]

[In governing a country, he wants to keep the people safe and let them keep their wealth in his hands. ]

[In order to restore and develop the war-torn Central Plains as quickly as possible, the King of Chu knew that the world was exhausted and wanted to rest. ]

【Since Long and Shu were pacified, unless there was an emergency, there was no talk of raising an army to attack the four directions.】

【Chu Shizhao was never stingy in rewarding people for their merits. He made Li Jin the Duke of Jin, Huan Sheng the Duke of Liang, Lan Shu the Duke of Ding, Han Gu the Duke of Yan, Wen Yu the Duke of Shang, and most of the others were rewarded.】

【Li Jin, Lan Shu, Han Gu, Dou Li, and Yang Fang are known as the Five Generals of the State.】

【Wen Yu and Guo You are known as the two great men of the Later Zhou.】

[Chu Shizhao invited historians to personally write biographies for these meritorious officials. Almost everyone got the opportunity to have their own biographies written.]

[It can be said that - "They are all able to sense the wind and clouds, exert their wisdom and courage, and are called assistants to the destiny. They are also people with ambitions and abilities."]

【When Chu Shizhao faced the newly pacified imperial court, he immediately adopted a strategy to rectify the administration of officials, in view of the corruption of the official system and the extravagant and corrupt bureaucrats in the former Zhou court in the later period. 】

[After Chu Shizhao unified the country and ascended the throne again, he paid great attention to rectifying the administration of officials, practicing frugality, rewarding honesty, and selecting virtuous people as local officials. He also imposed strict requirements on local officials, strictly rewarded and punished them, and promoted the "Kaocheng Law", a system of promotion and dismissal strictly based on the performance of officials.]

【Therefore, after the rectification, the atmosphere in the officialdom changed. Therefore, it has the reputation of "both the officials inside and outside are not slack, and the people are relaxed."】

[At the same time, Chu Shizhao implemented the imperial examination system, so that people with lofty ideals in the world no longer judged their careers by their family or origin. Chu Shizhao, who had just unified the world, threatened the world, so that those aristocratic families did not dare to act rashly.]

[In March of the 12th year of Shengwu, Chu Shizhao issued an edict to restore the tax system of 30% tax, greatly reducing the heavy taxes of the former Zhou Dynasty, which made the people celebrate. He then married Li Jin's eldest daughter Li Fengning as his concubine and conferred Huan Yi the title of Imperial Concubine.]

[In the same month, in order to prevent the worsening of land annexation, Chu Shizhao issued an edict ordering all counties to measure the land and verify the household registration as a basis for correcting the cultivated land, population and taxes, and ordered Guo You to supervise this matter.]

[After the decree was issued, it was met with indignant resistance from powerful forces, and many places were inclined to rise up in rebellion.]

[In May of the 12th year of Shengwu, Guo You was born in a poor family. He had suffered a lot when he was studying. He felt deeply for the suffering of the people, so he strongly advocated Chu Shizhao's land measurement method. However, when Chu Shizhao's policy was being implemented in various places, Guo You encountered "bandits" on the road, and hundreds of soldiers accompanying him and Guo You were unfortunately killed.]

[The emperor was furious. ] [Wen Yu was also extremely shocked and burst into tears. ]

[Although Wen Yu and Guo You have always been at odds, it is mainly because they advocate different strategies and overall situations, but their original intentions are to govern the country, cultivate themselves, and bring peace to the world. ]

【Wen Yu was extremely supportive of Chu Shizhao's reform of the land policy, but who could have thought that during the chaotic times when the southern and northern expeditions were underway, Guo You did not die. When it was time to reward meritorious service and enjoy peace, Guo You died in an accident because of Chu Shizhao's political reform. What a tragic thing.】

[In June of the 12th year of Shengwu, Chu Shizhao personally led the Central Government Army to pacify the world. He wiped out the bandits in Qingzhou and executed all the local tyrants who committed crimes and attempted to rebel against the land reform.]

[Most of those people thought that Emperor Shengwu was a benevolent ruler, and that if they caused a big incident, the law would not punish everyone. If Emperor Shengwu was really angry, as long as they surrendered in time and expressed their attitude, he would definitely be willing to accept the surrender, and a big incident would be reduced to a small one, and a small incident would be forgotten.]

[But who could have imagined that Chu Shizhao personally went to Qingzhou and executed all those powerful families, big and small, who were suspected of rebellion and disobedience. Although their families were spared, they were not allowed to work in politics for three generations, and were not allowed to marry into official families.]

[Qingzhou was furious about this, and the families of the powerful were also unwilling to accept such punishment. They used their relationships with neighbors and their old friendships to try to start a war again, intending to resist to the end, but they were reported by the people and blocked in the earthen fort in the village, unable to leave.]

[In July of the twelfth year of Shengwu, Chu Shizhao issued an edict that within three years, all candidates who passed the imperial examinations in Qingzhou would not be admitted.]

[In a rage, he even killed tens of thousands of disaffected tyrants in Qingzhou.]

[In August of the twelfth year of Shengwu, Chu Shizhao did not accept the advice of the officials and forcefully allowed Guo You to be enshrined in the temple, to be worshipped in the Taimiao, and to serve him, in order to show his recognition of Guo You's achievements.]

[After collecting Guo You's body, Chu Shizhao personally went out of Chang'an and carried the coffin with the attitude of an emperor descending from his position. When he looked at Guo You's body, Chu Shizhao burst into tears, which made all the officials accompanying him cry.]

[In September of the twelfth year of Shengwu, Chu Shizhao issued an edict that he dispatched Lan Shu with more than 30,000 soldiers to govern the Qingzhou area. If there were anyone who disobeyed, Lan Shu would be allowed to do as he pleased, demonstrating the majesty of the national law.]

[In November of the 13th year of Shengwu, Chu Shizhao watched his eldest son Chu Jibang, born to Yin Meiyu, grow up in the harem, and saw the people of Chang'an gradually live a peaceful and prosperous life, and finally felt extremely relieved. ]

[In order to better govern the country, Chu Shizhao was extremely diligent in governing the country after he ascended the throne. He reviewed memorials every day, and held morning court once every three days on weekdays. During the Shengwu Dynasty, it was even more routine to hold morning court once a day. ]

[When Chu Shizhao checked the accumulated cases in Chang'an, he found that the prisoners' lives in prison were very miserable, and some of them were detained for crimes before he ascended the throne.]

[Many people were imprisoned during the reigns of Emperor Yongjin and Emperor Kaiyang. After Chu Shizhao ascended the throne, he was busy with various affairs and many officials had no time to care about the life and death of these prisoners, nor were they willing to investigate whether the crimes they committed were true or false. Many prisoners were imprisoned because they were involved in political struggles.]

Chu Shizhao could not help but feel compassion, so after careful consideration, he decided to allow nearly a thousand death row prisoners in the prison to return home to reunite with their families for a period of one year, and in the autumn of the following year, they would need to return to stand trial.

[However, many ministers thought that such a thing was inappropriate, but Chu Shizhao felt that he had won the world with integrity and benevolence, and he dared to do such a thing, and also made a gentleman's agreement with these prisoners. ]

[If these prisoners all abide by this gentleman's agreement, then why should the Great Zhou Dynasty he ruled not be able to usher in a revival? ]

[A year passed quickly, and soon it was the return date agreed upon by Chu Shizhao and the prisoners.]

【But the result was unexpected. 】

[In the autumn of the following year, the released death row prisoners returned one after another.]

[Only two people have not returned yet. Chu Shizhao feels sad and has no choice but to send officials to investigate the situation.]

[However, something unexpected happened. On his way home, one of the prisoners met a scholar who had unfortunately died on the road. The scholar had a letter from home. The prisoner felt that it was not easy to return home, so he carried the corpse on his back and walked 300 miles to send him home. As a result, it took him so long to get back to Chang'an.]

[Another person was preparing to return to Chang'an from the north when he encountered the Xiongnu looting incident. He joined the local government troops to resist the Xiongnu, but unfortunately he was seriously injured. He asked others to escort him all the way, which delayed his return to Chang'an.]

Chu Shizhao felt that he had established a gentlemanly friendship with these people, and that none of them had broken their promise and returned truthfully, which proved that they truly wanted to repent, so he decided to pardon these prisoners who had been piled up in Chang'an for many years and let them regain their freedom.

[This made all the officials in the court and the public even more impressed by Chu Shizhao's magnanimity and benevolence, and the social morality of the Great Zhou Dynasty improved day by day. In a short period of time, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty became prosperous because of Chu Shizhao's example and personal example. ]

[Thus Chu Shizhao opened the curtain of the ‘Shengwu Reign’! ! ! ]

　It's a new day.

　　Excuse me.

　　This chapter is considered the update on the 7th.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)