The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 303 Yuanhuang Shengdi
After a great victory at Sekigahara, the emperor returned to the capital.

The ministers danced at Bashang, and were generously rewarded. He was given a title of honor, the Holy Emperor Yuanhuang.

Liu Rengong stabbed him in the back in time and made great contributions, so he was promoted to the positions of Prime Minister, Shizhong, and Duke of Beiping County.

Wang Rong gave crucial support at the last moment, and was promoted to the rank of envoy, prime minister, and Duke of Zhao. Wang Zimei, a subordinate who made great contributions, was awarded the title of Zhong Dafu and appointed as the deputy envoy of Beijing Dao. Xiao Gan was awarded the title of Zhong San Dafu and appointed as the governor of Zezhou.

Li Sizhou cut off the rebels' food supply, but did not fight to the death. The sage ordered the pursuit of Li Keyong, but for some reason, he only sent Li Ao, the head of the army, to lead a few thousand people, as if to preserve his strength? The court was displeased and did not reward him.

Li Cunxiao, the defense commander of Ruzhou, chased Li Keyong to Pinglu overnight and captured and killed thousands of people.

The adults were very satisfied with his stance and gave him the appropriate rewards.

The Zhao brothers held back Zhu Dalang and worked hard to transport supplies to the capital, and each of them was rewarded.

Wei Bo only talked big but did not send any troops, so there was no reward.

The Yiwu Army attracted firepower for Li Keyong in Weizhou and blocked the Youzhou Army. The court was furious and abolished the town. The two states under the jurisdiction of Xun, Yizhou, were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Youzhou Army, and Dingzhou was transferred to the Chengde Army, which was considered a real reward for the two families.

But there is no free lunch in the world.

The territory is given to you, but it is still in the hands of the Wang family. You have to conquer it yourself. If you get it, Yan and Zhao will be bordering each other. With the historical legacy of the two families and Liu Rengong's ambition, it's hard to expect them to live in harmony. Haha.

On the one hand, they were planning to make the three families consume each other, and on the other hand, they were trying to force Zhao to take sides. After all, Zhao was not Yan's opponent. The imperial court was actually quite shady and did not consider the two families as their own.

Zhu Dalang, who took advantage of the situation, also received a response. The governor of Xuanwu Army, who had just been in power for a short time, was dismissed. The court had long planned to issue an edict, but the battle of Zuo Fengyi had been inconclusive, and they were afraid of angering Zhu Dalang again, so they delayed it until now.

"Hehe, since the Holy Emperor Yuan has defeated Li Keyong, why should we be afraid?!" From time to time, there would be people in the crowd who would spit out saliva like a villain who had succeeded.

The court and the major royalist nobles were also jubilant. The Holy Emperor once again defeated the evil and stubborn, saved the country from danger and fortune. What could be more inspiring than this? Hedong has always been known as a strong country, but the Holy Emperor defeated it first and then won it, killing so many people that the corpses floated for ten miles in the Yellow River. What does this mean?
That is a Li clan member who is even better than his ancestor!
The empire will not fall!
The Holy Tang Dynasty existed in the past, the Holy Tang Dynasty exists today, and the Holy Tang Dynasty will exist forever.

The failure of several expeditions against the vassal states since Qianfu and the gloom and despair of being easily invaded into Chang'an seemed to have been swept away, and some fanatics even sang the tune of Kaiyuan Daye.

There are too many rewards to count.

All parties involved were very happy, except the Holy Emperor.

Although he was given a plus sign, judging from his expression, he didn't seem very happy.

The ministers kept talking about this and that, reporting endlessly, but they just nodded absentmindedly, or said: "This is not my responsibility. You are violating the relevant court regulations by coming to me privately for this matter. So be it. I have no objection. Think about it again."

Some people were annoyed and afraid, while others admired him. At the same time, they were all curious about why the saint was so unhappy.

Amid the commotion, the carriage entered the city.

The Holy Emperor sighed: "Is it true that the Celestial Immortal Yuanjun cannot be granted the title of Yan Guo and Zhao Rong? There are precedents in previous dynasties of the country."

"There is indeed a story about Zheng and Wu, but this is a different time, and not every example has practical significance. Thief Zhang——"

"She is already the Celestial Goddess of Fanyunfuyu Tower, a female Taoist priest of the royal family, not a thief," the Holy Emperor emphasized.

"Yes, Taoist Zhang." Zheng Yanchang changed his words and explained, "There are many fierce rulers in the harem, and Taoist Zhang is more noble than most of them. This is the root of the trouble. Moreover, from the four thieves of An Lushan to Chao Cai, how could the fake queen survive? They were all either beheaded or stripped naked and beaten to death in Jingzhao Prison. We did not ask for his execution because the Holy Emperor likes it and wants to win over the people of Bian."

"Then let's settle for the next best thing, and choose one of the concubines, beauties, or talented people for her?" The Saint Emperor still refused to give up: "The Celestial Fairy Yuanjun has given birth to three sons for me. I really can't bear to see her still living in the Taoist temple, unable to appear in public, and being pointed at in public occasions."

"Just replace the person in power in the court with someone who flatters the emperor." Zheng Yanchang replied, "As a minister assisting the government, I dare not agree to this."

The Saint Emperor was unhappy and looked like he had lost all hope in life. "Is there a possibility that if I force them to do it, they will just hold back their dissatisfaction? After a while, they will just accept it?"

Zheng Yanchang was speechless: "But it will definitely bring revenge on the mother and son. I will report this to you at the risk of my life. The emperor has unlimited freedom. No one has the right to interfere with what he does. This does not exist in the real world."

The Holy Emperor was silent for a long time, then he sighed, "What did the virtuous concubine say?"

Zheng Yanchang took out the imperial edict: "Since then, he has been deposed and poisoned, and claimed to have died of illness."

"The virtuous concubine is innocent, and she has advised the One-Eyed Dragon many times..." The Holy Emperor held his forehead.

"Yes." Zheng Yanchang agreed. "But the law of the country does not extend to the family members. To punish the emperor is to cut off the roots and impose a death penalty. In the case of Liu Ju, the whole family was killed, and only Emperor Xuan escaped because of the law and did not execute his infant. He is still in prison. The fact that Concubine Xian and her son were not imprisoned shows that the Holy Tang has a kind heart and behaves decently. Besides, the one-eyed dragon does not care about his daughter's safety, so why should the Holy Emperor?"

The Holy Emperor was still unwilling: "Xian Fei is very good."

Zheng Yanchang's words were earnest, but people felt like they were in winter: "As the saying goes, everyone can marry, but you only have one father. I have only seen women crying their hearts out for their father's death, but I have never seen many women who wanted to die because their husbands were gone. The Holy Emperor will eventually kill Li Keyong's entire family. Keeping your Highness will eventually bring disaster... If the Holy Emperor doesn't do it out of consideration for their old relationship, the court has many cruel officials who are not afraid of the career misfortune of this mother-killer! Besides, Li Keyong invaded the capital and killed so many people that everyone wanted to eat his flesh. After he retreated, his daughter would still be in the palace, how would people talk about it?"

The Holy Emperor seemed not to hear.

If I were killed by Li Keyong, and Li Keyong wanted to establish the King of Dai as emperor and honor her as the queen mother, she would probably just go with the flow and accept the reality, right?

"Holy Emperor!" Zheng Yanchang raised his voice.

The Holy Emperor said softly, "Send Gao Mingyue to send all the dowry girls from Taiyuan to the temporary palace. Change the edict to confiscate the talismans and clothes first, and take Feishi to the forbidden garden Yuzao Palace to be imprisoned. Wait for me to see her. If it doesn't work, I will send someone to help her become an immortal."

The female imperial concubines and several imperial concubines who were serving the emperor were silent for a moment.

Concubine Shu looked even more pale.

I just felt something in my heart break. It turns out that he can really kill anyone, and the love in bed is all a lie.

If that's the case, then is it necessary to be charming and coquettish in all ways to please others?
Is it worth it?
If you are in danger in the future, you may be killed, so you have to take action in advance.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zheng Yanchang bowed, breathed a sigh of relief, and felt secretly happy.

Back then, the Guangqi Rebellion was started by the One-Eyed Dragon, and the dignity of the monarch and his subjects was completely lost...

Getting rid of the daughter was only the first step.

The second step is to kill every man in her family and exile every woman, so that they will not even have the chance to enter the palace as slaves.

"There is one more thing." The Saint Emperor rested his elbows on the table and said in a low voice, "I have been worried about the harem system for a long time."

"Should we reform the official system or respect the hierarchy?" Zheng Yanchang asked.

"Both." The Holy Emperor said succinctly, "Redefine the ranks and titles of concubines and female officials. The three concubines remain unchanged, and the old system is increased, and the Imperial Concubine, Beautiful Concubine, Hui Concubine, and Rou Concubine are restored. Zhao Ruxin of Liang State is canonized as Imperial Concubine. The nine concubines and women of the world are abolished and changed to a new order, such as Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Beauty, Talent, Noble Lady, Fairy, Fox Lord, Shao Shi, etc., with nine in each rank. Of course, I am just giving examples to describe my ideas."

As for Chongyuan and the like, they sound so ugly that just hearing them makes me feel like an ugly bitch and I don't want to see anyone.

Li Xi twirled his beard while taking notes, and replied in an elegant Chu accent: "I heard that your words have a touch of ancient times. I will entrust the matter to the Ministry of Rites. Junior Minister Li Chuo is particularly proficient in the history of the Zhou, Han, Wei and Jin dynasties."

The Holy Emperor nodded and said, "The eunuchs must also have a comprehensive system. For example, the Privy Council will be reorganized, with the upper chamber passing on information and the lower chamber speaking out. All personnel in the upper chamber will still be female imperial concubines. The lower chamber will be changed to scholars, who can be selected from the Secretariat and the Jixian Academy."

The two privy councils were the eyes and mouth of the emperor. Wang Yan was responsible for delivering various orders and instructions to relevant units and people. Chuan Biao was responsible for reporting court affairs and ministers' requests for audience to the emperor.

The two determine whether you can issue an order, to whom you can send it, who you can meet, and whether you know if someone has asked to see you.

"The revision of the system of the Central Dynasty can be handed over to Wang Tuan." Han Wei beside him suggested: "I will add one more thing, that is, female concubines who are pregnant or have children cannot serve as officials. Foreign relatives are prevalent, this is a last resort, but we must guard against collusion between the inside and the outside. Especially the likes of the Lady of Liang, who is highly favored, has many followers, and many family members are in the army. If they suddenly attack..."

Han Wei stopped there.

A maidservant at the side glanced at Han Wei secretly and took note of it.

Old dog, when I get back I will tell the Privy Councillor about your accusations against the treacherous prime minister.

There were so many people watching, the Holy Emperor avoided answering: "Also, there must be a set of conditions for the promotion of the inner court ladies. What are the conditions for being granted the title of Lady of a County, and what are the conditions for being promoted to the title of a State? Who can be granted and who can't be granted. I mean, only female officials can be granted, not concubines, and concubines can no longer be given the title of inner court ladies, and ministers' mothers and wives can no longer be given the title of outer court ladies. For example, Lady of the State of Zhao, Lady of the Hedong County, etc., are limited to my women, only female officials."

In the Guo Dynasty, the emperor's women could be given titles such as Lady of Qin and Lady of Chu, and ministers could also be given titles, and sometimes they were given the same title. For example, Chen of Emperor Zhaozong and Zhang Hui of Zhu Wen were both Lady of Wei.

"This..." Several people felt that it was inappropriate, but hearing the Saint Emperor's overbearing tone, they knew it was not a big deal, so they said, "Well, it is indeed inappropriate for the monarch and his subjects to have the same name."

"And more." The Saint Emperor's face darkened. "I want to make Zhang Yueyi, Shi Yuan, and Zhang Hui my concubines. If you still don't agree, you will be made governors!"

"Where did Zhang Hui come from?" Zheng Yanchang was dumbfounded.

Han Wei and Wang Tuan looked at each other and quickly advised: "Didn't we agree not to mention the matter of Zhang Hui..."

"This Zhang Hui." The Holy Emperor smiled and lifted the curtain behind him as if showing off a treasure.

When they looked over, Zhang Hui was alone, imprisoned in the sedan chair. She knelt on the futon with her head down, motionless. She had heard the conversation between the emperor and his ministers outside, but her dignity as the wife of the former commander of the Yan army and the mistress of Fanyang forced her to remain silent. The curtain was opened, revealing a small part of the beauty's face, with tears in the corners of her eyes. Her body and chest shook with the bumpy carriage, as if she couldn't hold it back.

“How can I watch this!” Zheng Yanchang’s face turned red with embarrassment. Seeing that the Holy Emperor was still smiling with a crooked mouth, he quickly grabbed the curtain and closed it.

"Ahem." Han Wei covered his brows, silently chanted Buddhist scriptures, and tried hard to suppress the desire to write erotic poems.

Holy Emperor, I don't mean to blaspheme, but I do have this specialty. If I can't write other poems well, I will write about women...

Han Wei pinched his thigh hard and said, Han Wei, Han Wei, you are such a piece of shit!

"Who is this?" Zheng Yanchang's old face was shocked, as if he had eaten a lot of intestines. One person went out to fight, and three people returned? Looking at the saliva at the corners of the woman's mouth and the tears at the corners of her eyes, it is not difficult to imagine what this couple had just done in the car!
Did you do it on purpose or accidentally?

Wang Tuan had good eyesight and could tell at a glance that Zhang Hui's looks, figure, manners, expression, and makeup were not something that an ordinary person could produce.

He immediately began to criticize the Holy Emperor.

The Saint Emperor is indeed the Saint Emperor. Although he is young, the style of this Saint Li is genuine - if he doesn't mess around with women, what kind of Saint Li is he? In this way, the rumors that he and the aunts of the Xue Wangfang are inseparable are true.

Outrageous, outrageous! Dirty, dirty!
Wang Tuan covered his face with one hand and almost fainted.

Here, the Holy Emperor answered the Prime Minister: "She was Zhang Hui, the wife of Li Kuangchou, the governor of Youzhou. Hui means "Hui" and was later abducted by Li Keyong. I rescued her in Zuofengyi. I got it wrong just now. She was not made a concubine but a nun. Seeing that she had nowhere to go, I asked her what she wanted. She said she just wanted to become a nun in the palace, which was safe. I had no choice but to take her in."

The Holy Emperor sighed and spoke reluctantly.

"How pitiful." Li Xi shook his head: "If so, it is very appropriate. We, the ministers, will take responsibility for handling the case."

Zheng Yanchang glared at Li Xi fiercely, cursing Li Xi in his heart for being a pure-minded person who didn't know about the private life of the Holy Emperor, nor did he understand the Holy Emperor at all. He said that the emperor took him in to become a monk in the palace out of his concern, so of course he was concerned about his bed!

"Your Majesty..." Zheng Yanchang tried to make amends.

The Holy Emperor immediately answered, "Good! Li Qing, please watch over it and do it quickly! Madam Yan is homeless and should have a certificate of ordination when she enters the palace, so that people won't gossip about me and her. These countrymen often slander me for having bad relationships, don't you know that?"

Traffic is unsafe...

Li Xi and Wang Tuan were still chewing on the true meaning of these four words, while Zheng Han had already covered his face at the same time. After Guan Yu and Bao Bao's friendship and repaying with a spring, is this the tenth idiom that is hard to look at?
"Oh, I forgot." Li Xi said, "I have discussed sending an edict to the various tribes of Yan Zhao and King Tan to continue the campaign against Keyong until this thief is captured. However, the imperial court will not participate for the time being. Although we have won this time, we have also suffered a lot of losses."

After more than half a year of fighting, there were 30,000 casualties. Although he was trying to preserve his strength and avoid being picked, he was indeed unable to carry out a long expedition.

This was also the reason why the Holy Emperor returned to his capital after learning that Li Keyong had escaped and making an assessment.

It’s not that he is afraid of the one-eyed dragon, but he is afraid of Zhu Dalang.

Who knows if this guy will take advantage of the opportunity to attack?

"Don't be in a hurry." The Holy Emperor instructed: "Wang Rong and Liu Rengong will continue to serve as the recruiting envoys. It's up to them whether to fight or not. Wang Zimei and Li Sizhou's troops will be recalled to the interior to rest. After a few days of rest, I will change the military. In addition, summon Wang Ke to the court. The National Protection Army is the enemy's gateway, so we need capable people. General Chen Xiong of Yanchi Town is a close confidant of Chongrong, brave and good at fighting, and has prestige. He is also the father of Lady Chen, so we will appoint him as the commander."

"Yes." Li Xi wrote it down.

"Ahem." Zheng Yanchang coughed again and said, "After calculating the pensions and military rewards, the finances are not enough to cover the expenses. Should we ask the Internal Zhuangzhai Envoy and Xuanhui Envoy to borrow some money? In addition, Liu Shouzhen claimed that he had escorted a million strings of cash before May to ask for the Duke, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Central Secretariat... this matter..."

The Holy Emperor got annoyed when he heard words like "reward" and "money" and scolded, "Does the court want to beg for food? Liu Shouzhen has never paid tribute since he was appointed as the governor of Jiangxi. Now that he wants an official position, he thinks of giving money! Princes, how many princes do I have under my rule?"

What's more, under the Saint Emperor's governance, the rampant prevalence of fame and honor has been greatly curbed, and there is no longer a single prince in this dynasty.

"Please bear with the humiliation for now." Zheng Yanchang's face was thick enough: "Otherwise, I will have the East Market Magistrate Zhang Ping, Chang'an Magistrate, and Wannian Magistrate to torture the merchants and tycoons..."

"I second the motion." The other three added, "Otherwise, we have no choice but to increase taxes and reduce salaries. But the court has a huge army, and the people are already poor. The taxes have been collected for three years, and raising taxes will lead to cannibalism. Salaries cannot be reduced, and they cannot be owed. It doesn't matter to us, but most officials are not rich. This is a slow push... The officials' loyalty and confidence in the Holy Tang and the Restoration also need money to nourish them. How many people would want to be officials without benefits?"

"Whatever, whatever." The Holy Emperor said woodenly.

Zheng Yanchang kept talking, as if he was reciting something.

"Qian Liu, the governor of Suzhou and Hangzhou, claimed to have sent 500,000 pieces of silk, saying that the position of commander of the Zhenhai Army was vacant..."

"Li Shiyue, the governor of Huzhou, threatened to send 200,000 strings of cash and money to ask for a banner and to place the Zhongguo Army in Huzhou."

"Lei Man presented a petition, saying that he was willing to donate money to help build the palace, and first pledged 70,000 strings of cash to the capital, asking to be appointed as an envoy."

"Liu Shizheng sent an envoy to Guangzhou to petition for the promotion of Gui Guan to the post of military governor of Jingjiang Army, claiming that he wanted to offer this gift to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival..."

The Holy Emperor was dumbfounded.

I was wondering why when I was studying I always saw the court conferring official titles on a group of people at irregular intervals.

"You guys can do whatever you want." The Saint Emperor was listless: "I'll be back now."

So annoying!
"We will settle these accounts in detail later." Zheng Yanchang cleared his throat and said, "At present, we have discussed with the Central Court in advance and have prepared a dinner and a dance troupe in the Linde Hall. The Holy Emperor, please have a feast first and have a good rest."

Thinking of the graceful and light splits performed by the Inner Court Envoys Yin Ying and Yu Daolian, the various poses of the purple-clad dancers, and Ah Zhao's lightning-fast Hu Xuan dance, the Saint Emperor's mood slowly calmed down.

When they arrived at Beique leisurely, Beique Jiadi also caused a sensation.

The dignitaries, wealthy merchants, members of the royal family, scholars and ladies, and street patrol soldiers all flocked to Tianjie to watch. The first thing that appeared was a large group of dancing and music, and then the Holy Emperor sitting on the main carriage of the Lubu with white gauze and white curtains.

Large groups of soldiers and horses and imperial censors marched in front and behind, holding banners.

The soldiers' waists and horses were all covered with black and gray heads and ears. In the carriages at the back of the team, there were many skinny Hedong men and women, and the rest of the carts were filled with armor, weapons, pots and bowls, clothes, tents, seats... There was everything, so much that the convoy could hardly see the end.

Amid the noise, everyone stood on tiptoe and peered out, pointing at the team, exclaiming in amazement and asking questions.

It's really amazing how much spoils there are. How can the arsenal hold more? Why not take some of the weapons and melt them down into farm tools?

"Have all the rebels been killed by the saint?"

"That female Bodhisattva, stop shouting. The emperor has been promoted to the Holy Emperor."

The lady shouted, "Congratulations on your triumphant return! The rebels kidnapped my sister, and those damned ones finally got their revenge! Hahahaha!"

Zheng Yanchang lifted the curtain and looked at the crowd in a leisurely manner: "My Li family is not like Huang Chao and the governors who don't care about you. Everyone, rest assured. The Holy Emperor has driven the Jin thieves into the Yellow River to bathe! Tens of thousands of them have been captured and killed, and more than 100,000 horses, mules, armor and weapons of all kinds have been seized, and the rest are countless."

The lady gasped: "...hiss...it's really the Holy Emperor, it's really the Holy Emperor!"

“So spicy!”

"Sister, the Holy Emperor is looking at me! I saw the Holy Emperor! How can she be so beautiful? Ahhhhh, I want to commit adultery overnight. Bah, I want to sign up for this year's family son talent show! Give birth to a child for the Holy Emperor and serve him for the rest of my life~"

"Let me see? Make way, make way!"

"The Holy Emperor looks so clean and elegant, he doesn't look like he can fight. Has he ever killed an enemy?"

"Kill the enemy?" Wu Xiong shouted loudly: "The Holy Emperor killed two fierce commanders on the battlefield alone! He killed Hongdao with his flying spear and killed Zongyi with his sword!"

“Oh my God…” Another exclamation and excitement.

On both sides of Tianjie, everyone looked at the carriage with awe. The Weiguo Lady Nangong Chongyan, who was riding, smiled from ear to ear: "I ask you, a common people, how could you know the power of the destiny!"

Yuwen Rou also looked very proud and glanced at the people with arrogance.

Other large groups of female imperial concubines in white and purple also rode around the emperor, with a solemn guard of honor, like stars surrounding the moon. Each of them was also arrogant, cold as ice, pure as ice, holding the reins of the horses, like servants of gods who could not be desecrated.

"Long live!" some soldiers and civilians raised their arms and shouted.

Led by someone unknown, everyone on the street started shouting.

The Holy Emperor sat in the sedan chair, holding Zhang Hui's head, thinking about how to restore Zhang Hui's status and what titles of kingship to give to his three sons.

Li Guanyin, the King of Jin. Li Shaoyin, the King of Qi. Li Zichuan, the King of Chu.

how is it?

(End of this chapter)