The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 32 The Queen of the Great Talisman

On June 17, the Later Zhou army, which had rested in Luzhou for one night, set off again.

On the way to Zezhou, news came from Tokyo: Prime Minister Feng Dao died of illness.

An unshakable figure for five generations, a long-lasting elder for ten dynasties... Later generations have extremely polarized opinions about Feng Dao.

Ouyang Xiu called him shameless, and Sima Guang denounced him as a traitor.

Some people say that he has no moral integrity, does not fulfill his duties as a subject, and has no loyalty to the king.

He was a man of few words, always following the trend and always supporting whoever was emperor. Even after the Khitans invaded Kaifeng, he shamelessly went to ask for an official position.

But some people also say that he was not greedy as an official and was good at understanding the people's sentiments. Against the backdrop of the chaotic Five Dynasties period, emperors changed frequently, and Feng Dao, a weak scholar, had no ability to change anything.

Therefore, he would rather bear the infamy and stay in the court, hoping to influence the king with his words and deeds, not to carry out massacres but to treat the people well.

Li Yi did not want to comment on Feng Dao's moral character, but he knew that Chai Rong must be unhappy with Feng Dao.

Before the expedition to Northern Han, a group of officials in the court led by Feng Dao tried to stop Chai Rong from leading the army in person.

It is said that when Chai Rong compared himself with Emperor Taizong of Tang, Feng Dao directly retorted, "Your Majesty is not as good as Emperor Taizong."

Chai Rong suppressed his anger and did not mention this matter. He also said that the strength of the imperial guards of the Later Zhou Dynasty far exceeded that of the Northern Han Dynasty, and defeating the other side was as easy as crushing an egg with a mountain.

Unexpectedly, Feng Dao threw out another sentence: Your Majesty is not Mount Tai.

This made the emperor very angry, but fortunately Chai Rong was a wise ruler. Because Feng Dao had been an important official for several dynasties, he did not argue with him.

Otherwise, if it were someone like Yang Guang, giving him a cup of poisoned wine would be considered a courtesy.

After learning that Feng Dao had passed away, Chai Rong showed his magnanimity as a monarch and did not care about the fact that the other party did not give him face in the court.

Immediately afterwards, Chai Rong announced the suspension of court for three days, appointed Feng Dao as Shangshu Ling, posthumously conferred the title of King Ying on him, and bestowed upon him the posthumous title of Wen Yi.

For a civil official to be crowned a king, even if it is posthumously, is a great honor.

Chai Rong was also extremely kind to Feng Dao...

Since the army had taken a large number of civilians with them from Northern Han, and there was no need to rush after the battle, the return journey was much slower than the outward journey.

Along the way, Chai Rong relocated and resettled these Northern Han people in batches, and ordered local officials to supervise the construction of houses and provide them with food and clothing.

Ten days later, the army arrived in Huaizhou, and the emperor ordered the release of Zhao Huang, the commander of the Control Crane Army, and Zheng Haoqian, the Tongshi Sheren.

And they were reinstated on the spot.

Originally, the emperor planned to return directly to Kaifeng, but after staying in Huaizhou for a day, the emperor suddenly changed his mind and wanted to go to pay homage to the tomb of Taizu Guo Wei first.

The army then crossed the Yellow River from Huaizhou and headed to Songling in Xinzheng County.

It is not known whether Chai Rong really had deep feelings for his adoptive father Guo Wei, or whether the failure in attacking Northern Han made him feel sad and depressed.

As soon as he saw Guo Wei's tomb, Chai Rong wailed and even knelt in front of the tombstone, crying and talking to himself.

All the ministers and generals who accompanied him were saddened by this.

After paying homage to Songling, the army turned around and returned to Kaifeng.

"Brother Yi, when we left Tokyo, we were just lowly lieutenant colonels. But when we came back a few months ago, we became mid- to high-level generals...tsk tsk tsk!"

Ma Renyu was very excited along the way and did not feel tired at all from the long march.

People are very tenacious if they are motivated. When they are encouraged by generous rewards, any hardship or difficulty is not worth mentioning.

"When I return to Kaifeng this time, I will bring my family here to enjoy life. There's nothing much to grow on that little piece of land in Xiajin."

Li Yi couldn't help but look at Ma Renyu a few more times.

I didn't expect this guy to say this. According to his previous character, how happy would it be if one person was full and the whole family was not hungry?

It seems that the battlefield can really make people grow quickly... No wonder, after seeing so much life and death and killing, even the most naive people will be forced to mature.

After a brutal war ends, the biggest thought in the minds of those who have survived a near-death experience may be to go home.

Go home alive... Li Yi remembered the promise he made to Guo when they parted.

Yes!

I also have a family I want to protect in this era. If a person really becomes a lonely person, how sad it would be...

"Let's bring my uncle and his family to Kaifeng when we go back this time."

Li Yi muttered to himself. "End of June."

The Later Zhou imperial guards were about to arrive at Shangcai Post, thirty miles outside of Tokyo City.

At this time, news came from the front that Lady Fu of Wei State led all the officials out of the city to welcome the emperor's carriage, and they were about to arrive at Shangcai Posthouse.

The emperor immediately ordered the army to speed up, and the two sides soon met at Shangcai Station.

……

Perhaps he was just like an ordinary man, wanting to show off in front of his woman, or perhaps he wanted to build momentum for the official enthronement of Lady Weiguo as queen.

The emperor specially stopped at Shangcai Posthouse and summoned civil and military officials together with Lady Weiguo.

"Envoy Li, His Majesty has specially summoned the meritorious officers and soldiers, and wishes to commend them together with Her Majesty the Queen."

Li Yi was a little surprised by the person who brought the message. Zhao Kuangyin came personally on horseback to inform him.

But this is not a problem. Although Zhao Da was promoted to the rank of Sanyuan Du Yu Hou, he still has not resigned from his position as the deputy general of the emperor's personal guard for the time being.

Without bothering to exchange excessive pleasantries with Zhao Kuangyin, Li Yi called Ma Renyu to follow him to the central military tent to meet the emperor.

When they entered the tent, many civil and military officials had already arrived and were standing on both sides, talking in low voices.

The throne at the top is still empty, it seems that the emperor and empress have not arrived yet.

Li Yi took a quick glance and quickly walked to Shi Yanchao's side. Ma Renyu also hurriedly followed.

When they arrived, Li Yi was the first to greet them, "Shi Du Yu Hou."

After the Battle of Gaoping, Shi Yanchao was promoted to the governor of Huazhou, and when the returning army passed through Luzhou, the emperor appointed him as the commander of the cavalry of the imperial guards.

So Li Yi simply called him by his military rank.

I have to say that Shi Yanchao is really unpopular. No one pays attention to him even when he is standing here.

But he didn't seem to take it seriously, just standing there casually, not embarrassed at all.

Seeing Li Yi standing next to him, Shi Yanchao was quite considerate and smiled, saying, "Envoy Li."

Not long after, all the civil and military officials arrived, and the tent, which was not very spacious to begin with, was suddenly packed with people.

Immediately afterwards, the emperor and empress entered hand in hand and sat on the throne above.

Li Yi quickly glanced at the daughter of Prince Wei Fu Yanqing, who was later referred to as the "Big Queen Fu" among the 'Big and Small Queen Fu'.

She looked very young, only in her early twenties, wearing a luxurious brocade robe, with her hair combed into a high bun, inlaid with pearls and jade, she was dazzling.

She sat next to Chai Rong, and they didn't look like they were on the same level at all. They were said to be husband and wife, but they looked more like father and daughter.

This is not an exaggeration at all. Fu has taken good care of herself and has an excellent appearance and temperament.

On the other hand, Chai Rong looks very old, perhaps because he traveled a lot when he was young and he is not young anymore.

There is not much record of Empress Dafu in history. It is said that she first married the son of Li Shouzhen, the governor of Hezhong in the Later Han Dynasty.

Later, Li Shouzhen rebelled and was defeated by the army led by Guo Wei, who was the Privy Councilor at the time. His entire family committed suicide by burning themselves.

However, Fu remained calm in the face of danger. Not only did she save her life, she was also valued by Guo Wei, who sent people to escort her back to her parents' home.

Later, she was adopted as a daughter by Guo Wei, and Chai Rong, who had lost his wife, took Fu as his second wife.

The biological mother of Emperor Gong of Later Zhou, Chai Zongxun, was this Empress Dafu.

It was a pity that this woman had a short life. She died of illness less than two years after becoming queen. Chai Rong then took her younger sister as his second wife.

And her biological sister is the Empress Xiaofu, who was among the orphans and widows who were "bullied" by Zhao Da in history.

I can only say that both sisters have both a precious and a fragile fate...

　It was a close call, I almost stopped updating.

　　Today I have made some slight modifications to some of the previous plots, mainly from chapters six, seven and eight.

　　It does not affect the overall plot. What has been changed is the sister-in-law part, which has been simplified.

　　The subsequent plot has also changed a bit, so the previous plot about Mrs. Weiguo has been deleted.

　　It’s changed to today’s chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)