Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 471 Destiny (Part 9)

When Prime Minister Pang entered Luoyang, his eyes welled up with tears, and then he wept uncontrollably.

The civil and military officials who came to welcome Prime Minister Pang were all ministers of a fallen dynasty, filled with anxiety and unease. Infected by Prime Minister Pang's presence, they all wept bitterly. Among them were several old ministers from the previous dynasty who had first served King Qiao, then Situ Xi, and now surrendered to Emperor Zhaoyuan. To put it bluntly, they were no better than three-surname slaves.

These veteran officials, who had served under Prime Minister Pang in the same court, were now embracing each other and weeping bitterly. It was unclear whether they were weeping for themselves in Luoyang, a city that had once again changed hands.

"When Prime Minister Pang left Luoyang, his residence was occupied by the rebel army in Jiangnan. It has been vacant for the past two years." After crying for a while, a civil official in his fifties perked up and said, "I have already had the residence tidied up. Please go back and settle in for a day or two to recover before we talk."

This civil official was one of his old acquaintances, the former Minister of Rites, Qi, who became prime minister after joining King Qiao's faction.

Prime Minister Pang bowed to Prime Minister Qi and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Qi."

Prime Minister Qi gave a bitter smile, his tone full of self-mockery: "I am a surrendered official, and I don't know if Emperor Zhaoyuan will spare my life. Besides, in front of the renowned Prime Minister Pang, how can I be qualified to call myself Prime Minister? If Prime Minister Pang still remembers our decades-long friendship as colleagues, please put in a good word for me before Emperor Zhaoyuan. Let me return to my hometown to retire!"

The other civil officials also wore bitter expressions.

A new emperor brings a new court. Four years ago, Emperor Zhaoyuan established his capital in Yan County, becoming the ruler of the north. Now that Luoyang has been recaptured, how will he treat the officials of Luoyang?
The best outcome would be to move the capital to Luoyang, where they could still maintain their positions in officialdom. However, upon closer examination, this possibility is extremely slim. Yan County was the place where Emperor Zhaoyuan rose to power and the foundation of the Pei family. Moreover, when Pei Qinghe ascended the throne, he swore that "the monarch dies for the state, and the emperor guards the nation's gates." How could he possibly change his mind and move the capital back to Luoyang in just four years?
Wouldn't this make us a laughing stock for the whole world?

Luoyang, the former capital of the Jing Dynasty and the political and economic center of the south, holds a special position. How will Pei Qinghe enter Luoyang? And how will he treat these surrendered officials? Everything remains to be seen.

Prime Minister Qi adopted a humble attitude, and the other civil officials also lowered their stance and pleaded with Prime Minister Pang for leniency.

Having navigated the officialdom for decades, Prime Minister Pang was shrewd and worldly-wise. He offered kind words of comfort to his former colleagues, but did not give them a single genuine promise.

The ministers cursed the old fox in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do.

In the following days, people flocked to Prime Minister Pang's door. Some were filled with remorse and self-reproach, some regretted their past actions, some wept bitterly, and some even knelt down to beg for mercy. They used every trick in the book.

Prime Minister Pang responded to each question one by one, but he refused to budge.

On July 28th, Emperor Zhaoyuan led a vast army to appear outside Luoyang.

Prime Minister Pang led a group of trembling, surrendered officials to greet them outside the city. The three remaining military generals also arrived, their faces ashen. No wealthy merchant or noble family in Luoyang dared to be absent from such an important occasion; they huddled obediently in a corner like lambs to the slaughter.

The people of Luoyang were clearly much bolder than those elsewhere. Having survived several city breaches and massacres, the survivors still dared to come to the city gates to join the commotion and peek out.

"That is Emperor Zhaoyuan!"

"The daughter of a disgraced official was exiled to Youzhou, where she built an army, conquered the country, and is now leading her troops back to Luoyang. Even folk tales wouldn't dare to write it like this, and operas wouldn't dare to sing it like this."

Shh! Keep your voices down. Don't let them hear us! If they pull out their knives, we'll both be beheaded.

"What's there to be afraid of! How many people have died around us over the years? We're lucky to be alive today. If we're going to be beheaded for saying a few words, then God never intended for us to live!" The people of Luoyang, who had straightened their backs, finally fell silent as the army drew closer and the sense of oppression grew stronger.

The dark blue banner bearing the character "Pei" fluttered in the wind, and the black-faced female general holding the banner was majestic, awe-inspiring, and imposing.

The young and valiant Emperor Zhaoyuan rode his horse leisurely through the gates of Luoyang.

Compared to Prime Minister Pang's agitated and out-of-control behavior when he entered Luoyang a few days ago, Emperor Zhaoyuan was much calmer and more composed.

To everyone else, she had been away from Luoyang for twelve years, and now, returning to this familiar place, she should feel a sense of exhilarating revenge. But in reality, she had lived two lives, and if you calculate the time, she had been away from Luoyang for over twenty years. The long passage of time had long since erased her impressions of Luoyang.

The city of Luoyang before her was long and unfamiliar to her. Entering Luoyang was no different from when she occupied Bohai Prefecture. It was just that Luoyang held great significance, and she couldn't refuse to come.

Suddenly, there was some noise and commotion ahead.

Pei Qinghe's expression remained unchanged as she instructed Pei Yue beside her to go and see what was going on. Pei Yue rode off and quickly returned to report: "The city guards ahead are driving away the civilians, and some civilians are dissatisfied and have started making a fuss."

The people of Luoyang were indeed much fiercer and more powerful than those elsewhere.

Pei Qinghe's eyes flashed with a smile, and he casually gave the order: "Pass on my decree: do not drive the people away; let them watch from the side of the street."

Pei Yue accepted the order and left. The noise in that corner quickly subsided.

This minor incident was insignificant to Pei Qinghe, but it was a major event in the eyes of the common people. After the imperial procession passed, several people whispered excitedly, "This Emperor Zhaoyuan is different from the previous King Qiao, and he is much stronger than that General Situ."

"Indeed! In the past, we would have all lost our heads. But Emperor Zhaoyuan spared us, which shows that the emperor is kind-hearted. Our lives will definitely be much better from now on."

“I have a relative in the North. He wrote to me and said that in the North, taxes are only collected once a year, and only 30% of the land is taxed. Several years have passed, and there has never been an increase in taxes or corvée labor. Now that Emperor Zhaoyuan is also our emperor, our lives will surely be better.”

The wealthy and powerful were also whispering among themselves.

I've heard that wealthy families in the north can live peacefully by handing over half of their assets. Although it's painful to be cut with a sharp blade, it's much better than being wiped out.

However, Emperor Zhaoyuan has no time to deal with them right now.

Surrounded by her ministers, she stepped into the Luoyang Imperial Palace, which had been ravaged by war and changed hands several times, and entered the still majestic Golden Palace.

Prime Minister Pang was the first to kneel down, followed by Minister Qin and the others, who all performed the full kowtow: "Your Majesty, we congratulate you on recovering Luoyang and unifying the land."

The surrendered officials, led by Prime Minister Qi, knelt down with trepidation and fear, saying, "Your Majesty, we congratulate you on recovering Luoyang and unifying the country."

(End of this chapter)