Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Moreover, Emperor Huizong of Song's mental illness led to the largest renovation project he undertook in Luoyang Palace during the entire Northern Song Dynasty.

It's like we're moving the capital!

Qin Hui, as the Minister of Works, is currently personally inspecting various construction sites.

When he saw Zhao Yuan arrive, he rushed to greet him and accompanied the emperor on a tour.

The emperor and his minister arrived at the northeast corner of the imperial city. Qin Hui stood on the city wall and said, "During the Tang Dynasty, that area in the northeast was the Daming Palace in Luoyang. Now it has been turned into shops and residences."

"If Your Majesty wishes to restore the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, you may demolish that entire area and build palaces there."

"The Ming Dynasty built the Daming Palace, which was in accordance with the will of Heaven."

Zhao Yuan turned his head and glared at this guy: "The palace and imperial city of Luoyang are already far larger than those of Kaifeng."

"Does the Emperor intend to disregard the people's livelihood and forcibly demolish several neighborhoods and markets to carry out large-scale construction?"

When his flattery backfired, Qin Hui quickly changed his tune, praising, "Your Majesty is wise and benevolent; this is a blessing for the nation and its people!"

Zhao Yuan gave a few more instructions and then strolled to the rear garden of the palace.

The concubines were having fun there, each one full of novelty, leading their children on a stroll around.

The same goes for civil and military officials; they spend their time strolling around after work these days.

It's a pity the peony season has passed, otherwise Luoyang would be even more beautiful.

Zhao Yuan also bestowed some residences upon his ministers, all of whom were officials of the third rank or above.

They weren't very generous; they divided the gardens left behind by the relocated clans into three or four parts and gave them away.

There's no way around it; the top-tier gardens here simply cover an enormous area.

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, Luoyang's gardens have been known as "the best in the world".

Countless members of the imperial family, retired ministers, and powerful clans settled in and around Luoyang, and as they lived there, they began to build gardens.

Even the Northern Song imperial family had royal gardens in Luoyang.

Zhao Yuan's actions of dismantling and relocating prominent families in Luoyang were clearly acts of plunder and extortion.

But he felt no guilt whatsoever, and could only say that those powerful clans deserved it.

They concealed their land holdings and population during the Northern Song Dynasty, making it impossible for the imperial court to investigate.

Chapter 3507 Zhao Ji's Daughters

This resulted in the total registered population of the thirteen counties of Henan Prefecture (whose capital was Luoyang) being less than that of Daming Prefecture, which was frequently affected by the Yellow River floods.

Shouldn't the new dynasty at least return half of the wealth amassed by the previous dynasty?

"Your Majesty!"

"Daddy!"

The garden belonged to the Zhao sisters, Zhao Fujin and Zhao Fujin, who were playing with their children. Upon learning of Zhao Yuan's arrival, they quickly stepped forward to greet him.

Accompanying them was Emperor Huizong's unmarried daughter.

When the capital was moved, he was brought into the harem along with Wu Qimai's concubines and daughters.

However, all of Emperor Huizong's daughters were appointed as female officials.

Wu Qimai's concubines and daughters were all reduced to doing odd jobs as palace maids, with the majority of them responsible for washing clothes.

Princess Shunde (Zhao Yingluo), Princess Yifu (Zhao Yuanzhu), Princess Roufu (Zhao Duofu), Princess Baofu (Zhao Xianlang), Princess Renfu (Zhao Xiangyun), Princess Huifu (Zhao Zhuzhu), Princess Yongfu (Zhao Fobao)...

There were twelve people in total, the oldest being 23 years old and the youngest being 15 years old, all of whom were given the titles of "Noble Lady" or "Beauty".

There were also three minors, named Zhao Jingu, Zhao Jinling, and Zhao Xiaojin, who were temporarily raised in the palace to learn to read and write.

I don't know why Emperor Huizong of Song always included the character "gold" in his daughter's name.

But one thing is clear: Emperor Huizong's daughters were, on the whole, much prettier than Wu Qimai's daughters.

This large group of former imperial princesses all had their eyes light up when they saw Zhao Yuan.

How could they possibly care about the pain of national subjugation?

When Zhao Yuan led his troops to capture Kaifeng, the oldest among them was only sixteen years old.

Moreover, Emperor Huizong of Song had too many children, so these princesses did not enjoy much fatherly love and had not even seen their biological father a few times.

Their mothers or brothers were not executed by Zhao Yuan.

They themselves were also assigned to do needlework in the suburbs, helping to sew official robes, military uniforms, and the like.

They lived a rather frugal life, but were still able to make ends meet.

This year, they all suddenly entered the palace, which was a truly unexpected joy. They couldn't wait to give the emperor a son.

Zhao Yuan subconsciously looked at Zhao Yingluo and Zhao Duofu, who were twins whose mother was Consort Wang.

Just a few days ago, Zhao Yuan talked with the two sisters about their feelings, and last night the three of them discussed life together.

They got along very well.

After the fall of the Jin dynasty, the emperor became even more decadent!

"Your elder brother, Zhao Huan, has been promoted to head of the Agricultural Promotion Bureau and transferred to Jiangnan for his meritorious research on cotton cultivation," Zhao Yuan announced the good news upon meeting them.

These dozen or so former imperial princesses were all delighted, even though they were not born of the same mother as Zhao Huan.

But the fact that his brother was able to get promoted in the new dynasty proves that the emperor has completely trusted the previous dynasty's royal family.

Zhao Yuan added, "Furthermore, each of your elder brothers born of the same mother will be rewarded this year with an ox, ten bolts of cotton cloth, and fifty strings of copper coins."

That's incredibly stingy.

But it was more symbolic; after the reward was given, supervision was completely abandoned.

The soldiers who had once supervised the princes of the previous dynasty in the vicinity were all incorporated into other units.

Emperor Huizong's sons can go wherever they want from now on; even if they run off to Western Xia, no one will care.

Moreover, each person was given cattle, cloth, and money, and they had already been allocated land long ago.

As long as you work diligently, you'll at least become a wealthy farmer in the future, and who knows, you might even become a small landlord.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!" The women bowed in unison.

Zhao Yuan reached out and picked up a little girl, who was born to him by Zhao Fujin.

Her name is Zhao Yue, and she is only five years old.

"Is the new palace fun?" Zhao Yuan put his daughter on his shoulders and let her ride on his back.

Zhao Yue hugged her father's head and said with a smile, "It's fun. The garden here is bigger, and we can hide in many places when playing hide-and-seek."

"Hahaha!"

Zhao Yuan laughed heartily upon hearing this: "In a couple of days, your father will take you boating on the lake."

“There is a Lotus Pond outside the city, which is larger than the Jinming Pond in Kaifeng.”

Zhao Yue said, "Then I'm going to go boating and feed the goldfish!"

“There are no goldfish there; they’re only in the ponds of the palace,” Zhao Yuan said.

“We can raise some,” Zhao Yue said.

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "Alright, then let's raise a hundred goldfish in there."

"Okay, okay!" Zhao Yue clapped her hands happily.

Zhao Fujin watched the father and daughter chatting, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons with joy.

The former imperial princess, who had only recently entered the palace, watched with immense envy.

There are quite a few women from the Zhao family in the imperial harem.

In the past few years, Zhao Yuan deliberately suppressed the fact that he had taken women into his harem, just to put everyone at ease and prevent them from having any doubts.

It doesn't matter now; a crown prince has already been appointed, and a Prince Yu has also been appointed.

No matter how many children the Zhao family woman gave birth to, they could not cause any trouble.

After playing there for a while, Zhao Yuan went to Li Shishi's place.

On the way, they encountered Hu Sanniang, Liu Huiniang, and Qiongying. The three women were in the garden with their children, directing a group of eunuchs to make a swing.

Their children always tried to help (make trouble), excitedly picking up shovels to dig holes and build scaffolds, which actually made the eunuchs feel restricted.

"Let me help you!"

Zhao Yuan rolled up his sleeves and had a eunuch hand him a shovel. The princes and princesses immediately cheered with joy and even carried small buckets to help their father carry away the excavated soil.

Chapter 3508 Yelü Yan

The eunuchs were instantly out of work, because the emperor was busy, and Hu Sanniang, Liu Huiniang, and Qiongying dared not be idle either.

The swing site was packed with people, and unauthorized personnel could only stand on the sidelines.

After working for quite some time, Zhao Yuan clapped his hands and stood up, feeling that this kind of life was very pleasant.

Unfortunately, I have to go to work again tomorrow.

.....

Zhao Yuan had already met Yelü Ci'ao, the youngest daughter of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao.

She is indeed very beautiful, and doesn't look like a woman from the North.

She has a small frame, a slender figure, a delicate oval face, and features that are as exquisite as if they were sculpted.

Unfortunately, he was only fourteen years old.

Zhao Yuan decided to rest for two years first, not out of any moral considerations, but simply because ancient medical technology was inadequate, and he was afraid that if he got pregnant too young, he would encounter difficult childbirth.

However, she had already been formally appointed, and Yelü Ci'aoye's rank was even higher than that of the newly entered Song imperial princess—she was appointed as a Chongyuan.

There's no other reason than its value in united front work.

Just as Yelü Yudu was granted a marquisate, the entry of Emperor Tianzuo's youngest daughter into the palace played a role in stabilizing the Khitan people.

Especially the Khitan generals who surrendered felt more at ease and were more willing to work hard.

The name Yelü Ci'ao was too difficult to pronounce, so Zhao Yuan personally helped her change it.

With a truly wicked sense of humor, he changed his name to Yelü Yan....

In terms of name, she is related to Princess Li Qinglu of Western Xia.

"My lady, the Buddhist scriptures have been found."

A palace maid rushed in, holding a Buddhist scripture: "His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty doesn't particularly like Buddhism, and it's difficult to find Buddhist scriptures in the palace."

"This book was borrowed from Consort Li."

“Then I will go and thank Consort Li another day. Could you please ask her when she is free?” Yelü Yan said.

"Yes," the palace maid replied, bowing.

Yelü Yan spread out the Buddhist scriptures, took out a brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and began to copy the scriptures diligently to pass the time.

While she was still in her mother's womb, her mother fled to the grasslands with Emperor Tianzuo.

From the day I can remember, I lived with my older sister at Wanyan Zongwang's house.

After Wanyan Zongwang died of illness, her sister was adopted by Zongwang's younger brother, Eluguan, and she lived with her sister in Eluguan's home.

Last year, Elu Guan was killed by Wu Qimai.

To be precise, none of Aguda's sons are left today.

Either die in battle or beheaded.

Even if Wu Qimai did not carry out the act, he should still be taken to Kaifeng and executed.

For example, Wanyan Yansun and Wanyan Wohu were very young, some even only thirteen or fourteen years old.

But what can they do when their father is Aguda?

After presenting the prisoners, they were all beheaded!