Painting Doctor Jinhua

The grand court meeting in the fourth year of Wuping was extremely lively. The emperor entertained his ministers in the Taiji Hall. The palace maids went up to the tower to play music, danced with their sleeves and sang, and the sound of metal and stone rang out. The emperor was even more excited, with wine clinking and laughter ringing. The sound of wind instruments was heard, all of which symbolized the peace and prosperity of the Great Qi.

"This year, the world is at peace. Our Great Qi is feared by all the world and our national strength is strong. It is all thanks to the Emperor and Empress who have worked hard to govern the country. Only then can we have this prosperous era. I, along with the other kings, congratulate Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live long and the Empress live a thousand years!"

The person who spoke was Gao Yuanhai. He took the lead, and all the kings and ministers shouted: "Long live our emperor! Long live the queen!"

Gao Yuanhai was a man just like Zu Ting. He would flatter whoever was in power and his stance would change with the times. However, he was also inevitably fearful because he had once, together with He Shikai, slandered the empress, who was then known as "Xie Zhen", into Gao Zhan's ears.

After he finished speaking, he quietly glanced at the emperor and empress's expressions, but saw that they both frowned and were not in high spirits, so he quickly asked, "I wonder what your majesty and the empress are worried about. We are all willing to share your worries!"

Gao Changgong said, "I am indeed very worried about one thing. I know that you are all loyal, but if your subordinates covet wealth and power and force you to rebel, how will you respond?"

This question immediately made the hall quiet. Some princes and ministers became uneasy and frightened. There were many kings in Qi State, and almost every king had a fiefdom and military power. The military power of Qi State was divided into three major military groups: the Six Garrisons of Jinyang, the Forbidden Army of Yecheng, and the Hebei Fortresses.

In the four years since he ascended the throne, Gao Changgong and Xiao Jinyu promoted some Han people to strengthen the imperial guards. The Yecheng Imperial Guards, which were originally trained almost perfectly by Fenghuang, became even stronger after being handed over to Ling Ye. Now they are able to completely balance the Xianbei soldiers of the Six Garrisons in Jinyang. In addition, in the past few years, some old nobles who were dissatisfied with the imperial power were killed in assassinations, and some young people who replaced them gradually bowed to the imperial power and dared not rebel again.

Afterwards, Gao Changgong issued the decree on the troop mobilization system previously proposed by "Xie Zhen", infiltrating part of the royal family's power or Han army into the Xianbei army, gradually dividing the strength of the Xianbei nobles.

Now the Jinyang Xianbei and the Hebei forts no longer pose a threat to the Yecheng imperial guards. What remains is the military power of these kings. Some of the Pan kings have become independent and are not subject to the control of the court. Once they have their own subordinates, staff and armies, it is very easy for them to rebel.

"Do you know why Murong Jue rebelled? He was just a teenager. Our dynasty had just been stabilized. He was already the general in charge of the Yecheng Imperial Guards. He was in a high position. As long as he didn't rebel, he could have lived a life of wealth and glory. But in the end, he was coerced by his retainers who wanted to seize the throne.

Murong Jue himself is not wrong, the fault lies with the Xianbei private army he controls! What will you do if your subordinates become ambitious and force you to rebel? "

Gao Changgong's cold question made the kings' hearts tremble.

Gao Yuanhai's face showed even more fear, and he thought to himself: Is His Majesty going to take a few kings as an example today, to kill them as a warning to the rest and take away their military power?

Would he not become as violent and violent as Emperor Wenxuan and Emperor Wucheng?

"Your Majesty, we dare not rebel!"

Gao Yuanhai quickly knelt down and shouted loudly. His words were extremely sincere, but cold sweat was already pouring down his back.

Gao Changgong still had a stern expression on his face, and continued, "It's useless to just talk. Do you know what Murong Jue did?"

After saying that, he took out a letter that had been prepared long ago, spread it out in front of the kings, and then handed it to the eunuch beside him.

"Read!"

"Yes!" The eunuch took it and said loudly, "I was forced by your subordinates to attack the palace at midnight today, but I don't want to do anything that would destroy the stability of the country, so I want to use the Han soldiers ambushed at Chaotian Gate to kill all the rebels here, and I will also commit suicide to apologize!"

After the eunuch finished reading, all the princes and ministers in the palace were shocked. It had been three years since the incident, and no one expected that the truth of the mutiny would be like this?

So, Murong Jue was not a rebel, but a loyal official who killed the rebels!

Unfortunately, because he was the leader of those rebels, he became a recognized sinner by the world even though he had made contributions, and he was even labeled with this unwarranted stigma after his death!

The cost is simply too high!

The expressions of the kings changed, and they had already guessed what His Majesty would say next.

As expected, Gao Changgong asked, "My lords, if you were faced with the same situation, would you be able to sacrifice your life to show your loyalty like Murong Jue did?"

"Your Majesty, we are ignorant and dare not commit treason. Please teach us what we should do."

The kings, led by Gao Yuanhai, knelt on the ground and requested in fear.

At this time, Empress Xiao Jinyu stood up and said, "Do you know why, since the Han Dynasty, dynasties have changed countless times, but there are always endless wars, and the world can never achieve true stability?"

"I don't know, please teach me, Queen!"

"That's because the local powers were too great, each acting on its own, and not obeying the imperial court's orders. Over time, these kings of the territories or those holding heavy military power developed ambitions, and the kings of various dynasties also killed many loyal ministers by mistake due to various suspicions and mistrusts!"

"But if the military power is centralized in the imperial court, and the imperial court is in charge of local government orders, then the ruler and his subjects will get along well, and the world will be peaceful..."

"What the Queen said makes a lot of sense! So what should we do?" someone asked tremblingly.

At this time, Xiao Jinyu stopped talking, and Gao Changgong answered: "I will not make it difficult for you. You will retain your fiefdoms, but the military power will be handed over to the court. Those who are capable and can pass the assessment can stay in the fiefdom to govern or lead the troops, but if you fail the assessment, other capable officials will be replaced to govern. What do you think?"

At this time, the people in the hall were still in fear of the truth about Murong Jue's rebellion. How could they dare to say a word of rebuttal? With Gao Yuanhai as the leader, they all replied: "We will obey your majesty's order. We have no objection!"

Gao Changgong was suddenly overjoyed. This was the trick A-Yu taught him to give up military power over a cup of wine. He didn't expect it to be so effective.

However, although he was happy in his heart, he still maintained the majesty of an emperor on his face, and said coldly again: "For the sake of peace in the world, I am not afraid of killing people, but I will not wrongly accuse a loyal minister, so regarding Murong Jue's matter, I have decided to redress his innocence and make the truth known to the world!"

"Besides this, I will re-employ the Murong clan!"

This is to tell all the ministers the king's kindness. If you are loyal enough, His Majesty will give you enough trust.

Gao Yanzong couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Ever since the fourth brother became the emperor, he has become more and more skilled in the so-called imperial tactics. It was obviously to vindicate that kid Murong Jue, but he actually came up with a new trick and even took away the military power of the kings!

However, he also knew that what his fourth brother wanted to seize was only the military power of those people who were in office but did not do anything about politics. If he had enough ability, he could still lead the troops to fight. Now he has begun to take charge of the Jinyang army.

……

After the grand court meeting, the emperor indeed issued an edict to announce it to the world, clarifying the truth about Murong Jue's rebellion.

This decree also reached Shuozhou.

Fenghuang was very surprised when she heard the news, but Xiao Xian smiled and said, "It took more than three years to do it!"

"Your Majesty obtained the throne in accordance with public opinion and with the guarantee of Empress Dowager Lou, but there were always some nobles who were dissatisfied and were ready to rebel, and the government was unstable. However, because your rebellion failed, those nobles stopped thinking about it. After that, Your Majesty and the Empress began to promote Han officials, form Han armies, and implement various policies to suppress the ambitions of the nobles. It took more than three years to finally stabilize the situation."

At this point, Xiao Xian paused and looked at Fenghuang: "Finally, I have the opportunity to clarify the truth to all the ministers at the grand court meeting and vindicate you!"

"Murong Jue, you don't have to worry about them anymore. You can walk in the sun and do what you want!"

Before Fenghuang could reply, Ayuan clapped his hands and shouted.

"Okay, okay, brother, you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want in the future!"

"There is one more thing. Ah Yu and His Majesty are coming to Shuozhou. They said they want to hold a ceremony for you!"

Phoenix looked up at him in surprise, with some disbelief in her eyes, but more of it was anticipation and joy.

……

The day Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong arrived in Shuozhou was early spring. The ice and snow had melted, but the weather in Shuozhou was still a little cold.

The emperor's ceremonial procession arrived in Shuozhou in a grand procession and was greeted by many local officials. Most of these officials were sons of poor families who were promoted by Xiao Xian. They each performed their duties and managed the towns and garrisons in an orderly manner.

As the emperor, Gao Changgong naturally said some words of condolences. After meeting with all the officials, he ordered them to leave. The two of them went directly to the office where Xiao Xian and Xie Yuxuan were.

Knowing that they were coming, Xiao Xian, Xie Yuxuan, Yuan Rujing, Xiao Ruoling, A Yuan, and Fenghuang all came early to greet them, and even Li Mi and Cui Heng came.

After arriving at the government office, the atmosphere became much quieter. Xiao Xian and the others were about to address each other as "Your Majesty, Queen", but Xiao Jinyu hurriedly came forward and said, "Uncle Xian, A-Yu misses you. Now we are a family, so let's have a good meal together and talk. There is no need for these empty formalities!"

"Yes, A-Yu and..." Xie Yuxuan paused for a moment because she didn't know how to address Gao Changgong, and then she just skipped over it and said, "We finally came here, so let's not be estranged with them!"

Seeing Xiao Jinyu holding a delicate three-year-old child in her hands, whose appearance made it impossible to tell whether it was a boy or a girl, Xie Yuxuan went up to her with great joy, squatted down and started to knead the child's face.

"Who are you? Why are you pinching me?" the little boy asked unconvinced.

"This must be Ah Yao, you are so beautiful. No wonder, your father and mother are so beautiful, how can Ah Yao not be beautiful? Well, your eyes look like Ah Yu, but your nose and mouth are not quite the same. Overall, you look more like His Majesty!"

At this point, Xie Yuxuan was eager to reveal her relative status.

"Call me...what should I call you?"

But if you think about it carefully, since A-yu calls Xiao Xian uncle, then shouldn't A-yu's children call her aunt?

Oh my goodness! Have I become so old?

Xie Yuxuan simply dropped the topic and said with a smile: "By the way, Ah Yu hasn't seen our child yet! Bring them out to show her!"

Xie Yuxuan was in excellent health. After four years of marriage, she gave birth to five children. The first child was twins, and the second was even more surprising, triplets. The genders were also relatively balanced, with two boys and three girls.

Seeing five three-year-old and two-year-old babies lined up in a row, who were almost the same height and looked very similar if you didn't look closely, Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong were stunned!

Now the Xie family doesn’t have to worry about having fewer members!

"How many people have the surname Xie?" Gao Changgong couldn't help but ask.

Xie Yuxuan exclaimed, "Ah!" Then she reacted and answered, "Two are surnamed Xie, and three are surnamed Xiao!"

"Oh, this is not a balanced distribution! How about giving one of the surnames Xiao to us, and the surname Gao?"

Xie Yuxuan widened her eyes and looked at Gao Changgong: "Your Majesty, are you here to steal the baby?"

"Ah Xuan, stop talking nonsense..."

Xiao Xian bowed to Gao Changgong to show his apology.

Xiao Jinyu also smiled and said, "Uncle Xian, it's okay, Axuan was just joking, and so was Changgong!"