To be honest, Xiao Mian was a kind and righteous person and had always been kind to the Yang brothers. He gave them a house, slaves, maids, and guards. The Yang brothers also knew that they had escaped, and it was extremely difficult for them to seek revenge. Since there was no hope of revenge, they
I can only settle for the next best thing and become a rich man.
I had just returned home and was collecting gold and silver when I saw a group of soldiers breaking in. The leader was Dong Jingzhen.
Yang Wanxiang was shocked and asked sharply: "What does Mr. Dong mean by this?"
Dong Jingzhen sneered and said: "You beguiled the king to fight against the imperial court. How could Dong enter Xiangyang City without using you as a meeting gift!"
Yang Wanxiang took two steps back and suddenly rushed towards him with a knife drawn. However, his martial arts were mediocre and he was no match for Dong Jingzhen. He had already been kicked down by Dong Jingzhen. Five or six soldiers rushed over and tied up Yang Wanxiang. Yang Minxing
But he was a scholar. Before Dong Jingzhen could take action, he put his hands behind his back.
In fact, when they persuaded Xiao Mian to surrender, Dong Jingzhen and others had already made up their minds to capture the Yang brothers and sacrifice them to Liu Ziqiu. However, Xiao Mian had always been kind-hearted and would never agree to their doing this. Therefore,
Dong Jingzhen had already laid a heavy ambush near Yang Wanxiang's house. If Yang Wanxiang didn't care about the softness of his home, there would still be a chance to escape. This is in line with the old saying, people die for money, and birds die for food.
…
Upon hearing the news that Xiao Mian was willing to surrender, it was Empress Xiao who was the first to breathe a sigh of relief. She immediately sent someone to invite Liu Ziqiu into the palace again and brought up the old matter of the Zen position.
Liu Ziqiu smiled and said: "Since the empress and the emperor insist on this, I will no longer be humble. Please rest assured, I will ask them to choose a lucky day."
Although Liu Ziqiu felt that it didn't matter what day he chose, the ancients were superstitious and believed that the Zen position was a major event and must be considered. The task of choosing the day was presided over by Wei Zheng, assisted by He Chou and Yu Wenkai, and the ninth morning of April was selected as the auspicious time.
However, Liu Ziqiu demanded simplicity in all kinds of celebrations and ceremonies, and only used a piece of edict to inform the world, naming the country Han and changing it to Yuan Zhongxing.
Naturally, the first thing that a new dynasty does when establishing a new dynasty is to reward the meritorious officials. Others will follow you through life and death and work hard, just to worship the generals and marquis, to honor the ancestors. A few days ago, Liu Ziqiu's decree included the reform of the title system, but
It has not been implemented. Today, after he promulgated the edict of enthronement, he began to divide the titles.
In order to prevent the knighthood with only one honorary title from being regarded as useless, Liu Ziqiu was very "stingy" in the rewards of the title. He only granted two first-class dukes, one was Li Jing, who was made the Duke of England, and the other was Wei Zheng.
Wen Hao, Zhang Liang, and Shi Danai were all Liu Ziqiu's leading generals. Liu Yu and Jiang Yu were Liu Ziqiu's old superiors and were the first to support Liu Ziqiu's army. These five people were all named second-class dukes.
.Jiao Liyan, Tumulu, Zhao Ling, and Gui Haiqiu also followed Liu Ziqiu, Yu Shinan, He Chou, Yu Wenkai, and Pei Ji earlier. They all had talents and were awarded the title of third-class duke.
The rest, such as Lu Tong, Liu Ada, Tong Zhengyun, Shuan Zi and other civil and military officials who surrendered successively, were granted the title of marquis and earl respectively. Yang Tan and his younger brother Yang You, who gave up the throne, and Li Yuan who surrendered successively
He and Xiao Mian were also named first-class marquis. Only then did Xiao Mian realize that Li Yuan was not under house arrest by Liu Ziqiu as Yang Wanxiang said. On the contrary, Li Yuan was still living a healthy life.
Although those who received titles did not enjoy court salary, Liu Ziqiu granted them varying amounts of land. In a farming society, land was the most important wealth. Many aristocratic families were actually able to control a country because they controlled a large amount of land.
Therefore, even if there is no salary from the court and enough land, they can still live a good life. Of course, whether such a good life can be passed down from generation to generation depends on whether their descendants can live up to their expectations. If their descendants do not
If you strive for success, you may lose all your family property and become a ruined aristocrat after a few generations.
Xiao Mian was very moved by Liu Ziqiu's arrangement. Liu Ziqiu not only made him a first-class marquis, but also rewarded him with land in his hometown of Jiangling. In addition, he also appointed him as the prefect of Yueyang. While grateful, Xiao Mian suddenly regretted it.
He bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I am reporting that I was bewitched by brothers Yang Wanxiang and Yang Minxing, and almost committed an unjust act. I hope your Majesty will punish you!"
Liu Ziqiu said with a smile: "No one is a sage, how can he have no faults? Let the past be bygones. Yang Wanxiang and Yang Minxing confused right and wrong, made false claims, and immediately pushed out the Meridian Gate and beheaded them."
At this time, Li Yuan was also in the hall. Although he was also granted the title of first-class marquis, he was not assigned an official position. The land awarded to him was further away in Longxi County. Longxi County is the foundation of the Li family, one of the seven aristocratic families.
Li Yuan once sent Li Jiancheng to contact Li Changshan and wanted to recognize his ancestors, but Li Changshan refused, and some rifts had arisen between the two parties. At this time, Li Yuan was placed in Longxi, and he had no official position, so he was bound to be criticized by the Li family everywhere.
of constraints.
But Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng were still detained in the military camp by Liu Ziqiu. Now he didn't care to argue with Liu Ziqiu on these details. He had to hand over his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said: "Master Li, is it because of the two young masters? I have sent someone to send them home. You can see them after the court is over."
Li Jiancheng was caught entirely in front of the two armies. He was also willing to surrender. It was only a matter of time before he was pardoned. The key was Li Shimin. Li Shimin sneaked to the south of the Yangtze River to plot against Liu Ziqiu's family, which touched Liu Ziqiu's rebellion. More importantly, Liu Ziqiu
I know very well that Li Shimin, the famous Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty in history, is a man of great talent and great strategy. If he is released, he will probably be let go. But then I think about it, Li Shimin is just a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy at that time.
According to the law, he does not need to bear criminal responsibility. After careful consideration, Liu Ziqiu decided to let him go.
Li Yuan couldn't help but be overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.
Conferring titles is only the first step. The next thing to do is to straighten out the various institutions of the imperial court. Liu Ziqiu implemented a cabinet system. He appointed Wei Zheng as the first assistant bachelor, Li Jing as the second assistant bachelor, Zhao Ling, He Chou and Yu Shinan.
People are cabinet bachelors. Below the cabinet, there are eight ministries of officials, rituals, soldiers, workers, criminals, households, merchants, and civilians to manage the world's government affairs. The cabinet and the eight ministries are still located within the imperial city.
The cabinet system was not only a change in the system, Liu Ziqiu also vigorously decentralized power. He only focused on major military and strategic matters, and left all other matters to the cabinet. Of course, Wei Zheng did not dare to take power exclusively, and would still submit memorials regardless of the details.
When he came to Liu Ziqiu, Liu Ziqiu also knew that this habit could not be changed in a short while, and could only be induced slowly in the future.
…
After being the emperor for a day, Liu Ziqiu found that this job was actually quite tiring. He sat in the main hall from early morning and worked until dark before returning to the harem. In the past, he only had to sit in the study and give orders on trivial matters.
Others have to complete it. But now it is different. Although various memorials have been read by the cabinet for the first time, they are still piled up in front of him like a hill. It is impossible to finish them. It takes a whole day to compete.
Much more tiring.
Returning to the harem, Liu Ziqiu stretched himself and heard a eunuch say in a shrill voice: "The Queen respectfully invites Your Majesty to move to Zhaoyang Palace."
In the morning, Liu Ziqiu also named his own woman, Gao Xiuer became the first queen of the Han Dynasty, Hua Yun was named a noble concubine, and Lin Qiaoer and Mu Duoli became noble concubines.
When he entered Zhaoyang Palace, he found that Empress Xiao and several beautiful women in palace attire were here. Liu Ziqiu couldn't help but frowned. He knew that Zhaoyang Palace was originally Empress Xiao's palace, but she returned to Luoyang again.
From now on, Empress Xiao refused to live in Zhaoyang Palace anymore, but why did she appear here today? Who are the other young women in palace attire?
Seeing Liu Ziqiu, Empress Xiao and the beautiful women knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and said, "I respectfully welcome your Majesty."
In the past, Queen Xiao was a puppet under Liu Ziqiu's control. Although Liu Ziqiu would not kneel down to her, he was very respectful. Now seeing Queen Xiao kneeling in front of him instead, he felt a little uncomfortable and said hurriedly: "Everyone, hurry up.
Get down quickly."
Gao Xiuer walked over with a smile, pulled them up one by one, and then said: "Your Majesty, Empress Xiao is here to ask for mercy."
Liu Ziqiu said in surprise: "Yang Tan, Yang You, and Xiao Mian have all been granted the title of marquis, and I have also given them fields, houses, servants, and families. You can live with them, so why bother?"
Empress Xiao sighed quietly and said, "I am interceding on behalf of my sisters."
Behind her were Chen Chou, Chen Sui, Xiao Bi and Mrs. Cui and Wang. Although Yang Guang was lustful, he liked the new and disliked the old. Most women were soon forgotten after being favored by him.
Being a palace concubine is good, but there are only a few people with real status. Status also has its disadvantages. Once the dynasty changes, according to the old practice, these women will either become palace slaves, or reward meritorious officials as maids. Gao Xiuer's biological mother
This is the case with Xie Zhaoyi.
Of course Liu Ziqiu would not continue the old practice of the previous dynasty and said with a smile: "I wonder what your plans are?"
Chen Chou and others prostrated themselves to the ground again and said in unison: "I, my concubines, are willing to serve your Majesty."
Among these women, Xiao Bi, Mrs. Cui and Mrs. Wang are similar in age to Liu Ziqiu, while Chen Chou and Chen Sui are older than Liu Ziqiu. Moreover, Liu Ziqiu already knows that Chen Sui and Gao Xiuer are half-sisters. Of course,
Those who were favored by Yang Guang and granted status were naturally stunning in the world. When Liu Ziqiu came in, these women also glanced at Liu Ziqiu. Liu Ziqiu was young and handsome, and now that he had ascended to a high position, there was another wave of superiors.
Her magnanimity was quite destructive to these noble women. Xiao Bi secretly compared Liu Ziqiu and Li Yuan. If she followed Liu Ziqiu, she would be stronger than Li Yuan, right?
But Liu Ziqiu shook his head and said, "I don't need you waiting by my side."
At this moment, Xiao Concubine was suddenly seen holding her stomach and retching loudly.