Chapter 1154 Duke Jingguo, the new emperor ascends the throne
"But fortunately, Shuyuan, you are a blessing in disguise. You have made a great contribution to the world. Your Majesty will definitely reward you heavily afterwards."
After hearing this thrilling palace change, Sheng Hong was naturally filled with fear. But when he learned that Zhou Chen had made a great contribution, his eyes suddenly brightened up again. This was King Qin's great contribution to the rescue. With His Majesty's kindness and charity, it will definitely be a great success. Award.
Zhou Chen sighed: "If possible, I don't want this credit. Fortunately, Gu Erlang came to my house at that time. Otherwise, if His Majesty's bloody edict was in my hands, it would be hard to say whether the Hou Mansion could withstand the rebels' offensive. I I’m even afraid of causing trouble to my father-in-law’s family.”
After hearing this, Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai took a few breaths of cold air and looked horrified.
Yes, if Zhou Chen hadn't put down the rebellion quickly enough this time, the Zhongjing Hou Mansion might really be in danger, and their Sheng Mansion wouldn't be in much better shape by then.
Sheng Changbai couldn't help but said: "But the eldest brother-in-law did the right thing. Even if he has to take risks, he must save His Majesty. If the rebellion against the palace is successful, I am afraid that the world will be in chaos and the people will not be able to live."
He is different from Zhou Chen. He has been taught to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic since childhood, and his respect for the emperor far exceeds that of Zhou Chen.
"Stop talking about this, father-in-law, Chang Bai, so many things have happened today. Grandma and mother-in-law must be worried about you. You should pack up and go home quickly. By the way, tell grandma and the others that I and the others are worried about you. Hua Lan is fine, let them not worry."
"Okay, Shuyuan is right, then let's go back."
Sheng Hong had been frightened for so long, so naturally he wanted to leave a long time ago. Sheng Changbai had no objection. The father and son cleaned up and prepared to leave.
"It's just a pity. After checking so much information and making so many preparations, it seems like it's no longer useful."
Sheng Changbai looked at the information books they had prepared and sighed with regret.
Zhou Chen patted his shoulder: "That's not necessarily the case, Zicheng, you will still use these things."
Sheng Changbai was a smart person. When Zhou Chen suddenly said such a sentence, he nodded thoughtfully.
Zhou Chen personally sent the Sheng family father and son out of the palace, and then went back.
In the next few days, it will probably be difficult for him to leave the palace. He was appointed by the officials as the commander of the palace. He can be regarded as the biggest confidant of the officials now. There are too many things that need to be dealt with by him.
After a while, Zhou Chen saw Gu Tingye.
"Have they been sent back?"
"Well, I have sent them back. Fortunately, although they were locked up and a little frightened, they are not seriously injured."
Of course, Gu Tingye was talking about his wife Yu Yanran and stepmother Mrs. Qin.
"Now that you have finished your matter, come and help me. The palace is in chaos right now. I have just been appointed as the commander of the palace's front office. There are too many things that need to be dealt with, and I just need your help."
Zhou Chen was Gu Tingye's immediate boss, and now that he said this, Gu Tingye naturally would not refuse, so he stayed in the palace to help Zhou Chen.
After Sheng Hong and his son returned home, Mrs. Wang and others came to greet them. Wang Ruofu hugged Sheng Hong and cried loudly. Although Hai Chaoyun did not speak, he stared at his officials closely.
His eyes were full of worry.
Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu stayed warm for a while and then went to Shou'an Hall. He still had something Zhou Chen asked him to pass on.
When the old lady learned that Zhou Chen and Hua Lan were both fine, she let out a long breath and her heart was completely relieved.
In the blink of an eye, a few days passed.
After the rebellion, the officials held a morning court to deal with the aftermath of the rebellion. Countless officials were implicated, died, and were exiled. The huge capital city was really full of people this time, with countless casualties. Even the Jiaofang
The store is probably full.
Although there was a saying in the Song Dynasty not to kill scholar-bureaucrats, but now that it involves rebellion and palace coup, it would be strange not to kill anyone.
The people of King Yan's lineage were all executed, and Concubine Rong was three feet tall. The Rong family also had a bad end. However, Zhou Chen also fulfilled his promise and let several female relatives of the Rong family choose
Kill yourself.
In fact, the officials don't care about the female relatives, let alone ask about them, so they will just die.
After the incident, as Zhou Chen was the biggest contributor to the suppression of the rebellion, the officials were not stingy and directly gave Zhou Chen a reward that shocked the court.
He directly raised the title of Marquis Zhongjing of Zhou Chen up a few ranks, and became the first-class Duke of the country. He was named Duke of Jing. At the same time, he was granted the title of General of Hussars, Shangzhu Kingdom, General of Zuo Jinwu Guard, and the leader of the former Sidu Palace.
Commander's duties.
In addition, Zhou Chen's mother, Zhou Xu, and his wife, Sheng Hualan, also received awards and were given the imperial title of First-Rank Lady, which is also the highest level of imperial concubine.
The wife of Yipinguo, who is more than 20 years old, is the only one in this dynasty.
It is no exaggeration to say that after receiving this reward, Zhou Chen became the most powerful military attache in the court and one of the most powerful officials.
Although the official's reward was opposed by many people, the official's attitude was very firm and he would not listen to any objections. This was also his rare strength, so the reward was finally approved.
As he officially accepted the imperial edict, he also found that his mission of becoming a first-rank official had been completed. From the first rank to the first rank, there was no problem.
And because the Zhongjing Hou Mansion was attacked by the rebels, the officials specially gave Zhou Chen a vacant house next to the Zhongjing Hou Mansion, as well as countless other gold, silver, and money.
It can be said that the biggest winner of this rebellion is Zhou Chen. Secretly, I don’t know how many people are jealous of the rewards Zhou Chen received. Some people secretly curse Zhou Chen for being lucky, etc...
Now Zhou Chen's status in the court is no worse than that of the British Duke, Yue Duke and others among the nobles in the past, and he has become a big shot at the head of the nobles.
Zhou Chen also worked hard for several days before finally having some free time and returned home.
"Official."
As soon as Zhou Chen returned home, he was greeted by his wife Sheng Hualan and his mother Zhou Xu.
"Mother, madam, I'm back."
Zhou Xu's eyes were red and she choked with sobs: "It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."
Sheng Hualan was so excited that she shed tears. She pulled Zhou Chen and couldn't say a word with joy.
On the day of the turmoil, although they all hid, the noise was too loud. Even though they hid, they still heard the shouts of killing outside. One can imagine how critical the situation was at that time.
Even their Zhongjing Hou Mansion is so dangerous. When Zhou Chen leads his army to quell the rebellion, the danger will be greater than that of the Hou Mansion. Therefore, after they are safe, they are most worried about Zhou Chen.
Although the officials had sent people to convey the imperial edict and the reward, they naturally did not feel relieved without seeing Zhou Chen in person, and they had been waiting for Zhou Chen to come back.
"I'm fine. Look how good I am now. Now I'm Duke Jingguo."
Mrs. Zhou Xu showed a look of relief: "If your father could see this scene, he would probably go crazy with joy. My mother would also benefit from you and be granted the title of Lady of the State."
Although she has an indifferent temperament, she still feels honored by the imperial title of First-Rank Lady.
The same is true for Sheng Hualan. After being married to Zhou Chen for several years, her status has been continuously improved, and now she has become the highest-level royal wife. In the past, she would not have dared to dream like this.
She and Zhou Chen are both only thirty years old, but now one is the Duke of the country and the other is the Lady of the country. They are the only one in the world.
Zhou Chen also knew that he could be granted the title of Duke because of their lineage of Zhongjinghou, coupled with the extraordinary achievements he had made this time, as long as he did not have the title of Zhongjinghou, he would not be granted the title of Duke.
, it is a lucky thing to be granted the title of Marquis.
Although he was granted the title of Duke, Zhou Chen did not hold extravagant banquets. Instead, he arranged for people to renovate the Marquis Mansion and the mansion next door gifted by His Majesty in a very low-key manner, preparing to open up the two mansions. In this way, the Duke's Mansion
The area has nearly doubled.
Zhou Chen dined with his mother, wife and children at home, went to see Shulan again in the evening, and finally returned to the master bedroom to spend the night with his wife.
Zhou Chen only had one day's rest. After resting, he started to get busy again.
He has now taken the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Palace, commanding most of the imperial army. He has great power and naturally has more affairs.
Because Zhou Chen was promoted to the commander of the Imperial Palace, Ma Junsi also changed. Gu Tingye was promoted to the deputy commander of the Ma Junsi. The commanders of the Longwei army who followed Zhou Chen into the city to put down the rebellion that day also received a lot of rewards.
Great benefits, promotion after promotion, rewards after rewards.
After this rebellion, the official family's health became worse and worse. At the request of Han Zhang and other great ministers, the official family began to appoint princes.
King Yong and King Yan are both dead, so the official family can only choose other clan sons. His favorite is Zhao Zongquan of Yuzhou, but Queen Cao doesn't really want to establish Zhao Zongquan.
The reason is also very simple. Zhao Zongquan is not young and has no relationship with Empress Cao. She wants to establish a new emperor who is young and easy to control.
When the official family was still there, as a queen, she had no other ideas, but now that the official family is gone, she has begun to think about her future, so it is more in her interest to find a new emperor who is easier to control.
But after what happened to King Yong and King Yan, the official's mentality changed a lot. He had a premonition that he didn't have many days left. In order to prevent similar things from happening again, he no longer hesitated after making a decision.
.
Therefore, the officials selected Zhao Zongquan at the court meeting and asked Zhao Zongquan to return to Beijing immediately to accept the canonization of the crown prince.
A few days later, Zhao Zongquan brought his family and all the subordinates from Yuzhou who were loyal to him to Bianjing City, accepted the canonization of the prince, formally adopted him to the official family, and became the prince of the dynasty.
After the crown prince was enthroned, the official family became seriously ill and could no longer handle the affairs of the court, so they were left to Empress Cao, the prince, and other ministers to discuss and deal with the matter.
After Zhao Zongquan came to Bianjing City, Zhou Chen also met Qi Heng again.
Qi Heng did not live up to his help and successfully got together with Zhao Zongquan. However, he did not become an official. Instead, he had a good relationship with Zhao Zongquan's son Zhao Ceying and was quite valued by Zhao Zongquan, especially after learning that Qi Heng was the only son of Duke Qi.
, pay more attention to it.
Seeing that the official's health was deteriorating day by day, Zhou Chen was summoned by the official again.
In the Chui Gong Hall, the officials stood in front of Zhou Chen's picture of the banquet in Jiying Hall and watched.
"It has been more than ten years in the blink of an eye. Every time I see this painting of yours, I am always amazed. Zhou Qing, I have seen too many talents, including Wen Zhenggong, Han Chen..."
"Although you are young, I know that you are no worse than them. You are even smarter and understand the situation better."
"It's great to be young."
Listening to the official's murmur, Zhou Chen's expression was silent. Yes, in the official's eyes, he was indeed very young, but in fact, he had lived many times longer than the official.
"My time is running out. Zhou Qing will assist the prince well from now on, and don't let me live up to my expectations of you."
Zhou Chen immediately prostrated himself: "I will obey your Majesty's orders and swear allegiance to your Majesty and the Crown Prince to the death."
"well."
The official nodded happily, and then said, "Please come and have dinner with me later."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
This meal was the last meal Zhou Chen had with the official family. Just a few days later, the official family explained all the funeral arrangements. After closing his eyes, he never woke up again.
After the national mourning, Zhao Zongquan officially succeeded to the throne and became the fifth emperor of the Song Dynasty. A new era has arrived.
Although the new emperor was quite old, he did not gain real power when he first ascended the throne. Instead, he had the Queen Mother Cao to oversee the affairs. Strictly speaking, he was a new emperor who had been deprived of power.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Cao and other ministers took power, and the court situation also underwent great changes. Many officials were missing before, but now many new officials have taken office, and the court has gradually stabilized.
Zhou Chen has not changed, he still serves as the commander of the front office of the palace. He is also regarded as the former emperor's entrusted minister, and the new emperor cannot touch him at all;
Secondly, Queen Mother Cao also had a friendship with Zhou Chen. She felt that Zhou Chen must be on her side, so she naturally trusted Zhou Chen very much.
With the advent of the new era, many things have also changed. For example, after the new emperor ascended the throne, he immediately announced to the world that Enke would be added and the imperial examination would be held one year in advance.
However, the new emperor mentioned his brother-in-law to the position of deputy commander of the Imperial Palace, with a vague intention of competing with Zhou Chen.
Zhou Chen, who had seen Zhao Zongquan's brother-in-law Shen Congxing, naturally had some understanding of him. He was a powerful military commander, but his intelligence was average.
Shen Congxing had just assumed the post of deputy commander of the Dianqian Division, but he was very considerate. After meeting Zhou Chen, he began to interfere in the affairs of the Dianqian Division.
Although Zhou Chen did not intentionally target him, Shen Congxing still overestimated himself. He soon discovered that although he was the deputy commander of the Dianqian Division, in fact, there were not many commanders in the Dianqian Division. Take him into consideration.
In the eyes of many people, he just came from the small place of Yuzhou and relied on luck to get a high position. He could not convince the public at all, let alone be compared with Zhou Chen, who had great military exploits, so he, the former secretary of the palace, The deputy capital commander is nothing but a charlatan, no one takes him seriously.