Liu Xin thought for a while and said to Brother Xiahou: "I heard that you are the queen of the famous general Xiahou Ying. Now your ancestor's portrait is hanging in the Hall of Meritorious Officers, but you have done such a rebellious act. Don't you feel a little ashamed?
Heart?"
Xia Hou snorted coldly and said: "Stop being hypocritical. A man should die standing up, how can he live on his knees! Don't even think about tricking my brother into serving you!"
Liu Xin laughed loudly and said: "Xiahou, your brother is just a warrior. I have so many famous generals, why are you two missing? If you didn't have a good niece, why would I care about your life and death! However, you should also
Think of your wives, concubines, and children. If you are executed, they will all be slaves for life!"
The portraits of the ancestors' heroes were hung in front, but behind them they faced the prospect of their wives, concubines, and children being slaves for life. Even the Xiahou brothers, who had experienced several life-and-death battles, hesitated. Xiahou Yuan's words became more relaxed and hesitantly said: "What else do you want?
?”
Liu Xin waved her hand and said: "As long as you live your lives peacefully from now on, I will forgive you. If your descendants are promising, they can also join the court as officials. I will not make things difficult for you two because of their identities." [
Xia Houyuan no longer hesitated, winked at Xia Hou, knelt on the ground on one knee, bowed his head and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for clearing the air. I am willing to surrender!"
"You don't need to thank me. If you want to thank me, just thank your niece." Liu Xin nodded and ordered, "Take the two brothers down and deport them back to their place of origin. Their families should also be released."
Xu You and others suddenly became anxious and said repeatedly: "Your Majesty, we all sincerely regret it. We do not seek to serve as officials again. We only seek to save our wives. Please, Your Majesty..."
Liu Xin waved her hands without waiting for them to finish. The guards had been waiting impatiently for a long time. Seeing Liu Xin's gesture, they rushed up like wolves and tigers, dragged them up and walked towards the steps with their hands.
The sword fell, and a few strands of wronged souls went west.
The prisoner presentation ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple was completed, and the next step was to reward the meritorious officials. The families of Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and those under their command were all given to the meritorious officials as slaves, and they were also rewarded with houses, fields, gold, silver and jewelry.
In addition, Liu Xin formulated a new title system, setting up three titles: duke, marquis and uncle. Eight people, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei, Zhang, Dianwei, Xu Zhu, Zhao Yun, Tian Feng and Jushu, were all named dukes.
These eight people are either Liu Xin's sworn brothers, or old people who have followed Liu Xin since Hejian. Naturally, people would object to enjoying such honors. The others include Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Cai Yong, Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, etc.
Everyone can be granted the title of marquis, even Lei Tong and Wu Lan were granted the title of earl. However, Shi Huan and Wang Wei, who died in the war, should not have been granted the title based on their merits and status. Liu Xin felt grateful that they did not receive the title of victory.
One day, they were also posthumously awarded the title of earl.
Both titles and official positions can enjoy generous salaries. A duke's salary is equivalent to a first-grade official position, and so on, a marquis' salary is equivalent to a second-grade official position, and an earl's salary is equivalent to a third-grade official position. The most important thing is that the title can be
Hereditary. Of course, Liu Xin's hereditary regulations were different from those of the previous dynasties. It stipulated that the title of the title could be hereditary, but the salary could only be hereditary for three generations.
There is a reason why Liu Xin did this.
The salary of the Han Dynasty was quite generous. Even the lowest-level earl received an annual salary of up to five million yuan. The northern states had just calmed down from the turmoil, and goods were still at a high level. According to the prices of goods in Jing, Yi and other places
One hundred thousand dollars is enough for a family of five to live a very comfortable life, and five million dollars can support two or three hundred people. Moreover, during the holidays, the court will also give other rewards. Because the title can be hereditary,
There will only be more and more people holding titles. As the Han Dynasty continues for hundreds of generations, this salary will become a heavy burden.
On the other hand, Liu Xin did not want the children of these heroes to rest on the merits of their ancestors and not make progress. As long as the salary of their titles was cut off, they would naturally find ways to study, become officials, or go into business to make money.
In the same way, Liu Xin treats his children in the same way. When his children reach adulthood, his son will be named a prince and his daughter will be named a princess, but Liu Xin stipulates that they can only enjoy the salary of an earl, and this
Salaries can only be hereditary for three generations. After all, these children have not contributed much to the country. They are just from better backgrounds and cannot be left to the country to support them. Moreover, Liu Xin wants to cultivate children to be self-reliant. After all, their starting point must be
It is much better than the children of other families. Although the ministers have many objections to such a plan, Liu Xin treats her own children equally, so it is hard for others to say anything.
After apportioning the rewards to the ministers, Liu Xin held a grand banquet in the palace to reward the ministers and workers. This time, Liu Xin did not limit the participants to the commander of the army and the ministers of each ministry, but authorized all officials of the fifth rank and above in the capital to attend.
Can attend.
Being able to attend the banquet in the palace was a great honor for the ministers, and the various dishes at the banquet made them happy. In fact, because Liu Xin implemented independent accounting for the palace's expenses, this meal
No delicacies from the mountains and seas were used, only some very ordinary ingredients. However, the unique cooking method turned these ordinary ingredients into rare delicacies in the world. Everyone who attended the banquet praised the delicious food they had tonight.
, I still remember this even decades later.
Unifying the entire Han Dynasty and completely incorporating the entire Mobei Grassland into the territory of the Han Dynasty, Liu eliminated the biggest hidden danger of the northern nomads that had long troubled the Han people. In particular, he realized his wish to curb the sharp decline in the Han population. Liu
Xin's mood was also extremely good. He rarely drank alcohol, but today he drank three large glasses in a row, making him slightly tipsy.
Seeing that the ministers had almost wiped away all the dishes on the table, Liu Xin laughed loudly, waved his hands and said, "I suddenly had an idea. Let's change the New Year's gift this year and no longer reward you.
Instead of gold, silver and jewels, each of your families is allowed to send a cook to the palace to learn how to cook these dishes. What do you think? Of course, if someone still wants the annual gift, I will not force it.
"
Zhang Fei stood up first and said in a rough voice: "Brother, this is a good idea. I, Mr. Zhang, am the first to agree. I don't want the annual gift this year. I also want to eat such delicious food every day!"
Liu Xin pardoned his uncle today and did not take away his gold medal for immunity from death. This made Zhang Fei extremely happy. After returning, he could show off his merits in front of Xia Houjuan. He didn't care whether he was given annually or not.
, as long as Liu Xin puts forward an idea, he will applaud it.
The annual gifts issued by the Han Dynasty court every year are quite generous, and many of the ministers here are still a little distressed. However, Zhang Fei agreed first, and the others were embarrassed to refuse, lest people think that they have nothing to lose. Especially for most of the people.
For civil servants, reputation is really more important than life.
However, Ju Shou and others actively agreed. They all understood that Liu Xin was trying every means to save money for the court. The annual gifts were issued in the name of the court and did not need to be spent from the palace's internal treasury. But to let the north
If the people in various states can survive this winter safely, the national treasury will need to pay a large amount of money and food. Now is indeed the time to tighten our belts.[
Seeing that none of the ministers had any objections, Liu Xin couldn't help but feel even more happy, and drank a few more glasses. By the time the banquet was over, he was already swaying when he walked. When several palace maids saw this, they hurriedly came forward to help him.
Liu Xin went to the harem to rest. Liu Xin had not chosen palace maids among the people. These were all official slaves who had been banished to the palace, and many of them were from noble families. But once the Hou Men enter, it is as deep as the sea, let alone the palace.
They all knew that the hope of being released in this life was very slim, and the best outcome was to gain Liu Xin's favor. Now that they saw Liu Xin drinking a lot, their chance had arrived.
Although all of these palace maids were young and beautiful, Liu Xin was no longer the young man who had just arrived at the Han Dynasty. He waved his hand without hesitation and made all the palace maids retreat, and he staggered towards the harem.
Zhang Gou'er and several chamberlains were worried that Liu Xin would make a mistake, so they had to follow him, but they did not dare to help him.
/
Although the newly built palace is not magnificent, it occupies a very large area. According to Xiang Lang, who is in charge of the project, there are 999 and a half large and small houses, and most of them are concentrated in the harem. The harem.
There are all kinds of pavilions, pavilions, waterside pavilions and singing platforms. The only inconvenience is that Liu Xin's women live relatively scattered.
It was already dark at this time. Except for a few lanterns that could be seen on the road, the rest of the palace was completely dark. There were only a handful of places with lights on. However, Liu Xin still continued the same rules as when he was in Xiangyang.
, As usual, we should go to Diao Chan’s place to rest today, so Diao Chan will not turn off the lights at this time.
Liu Xin just walked towards the lighted place, and soon she came to a quiet courtyard, opened the door and walked in.
Zhang Gouer quickly stepped forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, you are wrong."
Along the way, some cold wind blew, and Liu Xin had become more awake. She raised her head and took a closer look. Sure enough, she seemed to have never been to this place. She couldn't help but ask: "Where is this? How did I end up here?"
Zhang Gouer said with a smile: "Your Majesty has so many things to do, you don't have time to wander around the palace. There are naturally many places you have never been to. This is a quiet room behind Concubine Cai's palace, and it contains some of the concubine's collection of books.
Usually no one lives there..."
Liu Xin didn't wait for him to finish his words, frowned, and said: "Since people live there, how can the lights be on late at night? Is it possible that there has been a thief? No, I must go and have a look!"
Zhang Gouer complained in his heart that thieves all act in secret, so there is no reason to steal things with the light on. But Liu Xin had already spoken, but he did not dare to stop him. And although Liu Xin drank too much, she still moved very quickly.
While he was talking, the person had already arrived in the yard, and Zhang Gouer was too late to stop him even if he wanted to.