Chapter 35: Return to Luoyi

A breeze blew away the solemn and murderous atmosphere in the capital city of Hao.

Surrounded by the coalition forces of various princes, Crown Prince Ji Fu held his coronation ceremony at the ancestral temple in Haojing.

The old Zhou people, who had suffered so much harm from the Rong people, were finally able to appear on the streets, even though they were already in ruins.

As the Grand Clan Leader, Luo Cheng presided over the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors.

Ji Fu stood on the altar, and the various vassal states stood under the altar holding their own flags according to their status.

"The emperor bows three times."

Ji Fu walked down the altar and performed the three rituals of Earth Yi, Time Yi and Heaven Yi to the princes. After completing the rituals, he returned to the altar.

The princes went up to the altar one by one and presented gold, jade and precious treasures to the emperor.

This step alone took a long time, but everyone waited patiently.

The previous coronation ceremony of Ji Yi was a joke. This grand coronation ceremony was to let the Zhou people know that the emperor is noble and there are countless loyal princes in the world.

When offering sacrifices to heaven, all the princes and ministers followed Luo Chengsong and sang ancient poems.

"The will of heaven is everlasting and solemn.

In being not obvious, the virtue of the King is pure.

If you give me something in excess, I will take it.

Junhui is my king, and my great-grandson is loyal to him. "

This is a poem praising King Su. It has been passed down since the reign of King Kang, and there is no Zhou person who cannot sing it.

"The spirit of the Su Wang is in the sky, so glorious and bright.

The character of the King of Su is so pure, we should inherit it.

Follow the path of the Su Wang's destiny, and let your descendants practice it forever."

Luo Cheng presided over the ceremony and raised the emperor's crown.

Ji Fu lowered his head slightly, and the gorgeous crown was placed on his head. The breeze was blowing, and the warm sunlight shone down, and a layer of golden light shone on the two of them.

The entire city of Haojing was immersed in sacred chants, and countless Zhou people knelt on the ground like a tide.

They are paying homage to the new King, the Son of God.

They were worshipping King Su, the god of all Zhou people.

The historian hurriedly recorded this scene, and the painter excitedly engraved this scene in his mind.

Since the painting of "Su Wang carrying Kang Wang", there has been no other painting like this one that was entrusted with the mission by heaven and has been passed down in the world.

Wang was ordered to paint the picture, and he was determined to make this scene a classic that will be passed down through the ages.

[Your luck points are increasing rapidly. ]

[Your family reputation has increased. ]

Ji Zhao watched all this in the dark, without any feeling of great happiness in his eyes. His eyes were very peaceful, like an ocean of light.

It is hard to imagine what kind of huge waves would be set off if he got angry, or whether nine days of thunder would come down to punish the world.

Good fortune and misfortune are interdependent, this is the way of heaven.

He has gained so much from Bang Zhou, and the Luo family is so deeply bound to Bang Zhou that when the day of destruction comes, the whole building will collapse and everything will be gone.

Even though Ji Fu was the Son of Heaven, he still had to kneel and worship on such occasions of offering sacrifice to heaven. The chanting that echoed throughout the entire city of Haojing made his whole body tremble.

What is the scene like when tens of thousands of people are singing?

He had never seen it, not even in his imagination.

But now that he saw it, he was deeply shocked, just like every emperor in the past.

He thoroughly understood King Su's status among the Zhou people.

He couldn't help but lower his head and express his humility to the ancestor in the dark.

Bang Zhou welcomed a new king, Emperor Ji Fu.

[History has opened a new chapter. You have gained a large amount of luck points and obtained a Xuan-level item - Blood and Heart.

Xuan-level only · Red Blood and Loyal Heart (Loyalty is witnessed by heaven, red blood washes the red heart): Activate this card with life, and a strange phenomenon will appear in the sky, and golden lotus will emerge from the ground, which can kill people who bring disaster to the country. After the user dies, it will turn into a yellow-level item · Blood Jade. 】

This is a Xuan-grade item with effects that clearly exceed the standard, but it is not as good as a Di-grade item.

The princes surrounded the new king and went to the council hall.

The two most important things for a new king to do upon ascending the throne are to put an end to past events and to reward his subjects according to their merits.

The nature of the rebellion of the State of Shen and the princes' loyalty to the king was determined, especially the important figures who died in this war.

The first ones are the culprit Ji Nie and Shen Hou and Crown Prince Yi who committed the crime of regicide.

Even though Ji Fu had deep feelings for Ji Nie, after all, Ji Nie loved him and treated him well.

But he knew that his father would definitely not get a good posthumous title, so he finally obediently accepted the posthumous title "You" given to Ji Nie by the princes and ministers.

Although the princes and ministers said that dying early is called "desolation", he knew in his heart that violating propriety and disrupting the norm is called "desolation", and this is why the ministers gave him "desolation".

As for Ji Yi's posthumous title, it was soon announced. Killing innocent people was called "Li", and he was called Prince Li.

The posthumous title of Marquis Shen was "Gan". Those who violated the country's rules were called Gan, so he was called Duke Shen Gan.

As for the other princes and ministers who followed Lord Shen in rebellion, some were executed and given bad posthumous titles, some were stripped of their titles and kingdoms, demoted to commoners, and some were even directly demoted to slaves.

There are two main criteria for judging different treatments. The first is how serious the fault is. If the fault is too serious, you will be punished no matter what. The second is how strong the relationship is. In other words, it depends on the relationship between the in-laws and whether they can have a say.

Afterwards, all the people in the royal family who had made mistakes in the entire State of Shen would be executed, and a new person would be selected from the royal family to succeed the king of Shen.

The State of Shen was relocated to the western part of Liang, an even more desolate place. This time, rebuilding the country was much more difficult than a hundred years ago.

The title of the State of Shen was also downgraded to Viscount, and it was basically removed from the list of the major countries in Xia.

Of the two people with the greatest military achievements, Duke Zheng was promoted to Marquis Zheng, and ten cities were allocated to him from the states of Mi and Yan. The new State of Zheng was thus established in the eastern part of Luoyi.

Zaofei, who was born in the Zhao clan of the Ying family, rose from a vassal to a vassal by virtue of his great achievement in killing the King of Rong. He was granted the title of Duke of Qin and a quarter of the land of the entire Western Shen Kingdom was given to him.

Other princes and ministers also obtained land, gold, silver, jewelry, population, weapons, and so on.

The distribution of the spoils after this war has been very harmonious so far, basically impartial and everyone has gained something.

After dealing with these issues of legality and petty profits, the real interests will be presented to everyone.

The princes and ministers who had been united before suddenly split into different camps based on their different interests.

First of all, there are two largest camps, the stay-behind faction and the eastward migration faction.

The remaining faction was mainly composed of local nobles in Haojing. They controlled the power of the royal capital and also controlled the entire Zhou Dynasty through the emperor.

The eastward migration faction was mainly composed of princes who were loyal to the king. The Duke of Jin, the Duke of Zheng and others were very strong in demanding that Ji Fu migrate to Luoyi.

After all, they have made great efforts this time. If they cannot put the emperor into their sphere of influence, they will be making things difficult for others.

"Your Majesty, the Shen and Rong people have caused chaos in the capital. Not only is Haojing in ruins, but the entire capital has been destroyed. Coupled with the natural disasters over the years, this place is no longer a capital that can bear the will of heaven.

Moreover, the entire old land of Fenghao is full of Rong people. If you stay here, Your Majesty, you will definitely be constantly harassed by the Rong people. This is a very dangerous thing.

If they could migrate to Luoyi, the Ji clan princes there would be even more powerful.

Jin is to your north, Zheng is to your east, and Wei is to your northeast.

There are also powerful princes such as Song, Luo and Qi who can serve as your barriers, so that your safety can be guaranteed.

King Kang and King Zhao both used Luoyi as their capital, where they prospered the Zhou Dynasty. If you move there, you will surely be able to revive the Zhou Dynasty."

These words are not made up, but are based on reason and evidence. The current problems in the royal capital of Haojing are indeed serious.

Although the coalition forces of the princes killed the Shen people and drove away the Rong people, they could not stay here forever. Once they left, the power of the royal capital alone would not be enough to deal with the Rong people who would flood into the Wei River Plain like a tide.

It was not only the princes in the Central Plains who supported the eastward migration. In fact, many princes outside the capital who were distributed in the Three Rivers Basin also supported the eastward migration of the Ji Fu.

The biggest difference between the princes outside the capital and those inside the capital is that the former believe in using swords to increase their strength, while the latter prefer to use political means to plunder.

When the emperor moved east, the princes outside the capital expanded their territory without any scruples, especially the newly promoted King Qin, who held powerful military force in his hands and was eager to try.

However, the princes within the capital of Haojing were unwilling to do so. If they had migrated eastward more than two hundred years ago, they could have followed the emperor to migrate there, but now Luoyi itself had a large number of noble families.

Where is the extra land to give them?

Without land fiefs, it would be impossible to maintain a large clan and would soon be defeated in the fierce competition.

This is something they cannot tolerate.

“Although Luoyi is magnificent and powerful, it is surrounded by enemies. When the country is prosperous, it can control the world, but when the country is weak, it is surrounded by enemies and cannot be used as a capital.

Haojing is located among mountains and rivers, with the natural barriers of Mount Xiao and Hangu Pass that can block enemies from all sides.

As long as we can wipe out these Rong people and regain control of the pass, there is no need to worry about any danger.

When the disaster is over, there are countless lands in Guanzhong that can produce food, and countless Zhou people who can fight for you. This is the land left by God for the Zhou Dynasty to continue the mandate of heaven!

How can we abandon our ancestral heritage and move to Luoyi?"

The Marquis of Jin snorted coldly and said, "Gao Qing, you have a very vicious mind.

Mount Qi collapsed, the Luo River, Jing River and Wei River all stopped flowing, and the entire Fenghao Plain suffered huge damage. Who knows when it can be restored?

Those Rong people scattered throughout Fenghao are threatening the emperor's safety all the time. You said, "As long as we can wipe out the Rong people," but what if we fail to do so?

The emperor is so noble, how could he accompany you on an adventure?

If you were loyal subjects, how could you let the emperor fall into such a situation?"

Marquis Zhang also chimed in, "Luoyi is the center of the world. It is there that the emperor can accept the worship of all the princes of the world. Only then can he be the true ruler of the world.

The Marquis of Zheng, the Marquis of Jin, and I are all princes of the Ji clan, and are relatives of the emperor. Would they put the emperor in an unfavorable situation?"

Faced with this situation, Luo Cheng said nothing. This matter was destined from the beginning.

Not to mention that he had already reached a political exchange with the princes outside the capital, even from the perspective of Emperor Ji Fu himself, moving eastward was inevitable.

First of all, Emperor Ji Su was emotionally inclined towards the Ji princes such as the Marquis of Jin and the Marquis of Zheng who helped him to ascend to the throne.

Secondly, Ji Fu had lived in Haojing for many years, and under the influence of the environment, he did not have much hope of defeating the Rong people.

Especially since his father and mother both died indirectly at the hands of the Rong people, he wanted to leave this dangerous place even more.

Finally, it is about military force. The princes outside the capital now have decisive military force, which is simply incomparable to the princes inside the capital.

They just haven't reacted yet. Once the Marquis of Jin and others react, these clamoring nobles, who only have such a small number of troops in their hands, probably won't waste any time talking to them.

"Lord Luo, what do you think about this matter?"

Ji Fu already wanted to go to Luoyi, but the person he trusted most had not spoken yet, so he looked at Luo Cheng and asked for his opinion.

Seeing Ji Fu asking Luo Cheng for his opinion, everyone turned their eyes to see what Luo Cheng had to say.

Luo Cheng was not ambiguous and said directly: "Your Majesty, it should be safe for you to go to Luoyi with a hundred thousand troops escorting you."

He deliberately read out the four words "one hundred thousand troops" heavily, which immediately awakened everyone in the hall.

Both the Duke of Jin and the Duke of Zheng showed smiles on their faces. Yes, we now have an absolute advantage. What can we say to these useless people?

First bring the emperor to Luoyi. Anyway, it used to be the capital and it has been under renovation all these years. The king can directly take charge of state affairs when he arrives.

The ministers and nobles of Haojing were as mournful as if they had lost their parents. They groaned a few times, looked at the group of princes who had just come down from the battlefield a few days ago and were full of murderous intent, and dared not say anything more.

Ji Zhao looked at this scene and confirmed one thing he had always guessed, that is, this really is a world.

What he is experiencing now is more like a combination of the player and the background story. The real game cannot change history at all, and the protagonist's family is completely drifting with the tide.

But starting from him, the use of every prop can change some predetermined destinies. Maybe the framework of the world is still allowing some events to occur, but the characters have changed completely.

According to historical settings, Ji Yi should have ascended the throne, but because his grandfather brought in the Rong people and caused cholera in Haojing, he was rejected by the people of the country and eventually went to Luoyi alone.

Without the support of the people, the power of the royal family plummeted.

But now that Ji Fu is moving eastward, he can take a large number of bankrupt people with him. In this way, at least in the short term, the emperor still has a solid foundation, which is much stronger than in real history.

After the decision to move east was made, the princes naturally had to set out together, taking a group of people with them, first escorting the emperor to Luoyi, and then each leading their army back to their own country.

Luo Cheng was appointed as the Prime Minister to stay in Haojing under the order of the king, in charge of the military and national affairs of Haojing, and was given the title of Three Dukes and Grand Tutor. He would stay in Haojing for another two or three months.

The main task was to count all the royal property in the city of Haojing and to compile a list of Zhou people who were willing to migrate later.

…

Judging from the results, after King Yi moved eastward, the Zhou Dynasty completely declined and went to destruction, but this is a typical case of putting cause and effect before effect.

King Yi's migration to the east was not the beginning of the royal decline, but the result of the royal decline.

The interests of the Zhou royal family in the royal capital of Fenghao had been divided up by the princes within the capital, and the foundation of the royal family's rule had been hollowed out. The only hope for the Zhou royal family to revive was the 600-li territory of the royal capital of Luoyi.

According to historical records, the Zhou royal family did indeed revive in the early days of the eastward migration. King Yi, assisted by a group of powerful princes, and the princes of the Ji clan united around the royal family and dealt a powerful blow to the barbarians in all directions and the princes who did not respect the royal orders.

This proves that it is a typical fallacy to blame the decline of the Zhou Dynasty on its eastward migration. ——History of the Rise and Fall of the Zhou Dynasty

Praise the Lord!

I think I'm suitable for writing fantasy novels.

(End of this chapter)