After receiving the imperial edict, Lü Tu led his men away. When he arrived outside the palace, he turned to look at Sun Kuang. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes spoke volumes.

Sun Kuang lowered his head in shame: "Big brother, I will strengthen management. Everyone entering and leaving will be strictly checked. I will never let this happen again."

Lu Tu patted him on the shoulder: "Details determine success or failure. It's that last hurrah, so hold back!"

"clear!"

Lü Tu did not leave the palace, but sat there until dawn. When the morning court session began, Lü Tu had the imperial edict read aloud to the public.

When the civil and military officials heard that Zhao Qihong wanted to reduce the power of the princes, everyone looked at Lü Tu in horror. They did not expect Lü Tu to do such a thing. It was really too ruthless, but none of them dared to have any objections.

Lü Tu is now holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords. This imperial edict is just a pretext. If the real goal is to reduce the power of the feudal lords, Lü Tu will have to lead his troops to fight.

None of those vassal kings were easy to deal with. When they heard that the emperor wanted to reduce the power of the vassal kings, they were all furious and immediately assembled a large army to launch a strong attack on the capital.

Lu Tu naturally wouldn't avoid battle. Facing this army of 600,000, Lu Tu didn't need to send out too many troops at all. He was even too lazy to leave the city to fight. He simply sent Nie Yun and Tuoba Yue, each with 50,000 troops.

This battle was not as difficult as the various vassal kings had imagined; in fact, the vassal kings' armies were blasted into defeat by massive amounts of explosives in just one day.

Then Nie Yun, Tuoba Yue, and Xiang Ze led their men out and, after a few rounds of charging, defeated all the vassal kings' armies.

Most of the vassal kings were captured on the spot. As for the few who escaped, their strength was greatly reduced. In addition, with the imperial edict to reduce the power of the vassal kings, they would not be able to make a comeback even if they returned.

For the next six months, Lü Tu stayed in the capital and brought back Song Yuxi, Nangong Huiyu, and others. In particular, Zhao Qingyao often went to brainwash Zhao Qihong, telling him to let go of his hatred and stop worrying about his reputation.

With his close relatives constantly brainwashing him, coupled with Lü Tu's formidable strength, he has begun to doubt himself.

Moreover, in the past six months, Nie Yun, Tuoba Yue, and Xiang Ze each led an army of 100,000 to various parts of the country to recover lost territories.

A year later, Lü Tu finally wiped out the uprisings in various places, including all the leaders of the Red Turban Army, who were captured alive and killed at the Meridian Gate in the capital.

Within that year, Lü Tu's reputation had reached its peak.

During this period, Lü Tu also implemented many benevolent policies, including the policy of distributing land to individual households and sending a large number of sweet potatoes from the northern border to the capital. He also instructed officials from all over the country to take the sweet potatoes back to cultivate when they came to the capital to meet the emperor once every three years.

On this point alone, Lü Tu's reputation among the people reached its peak, and almost all the people regarded Lü Tu as a saint.

Lü Tu not only brought benefits to all the people of the world, but also quelled the rebellion.

The main reason people rebelled was simply to have enough to eat and a place to live with a roof over their heads. Now that Lu Tu can give them all, what is there to rebel for?

For the next three years, apart from the occasional harassment from the Wuhuan people north of the Great Wall, the world was at peace.

That day, Zhao Qingyao summoned Lü Tu: "Husband, Qi Hong has already agreed to abdicate."

Lu Tu nodded: "My wife, you've worked hard these past few days."

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, at the ancestral worship ceremony of the Great Yu Dynasty, Zhao Qihong and Lü Tu stood on either side, with all the civil and military officials behind them.

Everyone looked solemnly at the two people before them, knowing that they were about to witness something that would be recorded in history: the abdication of the emperor.

Such a thing only appears in ancient times in history books. There has never been such a case of voluntary abdication in the history of dynasties. After all, who would be willing to give up their power?

The only instance of abdication in this world occurred when a puppet emperor was involved, while Zhao Qihong was already an adult, making it all the more remarkable.

After Zhao Qihong finished offering sacrifices to his ancestors, a eunuch beside him took out a scroll of imperial edict and said loudly, "The dynasty's fate has come to an end, and its destiny has run its course. I have reigned for five years, during which the world was overthrown. Fortunately, thanks to the spirits of my ancestors, we survived the crisis. The fate of the dynasty rests on the Lü family. I am willing to hand over the dynasty to Lü Tu!"

Subsequently, Zhao Qihong solemnly handed over the national treasure, the Imperial Seal, to Lü Tu in front of all the officials of the land.

This moment symbolizes the change of imperial power, and the fate of the Great Yu Dynasty, which lasted for more than 300 years, finally came to an end.

Although Lü Tu had controlled Zhao Qihong for a long time, he had not touched the Imperial Seal of the State, because he wanted to wait until it truly belonged to him.

Since it was an abdication, Lü Tu was not the kind of person who didn't care about propriety. Naturally, he declared in front of all the civil and military officials: "Thank you to the Zhao family for entrusting the world to me. I, Lü Tu, will certainly live up to everyone's expectations and make the people of the world live a good life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the officials of the former court took out a brand-new dragon robe, even more luxurious than Zhao Qihong's, and solemnly presented it to Lü Tu, saying, "Welcome the new emperor!"

"Welcome the new emperor!" All the civil and military officials knelt down to congratulate the new emperor who had unified the country in just four years!

Lü Tu took a bowl of wine and raised it above his head: "I, Lü Tu, kowtow to the heavens and to the spirits of my ancestors, in accordance with the will of the people, hereby change the name of the country to Great Han and establish the reign title Xing Han!"

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