Chapter 101 Ascending the throne and ruling the world
Luoyang, the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, still has the majestic and noble atmosphere of an imperial capital, but the dilapidated places left after a war have not been completely repaired. Gu Youan sat on the high sedan chair and looked around. Luoyang seemed to be like this.
Zhou Qi turned to look at her: "What's wrong?"
Gu Youan pointed to the road on the right: "The next turn seems to be Huazhi Lane."
A Yuan also looked in the direction his mother pointed. He had heard from his grandmother that the Gu family's house was in Huazhi Lane.
Zhou Qi nodded. "I've had people check it out. The old Gu family mansion was destroyed two years ago, and it's now a wasteland. I asked Xu Zhi to find a house on Xiandeng Street for my father-in-law and mother-in-law to live in. It's just outside the imperial city, so it's close enough that it will be convenient for you to visit them in the future."
Xiandeng Street is where the royal family members live. The houses on the entire street are not for sale and are only owned by the royal family. As a relative by marriage, the Gu family can naturally move in as long as Zhou Qi nods.
Gu Youan held his son's hand and asked, "Are you cold?"
Traveling in a sedan chair is indeed noble, but it is drafty on all sides. Fortunately, it moves slowly, otherwise you would have a belly full of cold wind.
A Yuan shook his head. He didn't feel cold. Luoyang was much warmer than Songjiang City.
A Yuan held his mother's hand with one hand and his father's hand with the other. He looked at the people kneeling on both sides of the street and felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.
"We've reached the palace gate."
Guan Pei, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial City Guard, stood in front of the Meridian Gate, dressed in a brand-new military officer's robe. Gu Youan glanced at Guan Pei with a smile, then turned to ask Zhou Qi, "Who is the deputy commander-in-chief?"
"I want to promote Li Xian to the position of deputy governor. It will be more convenient for you to hire people in the future."
Guan Pei was the head of his guards, and Li Xian was the head of her guards. Guan Pei was the chief and Li Xian was the deputy. This arrangement showed that he had never forgotten what he had promised her, and he would not give her less of what belonged to her.
Gu Youan said, "Li Xian is a good deputy commander-in-chief. The harem also needs manpower. Let's appoint Guo Su as the commander of the harem guards."
Zhou Qi nodded: "You arrange it."
Li Xian and Guo Su, one on each side, protected their master's carriage as they entered the palace. They both heard what their master said, and their hearts trembled at the same time.
Li Xian's emotions were in turmoil because he knew he had not followed the wrong person and the princess had not forgotten him.
What Guo Su was thinking in her heart was that the commander of the harem guards was of the first rank, and she had always been inferior to Li Xian over the years, but after entering the palace, she was of the same rank as him.
The other court officials who were not from Prince Qi's mansion and who were welcoming them at the palace gate were shocked to hear that the two masters had decided the three most important military officer positions in the imperial city while chatting and laughing. They were shocked not only that the words of Prince Qi's wife carried so much weight in Prince Qi's eyes, but also that the Queen had appointed a woman as a first-rank military officer.
In the past, if the empress interfered in government affairs and women served as officials, any of these matters would cause an uproar in the court.
After entering the imperial city, the largest palace was the Yuji Palace. Zhou Qi said, "You've read the letter I wrote to you. It's not an auspicious place. Keep it closed from now on, or use it for ancestor worship."
"Then where do you go to court to summon the officials?"
Zhou Qi pointed to the Qi'an Hall in the back, which had been renamed a few days ago: "I lived there during the days you were not here."
"Where do Yuan and I live?"
"Our family will live in the back hall of the Qi'an Hall first. When the Changkun Palace on the right side of the alley is rebuilt, you can move in next year."
Changkun Palace was the palace where Queen Meng once lived, and it was also where Zhou Qi lived when he was a child. After Queen Meng passed away, Queen Zhou Xuan lived in Changchun Palace behind Changkun Palace. Changkun Palace has been vacant for seventeen or eighteen years.
The chariot stopped outside Qi'an Palace. Zhou Qi helped her get off, ignoring his son who was still following behind him. He continued, "Ayuan is getting old, and it's not appropriate for him to live with us anymore. After the coronation ceremony and everything is settled, we'll have him live in Henian Palace in the east. It's close to the Royal Academy in front, so it'll be convenient for him to go there every day to study."
A Yuan had seen a map of the imperial city in advance. He said unhappily, "The Henian Palace is too far from mother."
"It's not far. If you're worried about me and your mother, just come find us. You should also move around more and get some exercise."
A Yuan didn't want to: "I want to live with my mother."
"No, you are already seven years old. In a few days I will make you the crown prince. The crown prince should live in a palace of his own."
Zhou Qi felt that as a father, he shouldn't allow this kid to stick to him and his wife anymore. He should let him live his own life and wanted to get his son away.
"Father, don't!"
"You have to go. Luoyang is not like Songjiang City. If you don't do well, you'll be scolded. Just look at those old men in the court. They might not dare to impeach corrupt officials, but they're all good at finding fault with a child like you. They can easily come up with a seemingly reasonable but actually absurd memorial based on the words of the sages and Confucius."
Gu Youan turned around and glared at him: "That's almost it."
Zhou Qi sneered. When Zhou Xuan was doing evil things, they were all like dumb. But after Zhou Xuan died, they seemed to come back to life and kept an eye on the things happening in his backyard every day.
What? Do you think he is Zhou Xuan and has no other abilities except controlling women and being controlled by them?
If he was a useless guy like Zhou Xuan, he would not have reached this point today.
After entering the hall, Zhou Qi saw that everyone inside and outside Qi'an Hall was his own people. He then spoke, "The officials from the Ministry of Rites are clueless. They can't even greet you and perform the formalities today. I think we should replace them."
Gu Youan said, "Today is the fifth day of the lunar year, and the coronation ceremony will be held in three days. What if the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the royal family get angry now and the coronation ceremony is delayed?"
"They don't dare to confront me openly. I'm afraid they'll make things difficult for you."
Gu Youan smiled and said, "You are the emperor, the ruler of the world. As long as you stand by me, who would dare to embarrass me?"
It was still what she had said before. They were both smart people. If someone wronged her, she would assume that he allowed it. If something happened, don't tell those lies in front of her afterwards. She would just find it ridiculous.
Zhou Qi smiled and said, "After I ascend the throne, the garrisons in the southeast, southwest, and northwestern regions will need to be thoroughly cleaned up. The same applies to the grasslands in the northern border after the spring. Furthermore, the court has many matters to deal with regarding the mess left behind by Zhou Xuan. As for the harem, Sun Zhang, the chief eunuch who served Zhou Xuan, will follow me from now on. He will only be responsible for my affairs here. I'm afraid you will need to supervise Liu Zhong in sorting out the harem."
"Where's Liu Ling?"
"Liu Ling, he's old, so don't worry about him. The left and right harems are both empty. See which palace he likes and let him choose one to live in. If he doesn't like living in the palace, he can live outside."
Liu Ling devoted her entire life to him, and he hoped that Liu Ling could enjoy her old age.
Gu Youan thought so too.
Zhou Qi personally poured her tea and said, "Princess, from now on, we'll keep it the same as before. I'll take care of the outside affairs, and you'll take care of the household affairs. If I go out, you'll take care of everything at home. How do you think?"
"Can you trust me? Zhou Qi, Luoyang is not Songjiang City. This is the power to rule the world."
Zhou Qi glanced at her, knowing she was testing him again. He pointed at Yuan and said with a smile, "We only have this one son. If you don't help, are you going to let him go and fight with those filthy people? My son is also your son. If he gets played to death, who will benefit in this world?"
Gu Youan slapped him in anger: "Bah, stop saying unlucky things."
Even though she scolded him, Gu Youan did not refute his words. She said, "In that case, it would be nice for us to live together."
They lived in the same palace, and the order came from Qi'an Palace. You could say it was his order or hers, and it wouldn't give anyone a clear handle.
A Yuan came over and said, "I want to live with my mother. If I move out and get killed, you won't even know it."
Gu Youan was so angry that he slapped him on the butt: "Why are you learning from your father? What's wrong with you cursing yourself?"
"Mother~"
Yuan snuggled into her arms. Gu Youan had no choice but to turn and look at Zhou Qi: "How about asking Yuan to live with us for a while, and then asking him to move out when it gets warmer in the spring?"
Zhou Qi looked at the mother and son and thought, forget it, his words don’t count in this family, so you can do whatever you want.
A Yuan finally moved into Qi'an Hall, and the family of three slept together at night for the first time in a long time.
After his son fell asleep, Zhou Qi hugged her waist and sighed, "It's rotten inside and out. If it weren't for the unrest in the world and the suffering of the people, our family would have lived a peaceful life in Songjiang City."
"It doesn't matter. Let's focus on the big things and let go of the small things. Let's take it one step at a time."
With Gu Youan's arrival, not only did Zhou Qi have help, but the officials Gu Youan brought from Songjiang City also relieved a lot of pressure on him.
The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Rites were put aside for now, while the heads of the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War were all replaced. Although Zhou Qi had not yet ascended the throne and could not appoint officials, who among the officials left behind by Zhou Xuan would dare to object? Those with dishonest backgrounds or those who wanted to defect to the new master would even cooperate with him.
After years of operation of Prince Qi's Mansion, Songjiang City has become a small imperial court. There are replacements for all kinds of staff in all government offices. Not to mention the external officials and internal officials, the lives of their family of three are closely related to the chief steward of the imperial kitchen, Zhang Er, who is the head cook of Prince Qi's Mansion, and the chief supervisor of the Imperial Medical Bureau is replaced by Zhang Shinan.
In the harem, Liu Ling was worried about Liu Zhong after entering the palace, so she personally came to help. With Liu Ling's help, Liu Zhong cleaned up the closed harem within two days.
All the palace maids and eunuchs were cleared out, and all the decorations in the palaces were put into the warehouse. Then the palaces were closed and the guards from the harem were stationed to patrol.
The palace maids and eunuchs cleared out from each palace will be roughly checked first, and those who are of age and have no problems will be locked up together. They will be pardoned and released from the palace after the emperor's coronation ceremony on the eighth day of the first lunar month.
If there are any problems with the body that have not been clearly diagnosed, then they will be locked up in the dungeon for investigation. There is only one master in the harem, the queen, and there is no shortage of servants like them.
On the evening of the seventh day of the first lunar month, Liu Ling and Liu Zhong personally went to Qi'an Palace to report on the affairs of the harem over the past two days. Gu Youan saw the list and asked, "There are more than 5,000 people who will be released from the palace?"
Liu Zhong said: "These 5,000 people are of age and have no problems found on them. There are more than 4,000 people who are not of age or whose conditions have not been clearly diagnosed yet."
"How many eunuchs are there?"
"More than 8,000 people."
Zhou Qi, who was processing memorials, heard this and said, "In the old man's harem, there are only about 8,000 maids and eunuchs. Zhou Xuan has too many women in his harem. During his 17 years on the throne, the number of palace maids in the harem has more than doubled."
"Why are so many people imprisoned in the palace? It's a waste of manpower and food." Gu Youan said to Liu Zhong, "After the coronation ceremony tomorrow, release those you have investigated the day after tomorrow. Investigate those who remain as well and release those who are no longer needed."
Liu Zhong nodded in agreement.
Liu Ling was old, so he had a place in front of his master. After his master finished speaking, he said, "These palace maids and eunuchs in the harem are trivial matters. The Internal Affairs Department where Lord Xu is located involves relatives and foreign officials. I'm afraid it's a mess and difficult to investigate."
"Even if it's difficult to investigate, we have to investigate. If we can't find the answer and solve the problem, then we have to replace the officials. We have to replace all the officials from top to bottom. The new officials will always be honest officials for a few years. Then we can free up our hands and deal with it."
The Imperial Household Department was engaged in the business of imperial merchants, placing spies in various parts of the Zhou Dynasty to gather information, etc., and the network of relationships within it was complex.
Gu Youan smiled and asked Zhou Qi, "Where did Baldy go?"
"He's still taking care of his own business. Don't count on him. He's also very busy."
Baldy is the head of the secret guards of Prince Qi's mansion. Now he has to take over a lot of things and put the upper and lower levels into order. The Great Zhou Dynasty is vast, and it will probably take at least a year or two to accomplish this.
Gu Youan said, "Then I can only ask Xu Zhi to work hard first."
People like Manager Han under her may be able to do business, but they are not able to handle the affairs of the Imperial Household Department.
While the couple was talking, Xiaoyue came in and reported, "Master, the Imperial Wardrobe has delivered the auspicious attire for tomorrow's ceremony."
"Send it in."
The emperor and empress's clothes were regulated, and all the embroidery and fabrics that had been saved in the past were available. Although the new emperor ascended the throne in a hurry, he was probably able to handle it.
These days, the Shangyi Bureau is most busy with the auspicious clothes for the prince. Originally, there was no prince, so no clothes for the prince were prepared, so now they are a bit at a loss.
After the matter of the Shangyi Supervisor was reported to the Chief Eunuch Xu Zhi, Xu Zhi replied to his master and then went back to pass on the message that the emperor's embroidery could also be used on the prince's clothes.
After Gu Youan and Zhou Qi tried on their own auspicious clothes, they went to look at A Yuan's prince's clothes. A Yuan's face turned black. This auspicious clothes was too tight and heavy, and it was really uncomfortable to wear.
The embroiderer who was in charge of changing clothes whispered back, "Master, calm down. The patterns for the auspicious attire are all handed down from ancient times, and we cannot alter them. We have made a few sets of casual attire for the Crown Prince, and he will feel comfortable after the ceremony."
Gu Youan touched his son's collar. The half-high collar was embroidered with a dragon pattern in gold thread. The hard collar poked his neck, which was indeed uncomfortable.
"Just bear with it. You won't have to wear it after tomorrow."
Zhou Qi values his wife and children, so he insists that the Ministry of Rites change the regulations. Tomorrow, after his coronation ceremony and ancestor worship, all officials will witness the imperial edict to confer titles on the empress, the crown prince, and the three members of his family, and it will be issued together to announce to the world.
They are the most noble family in the world, and the three of them should stand high up, to be admired and worshipped by all the people.
Zhou Qi and Gu Youan both don't care about trivial matters. Compared to real power, they would rather save on formalities.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, heaven and earth celebrate the day of the Human Emperor. Rituals and music lead the way, and ceremonial guards accompany the procession. Five bows and three kowtows are performed to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth. The decree is announced in the Qi'an Hall, and the country's name is determined to be Qi'an.
Following closely came the Queen and the Crown Prince. After all the ceremonials were completed, the family of three stood at the highest point of the Qi'an Hall and accepted the kneeling congratulations of all the officials.
"Your Majesty, I bow to you! Long live the Emperor!"
"Your Highness, we bow to the Empress. May Your Highness live a thousand years!"
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
A long string of words, thousands of people inside and outside the hall, not a single one made a mistake. The Minister of Rites, who had just been severely criticized, did a good job this time!
Zhou Qilong was delighted: "Everyone, please stand up!"
Zhou Qi turned around and met Gu Youan's eyes. The couple held hands tightly under the wide sleeves of their wedding robes.
A Yuan was wearing uncomfortable ceremonial attire and was hungry. He had no intention of looking at his father, the emperor, and his mother. He just stood there with a sour face!
All the officials in the hall stood up, and some of them took the opportunity to glance at the family of three above them. One old minister sighed inwardly, saying that the Crown Prince looked so much like the Emperor when he was young. He would definitely be a promising ruler when he grows up.
It’s really God’s blessing!
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