"My master is already a prince of a different surname. Since you have given the title of Duke Jingguo to him, shouldn't you also give my master a higher rank?"
Yu Zizhen leaned back in his chair, looking down at the middle-aged scholar who was speaking. "If he is willing to give up his military power and come to the capital, I can give him a hereditary princely title. If he is not willing, then he can only remain the King of Zhenbei."
Before the middle-aged scholar could accuse her of unfairness, Yu Zizhen had already turned around and persuaded him earnestly, "You have to understand that a strong emperor would not allow other tigers to constantly watch over her bed."
Middle-aged scholar: ...
This is a clear warning to them. If the King of Zhenbei continues to want both, then she will use the King of Zhenbei as a scapegoat?
He exchanged glances with his colleague and said, "I will convey your words to my employer."
Yu Zizhen nodded. "Then you can go back and tell them. Tell the King of Zhenbei that if he is not satisfied with the conditions I offer, I can give his second son a second-class marquis title after Yu Zicheng gets married and has children. But the price is that the child will have to stay in the capital."
The middle-aged scholar felt a little relieved. Although he and the King of Zhenbei were actually more inclined to directly upgrade the King of Zhenbei's title of Prince to Prince rather than giving a new second-class marquis title to Yu Zicheng's second son who was nowhere to be found, the fact that Yu Zizhen gave the Zhenbei Palace some compensation after firmly rejecting them at least showed that she was not deliberately trying to make things difficult for the King of Zhenbei.
Although the middle-aged scholar felt that Yu Zizhen, as a person who was about to ascend the throne and become emperor, actually said threatening words to his biological father so bluntly, he was too shallow and was not a qualified candidate for emperor.
But it was precisely because Yu Zizhen was so naive that he believed without much hesitation that Yu Zizhen refused to confer the title on the King of Zhenbei because she did not want to have another prince with heavy troops in her new dynasty, and not because she still resented the King of Zhenbei and his wife for their wrong treatment and debt to her.
The reason may not be important to others, but to the guilty and short-tempered King Zhenbei, this reason is very important, because it is related to whether Yu Zizhen will deliberately target them and retaliate against them in the future.
As expected, after confirming Yu Zizhen's attitude again and again with his advisers, King Zhenbei agreed to the compensation conditions proposed by Yu Zizhen without much hesitation.
At this point, Yu Zizhen only had Baiyue, Shu, and Liaodong left to recover.
According to the follow-up plan proposed by his subordinates, Yu Zizhen chose to ascend the throne first, reduce taxes and levies, and allow the people to recuperate.
As for the Baiyue, Shu, and Liaodong that were lost during the time of Xiao Yuanjin's grandfather, and the foreign tribes outside the Great Wall who had been eyeing the Central Plains but were unable to take advantage of the situation because of Yu Zizhen's powerful external power and quick actions, considering the current national strength and people's livelihood, Yu Zizhen estimated that it would take at least five years before she could take military action against those places again.
Following the advice of her subordinates, Yu Zizhen stationed troops on the border to deter foreign invaders, and then sent envoys to invite the current rulers of Baiyue, Shu, and Liaodong to attend her coronation ceremony.
After determining the tone for the next actions, everyone, including Yu Zizhen, became busy again.
The other trivial preparations were handled by other people, so Yu Zizhen didn't have to worry about anything. However, as she was undoubtedly the founding emperor of the new dynasty, Yu Zizhen had to make her own decisions on things like the country's name and the reign title.
As a person who was bad at naming, Yu Zizhen actually didn't want to take up this idea at all. However, no one gave her the opportunity to assign tasks. All her subordinates unanimously gave Yu Zizhen the job that they thought had special significance.
Apart from gritting his teeth and flipping through the book, what else could Yu Zizhen do?
With a bitter face, she picked up a book on Shuowen Jiezi and looked at it for a long time. Finally, she chose the character "Zhao" which she thought had a good meaning.
Yu Zizhen, feeling he had completed his mission, excitedly wrote the character "Zhao" on a piece of paper. "I've decided. The country's name will be Zhao, meaning brightness. How do you think? Not bad, right?"
Everyone: ...
Although they could understand Yu Zizhen's good intentions in wanting to use this character as the country's name, but...
"This word is inappropriate. It will make people suspect that you are continuing the line of King Zhao of the Great Qi."
"Yes, especially since King Zhao's fiefdom has always been in the eastern region."
"And, forgive me for being blunt, although the word 'Zhao' has a good meaning, its connotation is a bit too simple and straightforward."
“…”
After being rejected one after another with various reasons that she considered completely unreasonable, Yu Zizhen immediately threw a tantrum, "Then what about the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties? The Qin and Han dynasties? The Sui and Tang dynasties?"
Everyone: ...
Xiao Yuanjin rubbed his throbbing eyebrows and reminded her as gently as possible, "It can't be something used in previous dynasties."
The others nodded in agreement.
Yu Zizhen took a deep breath and tried to think, "Then...Hua?"
Huaxia Huaxia, if she is not allowed to name the country Xia, then it’s okay for her to use Hua, right?
Seeing everyone making eye contact, and a few of them moving their lips slightly as if to continue refuting her, Yu Zizhen quickly came up with a line, "The great China, like the eternal rivers, rises like the sun, and remains like the moon..."
Isn’t this profound enough?
A quick glance revealed they were still showing signs of nagging, so Yu Zizhen could only continue reciting with as much emotion as possible, "Uh... a vast land with abundant resources, and talented people everywhere, with people bowing down to them and paying tribute to them from all directions? That should be all right, right?"
If someone keeps saying that, Yu Zizhen decided that she would transfer the difficult task of naming to him (them) no matter what!
Perhaps it was because they sensed Yu Zizhen's hidden dangerous aura, but everyone including Xiao Yuanjin finally stopped refuting Yu Zizhen.
They accepted the name "Huaguo", and then, at Yu Zizhen's insistence, changed the name of the founding emperor from "Jianyuan", "Kaiyuan", "Taishi", "Wude" and other names that they thought sounded nice, to "Yongning", which Yu Zizhen liked.
Although "Yongning" sounds neither bright nor imposing, Yu Zizhen insisted on using these two words as the reign title because of its simple and straightforward beautiful meaning.
She hopes that the world will be peaceful and tranquil from now on, and that the people will have enough food and clothing and live a stable life.
By using this reign title, Yu Zizhen felt that he could always remember her beautiful wish at this moment, and work tirelessly for it in the long years to come.
Time always passes quickly in busy times, and in the blink of an eye, Yu Zizhen welcomed her coronation ceremony.
Although the leaders of Baiyue, Shu and Liaodong who were invited did not come in person, they all sent their trusted ministers and sons, nephews and nieces.
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