Chapter 198: Founding of a Nation (Part 1)
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Perhaps, in the hearts of some people, some things and events are more important than their own lives. From the very beginning, Emperor Chongzhen had the determination to die. He was unwilling to watch his relatives killed by the victor, and he was unwilling to live in humiliation from then on. So, in the end, Emperor Chongzhen chose death. Only death was his relief, and only death could allow him to finally find spiritual rest. Or, it was death that allowed a certain persistence in his heart to be fixed forever at the moment of his death, making that moment an eternal sorrow in history.
Watching Emperor Chongzhen leap from the platform, Wang Dahui, unable to rescue him, was filled with regret. He hadn't imagined this emperor could be so fiery. Empress Zhou, Empress Zhang, Consort Tian, Princess Changyi, and others all had different expressions. Empress Zhou was mournful. She was the Chongzhen Emperor's legal wife, and while she wasn't his favorite, the bond between husband and wife was truly genuine. Empress Zhang lamented the Emperor's death. As his sister-in-law, she couldn't harbor much affection. She lamented that Emperor Chongzhen's death also marked the end of the Dacheng Dynasty, the end of the Zhu Dynasty's mission in history.
Tears flowed from Concubine Tian's eyes. It could be said that Emperor Chongzhen doted on her the most, but her feelings for him were not the deepest. Concubine Tian was a versatile woman, a talented woman with unparalleled beauty, but she was also more thoughtful than Empress Zhou and the others. Although she had feelings for Emperor Chongzhen, they were far less than Empress Zhou's. She cried only because the man who doted on her died. She cried only because she seemed to have seen her own ending.
The saddest one was Princess Changli. She desperately wanted to rush to her father's body and take a last look at him. However, as Emperor Chongzhen jumped off the platform, all the soldiers guarding them became alert. Someone held Princess Changli tightly and would not let her go even if she kicked and bit. On the other side, although Empress Zhou and Empress Zhang wanted to leave this world with Emperor Chongzhen, they had no chance at all under the strict guard of the soldiers.
Tang Tong soon learned about the death of Emperor Chongzhen. He could only sigh for the poor emperor. He, Tang Tong, really had not thought of killing this respected and tragic emperor. Now that he was dead, Tang Tong had to rush to the scene as quickly as possible. On the one hand, he asked people to collect the body of Emperor Chongzhen, and on the other hand, he came to comfort Empress Zhou, Princess Chang and others. However, it was obvious that Empress Zhou and others held the hatred for Tang Tong for the death of Emperor Chongzhen, so they glared at him, and only Concubine Tian looked at Tang Tong with a complicated look.
The Chongzhen Emperor left behind quite a few concubines and palace maids. Both the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou were very frugal people. Not only did they cut down their family expenses to the level of ordinary wealthy families, they also released a large number of palace maids from the palace. Among the concubines, except for Concubine Tian, the Chongzhen Emperor liked Concubine Yuan the most. Although there were not many of them, their quality was not bad. Every one who caught the Chongzhen Emperor's eye was of superb beauty.
Some of Tang Tong's subordinates and officers who followed behind him looked at Queen Zhou and the most noble woman among the group of great men with shining eyes. If Tang Tong had not stood there, these people might have made plans. However, now that Tang Tong had not given the order, no one dared to make any plans. For example, the two princesses, Tang Tong's subordinates had directly regarded them as Tang Tong's women. As for Queen Zhou, Queen Zhang, and Concubine Tian, although those people had some ideas in their hearts, they also felt that their prince might not let go of such noble women, because Tang Tong had issued an order earlier, not allowing anyone to touch Queen Zhou and others. After Tang Tong gave the order, these people realized that they had misunderstood Prince Tang.
Tang Tong's first order was to bury Emperor Chongzhen with the rites of an emperor and to give him a posthumous title. His second order was that no one was allowed to take anything from the imperial palace. Empress Zhou, Empress Zhang, Princess Changyi and others continued to live in the palace with their original statuses. Not only did they enjoy their original statuses and power, but they were also given additional silver as their expenses. They were not allowed to be summoned by anyone, and no one, including Prince Tang, was allowed to disturb their lives and freedom. Tang Tong himself found a wealthy family's mansion in the capital to live in and settled his family there.
Not only did Empress Zhou and Princess Changyi still live in the imperial palace, but the maids and eunuchs who served them before also continued to serve them. The only difference was that the people guarding the palace became Tang Tong's subordinates, and some maids were added to serve Empress Zhou and other women left behind by Emperor Chongzhen. Tang Tong and these maids served Empress Zhou and other women only to prevent Empress Zhou, Empress Zhang and other women whom Tang Tong respected from committing suicide. However, in the eyes of Empress Zhou and other people, Tang Tong sent these maids to serve them in order to monitor them.
Tang Tong's orders made some people agree but some people disagree, especially Tang Tong's subordinates. In their view, Tang Tong was the emperor of this world, and this palace should be Tang Tong's residence. How could they let the remnants of the previous dynasty continue to live in such a place? Some of Tang Tong's confidants also asked Tang Tong, and Tang Tong just said that it was to stabilize the people's hearts. Tang Tong could not tell the actual situation. He could not tell his subordinates and confidants. He, Tang Tong, did this because he admired the historical Emperor Chongzhen and his family. Although most of the women around Tang Tong could not understand why Tang Tong did not live in the palace, Chen Yuxian, Liu Rushi, Yuan'er, Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, Kou Yimen, who were born in Da'an, all agreed with Tang Tong's decision. They believed that Tang Tong's behavior was a manifestation of affection and righteousness, and the generosity that a hero should have.
Since the capital has fallen into Tang Tong's hands, the world is considered to be newly unified. Naturally, the country has to establish a national name. It can no longer use the reign title as an excuse as before. Tang Tong doesn't need to worry about such things. Tang Tong's subordinates care about such things much more than Tang Tong himself. The establishment of a country, Tang Tong's subordinates are also the founding heroes of a country. How can these people not care about such things? People like Li Yan, Chen Zilong, Zu Dashou, Hong Chengchou, Hou Fangyu and others are all trying their best to show themselves. Since the country and the national name have been established, then the matter of enfeoffment of ministers is a matter of course. If they don't show off at this time and let Tang Tong remember them, there will be no better opportunity to enfeoff them in the future.
Tang Tong originally wanted to establish the emperor's son as emperor and promote constitutional monarchy, but Tang Tong's subordinates obviously did not have such a high level of awareness as Tang Tong. They believed that since it was Tang Tong who led them to conquer the world, then Tang Tong should be the emperor. Even if they wanted to establish a constitutional monarchy, it would not be too late to do so after establishing a member of the Tang family as the monarch. In this case, Tang Tong could not say anything. The so-called yellow robe was the result of the combined interests of a group of people. Now, Tang Tong represented not his own interests, but the interests of his subordinates. Tang Tong had to be the emperor even if he didn't want to.
There was no room for negotiation on such matters, so Tang Tong could only let things take their course and first establish the country's name, using the later name of China, calling it the Chinese Empire. Judging from the territory currently occupied by Tang Tong, it was indeed a super-large empire. If it were not for the advanced productivity and technology, and the inability to control places too far away, Tang Tong would not have established colonies. Tang Tong would have directly incorporated the places he took a fancy to into his own territory.
The reign titles adopted the Chinese calendar, starting from the time of the Yellow Emperor. This was Tang Tong's idea, but Tang Tong's idea gave his scholars a headache. You know, there are not many records from the Yellow Emperor's period, and the exact date is difficult to say. At that time, there were no specialized archaeologists to study these things, so Tang Tong's idea ultimately became an idea that was difficult to realize. Having no choice, Tang Tong had to settle for the second best and wanted to start counting from the moment Qin Shihuang unified the world. Tang Tong thought this should be an easy task, but what Tang Tong didn't think was that this was not an easy task. The records in Chinese history are not necessarily accurate. Many dates need to be accurately verified. It is also a huge process to sort out the years starting from Qin Shihuang. Since a country has been established, it is impossible to have no reign title timetable to record some things. Tang Tong's ideas also made those scholars know that Tang Tong was an unlearned person.
Under the persuasion of Li Yan and others, Tang Tong gave up those unrealistic ideas. Thinking about it carefully, there were no professional archaeologists in this era. It was indeed not an easy task to sort out those things. Although Tang Tong had many scholars under him, the world was just established and there were many places that needed scholars. How could there be so many people to devote themselves to such unimportant things? In the end, Tang Tong had to accept the Chinese calendar starting from the founding of his country.
In this year, January of the first year of the Chinese Revolution, Tang Tong ascended the throne and became the emperor. He thought carefully about the matter of appointing a queen, because there were many things involved. It was not that Tang Tong could appoint anyone he wanted. The ministers under Tang Tong would support the representatives of their respective forces for various reasons. Some ministers who considered offspring would support the princes they favored.
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