Chapter 16: The King's Army
Since it became the capital in the late period of King Kang, after several decades of development, Luoyi is undoubtedly the most prosperous city in the entire Zhou Dynasty.
There are more than 500,000 people in the city. If we add the royal areas around Luoyi, including nobles with fiefs and wild people in the countryside, the total population exceeds 1.8 million!
If Haojing is included, the population that the emperor can control reaches one third of the entire Zhou Dynasty.
This is the fundamental reason why the princes submitted to the emperor. Ji Wan's disastrous defeat this time was not only a severe blow to the emperor's authority, but the elite army that could not be rebuilt in a short period of time would inevitably lead to the royal power's compromise with the powerful princes.
Although Luo State was also one of the powerful princes, it had an ancestor above it and its fundamental interests were different from those of other princes.
The interest of Luo State was to hope that the stable feudal system would exist long enough, rather than instinctively devour all the surrounding countries to become stronger like other vassal states.
From a materialistic point of view, this is going against the historical trend.
As the Taifu, Luo Su received the princes who came to support the king one after another. The first heavyweight prince appeared in Luoyi, one of the princes of the Ji clan, a powerful vassal in the Central Plains, the Marquis of Jin.
He brought a full 20,000 soldiers!
The clan branch that established the country during the reign of King Su, the previous Duke of Jin once served as one of the Three Dukes of the previous king.
Whenever the emperor summoned the princes, Jin always responded positively, and its sharp military force was known throughout the world.
But Luo Su frowned slightly. Since the previous monarch, the relationship between Jin State and Luo State has gradually become estranged.
The main reason was that the growing strength of the State of Jin wanted to improve its status in the Ji clan, and the chief of the Ji clan had been the king of the State of Luo since King Su.
The King of Jin once said to the King of Luo: "Our ancestor King Wu established the Zhou Dynasty under the mandate of heaven. King Su granted us noble titles and enfeoffed us to different places in the Zhou Dynasty. Since you have assumed the post of Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, our clan has been closely united around the emperor. The Zhou Dynasty is now prosperous.
Now the emperor has granted you the high position of one of the Three Dukes, asking you to assist him in governing the country. The kingdom is so vast, you must be very busy. I hope to take over your position as the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan and do something useful for the Ji clan."
The Marquis of Jin was willing to pay the price, but the previous Marquis of Luo finally rejected him, because being the eldest son was the bottom line of the monarch of Luo State, and he would rather not have the high position of one of the Three Dukes than lose this position.
The influence of Da Zongzheng on the princes of the Ji clan is unquestionable.
The simplest way is that the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan can require the princes of the Ji clan to offer more wealth and population to the emperor, effectively reducing the princes' power.
There are many other legal and compliant means. If they are used to the extreme, even those small and weak princes will not be able to inherit the throne.
Successive Luo Hou used this position to balance the power of the Ji clan princes and prevent them from becoming too powerful and threatening the status of the emperor's clan.
In order to express his attitude, the former Marquis of Luo even told the Marquis of Jin that he could give up the position of Taibao to the emperor and recommend the Marquis of Jin to take the position.
As a result, the two countries gradually stopped communicating. Since Luo Su took office as the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, the Duke of Jin has been making frequent moves within the Ji clan.
In particular, the Duke of Jin tried to increase his influence in the Central Plains. Luo Su used his power as the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan to repeatedly suppress the Ji princes who were submissive to the Duke of Jin, which led to deep resentment between the two sides.
Although he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, Luo Su still personally received the Duke of Jin and a group of princes with the surname Ji.
Most of these princes with the surname Ji were sons of previous kings, or descendants of powerful vassals of great countries. For example, some of them were countries established by King Su’s other sons.
"Master."
As soon as the Marquis of Jin opened his mouth, Luo Su smiled and said, "Marquis of Jin, don't be so polite. Everyone present here is a vassal of the Ji clan. You are a vassal of the clan. You can just call me Zongzheng."
The smile on the face of the Duke of Jin froze instantly. Luo Su was really bringing up something irrelevant and was just rubbing salt into the wound of the Duke of Jin.
The other princes of the Ji clan did not have so many concerns. They all paid their respects to Luo Su. The county magistrate was not as good as the current one. Luo Su could control them in all aspects and they had no choice but to be respectful.
The Duke of Jin's expression changed for a moment, but then he adjusted himself and smiled at Luo Su, "What the Grand Master said is absolutely right. Both Jin and Luo are powerful vassals of the clan. Now that the emperor is in trouble and the crown prince is young and weak, we need to work together to protect the country. I wonder if the Duke of Luo has any suggestions."
Luo Su looked at the Marquis of Jin deeply, and after a pause, he said, "I already know what the Marquis of Jin said. The Duke of Song and the Marquis of Qi have already led the army to station in Yingkang. However, Xiong Dun has gone north this time, and he has brought a lot of people to the southwest of Zhou and Luohe. The seventy-year-old feudal state has been destroyed in an instant. I am afraid it will be even more difficult to control him in the future.
Although Xiong Dun is brave and valiant, he is only the monarch of a country. I am worried that he may wreak havoc and affect the destiny of our Zhou Dynasty.
King Wu established the Zhou Dynasty, and King Su implemented feudalism. Many of our Ji-surnamed countries became rich and powerful because of these two kings. The task set by King Su for us was to protect the royal capital.
The emperor's six armies suffered heavy losses this time, and the royal capital cannot be destroyed again, otherwise how can the emperor's majesty be demonstrated?
It is because all the princes of other surnames in the world submit to the emperor that we, the princes of the Ji clan, have the lofty status. If we allow those princes of other surnames to have usurping thoughts like Xiong Dun, how should we deal with it?
The only plan now is to gather the strength of the princes of the Ji clan, re-establish feudalism in the south of the Luo River, and maintain the stability of the country. This is a major event for the Zhou Dynasty, and we, the Ji clan, must not stay out of it. Now there are still powerful vassals such as the Marquis of Yan who have not arrived, so when the time comes, we will discuss a charter and decide how much each country should contribute."
Doing this again!
This was the first thought of everyone present. In recent years, Luo Su has frequently organized this kind of activity, which he called the Affairs of the Ji Family and asked each family to contribute. In fact, it was taking the manpower and material resources of the powerful vassal states and distributing them to the small countries with the surname Ji to maintain the balance among the Ji clans.
This time Luo Su wanted to use the national power of the princes of the Ji clan to clean up the emperor's mess. Naturally, everyone was unwilling to agree, but no one dared to say it. This showed how great Luo Su's prestige was.
The Duke of Jin had suffered a lot of such losses over the years, but due to the emperor's strength and the fact that Luo State always took the lead, he could not refuse. However, this time the emperor's strength was greatly reduced, so he had some other ideas.
At the beginning of feudalism, the relationship between countries was relatively close, but now the countries are basically in the third, fourth, or even fifth generation of princes. The blood relationship between the princes of the Ji clan has become distant. This was also the thing that Luo Su was most worried about before. Simply relying on his efforts in the clan would not be able to reverse this trend of drifting apart.
The Duke of Jin was so active in serving the emperor, not just to clean up the mess for the emperor. After a little thought, he said solemnly: "Grand Zongzheng, King Su established the clan system in Haojing that year, stating that the emperor is the eldest of the concubines, and we are the eldest of the country. He also established feudal system and granted us land to protect the royal capital.
Over the past few decades, we have made many contributions and have been rewarded by the previous kings. However, since Emperor Wan ascended the throne, he has no longer treated the Ji clan closely, and even demoted important officials such as the Great Zongzheng at will, which eventually led to such a disaster.
Bang Zhou, the Bang Zhou of the concubines, is not the Bang Zhou of the emperor alone. The emperor has shaken the Bang Zhou and should give us concubines an explanation before discussing the reconstruction. "
There is something sinister in the words of the Duke of Jin. Haven't you, the Duke of Luo, always been protecting the emperor?
Now that the emperor has done such a terrible thing, I want to see how you can defend him. Moreover, I will use the words of your own ancestors to pressure you and see what you have to say.
Luo Su swept his eyes across the room, feeling angry, and said in a raised voice: "The Duke of Jin always talks about the Su Wang, but never the clan law. I think you really don't know what clan law is. Bang Zhou is indeed the Bang Zhou of all concubines. What the Duke of Jin said is not wrong, but I hope you all remember that the emperor is the head of all concubines.
The Luo State of Gu has the surname Ji and the Luo clan; the state of Jinhou has the surname Ji and the Jin clan. The princes present here each have their own surnames based on the fiefdoms they were granted or the official positions of their ancestors.
According to the patriarchal system, surnames distinguish marriages, and clan names distinguish noble and humble, so those with clan names are noble, and those without clan names are humble.
But have you forgotten that the emperor also has a surname but no clan name?
All the noble families in the world are descended from the emperor. This is the profound meaning of the emperor's main clan. Concubines and concubines only exist because of the emperor. If there is no emperor, our names will not be recorded in the palace records. Thousands of years later, who will still remember where you and I came from?
Open your eyes and take a look. Are there no descendants of the Three Kings and Five Emperors among the slaves living in the noble states of Bang Zhou? Who can tell?
Although Emperor Wan is stubborn and lacks the aura of a sage king, has he ever deprived the Ji clan of their ancestral kingdoms innocently since he came to power?
Now that the emperor is in trouble and the country is in turmoil, if the concubines don't unite, will they give up the state of Zhou to the princes of other surnames?"
The Duke of Jin naturally could not admit this accusation. Otherwise, how would the State of Jin deal with itself in the future if it got out? He immediately said, "Grand Zongzheng, you are the descendant of the Su King, have been in charge of the clan for a long time, and have served the emperor for many years. Of course, you are speaking the golden rule, but is it right to maliciously accuse a prince who has made many meritorious deeds?
I just said something inappropriate in anger.
Since the time of King Su, if we, the princes of the Ji clan, were unsuccessful in battle and failed to serve the emperor wholeheartedly, we would be easily reprimanded by the emperor's edict, or even stripped of our titles and expelled from our kingdoms.
We have sworn an oath to treat the Emperor with respect from generation to generation. Even so, can the Emperor do wrong things at will?
Xiong Dun is in Chu, far away from the royal city of Luoyi. So after the emperor makes a big mistake, the army can rush to rescue the emperor in time. What if the rescue fails in time? "
Although the Duke of Jin's words were fierce, those who were observant could hear that he had already backed down and was now using offense as a means of defense to save his own way.
After all, he is a powerful vassal of the royal family. Since he has admitted defeat, Luo Su will not push him too hard. Besides, what the Duke of Jin said makes some sense. Of course, the emperor must be punished if he does something wrong.
Luo Su had already prepared a plan for the follow-up treatment of Ji Wan. It would not be a big deal to reveal it to them now to appease the emotions of people like the Duke of Jin. He then said to everyone, "The emperor has brought disaster to the country and should be given an evil posthumous title, Li."
Um?
Everyone, including the Duke of Jin, stared at Luo Su with disbelief in their eyes.
Bad posthumous title!
The last king to be given a bad posthumous title was King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang Dynasty. Now Luo Su has actually decided to give Ji Wan a bad posthumous title.
But if you think about it carefully, Ji Wan's life was really unremarkable. He had no achievements at all and was full of absurd things.
In the end, he was defeated in the battle, which shook the country and he died in the chaos. It was really ridiculous.
If such a king cannot be given a bad posthumous title, the fairness of the Zhou Dynasty's posthumous titles will be questionable.
Everyone just didn't expect that Luo Su, who always upheld the emperor's authority and was even privately nicknamed the emperor's dog and horse by the concubines, would actually give the emperor a bad posthumous title. Everyone could even hear a hint of pleasure in him.
This Taifu, Da Zongzheng, and Luo Hou, an important official of Bang Zhou who has served the emperor for many years, seems to be quite dissatisfied with the emperor!
The Duke of Jin no longer had any dissatisfaction in his heart. The posthumous title was the final judgment on a person. Giving the emperor a bad posthumous title was equivalent to completely denying his life. Such punishment could already slightly compensate for the turmoil he had caused to the Zhou state.
Moreover, he could vaguely feel from Luo Su's tone that Luo Su would not let Ji Wan go so easily.
Through this meeting, Luo Su warned the Ji clan princes, such as the Duke of Jin, who had made some unusual moves, so that the subsequent Ji clan princes would not be able to make any waves.
He also met with other princes of different surnames many times.
Except for the Duke of Song, the other two kings and three Ke countries, which had high status, although their strength was average, had a very high political status and could represent the opinions of some princes.
Luo Su pacified them, treated them with both kindness and force, made them swear an oath in the Taimiao, and publicized the sacredness of the Zhou emperor as the common ruler of the world.
Thanks to Luo Su's unremitting efforts, these hundreds of teams that came from all directions to support the king finally found their place in the army temporarily.
Not until then did Luo Su feel relieved. The troops brought by these princes were too many. At the peak, the number of combat soldiers alone was nearly 200,000 around Luoyi.
Luo Su tossed and turned every night, fearing that these unrelated armies would suddenly riot.
Fortunately, as he summoned the princes one by one, these troops, under his arrangement, have been stationed in various places south of Luoyi. The price is that the money and grain in the royal treasury are being consumed rapidly, but there is nothing that can be done about it.
At the same time, Luo Su was also summoning those vassals who were directly under the royal capital. Many of these vassal masters had followed Ji Wan in the southern expedition, and now their lives or deaths were unknown, and they were in great panic.
In particular, many people's fiefs were not hereditary, but were granted to them by the emperor for farming, and the emperor used the output of the land to reward their loyalty, which was equivalent to paying a salary.
Luo Su comforted them and told them that no matter what, the responsibility for the defeat would not be placed on them, all the fiefs would not be taken back, and if they died in battle, their eldest sons could continue to serve the emperor and inherit the fiefs.
The lowest-ranking nobles among these states were relieved and responded enthusiastically to Luo Su's request for service. The children of these Yuanshi families were trained since childhood.
Soon Luo Su obtained a group of more elite warriors and took out the armor from the treasury for equipment. The king's army in Luoyi finally had the strength to resist the riot.
Luo Su felt relieved and began to arrange for the Crown Prince Xi's relatives to train the army. Since Ji Wan had already married the legitimate daughter of the Jiang surname Lu family as his queen, according to the etiquette requirements of King Su, the Crown Prince Xi married the legitimate daughter of the Gui surname Chen family as the future queen. The State of Qi still married a noble lady.
The strength of Qi State was already very strong, and now Qi Jiang had become the queen mother. Naturally, Luo Su had to balance the power of Qi State within the royal capital.
After the royal capital was completely stabilized, Luo Su came to the front line of the confrontation between the two sides with the order to take charge of all matters related to the southern expedition.
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Killing innocent people is called Li; being tyrannical and cruel is called Li; being violent and rude is called Li; supporting evil and violating justice is called Li.
Thanks for the reward from Stars Falling into Sunlight.
Good news: this chapter is over 4,000 words again.
Bad news: The new book can only have 4,000 words. I’m sure my friends can understand that.
(End of this chapter)
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