Chapter 60: New Dynasty, New Atmosphere
Early in the morning on the day of his enthronement, all civil and military officials were waiting at Quetai in the western suburbs of the city.
After bathing and burning incense, Song Yuzhu wore a black robe and a golden crown, and climbed onto the high platform under the gaze of the crowd to offer sacrifices to the Lord of Heaven, the Emperor of Earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the God of Sheji, the God of the Sea, the God of Mountains and Rivers, and the God of the City.
Then he read the edict of accession to the throne. The content of the edict was nothing more than first scolding the stupidity and incompetence of the prosperous dynasty, saying that the people had suffered for a long time. Then he said that he was given the throne by heaven, and the people had no master, so he dared not refuse. Therefore, he set up an altar on the Quetai to announce to the Emperor of Heaven and decided to call the world Daqi.
After all the busy work, it was already noon. Finally, all the officials came to pay homage and shouted "Long live the emperor".
The sky was clear and the air was fresh, with a gentle breeze. Song Yuzhu looked down at the civil and military officials who were kneeling and bowing, and his heart was moved. From now on, he would be the common ruler of the world, and in the name of the Son of Heaven, he would have the power of the world!
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After ascending the throne, he had to announce to the world and tell the people that a new dynasty had been established. The current dynasty was no longer the Sheng Dynasty but the Qi Dynasty, and the reign was the first year of Changzhi.
In fact, the people don’t care much about these things. In the past thousands of years of history, it was the people who suffered in the rise and fall of the country. As long as they can have enough food to eat, what does it matter to them who becomes the emperor?
However, the new emperor issued a general amnesty and allowed the people to be exempted from taxes for three years, which made them very happy. The people were suffering from the heavy taxes imposed by the previous dynasty, so they were naturally grateful to be exempted from taxes.
In the Shangjing Imperial Palace, today is the first morning court session of the Qi Dynasty.
Emperor Changzhi Song Yuzhu sat on the throne.
The morning court was mainly about rewarding and transferring officials. Zhao Xiao, Xu Bing, Du Chong, Bai Yizhou and others were all promoted according to their previous official positions.
In particular, Zhao Xiao was not only conferred the title of the first-rank general who assisted the country, but also the title of the first-rank loyal and brave king, and was granted a mansion.
Such a generous reward made all the civil and military officials in the court look at him with awe. From ancient times to the present, few emperors would confer the title of king on someone with a different surname. Even if the contribution was great, a title would be the most they could get. Firstly, they were afraid that the person would become powerful and rebel. Secondly, no matter how close the emperor was to the throne, could he be closer than his brothers?
Song Yuzhu felt that these rewards were too little for him. If it weren't for Zhao Xiao, he would have no chance to realize his ideas, let alone sit in this position.
Xu Bing was appointed as the left prime minister and took charge of the Secretariat. Song Yuzhu did not publicly release Liu Yanzi and the people in Xuanyi Tower. However, they were all given positions in secret, and Liu Yanzi was appointed as the leader of the secret guards. From now on, all matters that could not be seen in public would be handled by them.
After the reward decree was read, everyone knelt on the ground to express their gratitude.
The next step was to transfer the old officials, reinstating the capable ones and transferring the incapable ones to other departments.
The former Minister of Revenue Yin Zhang had been exiled and was being managed by the Jieshi Zhong below. This person had no ability, so Song Yuzhu directly transferred Liu Lin from the Ministry of Rites to the Ministry of Revenue as Minister, which was a jump of three levels!
Liu Lin had never expected that he could win Song Yuzhu's favor, and he knelt down trembling with fear to express his gratitude.
Then he promoted Qin Fengtu, who was in charge of the Privy Council, to be Privy Envoy.
Qin Fengtu was the top scholar in the seventh year of Longwu. He was a man of great literary talent, but he was previously controlled by Feng Zhi and had not achieved much.
Song Yuzhu said: "There are many former ministers in the court. I don't know what the emperors of the previous dynasties did, but now that I am in this position, you must listen to me."
All the officials pricked up their ears to listen, afraid of missing every word he said, as this was the imperial decree that would determine their future promotion and life.
"Anyone who dares to deceive the emperor will be beheaded! Those who pretend to obey but actually disobey will be beheaded! Those who embezzle and accept bribes and bully the people will be beheaded!" Song Yuzhu's voice echoed in the hall. Although it was not loud, it was filled with murderous intent.
Zhao Xiao stood below him, squinting at the ministers. Wherever his eyes swept across, the officials felt a chill on their necks, as if a knife was hanging on their necks. It was very scary!
"When you put on this dress, you must plead for the people. If you are incapable, resign as soon as possible. I will grant you money to return home!"
He paused, seeing that no one in the court dared to step forward and resign. He continued, "Of course, I will also reward those who are honest officials. Now the positions of right prime minister and cabinet are still vacant, and those who are capable will be promoted. My dear ministers, may we work together to build Daqi into a rich and powerful country!"
"Long live the emperor..."
After the morning court session ended, the ministers walked out of the main hall and automatically divided into two groups: the old ministers headed by the former Privy Councilor Qin Fengtu, and the new ministers headed by the Left Prime Minister Xu Bing.
There were only a few new officials in the team, but the old officials were numerous and powerful, and the two sides were clearly divided as if there was a Chu River and Han River between them.
Only Liu Lin stood in the middle. The old ministers could not tolerate him, and the new ministers could not get in. Although it felt good to jump three levels, he also gloriously became a lone minister.
He looked up at the sky, helpless.
Qin Fengtu looked at Xu Bing and heard that this man was just a military advisor under Yang Yuanqing before. Unexpectedly, he joined the right leader and now became the prime minister.
Xu Bing was also looking at him.
Qin Fengtu walked straight towards him.
"Prime Minister Xu." Qin Fengtu bowed.
"Master Qin, there is no need to be so polite. We should assist each other in serving in the same court."
As the two were talking, the eunuch came to announce, "The Emperor has summoned the two gentlemen, the Minister of Justice Zhang and the Minister of Revenue Liu, to the Shangshufang to discuss matters.
The four of them went to the Shangshufang under the gaze of a group of officials.
The Shangshufang is located behind the main hall, and it takes only one incense stick's walk to get there.
The imperial palace was built in the early Wu Dynasty. Later, the Yang family occupied it and added many courtyards on the original basis.
In addition to the main hall for meetings, there are side halls and side halls. There are three palaces and six courtyards, with a total of more than 1,300 rooms, large and small.
Song Yuzhu didn't want to waste money on rebuilding the palace, so he simply had people clean up a few commonly used palaces. The remaining rooms were cleaned every day by palace servants and would be used later.
The Shangshufang is where Song Yuzhu works, and it has been renovated.
According to his instructions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs painted the original brown-red walls white, removed all the decorations, and customized a wall of bookshelves, which were filled with various ancient books, ranging from astronomy to geography, medical classics, and historical records, so that he could read them on a daily basis.
The desk was also re-customized, and the chair was made into a more comfortable ergonomic chair. He drew a blueprint for this thing, but he didn't expect that the craftsmen would make it almost exactly the same, and it is very comfortable to sit on. One has to admire the wisdom and hands-on ability of the ancients!
There are also many green plants in the study, and the green branches and leaves make people happy.
When the four people came in, they were all surprised by the fresh look of the study, and then immediately knelt down to greet Song Yuzhu.
"Please sit down, my dears. I want to discuss a few things with you."
The palace servants brought chairs, and the four of them only dared to sit down and wait for Song Yuzhu to give orders.
"I want to draft a new criminal law. What do you think?"
The criminal law used in the Sheng Dynasty was the "Criminal Code" compiled in the Wu Dynasty, which consists of thirty volumes. This law has a history of more than 500 years, and many of its provisions are no longer applicable today.
Take land for example. Wu Dynasty strictly prohibited people from hoarding land. In order to prevent hoarding, the Criminal Code stipulated that those who owned more than 10 mu of land would be demoted by one rank, and common people would be caned 30 times. Those who owned more than 100 mu of land would be exiled a thousand miles away, and those who owned more than 1,000 mu of land would be beheaded.
Which of the several great families in Shangjing did not hoard hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land? If they were dealt with according to the Criminal Code, they would be killed hundreds of times.
Ten acres of land was too little for the common people and limited their productivity.
The fields in ancient times were different from those in modern times. Without the blessing of high-tech fertilizers, the yield per mu of land was less than 300 kilograms, which is a little more than two stones. For a large family, this amount of food was barely enough to feed the hungry.
There are many severe punishments in the Criminal Code, such as crucifixion, strangulation, beheading, quartering, and execution, which made his scalp tingle.
Although we know that these severe punishments are meant to manage the people and that they have to be used to intimidate people when reason cannot be explained, there are too many outrageous punishments.
Criminal law is the foundation of a country. Without rules, there will be no order. Only with good management can there be long-term stability.
Zhang Qikai bowed and said, "Re-enacting the criminal law will be a great benefit to the people!"
Song Yuzhu took out a booklet from the desk and handed it to him: "Zhang Aiqing, I will leave this matter to you. Please draft the criminal law as soon as possible."
Zhang Qikai took it quickly and glanced at it briefly. The booklet had several main points: centralization, criminal law, and judicial system. There was also a detailed directory at the back. It looked well-organized and very practical.
He looked at Song Yuzhu in surprise. He had heard that the new emperor was a doctor, so he thought he could only treat illnesses. He did not expect that he was so proficient in criminal law. He immediately put away his contempt and said quickly, "Your humble servant accepts the order!"
Song Yuzhu said, "There is one more thing. The drought in the Jizhou and Zhongzhou areas is severe this year. I have already told Liu Lin about the disaster relief."
"Remember, it is better to teach someone how to fish than to give him fish. Although we can provide them with food this year, what if the drought continues next year?"
Liu Lin understood what he meant: "I will urge the local officials to organize the people to dig canals and store water to ensure that the people can start spring farming in time next year."
"Do your best. I have confidence in you."
Liu Lin knelt down excitedly and said, "I will definitely fulfill your mission!"
Song Yuzhu suppressed the smile on her lips and helped him up.
"Regarding the land of the aristocratic families, I do not intend to divide the land among them."
The four great families previously controlled nearly one-third of the country's land. Now that the families have been eradicated, the land has returned to the country. Once it is divided, it will inevitably fall into the hands of certain people again.
Xu Bing nodded and said, "Your Majesty has thought it through. The land really should not fall into the hands of the aristocratic families again, otherwise the mistakes of the Sheng Dynasty will surely be repeated."
"These lands belong to the state, and the previous tenants are still allowed to farm them. The noble families take eight and keep two, and I take four and keep six. The harvested grain will be used as a national emergency reserve."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhang Qikai and Qin Fengtu were extremely surprised. They never thought that Song Yuzhu would consider things so carefully!
"There is one more thing I need to give to Qin Aiqing."
Qin Fengtu quickly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please speak."
"I plan to hold a special examination next spring to recruit talented and knowledgeable people from all over the world to serve me."
Qin Fengtu showed a delighted expression on his face. "Your Majesty is wise! I will go and tell all the prefectures to release the news of the imperial examination!"
There has been no imperial examination for five years since the previous dynasty, and candidates all over the world have been looking forward to the opening of the special examination!
As a scholar, he could best understand the feelings of the candidates. After all, there are only a few five years left in a lifetime!
"Prime Minister Xu, please help me find skilled craftsmen across the country."
Xu Bing was stunned for a moment, and then quickly asked, "I wonder what kind of craftsman Your Majesty wants to recruit?"
"I heard that during the Chonghua period, someone in the prosperous dynasty invented a foot-operated loom."
"It is true, but I heard that the cloth spun by a loom is not as fine as the one woven by hand, so it is gradually being phased out."
Song Yuzhu laughed and said, "Although the loom is not as fine as manual work, it can greatly shorten the weaving time. Hand-woven cloth is small in quantity and high in price, while mass-produced cloth is cheap, which harms the interests of merchants. Naturally, they are unwilling to promote it nationwide."
"If we want to keep people warm, we must lower the price of cloth."
Xu Bing considered and said, "I understand. I will send someone to look for it tomorrow."
Talent is the primary productive force. The wisdom of the ancients is no less than that of modern people. With just a little help, perhaps the Great Qi Dynasty can enter the industrial society ahead of time.
"Not only do I want to hold the imperial examination, I also plan to unify the currency and measurement, open schools, unify the official language, and build a maternity and child care center... But before that, the most important thing is to make sure the people of the world have enough food. Please help me, my dear ministers."
The four of them knelt down at the same time and said, "Your Majesty, we will do our best to assist the Emperor!"
Qin Fengtu raised his head and looked at the young emperor in front of him with tears in his eyes. All the prejudice and contempt in his heart disappeared. It was a great blessing for the people of the world to have such a wise ruler!
After the four people left the study, Zhao Xiao walked out from the compartment at the back.
"Yuzhu, you are becoming more and more like an emperor."
"I'm just forcing you to do something. Don't tease me."
Zhao Xiao walked up to him, pinched his shoulders and said, "The house you gave me has not been repaired yet. Can I stay in the palace tonight?"
Song Yuzhu's ears blushed as she said, "Yes."
(End of this chapter)
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