Chapter 108 The New Emperor Ascends the Throne
Since Liu Qing left Yanjing and came to his fiefdom, he no longer had to serve his royal brother Liu Jian in fear all day long. He actually looked much younger than before.
He looked much more relaxed than the Chief Secretary.
Leaning back in his seat, he looked at the officials in his palace. "I know what you're worried about. When my brother, Liu Jian, was on the throne, I clearly raised the banner and supported my nephew, Liu Ziling. Do you all think that my support for the crown prince is just a pretext, and that I'm really trying to take advantage of the Great Zhou's weakness to carve up the land and establish my own?"
When he asked this question, several officials paused and did not dare to respond.
Liu Qing smiled and said, "It's okay, you don't have to say it out loud."
"Actually, I wanted to tell you something today. Initially, I sincerely wanted to support Liu Ziling as the new emperor. But later, Liu Ziling died at the hands of my brother, and the throne still rests with my good brother. I did consider establishing myself as the new emperor."
"But what about now?"
He glanced at the officials in the room, one corner of his mouth slightly turned down, expressing his doubt, while the other side couldn't help but rise, with a relaxed smile that showed that he had finally unloaded a heavy burden.
"This prince's third brother's daughter is so outstanding, even more powerful and wise than the Holy Ancestor. Liu Ziling is my nephew, and Liu Ziye is also my niece! In fact, seriously speaking, the brotherhood between this prince and this third brother was even stronger than that between this emperor and his brother."
"With his daughter ascending the throne, a man of unrivaled talent like him will be able to diligently govern the country. The people will enjoy a better life, and I, Liu Qing, will be able to become a peaceful prince. You'll have the opportunity to showcase your talents as a ruler. Isn't that great?"
"With such a good opportunity before me, why would I go and sever the land to claim my own throne?! Why would I go and undermine the Liu royal family's own kingdom?!"
These words were spoken lightly, but they were powerful.
Several officials from the palace looked at each other and completely understood Liu Qing's position.
·
Early spring in February, when the flowers are yellow and the willows are green.
Liu Ziye's army walked on the spring mud and arrived at the capital of the Zhou Dynasty, the city of Yanjing.
Liu Jian, who had abdicated and moved out of the palace and was temporarily living in a villa in Yanjing, went out of the city to welcome him together with the civil and military officials of Yanjing, led by Ma Shurong, the secretary of the Central Secretariat.
Not to mention the people of Yanjing City, the Xuanwu Street from more than ten miles outside the city to the inner city of Yanjing, leading directly to the south gate of Zhengyang, was crowded with people lining the streets to welcome them.
There were no smooth cement and gravel roads like those in Xiguan in the inland of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so Liu Ziye's car was inconvenient to drive. This time, she followed the army and rode a tall horse again after several years.
However, on the way to Yanjing, this team's military strength had already shocked countless officials and troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The imperial flag with the surname "Liu" embroidered with gear and lightning patterns on a black and gold silk background fluttered in the wind at the forefront of the army.
Liu Ziye had been traveling here for nearly nine years when she finally met the former emperor Liu Jian for the first time. He was the one who sent eunuchs to Xiguan to strip her of her royal title when she first traveled through time.
At this time, Liu Jian looked very old and decadent.
The originally strong body seemed to be deflated and drooping, and the wrinkles on the face, which used to be supported by a strong momentum, now drooped completely.
He waited outside the city gate, waiting for Liu Ziye's horse to approach little by little. Liu Jian opened his eyes wide, wanting to see clearly his third brother's daughter, who had come from the desolate land in the northwest to the highest position in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The horses gradually approached, and Ma Shurong and his group took the lead and went forward to meet them.
The man on horseback, wearing a jade crown and a tight-fitting military uniform, was undoubtedly the most dazzling and brilliant person among the crowd, both in appearance and temperament.
All of these people saw for the first time the young Marquis of Xiguan, who was famous both inside and outside the Great Zhou. She was actually a woman, but she was the direct descendant of the Holy Ancestor who had established such a great foundation.
If many of them were once shocked by Xiguan's hegemony and the miracles it created, today—
They were more directly shocked by Liu Ziye himself.
Ma Shurong was a founding minister who had assisted Emperor Shengzu. When Liu Jian's forces controlled the court, he tried his best to preserve the imperial edict of succession from Emperor Shengzu, and took advantage of the fact that King Xiguan was summoned back to Yanjing by Liu Jian to pass the edict to him.
He never expected that he would welcome back such a new king today.
She seemed like the Emperor Kangxi who was full of vigor and vitality.
She is completely different and even better than the new style of the Emperor Kangxi back then.
Ma Shurong's old eyes were dim, and the moment he saw Liu Ziye, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
Such a solemn occasion was not the time to shed tears. He quickly lifted his sleeve and wiped away the tears.
Then he solemnly lifted his robe and walked forward with a group of civil and military officials, respectfully saluted the person on the horse.
"Welcome to the young Marquis of Xiguan!"
Liu Ziye had not yet formally accepted the abdication and held a coronation ceremony. At this time, people still addressed her by her current title.
"Welcome to the young Marquis of Xiguan!"
As the civil and military officials bowed, the people lining the streets to greet them also bowed one after another, like dominoes.
Throughout the imperial city, the phrase "Welcome the young Marquis of Xiguan" was heard one after another.
Everyone knelt on the ground. Among the crowd, the only person who did not kneel seemed very abrupt.
Liu Jian was a retired emperor and Liu Ziye's elder in the imperial family. According to etiquette, he didn't need to kneel. However, in the midst of such a large crowd, he was completely overwhelmed by the waves of enthusiastic and sincere voices, and for a moment, Liu Jian was at a loss. Then he thought, since I'm so prominent, the Marquis of Xiguan shouldn't ignore me, right?
Such a scene was also a big shock to Liu Ziye.
She had already walked to the front of the team of officials, dismounted and helped up Ma Shurong, who was already old but still insisted on kneeling deeply on the ground.
"Ma Zhongshu, please stand up!"
He also asked the officials lining the road and the surrounding people to stand up.
People of this era expressed their utmost respect, especially when facing a royal family member like her who was about to ascend the throne. Their ingrained reaction was to kneel down.
Although she couldn't adapt, she couldn't blame them. It wasn't their fault, and their hearts were sincere.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with a few officials, Liu Ziye walked back into the crowd and personally helped several people who were kneeling on the ground to their feet. Her personal guards, including Xiying, and civil servants like Du Hui and Hao Wenchang, also helped their neighbors to their feet.
In this way, the meaning of Xiguan Young Marquis Liu Ziye is very clear -
She wanted all the people in Yanjing to stand up.
Two streams of people started from where she was standing, and spread out like surging waves until everyone stood up steadily again.
Only then did Liu Ziye turn around and get back on his horse.
With a sound of "Gee", he headed towards Yanjing City.
Ma Shurong and others had received instructions and were led by Du Hui to follow Liu Ziye.
The young Marquis of Xiguan gradually disappeared inside the city gate, and her civil and military officials, as well as her elite soldiers and generals, also entered the city slowly in batches.
A gust of spring wind blew in February. Liu Jian, who had been ignored from beginning to end, looked at the team passing by in front of him and rubbed his face hard to keep warm.
Okay.
The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Since he has lost, he has to admit it.
He had thought about escaping from the Great Zhou and seeking asylum in a neighboring country. But looking around, he found no friendly country willing to accept him...
He had made such a mess before that now he had to reap what he sowed.
No matter what, Liu Ziye was still her niece, and she had been the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty for over twenty years. Whether it was for the sake of family ties or the dignity of the country, she couldn't kill herself, the abdicated emperor, could she?
On this point, he guessed correctly.
Liu Ziye had no intention of taking the life of the former emperor, but what he didn't expect was that what Liu Ziye wanted was worse than letting him die.
The King of Xiguan had endured all the hardships of his life in the years that followed. He relentlessly conscripted civilians to do the hard work of building roads and bridges, hauling goods, moving bricks, and unloading them. He also participated in the ordinary people's work of farming, watering the fields, spinning, twisting ropes, forging iron, splitting stones, chopping wood, and cooking. This became the main theme of his life in those years.
Since Liu Jian was born, Emperor Shengzu was already a powerful vassal. How could he have ever experienced ordinary civil affairs?
After several years, he finally became haggard and staggering, with only a bag of frail old bones left. When he finally died of illness and injury in bed, he only felt a heartfelt relief.
Ten days after Liu Ziye entered Yanjing, he formally accepted Liu Jian's abdication and ascended the throne as emperor in Yanjing on the same day, announcing it to the world.
The Great Zhou Dynasty welcomed its third emperor in thirty-three years, as well as its first female emperor since its founding.
Liu Ziye wore a black robe with golden dragon and phoenix patterns embroidered on it, and a emerald crown with twelve tassels on his head. A red tassel went around the crown from behind his ears and was tied under his chin, with a red tassel knot hanging down.
In the Chuigong Imperial Palace of the Zhou Dynasty, he accepted the homage of all officials.
Changing the reign title to Juezhang signifies the beginning of a new era and the beginning of enlightenment with new knowledge, new technologies and new consciousness.
Although the new emperor ascended the throne in Yanjing, the Great Zhou Dynasty implemented a dual capital system.
Yanjing and Xidu are both the capitals of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The new emperor will reside in each of the two capitals to handle state affairs in different seasons of the year.
The first edict issued by the new emperor upon his accession to the throne was different from the general amnesty issued by most previous emperors. It announced three new policies of the new emperor:
Free settlement, abolition of all commercial taxes and customs, and construction of the first through-road between Yanjing and Xidu.
After thousands of years of household registration restrictions and the prevalence of local tariffs, the three edicts from the new emperor were truly earth-shattering!
There is no restriction on the place of household registration. You can go to any place you want to settle down at any time and strive to settle down there.
Merchants could travel freely among the thirty-six prefectures of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and no local officials would impose any overt or covert customs duties on them. The imperial court even announced that tariffs on goods bound for the Eight Tribes and the southwestern states would be gradually reduced.
The wide and solid cement gravel roads that are connected in all directions like the one in Xiguan County will start from the line between Yanjing and Xidu and gradually spread throughout the court and the country of the Great Zhou.
One day, people will be able to ride in cars and travel freely and without restrictions on every piece of land in the Great Zhou.
What on earth is this...
What kind of weather and future it will be!
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