"To Prince Chen Huai'an, Heir Apparent of the Prince of Jin, and all members of the Prince's family: Receive the imperial decree—"
The first year of Jian'an in the Daxin Dynasty.
Inside the Prince of Jin's residence, everything was dressed in white mourning clothes.
The resounding and solemn voice of Sun Heling, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, echoed in the Prince of Jin's residence in Longcheng, a major town in the northwest.
As soon as the words were spoken, Prince Chen Huai'an, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt down with hundreds of people from the Prince's residence to receive the imperial decree.
"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"
"The death of the Prince of Jin has caused grief throughout the nation, and I express my deepest condolences."
Prince Chen Polu of Jin was a sworn brother of the late Emperor Zhenwu and a close relative of the state.
Throughout his life, the King of Jin led five expeditions to the northern deserts and seven expeditions to the Qin region, pacifying the southern barbarians and defending against the Xiongnu in the north. He was a man of great military achievements and merits.
Since receiving the title, I have followed the law and fulfilled my duties, remaining loyal to the monarch above and bringing peace to the people below...
As Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of Rites, solemnly and dignifiedly read out the contents of the imperial edict, Chen Huai'an's expression became uncertain.
Memories flooded back; this was already the twenty-fourth year since Chen Huai'an transmigrated.
The Xin Dynasty he traveled to was not the Xin Dynasty established by Wang Mang after usurping the Han Dynasty in history, nor did it belong to any of the Twenty-Four Histories.
Strictly speaking, the Great Xin Dynasty can be considered another dimension that coexists with Chinese history.
The Great Xin Dynasty was established by Emperor Zhenwu of Great Xin, Zhao Mang, during the "Five Barbarian Invasions" period, which is only about thirty years ago.
The fact that the Great Xin Dynasty was able to unify the world amidst chaos owes much to the eight kings of different surnames under Emperor Zhenwu Zhao Mang.
Among them, the most illustrious military achievements were those of Prince Chen Polu of Jin (the head of the eight kings of different surnames, and the only one with a single character in his name who was on par with other kings).
The fact that the Great Xin Dynasty was able to seize the Central Plains and rule the world from a small corner of the Hetao region is largely due to the hard work and great achievements of Prince Chen Polu of Jin.
More than half of the dynasty's territory, spanning over 13 million square kilometers, was conquered by Chen Polu and his troops.
His 300,000-strong Polu Army was the dynasty's elite force, renowned for its might and awe-inspiring reputation.
During the reign of Emperor Zhenwu, Chen Polu was also given generous rewards commensurate with his military achievements.
In addition to being granted the title of Prince of Jin and ranking first among the eight princes of different surnames, he also received all the privileges such as "wearing a sword and shoes in the palace, not having to kneel in court, having an iron certificate written in red ink, and a golden token of immunity from death."
Even in his later years, he secretly bestowed upon Chen Polu the "King-Slaying Golden Whip," a weapon capable of striking down both tyrannical rulers and treacherous officials.
However, all of this changed six months ago when Emperor Zhenwu, Zhao Mang, suddenly died during his southern tour, and Crown Prince Zhao Gan ascended the throne before his coffin.
Emperor Jian'an, the second emperor of the Daxin dynasty, Zhao Ganxian, first seized two-thirds of the military power of Chen Polu's 300,000-strong army under the pretext that "war has broken out again in the northern desert and Prince Jin is getting old".
Later, under the pretext of "offering sacrifices to Heaven," he took away all the military power of the Polu Army from Chen Polu, except for the 8,000 garrison troops in Longcheng, the fiefdom of the Prince of Jin.
Before this, Chen Huai'an, a time traveler, had already sensed the danger and reminded his father, Chen Polu, more than once that "the rabbit is killed and the dog is cooked, the bird is gone and the bow is put away" was a tradition of emperors throughout history.
Despite his lifelong loyalty and unyielding spirit, Prince Chen Polu of Jin, when faced with the new emperor's usurpation of power and his son's advice, simply said calmly, "How can a subject have two minds?"
Furthermore, when the new emperor Zhao Qian performed the Fengshan ceremony to worship Heaven, Chen Polu voluntarily handed over the imperial pardon and gold token of immunity from death bestowed upon him by the late emperor Zhao Mang, demonstrating the proper conduct of a subject.
Unexpectedly, Chen Polu, who had already relinquished his military power and the imperial edict, suddenly fell ill with carbuncles on his way back to his fiefdom from the capital after participating in the Fengshan ceremony held by the new emperor Zhao Gan, and died from the disease.
When news of his father's death reached the Prince of Jin's residence, Chen Huai'an was filled with grief, which finally confirmed his previous speculation about "the rabbit being killed and the dog being cooked, the birds being gone and the bow being put away."
With external threats eliminated and the Great Xin Dynasty's rule secured, Emperor Zhao Gan of Jian'an naturally no longer needed a powerful and influential figure like Chen Polu, a prince whose achievements overshadowed his own.
In particular, this king, who was not of the same surname, had just turned sixty and was not only physically strong but also full of energy.
In fact, Zhao Gan didn't even need the title of Prince of Jin and the fiefdom!
Otherwise, how could he have failed to issue a single decree between the death of the Prince of Jin and his burial?
To this day, the coffin of the Prince of Jin was buried and sealed in the mausoleum this morning, and the emperor's edict was delivered to the Prince of Jin's residence this afternoon.
If Chen Huai'an wasn't mistaken, Zhao Gan's imperial edict wasn't specially written to praise his father Chen Polu's life achievements, nor was it to allow him, the heir to the Prince of Jin, to inherit the title and fiefdom.
As expected, Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of Rites responsible for conveying the imperial edict, praised Prince Chen Polu of Jin at length according to the edict's contents, then suddenly changed the subject and continued:
"Today, the world is at peace and the nation is prosperous. To end the war and allow the people to rest, I have decided to reduce the military."
The Prince of Jin still has eight thousand elite troops guarding Longcheng. He shall immediately hand them over to the Northwest Commander-in-Chief, General Wu Qingyun, the Tiger General of Might..."
Buzz!
Upon hearing this, Chen Huai'an's mind went blank.
The eight thousand Polu soldiers in Longcheng were not only the last reliance for Chen Huai'an and his hundreds of family members in the Prince of Jin's mansion, but also the last bloodline of the Polu army left to him by his father, Chen Polu.
If the goal is to stop the fighting and allow the people to rest, it would be better to disband the 8,000-strong Polu Army and let them become civilians on the spot than to hand them over to Wu Qingyun, the General of the Northwest!
Throughout the entire Xin Dynasty, who doesn't know that Wu Qingyun was his father Chen Polu's mortal enemy for decades?
How could he possibly have a good end after handing over these eight thousand elite troops to him?
However, what caught Chen Huai'an off guard was yet to come.
Sun Heling, Vice Minister of Rites, continued to read the imperial edict:
"Throughout his life, Prince Jin has achieved unparalleled merit. To express my deepest respect, I have decided to relinquish the title and rank of Prince Jin. No future ruler may bestow the title of Prince Jin upon him again, so as to ensure that his contributions to the Great Xin Dynasty will be remembered for generations to come."
"Chen Huai'an, the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin, is hereby enfeoffed as the Prince of Beihai, and his family is hereby granted the fief of Beihai. He shall immediately move his entire family north!"
"So be it—"
brush!
When Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of War, finished reading the imperial edict, everyone in the Prince of Jin's residence who was kneeling to receive it wailed in despair.
Princess Xu Ruoyun of Jin, Chen Huai'an's biological mother, fainted on the spot due to the successive heavy blows.
Chen Huai'an's eyes were cold and fierce, his anger at its peak.
That dog emperor Zhao Gan, what a brilliant scheme to kill without shedding blood! He eliminates the root of the problem without bearing the infamy of the world; it's not just killing someone, it's destroying their spirit!
To put it nicely, this was called pardoning the King of Beihai and granting him the land of Beihai; to put it bluntly, it was exile and waiting to die!
The name Beihai sounds beautiful, but in reality it is an extremely cold and barren place in the north, where bandits roamed and nomadic horses ravaged the land. It was here that Su Wu was exiled to herd sheep.
From Longcheng to Beihai, it is thousands of miles apart. The journey is long and extremely dangerous. Without the protection of the eight thousand Polu Army soldiers, how could the more than a thousand women, children and the elderly in the royal palace withstand such a torment?
Upon seeing this scene, Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of Rites who was in charge of conveying the imperial edict, felt a pang of sorrow and couldn't help but recall the kindness and favor shown to him by Prince Chen Polu of Jin years ago.
If it weren't for the Prince of Jin's secret assistance, how could Sun Heling have become the respected third-rank official of the imperial court today? He would probably have long been an unknown soul in front of the mass grave outside Zhuxian Town.
However, the emperor's decree was difficult to disobey.
Faced with a doomed game "given" to the widow of the Prince of Jin's family by the current emperor, what good strategy could a mere third-rank civil official possibly devise to break the deadlock?
"Your Highness, please accept the imperial decree!"
Even though he was reluctant, Sun Heling had no choice but to hand over the imperial edict that would decide the life and death of the Jin Prince's family to Chen Huai'an.
With things having come to this point, Chen Huai'an had no other choice.
For the sake of the livelihood of the thousands of people in the Prince's mansion, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the imperial decree: "Your subject, Prince Chen Huai'an of Beihai, accepts the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude!"
Chen Huai'an accepted the imperial edict, stood up, turned around, and left.
"stop!"
Suddenly, an arrogant shout came from behind.
Clang, clang, clang!
Accompanied by the crisp sound of warhorses' hooves striking the bluestone bricks, a general clad in armor and with a sword at his waist rode forward, his pockmarked face bearing a hint of schadenfreude.
This man was named Chang Chenghu, and he was the deputy general of Wu Qingyun, the Northwest General.
Chang Chenghu, riding a tall, pure white horse, looked down at Chen Huai'an and roared arrogantly:
"Hey, King of Beihai, where is the command token for the 8,000-strong Polu Army of Longcheng? Hand it over to me right now!"
"snort!"
"I'm just giving you a friendly reminder: possessing a military tally is a heinous crime, punishable by the extermination of your entire family!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Huai'an suddenly turned around, his cold face flashing with two icy glints from his starry eyes, staring straight at the deputy general Chang Chenghu who was riding on horseback.
In an instant, his aura was fully unleashed, and a murderous intent suddenly appeared.
Chang Chenghu, on horseback, was startled by Chen Huai'an's glare.
Even his warhorse seemed to sense the murderous aura in the air, and out of its animalistic survival instinct, it reflexively neighed and took a few steps back.
Just as Chen Huai'an was about to speak, a cold and peculiar synthesized mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind—
[Ding!]
[The Innate Emperor System is Activating...]
System activation successful!
[Born to Be an Emperor System: Respected host Chen Huai'an, the system has awarded you 800,000 soldiers. The historical legendary general summoning function is yet to be unlocked!]
As a flood of information rushed into his mind, Chen Huai'an was first startled, then overjoyed. He couldn't help but smirk, and a hint of cunning flashed in his murderous eyes.
Twenty-four years have passed, Father, you've finally arrived!!!
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