The next day, the emperor, who had dark bags under his eyes, managed to survive the morning court. Before he even took two bites of breakfast, a fat face appeared in front of him that he wanted to be beaten into pulp.
The emperor's eunuch, Dai Quan.
"Your Majesty, I wish you well!" Dai Quan greeted the Emperor with a sarcastic smile on his face. Every time he came to the Emperor so early, the Emperor would be scolded by the Emperor, "Your Majesty, the saint asked me to invite you to Yingtai. ." After saying that, he lowered his head, not daring to look at the emperor. Dai Quan estimated that the petty emperor had remembered him in his mind.
The emperor, who was enjoying millet and sea cucumber porridge just now, suddenly disappeared. He glanced at Dai Quan angrily, drank the porridge in one gulp, wiped his mouth before speaking.
"Isn't this a factory minister? I haven't seen you for a few days, so why are you doing errands and delivering messages?"
The emperor narrowed his eyes and glanced at Dai Quan, who was kneeling on the ground.
"Your Majesty has broken this servant. I am a servant of the royal family. It is your duty to run errands and deliver messages."
After saying that, Dai Quan knew that this was the emperor's complaint, so he immediately knelt on the ground and remained silent.
The emperor let out a long sigh, grabbed his homework on the side, and walked towards Yingtai without looking back.
Xia Shouzhong quickly helped Dai Quan, who was kneeling on the ground, and patted the dust on his knees.
"My ancestors have worked hard!"
Dai Quan also stood up and glanced at Xia Shouzhong.
"It's not hard for us to be slaves like this. It's just that the emperor and the emperor are doing this every day. When will this end!"
The two smiled bitterly at each other and sighed at the same time, caught between the emperor and the emperor. What day is the beginning?
Xia Shouzhong also supported Dai Quan down the imperial steps.
. . . . . .
In the winter of the second year of Yonglong, the emperor, who had been in power for more than forty years, was mentally exhausted and decided to abdicate. When he made up his mind to choose his successor, he found that those suitable princes were too young to choose.
He had no choice but to choose the only remaining adult prince. The ordinary prince before had now become the third prince who was the oldest, most detested prince in the world.
On the night of the prince's rebellion, he massacred his clan members. I don't know how the third prince and his family survived. All I know is that they found that their entire family was full of bastards.
Six of the seven members of the family survived. The concubine Wu was killed for not hiding well.
The emperor was afraid of Xiyuan.
The emperor liked living in Xiyuan since the beginning of his accession to the throne, and spent most of the year in Yingtai in Xiyuan.
Compared to Ouchi, this is his home.
This garden, which was loved by the emperor, was very scary to the emperor and several princes.
The emperor's way of raising children was very simple and crude. There was only one way to raise his children.
The brothers were beaten in almost every yard in Xiyuan.
Especially after he became an adult and opened a house, he would be called in and beaten every now and then.
The first prince and his third son suffered the most.
"Your Majesty, the saint is still waiting for you." Xia Shouzhong reminded him quickly when he saw the emperor staring at the gate of Xiyuan without moving.
The emperor, who was wandering in a daze, finally came back to his senses and said, "Ah, yes, my father is still waiting."
The emperor took a deep breath and walked quickly into Xiyuan.
Soon we arrived at Yingtai.
Dai Quan went inside first to return his orders, and not long after, he came out again and called the emperor in.
"My son, I see my father and wish him well."
"Good morning," a majestic old man with gray hair and beard wearing a black Taoist robe put down his teacup and stared at the emperor.
"Have you prepared the list of awards that I gave you two days ago?"
"My son, I have finished drafting it, and I would like to ask my father to correct me."
The emperor handed the examination papers in his arms to his old father and waited for the verdict of fate.
The Emperor took the roster and began to look through it. As time passed, the emperor became more and more restless.
"Well," the emperor finished reading the roster, then turned to the dog-eared pages, and looked up at the emperor, "There's nothing wrong with it overall, but why did you draw up these names like this?"
The emperor named a name with the jade Zhang he was playing with.
"Lü Guan, the Marquis of Guangling, has contributed to the destruction of the country. Of course, he deserves to be crowned Duke of the country, but it is not enough. The last time the Han family opened the Western Region was during the Liang Dynasty. It has been six hundred years since Liang Zhongzong lost the Western Region. This time Lu Guan reopened the Western Region more... It’s a great achievement, but in our court there is no hereditary rule, so it’s best if you should inherit the title for five generations and not be demoted.”
The emperor took a sip of tea.
"But it's still not enough. Therefore, it is better to move him to the right to serve as Minister of War and grant him the title of Bachelor of Wuyingdian to join the cabinet and participate in politics."
"This, Father, is this reward too much? Even if he moves to the Ministry of War on the right, is it okay to join the cabinet? Wouldn't it make Lu Guan ambitious?" the emperor asked quickly.
"Fart, the military general has entered the civil service, has no soldiers and no money, and his base is far away in Anxi, and he is the leader of the rebellion? That old boy Lu Guan is only good at fighting wars and allocating supplies, but he is the only one who can do anything about himself. Is your indecisive temperament worthy of rebellion?" The emperor finally exposed his true nature and began to swear.
"Just watch, in a few days the old boy's story about begging for bones will be here. I'm warning you, don't be stupid and give him permission. Last year, Xia Tong of the Ministry of Finance was impeached and asked for bones, you bitch. Yes, yes!" The emperor became angrier as he spoke. He stood up, pointed at the emperor, and began to curse.
"You're such a rotten evildoer. When a high-ranking member of the court is impeached, he needs to avoid suspicion. He's begging for his body. You should reject the accusation and issue an order to appease him, Xia Tong, and let him stay behind closed doors to avoid suspicion for a while.
You? ah! !
How did you do it, you idiot with a donkey's hair in your head? How did you get it right? How dare you get it right? Do you know he is my man? "
The emperor lowered his head after being scolded. He's used to it too.
I heard from my mother that my father was also a handsome young man back then. Unexpectedly, he went to Datong to join the army for training. Two years later, after returning, the gentle and elegant model of the royal family turned into a slutty soldier who only knew how to use his hands.
He is increasingly worried that his mistress will turn into the emperor.
After cursing for a while, the Emperor sat down again and drank the tea in the cup, feeling indescribably comfortable all over.
"That's it for Lu Guan. Let's give him the title of Duke Cheng, and then that's it." The roster turned to the next dog-eared page. "Jia Hui of Rongguo Mansion."
"According to his military merits, he has been awarded twelve rounds of honors twice, ascended five times, um, and drilled formations 16 times. Well, he has reached the top of the list of honors.
Also shot and killed Tamerlane Houtai Jibori Tiechna?
The gains in four battles were achieved with fewer strikes and more victories. A slight error of one or two thousand people is innocuous. How come these real military achievements were given to a count? If you can't explain why, don't blame me for slapping you. "The Emperor stared closely at the Emperor, ready to take action at any time.
"Ah, my father, military merit is real. My father, you also said that it is the highest level.
But this Jia Hui is only seventeen. He was granted the title of Marquis at the age of seventeen, and after a few years he achieved military merit. Do you really want to give him the title of Duke in his twenties? "
"If you have merit, you will be rewarded, and if you make mistakes, you will be punished. People have real military merits, why shouldn't they be given to others? Besides, my court has never said not to give it to the princes and princes."
"Ah? Then why haven't I seen anyone with the title of Duke or Duke?" The emperor was shocked by Taizu.
"Those who are ignorant and unskilled, back then, the Duke of Liguo was just a county prince. Later, he was granted the title of Duke after enough military merits were collected. Later, no one mentioned it for the sake of good looks.
There is also the old lady Shi who was the founding minister of the country. If his younger brother had not deserted the army and fled, causing trouble to the old lady, he would have been the Duke of the country! How can it be like this now, with a bowling prince serving as a prince until now? "
"Huh? The Shi family turned out to be a county prince?"
The emperor looked at the emperor in surprise and wanted to say something but held it back. He poured a cup of tea into his stomach, squeezed Yuzhang hard, and continued.
"When Da Qi was founded, the world was fighting too fast and there were not many tough battles. Except for a few people such as the Jia family and the four kings who had enough merit for the title, the rest of them did not meet the standards for the title.
In order to stabilize people's hearts, Taizu retained the two ranks of Duke and Duke.
Those who exceeded the standards of a marquis but not by much, and who could not compete with a duke before their death, were granted the title of county lord.
He was just one step away from the duke but far away from the first two princes and three princes. He also took their face into consideration and gave them to the county prince.
Later, due to various reasons such as defeat, committing crimes, being implicated, or even being exterminated, he lost his title, and there were many fewer people with titles.
At the end of the day, Taizong, my father, your emperor, granted you another title when he first ascended to the throne, and re-titled all the ministers, and sorted it out. The title depends on the level of the empty title.
In fact, it can be seen now that those with less than 2,000 households are county marquises, those with less than 5,000 households are county marquises, and those with less than 8,000 households are county princes. The first Ningrong town princes are all those with more than 10,000 households.
After that, it seems that only the fourth-class title of Duke and Prince remains. "
The emperor paused and looked at the tea cup. The emperor quickly stood up and refilled his drink.
"It's something you can't see, so I have to remind you to refill it, huh."
The emperor smiled apologetically.
"So, it seems that there are only four levels of princes and uncles left, but in fact Taizong has not abolished the six-level nobility system. There is no problem at all in granting these two levels of nobility. At most, it is just a retro gift, not even an ancient gift. It is less than a hundred years ago.
Nowadays, the founding nobles have been reduced to the rank of general one after another, leaving only the earl of the Niu family, the viscount of the Liu family, and King Beijing of the Shui family retaining the super-grade titles.
The two kings of the East and West also fell into the position of marquis, and the king of Nan'an fell into the position of earl. These three families still call themselves princes for the sake of face, and I don't bother to care. Apart from these, the rest are no longer worthy of honor.
Taking this opportunity to reactivate the sixth rank, that would be enough reward.
If the founders of the country come to make trouble, don't pay attention to them. These dogs have already taken advantage of Taizu Taizong. The elderly in their family know it in their hearts and cannot stand up. If they make enough trouble, they will disperse.
After this reward, you will have your own group of nobles and die-hard loyalists. "
The emperor looked at the emperor with a complicated look. Although this dog-like son had shortcomings of one kind or another, he was still diligent and handled the affairs of the court more and more methodically. He could barely sit in that chair. The court could no longer withstand a heir apparent.
As for the eldest son’s son, Prince Yi Zhong, I only owe it to the eldest son for doting on that boy. And how could such a well-behaved and good boy think like that?
Hearing the emperor's loving words, the emperor couldn't help crying.
It has been three years. Do you know how I have spent these three years? In the past three years, there has been no news of a new child in the harem, but now, it can be said that things have come to an end.
"Father, son, minister..."
"Needless to say, Timur's war ends here. Next, only Heshuote is left. Pay more attention. I'm tired. Go away."
After saying that, the emperor lay down on the rocking chair and closed his eyes.
The emperor was so excited that he didn't even sit down in the carriage. He quickly walked to the gate of Xiyuan. He turned around and looked at the plaque on the door of Xiyuan. It was the first time he saw Xiyuan so pleasing to the eye.
