"Your Majesty, Emperor Guangde just sent me a luminous pearl. It is exactly the one that King Annan sent his envoy to pay tribute last year. I dare not hide it privately or deceive your Majesty. Please take a look at it."
Wenhua Hall.
The whale lantern on the wall emits a pale yellow light, illuminating the slightly weathered face of the Supreme Emperor. Liu Zhaosun is wearing a Taoist robe and wearing Shifang shoes. He stares at the marble tiles with the eight-pole pattern under his feet and orders the maid standing beside him:
"Amber, turn out the light."
Amber quickly stepped forward and extinguished the whale oil wall lamp, and the surroundings suddenly dimmed. The night pearl emits blue light, reflecting the iron scales on Wu Xiaopei's big tiger armor.
The Supreme Emperor held the Night Pearl in his hand and looked at it with great interest. Dongfang Zhu lowered his head and did not dare to look at Liu Zhaosun.
The three of them, Zhang Dong, Pei Dahu, and Wu Xiao, held sharp blades in their hands like stone sculptures. They stood on either side without moving.
"I sent Lin Yu to protect Liu Kan. Do you know why?"
The Supreme Emperor suddenly spoke, making Dongfang Zhu shiver in fright. He huddled in the huge shadow of the Supreme Emperor and said uneasily:
"General Lin is a brave man of our Qi Dynasty. He has the courage that ten thousand people cannot match. He can defeat a hundred with one..."
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand and interrupted the words of the chief executive.
"In those days in Liaodong, wasn't General Ding Bi brave? Wasn't Huang Taiji's subordinate Cao Zhongqing brave?"
Dongfang Zhu was sweating like rain. Although he was not present at the bloody battle in Hunhe, he had naturally heard the stories of that year. Ding Bi died under the random sticks of the Liao people, while Cao Zhongqing was killed by the Supreme Emperor himself. It is said that this wrapping can only Block the two moves of the Supreme Emperor.
"There is also Shen Lian. Shen Baihu is very skilled in martial arts. He has been a royal guard for many years. His kung fu is not inferior to that of Lin Yu. Unfortunately, he died in the hands of his own people. Eunuch Dongfang." Liu Zhaosun stared at Dongfang Zhu sharply.
"Being brave is only one of the requirements for working under me. The more important thing is loyalty. Lin Yu is loyal enough and loyal enough not to be provoked by traitors, which will affect the father-son relationship between me and Liu Kan."
Dongfang Zhu fell to his knees and hit his head on the eight-pole diagram in front of the Supreme Emperor. Blood soon oozed from the marble slab.
"I am loyal to Da Qi, and I am loyal to Your Majesty, as can be seen from the sun and the moon. Over the years, I have dedicated all the silver and jewelry given to me by foreign ministers to Your Majesty..."
The Supreme Emperor watched Dongfang Zhu kowtow more than ten times, until his head was bleeding and his face was red.
"Eunuch Dongfang, I have always believed in you. You must also believe in yourself. Get up."
Dongfang Zhu stood up in fear. The Supreme Emperor winked at Hu Huo, and the maid immediately came up to bandage his father-in-law's wound.
"I told you that when I was in Linqing, I chose you to enter the palace because I liked your character. I am relieved that you will be the central official of Daqi. I have no other intentions."
Dongfang Zhu ignored the fact that his forehead was still bleeding and was about to kneel down again. Liu Zhaosun quickly supported him.
"My wealth and life belong to your Majesty. If your Majesty had not awakened the dreamer in time, my family would have been ruined in Linqing, and I would still be prosperous and wealthy today. My loyalty to Da Qi is not entirely for the money. Your Majesty is doing it. For those who have important affairs, I can get some glory by following His Majesty."
The Supreme Emperor handed the Ye Mingzhu back to Dongfang Zhu, looked at the people around him, and said seriously: "Now that the Great Qi has been decided, everything is waiting to be revived, and it is not suitable for more troubles. You are all my confidants. You should pay more attention to your words and deeds than foreign ministers. Behavior. Don't say things that shouldn't be said, and don't let foreign ministers think that there are two emperors in the court, one is Emperor Guangde and the other is Emperor Wuding. There are no two emperors in the sky and the people. If there is such a sign, it will also It must be extinguished in time.”
"Otherwise," Liu Zhaosun looked at the fish scale armor on Pei Dahu's body and said thoughtfully:
"Otherwise, Daqi will sooner or later suffer the same disaster as the Zhao Kingdom's Sand Dune Palace Incident. Now that the Empress Dowager Cisheng is pregnant, if she gives birth to a prince, I will raise the prince to adulthood. Before that, the power will still be in my hands. Guangdong Emperor De is just watching the government and assisting me. If I entrust all political affairs to him now, even if Liu Kan is kind-hearted, he will eventually have to do Li Shimin and kill all his brothers, and you old people will probably not be able to do it by then. Good ending."
Wu Xiao, Pei Dahu, Zhang Dong and others stood in the shadows, clasping their fists and saying: "The last general takes orders!"
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand, and the amber lighted up the surrounding wall lamps one by one, and everyone returned to the bright world again.
Liu Zhaosun held Eunuch Dongfang's hand and said with almost hypocritical concern: "I have made you suffer. Is Eunuch okay?"
Dongfang Zhu hurriedly said: "Compared to the Holy One who manages everything and devotes himself to the care of our trillions of people, the suffering I have endured is nothing."
The Supreme Emperor nodded happily, looked at the confidants standing under the light and said:
"Since ancient times, kings have been very unlucky, and the most ruthless ones are the emperors. Of course I know this truth, but the life of this child Kan'er is really too hard. As soon as he was born, his mother, Empress Zhang, was killed by Zhu Youjian, and I was also defeated in the capital soon. In these years of expeditions in the east and in the west, how could you find the time to look after him? Although he is the prince of Da Qi, he has almost no father or mother. Now he has resentment in his heart, complains about me, and even wants to replace me. This is human nature. He will not be punished for this.”
Wu Xiao listened quietly beside him, while Pei Dahu looked at the ground and fell into deep thought.
The high priest and Dongfang Zhu each held an account book and quickly wrote down every word the emperor said with pencils.
Only Zhang Dong faced Liu Zhaosun's sharp gaze, and the spy chief's expression kept changing with the Emperor's tone.
"I asked Liu Kan to implement the new law in the southeast so that he could understand the operation of Daqi as soon as possible and let him understand that governing the country is far from being as easy as what is written in the Four Books and Five Classics. The idea of governing the world with half of the Analects is all nonsense for scholars. ····Don’t think that I am handing over the power to him, and don’t listen to the rumors outside.”
"Zhang Dong."
Zhang Dong immediately stepped forward, waiting for the Emperor to arrange the task.
"The reform began, and the southeast was turned upside down. At this critical moment, the previous lenient approach should end. From now on, there will be nonsense in the public, deliberately misinterpreting Emperor Guangde's observation of politics as governing, and disrupting the people's hearts. You, the Coil Guards, will arrest them. "
Zhang Mazi clasped his hands in his fists and said calmly: "I know. I have one more thing that I must report to His Majesty."
When Liu Zhaosun saw Zhang Dong's serious expression, he knew that something important was going on.
"What's the matter?"
Zhang Dong said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, people from the Zhang family in Xiangfu County ran to the Yamen of Kaifeng Mansion and shouted that they wanted to come to Nanjing to serve as officials. The two principals of Kaifeng Mansion could not bear the nuisance and asked Hebei Feiyiwei to come forward to coordinate. Your Majesty, you look?"
Liu Zhaosun raised his sword eyebrows and said with a slightly sullen look on his face: "A few years ago, I remember, didn't I reward the Zhang family with five thousand taels of silver and eight thousand acres of fertile land? Are they still not satisfied?"
Zhang Dong looked around and whispered: "This time I am running an official position for Zhang Zhao, Empress Zhang's brother. Zhang Zhao said that he wanted to serve Daqi, so he was asked to be a prefect first..."
"Prefect?" Liu Zhaosun grinned and waved.
"I know, don't let others know about this."
Liu Zhaosun let out a long breath. Zhang Yan's stunning face appeared in his mind, and suddenly he thought of her father Zhang Guoji's disgusting face. He was as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly.
The Supreme Emperor asked Dongfang Zhu to come closer. Dongfang Zhu approached cautiously. Liu Zhaosun suddenly handed the luminous pearl into his hand and whispered in the ear of the chief steward:
"Messenger Annan said that this bead can make a man's penis grow again. Take it, it might be useful."
~~~~
The Imperial Almanac records: Wu Dingzheng was lenient and benevolent, and Guangde was followed by harshness and ferocity.
This is not unreasonable.
On the third day after the Supreme Emperor became an immortal (in the true sense of the word), Liu Kan drove all the Taoist priests supported by his father out of the palace and issued an imperial edict, rebuking these Taoist priests for being nothing more than entertainers and clowns and scoundrels. , the most fond of spreading rumors and causing trouble.
In the later period of his reign, especially after the death of the compassionate Queen Mother Jin Yuji and the Eastern Queen Mother Yang Qing'er, the old emperor particularly worshiped Buddhism and Taoism, which was very different from the image of a murderous god in his prime.
After Liu Kan came to power, he couldn't wait to expel the Taoist priests because he had always despised and disliked his father's governing philosophy.
When Emperor Guangde was still the crown prince of Da Qi, in his childhood impression, his father (or his father's close ministers such as Kang Yingqian), in order to prove the legitimacy of Da Qi's rule, would always try to fiddle with various auspicious signs, such as Jiahe, Jiahe, etc. Qilin, Five Stars Lianzhu...
Similar records appeared one after another in the memorials of Daqi officials for a period of time, and auspicious memorials filled the entire cabinet.
In the opinion of Emperor Guangde, these theories about strange powers and deranged gods and ghosts are too childish. His father is really ridiculous...
When Liu Kan really came to power, the literacy rate of urban and rural residents in the empire had reached an astonishing 30%, science was prosperous, and the empire was unprecedentedly powerful.
Naturally, there is no market for all kinds of theories about ghosts and gods.
As soon as Liu Kan took power, he announced:
"All auspicious things in Qingyun and Jiagu are not allowed to be reported. Anyone who talks nonsense about auspiciousness will be exiled to the Persian Gulf as a slave."
Of course, these are all things that happened in Daqi decades later. They are only mentioned here in passing and will be recorded in detail later.
~~~~
At dusk, Liu Kan came to Wenhua Hall again to pay his respects to his father.
I didn’t meet the Supreme Emperor when I was greeting you at dawn, but I couldn’t miss it when I was greeting you at dusk.
Liu Kan stood outside the door of Wenhua Palace and waited for half an hour until Wu Xiao came out and invited the young emperor in.
"General Wu, where is Eunuch Dongfang? Why don't you see him?"
Wu Xiao responded calmly: "Father-in-law, he has a migraine."
Liu Kansui asked no more questions and followed Wu Xiao into the Wenhua Hall.
Liu Zhaosun was sitting in the main hall, wearing a Taoist robe, but he looked like a god descending to earth.
"I would like to ask, father, are you doing well?"
"Blessings from me."
The Emperor quickly asked his son to sit down and let Amber have tea.
After a few pleasantries between father and son, Liu Kan asked how Empress Dowager Cisheng and Empress Dowager Dong were doing, and the Supreme Emperor answered them one by one.
After the tea session, the little emperor got straight to the point and said: "Father, I am here today to clarify the matter of my husband-in-law."
Liu Zhaosun smiled and said: "I have deployed the fleet at the mouth of the Yangtze River as you requested. The drama is complete, and the whole story will follow."
Liu Kan nodded and said: "Father, if you issue an edict to clear your father-in-law and mother-in-law now, the resistance will be much smaller. I decided to do the hard things first and then the easy ones."
The Supreme Emperor said with great interest: "What is difficult first and easy later?"
Liu Kan put down his teacup, still childish: "We'll start with Suzhou and Songjiang. The Xu family in Suzhou and the Xu family in Songjiang are both really big families, with more than 100,000 acres of land. We'll collect their taxes first. The ministers and the household officials have calculated the account, and it turns out that just these two men can make up for the payment of 300,000 taels of silver."
Liu Zhaosun stood up and came to a map. Amber turned on the whale oil lamp.
"Father, in fact, there is Taicang Prefecture between Suzhou and Songjiang, also called Loucheng."
The Supreme Emperor followed the dotted channels of the Taihu South Canal with his fingers and kept wandering around the southeastern land, looking for the location of Taicang Prefecture.
"There is a Wang family in Taicang Prefecture. Does your father know about it?"
Liu Zhaosun smiled and said: "Of course I know that the Wang family in Taicang is famous."
"I remember that Wang Xijue's son Wang Heng used to be a painter in Daqi, and my father even asked him to paint for me."
Liu Zhaosun scratched his forehead and thought carefully for a while, as if there had been such a person.
"In the first year of Wu Ding, my father was hunting south in Linqing. This Wang Heng escaped from the capital and returned to his hometown in Taicang Prefecture."
Liu Kan was well-educated and knowledgeable, and he could remember even the most unforgettable past events of the Supreme Emperor.
Liu Zhaosun smiled awkwardly.
"There is indeed such a person. Why do you mention this person?"
"The Wang family is richer than the Xu family. I plan to steal two Xus and then turn around to deal with the Wang family. I estimate that I can also steal hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."
When Liu Kan talked about confiscation of his home, his expression was very calm, which surprised his father.
Liu Zhaosun changed the topic.
"Do you know what happened in Kaifeng Mansion?"
Liu Kan cupped his hands and said: "Back to my father, I was watching the government in Qianqing Palace yesterday. The head of the Ministry of Personnel mentioned this matter... I dare to ask, how many fields did my father reward the Zhang family back then? Are these fields now available? Is it still in their hands?"
Liu Zhaosun did not expect Liu Kan to be so concerned about this matter. Because his grandson who had just "taken power" wanted to fight for greater rights for his grandfather, the emperor casually replied:
"In the early years of Wu Ding, after your mother entered the palace, she rewarded the Zhang family with eight thousand acres of farmland and five thousand taels of silver."
"Then why weren't they awarded titles?"
The Supreme Emperor was stunned for a moment, then continued: "Your mother doesn't allow it. You must also know what she went through back then."
Liu Kan looked calm and said: "I don't know."
"In short, your mother's relationship with his father and brothers is not on good terms. I don't want to say more about other things."
Liu Zhaosun didn't want to mention those past events. Judging from Liu Kan's attitude, it was clear that he wanted to fight for power for Zhang Yanniang's family.
Just as he was about to relent and say that he could send Zhang Guoji another five thousand taels, he heard the little emperor loudly say:
"Father! My son thinks that eight thousand acres of farmland is too much. What virtues and abilities does the Zhang family in Kaifeng Prefecture have? Is it because their daughter is my dead mother that they have to occupy so much land? My son. As far as we know, Kaifeng implements the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System"!"
"In your opinion, how should we deal with it?" Liu Zhaosun looked at the sixteen-year-old little emperor meaningfully.
"Father, I think that not only will the Zhang family not be rewarded, but the tax money and grain arrears they have owed over the years will be immediately cleared. Eight thousand acres of fertile land is enough for two hundred farmers to cultivate! In these years, they have occupied land. In addition to money and grain, at least It was a waste of Daqi’s two hundred soldiers!”
"Kan'er, Zhang Guoji is your grandfather, and his son Zhang Zhao is your uncle. Do you really want to be so mean?"
Liu Kan said calmly: "My uncle, my uncle Jin Dajiu, is dead."
Liu Zhaosun shook his head and said no more.
"As for the Zhang family in Kaifeng Prefecture, I have never seen them before. They were the same people who sold their mother to Kang Yingqian and let her live in Liaodong! They almost died of illness. Later, when their mother entered the palace, these people remembered that they had this daughter and tried their best to pray for her. My father wants money and land, so it’s okay not to have such a grandpa and such an uncle!"
"I don't want those false reputations. I only want actual benefits and will do things that are beneficial to Da Qi. For example, the clearing of father-in-laws implemented in Zhejiang and Jiangsu this time is more beneficial than the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System" ,"
The Emperor did not expect that Liu Kan knew so much inside information, so he asked: "Who told you?"
Liu Kan said without hesitation: "I promised that person, but I can't say it."
Liu Zhaosun nodded and smiled.
"Okay, as a king, I promise you a thousand pieces of gold."
Liu Kan continued: "I sincerely request my father to order an immediate clearing of the Zhang family's land. No other requests are allowed. Otherwise, I am afraid that my father-in-law's reform will not be able to convince the public."
"You are so mean, are you really not afraid of others being suspicious? Including me?"
Liu Kan met his father's eagle-like sharp gaze and said word by word: "My son, I am thinking about the great cause of the great Qi Dynasty, how can I care about anything else!"
The Supreme Emperor remembered Zhang Yan's last words and looked at the decisive Liu Kan in front of him. The burden that had been weighing on his heart for more than ten years suddenly disappeared. His heavy heart felt lighter than ever before.
"Okay, I will draw up the decree and announce it to the world in my name."
The high priest came to the Supreme Emperor with a pen and paper in hand.
Liu Zhaosun spread the rice paper flat on the table and started writing. The translation of his text is as follows:
Governor Ge (Hebei Governor Ge Yewen):
Zhang Zhao and others are not allowed to leave Kaifeng Mansion and are expected to be assigned appropriate jobs according to their abilities in Hebei. Any rude requests should not be allowed.
If the mother is in difficulty, appropriate help can be provided. In addition, let the Kaifeng Prefecture Tongzhi and Coi Yiwei clean up the Zhang family's property and recover the arrears of taxes and rent. If the amount is not enough, the property will be confiscated to compensate...
Lewen
