On the first day of July in the eleventh year of Qianyou, a grand canonization ceremony was held in the main hall of Chongyuan. Witnessed by concubines, clan members, royal relatives, nobles, and internal and external ministers, Han Emperor Liu Chengyou officially canonized the second prince Liu Yang as the Prince.
After a series of solemn and solemn ceremonies, all the civil and military officials present saluted Liu Yang neatly. Ten-year-old Liu Yang was wearing a crown and a bright yellow dragon robe, which was beautifully decorated. Standing on the Danqi, looking at the palace full of civil and military ministers, prostrate at their feet, I felt uncomfortable for a while.
I couldn't help but look back at my parents, only to see the Emperor's face full of majesty and aloofness, which was unlike any ordinary person and was intimidating. On the contrary, it was my mother's big talisman. Although she maintained her majesty and demeanor, her eyes were full of encouragement and expectations.
After all, I have studied literature and martial arts for many years, and have followed Liu Chengyou on patrols. I have some experience and have experienced large battles. I took a deep breath, calmed down the tension in my body and mind, and followed the instructions beforehand, Minister Xuan En.
Liu Chengyou was sitting on the throne, exuding an aura of coercion, his eyes were calm, observing Liu Yang's performance, and he followed the rules, which was pretty good. If he can't even withstand this kind of battle, then this prince will be too disappointing.
In fact, Liu Chengyou personally taught Liu Yang from time to time. If his qualifications were really unworthy, even if he was the eldest son, Liu Chengyou would not appoint him. Of course, although the crown prince is established, it also represents the official start of a long-term and strict inspection.
Whether the crown prince's position can be secured depends on Liu Yang's own luck and ability.
Of course, there are some people with different thoughts in the main hall, such as the noble concubine Gao and the Hui concubine Fu. Seeing this scene, Concubine Gao looked at the aloof Emperor Liu. The ones closest to him were the Queen Mother and Queen Fu, and her heart was full of bitterness and powerlessness. And seeing his son Liu Xi paying courteous courtesy to Liu Yang heartlessly, I felt even more resentful and angry at him.
As for Concubine Fu Hui, the mood of the little woman is more serious, and her eyes are a bit resentful. After all, she also gave birth to a son. Madam Zhe's eyes were calmer and she saw things more broadly.
Liu Chengyou also observed the behavior of his other sons. They were all well-behaved. The eldest son Liu Xu still maintained his usual gentleness and smile that was almost ingrained in his bones. The third child, Liu Xi, had a calm expression on his face, but his eyes seemed a little unfocused. The fourth child, Liu Fang, looked at his second brother attentively, with a little curiosity. As for Liu Yun, the fifth child, and Liu Min, the king of Wei, they are just soy sauce.
After the ceremony was completed, Liu Chengyou asked the prince Liu Yang to ride in the royal chariot, escorted by hundreds of Ouchi guards, and go out of the palace to patrol Tianjie, accepting the cheers and support of the people of Tokyo, and officially announcing the matter to the world.
At night, the royal banquet in Chongyuan Hall is a proper thing to congratulate and offer gifts. At the same time, after discussing with Empress Fu, Liu Chengyou also assigned Liu Yang with East Palace officials and guards. All regulations were from when he was the prince.
Judging from Liu Chengyou's performance, he does have certain expectations for the prince Liu Yang, and there is no shortage of the status and treatment he deserves. After all, he is the prince and the future successor of the empire. It is not a child's play. Liu Chengyou's attitude is very upright and he takes it seriously.
"You must be tired today!" Dafu said softly in Kunming Hall, looking at Liu Yang who was still wearing a bright dress.
Liu Yang nodded, shook his head, and then nodded again. Seeing his appearance, Dafu called him to his side, touched his head and said: "From now on, you will be the prince of the Han Dynasty, and you must also learn to understand your father's hard work and painstaking efforts. You are tired today." , compared to his ten years of hard work, it is insignificant. You must understand this. You are a monarch and a subject in the court, and you are a father and son in the next court. You must remain respectful to your father..."
Liu Yang didn't fully understand what Da Fu said, but he was an obedient child and just nodded in agreement. However, there was a little hesitation on the young face.
Dafu asked him, and Liu Yang said: "Mom, I saw the ministers, elders and brothers saluting me. I don't know why, but I feel very nervous. I have never felt it before!"
In response, Dafu showed a slight smile and sighed softly: "This is the heavy responsibility of the prince!"
...
After the title of prince was decided, Liu Chengyou focused all his attention on the preparations for the Northern Expedition. Under his urging, the entire court was operating closely.
The Sansi Dafa treasury purchased all military supplies, from quilts, shoes and socks, gloves, rain gear, tents, vehicles, as long as the army could use them. , made a huge profit.
The arsenal is wide open and actively transported to foreign countries. The production scale of various weapons is expanded and work is started at full strength. A large amount of raw materials are input into the workshops and in the hands of thousands of craftsmen, they are turned into life-harvesting war weapons. According to reports from the Ministry of War, 3 million bows and arrows of various types must be prepared in the early stage.
Food and grass went first. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the amount of grain transferred northward through the capital had reached 200,000 shi. The Yongqing Army, which was the base for the Northern Expedition, had more than 400,000 shi in grain storage. This was before the imperial court was fully mobilized. The imperial troops organized in the Northern Expedition also headed north in batches under the dispatch of the Privy Council.
As expected, the Han's military preparations and maneuvers could not completely confuse the enemy. However, due to the court's series of strategies to confuse the enemy, the time for the target to be discovered was greatly delayed.
In this process, the most nervous one was the Jinling court. Because of the appointment of the crown prince, Liu Chengyou ordered Li Jing to come to the court to observe the ceremony. Of course, Li Jing was not happy with it, and he did not dare to go to Tokyo. I didn't dare to refuse directly. I excused myself by saying that my illness was not yet cured, and the road was far away and I didn't have enough time. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to catch up. To avoid being rude, I stopped going. However, Tang officials were still ordered to go north with heavy gifts to present the Han prince.
This, of course, would not satisfy Emperor Liu. Afterwards, Li Gu began to cause trouble in Yangzhou. The Yangzhou Navy was dispatched to parade troops in the mountains and rivers, making the soldiers and civilians of the Southern Tang Dynasty along the Jiangyin coast uneasy.
Coupled with the surging torrents in the Central Plains, the Jinling court who was aware of it was even more frightened. Although Lin Renzhao and other generals actively resisted, Li Jing was still afraid of the danger and sent envoys to the north for the second time with gifts, hoping to ask for peace. .
This was the case in the Southern Tang Dynasty. How could the Khitans in the northern part of the Great Wall be unaware of it? In fact, no matter how the Han troops mobilized, they were already preparing for war. After the Battle of Yanmen, the Han Dynasty maintained only envoy exchanges, which also meant to confuse the Han court.
After returning to Beijing from the north of Yelujing, the existing soldiers of the Liao Kingdom, especially the tribal armies that were the main force, stepped up their training and selected elite soldiers and generals to prepare for the southern raids.
At the same time, Yelujing also sent envoys widely to dispatch the northern tribes who had surrendered to the Liao Kingdom, communicated in advance, and made preparations to recruit them to go south. How can we deal with a big man without servants and cannon fodder?
In this way, in the early stage, both sides had their own motives and preparations. Yelv Jing was originally just strengthening the military training and construction of the Liao Kingdom, and was preparing to follow Yelu Talie's suggestion to kill and plunder first to weaken the national strength of the Han Dynasty.
However, as time passed, I realized something was wrong. The big man's aggressive movements were so frightening that he wanted to eat people. After learning about the changes in the Han Dynasty, the monarchs and ministers of the Liao Kingdom also accelerated their preparations for war, and many plans that were originally intended to be slowed down had to be accelerated.
After entering August, the two countries have basically laid out their swords and guns, facing each other, and preparing for a war. The Liao Kingdom was waiting for the autumn harvest and the horses to be fertile, while the Han Dynasty was fully prepared in the early stage, dispatching troops and horses, and at the same time waiting for the autumn harvest to have abundant people.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, as the two countries stepped up their troops to line up the border, the cavalry of both sides had already started fighting on the border. The confrontation between Youyan and Youyan was the most intense. The Liao cavalry reached as far south as Zhuozhou. And this time, Yanqi was not fighting alone. All the cavalry troops under the jurisdiction of the Hebei Frontier Army were transferred north to join the battle.
By August 20, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Han Emperor officially issued an edict to expedition to the north of Khitan, which attracted the attention of the world. By this time, the Han Dynasty had gathered 200,000 troops in the Hebei area.
