When the war in the Western Region resumes and the storm is turbulent, thousands of miles away, in the capital city of Luoyang, spring is in full bloom and flowers are blooming. After the beginning of spring, after more than a month of adjustments, the central court headed by Emperor Liu finally gradually completed various aftermath matters.
The sequelae of the Northern Expedition have been fully exposed and are still continuing. However, the clear attitude of the imperial court to use force and cultivate politics is enough to reassure everyone. As various policies and resolutions were issued and communicated, the country gradually adjusted, got back on track, and began to re-enter the stage of recovery and development.
After the continuous busyness, the center of the imperial court gradually returned to peace, with less rush and restlessness and more leisure and tranquility. After entering February, several happy events occurred in Beijing. Emperor Liu arranged weddings for his children one after another. Emperor Liu comforted the hearts of his subjects with the joy of family affairs.
First, Prince Liu Yang accepted Zhao Kuangyin's daughter and made her his concubine. Then the fifth prince Liu Yun got married. The queen and the virtuous concubine carefully selected a good match for him. Naturally, he was the granddaughter of the late prime minister Li Tao, Duke of Ju, who came from a famous family.
Liu Yun, a boy who has been out of touch since he was a child, has been clamoring for a wife with both talent and beauty a few years ago, but when it was his turn, he was still shy and shy, even entering the bridal chamber, which made his relatives and friends laugh at him. After a while.
By the end of February, there was another happy event for the royal family, but this time, it was Emperor Liu who married his daughter. The eldest princess Liu Jia, who was over 18 years old, got married. As known both inside and outside, Emperor Liu's favorite princess, her marriage, Everyone from top to bottom was paying attention, and even when he came out of the cabinet, it was done in a sensational and eye-catching manner.
Emperor Liu had long been used to it, and it was not surprising that a prince would get married and take a concubine. However, this was the first time that his beloved daughter, whom he had raised for so many years, was getting married, so the arrangements were extremely grand, and the excitement was probably only Secondly, the prince got married that year.
In order to prepare for Liu Jia's wedding, Emperor Liu personally cared about it and ordered a team of ceremony officials from Taichang and the Ministry of Rites to specialize in the ceremony. He specially allocated millions of dollars from internal funds. The wedding ceremony was held in the Guangde Hall of the Han Palace, and the master of ceremonies The prime minister Li Ye personally took charge of it.
Emperor Liu's love for the eldest princess is evident. This made the princes and princesses envious, and at the same time, it also made more envious and jealous eyes cast on the person the princess was marrying, Li Jilong.
He, Li Jilong, is so virtuous and capable. His origin is not considered to be the top nobleman of the Han Dynasty. He has made some meager achievements on the battlefield, but he is not the only one. As for his ability, no one who is qualified to be a nobleman of the Han Dynasty will admit that he is inferior. he.
In particular, when it was rumored that the emperor and the empress were choosing a husband for the eldest princess, many people were among the candidates, and many of the sons of meritorious officials came to the palace for the princess to observe.
Everyone once had the opportunity, but Hua Luo's family, Her Royal Highness the Princess fell in love with Li Jilong. How could this not make people feel jealous.
Of course, behind this grand wedding, more people saw that Li Chuyun's family would officially cross the threshold and become the top noble family in the Han Dynasty.
Compared with those nobles with great military exploits, Li Chuyun did not have many achievements that were eye-catching and worthy of praise in the past twenty years. Although he served as Privy Councilor for a short period of time, it was also the result of the emperor's vigorous promotion.
Of course, there is no doubt about Li Chuyun's contribution to the Han Dynasty, but it is difficult for ordinary people to realize it, and it is often easy to ignore those diligent and unknown contributions and hard work.
In addition, Emperor Liu's light was too dazzling. No matter how loyal and responsible all the civil and military generals were, they would be overshadowed by the emperor's brilliance, inferior to others, and easily ignored by others.
Therefore, if there is no tangible military exploits, it is difficult to be recognized by others and cannot convince the public, and Li Chuyun is one of the more representative ones.
If Emperor Liu hadn't been considerate and affirmed his contribution in his heart, perhaps Li Chuyun would have retired without a name like many civil and military officials who had held high positions and held powerful positions in the Han Dynasty's military affairs over the past twenty years. Some faint traces have been left in the magnificent history, and future generations can only find a few fragments in the historical annals.
However, the matter has come to this, Princess Li Jilongshang is a foregone conclusion, and it is useless to be envious, and she has to accompany her with a smiling face, prepare gifts, and congratulate her.
Of course, in addition to this, it also allowed more smart and conscious people to understand some of Emperor Liu's thoughts and his attitude towards his heroes. That is, marrying heroes and deepening the relationship with nobles.
In recent years, there have been some not-so-good rumors about the meritorious officials in the court, saying that the class of distinguished nobles is too large, the treatment is too generous, and supporting them is too expensive, which puts a huge burden on the court.
Especially after the Northern Expedition, when the national treasury was empty and the national finances were in dire straits, some people reiterated the idea of reducing the benefits of nobles, controlling the distribution of salary and lumi, and reducing the financial burden of the court. This not only caused dissatisfaction among the heroes and nobles, but also made them uneasy.
There must be a reason for the rumor to come out of nowhere. It was obviously someone who was pushing it to the point where it was so loud not long ago. And those who dared to face the huge noble group were obviously not ordinary people.
And this person, many people know, is the prime minister Zhao Pu who sits in the political hall and holds the political power of the Han Dynasty. Some well-informed people have discovered that Zhao Pu once met with Emperor Liu alone. The emperor and his ministers talked in secret for more than an hour. The details of what they talked about are unknown, but there is vague news that Zhao Pu began to point the finger of political reform at the Xungui Group. , most of the performances are related to suppressing nobles.
This situation has caused huge waves in the court. If it is true, it was just some rumors that stayed in the mouth in the past. Now, Zhao Pu seems to be starting to take action.
It has to be said that Zhao Pu's courage and ambition are indeed extraordinary, and ordinary people may not even dare to think of attacking the Xungui Group. You must know that although there are many factions and disputes in this class, they are still the same class after all. They are a group in a macro sense, and Zhao Pu seems to be targeting the entire class.
Offending one, five or even ten people is not a serious matter. However, offending a class is still the most powerful of the Han Dynasty. Its influence extends to all classes inside and outside the military and government. You can imagine what kind of difficulties and dangers you will face.
You must know that the noble class of the Han Dynasty was promoted by Emperor Liu. Although it was accompanied by suspicion and suppression, restrictions and compromises, in general, Emperor Liu still valued this class very much. After painstaking efforts and several adjustments, a complete system of nobles was formulated, with the purpose of making this class the defender of the Han Dynasty, and regarded it as the foundation of the Liu family.
In this class, there are not only heroes and nobles, but also Emperor Liu's relatives and old friends. If Zhao Pu wants to suppress them, Emperor Liu may be the first to be offended.
Of course, for the nobles of the Han Dynasty, especially those with the most prominent status, they actually had a kind of contempt for Zhao Pu's political intentions.
Don't look at it, Zhao Pu is now deeply trusted by the emperor, holds the power of the prime minister, is high in the government, and has great authority. He has really offended everyone. It is not too difficult to attack him in groups and oust him from power.
However, with Emperor Liu watching from above, no one dared to take that step rashly, otherwise they would be challenging Emperor Liu's authority. However, there is always a limit, and they also have a bottom line, and their vital interests have not been violated yet, so they are still holding back and watching the situation develop to see what kind of restrictive policy Zhao Pu finally devises.
Therefore, what the nobles are really worried about and fearful is the aloof Emperor Liu. No matter how active Zhao Pu was in promoting, in the eyes of many people he was just jumping up and down and making trouble. But if the emperor was bewitched and deceived by him, that would be a major problem.
Moreover, in the past days, Emperor Liu never expressed his attitude and even had private conversations with Zhao Pu. This had to make people a little more careful and vigilant.
Recently, Emperor Liu still chooses noble wives whether he is marrying a wife or a daughter. This seems to represent an attitude and is also a goodwill signal.
Emperor Liu's children have long been cared about by the ministers below, and as the princes and princesses grew up one after another and reached the age of marriage, they became even more concerned about them.
Marriage with the royal family is beneficial to them in every aspect. It is not only a reflection of status, but also a talisman. No matter how the political situation changes in the future, as a relative of the emperor and the country, as long as he does not seek death, he will basically not be targeted by others.
Seeing the scene of Li Jilong marrying the eldest princess Liu Jia also made the nobles and nobles even more eager. Emperor Liu had too many children. For qualified nobles, there are many opportunities, even if they are divided into fruits. ...
