Chapter 745 Ningshuo Palace
Chapter 745 Ningshuo Palace
On New Year's Eve, a large team arrived in Pingyang.
When they set out from Bianliang, the team consisted of only a thousand people.
When passing through Yingchuan, there were another five hundred soldiers.
Then they passed Luoyang, entered the Luo River Valley, and then headed north to Shaanxi City. The team became larger and larger, almost exceeding four thousand.
By the time they arrived in Pingyang, they had become an army of 5,000 infantry and cavalry.
Outside Jianchun Gate in the east of the city, heavy snow covered the sky, and all the officials and generals prostrated themselves on the ground.
After a while, a graceful and somewhat childish woman got out of the car. Surrounded by her maids, she looked at Liu Han's capital with curiosity.
A city about the same size as Luoyang is much better than the dirty and messy Bianliang!
A slight smile appeared on Yu Wenjun's face.
She quietly stretched out her hand, and seemed to feel that the snowflakes in Pingyang were more beautiful than those in Bianliang.
Surrounded by mountains and rivers, majestic and magnificent, she likes this city very much because it symbolizes the achievements of her husband.
She quickly got on the carriage again, and under the guidance of Xun Yi, the Minister of the Imperial Household of Liang State, she entered the Ningshu Palace.
Xun Yi was the son of Xun Zu, the former governor of Xuzhou.
The Xun clan had close relations with the Hua clan of Pingyuan, the Liu clan of Peiguo, and even the Shi clan of Leling. Eventually, after persuasion, Pengcheng was "peacefully liberated."
After handing over power, Xun Zu and his family moved south to Jianye, but left one son in the north. He used his status as a member of the Yingchuan gentry to serve in the Liang State as the Minister of the Imperial Household. His name was Xun Yi.
Ningshu Palace is the original palace of Liu Han in Pingyang. Shao Xun has just ordered it to be renamed.
If nothing unexpected happens, this palace will be preserved for a long time. When Shao Xun himself visited the Hu people in Hexi and northern Bingzhou, this was a very good place for him to stay and work.
The carriage stopped outside the Changhe Gate.
It happened that a large group of Hu chieftains came out of the palace. When they saw the large procession of ceremonial guards and the carriage that was almost as heavy as the queen's carriage, they were immediately shocked.
The official from the Protectorate of the Barbarians who led them out of the palace introduced them in a low voice. Everyone was shocked and bowed to the ground, calling out "Yanshi".
Yu Wenjun listened in the car, covered her mouth and laughed, and was a little proud: My husband is really a famous hero in this world, even the Hu people are subject to him.
Most of the guards stopped outside the Changhe Gate, dispersed and returned to their homes. Only a thousand Liang Palace guards escorted Yu Wenjun forward.
When passing through the Qianghe Gate, I could hear the "whispering" of the Hu people.
"Yanshi is the wife of the Jin emperor, right? After the previous emperor died, Duke Liang married the wife of the Jin emperor and was made the new ruler."
"That's right. If Lord Liang didn't marry the Jin emperor's wife, how could the nobles in Luoyang listen to him? Back then, the new Huns' Chanyu was in his prime, and in order to succeed to the throne smoothly, he had to marry the old Chanyu's gray-haired wife."
"Didn't Liu Cong marry his stepmother, Queen Shan? Everything in the world is similar."
"Yeah, it's really all the same."
When Yu Wenjun heard this in the carriage, she was angry at first, and then she burst into laughter.
These barbarians are uncultured and stupid, and ridiculously so.
"Stop talking, stop talking. It will be bad if Queen Yang hears." Someone said proudly, "You don't know yet, do you? The woman in the carriage is named Yang. She is the wife of Emperor Yan of Jin. Duke Liang was forced to marry her for power. She is supported by the nobles in the Chanyu's court..."
The voice gradually faded away, and the smile on Yu Wenjun's face gradually disappeared.
Yang Xianrong actually arrived before her.
******
The lineup brought by Yu Wenjun is still very large.
In addition to herself and four concubines, there were also four ladies, Mrs. Le, Mrs. Lu, Mrs. Da Wang and Mrs. Xiao Wang, as well as four people, Mrs. Song, Mrs. Jing, Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Guo, who were not on the "registration" list. Mrs. Pei also came, but she went to Wenxi to visit her relatives halfway, and would come to Pingyang after the New Year.
Following them were a large number of Liang Palace servants, craftsmen, guards and other personnel.
The General's Office and the State of Liang also sent many staff members, officials and their respective subordinates to attend.
I will celebrate the New Year at Liu Cong’s home this year!
The imperial carriage passed the Guangji Palace and the Jianshi Palace, among the thousands of palaces and halls. All the palace ladies and soldiers who came into view bowed down, and the officials saluted in unison.
Yu Wenjun, dressed in a snow-white fox fur coat, looked quite graceful and elegant as she got off the car in front of Zhaode Hall.
"I heard that Zhaode Hall is the main hall of the harem. Isn't it inappropriate?" She looked around the majestic and heavy hall and was a little surprised that it was no worse than the Luoyang Palace, and was even newer and better, so she hesitated.
After hearing this, the Imperial Household Secretary Xun Yi remained silent.
After Duke Liang conquered Pingyang, he could of course seal up the palace, take no property, and have no pleasure with any women. Instead, he registered all the money and women and sent them to Luoyang to present to the emperor in order to show his loyalty and patriotism.
But he did not do so. He distributed part of the money and concubines to the meritorious officials, and he moved directly into the Han Palace and visited Empress Liu Han. What was the point of being so hesitant now?
Can the concubine who has entered the trap of a military general be taken back?
Can the money that has gone into a soldier’s pocket be spit out?
Even the staff got a lot of good stuff. Most of them come from humble backgrounds. Ask them if they are willing to give it up.
"If Madam thinks Zhaode Hall is too empty, you can stay in Huiguang Hall temporarily." Xun Yi said, cupping his hands.
"Where does Queen Hui live?" asked Yu Wenjun.
"Wen Ming Palace."
"Is this the main palace of the harem?"
"One of the two main halls, slightly inferior to Zhaode Hall, but better than Huangyi Hall, Huiguang Hall, etc."
Yu Wenjun was silent, then felt a little conflicted. She wanted to say something but couldn't.
Xun Yi observed his expression and said, "Lord Liang has gone hunting with his generals, assistants, and the Hu chieftains. He will be back soon and will stay at Zhaode Palace tonight. He may have something to ask Madam..."
Yu Wenjun responded with a red face and entered the Zhaode Hall.
The palace maids who followed her looked left and right and were greatly surprised that the decoration and furnishings of Liu Han's Zhaode Hall were even better than those of Bianliang's Guanfeng Hall.
"Why don't you just go back to Bianliang?" Guanqiu retracted her gaze and said happily, "Zhaode Palace is no worse than Zhaoyang Palace in Luoyang."
"You make it sound as if you have lived in Zhaoyang Palace. What? Are you the emperor's consort?" Xiao Yu joked.
Guanqiu blushed, thinking of the scene where her tender body was repeatedly manipulated by Liang Gong, and spat, "I only think about my husband, who wants to go to Luoyang?"
Yu Wenjun coughed, and the four children fell silent.
"Let's clean up Zhaode Hall first. I don't know how long I will live here." She looked around and felt a little happy.
"Yes." The four little helpers quickly found the palace servants and issued orders one after another.
The old palace maids of the Han Palace were transferred to other palaces, and most of the hundreds of large and small houses in the Zhaode Hall were replaced by the palace maids from the Liang Palace who came with them.
The imperial troops temporarily stationed here also handed over defense responsibilities to the new palace clerk Wu Li.
From this moment on, the force guarding the harem was replaced by a thousand Liang Palace guards, and the imperial guards moved to the Guangji and Jianshi Palaces. The furniture was rearranged and replaced with a familiar style in the Liang Palace.
Yu Wenjun came to the bedroom and made the bed with Yin Shi.
Xun brought Shao Xun's favorite tea set, sent someone to clean it, and then chose a room in the palace to use as a study and placed the tea set inside.
While supervising the palace maids in taking down the study utensils and eating utensils, Guanqiu secretly sighed that after all, this was not a genuine court. There were not even eunuchs, and they had to keep an eye on everything.
If it doesn't work, just choose some female officials.
The women worked like this for an entire afternoon, and soon the Zhaode Hall was completely renewed.
There are obviously no major changes, but it gives people a warm feeling.
Yu Wenjun looked at all this with satisfaction. This was her and her husband's home.
I love doing these things the most!
Military and political affairs are really annoying and make people sleepy. She is forced to do them reluctantly.
******
The front hall of Ningshu Palace was also very busy.
Some cardinal officials moved to the side halls on the left and right of Guangji Hall to live and work, but most of them lived near the imperial road in front of the palace.
To the left of the Changhe Gate is the Xiangguo Mansion, the former residence of Liu Can.
When Pingyang City was broken, all the servants in Liu Can's mansion fled and were later taken in by soldiers. Military strategist Zhang Bin lived here for a while.
Now he has moved out to make room for another person -
"Don't worry, gentlemen. I have taken care of everything." Wang Yan got off the carriage and said with a smile, "The several armies attacked Pingyang and won a great victory that had not been seen in the past ten years since the Restoration. The emperor was very happy and renamed the Han Palace as 'Ningshuo Palace' and gave it to Lord Liang."
Wen Qiao followed Wang Yan obediently and said, "Maybe he will be the 'Prince of Liang' in a while?"
"It won't be long, the angel is on the way." Wang Yan was radiant and smiling.
Wen Qiao was startled and asked, "Lord Liang is not going back to Luoyang to accept the title?"
"Mr. Liang doesn't like it." At this point, Wang Yan felt a little depressed and could only sigh, "The emperor doesn't like it either."
Wen Qiao nodded.
What else can we do? The emperor and the powerful ministers don't want to meet each other, so this is the only way.
Besides, after experiencing the large-scale drill attended by tens of thousands of people a while ago, who would dare to talk nonsense?
When the Xiongnu were rising, they won battle after battle and no one could stop them. The Jin Dynasty was about to fall, and many scholars fled south. More than ten years later, Duke Liang raised his spear and bravely conquered the enemy's capital. Who could match his prestige?
Wen Qiao recalled that Lord Liang had proposed to evaluate the family background of the Lu clan.
This was no small matter. In fact, it was related to the interests of scholars, and was not a small matter at all. But when Wen Qiao talked about it with his friends, he saw faces that were indignant, but they did not dare to openly oppose it, and finally forced themselves to swallow their anger.
Prestige, prestige, the prestige of conquering the enemy’s capital suppressed everything.
The scholars were forced to go underground and lie dormant, waiting for the right time.
After entering the Prime Minister's Mansion, Wang Yan looked around and nodded slightly.
Zheng Long, the general's chief clerk, breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Junsi was a top scholar and naturally had a very discerning eye. Even so, he was satisfied. It seemed that Liu Can did have some taste.
After this matter was settled, he quietly withdrew, then took two steps at a time, passed through the Qianghe Gate, and came to the Yousi Temple and Yushi Temple on the right.
There are only these three institutions directly in front of the Ningshuo Palace, which foreshadows the ranking of Liu Han's powerful figures.
The position of prime minister was specially appointed by Liu Cong, and was originally a posthumous title given to officials with special merits. Later, in order to pass the throne to his biological son, the position of prime minister became a real power and was personally held by Liu Can.
During the Jiaping period, Liu Cong "greatly standardized all official positions" and while changing the system to seven dukes, he also established the Imperial Censor and provincial governors, both of whom were second only to dukes.
The Ministry of Personnel was abolished and replaced by the "Left and Right Selectors". These two positions, together with the Left and Right Sili and the Left and Right Shanyu Fu, were all "ranked below Pushe".
This was a regime that integrated the Han and Hu peoples, and the official system had changed greatly compared to the time of Liu Yuan.
Liu Cong is not a waste, on the contrary, he has certain abilities. He has been thinking about how to stabilize his Hu-Han dual system state - this will also be a problem that Shao Xun will face.
When Liu Cong carried out the reforms, Liu Han was at its peak and owned most of Bingzhou, part of Guanzhong, part of Henan, part of Sizhou, and almost all of Jizhou and Qingzhou.
At that time, the Left and Right Sili were in charge of the Han people, each of whom was in charge of more than 200,000 households, and there was one Nei Shi for every 10,000 households.
The Left and Right Chanyu assisted in governing the Hu people, including the Xiongnu, and each ruled over 100,000 tribes.
From this we can see that the Left and Right Sili were definitely positions of real power. Although they were "lower than Pushe", their actual power was far greater than that of Pushe. Therefore, the Right Sili Temple was located near the Changhe Gate.
The Right Sili Temple was left to the Left Chief Clerk Pei Shao and his staff, and the Yushi Temple was given to the Right Sima Yang Chen.
Across the street, there were the Zuosi Li Temple and the Zuoyou Guanglu Temple, each of which housed many officials.
There is also Shanyu Terrace in the western suburbs of Pingyang, which is the office of Liu Han's Grand Sima, Great Shanyu, and Shanyu's Left and Right Assistants. Now a group of people headed by Su Shuyan, the Chief Protector of the Barbarians, live in it - new people will move in later. After all, Shanyu Terrace has many houses, and like the Xiangguo Mansion in the city, it is one of Liu Can's offices.
The officials who came here from Bianliang to pay tribute would also temporarily stay at Shanyutai, which was equivalent to an inn.
Zheng Long felt relieved when he saw Pei Shao chatting and laughing with his friends and the assistants busying around, moving in large numbers of files, books, manuscripts, seals and various office supplies.
It's really great to have a capital city that is not damaged by war and is fully functional.
"A king is appointed by Heaven to start a business and build a nation. He must obey Heaven's will and comfort the people..." Zheng Long had sharp ears and laughed when he heard the idle chatter of several officials in Zuo Changshi's mansion.
After the capture of Pingyang, the morale of everyone in the General's Mansion and Liang State reached a new level - not only were the soldiers who received rewards morale high, but the officials were also very excited.
You may have some opinions about Mr. Liang in your heart, but his achievements are real and undeniable.
Zheng Long was almost certain that these subordinates were dissatisfied with Duke Liang in some ways, but they were also very satisfied with him in some ways.
No one is perfect, so what can we do? We can only look at the overall picture.
Lord Liang has abused me, a scholar, thousands of times, but I still have to endure the discomfort in my heart and serve as an official for you...
Achievements and prestige outweighed dissatisfaction; this was the reality of the officialdom under the rule of Lord Liang.
The sky gradually darkened and the lights in Pingyang came on.
After stopping for half a day, the snowflakes fell from the sky again, adding a different color to the upcoming New Year.
At this moment, hundreds of civil and military officials and tens of thousands of soldiers inside and outside Pingyang looked up.
This snow seemed like fireworks showered on the new conquerors of Pingyang.
(End of this volume)
(End of this chapter)