Chapter 977 Ascension to the Throne
Chapter 977 Ascension to the Throne (Part )
In the southern suburbs of Luoyang, a large group of soldiers entered the place for offering sacrifices to heaven.
Feng Bachi, who had just been transferred here from the palace for more than a month, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.
After the Chinese New Year, I came to Luoyang to serve. I have guarded the palace, watched the city gates, and even been stationed in the Huangnutai area west of the city for two months. Now I am finally leaving and can go home for the New Year.
Today is October 16th. After breakfast, the soldiers from Pingqiu began to pack their bags and prepare to return home.
Many horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts came to the outside of the camp, distributing rolls of cloth.
Each person was given a piece of silk, a piece of white linen, and one string of money as a reward.
This is an extra reward. Normally, there is no reward for the trip. The country is about to be founded, so I take some money and silk before leaving to make myself happy.
As the leading officer of Pingqiu Prefecture, Feng Bachi received more, five cents each in cash, silk and cloth.
He had already learned about this and was grinning from ear to ear.
"The price of grain in Luoyang has dropped, a dou of rice costs twenty coins. This silk is of good quality, how much can it be sold for? Four hundred?" Feng Bachi asked.
"There are also three hundred in Chenliu." Someone said, "General, five pieces of silk can buy seven or eight hu of grain, which is the harvest of two mu of land."
"The king is really good to us warriors." Someone else said.
"If it weren't for the military order, I would have stayed for ten days or half a month even if I had to beg for food, to see the king ascend the throne with my own eyes."
"Can you see it?" Someone laughed and said, "You are amazing if you can get within 500 steps of King Liang."
"Why now? Won't we be able to see it next time we enter the capital to defend it?"
"If the four guards of Pingqiu Prefecture do not go on the expedition, they will take turns to be on duty. Come back in three years."
"I will be 44 in three years." Someone sighed, "I am afraid I will never see King Liang again in this lifetime. My son will take over next year, so brothers please help take care of him."
"Okay, okay." Everyone responded.
Feng Bachi did not participate much in the conversation of his men, but came to the outskirts of the temporary camp.
Hundreds of soldiers with yellow scarves on their heads were sitting on the ground.
Their leading officer was negotiating with the men of the Five Sergeants of Luoyang, confirming one by one the supplies they were about to receive.
It can be seen that the officials in Luoyang are dejected and not in a very good mood. It is only because the Yellow Head Army has fought for several years and is no longer the victims of the disaster, and has a faint murderous aura, otherwise they would be perfunctory by these five military officials.
If the government offices that are to be abolished are not given new jobs, they will have no motivation to do anything.
After Feng Ba Chi walked around, the Yellow-Headed Army had finished negotiating with the Fifth Army Officer. The leader of the group came over and saluted, "But is it General Feng?"
"That's right." Feng Bashi said solemnly.
"I am Zeng Yi, the commander of the first battalion of the Wansheng Army. I have been ordered to move here. This is the document for the change of guard."
Feng Ba Chi pretended to take it, looked at it, put it away, and then said, "The Wei Mansion had already issued an order the day before yesterday."
After saying that, he looked at Zeng Yi again and asked, "You are so young and you are already the leader of the group. You are amazing. Have you ever been on the expedition to defeat the Xianbei and destroy the Xiongnu?"
"I did not fight during the attack on Xianbei. I was guarding hostages in Pingyang at that time." Zeng Yi said, "When we destroyed the Xiongnu, I followed General Hou across the river and fought several battles. At that time, I was the governor."
"Have you accomplished a great deed?" Feng Bachi asked.
"No." Zeng Yi was a little embarrassed and said, "The leader of the building died in the battle, so I took over."
"No need to be embarrassed." Feng Ba Chi said with a smile: "Good luck is also a skill. I was lucky when I was the first to reach Ji County. Many people who were braver than me died."
Zeng Yi deeply agrees.
He was brave in battle and fought with his life in the Battle of Guangwu, but bravery alone is not enough, you also need a little bit of luck.
He was lucky to be alive today and become a leader. Although the Wansheng Army was not a recruited army or a government army, and the leaders and officers below them had no official positions, they could still receive some money and food rewards every year, which had greatly improved his life.
What's more important is the improvement of his status. He is already a township assistant in Pingyang County. This is also not an official position, but it has many invisible benefits. At least he is already one of the powerful figures in the village.
"However, the king's grace in selecting you is the most important thing." Feng Bashi added, "Oh, now I should call you Your Majesty."
Zeng Yi nodded slowly and said, "Without the king, how could we have the benefits we have today? I only hope that the king will live a hundred years."
Feng Bachi said nothing.
Are there really people in the world who live to be a hundred years old? Legend has it that there are such people, but no one has ever been seen alive.
When Liu Yuan was fleeing, he met Hu and Han refugees who were heading south from Shangdang. They said that Cui You, Liu Yuan's teacher under whom he studied, lived a long life, but was only 91 years old.
However, it is right to support Shaw Brothers. As long as Shaw Brothers exists, their benefits will also exist.
The descendants of King Liang wouldn't be so stupid as not to support the military...right?
The soldiers from Chenliu Prefecture withdrew the next day, and thousands of people from the First Battalion of the Wansheng Army took over Circular Mound.
There isn't much to do, just maintaining order, patrolling during the day and keeping guard at night to keep the bad guys away.
In his spare time, Zeng Yi would stare at this place that connects heaven and earth.
One day, King Liang will ascend this altar surrounded by his ministers and make his announcement to heaven.
The wind was whistling, as if cheering and waiting for the coming of the new master.
******
On October 28th, Shen Ling arrived at the Circular Mound.
As a Zhonglang official, he had no specific responsibilities, so it was easy for him to be sent out to do various things, such as supervising the various preparatory work that Taichang was in charge of.
The wind was quite strong today, and to Shen Ling it sounded like sobbing.
Is this a dirge for the Jin Dynasty? Are they reluctant to see it go?
Shen Ling felt that his idea was a bit strange.
He was from Wuxing, Yangzhou.
Yes, it is the famous Wuxing Shen family.
He came to the Central Plains to serve as an official very early and served in Sima Yue's court for many years.
After Sima Yue's death, the Empress Dowager Pei and the successor king Sima Pi were honored.
After King Liang was appointed as the military commander of the Kaocheng Shogunate, he followed Concubine Pei to seek refuge there and is now a military officer in the General's Office. He also has relatives in Jiangnan.
In fact, the Wuxing Shen family is very large, with a large number of troops and money. When he left home and went north, he easily dispatched more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. Now they should be even stronger, with 20,000 troops at their fingertips. The Jiangdong rich families Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang are not as good as them.
Unfortunately, his status is too low, and there are no famous people among his ancestors. Even if there are, outsiders don't know about it. Doesn't Shen Ling know what's going on? It's just whitewashing and climbing up.
After more than 20 years of marching north, the Wu people who had come with them that year either died or left, such as Lu Ji, Lu Yun, Zhang Han, Gu Rong, Dai Yuan, Ji Zhan, etc. When Sima Yue was defeated repeatedly, He Xun and others even ran away halfway and were unwilling to go north at all.
Therefore, it is incredible that he, a Wu person, is still holding on to the north.
After living in the north for twenty or thirty years, his children married into northern wealthy families, and his grandchildren can hardly even speak Wu dialect. If he returns to the south, he will probably be regarded as an alien by his tribesmen.
But he didn't care. He had a position in the new dynasty of Daliang: a fourth-rank official in the Secretariat.
In the future, the Wuxing Shen family will come to him for help, instead of him begging for recognition from his clansmen.
"Jing Gao." A shout came from not far away. Shen Ling looked up and saw that it was Liang Xu, the Minister of Rites.
This person was a demoted official of Liu Han and the Minister of Rites of Chang'an.
After surrendering, he was appointed as the Minister of Rites in the Luoyang court. It was a bit harsh to surrender. However, as a surrenderer, it was good to have an official position. If his surname was not Liang, he would not have been able to get the position.
After the establishment of the new dynasty, Liang Xu will also serve as the sixth-rank Taichang Cheng, so he is still somewhat motivated and works hard - for the Xizhou scholars, supporting King Liang is a must. They entered the game too late, and if they don't work hard, their future will be worrying.
"Huaishou, how are the preparations going?" Shen Ling asked.
"The four groups of musicians are all ready. The bells, chimes and palace instruments have been properly stored. The Yellow Head Army has borrowed a few barracks, so there shouldn't be any major problems." Liang Xu said.
"The Yellow Head Army barracks are just tents. It's gloomy today, with a cold wind howling, so we can't let anything go wrong." Shen Ling frowned and said.
Liang Xu was a little unhappy and said, "There are people guarding day and night, so it's okay."
Shen Ling noticed his attitude and said nothing more.
Everyone is busy with the enthronement of King Liang. Liang Xu has even been sleeping in the tent since yesterday, just like a soldier going to war. There is no need to blame him too much.
After checking the place where musical instruments and other ceremonial items were stored, Shen Ling nodded and said, "The complexity of affairs in the founding of a country is shocking."
Liang Xu knew that Shen Ling was trying to talk to him to ease the tension, so he understood Shen Ling's intention and continued, "When I was in Chang'an, I looked forward to it day and night, hoping that the king's army would come quickly. Now that Guanzhong has been recovered and King Liang is about to establish a kingdom, thinking back to the past, it feels like a dream."
"That's right." Shen Ling said, "Now I just hope that after the founding of the country, Xiliang and Jiangnan can be pacified quickly and the world will be unified."
Liang Xu's heart moved, and he said, "After pacifying Jiangnan, Jing Gao may want to make important use of him."
Shen Ling laughed: "You are already old, what's the point of talking about whether to reuse or not."
Liang Xu smiled but said nothing. The founding of a country was just the beginning, just the beginning.
******
Sima Duan is already packing his bags.
Prince Liang has accepted the abdication edict. Although he has not yet officially ascended the throne, as the abdicated emperor, it is no longer appropriate for him to stay in the palace.
Somehow, Cao Shuang's old house was given to him as the new Tenggong Mansion - although he had the title, it was obviously impossible for Sima Duan to leave the capital, and the new dynasty did not have any real land, so he would live in Luoyang for the rest of his life.
Mrs. Qin of the State of Teng looked at the Zhaoyang Palace with some reluctance.
The eunuch Hou San was in power and kept urging the couple to leave as soon as possible.
Groups of palace servants entered various palace rooms, sweeping and cleaning them while removing various symbols left over from the previous dynasty; this was the so-called "sweeping out the old and bringing in the new."
This is actually quite normal, but Qin is just unhappy.
She had only been queen for a few months when she was soon demoted to a lady. It would be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed.
And her dissatisfaction soon shifted to one person: her nominal "mother", Queen Mother Liang Lanbi.
Liang was the same age as King Liang, and sixteen years older than her. She used to look lifeless and cold, but in the past two months, she smiled more often, which made Qin increasingly dissatisfied.
Are you so happy about the change of dynasties? With this thought in mind, she became less respectful to the Queen Mother, even though she was accused of being "unfilial".
But fortunately we don’t have to meet again in the future.
The Queen Mother has decided to become a nun and practice Buddhism.
Prince Liang was kind-hearted and decided to rebuild a Buddhist temple inside Yunlong Gate for the Queen Mother to live in and practice.
Such magnanimity is truly admirable.
"Duke Teng should set off." A vague voice came from outside the palace. It was from the eunuch Hou San.
Sima Duan looked at the calligraphy and paintings that he often appreciated, sighed, and took only a few pieces, keeping most of them.
Qin narrowed her eyes and almost went to argue with Hou Lao San.
This little hot pepper, tiger woman, really doesn't know how to write the word "fear".
Hearing that her joke mocking King Liang for "being a humble subject" had been circulated among the outside world, some gossipers recorded it in a book and praised it highly.
If she were someone with a narrow mind, no one would have known what would have happened to her.
"Let's go." Sima Duan put the last thing into the luggage and handed it to the palace servant to take it away and load it into the car. Then he pulled Qin and said.
Outside the Zhaoyang Palace, there were many carriages parked full of various expenses.
Hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs stood on both sides of the carriage.
They have been given to Duke Teng by the King of Liang. From now on, they will go to Cao Shuang's old house to serve Duke Teng and his wife, and all expenses will be paid by the court. In addition, the palace soldiers on duty in the capital will regularly send fifty armored soldiers to guard Duke Teng's mansion to prevent bad guys from harming him.
Sima Duan and his wife quickly got on the imperial carriage, and a large group of people marched out of Zhaoyang Palace and left the palace.
The setting sun shines obliquely, stretching the person's shadow very long.
When walking out of the Changhe Gate, Sima Duan looked back subconsciously.
It seems that the foundation of the Jin Dynasty has really reached its final moment.
It lasted for four emperors and sixty-one years, and that was all.
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(End of this chapter)