Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 212 Zhao Zongquan ascends the throne

Zhao Zongquan shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Empress Cao lowered her eyes slightly and said with a complex expression: "The officials also wanted to inherit the ancestral legacy and regain the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. After taking office, they thought of various ways to strengthen the national power and prepare for the recovery of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. But that year in Xixia To be independent, the officials had to send troops to conquer Xixia. They fought with Xixia for several years and lost more than they won. However, Bei Liao took the opportunity to send troops. At that time, they had no ability to deal with Xi Xia and Bei Liao at the same time. The officials could only humiliate and increase the annual coins to Bei Liao. , which made Bei Liao retreat."

"What happened that time also made the officials understand that if they did not destroy the strength of Xixia and Bei Liao in one fell swoop, the war would only continue to be consumed, and it would become increasingly difficult to face Bei Liao and Xi Xia. So the officials took a defensive stance externally. Internally, we want to solve internal shortcomings through reforms.”

"Although the official reform failed, after these years of hard work, the national treasury is still sufficient and the world is stable."

"I know that you are about to ascend the throne and are eager to establish your prestige. However, you have been staying in the small place of Yuzhou and are not very clear about the current situation. After you ascend the throne, what you should do is to follow the rules and regulations. Everything can be carried out as usual. Don't ruin it. The hard work of the official family for so many years.”

Zhao Zongquan's face remained calm when he heard this, but he was already very unhappy in his heart.

He originally guessed that Queen Cao came to him to ask why he didn't use Yuan Wenshao.

But he didn't expect that Queen Cao actually wanted him to negotiate peace with Xixia.

At this time, Xixia is coming fiercely, how can it be so easy to negotiate peace.

It will undoubtedly cost a lot to get Xixia to negotiate peace.

Once the scholars and people in the world react violently, Queen Cao may have to depose him before he even ascends the throne to quell the public dissatisfaction.

Zhao Zongquan pondered for a while and said: "What the Queen Mother said is true, but I think that even if we want to negotiate a peace, we have to fight to let Xixia know my attitude. If we negotiate peace at this time, Xixia will definitely open its mouth."

He said this not because he wanted to negotiate a peace, but just to delay Queen Cao.

If Xixia can be driven back quickly, there will be no need for peace talks.

Queen Cao felt a little unhappy when she heard this, but she also knew to save Zhao Zongquan's face, so she did not get angry, but asked: "What should I do if Bei Liao takes the opportunity to send troops? Bei Liao had done this before, and the officials were not allowed to The Northern Liao army was forced to withdraw its troops without increasing the annual currency. If the Northern Liao army sends troops again this time, is it possible that the northern Liao army will have to increase the annual currency?"

The Sui coins were actually signed by the previous emperor, Guan Jia's father, and Bei Liao.

But at that time, in order to gain a good reputation, it was in the name of giving away.

Later, the Northern Liao Dynasty took advantage of the war between the Zhou Dynasty and Xixia, and forced the Zhou Dynasty to increase the annual coins, and also changed the gift to payment.

Although the gifts mentioned earlier are known to anyone with a discerning eye as tribute, at least there is a fig leaf that is not.

As a result, this fig leaf was severely torn off by Beiliao.

The officials could only accept the situation at that time.

Empress Cao was worried that if she did it again, Beiliao's demands would be even more excessive.

"Don't worry, Queen Mother, the British Duke has gone to the north to take charge. With the British Duke here, even if Northern Liao sends troops, he can resist for a period of time. If Xixia cannot be defeated by then, my son will send people to negotiate peace with Xixia." Zhao Zongquan said.

Empress Cao took a deep look at Zhao Zongquan and said: "You are from the Taizu lineage and are alienated from the official lineage. If you inherit the throne, the Taizong lineage in the clan will definitely dissatisfy you. If the country's foundation is shaken because of your decision, You have to think clearly about the consequences.”

"My son, I have thought it through." Zhao Zongquan suppressed the anger in his heart and bowed.

The hidden meaning of Queen Cao's words is that there are many descendants of the clan who are more qualified to be emperor than him.

He could become the emperor because the government appointed him as the crown prince, but if he was unqualified as the emperor, Empress Cao was fully capable of deposing him.

Zhao Zongquan was naturally able to hear the meaning of Queen Cao's words, and he also knew that Queen Cao had this ability.

After all, he had just arrived in Bianjing not long ago, and there were not many people who were truly loyal to him.

He was appointed by an official, and it would be difficult for Empress Cao to depose him for no reason. However, Empress Cao holds the jade seal. If Empress Cao gets a handle on it, it would not be difficult to depose him.

This is what made Zhao Zongquan angry. No one who became emperor would want to have a supreme emperor above his head.

"Now that you have figured it out, I won't say any more. You can go and watch the official's funeral." Empress Cao said.

"Yes, I will take my leave." Zhao Zongquan bowed.

"Guan Zhu, send the prince off for me." Queen Cao said.

"Your Highness, please!" Zhu Neiguan bowed.

Zhu Neiguan sent Zhao Zongquan outside the palace, returned to the bedroom, and stood hunched beside the bed.

"Alas, this prince has stayed in a small place for a long time and has not considered things thoroughly enough." Empress Cao sighed.

"That's why I asked the Queen to help keep an eye on it." Zhu Neiguan said.

"Huh... Then he must be willing to listen." Queen Cao said.

Zhu Neiguan did not answer this question. Empress Cao shook her head and said: "Yuan Wenshao was a little wronged. He received the blood edict from the official, and rushed out of the city to deliver the edict regardless of danger. He took the lead in suppressing the rebellion, and even more so. I saved the official family from King Ni. Now I am using him, causing him to be jealous of the new king."

In the eyes of Empress Cao, Yuan Wenshao was loyal to the official family.

The reason why he risked his life to rush out of the city to deliver the bloody edict was out of loyalty to the official family.

In fact, not only Queen Cao thought so, but Zhao Zongquan also thought so.

He felt that Yuan Wenshao sent him a blood edict, persuaded him to accept the edict, and led troops to quell the rebellion, all because of the existence of the blood edict, and not because he was loyal to him.

This is also the reason why he doesn't trust Yuan Wenshao very much.

And Queen Cao rewarded Yuan Wenshao before he succeeded to the throne, which made him even more distrustful of Yuan Wenshao.

This is also the reason why he didn't use Yuan Wenshao this time.

"My queen conferred him a marquis. It's too late for Marquis Zhongyong to be happy. How could he be wronged?" Zhu Neiguan said with a smile.

Empress Cao shook her head and said: "That's different. The rights will eventually be returned to the new king, and I am older, how long can I protect him."

Queen Cao and her husband and wife have never been involved in politics for so many years. They are not people who are greedy for power.

She had never thought about controlling Yuxi all the time, but she was a little worried about Zhao Zongquan and worried that he would not be able to be a good emperor.

……

Yuan Wenshao didn't know what happened in the palace. After leaving the palace, he returned home.

When Hua Lan saw Yuan Wenshao coming back, she said nervously: "Officer, is there going to be a war?"

Yuan Wenshao looked at Hua Lan's expression and knew what she was worried about. He smiled and said, "There is going to be a war, but it has nothing to do with me."

"Is it because of the title of Marquis?" Hualan asked.

She originally thought that Yuan Wenshao was going to join the army, so she was a little worried.

However, Yuan Wenshao didn't go, which made her even more worried.

Yuan Wenshao shook his head and said: "It has nothing to do with that. After Your Highness ascends the throne, he will definitely use Shen Congxing. This time, let him lead the army as the commander-in-chief. If I go, who will be the commander-in-chief and who is the deputy?"

He was talking nonsense. After all, if he led troops to support him in the northwest, he would still have to return it to Duke Ding for dispatch.

But Hualan also understood this, and felt relieved when he heard what Yuan Wenshao said.

……

In ancient times, the three years of observing filial piety was not actually 36 months, but actually 25 months. However, because of the leap month, it was usually 27 months.

When the emperor dies, the sky changes to the moon. Therefore, the 27 days after the emperor's death are the national mourning.

However, when the emperor dies, it is normal for the funeral to last for one or two years. After all, the burial must be carried out on an auspicious day, and time must be reserved for the prince and officials to come back to pay respects.

The official was frugal throughout his life, and before his death, he told him to keep the funeral simple, because he had no children and did not need to wait for his children to come back to worship him. He was buried directly after the national mourning period.

When the national mourning period expired, Zhao Zongquan personally supported the coffin, followed by hundreds of officials, escorting the official coffin all the way to Song Tomb.After the deliberation of hundreds of officials, a posthumous title was drawn up for the official family: Emperor Titian, Fa Dao, Ji Gong, Quan De, Divine Wen, Saint Wu Ruizhe, Ming Xiao, and the temple name Renzong.

The day after Emperor Renzong was buried, his superior Si Tianjian chose an auspicious day for his enthronement.

I don't know whether this day is auspicious or not, but many people feel that Zhao Zongquan is too impatient.

Before Emperor Renzong's death, Zhao Zong served him naked at his bedside and kept vigil every day after his death. This earned him a good reputation and also caused him a lot of influence because of his hasty accession to the throne.

But it's not surprising that Zhao Zongquan was impatient. After all, he was the prince in name before, acting as the emperor.

But in fact, his prince was not canonized, and the power he exercised on behalf of the emperor was in name only.

Only after the enthronement ceremony is held, he is the lord of the world and the official of all people in the world.

Because the preparations for the enthronement ceremony were rushed, and the period of Emperor Renzong's national mourning had just passed, the enthronement ceremony was not very grand.

On this day, Zhao Zongquan, under the watchful eyes of civil and military officials and nobles, went up to the altar to worship heaven and earth, and then worshiped in the ancestral temple with Shen Congying.

After completing these rituals, enter the main hall to receive the worship of hundreds of officials.

"kneel!"

All the officials knelt down amidst the melodious shouts of the official of the Ministry of Rites.

"bye!"

"I'm waiting to meet your Majesty!"

"rise!"

"Kneel again!"

"bye!"

"I'm waiting to meet your Majesty!"

……

After bowing down three times in a row and shouting in unison for the last time, Zhao Zongquan waved his hands excitedly and said: "All the ministers are equal!"

The ritual of kneeling down and worshiping was not popular in the Zhou Dynasty. It was only necessary to kneel down when an official ascended the throne.

After the civil and military officials stood up, the eunuch came forward with the imperial edict and read it out.

This imperial edict is to canonize Shen Congying as queen.

After the imperial edict was read out, several eunuchs carried the phoenix seat and placed it next to the imperial seat of the official family.

After a while, Shen Congying, who was wearing a phoenix robe, walked into the hall followed by a group of palace maids and eunuchs. She walked all the way to the phoenix seat and turned around.

"I pay my respects to the Queen." All the officials bowed and saluted.

"Your honor is free."

Queen Shen waved her sleeves and sat down.

It was only today that she could accept the worship of hundreds of officials in the morning court hall. In the future, unless she became the Queen Mother and listened to politics behind the curtain, she would never be able to enter this hall again.

Next, the eunuch read out the imperial decree conferring the title of prince and other concubines.

What is intriguing is that Zhao Zongquan did not canonize Zhao Ceying as the prince, but instead named him King Huan.

Logically speaking, Zhao Ceying is the eldest son and should be in the East Palace.

Yuan Wenshao secretly took a look at Zhao Ceying, who was standing at the forefront of the civil service, and saw that his expression was as usual, as if he had known it for a long time.

Yuan Wenshao had some speculations about Zhao Zongquan not making him the crown prince.

After Zhao Zongquan ascended the throne, there must have been many ministers who wanted to express their loyalty to him. However, he lived in a deep palace and it was really difficult to get in touch with officials.

If the prince is canonized, these officials may move closer to Zhao Ceying.

Zhao Zongquan's own foundation was not stable, and he obviously did not want the prince to become powerful.

Moreover, many of his confidants are also familiar with Zhao Ceying, and Shen Congxing is Zhao Ceying's uncle.

And if he didn't ennoble Zhao Ceying as the prince, the officials would definitely be suspicious, but they would not dare to get too close to Zhao Ceying.

Yuan Wenshao shook his head slightly. He started to guard against his son as soon as he ascended the throne. No wonder they said that the most ruthless emperor's family.

The next step is to reward the heroes. There are not many heroes who suppressed the rebellion. Except for Zhao Zongquan and his son, the remaining ones are Shen Congxing, Gu Tingye, Yuan Wenshao, Geng Jiechuan, and Duan Chengyong.

Shen Congxing was granted the title of Hereditary Marquis of Weibei for the third generation. Gu Tingye was not granted a title. He was only granted the title of deputy commander of the front department of the palace, and was also rewarded with some farms and a house.

Although Yuan Wenshao had been knighted by the Queen Mother, the imperial edict was still read out again. In addition, he was also rewarded with a house and some farms.

Geng Jiechuan and Duan Chengyong were both granted the title of earl, and the rewards of the others were not yet eligible to be read in the hall.

"I would like to thank your majesty for your kindness." After receiving the reward, he smiled happily and bowed to express his gratitude.

Yuan Wenshao's smile was a little stiff. Zhao Zongquan knighted Shen Congxing, but it was not a hereditary appointment. He was holding him to the test.

In terms of rewards, he is undoubtedly the richest.

What do those people from Qiandi in Yuzhou think?
He knew that Zhao Zongquan trusted these people very much and would reuse them in the future.

What Zhao Zongquan did made it difficult for him to integrate into the circle of Yuzhou Qiandi's confidants.

Zhao Zongquan didn't know what Yuan Wenshao was thinking, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care. After everyone thanked him, he asked the eunuch to continue reading the imperial edict.

King Yan's rebellion involved many people, so naturally many positions were left vacant.

Naturally, these positions need to be filled by people. Zhao Zongquan's confidants are all military men, so they can only be promoted from the court.

After the officials accepted their fate, Zhao Zongquan announced a general amnesty for the next year and added Enke, and the enthronement ceremony ended.

Normally, there would be a banquet. Although Emperor Renzong's mourning period has passed, according to the rules, after the emperor's death, livestock is not allowed to be slaughtered for 49 days, and no weddings and banquets are allowed for a hundred days, so the banquet is also cancelled.

Under the respectful greetings of the officials, Zhao Zongquan and his wife left the hall hand in hand.

Returning to Funing Palace, Zhao Zongquan had someone serve him and put him into regular clothes.

"These clothes are still comfortable." Zhao Zongquan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, I am much more tired wearing this outfit than yours." Shen Congying rubbed her stiff neck.

"It's just for this day, it will be fine in the future." Zhao Zongquan sat down next to his wife.

Shen Congying glanced sideways at Zhao Zongquan and asked doubtfully: "Your Majesty, are you worried?"

Zhao Zongquan dismissed the maids and eunuchs in the palace, sighed, and said: "Although I have ascended the throne now, I cannot sit back and relax. How many civil and military officials in this dynasty are really loyal to me?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry. As long as your Majesty is kind to them, they will naturally return to their hearts." Empress Shen comforted them.

"I can't wait that long." Zhao Zongquan shook his head. The Queen Mother's words that day made him feel very insecure.

"What does Your Majesty want to do?" Queen Shen asked.

"Marriage!" Zhao Zongquan said: "The British Duke has a very high prestige and has a daughter who is not yet married. It is not possible without a eldest wife. I want to grant them a marriage."

(End of this chapter)