Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 335: Discussing the title of Zhezong, and the young emperor’s uncle was promoted to a noble rank

Zhao Mu also sat down, then raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, please speak, I will share your worries for your Majesty."

Zhezong nodded, and then said: "The first thing is to reward based on merit. This time, the emperor's uncle and King Zhongxiao, together with all the soldiers, have made great achievements. The emperor's uncle said in his letter to me that on merit, Rewards for meritorious deeds must be given with caution, and now that the emperor’s uncle is still in court, it’s time to talk about this matter.”

Zhao Mu said: "I originally wanted to write a memorial about this matter. Since Your Majesty asked about it now, I will report it to Your Majesty in person. This victory was hard-won, so we must reward the meritorious soldiers." It is recommended that two million taels of silver be allocated from the national treasury. The soldiers and horses participating in this war, whether they have meritorious service or not, will all have a share. Five taels of silver for each person is enough."

Zhe Zong asked: "What about the remaining one million taels?"

Zhao Mu continued: "The remaining one million taels will be used as additional rewards for the soldiers who made meritorious deeds in this battle. The ministers have also advised your majesty before to use bounties to motivate the soldiers. Your majesty can take this opportunity to promulgate this Xiang Junzhi. He also allowed those who wanted to return to their hometowns to 'return to their hometowns in fine clothes'. After they returned to their hometowns, they would inform their neighbors about their methods of obtaining silver. I believe there will be more young men who will serve us in the Song Dynasty."

"Your Majesty can also take the opportunity to eliminate the old and weak among the generals and replace them with the strong ones to streamline our army of the Song Dynasty. We can win this time because the Liao people underestimated the enemy. If we fight again in the future, our army of the Song Dynasty will The old and weak ones may become our fatal point. Therefore, Wei Chen suggested that we take this opportunity to eliminate them. And the best way to eliminate them is to assess them. If they fail the assessment, all of them will be eliminated."

After Zhezong thought about it, he said, "Okay, this can also save a lot of food and salary."

However, Zhao Mu and Zhe Zong were not worried that this would breed corruption.

This is because the treatment of warriors in the Song Dynasty was very low, and most of them were basically assassinated. Now they are given a chance to return home and no longer have to be young adults, and they will take advantage of it.

Only those who have the ability to chop off the enemy's head can get the reward. This kind of money cannot be obtained by just hanging around. Therefore, Zhao Mu and Zhezong do not have to worry about corruption.

Zhao Mu continued: "As for Prince Zhongxiao, he contributed a lot in this battle. Originally, according to my plan, after defeating the Liao soldiers, he directly returned to the court with his troops. However, he led his troops and took the opportunity to capture Yingzhou and Mozhou. Two places. However, King Zhongxiao is not a royal family, and although there are precedents for princes and princes to reward foreign surnames, they are all posthumous titles. And King Zhongxiao has already occupied the official position of Privy Councilor. According to Wei Chen, there should be more additions to King Zhongxiao. Food, food, and rewards of some gold, silver, and treasures are enough for me, in my opinion."

In the memorial, King Zhongxiao praised Zhao Mu greatly and used almost all the good words he could use. The language was so disgusting that even Zhezong couldn't help but get goosebumps after reading it.

Zhezong had already received the memorial from King Zhongxiao.

Moreover, if you don't do it well in the battlefield, you will lose your life, and the Song Army's pension is not very high.

In the memorial, King Zhongxiao did not take the credit for himself. On the contrary, King Zhongxiao put all the credit for this victory on Zhao Mu, saying that without Zhao Mu taking the lead and leading the heroes to help, the Song Dynasty would not have achieved such a great victory.

But Zhe Zong also laughed after reading it.

After all, there are not many people who can be recognized by this old prince. But his uncle is the same. Zhe Zong was a little worried before about how to let Hu Yanjin marry Zhao Mu as his concubine. Now I see that King Zhongxiao thinks so highly of Zhao Mu. It also saves me the trouble.

Zhe Zong nodded and smiled and said: "Okay, the rewards have been given to the meritorious soldiers. I would like to hear what rewards the emperor wants. This time I heard that in order to encourage the soldiers to work hard, the emperor even gave away the princess's dowry. Take it out. This is the fault of the emperor. If the emperor is short of money, he can tell me. Not to mention five hundred thousand taels, even if it is five million taels, if the emperor wants to use it, he can just tell me. That's all." Zhao Mu waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty has misunderstood. I used my wife's dowry as a reward, not because I was short of money. I just wanted to use this method to motivate everyone. After all, in the Song Dynasty, if there is no other way, a person A man will not give away his wife’s dowry. But this incentive is very effective, and the soldiers work hard."

Zhe Zong smiled and said: "That's it. Okay, let's talk about the reward for the emperor's uncle. This time the emperor's uncle won the Song Dynasty's first major victory over the Liao Dynasty, which can be said to be a huge contribution. I plan to The emperor's uncle was promoted to prince and given the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. The official title of Taiwei was previously given to the prince's consort. The emperor's sister is very petty, so I can't take away his title. This time I can only wrong the emperor. Uncle. As for the golden trump card, I also plan to take this opportunity to give it to the emperor. The emperor will definitely not refuse this time."

Zhao Mu cupped his hands and said, "I would like to thank your Majesty for the reward. I am not respectful of the empty title of Minister of War. But I still ask your Majesty to take back this princely title and golden mace."

Zhe Zong couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He said: "Is it possible that the emperor still has doubts about me? Do you think that I will kill all the birds and hide them, and cross the river and destroy the bridge?"

Zhao Mu replied: "Of course not. Your Majesty gave me Taizong's precious armor and sweat-blooded horse, and even asked King Zhongxiao to lead an army of 200,000 to suppress me. I have seen your majesty's kindness to me. I am so grateful. It's just that according to my great Under the Song ancestral system, the title of prince has always only been given to the prince. Although the ministers belong to the clan, it is somewhat inconsistent with the ancestral system to confers the title of prince to the prince."

"As for the golden mace that His Majesty Taizong gifted to our ancestors, I thought it would be better to let it continue to lie in the treasure house. Your Majesty and I naturally share our hearts. But there are many women around me, and I don't know how many heirs there will be in the future. Such things are passed down. If it is in the hands of future heirs who do not understand it properly, they may bring disaster upon themselves. It is precisely because I want to confide in Your Majesty that I have repeatedly disobeyed the Holy Grace. Please give me a clear warning."

Zhezong was also very moved after hearing Zhao Mu's words.

Zhe Zong let out a long breath and said: "Oh, the emperor's uncle is really my butt! But the emperor's uncle has made great achievements this time, and it is also my greatest achievement since the founding of the Song Dynasty. If I don't reward the emperor's uncle generously, This is a bit unreasonable. Let’s not mention the golden trump card. As for the matter of being promoted to an official position, the emperor’s uncle doesn’t have to refuse.”

After thinking about it, Zhao Mu said, "I would like to thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhe Zong smiled and said: "Okay! Then I will make the emperor's uncle a prince and give him the title of 'King of Qi'. Back then, King Wu of Zhou gave his prime minister Lu Wang the title of Marquis of Qi. The emperor's uncle is no less important to me than King Wu and Lu Wang. I feel that The title of King Qi is well deserved by the Emperor's uncle."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mu quickly bowed and said, "I would never dare to take this title, and I ask your Majesty to take it back. In our Song Dynasty, only Taizu, Taizong's younger brother, Guangmei Gong inherited the title of King Qi. I really don't dare to accept it. .”

Of course, Zhao Mu did not dare to inherit this title, because the previous owner of this title, Zhao Guangmei, was another member of the "Golden Chamber Alliance". The Golden Chamber Alliance between the three brothers of Taizu stated that "first spread light and justice, and then spread light and beauty."

Now that Zhezong has given him this hot title, Zhao Mu naturally doesn't dare to take it. The empress dowagers of the two palaces and the ministers already disliked me if they accepted this title again. I might really be forced to rebel in the future. Next, I should live a comfortable life in the world for a few days. He didn't want to get involved in court disputes anymore.

"Besides, the ministers to Your Majesty should not be King Wu and Taigong Lu, but Emperor Wu and Wei Huo. I am His Majesty's sword, and I will hit wherever Your Majesty points. Although I am older than Your Majesty in the genealogy of the family, the king and his ministers have No, I really don’t dare to overstep my bounds.”

Hearing this, Zhezong laughed and said: "But since I have already conferred the imperial title, how can I take it back? Is it possible that the emperor's uncle wants to resist the decree and disrespect it? It seems that it is not the duty of a minister to resist the decree and disrespect it!"

(End of this chapter)