Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 524: Reporting to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and Seizing the State

After Hu Yanjin finished speaking, everyone looked at Zhao Mu.

Zhao Mu saw that everyone was looking at him, so he murmured, "Why are you all looking at me?"

Ah Zhu smiled and said, "Haha, everyone is waiting for you to make a decision. If you really don't want to, and want to harm the lives of the two daughters, then you can cancel the engagement."

Zhao Mu took a deep breath and chuckled, saying, "I was just joking. The betrothal gifts have already been given. How can I regret it? Besides, the marriage between Princess Chai and Princess Qian was granted by His Majesty. But now something unexpected has happened, so I'm afraid the marriage will have to be delayed."

Mu Wanqing said at this time: "Yes. I wonder whether the two sisters will marry the King of Qi or the Lord of Qi."

Concubine Chai also said at this time: "This is a problem. Now my son has become a feudal lord. Although he is still a prince of the Song Dynasty, his status seems to be somewhat different. What does my son think about this matter?"

Zhao Mu thought for a while and said, "Then let them marry in a more splendid way. Mother can go to the Shangwang Mansion and Dengwang Mansion to discuss it. If they are still willing to recognize this marriage, then everything will remain the same. After we go to Xixia and settle down, please send them to marry."

Concubine Chai nodded, then asked, "It's just about my son's title of vassal king. When will I tell them?"

Zhao Mu smiled and said, "It depends on when His Majesty's order is issued. Do you think it is Lord Xuan?"

Cong Longxuan smiled but said nothing.

Afterwards, everyone discussed how to move the family, including what to do with the house and the servants in the house.

Zhao Mu meant that the Qi Wang Mansion would be kept and handed over to Concubine Chai for care. All the servants in the mansion, except Musa and others, would stay in the mansion. The monthly salary would still be paid on time. If he returned to Beijing to report on his work in the future, or if the princesses in the capital came to visit their families, they would always have a place to live.

After everyone finished their discussion, they dispersed.

However, Zhao Mu was very busy that night. He had not been home for a long time, so he had to treat everyone equally.

He spent half the night going from Mu Wanqing's room to Qiu Shuang, Dong Xue, and then to Ah Zhu's place, and finally to Hu Yanjin's place.

But what he enjoyed most was his sister Hu Yanjin. After giving birth to a child, Hu Yanjin became more mature and charming. Although her figure was a little out of shape and not as good as before, Zhao Mu liked her style more.

As a concubine, she naturally didn't have to breastfeed the child herself. As for the things that didn't require breastfeeding, Zhao Mu took care of them for his daughter.

In the end, Zhao Mu spent the night at Huyan Jin's place.

Zhao Mu had nothing to do in the next few days. His main task was to coax his wives and concubines and then prepare to move.

However, Zhezong had been arguing with his ministers these days, all about the matter of conferring the title of vassal king on Zhao Mu.

Except for some military generals, most civil officials opposed it.

But there was one person who voted in favor this time. This person was none other than Sima Guang. And not only Sima Guang voted in favor in the court. Many people in the former Hou party also voted in favor. Everyone agreed that Zhao Mu should go to Xixia to be a vassal, and also agreed to the many rewards that Zhezong gave to Zhao Mu.

This is not because these people have good intentions. They just want to squeeze Zhao Mu out. If Zhao Mu is thrown into the Western Xia Kingdom as a vassal king, he will have his own small court. He will not have to bother them in the future. The Hou Party and the relatives of Taizong will not be afraid of Zhao Mu seizing power again.

The only thing that could not be agreed upon was the issue of Zhao Mu's army. Zhezong planned to grant Zhao Mu 100,000 troops and horses, and his trusted Iron Buddha to station in Xixia. But the people of the Song Dynasty thought that it was not a good thing to let a vassal king have so many troops and horses. So they all rejected it. Even Zhezong used the reason that Xixia had just been pacified and needed troops and horses to garrison, but it was useless.

Finally, Zhezong had no choice but to summon Zhao Mu to discuss countermeasures during a grand court meeting.

When talking about this matter, Zhezong was also waiting for Zhao Mu to debate with the scholars and win more troops for himself.

But Zhao Mu's answer directly overturned Zhezong's imagination.

Zhao Mu replied, "Your Majesty, I think what the officials said makes sense. Now that Xixia has been pacified, I don't need so many soldiers to defend the territory of Song. Moreover, Xixia is small in territory and weak in strength. In addition, it has just been pacified, so it should be recuperated first. It is really impossible to support so many troops. The troops and horses stationed in Xixia are enough for me to deploy."

Facing Zhao Mu's words, Zhezong was somewhat speechless. However, Zhezong finally approved Zhao Mu's request. Perhaps it was true as Zhao Mu said. The Western Xia Kingdom did not have so much money to support a large number of troops.

However, since the troops could not be moved, Zhezong gave Zhao Mu an extra favor in the court, which was "annual tribute".

As a vassal state of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, as the suzerain, should pay Qi an annual tribute, which was a gift from the suzerain after Qi paid tribute every year.

However, the ministers did not object to this, because Zhezong was only giving the annual tribute to the Liao Kingdom to Zhao Mu.

Finally, the matter was finalized at the grand court meeting.

In this way, Zhao Mu, under the witness of his ministers, became the first "feudal king" in the Song Dynasty to be promoted for his merit in destroying a country.

In accordance with Zhao Mu's previous request, Zhezong ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make a crown and a dragon robe for Zhao Mu. Zhao Mu's "Prince of Qi Seal" was also revised into "Prince of Qi State Seal". In addition to the state seal, there was also a jade tiger talisman.

The imperial seal represented government, while the jade tiger seal represented the army. All the troops stationed in Xixia were now under the command of Zhao Mu.

After Zhao Mu accepted the title in the Golden Palace, he offered sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. This time, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven in the Imperial Ancestral Temple was even more grand, after all, this was the first time that the Song Dynasty had conquered a country. The Ministry of Rites must be well prepared for such a master.

After the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, Zhezong personally put on the "imperial crown" symbolizing the first vassal king Jiuyu on Zhao Mu in the Taimiao.

Zhao Mu also knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to the Emperor of Song Dynasty, and then left the hall after completing the ceremony.

The news of Zhao Mu's promotion to vassal king soon spread throughout the capital and the country, but the response was mixed.

Most of those who agreed were military men, who thought that Zhao Mu deserved to be made a vassal king for his military merits. He was a great hero who washed away the shame of the Song Dynasty for a hundred years, and he deserved this treatment. Some even thought that Zhao Mu was the greatest hero since the Five Dynasties. After all, since the Five Dynasties, the Central Plains had fallen apart, and various barbarians invaded the Central Plains one after another, almost repeating the past of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China. Zhao Mu swept the Liao Kingdom in the north and the Western Xia in the west. He made the barbarians in the southwest submit to the Song Dynasty. Such achievements were no less than those of the previous Tiance General, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

There were also many in-laws of Zhao Mu's daughters, especially the Shang Wangfu and Deng Wangfu, who were completely glorious this time. Even the Duke of Xin was the same. They all praised their daughters for being so lucky.

However, those who are not good at this are also using the title of "General of Heavenly Strategy" to make a fuss. After all, everyone knows about the Xuanwu Gate Incident of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Now the King of Qi is granted a kingdom based on his military merits, and his treatment is exactly the same as that of Li Shimin back then. They are also spreading rumors that Zhao Mu will also have a "Xuanwu Gate Incident" in the future.

Some of the people who spoke poorly were the literati. Most of them were like those who couldn't eat the grapes and said that the grapes were sour. Some of the bold ones even criticized Cheoljong for his perverse behavior.

(End of this chapter)