Ci Jinzhi

 Among those who reward people based on their merits, the one who has made the greatest contribution is undoubtedly He Qingxiao.

Emperor Xingyuan was very generous in rewarding him with gold, silver, jewels, fertile farmland and pavilions. He also appointed the crown prince Taibao as the commander of the Jinlin Guards. Of course, this title of Crown Prince and Taibao is a false title. It is a great honor bestowed by the emperor on his ministers.

There was another reward that Emperor Xingyuan considered the greatest, but he kept it in his heart but did not say it out loud. Originally, it was impossible for He Qingxiao and Ayou to be with him, but now, if they beg him, as their father, they would consider it.

Zhao Feifan, the commander of the Beijing camp, and other soldiers were rewarded according to their merits. As for the civil servants such as the Minister of Household Affairs who interceded for Xin You, they did not need real gold and silver rewards. Emperor Xingyuan only verbally praised them.

 Then there is the harem.

The virtuous concubine was promoted to the noble concubine, and the beautiful concubine was promoted to the beautiful concubine. Although the other concubines were not promoted in rank, they all received rewards such as jewelry and silk ribbons.

 Princess Xuan finally had a title and was named Princess Jiarou.

 When considering the title of Princess Xuan, Emperor Xingyuan naturally thought of Xin You.

“Ayou, I want to make you the Princess of Xia Kingdom, what do you think?”

 The old matter was brought up again, and Emperor Xingyuan didn't think Xinyou would refuse.

Xinyou refused without hesitation.

“Why don’t you want to? Ayou, if you don’t want to be in the palace, you can build a princess palace outside the palace in advance. It’s no different from now.”

“Since there is no difference, I still want to maintain the status quo.”

　　After experiencing the thrilling experience in the harem, Xin You came to understand more and more clearly: the closer you are to the imperial power, the honor and disgrace of life and death can only be determined by the emperor's thoughts.

 He cares about her as his daughter, and it doesn't matter who she is. If he didn't care, it would only take one word to ask her to die.

 This feeling of being in charge of life and death is terrible.

 Based on her limited understanding of this person, he was confident and strong, and the more she had trouble with him, the more rebellious he became. If those people in the Ministry of Rites make such a fuss, the New Deal will not die midway.

  No longer worried about the New Deal, Xin You planned to wait until Daxia sent envoys to sea again before requesting an order. By then the sea and sky will be vaster, and it will be hundreds of times stronger than in the capital.

 I just don’t know if I can take He Qingxiao with me.

Xin You firmly refused, and Emperor Xingyuan did not force him: "I will reserve the title of Princess of Xia for you. You can canonize her whenever you want."

 For this reason, Emperor Xingyuan specially issued a decree that in addition to the royal family elders, Xin You would be ranked one level higher in officialdom.

The decree spread, and all the officials were moved by the emperor's regard for Xin You, but also puzzled by Xin You's stubbornness.

　　Isn’t it foolish to act inappropriately as a good princess of Xia Kingdom?

 The next thing to focus on is the case of rebellion committed by the Minister of Rites and others. This major case lasted for several months before it was over. Many wealthy families in the south were almost uprooted, and nearly a thousand officials, big and small, were involved.

 After all the cooking was done, it was just after autumn. No need to wait any longer, just start killing.

  Among them, Emperor Xingyuan thought more about the treatment of Kou Tianming.

He specially sent people to Kou Tianming's hometown to investigate. How could he find out what happened fifty years ago? In short, the result was that there was no problem with Kou Tianming's life experience.

 At this result, Emperor Xingyuan was secretly relieved. Whether Kou Tianming once occupied a magpie's nest or he looked similar to him, these two factors made it difficult for him to tolerate such a person living in the world. It would be best if it had nothing to do with the Chen family.

But Kou Tianming was plotted by Zhang Yuchen after all, and a few years later he was exploited by the Minister of Rites and others. Emperor Xingyuan also understood that this was a pitiful person, so he did not involve any relatives, and only gave up the official positions of Duan Shaoqing and his son Duan Yunchen.

After receiving the order to be dismissed from office, Duan Shaoqing not only did not feel uncomfortable, but also felt relieved as if a big stone had finally fallen to the ground.

The old lady couldn't stand the excitement and fainted. When she woke up, she heard Duan Shaoqing admonishing her: "Don't feel bad, mother. My brother-in-law is pretending to be the emperor. We are lucky that the Duan family has not been implicated and executed!"

The old lady still couldn’t think about it, and wiped away her tears and said: “The money is gone, the official position is gone, it’s all gone… Why did you choose such a person for your sister back then…”

　　It was not only Duan Shaoqing who was guarding the old lady, but also Duan Wenbai and his wife and the juniors.

The second wife, Mrs. Zhu, had no reaction on her face after hearing what the old lady said, but she sighed in her heart: Shaoqing's mansion has been living extravagantly on the Kou family's wealth in recent years, but they have not taken good care of their daughter. Now because the Kou family has been dismissed from office, Xu is God's punishment.

Duan Yunlang was never a material for studying, but now he was finally able to drop out of the Imperial College without feeling that it was a punishment at all. The marriage of the third girl, Duan Yunling, has been decided, and the husband has no intention of canceling the engagement yet. The fourth girl, Duan Yunyan, is still young, so there is no need to worry for the time being.

 Speaking of being implicated by Kou Tianming, Duan Yunchen is the one who suffers the most.

He has just entered the official career, and his ambitions have not yet been realized. Ten years of hard study have been wasted.

After Duan Shaoqing persuaded his mother, he persuaded his son: "What do you think of the Minister of Rites? He was a second-rank official and an important minister in the court. He was chopped to death with a thousand knives. As a father, you want to be liberal. Son, you should be liberal too. .”

Ever since he recognized his brother-in-law Kou Tianming in the hall that day, Duan Shaoqing had a psychological shadow. When he thought of Emperor Xingyuan, his legs became weak and he became unsteady. Now that he no longer had to go to court, he even felt secretly relieved.

 A group of officials who had committed crimes were killed and dismissed, and more fresh, obedient, and young officials were added, and soon the hall was full again.

 The implementation of new policies in various places is becoming more and more smooth, and the promotion of sweet potatoes has also achieved gratifying results.

The sweet potatoes harvested abundantly in places with different climates, which made Emperor Xingyuan truly recognize the value of overseas products. He made up his mind not only to bring back the potatoes Xin You mentioned, but also to dig out more treasures overseas.

 As for selling Daxia products, he is also planning to do so. After confiscating the homes of the wealthy families in the south, the amount of property gained shocked even the emperor. Most of this wealth comes from the staggering profits gained from smuggling overseas.

Without Xin You's persuasion, Emperor Xingyuan slapped the table. Rather than letting those greedy nobles quietly smuggle and make a lot of money, it would be better for the court to make the money and chop off the heads of anyone who dared to stop it. Just as the blood on the ground in the West Market was still hot.

At this time, two months had passed since the Minister of Rites and others had committed suicide. The weather began to turn cold, and another year seemed to be passing by.

Just when Emperor Xingyuan revealed on a small scale that he wanted to lift the maritime ban, all the ministers petitioned to establish a prince.

 Emperor Xingyuan's fall into the water strengthened the determination of the officials and nobles to request the establishment of a crown prince.

"The country has no crown prince, and the country is unstable. Please put the country, the country, and the country first, and establish a prince as soon as possible to calm the hearts of the subjects."

 The petitions were overwhelming: "Your Majesty, please appoint a prince as soon as possible to appease the hearts of your subjects."

Emperor Xingyuan sat on the dragon chair, with a calm face after listening to the requests of the civil and military officials, and asked calmly: "Well, which prince do you think is suitable?"

The ministers were still under the shadow of the execution of officials such as the Minister of Rites, so they dared to propose candidates and immediately kicked the ball back: "But it depends on your Majesty's decision, Your Majesty is wise."

 (End of this chapter)