Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

After returning to the palace from the suburban sacrifice, the new emperor Li Tai went up to the Chengtian Gate in front of the Qianyuan Hall to accept the congratulations of the ministers and people.

Chengtian Gate is the gate from the imperial city to the palace. In the imperial city in front of the gate, except for the civil and military officials, all the people in the capital can enter the imperial city to watch and congratulate before the first month of the lunar calendar. This also greatly shortened the distance between the people in the capital and the new dynasty and the new emperor. The new dynasty was just established and the people were happy together.

Li Tai stood on the Chengtian Gate Tower. After accepting the congratulations of the subjects, he ordered the ritual officials to read the imperial edict to amnesty the world, and then returned to the Qianyuan Hall to feast the ministers.

Food is the first thing for the people. Since ancient times, from emperors and generals to ordinary people, the first thing they think of when encountering happy events is to have a good meal to celebrate. Now that the new dynasty has been established and the new emperor has ascended to the throne, it is no exception. After the various ceremonies have come to a temporary end, the ministers who participated in the ceremony were treated to a grand banquet by His Majesty the Emperor.

In this grand banquet, in addition to Li Tai, the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who was the absolute focus, there were two other special people. One of them was Yuan Kuo, the last emperor of the Former Wei Dynasty, and the other was Sima Yi, who was awarded the title of general last year for his military merits.

Now in this hall, the new emperor Li Tai sat in the center of the hall, and on the guest seats on both sides of the emperor's desk, the two people sat respectively, and their positions were in front of Yu Jin, Gao Zhongmi and other ministers.

It would be fine if Emperor Yuan Kuo of Wei enjoyed this vanity. It should be noted that not long ago, he was still the nominal monarch of the Tang Emperor, and the process of abdication was very cooperative. Naturally, he also had to enjoy courtesy after abdication.

Yuan Kuo had previously told Li Tai that he hoped that when the new city of Chang'an was built, a Henan County mansion could be repaired in the city for him to live in after abdication.

This request not only expressed Yuan Kuo's humble and contented attitude, but also contained a little trick.

Emperor Xiaowen's Taihe reform and the relocation of the capital to Luoyang were major signs of the integration of the Hu and Han peoples in the upper class of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Although the Yuan family was no longer in power, Yuan Kuo still hoped to be granted the title of Henan County Duke. He simply hoped that the Guandong clans would be grateful for this old friendship and not make things too difficult for him, the king of the fallen country.

Li Tai naturally would not deliberately make things difficult for the old king, and did not grant him a light title of County Duke. Instead, he granted him a heavy title of Yin Guogong. The fiefdom was located in the Guannan area in the west of Luoyang, which did not violate Yuan Kuo's expectation of living in Luoyi, and treated him as a state guest.

As for Sima Yi's ability to enjoy similar courtesy as Yuan Kuo, it had nothing to do with his past merits, but was purely because he was born in the Henei Sima family of the Jin Dynasty royal family.

Among the dynasties of great unification, the Western Jin Dynasty founded by the Sima family can be said to be the worst one. But no matter how this dynasty is evaluated, it cannot be denied that it is the only Han dynasty that once ended the chaos and achieved the unification of the world since the division of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Now that Li Tai has established the new Tang Dynasty, if we want to trace the stories of previous dynasties, especially if we want to establish two kings, the Jin Dynasty is also a dynasty that cannot be avoided. In particular, when Li Tai's ancestor Li Hong established the Xiliang regime, he also once presented a memorial to the court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Now that the Tang Dynasty has just been established, when tracing the personnel of the previous dynasty, the Sima family of the Jin Dynasty and the Yuan family of the Northern Wei Dynasty were conferred as the two queens and treated as state guests.

The Sima family was a member of the Eastern Jin royal family who fled from Jiangbei when the Southern Dynasty Liu Song usurped the Eastern Jin regime, and his family was conferred the title of Langya King by the Northern Wei court at that time, which also meant that they would continue the Eastern Jin royal family.

Sima Yi was praised for leading the righteous army into the pass in the Western Wei Dynasty. After Li Tai took control of the Bafu, he also actively and enthusiastically cooperated with the Bafu's series of military operations and made great contributions. Now that the heir of the Jin Dynasty is to be selected as the second queen, Sima Yi is naturally favored and is named Duke of Bi to prolong the Jin Dynasty.

Although the second queen lacks power in the current situation, her political status is very respected, which is reflected in the seating arrangement of the grand feast. Both of them also stood up and toasted frequently to celebrate the new dynasty's renewal and the country's growing strength: "I wish my emperor to be in charge of the world and enjoy the world forever, and I wish my Great Tang to be prosperous and virtuous!"

After Li Tai ascended the throne, he held various ceremonies throughout the first month of the year to worship the ancestors of heaven and earth, comfort the ministers and people, and proclaim his grace and virtue. He was extremely busy every day.

After the grand feast, the ancestral temples had to be worshipped again. Although Li Tai had already offered sacrifices to the ancestral temples during the coronation ceremony, the various matters of posthumous honor had not yet been determined. After the coronation ceremony, the ancestors of all generations were formally honored.

The Longxi Li family is not as long-standing as the famous families of Guandong, Cui and Lu, but since the Western Liang Taizu Li Hong, the genealogy has been passed down and clear, and there will be no jokes like Hou Jing who couldn't even figure out the names of his father and grandfather when he became emperor. Since the ancestor Li Hong, the seven temples of the clan have all been given the title of emperor and posthumous titles, and the seven temples are complete and in order.

Although tracing the ancestors is also an important procedure to strengthen the majesty of the monarchy, for the people of the time, the most touching thing is naturally the rewards for a group of civil and military meritorious officials.

When the first day of the first month, the ancestral temple ceremony came to an end temporarily, and it was also the day of the grand court, so the court announced the rewards for a group of meritorious officials.

Although Li Tai was the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he did not establish the new Tang regime by his own efforts. In different stages and processes, he had received various supports and help and received loyal services. Naturally, all those who contributed to the establishment of the Tang regime should be praised.

As early as the day Li Tai ascended the throne, he had already canonized his first wife Dugu Miaoyin as the queen, and his mother Lu as the empress dowager. His sons were young and had not yet received their first year of service, so they were not given titles for the time being. During the New Year's Day court, he first conferred titles on his close relatives. His second brother Li Chao was conferred the title of King of Zheng, his third brother Li Ao was conferred the title of King of Lu, and the rest of his cousins ​​from Li Pei onwards were also conferred the title of King.

In addition to the same ancestor, Li Licheng, who was the first to serve, was also conferred the title of King of Dongping. The rest of the same clan, the descendants of Li Bao's sons and descendants who inherited the throne were all conferred the title of Duke of the County, and the rest of them who were listed in the clan records were granted titles below the rank of Duke of the County.

Among the titles conferred by the new dynasty this time, the title of King was only one rank, and there was no difference between the prince and the prince of the county. The titles of the kings were different, and the fiefs were different, but the ranks were the same, with fiefs ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 households, and the actual number of households was between 500 and 800 households.

Among the meritorious officials, the first-class duke was added, with the same rank as the king and the first grade. Except for the two queens and the state guests, no one except those with great merit or even close relatives could be granted the title. And the first batch of people who were granted the title of duke were all recognized by the world for their great contributions to the country.

First, several people were posthumously awarded. Yuwen Tai, the leader of the previous hegemony, was awarded the title of Duke of Qi. Heba Sheng, who had given Li Tai great help, was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Ding. His father-in-law Dugu Xin was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Wei. Zhu Guo Li Bi, who provided protection and help at the beginning of Li Tai's entry into the pass, was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Dai.

Although these posthumously awarded people did not directly participate in the establishment of the Tang regime, they all had a great influence on the development of Li Tai's power and the growth of the Guanzhong regime at different times. Although they have passed away, their merits have been preserved and passed down to future generations.

It is worth mentioning that these posthumously awarded people each have heirs to inherit the title, but only Heba Sheng is a little special. All of Heba Sheng's sons were killed by Gao Huan, and later Heba Jing, the son of his younger brother Heba Yue, was made his heir.

However, Li Tai did not have a friendly relationship with Heba Yue's sons. Although Heba Jingwei and his brother tried to repair their relationship as he gained power, Li Tai was generous enough not to suppress or retaliate against them after the passage of time, and naturally he would not treat them with courtesy again.

He had no choice before, but this time, during the attack on Northern Qi, he searched for the sons of Heba Sheng's elder brother Heba Yun, and these sons had made certain contributions to the Wei army's conquest of Dingzhou at that time, so Li Tai simply chose Heba Shile, who was relatively respectful among Heba Yun's sons, as Heba Sheng's heir.

Heba Sheng's help to Li Tai is irreplaceable. Even Dugu Xin, who came later, gradually favored Li Tai because of Heba Sheng. Not to mention that most of Li Tai's early forces were inherited from Heba Sheng. Zhu Meng and other loyal ministers are still loyal to him. Although he has no blood to pass down, Li Tai does not want to sever this friendship.

The reason why he still wanted to change Heba Sheng's adopted son many years later was that he hoped that Heba Sheng's legacy could last longer. If Heba Jing, whom he disliked, was still his adopted son, Li Tai would find it difficult to be patient and take good care of him.

Putting aside the posthumous awards for clan members and the deceased, the awards for the contemporary generation are the top priority. Among the officials in the court, Yu Jin, Gao Zhongmi, Xiao Zhao, and Dou Luning were all granted the title of Duke. Among the generals in charge of the army, Yang Zhong, Wei Xiaokuan, Yuwen Gui, He Ruodun, Gao Le, and Liang Shiyan were also granted the title of Duke. These ten Dukes also became the top meritorious officials of the Kaihuang Dynasty.

Among the ten Dukes of Kaihuang, many people in the court talked about the past. For example, Gao Zhongmi and Xiao Zhao, although they may not have outstanding achievements at the moment, Gao Zhongmi was the former master of the Tang Emperor and fled to the west together. His qualifications and significance are extraordinary. As for Xiao Zhao, as a member of the Southern Liang royal family, they complemented each other in the early days when the Tang Emperor went south to govern Shannan, and made great contributions in the subsequent attack on Jiangling.

Among the other generals and meritorious men, the main ones who were awarded the title were the meritorious men who destroyed Qi. There were also many other generals with considerable qualifications and merits, such as Han Xiong, Shi Ning, Li Xian, Quan Jingxuan, etc. However, since they did not participate in the campaign to destroy Qi or did not perform well, they did not appear in the first wave of the list of dukes.

However, the world is not peaceful now, and all those who are willing to make contributions will not worry about not having opportunities to build military achievements. Not to mention that there are still several remnant Qi forces in the north waiting to be swept away, the Southern Chen in the south, and the Hu and Yi neighbors who are ready to make moves in the borders also need to be conquered and deterred.

As long as these generals can maintain their loyalty and diligence in military work, they will not worry about not having opportunities to make further progress.