Chapter 402: The reign title “Jianxing”

On the tenth day of the eighth month in the third year of Jian’an (198), Xun Yu, Xun You, Guo Jia, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others submitted a letter to the emperor to discuss the reign title.

From the many era names listed, Liu Bei chose “Jianxing” as the era name for the revival of the Han Dynasty.

The characters used in the reign titles were naturally auspicious, and this practice was first started by Emperor Xiaowu, who posthumously changed the name of the first year to “Jianyuan”, which became the first reign title of the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Guangwu restored the Han Dynasty, he also chose the reign title “Jianwu”, which echoed Emperor Xiaowu.

At this moment, Liu Bei revived the foundation of the Han Dynasty and inherited the Han Dynasty. Of course, he had to align his reign title with that of Emperor Xiaowu and Emperor Guangwu.

After the reign title was chosen, the emperor would try on his crown and robes for the final time. Prior to this, the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and all clothing and worship were almost all carried out in accordance with Qin Dynasty standards.

When Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Liu Xiu restored the country and Confucianism flourished, they finally began to strictly regulate the system of altar construction and suburban sacrifices.

Emperor Xiaoming Liu Zhuang ascended the throne and issued an edict to adopt “The Book of Zhou Officials”, “The Book of Rites” and “The Book of History: Gao Yao”, which made clear regulations on crowns, clothes, shoes, sashes, and colors and patterns.

From the emperor to the three dukes, nine ministers, and hundreds of officials, all had to wear Confucian crowns and robes to participate in sacrificial ceremonies.

The emperor wears a crown with twelve pearl tassels hanging from it, one in front and one in the back.

The rest of the ministers had seven or five tassels hanging in front but not in the back.

Jade beads were also differentiated by color, with white jade representing the utmost purity and virtue, and the emperor’s crown often used white beads.

Because the rituals for offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the Five Mountains, the Four Rivers, mountains and rivers, ancestral temples, and the state are different, when offering sacrifices to heaven one needs to wear a large fur coat and a crown, while when offering sacrifices to the ancestral temple one needs to wear a black robe and a purple skirt, that is, black on top and yellow on the bottom.

Liu Bei did not need to worry much about these costumes, as they were naturally made by the ceremonial officials and weavers in charge. He also did not need to be concerned with the carriages, costumes and crowns of the many ministers.

In the half month before he ascended the throne, Liu Bei suddenly found himself becoming extremely free. Looking at Yin Jun, who seemed a little worried, he was still busy demonstrating the emperor’s fur coat and ceremonial hat, and from time to time he frowned with a hint of solemnity.

However, Liu Bei could not help but smile, as he recalled the time when he first met Yin Jun, the slender and graceful fourteen-year-old girl who was still shy.

When she was eighteen and gave birth to her first son, she had fair skin, a pretty face, a slender waist, red makeup and light black eyebrows, and was shy and eloquent, with a gentle and fragrant temperament.

Now, after ten years, she has become even smarter, gentler, more generous and decent, and her every frown and smile is charming.

Even though they had been married for many years, Liu Bei would often stare at each other in a daze. It was such a rare thing for him to find a wife who met his dreams at that time. It was truly an extravagant wish.

And he didn’t need to make concessions to the Hebei nobles like Xiu’er did, which would have wronged his wife.

Yin Jun turned around and told the maid to prepare to try on the crown for the king, but Liu Bei waved his hand and said with a smile: “It’s still early today, it won’t be too late to try on the crown later. It’s a rare moment of leisure, so you can have a private conversation between husband and wife.”

Having said that, he asked the maid to leave first. Liu Bei stepped forward and clasped his fingers with his wife, then gently held her in his arms, put his arms around her waist, stroked her fair neck with his hands, and bent his head to kiss her forehead.

Watching Yin’s face quickly turn red with shame, and her light makeup gradually turning red, Liu Bei sniffed the fragrance and said with a smile: “My dear, why are you still so sensitive? I remember that you were not like this when you wanted to have a child.”

“At that time, I took off my clothes…”

Before he could finish his words, Yin Jun blocked her husband’s mouth speechlessly, blushing to her ears as she said angrily, “Your Majesty is about to become the emperor, why are you still speaking so bluntly?”

“Your Majesty, you should follow the example of Emperor Guangwu. You should be gentle and not hurt people. You should rule the world with Confucian etiquette. Why do you still act the same as Emperor Gaozu?” Liu Bei couldn’t help laughing when he heard this. He held his wife’s hand tightly again and explained with a smile: “Since the time of Emperor Xiaoyuan, the Han Dynasty has practiced Confucian etiquette for 200 years, but how can human nature be curbed? I started as a knight-errant in Zhuo County, and I made friends with knights-errant in the market. I traveled with Yunchang and Yide with swords drawn. I ate wherever I went, and I eliminated violence and killed countless thieves along the way.”

“He attracted knights from all the counties to join him. If he had not been a true man, traveling far and wide to help the poor and needy, how could he have attracted more than a hundred knights to join him when he was the magistrate of Gaotang County with just a wave of his arm?!”

“Liu Xuande is born with such a nature, he is not fit for the position of the Son of Heaven. I can change it by applying Confucian etiquette to myself.”

Liu Bei couldn’t help but laugh as he recalled the past.

You can use Confucian etiquette, but you cannot be bound by it and fail to know how to adapt.

Once you fail to adapt and are discovered by outsiders, you will be bullied, and powerful officials will take advantage of you.

Just like Liang Ji, the relative of the emperor decades ago, who even dared to secretly poison the emperor, causing the powerful officials who came after him to follow suit and become more and more daring.

Historically, Cao Mengde brought up old scores and used national law to kill Liu Xie’s queen and prince. Later, the brothers Sima Shi and Sima Zhao followed suit and killed Cao’s concubines and the emperor.

When the Sima family lost power, the Sima family was also killed.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei was filled with emotion and sighed: “The great cause of the world was obtained with difficulty, and it must be maintained with difficulty. Be cautious and trembling every day.”

“Since ancient times, rulers can conquer the world by being emperors on horseback, but they cannot rule the world by riding on horseback all the time. Otherwise, the old story of Chen She and Wu Guang at the end of the Qin Dynasty will surely come back to punish the unjust and tyrannical.”

However, after Liu Bei finished speaking, he lowered his head and looked at his wife with a worried look on his face. Then he changed the subject and chuckled, “Since ancient times, there has been no country that has not perished. Emperor Gaozu could not take care of the reigns of Emperors Cheng and Ai, and Emperor Shizu could not worry about the decline of Emperors Huan and Ling. I cannot always take care of our descendants. I can only hope that our descendants will have their own blessings.”

“If the descendants of all generations can choose virtuous people to be emperors, the emperors will have made contributions to the country and the people, and their names will be recorded in history and in the world. Even if the ancestral temple is in danger of being destroyed, I will not blame them.”

Liu Bei spoke softly while patting Yin Jun to comfort her, making her frowning brows relax again. Yin Jun couldn’t help but sigh softly. When she looked up, she was smiling. She pursed her lips and said, “I often read history books. I see that the Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty didn’t seem to care about the decline of the Liu family. He didn’t have the heart of the Qin Emperor to pass on his foundation to future generations and let his descendants be emperors forever.”

“Now the king is also like this, I am curious and dare to ask, why is this?”

“Whenever the king goes to battle, he personally faces the arrows and stones, and all who are attacked are defeated. Therefore, the whole world bows down to his orders, and the soldiers are convinced.”

“But from what I know, Your Majesty has suffered dozens of injuries, feels pain when it rains, and is often busy with military affairs and official affairs, neglecting music and music. It is obvious how difficult it was to establish a foundation. Why can you still be so open-minded?”

Yin Jun stared at Liu Bei for a long time with a look of heartache in her eyes. Only those who were with him day and night knew how much effort Liu Bei had put into the world.

If it were an ordinary person, even if he did not want to pass on his foundation for eternity, he would try his best to pass it on for a hundred generations. How could he talk about the rise and fall so lightly?

Liu Bei stroked his wife’s hands which had become slightly rough from weaving, pondered for a moment, raised the corner of his mouth and smiled: “Because the ancestor of the Liu family is not a descendant of the royal aristocracy of the six countries, compared to the bloodline of others, he was just a village head, but he was able to own the world and dominate the nobles of other countries.”

“I, Liu Xuande, am also a knight-errant from a family that fell into poverty. In terms of status and position, I am far inferior to the feudal lords who ruled a region in the early years. I did not expect that you could achieve what you have today after ten years of hard work.”

“That’s all, why not be satisfied?”

After Liu Bei finished speaking loudly, he softly hummed a Qingzhou ballad and smiled to comfort her.

(End of this chapter)