Chapter 407: Consecration
“We, the ministers, will obey your orders and follow your instructions!”

Shangshu Ling Xun Yu bowed first, and all the ministers and officials followed closely and bowed to accept the order.

Liu Bei nodded and continued, “Since I led the army from Qingzhou to revive the Han Dynasty, the generals and lieutenants have made many military achievements. They must be rewarded. I will appoint Guan Yu as General of Cavalry and supervise the military affairs of Ji and You. Zhang Fei will be appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry and lead the Sili Colonel. Zhao Yun will be appointed General of Guards and lead the Palace Guard.”

“Taishi Ci was appointed General of the Eastern Expedition, Zhang Liao was appointed General of the Southern Expedition, Lü Bu was appointed General of the Northern Expedition, and Guan Hai was appointed General of the Western Expedition.”

“Yu Jin was appointed General Guarding the East, Zhao Zhen was appointed General Guarding the South, Le Jin was appointed General Guarding the North, and Han Mu was appointed General Guarding the West.”

“Zhou Yu was appointed General of Andong, commanding the Yangtze River Navy, Sun Ce was appointed General of Annan, Bao Ren was appointed General of Anbei, and Ma Teng was appointed General of Anxi.”

“The remaining Siping, as well as the titles of the generals in front, behind, left and right, will not be given for the time being. If anyone makes further military achievements, they will be canonized.”

Liu Bei paused for a moment, and seeing that all the ministers were listening attentively, he smiled and said, “As for the matter of conferring the title of marquis, I will order the officials of the Secretariat to assess the meritorious service and submit the list to me, so that I can allocate fiefs and determine the number of households for the meritorious officials.”

“As for the princes of Guangwu’s lineage…” Liu Bei’s face was somewhat solemn, and he said in a serious tone: “When the Han Dynasty was declining, the Lius still enjoyed themselves endlessly, wearing women’s clothes, mixing with maids, and going out at dusk. They had no regard for the country, and were extremely extravagant and indulged in debauchery.”

“How could such a descendant meet the Han emperors and even steal the throne?”

“Pass on my decree to depose all the princes and kings in the world, and give them the gold, jade, silk, money and other things in the palace for their livelihood, and let them take them as they please. The corn, wheat, carriages, palaces and mansions shall not be touched.”

“Although Xiaoling committed a crime that damaged the country, the Prince of Chenliu has no fault or reputation, so he cannot be held accountable.”

“I have great pity for you. I now appoint Chenliu King Liu Xie as Donglai King. Anyone who dares to harm you will be guilty of high treason and his crime is unforgivable!”

“As for the ancestral temple sacrifices, let’s put it aside for now. Except for Xiaoling, all the people after Emperor Ming will be sacrificed, and the lineage of King Jing of Zhongshan will also be sacrificed. I hope that the Taichang and Zongzheng will come up with a plan to achieve the best of both worlds as soon as possible.”

“As a member of the royal family, I have continued the legacy of Emperor Gaozu and have also carried out his orders, leading to the three great storms.”

“Guangwu and his descendants have also made contributions to the Han Dynasty and should not be removed from the ancestral temple.”

Liu Bei looked at his ministers and said in a deep voice.

His situation was different from that of Guangwu. When Guangwu proclaimed himself emperor, the world was far from being pacified. At this moment, except for several counties of Youzhou occupied by Gongsun Du, the city of Liaodong was locked.

Only the remote Jiaozhou and the four Hexi counties were left. Zhang Meng, the prefect of Wuwei County, one of the four Hexi counties, had also surrendered. Only Dunhuang, Zhangye, Jiuquan and other places remained.

As long as the governors of these places are smart, they will rush to submit upon hearing the news. If they still dare to have the intention of separatism, it can only be said that they wish their entire clan would live too long.

If he had benefited from the lineage of Emperor Guangwu and been appointed as a provincial governor like Liu Yu, Liu Yan and other members of the royal family, it would have been a way of repaying the favor by inheriting the throne of Emperor Guangwu.

Unfortunately, thanks to Emperor Xiaoling Liu Hong, the Inspector General used his name to demand money, and he even lost the position of Anxi County Lieutenant that he had earned for his military merits.

Let him, Yunchang and Yide start from scratch.

If it weren’t for his second and third brothers who fought desperately to protect him, he would have died in the turbulent times long ago.

Later he was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou and concurrently the governor of several states, all with the help of Dong Zhuo and Jia Xu. What does it have to do with the puppet emperor?
It was already a generous act to enfeoff Liu Xie as the King of Donglai and place him in the wealthy Qingzhou.

Liu Bei couldn’t help but sigh when he thought of his difficult past.

After hearing the emperor’s words, the ministers in the palace were somewhat surprised and somewhat troubled.

The ministers who had a premonition that they would be granted the title of marquis were surprised, while the ones who were worried were Taichang Kong Rong, Zongzheng Liu He, and many officials in the two offices.

After all the ministers responded collectively, the two looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

I should not have accepted this position if I had known earlier. I am caught between the emperor and rites and laws, and I have a very good relationship with the emperor. It is logical and reasonable for me to favor Liu Bei. If it is really not possible, Your Majesty can do whatever you want.

But he hoped that they could come up with a solution that would have the best of both worlds, offering sacrifices to both the lineage of King Jing of Zhongshan and the lineage of Emperor Guangwu, as well as other previous emperors.

This stumped both of them. They couldn’t carry them all into the ancestral temple for sacrifice, right?
It’s so difficult!
It seems that this dynasty will be like Emperor Guangwu, quarreling endlessly over the affairs of the ancestral temple, Kong Rong thought with a sigh.

……

After the court was dismissed, all the ministers walked around discussing what had happened in the court today. A large group of people surrounded Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, bowing to congratulate them.

There was another group of people who surrounded ministers such as Lu Zhi, Xun Yu, Xun You, and Guo Jia. Although Lu Zhi had little real power, he was the Grand Tutor.

Xun Yu was also the Minister of the Chancellery, and Guo Jia was the Minister of the Central Secretariat, both of them were dedicated to providing advice to the Emperor. Even though Xun You was only serving in two places and would have to return to Luoyang in a few days to deal with Heluo affairs, these people were the ministers closest to His Majesty.

If there is any problem, it is best to inform them first and then report it to ensure that there will be no mistakes.

The King of Han is already the Son of Heaven. If you say or do something wrong, the King of Han might let it go with a smile, but the Son of Heaven may not necessarily show mercy.

“Lord Lu, Lord Xun, Lord Guo, please slow down, please walk slowly!”

Zhang Jian, Zhao Qi, Chen Gui, Ying Shao and others who were transferred to Guanzhong shouted behind them and chased the emperor’s confidants who were walking in front.

When Lu Zhi stopped and looked back, a large group of people had already caught up with him.

Ying Shao first bowed his hands and saluted, breathing slightly, and said, “Gentlemen, there is one more matter that needs to be discussed with His Majesty in time.”

“What’s the hurry?” Lu Zhi asked with a smile, stroking his beard.

He has been in a very good mood these days, smiling every time he meets people. He no longer has the upright character he had in the court. Even the wrinkles on his face seem to have been smoothed out.

Especially when he saw Zhang Jian and Zhao Qi, he was even better. These Confucian predecessors were far inferior to him, Lu Zigan, in choosing disciples. When they saw him, they had to respectfully call him “Lu Taifu”.

Whenever Lu Zhi thought of this, he could not sleep at night.

But he had no way to pass on his experience. After all, he became a tutor without knowing it, and others would never be able to learn from him even in their dreams.

“Grandmaster, Your Majesty is already the Son of Heaven, but how should we deal with the taboos?”

Ying Shao smiled bitterly.

It’s not that he wanted to bring up this matter, but the word “备” appears too frequently in various classics, and it would undoubtedly be a huge project to modify them one by one.

If the classics are not changed, the ministers will have to petition the emperor to change the name. The more remote the better, so that it will not be easily encountered, and even if it is encountered, it can be simply modified.

This had to be done in order to avoid mentioning the emperor’s name.

I just don’t know what Your Majesty thinks about this matter. If you don’t want to change the name, then you will have to change all the classics and documents in the world.

Faced with this kind of thing, it was difficult for ordinary ministers to come forward and make reports, so they had to discuss it with Grand Tutor Lu Zhi, Shangshu Ling Xun Yu and others first.

Unexpectedly, when Lu Zhi heard this question, he immediately stroked his beard with one hand and smiled, raised his hand and pointed and said with a smile: “There is no need to ask about this matter. Your Majesty has already said that it is not taboo to mention the name of a person, and two names are not taboo. Your Majesty is thinking about the people. It can be done before, but it will be stopped from now on. There is no need to avoid taboos for the people. I hope that the ministers will inform each other.”

The ministers who rushed over were slightly stunned when they heard this, and couldn’t help but sigh in their hearts: “This is too unfair to Your Majesty, Emperor Xiaowen did not do this in the past.”

“With such a king and father leading the officials to create a prosperous era, what else can we ask for?”

Zhang Jian, Zhao Qi and other veteran ministers from several dynasties were so excited that they trembled and straightened their backs to bow toward the emperor’s palace.

Huan Ling, who was used to seeing an indifferent emperor, did not expect that the Han Dynasty would produce an emperor like Emperor Xiaowen. What a rare thing it was.

(End of this chapter)