83: Queen Mother passes away

Chapter 83: The Empress Dowager Passes Away

After the morning court session, Zheng Yi summoned the Shadow Guard who had been waiting for a long time.

"What is the matter that makes you so urgent?"

"R-Reporting, Your Majesty."

The Shadow Guard hesitated and said, "The Empress Dowager has passed away."

"What?!"

Zheng Yi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he walked quickly toward the inner palace.

"Prepare the imperial carriage for Cining Palace!"

Year Five of zhengyong, April 20th.

The Empress Dowager passed away.

A group of eunuchs, palace maids, and older maidservants fell to their knees on the ground and wailed loudly, "Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager... Sob, sob, sob..."

The weeping spread from Cining Palace to the Three Palaces and Six Courtyards, then towards Taihe Hall, and finally spread throughout the entire imperial palace and the capital.

Countless officials and commoners spontaneously found white mourning garments from their homes to see off the Empress Dowager.

Outside the hall of the Empress Dowager's sleeping quarters, the Empress cried so bitterly that her heart broke.

She was the niece of the Empress Dowager and the master of the palace, but now after the Empress Dowager passed away, she did not simply feel that her aunt was gone.

Rather, the biggest backing in this world was gone!

"Sob, sob, Aunt..."

When Zheng Yi arrived, the entire Cining Palace had been arranged into the appearance of a mourning hall by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

All the eunuchs and palace maids were dressed in white mourning clothes, kneeling on the ground and weeping bitterly in the direction of the Empress Dowager's sleeping quarters.

Zheng Yi walked over quickly, his eyes solemn as he said, "Wasn't the Empress Dowager's mood quite good a few days ago? How...?"

An imperial physician kneeling nearby said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager accidentally heard that Pseudo Prince Yan was captured alive, and in her excitement, she couldn't catch her breath, and so... and so..."

Zheng Yi nodded and waved his hand to signal the imperial physician to withdraw.

The Empress Dowager had passed away, and the stone pressing down on top of his head was finally gone.

Now, the entire inner palace, and even the entire Great Yu, was truly his to call the shots!

"Chengen."

"this servant is here."

"Pass down the order, instruct the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Revenue to handle all funeral arrangements for the Empress Dowager, and all expenses shall be handled with the highest scale."

"Understood!"

"Your Majesty~!"

With a cry, Lu Liner threw herself into Zheng Yi's arms like a returning swallow, weeping bitterly.

"Your Majesty, Aunt is gone. What will Liner do in the future, sob, sob..."

Holding the tear-stained and increasingly charming Lu Liner at this moment, Zheng Yi gently comforted her, "Be a good girl, Liner. With Us here, We will take care of you for the rest of your life."

"Mn!"

Besides Lu Liner, Consort Duan, Consort De, Consort Cui, Consort Yang, and other concubines also knelt outside the hall one after another.

At this moment, they were also dressed in white mourning clothes, dignified and solemn.

Afterwards, the entire imperial palace seemed to be covered by a layer of dark clouds.

White mourning fabrics filled the sky, and paper money danced in the wind.

The coffin was laid in state for seven days, and countless officials and imperial relatives came to offer condolences. The entire capital was under curfew every night, strictly prohibiting any form of entertainment activities.

During these seven days, Zheng Yi also had to stop his indulgent activities of pools of wine and forests of meat to keep vigil for the Empress Dowager.

In these past few days, many imperial concubines had lost a circle of weight, which made Zheng Yi feel very distressed, so he had no choice but to open a back door behind the mourning hall to comfort them attentively.

Seven days later, the Empress Dowager's coffin was sent out of Cining Palace, carried by one hundred and twenty-eight imperial guards, and slowly headed towards the mausoleum of the former king on Tianshou Mountain.

As one of the late emperor's favorite concubines, the Empress Dowager's mausoleum had long been built, right beside the late emperor's mausoleum.

When the Empress Dowager's funeral procession appeared in the capital, countless commoners, either willingly or forced, came to both sides of the street to see her off.

Ten thousand people knelt, a sea of heads moving.

Snow-white mourning garments and paper money were scattered all along the way.

"The Empress Dowager has passed away, what a grand momentum!"

"His Majesty is truly filial!"

"His Majesty governs the country with filial piety, and we subjects naturally ought to follow..."

"Empress Dowager...!"

After the mausoleum burial, Zheng Yi quietly summoned Hu Bafeng, telling him to take advantage of the current burial of the Empress Dowager to quickly investigate the tomb of the founding emperor Zheng Mingsen and excavate it in secret!

Several days later, the Ministry of Rites sent over the selection of posthumous titles for the Empress Dowager.

The person was already dead, and Zheng Yi couldn't be bothered to argue with her, so he immediately chose "Empress Renxuan Chengxian Gongyi Zhide Chunhui Yitian Qisheng Wen".

Abbreviated as: Empress Tianqiwen!

Accompanied by the destruction of Pseudo-Yan and the passing of the Empress Dowager, the entire world became different once again.

The rebellious mobs in the north began to become active with the arrival of spring, capturing cities and territory once again, and moving towards the south.

Minister Miao, serving as the commander-in-chief for suppressing the rebellious mobs, also deployed troops and generals to encircle, pursue, and intercept these rebellious mobs, killing thousands of enemies.

The civilian rebellion in the north was on the verge of being pacified.

Meanwhile, in the direction of Yong Province, the drought continued after the beginning of spring.

The eight main tributaries flowing through Yong Province all dried up, leaving a thousand miles of red land and corpses of the starved littering the fields!

Under such harsh conditions, Zheng Yi had to hold a grand court session once again.

"Your Majesty, Yong Province is suffering from a severe drought, this subject requests disaster relief!"

"Granted!"

Zheng Yi spoke, "We intend to summon civilian laborers to dig the Yong Province Grand Canal from Canglong River, transporting the water of Canglong River into Yong Province to irrigate the tens of thousands of miles of land in Yong Province."

"At the same time, food can be provided daily to the recruited civilian laborers to ensure their survival, and stipends will be distributed. This is: relief through labor. What do my beloved ministers think?"

As soon as his voice fell, many ministers pondered for a few minutes, and immediately someone said, "Your Majesty! This plan is inappropriate. The nearest tributary of Canglong River is more than three hundred li away from Yong Province. This project consumes a tremendous amount, and the Ministry of Revenue does not have enough money and grain."

Zheng Yi said, "We intend for this policy to be one of the state policies. Once such a canal is successfully dug, it will inevitably affect the three provinces of Yong Province, Bing Province, and Liang Province, turning these three provinces into thousands of miles of fertile land. This is a grand plan for a thousand years!"

"As for the matter of money and grain, firstly, it can be transported in stages and allocated on schedule, without needing to be in place all at once."

"Secondly, we can summon the gentry and merchants of the three provinces of Yong Province, Liang Province, and Bing Province, and levy money from them to contribute to the successful construction of the canal!"

"My beloved ministers, what do you think?"

Many officials looked at each other in dismay. It seemed His Majesty had made up his mind on this policy. Seeing that the cabinet ministers in the very front did not speak, they could only helplessly say, "We subjects second the motion."

Many people's minds became active. Building the grand canal was a lucrative position!

Simply mobilizing civilian laborers would take hundreds of thousands of people, eating and drinking like horses, and goodness knows how much money and time it would consume.

If one could secure an official post or half in it, how wonderful that would be!

Furthermore...

Relief through labor?

And also distribute silver to the civilian laborers?

What a joke!

Being able to let them drink two bowls of thin porridge a day was already a heavenly bounty!

Just as they were preparing to recommend themselves or people from their own faction, Zheng Yi directly spoke, "Tian Wenjing!"

Tian Wenjing, the Junior Vice Minister of Personnel, immediately stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, this subject is here."

"You shall be the commander-in-chief for the construction of this grand canal. We bestow upon you the position of Imperial Envoy, in charge of mobilizing civilian laborers throughout the entire territory of Yong Province for the grand canal."

Tian Wenjing's face immediately turned joyful, and he repeatedly said, "Understood!"

"This subject will surely exert all his strength to complete this task for Your Majesty and Great Yu!"

"Where is the Vice Commander of the Jinyi Guard?"

"This subject is here!"

Lu Lian quickly stepped out and bowed.

"You shall be the 'Inspector General' of the grand canal, supervising all corruption and bribery during the operation period of the grand canal. We bestow upon you the power of acting expediently. As long as the evidence is conclusive, you may execute officials of rank three and below before reporting, so as to ensure the normal construction of the grand canal."

As soon as Zheng Yi's voice fell, the entire court of ministers sucked in a breath of cold air.

The power to execute before reporting for rank three and below?

Doesn't that mean even Tian Wenjing was within the scope of execution?

This power of the Jinyi Guard was truly... too terrifying!

Lu Lian immediately respectfully said, "This subject... accepts the decree and thanks for the grace!"

At this moment, Lu Xiangqing suddenly turned sideways and said, "Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to submit."

Many court ministers looked towards Lu Xiangqing once again.

Because of the Pseudo-Yan incident, Cui Jinghao, one of the cabinet assistant ministers, had continuously requested to retire, but His Majesty did not allow it.

Anyone with discerning eyes could see that Cui Jinghao was finished.

Even if he didn't die, his position in the cabinet would be greatly reduced, or he might even be stripped of his official post.

Many people had already secretly buttered up to Lu Xiangqing and changed their stance.

"Oh? What important matter does Minister Lu have?"

Lu Xiangqing said, "Your Majesty, Pseudo-Yan has perished, and the estate of Pseudo Prince Yan has been raided. Countless money, grain, and armaments have all been handed over to the Ministry of Revenue."

"However, how should the registered landed property under his estate's name be dealt with?"

"Your Majesty."

As soon as his voice fell, Zheng Zongbing, the Director of the Imperial Clan Court, suddenly spoke out, "Although Pseudo-Yan has rebelled, he is after all a descendant of the imperial family. The land under his name naturally ought to be managed by our imperial family."

"All the fertile fields, mountain forests, and minerals under Pseudo-Yan's name have long been registered, and we are just waiting to report to Your Majesty before someone is specially assigned to take over the management."

For Pseudo-Yan's rebellion, besides Pseudo Prince Yan himself, his maternal family, wife's family, etc., would definitely be executed.

At most, only leaving Pseudo Prince Yan himself to linger on in a feeble existence.

And the fertile fields and mountain forests under his command were a huge fortune.

Zheng Yi asked, "How much landed property does Pseudo Prince Yan Zheng Yuantao have under his name?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty."

Zheng Zongbing had already memorized it clearly and immediately said, "Under the name of Pseudo Prince Yan Zheng Yuantao, there are 1.7 million mu of fertile fields, 500,000 mu of paddy fields, and 300,000 mu of mountain forests."

"These lands are all landed property of our imperial family."

"How much?"

Zheng Yi asked sub-consciously.

Thinking Zheng Yi didn't hear clearly, Zheng Zongbing repeated, "There are 1.7 million mu of fertile fields, 500,000 mu of paddy fields, and 300,000 mu of mountain forests."

Damn...

He thought the land under these princes' names was at most tens of thousands of mu.

Unexpectedly, there were close to two million mu of land!

These lands were enough to equal the total land of several counties in the south combined.

The severity of land annexation was evident.

A Pseudo Prince Yan intent on rebellion had so much land under his name.

Not to mention other imperial relatives, aristocratic families, and high officials.

The civilian rebellions in Great Yu were inseparable from this group of imperial relatives, ministers, and aristocratic families who sucked the blood and sweat of the people!

The commoners had no land to farm and nothing to eat, so they had no choice but to rebel!

Zheng Yi took a deep breath, suppressing the murderous intent in his heart.

If all the high-ranking officials before his eyes were killed once, he could gather enough land to keep all the commoners of Great Yu farming for a lifetime.

However, Zheng Yi understood that he couldn't act rashly at this moment.

Land annexation was the most fundamental problem and could not be resolved overnight.

However, he already had some ideas in mind and immediately said,

"Grandmaster regulations dictate that after vassal princes go to their fiefs, they can only move within their fiefs. Where did Pseudo Prince Yan get so much land? It must have been extorted by force!"

"Pass down Our decree."

Zheng Yi coldly said, "Half of all the land and forest land under Pseudo-Yan's name shall be evenly gifted to the tenant farmers currently working on the land!"

"The land was seized from the hands of the commoners, so We will return it to them!"

"Whoever dares to continue forcibly seizing things from these commoners, We will never forgive them!"

After this threat, the entire court was as silent as cicadas in winter, with no one daring to speak.

In recent years, although the world of Great Yu was precarious, Emperor Zhengyong himself was diligent in state affairs and showed signs of a revival.

Especially the successive suppressions of the rebellions by Tang King, Prime Minister Yang, and Prince Yan earned him great prestige in the military.

Especially the Shenji Camp that destroyed Pseudo-Yan was the sharpest blade in Zheng Yi's hands.

Among the dukes and ministers present, no one dared to oppose!

Zheng Zongbing hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, half of the land is distributed to... distributed to the commoners, what about the remaining half?"

"We have Our own disposal for it."

Zheng Yi coldly said, "Now the civilian rebellions are boiling, Wu Country is invading in the north, and Nanzhao Kingdom is infringing in the south. We intend to establish a military merit system. Any soldier who achieves great merit will be rewarded with land!"

"Li Changfeng!"

Li Changfeng, the Minister of War, immediately stepped out and said, "This subject is here."

"Find people to set up the military merit system well, divided into twelve ranks, and each rank must have corresponding monetary and land rewards."

Li Changfeng's eyes lit up, and his immediate response was, "Understood!"

His Majesty valuing military forces was truly a great fortune for them!

Presumably after this matter spreads, His Majesty will gain the support of military personnel once again.

After dealing with these matters, Zheng Yi was just about to dismiss the court when unexpectedly Cui Jinghao suddenly stood out.

"Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to submit."

"What other matter does Minister Cui have?"

Seeking monthly tickets~