Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 395: Rewarding Meritorious Officials and Amnesty

Taking a deep breath, Li Yi opened his eyes and walked down the Temple of Heaven.

Then he got back on the sedan chair and was carried back to the Forbidden City.

He came to the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices to heaven.

After offering sacrifices to the heavens, one must return to the three main halls of the Forbidden City to hold the formal coronation ceremony.

Soon, the imperial carriage returned to the Forbidden City.

After passing through the Meridian Gate and crossing the Jinshui Bridge, we arrived at the square in front of the three main halls.

Li Yi was still sitting upright on the imperial sedan chair and was carried to the throne.

Then he stepped into Chengtian Hall!
He turned around and sat down in front of the dragon throne in Chengtian Hall.

In an instant, cheers rang out again inside and outside the hall.

Li Yi raised his hand slightly, motioning everyone to excuse themselves, then turned to Zhang Zhidong who was standing beside him and said.

"Proclaim the decree!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhidong stepped forward, unfolded an imperial edict, and began to speak.

"The Emperor, by the Will of Heaven, proclaims this."

"From now on, I will ascend the throne and be crowned emperor, changing the era name to Kaitai..."

The first edict issued by Li Yi after he ascended the throne was the edict to change the reign title.

Zhaowu was the reign title he used when he was king. Now that he has become emperor, he naturally has to change it.

There is no other meaning for choosing Kaitai as the reign title. It is just because it sounds nice and has good meaning, that's all.

Kaitai means prosperity and peace, and seeing the light again.

The phrase "seeing the light again" corresponds exactly to Li Yi's expulsion of the Tartars, recovery of the empire, and the liberation of the world from the dark rule of the Qing Dynasty, allowing the world to see the light again.

"Prosperity and safety" is Li Yi's corresponding prayer for his future governance reforms to be safe and smooth.

In Li Yi's opinion, the two words "Kaitai" are quite suitable to be used as an era name.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Zhidong read out the second imperial edict.

In this imperial edict, Li Yi announced the official enthronement of Luo Caiyu as queen, Li Zai as crown prince, and Fu Shanxiang as imperial concubine.

The third imperial edict conferred titles on all the civil and military officials who had made great contributions to the court.

Shi Dakai, Wang An, Luo Dagang, Zhao Xiang, Li Sheng and others were conferred the title of Duke.

Chen Yucheng, Fang Haiyang, Li Yiwen, Li Shixian, Feng Zicai, Zuo Zongtang, Zhao Ke, Fan Xiyuan, Ye Zhisheng, Bai Yuanqin, Li Liang, Li Kang, Zhang Lexing and others were conferred the title of marquis.

Li Yi also awarded a large number of the remaining earls, viscounts, and barons in one go.

It can be said that he was a great hero!

Facts have proved that Li Yi was really generous to his meritorious officials, and he never complained about being reluctant to give them the rewards and gifts they deserved.

The fourth imperial edict was Li Yi's order for the reorganization of the court.

Li Yi ordered the General Staff to be changed into the Military Affairs Council.

It has departments such as combat, logistics, conscription, ideological and educational, personnel selection, and military law, which are responsible for various matters.

The ministers of various departments jointly formed the Grand Council, which had one chief military official, one minister of the army and one minister of the navy, and they were directly responsible to the emperor.

The Ministry of the Interior was changed to the State Administration Council.

It has departments such as organization, education, justice, taxation, finance, construction, industry, commerce, agriculture, diplomacy, and propaganda.

The cabinet was composed of the ministers of various departments, with one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, who were also directly responsible to the emperor.

The fifth imperial edict was an amnesty for the whole world.

Li Yi ordered a general amnesty, which not only reduced the sentences of criminals across the country, but also exempted the people from the taxes they owed over the years. This was considered a benefit he gave to the people of the world after he ascended the throne.

Even the Qing prisoners who had been captured by the Tang army and sent to labor reform had part of their sentences reduced.

Of course, the Eight Banners are excluded. The Eight Banners’ labor reform will not be pardoned even if they are pardoned!

No one can escape!
Li Yi is so petty!

After reading these imperial edicts, Li Yi waved his hand and said.

"Retreat!"

At this point, the first grand court meeting after Li Yi ascended the throne was officially declared over.

After the grand court meeting ended, the aftermath of the coronation ceremony officially began to spread across the country.

Although things like changing the era name, conferring a title on a queen, and rewarding meritorious officials have little to do with ordinary people.

However, amnesty is closely related to everyone.

After the news spread that Li Yi ascended the throne and issued a general amnesty, it undoubtedly caused an uproar throughout the world.

On the one hand, it was because of the general amnesty that truly benefited everyone.

The second reason is that with Li Yi's ascension to the throne, everyone knew that the years of chaos in the world had finally come to an end.

Peace and tranquility will return to this land.

Everyone will be able to live a good life soon!

……

Capital, outer city!
Today, the outer city of the capital is a large construction site.

Construction is in full swing in many places.

Old and dilapidated buildings were demolished and replaced by new buildings.

Even though it is not yet the fifteenth day of the lunar year and it is still the New Year holiday, there are still countless workers busy going in and out of the construction site.

Even so, there was no resentment on anyone's face.

The reason why there was no resentment was very simple, because the court paid enough overtime pay.

Given the diligence and hard work of the Chinese people, overtime is naturally not a problem as long as the wages are sufficient.

What I'm afraid of is the kind of guy who wants you to work overtime but doesn't pay you for the overtime. In this case, who wouldn't feel resentful? It's lunch break time, and the workers stop their work and prepare to eat lunch.

Nowadays, most of these construction sites in the outer city of the capital are organized and controlled by the imperial court, and have a relatively complete welfare system. Workers who come to work on the construction sites not only receive wages, but also have food and accommodation provided.

Zhou Jian wiped his face, put Mao Jin, who was wet with sweat, on his shoulders, and followed the queue to get food.

Suddenly, there was a cry of surprise from the front of the team.

"Fuck, there's meat. There's actually meat today."

"This big piece of fat meat looks so delicious with all the oil."

Although the imperial construction sites provide food and lodging for the workers, don't expect it to be very good.

The most you can sleep in is a large dormitory bed.

As for food, it's usually whole grain steamed buns with stewed radish and cabbage, which can barely fill the stomach, but it's really not oily at all.

Even if the food on the construction site is occasionally improved, it is just stewing some offal. Although these things are a bit greasy, how can they compare to the greasy slices of fat meat?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jian couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and was obviously greedy.

He still remembered the wonderful taste of the fat exploding in his mouth...

At this moment, the foreman who was serving meals to the workers in front spoke.

"Your Majesty has ascended the throne and issued a general amnesty. Our construction site will also benefit from it."

"From today on, you can eat meat every day for the next three days."

"What are you still standing there for? Why don't you thank me quickly!"

Upon hearing this, the workers couldn't help but cheer.

"Long live the emperor, long live the Tang Dynasty..."

They actually don’t care about the emperor ascending the throne, or even who becomes the emperor.

However, if the emperor was willing to give them meat, they would not mind cheering a few times and showing support for the new emperor.

Seeing this, the foreman smiled with satisfaction and said.

"Let's start cooking!"

Upon hearing this, the workers began to line up obediently.

Soon, it was Zhou Jian's turn in the team.

Zhou Jian stepped forward and came to the big pot.

In the big pot in front of me was the cabbage, pork and vermicelli stew that was still bubbling with steam.

The fragrance wafts into your nose!

The greasy fat slices were tumbling up and down in the big pot, and the soup had been stewed into a milky white color, which was quite tempting.

The foreman scooped a spoonful from the pot with a large spoon and poured it into Zhou Jian's bowl.

Zhou Jian looked at the fatty meat slices and the cabbage vermicelli soaked with grease in his bowl and couldn't help but speak with a grin.

"Brother Ma, please give me some more. This is not enough."

He had a good relationship with the foreman in front of him, so he dared to ask for more.

Upon hearing this, Foreman Ma gave Zhou Jian a displeased look and said.

"Get lost."

"There is a fixed amount of meat on each construction site, just enough fat for each person. I'll give you some extra. What will the brothers behind eat?"

Zhou Jian didn't feel ashamed when he heard that. He just smiled and left with the bowl.

Holding the bowl, Zhou Jian came to the side where the main meal was served.

After receiving three multi-grain steamed buns that were half the size of his face, Zhou Jian squatted on an open space with the bowl in his hand and began to gather with his fellow workers, chatting and eating lunch.

Three multi-grain steamed buns as big as half a face may sound like a lot, but people of that era generally lacked oil and water in their stomachs.

In the absence of oil and water, you naturally have to eat more staple food to fill your stomach.

Otherwise, you will feel hungry right after eating.

Just when Zhou Jian and others were having lunch, a middle-aged man in a long gown came up to them holding a newspaper.

He pulled over a chair and sat down, then began to read aloud the contents of the newspaper.

The newspaper he read was the Tang Daily, which served as the official mouthpiece.

The purpose of reading newspapers is very simple, that is publicity.

Publicize the legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty, publicize the wisdom and bravery of the Tang emperor, and his love for the people, publicize the latest developments of the Tang court, and also belittle and stigmatize the enemy and promote nationalism...

To put it bluntly, it means to rally people's hearts through publicity.

Unlike the Qing Dynasty, which was a foreign race, they did not dare to use nationalism to unite the people, because if they dared to promote nationalism, the first to be killed by the people under them would be themselves.

But for Li Yi, who started his career with the slogan "expel the Tartars and restore China", nationalism is the sword in his hand.

As for the narrowness of nationalism?
Well, only failed nationalism is narrow-minded.

Winners are never blamed!

In this era when the great voyages of discovery are coming to an end and industrialization has just begun, global hegemony has become the theme of the world.

In order to achieve the goal of global hegemony, the rulers urgently need a cheap and efficient means to unite the people, unify their thoughts, and boost the morale of the army...

It is good to send the sons of common people to the battlefield and let them go through fire and water for their own ambitions.

Nationalism is a cheap and effective means that is recognized by everyone.

The evidence is the major countries in the world today.

Even in the Western countries, which some people consider to represent advancement and civilization, nationalism is prevalent.

……

PS: Family members, please give me your monthly vote!

(End of this chapter)