Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 427: Huangchangtichou
In late March, the news that the great scholar Zheng Xuan had died of illness in Luoyang City was carried to Chang'an by express horse. The messenger then changed horses at the inn near Chang'an and rode north again.

When Shangshu Ling Xun Yu received the message, he immediately stood up in surprise, took the document and read it carefully several times before he suppressed his heart that was surging like a river or sea.

Then he immediately took the letter and went to the Bamboo Palace to discuss the matter with the emperor.

When Xun Yu arrived, Liu Bei was teaching Crown Prince Liu Yong what it meant to be the master of the world. It was not enough to be born in a deep palace and grow up in the hands of women. He must go out and see the people in person.

Facing the prince who seemed to understand but not quite, Liu Bei touched his head with his hand and said with a chuckle: "As a ruler, you should be cautious and careful every day, and think about the good beginning and the end. Without power and virtue, you cannot achieve far, and without kindness, you cannot cherish people."

"It doesn't matter that you are young and don't understand now. Your father will teach you slowly, take you hunting, take you to the army, and take you to see all the creatures in the world."

"Then you will naturally understand that there are some things you should do and some things you shouldn't do."

"Fortunately, there were many wise emperors in the Han Dynasty. If we cannot learn from Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu, we can still learn from Emperor Xiaowen, Emperor Xiaowu, Emperor Xiaoxuan, Emperor Xiaoming, and Emperor Xiaozhang. Except for learning from Emperor Xiaowu, we need to think more and think more, and the other emperors can be used as benchmarks."

Prince Liu Yong listened obediently, and suddenly raised his head, revealing his dark eyes, and asked, "Aunt, but I have a bad memory. What should I do if I can't remember it?"

Liu Bei smiled, gently held his shoulders, and said, "Don't worry about this. In a few years, when you grow up, I will write a book for you, recording my gains and losses, the strategies of commanding the army, and how to govern the officials and the world."

"My son, remember that the most important thing in governing the country is to have a sense of responsibility for the world. Once a ruler loses this sense of responsibility, it will be the time when the Han Dynasty will be in danger."

"The sun, the moon, and the stars change, let alone human nature. Since ancient times, there has been no country that has not perished. The Liu family will also have a king who will perish. If a king who acts recklessly is encountered, it can only mean that the Liu family's fate has come to an end."

"I do not regret the decline of the Han Dynasty, but I regret that countless people will die. By then, the roads will be littered with corpses, and there will be no one to bury them."

Liu Bei let go of Liu Yong and looked outside with emotion.

The chief recorder and secretary who were compiling historical materials on a monthly basis not far away could not help but stop their pens and looked at each other, wondering whether they should record His Majesty's words truthfully.

After all, no one would talk so frankly about the rise and fall of their own family. Even the emperor was afraid of cutting off the sacrifices. Only Your Majesty takes matters of rise and fall, life and death very lightly.

"Write it down!" The chief recorder frowned and gritted his teeth and said, "Write it all down. This is the mindset of a founding emperor. It is not something that ordinary people can possess. Let future emperors take a good look at it."

After hearing this, the secretary immediately felt proud and buried his head in writing. Although I am unknown, my pen is as sharp as a knife. I can make the heart of the Han emperor come alive on paper and carve it into the history books.

Liu Bei didn't know that the historian next to him couldn't help but write furiously after hearing his remarks. He just chuckled and comforted Liu Yong.

Looking at the time, he let him go out and play with his brothers and sisters for half an hour before returning to the Bamboo Palace. There was only one thing he needed to remember: he was not allowed to cause trouble in other palaces.

When the eight-year-old Liu Yong heard this, he was overjoyed and jumped out of the Bamboo Palace with Xu Chu and other soldiers.

Liu Bei couldn't help laughing and shaking his head.

Up to now, the prince's elementary education had been completed by him in his own time, without inviting any great scholar to teach him. His calligraphy practice was supervised by the empress and Zhao Ji, who was known as a doctor.

It was a coincidence that Gan and Huan both gave birth to sons, but Yin Jun gave birth to a daughter and is now pregnant again. Zhen, Bu, and Zhao Ji were also pregnant and are about to give birth. The other sisters Yan, Yi, Guan, Rong, and Wei are all pregnant, but Mi has not shown any signs of pregnancy yet.

This made Mi Zhu very worried, and he searched all over the country for medicine, hoping to send it to the palace for Mi to take.

It happened that Gan and Huan, who were close to Mi, told Liu Bei about this matter inadvertently, which shocked him and he quickly stopped it.

Then he told Mi, who was depressed all day, to move to the back hall of the Bamboo Palace temporarily. Now there was only one girl left, Mi, and she didn't believe that she couldn't cope with it. Liu Bei promised Mi on the spot that she would get pregnant this year.

This makes the other person smile and no longer worry all day long.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of the Chancellery is requesting to see you outside the palace!" An attendant came over, bowed and said respectfully.

"Let Wen Ruo in." Even though Liu Bei's thoughts were disturbed, he still smiled and gave the order after he came back to his senses.

Xun Yu, who was outside the palace, hurriedly took off his shoes and came in, bowing from afar and saying, "Your Majesty, a document has been sent from Luoyang to Yunyang, saying that Lord Kang Cheng has passed away suddenly..."

Liu Bei's breathing became heavier. He hurriedly took the document handed to him by the attendant and read through it carefully.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, thinking of the help that Master Zheng had given him since the first year of Jian'an, Liu Bei immediately turned around and said, "Write an edict immediately to posthumously confer the title of Grand Master on Duke Zheng, grant him a cypress-wood yellow coffin coffin and five fir-wood outer coffin coffins, and choose the eldest son to be conferred the title of Marquis of Duting."

"Yes!" Fa Zheng and other officials reacted and immediately bowed to accept the order.

Even Xun Yu was shocked, and he posthumously conferred the title of Grand Tutor on Duke Zheng and gave him the Huangchangtichou. This generous reward was enough to astonish Confucian scholars all over the world.

During the 400 years of the Han Dynasty, the people who could receive rewards from the emperor were mostly princes of the Liu family. There were very few ministers with meritorious service, and the most famous minister was Huo Guang.

Compared with the former reward, the Marquis of Duting was just a bonus.

Xun Yu’s previous worries about the local gentry disappeared in an instant. In the face of such a generous reward from the Han emperor, which scholar would not want to receive such an honor?

Those noble families and powerful families who have repeatedly produced officials of the rank of 2,000 stone do not want to take part in the imperial examinations and want to secretly win over scholars to oppose the court. They want Your Majesty to change the system and re-nominate filial and honest officials so that the power to select talents can be delegated to various places. I am afraid that their idea is just a dream.

In the face of a role model like Duke Zheng and a generous reward, not only will the wealthy families in the counties, townships, and villages support Your Majesty more, but even a considerable number of the gentry and wealthy families will be shaken.

After all, standing out to cause trouble would definitely offend the court and the emperor. It would be better to conduct the imperial examinations step by step and wait for the fearless gentry and the wealthy families with two thousand stones to come out and cause trouble.

By then, a lot of competition spots will have been cleared up, so why not?
The larger the family, the more it knows how to judge the situation and the more it can resist the imperial examination. In the past, one could go straight to officialdom by being selected as a filial and honest official, but now they have to compete with the local wealthy families. Even if they go through the hardships of the imperial examination, the official position they get will remain the same, but they will have to go through more twists and turns and work.

But the situation was different after the imperial edict. In addition to the official positions that were obvious, the emperor also added posthumous honors. For scholars who wanted to leave their names in history, they naturally had to adjust their attitude.

When Xun Yu heard the contents of the imperial edict, he knew that from this moment on, the nobles who were sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams would no longer be able to stick together.

(End of this chapter)