Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 646 Reward
The ceremony of the emperor offering sacrifices to his ancestors was very grand.

A complete set of sacrificial rituals was formulated by the Ministry of Rites. The emperor and all officials got up before dawn and did not perform the ritual of offering sacrifices to ancestors until the sun was high in the sky.

The emperor knelt in the front, holding the memorial written by the Imperial Academy, and spoke passionately: "Emperors since ancient times have succeeded the heaven and established the highest order, and have been the successors of the gods. They have always been kind to the world and benevolent to the people. I, the emperor, will inherit the great legacy and govern the people..."

Yang Yuan knelt in the middle of the class, listened carefully to a few sentences, and then subconsciously closed his ears.

This kind of article is carefully chosen, and is both unique and ancient.

When you hold it in your hand and read it, you have to think carefully about each sentence to understand its meaning. If you just listen to it with your ears, you can only have a partial understanding. I'm too lazy to waste my hearing.

"I look down upon your sincerity and admire your integrity!"

Zhao Yuan read the last eight words in a sonorous and powerful voice. It was obvious that this boring article had finally been finished, and the emperor himself was also very excited.

Then, they burned tablets, burned incense, offered five animals, and performed a grand sacrifice.

After the ceremony was completed, all civil and military officials accompanied the emperor back to the palace.

The palace banquet and the reward ceremony for the victory in Huaidong will be completed in this process.

After that, there will be the military parade in the afternoon and the lantern viewing in the evening.

When all the officials arrived at the imperial city, the emperor changed his crown and clothes himself.

All officials rested temporarily in the Dailou Courtyard, waiting to be led into the palace by the eunuchs to take their seats.

At this time, Shao Hongyuan, who hurried back to the court from Huaixi to receive an award, had the opportunity to find Yang Yuan.

All the officials got up early in the morning and gathered at the palace. Then they walked together to the Taimiao to complete the entire sacrificial ceremony, and then walked back to the palace together. The whole process was very long.

Some ministers did not have time to eat in the morning, and some ministers suffered from diabetes, so they brought snacks with them just in case.

Moreover, there are refreshments in the waiting room, so you can take the opportunity to have some.

Qiao Zhen had a bag of persimmon cakes on her body and gave one to Yang Yuan.

The whole persimmon cake is covered with persimmon frost. The persimmon fruit is soft, glutinous and sweet. It is the top-quality Fuping persimmon cake.

Now that Fuping is under the control of the Jin Kingdom, Fuping persimmon cakes are a rare commodity in Lin'an.

Yang Yuan picked up a persimmon cake, eating it while chatting and laughing with others.

Although they were chatting and laughing, there were only a few people present, including officials from the Censorate, officials from Lin'an Prefecture, and Lu Chengze and Xiao Yiran who had already taken office in the Ministry of Personnel.

Those who had grudges against Yang Yuan would not approach him, because he was too outspoken and other officials also avoided him.

Yang Yuan had finished eating the persimmon cake and was holding the persimmon stem, looking around for the dregs when a hand stretched out to him with the palm facing up.

A voice said, "Please put it here, my lord."

Yang Yuan thought he was just a minor official in the Tailou Courtyard and subconsciously loosened his hand. When he looked up, he saw a burly military commander wearing black armor with mountain patterns.

Yang Yuan was stunned.

Shao Hongyuan held the persimmon calyx and nodded to Yang Yuan with a smile: "Zhadou is over there, Lord Hou, please continue chatting."

Shao Hongyuan turned around and walked over to the trash can, threw the stems of the persimmon cakes into it, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, wiped his hands, and walked away calmly.

There are many people in the waiting room, so it would be inappropriate to say too much or too deeply.

Shao Hongyuan just stepped forward at the right time and helped Yang Yuan throw away a piece of trash, that's all.

……

Shui Fu retouched her face to look like a man with delicate and handsome features. She looked in the mirror and smiled sweetly at herself.

"What a beautiful woman..."

Shui Fu stretched out her slender fingers and gently stroked the mirror: "On weekdays, so many men say they pity and love you, but if you die today, I don't know how many people will remember you and feel sad for you."

With a slight smile, Shui Fu straightened up and put on a green shirt.

She packed up her military uniform into a package and held it in her hands, then gently opened the door and looked left and right along the corridor.

At this time in the morning, everyone in Cuiyu Tower was sleeping soundly, and there was silence all around.

Shui Fu walked out of the room quietly, closed the door tightly, then walked to the end of the corridor and walked down the side stairs that usually only the waiters would go up and down, with light steps.

A moment later, the door of the servant's room opened, and the "big teapot" who had escorted Tang Shitui away that night flashed out from inside and chased to the side stairs like a civet cat.

He leaned over to look down and saw that Shui Fu, disguised as a man, had walked to the corner between the first and second floors.

The "Big Teapot" immediately shrank back and walked down the stairs quietly.

Shui Fu took advantage of the silence inside and outside the building, quickly walked out of the corner door, and looked back again.

The brackets and flying eaves, painted beams and carved buildings.

She lived here for several years like a canary that was played with by others.

Today, the canary left this exquisite cage and became a kite.

Whether dead or alive, she will never come back.

……

Fu Guang only ate half a bowl of green glutinous rice porridge in the morning.

She couldn't eat it.

Today, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty offered sacrifices to his ancestors, held a grand banquet for all officials, and rewarded meritorious officials...

Today is also a crucial moment for the Song Dynasty to change its destiny.

Do we really have to follow the requirements of "Xuefutu"?
She is not a Jurchen, Han Su is.

She is not Xuefutu, nor is Hansu.

"Xuefutu" is the ears and eyes of the Jin Dynasty emperor, and also a sword in the hand of the Jin Dynasty emperor. From top to bottom, there are no women among all the members.

She and Han Su were beauties personally selected by No. 1 Pagoda Tang Daosheng for today's plan.

Her father was just a minor official in the Jin Dynasty. Because of her outstanding appearance, she was one of the beauties who were about to enter the palace.

Tang Daosheng selected her and Han Su from this group of beautiful girls and sent them to the Song Dynasty instead of entering the palace.

The Jin people used the lives of her entire family as capital to make her obey their orders, and found ways to send her to the Prince of Jin's Mansion.

Prince Jin was the only man she had lived with until she was seventeen.

Prince Jin is a man who is very kind to women. She has seen with her own eyes that the prince's concubines named Handan, Yuanyue, Zhiping and others not only dare to joke with the prince, but also play some small games to tease Prince Jin, but Prince Jin does not get angry.

The life in the Prince of Jin's mansion was very comfortable, and the wealth and beauty of Lin'an City was something she had never seen before. She had accompanied the Prince of Jin to the night market and brothels in Lin'an, and it was the first time she knew that there were places in the world that were more prosperous and lively at night than during the day.

They killed the King of Jin and fabricated a scene in which he committed suicide out of fear of punishment, but what was the result?
Does she really have a chance of getting out alive?

Does she really have a chance to be rewarded by the Jin Emperor?

She didn't believe it, not at all.

However, if she does not obey the orders of "Blood Pagoda", her family's lives will be in danger.

Those were the relatives who raised her, and she was also reluctant to put them to death because of herself.

But she is still so young and she really doesn't want to die.

She has been hesitating, struggling, distressed, and tangled...

However, time waits for no one, and if we don’t make a decision, it will be too late.

At that time, she would have no way out except to do as Xue Futu asked.

"Fuguang, I will bear with you for a while. When I buy the houses of the neighbors and expand the palace, I will give you a separate courtyard and assign some maids and servants to serve you."

"Fuguang, you and Hansu are half from the same hometown. Why don't you let her yard be next to yours? It will be convenient for you to chat with her when you feel lonely in your spare time."

"Fuguang, in fact, all my concubines are very good. Only the princess is a little dull because of my nerdy father-in-law. You just don't go near her normally."

Recalling the gentle words that King Jin Zhao Qiu had whispered to her in private, Fu Guang's gaze gradually calmed down.

She took a tortoise-shell hairpin, hid it in her sleeve, took a deep breath, and walked out of the room.

She decided that for her happy future and to protect her family, she had to do something.

Whether her future can be in her own hands depends entirely on this move!
……

It is not out of place to put rewards in the middle of a banquet.

The emperor often rewarded his ministers with gifts on various celebratory occasions, which has been a custom since ancient times.

Emperor Minghuang of Tang once minted a batch of "Kaiyuan Tongbao" made of gold. When he was having a banquet on the palace gate tower, he grabbed a handful of "Gold Kaiyuan" and threw it down the building, leaving it for the palace servants to pick up.

If it is a day for people to have fun together, then people will also have the opportunity to grab the "Golden Kaiyuan", which is a free fortune.

In comparison, the emperors of the Song Dynasty were more restrained. The wealth they bestowed was not that valuable, and the symbolic significance was greater than the value of the wealth itself.

Moreover, he would not sit on the city gate tower and throw gold and silver down to the city, letting the palace people and the people scramble for them.

Otherwise, even if he could do such a thing, he would be spitted on by all the officials.

Today he rewarded all civil and military officials below the prime minister with brocade, which was very valuable but appropriate.

Of course, hairpins made of silk are also indispensable, which is a reserved feature of the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, all the civil and military officials in the court wore a beautiful silk flower next to their hats.

The bestowal of titles is a very grand ceremony, especially when there are appointments and seals officially issued by the court, so it is not convenient to carry out this ceremony before a banquet.

This is a national ceremony, a very grand and solemn event.

However, this does not prevent the emperor from announcing these things on such a festive and peaceful occasion. The specific ceremony can be supplemented later.

Therefore, all the heroes involved in the Huaidong victory were commended and rewarded at the banquet.

Those in charge of dispatch, logistics, and frontline operations...

Among all the meritorious personnel, the most eye-catching ones are of course Yang Yuan, Shao Hongyuan and Li Xianzhong.

That’s right, Shao Hongyuan’s contribution this time is even greater than Li Xianzhong’s.

Because the head of Yelu Yuanyi, the enemy commander who presided over the Lianghuai War, was in his hands.

In fact, if you really think about it carefully, Li Xianzhong has achieved nothing this time.

Although his "center-blooming" tactic did not misjudge the enemy's strength and combat objectives, it misjudged the hearts of his own people.

In the end, if Yang Yuan had not intervened personally and used his identity as the "Lianghuai Military Supervisor" to force troops from all directions to come to the rescue, the consequences would have been disastrous.

However, Yang Yuan's battle plan did not mention the emergence of such a dangerous situation at all.

Yang Yuan insisted that from the beginning to the end, his purpose was to implement Li Xianzhong's "center-blooming" tactic, and that this tactic was successful.

In this way, Yang Yuan's contribution was diluted.

In fact, the people above also knew the truth, but at this time Li Xianzhong had done nothing wrong and it was more in line with the interests of the court.

Therefore, the court tacitly listed Li Xianzhong as the third greatest hero in this battle after Yang Yuan and Shao Hongyuan.

When Shao Hongyuan was waiting in the waiting room, he took the persimmon calyx from Yang Yuan's hand, and his gesture was very clear.

And what about Li Xianzhong?
He did not express anything to Yang Yuan, either in words or actions.

Kindness without saying thanks!
The kindness Yang Yuan showed him could not be repaid by these actions.

However, he kept this huge favor in his heart but told no one. He was not afraid that Yang Yuan would misunderstand him as being cold and heartless. This approach, well... is very military.

Emperor Zhao Yuan announced the decision to reward Yang Yuan: he was given the title of Duke of the Founding County, and was promoted from a Marquis to a Duke.

He was transferred from the Censorate to serve as the Left Counselor of the Ministry of Personnel.

They are all officials and are very familiar with official affairs. Such an arrangement makes it clear that he is being trained to be the prime minister.

The emperor is still young, and a minister who has gained the emperor's trust at such a young age will have an immeasurable future as long as the emperor and his ministers get along well.

There were originally two such ministers.

One is Tang Situi and the other is Yang Yuan.

If these two people are both favored by the emperor, they will be the brightest twin stars in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.

However, when Yang Yuan was in his prime, Tang Shitui had already faded into obscurity.

When the government announced this decision, many officials went to see Tang Situi secretly, but Tang Situi looked calm and showed no signs of abnormality.

This kind of character made the civil and military officials look at him with some respect.

It's a pity that he is so cunning. If he hadn't taken a wrong step, he would have been the Prime Minister of Song Dynasty in the near future!
When the emperor announced the reward for Yang Yuan, Goose King Zhao Yu sat up straight and widened his eyes.

He took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and was ready to scold someone!

(End of this chapter)