Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 327 The Imperial Seal
Of course, no matter how reliable Chen Qingzhi's judgment is, decisions still have to rely on actual intelligence.

Xiao Yan ordered Lan Qin to investigate further and report back, making sure to find out the real situation in Pengcheng.

A few days later, Lan Qin's urgent military report arrived again, and this time he finally figured out why Yuan Faseng wanted to surrender the city - it turned out that although the Northern Wei court was in a desperate situation, it still ordered Prince Anle Yuanjian to lead a large army to Xuzhou to quell the rebellion.

Upon hearing the news, Yuan Faseng panicked and no longer cared about the "throne". He just wanted to save his life first, so he hurriedly sent his son Yuan Jingzhong to Zhongli to surrender and become a vassal of Daliang...

At the same time, the spies of the Gou Chen Division in the Northern Dynasty also brought news that Yuan Jian was assembling a large army to march to Xuzhou to suppress the rebellion.

Xiao Yan finally felt relieved and laughed at Chen Qingzhi, saying, "It doesn't look like an act."

"It can't be an act." Chen Qingzhi smiled but sighed in his heart. The failure on the first day of the first lunar month was too much of a blow to the emperor.

Although Xiao Yan was tough at the time, it could be seen afterwards that the emperor had become too cautious... The Northern Dynasty had been in civil strife for many years, and it was getting worse and worse. There were already signs of the country's demise. At this time, the rulers and ministers of the Northern Dynasty would definitely avoid war with Daliang at all costs.

Fake surrender at this time to trigger a war, did you get kicked in the head by a donkey?
"Now that it's confirmed to be true, Your Majesty must hurry up." He suppressed his anxiety and urged Xiao Yan, "Given how stupid Yuan Faseng is, he won't be able to hold out for long before he is captured by Yuan Jian."

"Don't worry, Yuan Jian is also a fool. Last year, he heard that Pei Sui was going to lead a large army to attack Shouyang, so he was scared and fled Shouyang City and hid far away. Later, Empress Dowager Hu sent people with knives to drive him back to Shouyang." Xiao Yan couldn't help feeling regretful when he thought of Pei Sui.

The emperor sighed, and then said seriously: "However, we really have to hurry up. If we delay for too long, the Yuanfa monk might abandon the city and flee."

"That's right." Chen Qianzhi nodded.

"Then this time, let you two do some work." Xiao Yan looked at Chen Qingzhi and the chief secretary Zhu Yi who was standing beside them.

"Yes, sir!" The two outstanding men of the Han clan were delighted. After waiting for so many years, it was finally their turn to step onto the stage of history.

"Zhu Yi, quickly draft an imperial edict to accept Yuan Faseng's request for surrender, and you may as well give him a high official title..." Once Xiao Yan made up his mind, he immediately said with great force: "Appoint him as Shizhong, Sikong, and the founding Duke of Shi'an County, with a fief of 5,000 households!"

This was already the highest official title that a minister of the Southern Dynasty could obtain, which shows how generous Yuan Faseng's "dowry" was.

"I promote you to the position of Minister of Rites. Go to Pengcheng to convey the imperial edict. You must pacify Yuan Faseng and don't let him escape!" He instructed Zhu Yidao again.

"As you wish!" Zhu Yi suppressed his excitement, walked quickly to the desk, knelt down, took a deep breath and evened out his breathing. Then he gathered his left hand into his sleeve, picked up the pen with his right hand, and drafted a colorful and enthusiastic edict in accordance with the emperor's spirit.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xiao Yan said to Chen Qingzhi: "You have always wanted to lead troops to fight, right? This time I will appoint you as General Wuwei and lead 20,000 imperial troops to Pengcheng to support Yuan Faseng."

"I obey your order!" Chen Qingzhi's face finally showed a hint of excitement, but he immediately returned to his usual calmness and composure.

"This battle is not difficult. As long as we move fast enough and get to Pengcheng before the Wei army, Yuan Jian will most likely retreat without a fight. If he doesn't retreat, that's fine. I will order Lan Qin to mobilize the army and work with you from inside and outside to defeat him in Pengcheng..." Xiao Yan patiently instructed Chen Qingzhi.

Although Chen Qingzhi always seemed to be familiar with soldiers and resourceful, he had never been on the battlefield after all. Xiao Yan was really worried... Could it be that his most trusted minister was a useless person like Zhao Kuo?
But since he was determined to cultivate new blood, he had to give him a chance. Only when Chen Qingzhi grew up, the talented people under him would have a chance to come to the fore, so although Xiao Yan was not very reassured, he still gave him such an important task.

Chen Qingzhi listened to the emperor's lecture quietly, and said nothing but bold words. He knew that it would be useless for him to say anything at this time. Only by completing the task beautifully and fulfilling the mission could he dispel the emperor's concerns.

As the two were talking, Zhu Yi finished drafting the imperial edict, blew the ink dry, and handed it to Xiao Yan for review. Xiao Yan read it carefully, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Well written, worthy of being a Daliang penman!"

He handed it to the eunuch Dong Ping and said, "Use the seal."

"Yes." Dong Ping took it with both hands, held it aside, and took out the 'Emperor's Treasure'.

"Don't use the usual gold seal, use the imperial seal." However, in order to show seriousness, Xiao Yan ordered him to bring the imperial jade seal.

"Yes." Dong Ping quickly put away the golden seal, took the golden key handed over by the emperor, and went to the Imperial Palace on the west side of Taiji Hall with General Zhige to request the imperial seal.

~~
The imperial seal in Daliang is the one with the inscription "Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper" made by Qin Shihuang, who ordered his prime minister Li Si to take jade from Lantian after he unified the country.

It was the number one token of successive emperors’ claim to orthodoxy, and also the greatest confidence of the Southern Dynasties in claiming to be orthodox.

This item was originally obtained by the Northern Dynasties after the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty. Since then, it has been circulated among the Hu emperors until the Ran Wei period, when it fell into the hands of Ran Min.

Later, when Ran Min was besieged by the Former Yan, he sent 300 elite cavalry to Jiankang in order to seek help from the Jin army and to prevent the imperial seal from falling into the hands of the Hu people again.

As a result, the imperial seal returned to the Jin Dynasty. This incident caused a great sensation in the Southern Dynasty at the time, and was considered a sign that the Mandate of Heaven had returned to the Jin Dynasty. It helped the shaky Sima family to survive for another seventy years... until Liu Yu replaced the Jin Dynasty and established himself.

After that, the imperial seal was passed down among the emperors of the Southern Dynasties until it came to Xiao Yan.

It is conceivable how Xiao Yan would keep it strictly...

Dong Ping and General Zhige came to the heavily guarded Imperial Palace and showed them the emperor's handwritten order, and only then did the guards make way.

The two men each took out a key and opened the double-hole lock on the gate of the imperial palace. The guards slowly pushed open the heavy door and watched the two men enter the forbidden area where the royal treasures were kept.

In the imperial palace, various royal treasures were kept, all in large copper boxes with seals on them. But Dong Ping and General Zhige did not stop, but went straight to the back of the storehouse, standing on each side and twisting the mechanism at the same time.

After a dull creaking sound, the wall slowly opened up on both sides, revealing another heavy gilded bronze door.

Dong Ping took out the golden key given by the emperor and opened the third safe. He saw a nine-inch square red sandalwood niche inside, covered with five-colored silk.

After the two men kowtowed respectfully, General Zhige stood up and carefully uncovered the silk cloth. Dong Ping slowly took out a gold-engraved jade box with the words "Yu Tian Wu Ji" engraved in small seal script from the niche.

Then General Zhige picked up the lid of the box with both hands, prepared to check whether the jade seal was intact according to the procedure, and then closed the lid and sent it to Shiqian Hall.

Unexpectedly, this one look frightened him so much that he fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)