A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 43 Reprimanding the Masses
The emergence of Bailu Coin.

This shocked and alarmed the powerful and influential of the Han Dynasty for the first time, and they spread the news and discussed it extensively.

Especially the nobles and relatives of the marquises, after several emperors and decades of weakening, particularly after Zhou Yafu's death, their numbers and power have become very small, although their wealth and the scale of their private armies are still considerable.

Politics is a process of compromise. For every bit of power the former emperors and Your Majesty weakened, they would compensate them with corresponding wealth as a form of appeasement. As a result, after the Lü clan, there was no more chaos caused by the nobles and relatives.

But everyone knows that compromise cannot bring peace. The nobles and nobles are also well aware that one day, when their threat to the royal court will be completely gone, it will be time for the emperor to reclaim those riches.

However, no one expected it to happen so quickly, and even fewer people expected the emperor's methods to be so blatant and undisguised.

Asking for 400,000 coins for a single, or even a very small, piece of deerskin—isn't that blatant robbery?

It should be noted that their families had made commendable contributions to the Han Dynasty, especially the first generation, who were basically the founding heroes.

One cannot, at least one should not.

The marquises of the Han Dynasty made a pact back when they were bandits in Mangdang Mountain: "We will share poverty and hardship together." After the founding of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu further established the White Horse Alliance, "sharing the world together."

Now, His Majesty is going to wage a major war in order to amass wealth. How can this not be shocking and uproarious?

The first person to spread this news was Zhou Ping, the Grand Master of Ceremonies and Marquis of Sheng. This Zhou Ping was the grandson of Zhou Ke, the Grand Secretary during the reign of King Han. In the third year of the Han Dynasty, Zhou Ke was stationed in Xingyang and beheaded King Bao of Wei.

After Xiang Yu captured Xingyang, Zhou Ke refused to surrender and was boiled alive. After Emperor Gaozu pacified the country, Zhou Ke was posthumously granted the title of Marquis Gaojing, and his son Zhou Cheng received the title.

The family lineage passed down from father to son, and from son to grandson. In a time when the stars of war had dimmed and the noble families of the Han Dynasty had fallen into decline, they could be considered a prominent and aristocratic family.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies, in charge of ancestral temple rituals, ranked first among the Nine Ministers. He was one of the most powerful ministers in the Han Dynasty. Under the current rule, the Chancellor is a well-known threat.

In the ten years since Your Majesty ascended the throne, there have been six prime ministers. Apart from Wei Wan, the prime minister at the beginning of your reign, who died peacefully, Dou Ying was killed and his entire family was exterminated for his "forged edict," Xu Chang was dismissed from his post on trumped-up charges and died in depression, Tian Fen died in fear, Xue Ze lived a life of hiding in the mountains, and the current prime minister, Gongsun Hong, is close to the crown prince's palace, so it is hard to say that he will also have a peaceful end.

What many people don't know is that His Majesty's Minister of Ceremonies suffered even greater losses.

Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the practice of appointing meritorious officials and marquises from the early Han Dynasty to the positions of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers has gradually disappeared. The appointment of the prime minister without a title as a marquis is merely a cover-up, and the appointment of officials below the rank of Grand Secretary is no longer considered a deliberate attempt to conceal their true intentions. Whether or not they hold the title of marquis is no longer important, and most of them are appointed by people who are not descendants of meritorious officials.

Only the Grand Master of Ceremonies was still appointed from the descendants of meritorious officials and marquises, because one of his duties was to manage the ancestral temples and mausoleums. As the number of ancestral temples and mausoleums in the Han Dynasty gradually increased and the sacrificial activities became more frequent, the affairs became more complicated, and it was easy to make mistakes and find fault.

In the more than ten years since the Jianyuan era, seven Taichang ministers have been successively dismissed from their posts, stripped of their titles, removed from their posts, or even punished with hard labor in the city.

Marquis Zan, Xiao Shoucheng, was dismissed from office because the meat used in the sacrifices was too lean.

Liao Hou Kong Zang was dismissed from office for damaging the Tianqiao Bridge, which was used for inspecting the imperial robes of Emperor Gaozu.

Marquis Zhou Zhongju of Dan was dismissed from office and sentenced to hard labor in the city for failing to collect the coins used for sacrificial rites in a timely manner.

Marquis Zhang Chang of Suiling was dismissed from his post for failing to perform the sacrificial rites in a timely manner.

Marquis Yangping, Du Xiang, was stripped of his title and his fiefdom for unauthorized use of dancers and musicians. Marquis Guang'a, Ren Yueren, was stripped of his title and his fiefdom for using wine that turned sour during sacrifices.

Marquis Jin Shi of Jiangzhou was stripped of his title and his fiefdom because the roads leading to his palace were in disrepair and difficult to travel on.

Becoming the Grand Master of Ceremonies basically meant certain death, the loss of one's title, and the abolition of one's state. Such methods of "secretly harming the marquisate" would make even Emperor Gaozu ashamed of himself.

Zhou Ping had a premonition that he would be the eighth, and that his death was imminent, not for any other reason than the approaching New Year.

The Han Dynasty inherited many legacies from the short-lived Qin Dynasty, including the calendar. The beginning of the year was the tenth month, and the first day of the tenth month was the first day of the new year.

The end of the year is naturally September, or perhaps a leap September; in any case, the end of autumn marks the end of the year.

According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, every September, each prefecture and county would send people to the imperial court to report, which was called the "upper report". At the same time, it was also the time for the princes, marquises, and imperial ministers to pay tribute.

The matter was sudden, and it was not easy for nobles and relatives to raise forty gold coins. If any of the sacrificial jade, gold, or white deer coins were missing, it would be considered "disrespectful to the ancestors," and the position of Grand Master of Ceremonies would be over, and his life would be over as well.

Even if the matter of the tribute money is resolved smoothly, the subsequent "white deer ransom" will be the real test for the nobles and relatives.

A family might have several, a dozen, or even dozens of martial arts titles, which would represent millions or even tens of millions of coins. Some nobles and nobles couldn't even come up with that amount, even if they went bankrupt.

For three consecutive days, Zhou Ping received more than twenty marquises, hoping that they would first prepare the sacrificial offerings in full before discussing other matters. However, the marquises seemed to have conspired beforehand, stating that they would only offer gold and wine as tribute, without preparing white deer coins, thus defying His Majesty's decree.

In a daze, Zhou Ping seemed to see his deceased grandfather waving. Tears welled up in his eyes, but what could he do? Crying was just a way to pass the time.

"Minister of Ceremonies, why have you gone to such lengths?"

Seeing the demeanor of the youngest daughter of the Minister of Ceremonies, Wang Dingguo comforted her, saying, "Confucius once said: 'The law does not punish the masses.' As long as we work together, even His Majesty cannot do anything to us. We were too weak in the past."

"I think it's time for you to get your turn," Zhou Ping said coldly.

Marquis Du Yan, whose ancestor was Wang Yi, was one of the five people who were enfeoffed as marquises after the death of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King.

The marquisate lineages of the two Yangs and two Lüs were abolished one after another over the decades, leaving only the Wang family, who were enfeoffed as marquises and granted a fief of 1,700 households after cutting off Xiang Yu's head. People at the time said there was a curse on them, and Zhou Ping did not believe it at first, but now he really believed it.

Under His Majesty's rule, the "law does not punish the masses" approach has truly found the right people. The slightest mistake can lead to a life-or-death punishment, let alone something as important as a sacrificial ceremony. To dare to make a fuss about this is something the Du Yanhou Wang family has never done in their lifetime.

Other nobles and relatives said they wouldn't present white deer coins, but Zhou Ping couldn't tell if they were telling the truth. This Wang Dingguo, however, must have taken some kind of agreement seriously. He's just waiting to die.

Wang Dingguo's expression froze, clearly displeased with Zhou Ping mentioning the curse. "Minister of Ceremonies, this is a living, breathing human world. In the court, it's not up to His Majesty alone to make decisions. In the struggle between the father and son of the imperial family, if I were to speak up for the Crown Prince, His Highness would surely welcome me with open arms and treat me with great courtesy. How could His Majesty dare to touch me?"

"Just you?"

"If even His Majesty doesn't want it, how could the Crown Prince possibly want it? You fool, get out!"

(End of this chapter)