Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"All illegal buildings have been demolished, and the imperial court can allocate funds for appropriate compensation."

"Remember, don't cause any trouble," Zhao Yuan warned.

Due to the lack of management by the Northern Song government, residences and shops on both sides of the street continued to encroach on public areas and illegally build structures.

Take Dingdingmen Street, which extends from the Imperial City, as an example. It has now been renamed Zhaoque Street.

During the Tang Dynasty, this main street was over 120 meters wide.

During the Song Dynasty, the space was gradually encroached upon by the people, and at its narrowest point, it was only 90 meters wide.

Moreover, the road is sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, jagged and crooked, with illegal buildings on both sides, and even treehouses built by poor people.

Where is there even a trace of the Imperial Street?

This is the main thoroughfare extending from the imperial city!

Upon learning that Zhao Yuan was going to move the capital, Bai Chongyan quickly rectified the street, at least making the street uniform in width.

However, it was still impossible to restore the width to that of the Tang Dynasty, and it eventually remained constant at around 110 meters.

Aside from this main road, Bai Chongyan did not renovate any other streets, because he had more important work to do at the time—dredging the Luo River and the Yi River.

These two rivers flow through Luoyang and connect to the Yellow River.

Due to severe siltation, the city experienced a major flood during the Yuanfeng era, drowning thousands of residents.

In addition to the floods, shipping has also been affected.

During the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the river was extensively dredged and embankments were built for flood control.

However, the blockage has become severe in recent years, and it must be dredged properly before the capital can be moved.

Aside from the land tax reform, Bai Chongyan focused his main efforts on dredging waterways.

Luoyang still appears chaotic, especially with those treehouses being such an eyesore.

Let alone seeing it with his own eyes, Zhao Yuan found it absurd just thinking about it. How could the capital of the mighty Ming Dynasty have a treehouse?

……

Zhao Yuan stood on the imperial city wall, observing his surroundings through a telescope.

The entire city of Luoyang has been turned into a huge construction site.

Within the palace city, an area has been designated for the construction of the East Palace.

Several neighborhoods outside Donghua Gate are being demolished to make way for the Imperial Academy.

The relocated residents and businesses were resettled in the vacant land left by the destroyed temple, which is also undergoing demolition and construction.

In addition, illegal buildings are being demolished everywhere in the streets and alleys.

Some haphazardly built shacks and treehouses are also being demolished one after another.

The impoverished people involved were relocated to the southwestern end of the city, where many graves have remained empty since the relocation.

The government provided some compensation, enough for the poor to build rammed earth and thatched houses.

Now that Luoyang has become the capital, its development speed will definitely be very fast, and poor people can also save money if they work hard.

Perhaps in a few years, the money they've saved will be enough to turn their thatched huts into tiled houses.

Especially during this period, the whole city was undergoing construction, so the poor had no trouble finding work.

Many impoverished citizens whose illegally constructed houses were demolished moved directly to former cemeteries to build makeshift shelters.

Instead of building their own thatched huts, they were hired as laborers on other construction sites, trying to make a living from the construction boom.

These days, Zhao Yuan also went to inspect the suburbs.

The suburbs of Kaifeng have well-developed supporting facilities with the city, including specialized areas for grain cultivation, vegetable and fruit cultivation, and animal husbandry...

Luoyang still needs planning; otherwise, uncontrolled development will be too slow and chaotic.

Zhao Yuan dispatched agricultural officials to various places, visiting eight townships and dozens of villages, including Jingu Township, Pingluo Township, and Xianxiang Township.

Based on local conditions such as soil, water system, and transportation, a rough outline of future development directions can be drawn.

Then, he convened a meeting with the village chiefs and merchants to discuss cooperation and establish a basic living supplies supply system as soon as possible.

Chapter 3527 Good Intentions

"You must be exhausted these days?" Zhao Yuan walked up behind his father.

Zhao Yuan said, "It's alright. I only personally visited a few villages; the rest were visited by agricultural officials."

Zhao Yuan said, "By the time we finish this year's busy work, Luoyang should look like it's finished."

"Bai Chongyan actually did a good job, dredging both rivers very well and helping the court solve the problems of flooding in the capital and the grain transport."

"Alas, Luoyang was the western capital of the Song Dynasty after all, yet it has developed into such a wretched state." Zhao Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "If you don't look at the southwest district, Luoyang is still very prosperous and bustling."

Zhao Yuan said irritably, "How could I not see it?"

"Once you exit the main gate of the imperial city, you'll reach the southwest district!"

This is the crux of the problem: outside the main gate of the imperial city, only a few wards along the river are considered relatively wealthy.

The rest are all slums!

Where does this leave the Ming Dynasty's reputation?

Luoyang was the backyard garden of the imperial relatives, retired ministers, and noble families of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The central government was too lazy to care, and the local officials couldn't manage it, so the entire city gradually became extremely deformed.

The city is affluent, comparable to Kaifeng.

The impoverished urban area is even worse than a remote small county town.

Especially after the Yuanyou Party Prohibitions, the nobles of Luoyang collectively lost power, which led to a decline in consumption throughout the city, making life even more difficult for the poor at the bottom.

Without severely punishing those powerful clans in Luoyang and redistributing land, housing, and other resources, this city cannot expect to develop normally.

Zhao Yuan gazed at the streets and houses to the south: "Within five years, the southwest urban area will surely prosper, or at least all of them will be transformed into large brick houses!"

Not only Luoyang has become a huge construction site, but construction has begun all over the country.

The biggest project, of course, is to manage the Yellow River!

Because the Yellow River water conservancy project consumed too much money and grain, the imperial court simply did not have the financial resources to undertake other large-scale projects at the same time.

Therefore, local governments were encouraged to develop their own water conservancy projects, with the government and the people working together to build them. However, local powerful families were not allowed to take advantage of the situation to seize water conservancy facilities.

In addition, the post station and relay station systems were officially merged this year to facilitate unified management by the imperial court.

In some places, staff were reduced, while in others, more rest stations were added.

And it was reiterated that officials at all levels were not allowed to eat and drink for free at post stations.

This privilege was reserved for those carrying special identification—such as scholars taking the imperial examinations or those delivering important documents.

"Your Majesty, the fourth revision of the History of Song has been completed."

Hu Anguo brought a historian to present the book.

Zhao Yuan asked, "What additions, deletions, and changes were made this time?"

Hu Anguo said, "We mainly used historical materials from the Liao and Jin dynasties to compare and correct some personal names, place names, and dates."

"Now only the temple name and posthumous title of the tyrannical emperor Zhao Ji remain undetermined."

"And then there's Zhao Huan, the last emperor of the former Song Dynasty. Not only did he not die, but he also served as an official in the new dynasty. The historians don't know how to address him."

The reason why Zhao Ji's temple name and posthumous title have not been determined is because this guy has neither been seen alive nor dead.

The final draft of the History of Song is about to be completed, and I must give you one.

Zhao Yuan began to browse through the temple names and posthumous titles submitted by the Ministry of Rites, then casually drew a circle on it, and added a few words: "Let's give Zhao Ji this one."

Hu Anguo took the document with both hands, glanced at it, and couldn't help but laugh. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

The complete form of Zhao Ji's temple name and posthumous title in history is: Emperor Huizong of Song, whose name is "Ti Shen He Dao Jun Lie Xun Gong Sheng Wen Ren De Xian Ci Xian Xiao".

Zhao Yuan simplified the name of Zhao Ji considerably—Emperor Xizong of Song, Master of the Jade Purity Sect, the Subtle Daoist Lord, the Emperor Xian.

The character "僖" signifies a love of fun and playfulness, and the character "僖" also signifies a mistake made during one's lifetime, perfectly fitting Zhao Ji's established persona.

The title "Emperor of the Jade Purity Sect Master and the Subtle Daoist Lord" was self-proclaimed by Emperor Huizong of Tang (Zhao Ji) during his cultivation of Taoism.

Zhao Yuan decided to respect the king's original intention and, incidentally, add the word "offering" to it.

"Xian" is an excellent posthumous title, representing virtue, wisdom, and intelligence.

However, no emperor used this posthumous title after Emperor Xian of Han, and Zhao Yuan felt that Zhao Ji deserved it.

Hu Anguo was too lazy to point out that the posthumous title system was being used incorrectly.

Firstly, there is no need to go against the wishes of the reigning emperor.

Secondly, the system of posthumous titles for emperors began to become chaotic as early as the Tang Dynasty.

Take Li Yuan, Li Shimin, and Li Zhi, these three generations of grandfather, father, and son, as an example.

Li Shimin was originally given the posthumous title "Emperor Wen," but Li Zhi felt this didn't highlight his father's greatness.

After changing it, they discovered that Dad's posthumous title was the same as Grandpa's, so they simply changed Grandpa's posthumous title as well.

Thus, the three generations of the family were neatly arranged: Emperor Shenyao, Emperor Wenwu, and Emperor Tianhuang.

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang respected tradition and felt that this thing was too frivolous, so he added a few other adjectives.

By the Song Dynasty, the practice of arbitrarily assigning posthumous titles to emperors was abandoned, but the practice of creating elaborate temple names was adopted, providing a model for the later Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

With the chaotic and disorganized actions of the Tang and Song dynasties, Zhao Yuan could have done whatever he wanted!

Hu Anguo asked, "Your Majesty, please instruct me on how Zhao Huan should be addressed?"

Zhao Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's call him Emperor Mo of Song."

"He's still alive, so there's no need to give him a temple name or posthumous title."

Chapter 3528 Compiling History

"According to the order!"

Hu Anguo then asked, "Since the Jin dynasty lasted for such a short time, should its history be compiled separately?"

"After the official histories of the Liao and Jin dynasties were compiled, should they be called 'History of Liao' and 'History of Jin', or should they be called 'Book of Liao' and 'Book of Jin'?"

That's a real problem!

According to the convention since the Han and Tang dynasties, general histories are called "historical works" and dynastic histories are called "books".

To put it simply, a book that covers several dynasties is called "History of [Dynasty Name]", while a book that focuses on only one dynasty is called "Book of [Dynasty Name]".

The "History of Song" which records the history of the Zhao Song dynasty should actually be called the "Book of Song".

However, since there was already a book called "Song Shu" during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, no name would be suitable now, so we had to break with the historical tradition and change it to "Song Shi".

The Song dynasty has already broken with tradition; should the historical records of the Liao and Jin dynasties also be revised accordingly?

After thinking carefully for a while, Zhao Yuan said, "Let's not worry about how history was compiled in the past."

"From now on, the legitimate dynasties will be called history, and the courts that are in exile will be called books."

"The Jin dynasty lasted too short a time, and its capital was far away on the frontier. It can be regarded as a regime that only existed in a partial state."

"The histories of various countries compiled by our Great Ming Dynasty will be named 'History of Song,' 'History of Liao,' 'History of Jin,' 'History of Western Xia,' 'History of Goryeo,' 'History of Dali,' 'History of Annam,' and 'History of Gaochang'..."

Hu Anguo bowed respectfully with a very serious expression, because this was a matter of establishing legitimacy.

In other words, in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, only the Song and Liao dynasties were recognized as legitimate dynasties, while all others were considered regimes that had retreated to the south.

Chen Ao, the Imperial Diarist, suddenly trembled as he held his pen; his focus had clearly shifted.

The emperor has already decided to annihilate all the kingdoms!

Chen Ao was a little excited. What young man doesn't dream of the glorious Han and Tang dynasties?

Hu Anguo pretended not to hear anything, bowed, and silently withdrew.