Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1386: Success
In the 17th year of the Kaihuang reign of the Tang Dynasty, the country was peaceful and the people were safe. The seas were calm and the rivers were clear. The whole world was prosperous and peaceful.

In the inner bedroom of Taiji Palace in Chang'an, the morning bell has not yet rung, but candles have already been lit between the palace rooms. Palace servants and eunuchs are going in and out, shuttling back and forth between the palace corridors, busying themselves with the new day's food and daily life for the nobles in the palace.

In the bedroom tent, Li Tai turned over in a daze, reached out his hand to touch beside him but felt nothing, opened his sleepy eyes and found that the beauty beside him was gone.

"My husband is awake. Do we need to get up now?"

A gentle voice was heard outside the tent, and then the queen, who had already dressed, leaned into the tent again, looked at the emperor who was still half asleep, and asked with a smile.

Li Tai did not answer, but turned over, stretched out his hand to pull the queen onto the couch again, and then he rested his head in his wife's plump and soft arms, continuing to doze with his eyes closed.

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty sometimes also wanted to stay in bed. Yesterday, the governors and provincial governors of various states came to the court to report on their work. In order to reward these provincial governors, the court held a banquet in the palace to entertain the officials. Naturally, Li Tai also had to attend and preside over the banquet.

Those officials from outside the court who had not been to the court for at least a year seized this rare opportunity to see the emperor and vied with each other in dancing and toasting. Li Tai also accepted everyone who came. As a result, he was quite drunk in the end. When he arrived at the Queen's bedroom, he had to go through some trouble again. At this time, he was still quite tired.

Although Empress Dugu Miaoyin is already middle-aged, she has a happy family and harmonious life. She is pampered and well-fed every day. Last night, she was newly blessed by the emperor. She still has the beauty of her youth and has added a lot of charm of a mature woman. Seeing her husband lying in her arms like a naughty boy and refusing to get up, she also has a doting smile on her face, and runs her jade fingers through her husband's hair and gently massages the acupuncture points on his head.

There is never too much of such warm moments, but Li Tai did not have much time to enjoy them. After taking a short nap, he opened his eyes with determination, ordered the palace servants to bring him robes, and then he put on his clothes and washed up.

Although it was not morning today, there were still many things on the desk of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty that needed to be dealt with. After getting up and washing up, he first accompanied the Queen for a simple breakfast, and then walked through Yongxiang in the morning light and went out to the palace.

The morning sun rises, and golden light shines on the world. Morning drums sound in all the neighborhoods of Chang'an. This magnificent city instantly wakes up from its slumber. People go out of their neighborhoods and get busy. The carriages and horses that have been waiting outside the city gates for a long time also file into the city, adding vitality to the city.

Hundreds of officials in the imperial city also began to take up their positions one after another, contributing their efforts to the management of this vast empire.

The Wude Hall in the Imperial Palace was where the emperor usually worked and summoned ministers unless there was a court meeting. This hall was connected to the East Palace, making it easy to travel between the two places. Sometimes the emperor would summon the crown prince to this hall to teach him or let him observe government affairs.

After the beginning of autumn, state affairs became more and more complicated, including the budget calculation of money and grain taxes, the annual summary of officials' performance evaluation, and the rectification of internal and external administrative omissions. Although these matters were managed by special departments, even if the emperor just reviewed the results of each matter one by one, because there were too many matters and the workload was not small, and some important matters also required special attention, so he only summoned officials from various departments to discuss matters, and unknowingly a day passed.

Li Tai's main focus today was on the selection of officials. After the beginning of autumn, taxes from all over the country were gradually paid to the state, and along with them came the selected candidates from various states to Chang'an. Although the imperial examination would not officially begin until the beginning of spring next year, these candidates had already come to the capital to prepare for the exam.

At the same time, the vacancies left by internal and external officials due to their expiration of terms or vacancies this year have reached nearly one-third of the internal and external officials in office. There are more than 3,000 officials of different ranks inside and outside the country who need to be selected and appointed in this year's selection. Therefore, this year is also a general election year, and the Ministry of Personnel and other selection departments will be extremely busy.

The first people to arrive at the Wude Hall to report matters today were the Minister of Rites Xu Ling and the Vice Minister of Personnel Lu Changheng. The two of them went up to the hall together, and the Minister of Rites Xu Ling first reported on matters related to the imperial examinations.

"Your Majesty, this autumn, the various provinces have sent 5,425 tribute candidates, 1,364 students and apprentices from the two capitals, and the provinces within the pass have..."

After Xu Ling ascended the throne, he first described the situation of the tribute candidates from various provinces who had come to Beijing to take the imperial examination this year.

Among the candidates who took part in the imperial examinations from all over the country, those who came from the official schools in the two capitals obviously accounted for the majority, more than one-fifth, while the rest of the states in the world accounted for less than four-fifths of the places.

This situation is actually the result of years of promotion and improvement. In the early years, candidates from the two capitals accounted for the vast majority of the imperial examinations, while those selected by other prefectures and cities in the world were very few, with many states having only one or two people each year.

Because most people were not very sensitive to the reform of the imperial court's selection order, and some families who were aware of it tried their best to send their sons to the political centers such as the two capitals. In the past, the prefectures and counties usually directly granted official positions to the talented people in the wild, but now they had to travel thousands of miles to the capital just to obtain the qualification for an examination, which also made some local talents who had not changed their ideas not interested in it.

In view of the difficulty of implementing a reform, Li Tai could only order the state and county schools to be improved and recruit some people with the ambition to learn to teach. At the same time, in order to further expand the scale of the population that the imperial examination could cover, the states also organized the state tribute examination, which was no longer limited to the state and county students. At the same time, all the state tribute candidates were exempted from the transfer of the household registration, so that they could calmly enter the capital to take the imperial examination.

At the same time, the two capitals were no longer limited to recommendations from students and incumbent officials. Talented people in the opposition were allowed to submit letters of recommendation to the officials and participate in the imperial examinations held by the Ministry of Rites in the autumn of that year to obtain the qualification of Juren.

After more than ten years of promotion and reform, the imperial examination finally had the atmosphere of a national talent selection ceremony. Every year, thousands of tribute candidates came to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and a huge talent pool was established for the country.

With sufficient talent reserves, the standards for selecting officials can be set higher, which also makes the performance evaluation pressure on Tang Dynasty officials very high.

In the past, there was an examination every year, and officials in the capital served for three years, and officials outside the capital served for four years. The results were then summarized to determine promotion or demotion. However, while the examination is now kept every year, if a person is rated as average or below for two consecutive years, he or she will be dismissed directly without having to wait until the end of his or her term. Moreover, those who are dismissed for this reason are not allowed to participate in the selection again within ten years. Only by passing the special examination set up by the court can the ten-year ban on selection be lifted.

However, the imperial examination was only a specialized examination for selecting scholars and was not held permanently. Even if it was held, usually only a dozen people or less were selected. Those who could stand out through the imperial examination were all outstanding talents.

This year's imperial examinations were similar to previous years, so the reports were submitted very quickly. There were more than 5,000 candidates who took the examinations, and the Ministry of Rites could not report the complete list directly to the emperor, so Li Tai could not find any familiar names among them, and could only read the results after they came out.

After discussing the imperial examinations, Li Tai thought of another matter, which was the management of the titles of the royal family. When the Tang Dynasty was newly established, there were still many things to deal with, so the titles of the royal family followed the previous dynasty and were not further adjusted.

Now it is the 17th year of Kaihuang. He has reached middle age, and his sons have married and been conferred titles one after another. Some of his brothers have passed away, and the clan has many new descendants, so the inheritance of titles and salaries also needs some rectification.

Li Tai then instructed Xu Ling to meet with the clan leader later and try to finalize the relevant regulatory reforms before the New Year so as not to delay the clan members' year-end ancestor worship.

The adjustment of the title of the royal family was basically to clarify the hierarchy of princes, county princes and successor princes. Li Tai's brothers and sons were naturally to be given the title of princes, while the brothers of the same grandfather were to be given the title of princes as the eldest and county princes as the rest. The successor prince was to be the same level as the county prince. The title of prince was to be passed down for five generations and the title of county prince was to be passed down for three generations. If there was no merit or favor among them, their country would be removed and they would only be included in the clan register.

The Longxi Li family already had a large lineage, and with some meritorious officials given surnames, the population of the clan grew exponentially with each generation. Without strict regulation, it would soon become a very serious problem. The situation was not serious during Li Tai's generation, thanks to Erzhu Rong, but it was time to take precautions.

He did not simply reduce the treatment of clan members, but encouraged them to make the best use of their talents and realize their ambitions. As long as they could pass the imperial examination, all clan members would be granted fifth-rank official positions, and they did not need to wait for the selection, but could participate in the selection and appointment of officials that year.

As long as the royal family members have certain talents, Li Tai is willing to pave the way for them to join the ruling system. But if they are just useless, they cannot be supported for generations. When it comes to the selection of officials, Li Tai also instructed Lu Changheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to give some preference to the children of meritorious officials, especially martyrs, and for officials who are transferred from military positions to civil positions, their actual talents should be considered more than their knowledge of classics and articles.

As the country has been established for a long time and the internal and external stability have gradually increased, the military affairs of the Tang Dynasty are no longer as frequent as they were at the beginning of the country, and the opportunities for military generals have also decreased accordingly. The demand for internal governance has gradually exceeded the external conquest and development. Many military generals have no choice but to become full-time civil officials, and some have even become prime ministers. Proper care for these officials is also in line with the development needs of the times.

After discussing several matters, it was already noon, and Li Tai was ready to clean up the clutter on his desk and have lunch. He did not invite the people who came to report matters to eat, not because he was stingy with a meal, but because few people were willing to accompany the leader to eat a working meal, and Li Tai was self-aware of this.

Lu Changheng had already stood up and was ready to leave, but Xu Ling had no intention of leaving. Instead, he came to the imperial desk and bowed, saying, "I have another matter to report to the sage. There are many discussions in the court and the public about the need to hold a grand ceremony of Fengshan. The court has also discussed this in previous years, but it has never been approved. Now the sea is peaceful and the river is clear, the national strength is strong, and the chaos and decadence since the Wei and Jin dynasties have been swept away. I also secretly believe that the sage should accept the will of heaven and govern the Chinese land and the people of the country. Now that he has made great achievements and has achieved fruitful results, he should report it to the heavens and repay this man-god!"

Lu Changheng, who was standing by, heard Xu Ling's report and was about to turn around and leave, but now he turned around and bowed to the Supreme Being above, saying, "Minister Xu, this is very good. I also request that you be enthroned!"

Since the Yongjia Rebellion and the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, China has been in ruins, morality has not flourished, and the world has been in decline and division for hundreds of years. It was not until the current Supreme Emperor wiped out the dissidents and unified the world that China's golden bowl was restored. After that, he worked hard to improve politics internally and made great military achievements externally, making the Tang Empire dominate all nations and awe-inspiring. The current Supreme Emperor was even promoted to Heavenly Khan by the leaders and chieftains of the various Barbarian states.

As early as the sixth year of Kaihuang, when the imperial court completely wiped out the remnants of the Northern Qi and subsequently recovered Liaodong, there were many voices in the court requesting Fengshan. However, Li Tai rejected this proposal on the grounds that the country was newly settled, the regions were not at peace, and the country was not rich. After that, whenever there was a major construction project inside or outside the court, people from both the court and the public would advocate Fengshan, but Li Tai never agreed.

It's not that he didn't want to perform Fengshan. After all, for the ancient emperors, the greatest honor was to perform Fengshan on Mount Tai and report their achievements to the heavens. It's just that most emperors knew their own limitations, and occasionally there would be a scumbag who would force himself to do so, which would ruin this most solemn and glorious ceremony passed down from ancient times. As a result, even if the emperors of later generations climbed Mount Tai again, they were too embarrassed to call it Fengshan, and could only watch the sunrise and satisfy their desire.

Of course, Li Tai could not refuse the temptation of Fengshan, but he had always felt that the time was not ripe. However, after being provoked year after year, he was actually ready to make a move. Now that Xu Ling and others mentioned this matter again, he could not hold back. After lowering his head and being silent for a long time, he said a little embarrassedly: "The Fengshan ceremony is far from being decided by two or three people. We need to discuss it with the people of the country. If everyone agrees, it can be carried out."

Xu Ling and the others were delighted to hear that the Supreme was obviously interested, and they hurriedly bowed and nodded in response. If they could successfully offer sacrifices to Emperor Taizong, it would not only be the glory of the emperor, but also the honor of their ministers at the time, and it would surely be a great success in the future!
Soon afterwards, a discussion about Fengshan broke out in the imperial court. However, as to whether Fengshan should be performed or not, there was not much discussion among the ministers. It seemed that everyone unanimously agreed that the issue was not worth discussing.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After all, the achievements made by the Tang Dynasty since its founding are obvious to all. The Eastern Yi, Western Qiang, Southern Barbarians and Northern Tartars all submitted to it. It can be said that it was an unprecedented prosperity since the rise of the Han Dynasty! Even the founding of the Tang Dynasty itself was a remarkable achievement. After the rise of the Five Barbarians, the Han Dynasty once again ruled the Chinese land!

Therefore, with a tacit understanding among the ministers, they skipped the question of whether or not the Fengshan ceremony should be held, and started discussing various aspects of the Fengshan ceremony, including its etiquette, regulations, and procedures.

The north and the south separated and then merged, so naturally there were two sources of inheritance in terms of the origin of the ritual system. Although in recent years they have been integrated and absorbed into the system of the Tang Dynasty, ceremonies such as Fengshan have never been involved before. Therefore, the specific etiquette that needs to be adopted for Fengshan immediately aroused discussion and dispute among the famous etiquette experts in the north and the south.

Faced with such public opinion, Li Tai was also somewhat amused. He had been rejected many times before, and this time, no one even gave him a chance to half-heartedly agree. Although the relevant ritual procedures still needed to be discussed, since it was decided to perform Fengshan, the preliminary preparations had to start now.

Then the court issued another order, appointing Yang Jian, Duke of Anguo and Secretary of the Central Secretariat, as the envoys for the Fengshan ceremony, and arranged the inspection and offering matters along the way to the east in advance. He also ordered Cui Zhongfang, the governor of Qingzhou, to supervise the construction of the Dai Temple in front of Mount Daizong for the emperor to stay. At the same time, he ordered the leaders of all nations to come to the court this winter and accompany the emperor on the eastern tour and Fengshan ceremony to Mount Daizong in the spring of next year.

The administrative power of the Tang Empire was extremely strong, and they were naturally very attentive to the Fengshan ceremony, which was a top priority in any feudal period. As the imperial court officially issued the order to Fengshan, various related personnel and materials began to quickly gather along the Yellow River. The Hanjia Granary in Luoyang, the eastern capital, alone stored 3 million dan of rice, which was enough to supply the Fengshan army and did not require the local government to impose additional taxes.

After a lot of intense preparations, by the beginning of the second spring, all matters related to the Fengshan ceremony had been prepared. A hundred thousand soldiers from various prefectures were led by the Left Guard General Ruo Feng and other Southern Guard Generals, and were divided into front and rear divisions and marched out in sequence.

Those accompanying the emperor included the two queens, the Duke of Liang, the Duke of Chen and other foreign guests and friends, the Duke of Jing Wei Xiaokuan led the meritorious officials and nobles, the Prime Minister Zhongshu Ling Liu Ang, the Minister of the Imperial Court Yan Zhiyi and others led the ministers inside and outside the court, and there were also royal relatives and elders from various tribes accompanying him.

The various tribal leaders were divided into the khans of the Eastern and Western Turks, the Tuyuhun Xihe King Murong Bo, and other tribal leaders who still retained their territories and subjects. Among them, Murong Bo was the son of Kwalu, the Tuyuhun Khan, who was returned to him when the emperor toured the west.

In the 15th year of the Kaihuang reign of the Tang Dynasty, the Khan of Tuyuhun, Kualu, resisted the imperial order and caused chaos in his territory. He was defeated by the Tang army and fled westward to the land of Shengqiang in the Subi Women's Kingdom in eastern Tibet. He was captured and beheaded by the Queen of Subi and presented to the Tang Dynasty. The Tuyuhun people lost their leader, and the Tang Emperor took pity on their people who were out of control, so he appointed Murong Bo as their leader and granted him the title of King of Xihe.

Likewise, some people such as King Gao Tang of Goguryeo, who had lost their country and was annexed by the Tang Dynasty, had already settled down in the Tang Dynasty and were now accompanying the emperor.

There were as many as a hundred Hu lords both inside and outside the country, plus the varying numbers of their entourage, so a team of more than ten thousand people was formed. Their customs, clothing, and appearance were different, and they formed a distinctive landscape in this huge Fengshan team.

The Fengshan team officially set out from Chang'an in late spring in March and toured eastward, stopping and visiting local areas along the way. When they arrived at the foot of Mount Taizong, it was already midsummer in May.

I won't go into detail about what happened along the way. When Li Tai arrived at the foot of Mount Tai, which lost its original name because of him, he was filled with emotion. He recalled all the experiences since his defeat at Mount Mang and his hasty escape to the west. He recalled the hardships and glory of his half-life in the military, the battles in the south and the north, and the peddler selling trekking poles at the Red Gate of Mount Tai in later generations...

“It’s still not lively enough!”

Unlike the highly commercialized Mount Tai scenic area in later generations, the current Mount Tai still maintains a rather primitive state even though it began preparing for the Fengshan ceremony and repairing the mountain climbing road last year. Only the guards and flags and cultural relics arranged from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain reveal the solemnity of this era, which is far from comparable to the tourist teams in later generations who got off the bus and waved the guide flags.

Li Tai did not choose to climb the mountain in a sedan chair, but wore fashionable clothes and climbed up the stairs step by step, just like he had been doing since he came to this world. As the mountain rose, his breathing became a little rapid, and various images in his mind, whether from past lives or this life, emerged one after another, blending and splicing in his mind, forming a series of bizarre images, which made it difficult for him to distinguish between reality and illusion for a while, and he became a little dazed.

This trance state continued until they reached the top of Mount Tai and stayed overnight at the Daci next to the Circular Mound on the top of the mountain. Li Tai could not sleep that night. The various images surging in his mind made him more and more uneasy and worried. Occasionally, he could hear the noise of tourists waiting in the corridor of the hotel on the top of the mountain to enjoy the sunrise, and sometimes the mountains shouted "Long live the sunrise" together. He could no longer distinguish what was real and what was fake.

It was not until dawn the next day that an eunuch entered the tent and reported: "Your Majesty, the auspicious time is approaching. All the officials are waiting outside the main hall for your arrival."

Li Tai was still a little dazed and didn't say much. He just sat up from the couch and let the waiter come forward to put on his robes and crown.

When he walked out of the tent, a cold mountain wind blew in his face. The eastern sky was white with golden light. On the top of Mount Taizong, flags were flying like a forest. The civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty and the chieftains of the four barbarians all bowed and said, "Long live our emperor..."

This scene and this voice were like a sharp sword that split the fog, instantly clearing up Li Tai's foggy mind. His eyes regained their firmness and sharpness. He took the inscription on the jade tablet handed over by Prime Minister Yan Zhiyi beside the Circular Mound, and slowly stepped onto the high platform step by step. Facing the rising sun in the east that was casting endless golden light on the world, he said loudly: "Emperor Tai, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, was appointed by Heaven to establish the highest position in the universe, unify the world, and put an end to wars throughout the country. Now I lead all the ministers to ascend the throne to announce the success and announce it to the Lord of Heaven..."

"The Complete Book"

Li Tai has completed his Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, and I have to say here that the main plot of this book has come to an end. Thank you for your support over the past two years. I am very excited after writing this. I will write a post tomorrow when I calm down a little, to formally thank you for your support and love, and to summarize this book, as well as some thoughts on the follow-up. Thank you very much!!!