The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 342 New Era
On the 25th of the first lunar month, Guo Wei led his army to the suburb of Qili and ordered the army to set up camp.

There was a small village called Gaomen Village where the army was stationed. On the day of arrival, Guo Wei had nothing to do, so he called Wang Jun, Zhu Xiu, Li Chongjin, and Wei Renpu, and took a dozen famous Yundu soldiers into Gaomen Village for a stroll.

This small village located on the northeastern outskirts of Kaifeng is much wealthier than Zhao Village in Liuzipo. Every household has a house with a courtyard wall and tiles, and the roads in the village are flat and peach trees are planted on both sides.

It's not the flowering season yet, and there are only a few flowers sprouting from the branches of the trees.

Even so, it is amazing to see such an elegant scenery in a small village.

A villager from Gaomen Village, surnamed Li, is over eighty years old. He has white hair and a boyish face. He is holding a black-painted peach wood stick. He stands on the side of the road and talks to Guo Wei. He does not show any timidity even after Guo Wei reveals his identity.

Many villagers carrying firewood and hoes passed by in twos and threes. They were not afraid of Guo Wei and his party and cast curious glances.

"Guo Situ, do you know why our villagers in Gaomen Village are different from other places?"

Mr. Li Cun stroked his long silver beard and asked with a smile.

Guo Wei smiled and said: "Gaomen Village is indeed different from other places. The people here seem to be used to seeing high-ranking officials and are not afraid at all when they see officials or soldiers."

Li Cunlao said with a smile: "Does Guo Situ know the reason?"

"Please give me advice, Mr. Li." Guo Wei said with a smile.

Village elder Li said slowly: "Because the villagers of Gaomen Village, counting two or three generations up, all of their families are officials."

"Oh?!" Guo Wei was shocked, and Zhu Xiu and others also looked at each other.

"Please tell Mr. Li in detail." Guo Wei said hurriedly.

Li Cunlao said with a smile: "Since the fourth year of Emperor Ai Tianyou, the ancestors of the villagers in Gaomen Village have served in the imperial courts of the past dynasties, ranging from the ministers of the prime ministers to the officials of the six departments. On the ancestral tablets enshrined in every household, ten out of ten Eight or nine people have official status. The villagers all have relatives who are officials, and they are used to seeing officers and soldiers, so why would they be afraid?"

"That's it!" Guo Wei suddenly realized, looked at Mr. Li Cun, and said with a smile: "Look at Mr. Li, he looks like a scholar. I wonder which dynasty he served as an official when the emperor was in power?"

Li Cunlao waved his hand and said: "He is half buried in the loess. His past fame and wealth have long since disappeared like a passing cloud of smoke. They are not worth mentioning. Guo Situ doesn't need to ask any more questions."

After a pause, Mr. Li Cun smiled and said, "Does Guo Situ know Jing Yanguang?"

Guo Wei said in surprise: "Of course I know! Jing Yanguang was a favored minister of the Emperor Gaozu of the Jin Dynasty. He was extremely powerful for a while. He was entrusted by the Emperor Gaozu of the Jin Dynasty to support him. He was the most powerful official in the dynasty when Emperor Shi Chonggui came out!"

"Haha, I am his biological uncle!" Mr. Li Cun said calmly.

These words were like a bombshell, shocking Guo Wei, Zhu Xiu and others.

No one knows the name of Jing Yanguang, and it has only been four or five years since Jing Yanguang committed suicide, seven to eight years in the past. He can be called a name that is inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.

And the Mr. Li Cun in front of him turned out to be Jing Yanguang's uncle. So a few years ago, when Emperor Chu Shi Chonggui was in power, this Mr. Li Cun must have been a prominent figure in the court.

"May I ask my father-in-law your name?" Guo Wei solemnly bowed his head again.

Zhu Xiu, Wang Jun, Wei Renpu and others also saluted him.

Only Li Chongjin, the black man, stood there boredly and yawned.

"People who live in seclusion have already stopped asking about worldly affairs, so why should Guo Situ ask again?"

Li Cunlao shook his head with a smile and refused to reveal his name.

Elder Li Cun sighed, and said quietly: "Back then, Jing Yanguang strongly advocated breaking with the Khitan, and he was the strongest anti-Khitan faction in the court. The old man once advised him not to act too radically. The Shi Jin Dynasty relied on the Khitan to establish the country, gone With the Khitan's support, how could Shi Jingtang invade Bianliang from Hedong and establish himself as the leader of the world?

Shi Jin's founding of the country was inherently unfair, and he could not easily break away from the Khitan in the future.Sure enough, Shi Chonggui listened to Jing Yanguang's words, stopped paying the annual tribute to Khitan, and sent more troops to Dingzhou, which finally angered Yelu Deguang. In the 12th year of Tianfu and the third year of Kaiyun, Yelu Deguang's army went south and swept across Hebei. horrible disaster
Jing Yanguang was so stubborn that he ended up harming others and himself, and ended up strangling himself."

Mr. Li Cun couldn't help sighing, his eyes filled with vicissitudes of life were full of nostalgia.

Thinking about the major events that happened in Shi Jin's court back then, he should have witnessed them all with his own eyes.

Jing Yanguang was a man worthy of Yun Wen and Yun Wu, and was deeply trusted and used by Shi Jingtang.

After the founding of the country, Shi Jingtang held the post of commander of the bodyguard, horse, infantry, and infantry forces as well as the power of the prime minister. He was responsible for military and state affairs, and he also managed domestic affairs in an orderly manner. He was considered a rare talent.

This person also had some national integrity and refused to pay tribute to the Khitan as a vassal. He was obsessed with regaining the ceded land of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun.

Yelu Deguang and the rest of the Khitan royal family hated him deeply, and Jing Yanguang was quite famous in the army and among the people.

It was just that he misjudged the situation between the enemy and ourselves, was blindly arrogant, and encouraged Shi Chonggui to fall out with Yelv Deguang before the time was ripe, which directly led to the disastrous consequences of one hundred thousand Khitan cavalry going south.

The ending was that Kaifeng City was captured by the Khitans, Jin Emperor Shi Chonggui was sent to Liaodong by Yelu Deguang, Jing Yanguang committed suicide by strangulation, and the Shi Jin Dynasty perished.
Everyone was sighing. This big change that changed the world trend was only four or five years ago.

"Did my father-in-law leave Kaifeng at that time and come to live in seclusion in Gaomen Village?" Guo Wei asked with concern.

Li Cunlao sighed: "It was useless to persuade Jing Yanguang. I had a premonition that the world would be in chaos, so I resigned from office on the grounds of illness and settled in Gaomen Village. It has been seven years now."

"My father-in-law has such a sharp gaze!" Guo Wei sighed with admiration.

Mr. Li Cun smiled, and changed the topic: "Guo Situ is going to Kaifeng to be the emperor. I don't know how he will treat the Khitan people in the future?"

Guo Wei was startled, but he showed a bit of shame. He cupped his hands and said, "I'm joking."

Li Cunlao waved his hand: "Guo Situ has powerful soldiers and is famous throughout the world. Who else in the world can compete with him? For the position of emperor, there is no one else except Guo Situ! What's more, the world is in chaos and needs a strong monarch. , led the army and people of the Han family to eliminate internal strife, drive away the barbarians and Di, and restore the prosperity of our Han family.

Guo Situ established the world and created a new dynasty, which is what people want and everyone hopes for, no need to be humble! "

Guo Wei's face turned a little red, and he felt very excited as if he had been inspired, and even his breathing became faster.

This old man from Li Village has an extraordinary status and is very old. Even he said this. Doesn't it prove that Guo Wei's ascension to the throne is an unstoppable trend?

Wang Jun curled his lips and muttered in a low voice: "Flattery!"

Zhu Xiu glanced at him with a mocking look on his face. Wang Jun had already said similar things to Guo Wei in front of Guo Wei, but he could say it but others couldn't?
"Guo Situ hasn't answered my question yet." Mr. Li Cun smiled and twirled his beard.

Guo Wei pondered for a moment: "The Khitan is a serious problem in the Central Plains. It will be our biggest foreign enemy for a long time in the future. Solving the Khitan chaos will not happen overnight. We can only work step by step and work steadily. First, we must recover the Youyun Ten Targeting the six prefectures, we drove the Khitans out to the north of the Great Wall, and finally rebuilt the Songmo Governor's Mansion, and used the policy of restraining the emperor to pacify the barbarians in Liaodong." Mr. Li Cun said happily: "Guo Situ can think so, I feel relieved. Khitan I have grown up and have studied the etiquette and systems of our Han family for many years. I am no longer the eight Khitan tribes who drink blood. Wanting to make them surrender to the Central Plains again is not a mission that one or two generations can complete. This is a battle for the destiny of the country, and it must not be done In a hurry.”

Guo Wei said in a deep voice: "Fortunately, the upper echelons of the Khitan are fighting for power and will not be able to go south in a short time. We, the Central Plains, still have a chance to breathe. From now on, we should eliminate the civil strife, wipe out the evil groups, gather the strength of all the people in the north and the south, regain our homeland, and restore our homeland." To promote the glory of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, we will not teach the barbarians and the barbarians to dare to spy on our country again!"

Li Cunlao tremblingly bowed and saluted: "For the unfinished business of our predecessors, we all have to rely on Guo Situ! I hope Guo Situ will revive our Han family as soon as possible, protect our people, defend our mountains and rivers, and prevent our Han people from returning." Suffering from the intrusion of the barbarians!"

"Old man, please forgive me!" Guo Wei hurriedly supported him.

Zhu Xiu looked at Mr. Li Cun, whose face was moved and full of tears. Based on this old man's age, he should have been born in the Xiantong period of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty. He had experienced the last glory of the Tang Dynasty and witnessed the Tang Dynasty with his own eyes. The country collapsed suddenly, and experienced military disasters in successive vassals and towns, dynasties changed, and imperial power alternated.

When he was young, the Tang Dynasty had already declined, but it still maintained its absolute suppression of the barbarians.

In his middle age, the Tang Dynasty fell, the Central Plains regime changed, and the Khitan people emerged from the white mountains and black waters.

In his later years, the Central Plains was still in constant war, while in the north, the Khitan people had grown stronger, and under the leadership of a generation of hero Abaoji, they established a country and proclaimed themselves emperor.

The life of this old man surnamed Li is a true portrayal of the ups and downs of the Han people in the Central Plains in the past 70 to [-] years.

In the evening, Guo Wei and his party left Gaomen Village and returned to the army station.

Before leaving, Guo Wei strongly invited Li Cunlao to go to Kaifeng with him, but Li Cunlao declined.

That night, Fan Zhi, the minister of the Ministry of War, came on the order of the Queen Mother. Guo Wei set up the incense case and led the generals to kneel down to welcome him.

Fan Zhi read out the Queen Mother's order in public, and ordered Guo Wei to supervise the country, and take charge of domestic and foreign military and state affairs. Guo Wei thanked him for accepting the order.

At the same time, it was announced in the imperial edict that the heir Liu Yun had a shallow moral character. On the way to Kaifeng after accepting the imperial edict from the Queen Mother, he got drunk and slept with a prostitute. He was disrespectful to the ancestors and the late emperor in his words, which was unbecoming. He is now deposed as the heir and demoted to the title of Duke of Xiangyin. , temporarily staying in Songzhou, waiting for investigation by a department.

Poor Liu Yun's identity as the heir to the throne has not yet been warmed up, but he was covered with a ridiculous charge of excessive playfulness and shallow moral character. He was deprived of his identity as the heir to the throne and stayed in Songzhou to wait for his fate.

Early the next morning, Guo Wei led the army and set off for Kaifeng.

On the 27th day of the first lunar month, Prime Minister Su Yugui and Crown Prince Taibao Dou Zhengu led a group of ministers to kneel at the Chaoyang Gate in the east outer city of Kaifeng. Guo Wei led the newly formed forbidden army into the city, and the rest of the troops were temporarily stationed in Wengcheng.

On the 28th of the first lunar month, Guo Wei met with Queen Mother Li in Kunning Palace.

Shortly afterwards, a royal edict stamped with a precious seal came out from Zhongshu Province and was announced to the world.

"Guo Wei, the supervisor of the country, has been appointed by the emperor to be the emperor!"

In an instant, there was a burst of joy inside and outside Kaifeng.

Everywhere in the inner and outer cities and palaces of Kaifeng, large green flags were put on, with a huge Chinese character "zhou" embroidered with gold thread on the flags!

Early the next morning, Guo Wei wore the emperor's crown, rode in a six-horse imperial chariot, and under the protection of the bodyguards led by Shi Yanchao and Wang Yanchao, entered the palace from Xuande Gate, visited the Long Live Hall, and accepted the worship of the officials.

It was Fan Zhi who read out the imperial edict on his accession to the throne, announcing that the name of the country would be Zhou, changing the fourth year of Qianyou to the first year of Guangshun, and granting amnesty to the whole country.

In the next few days, memorials from various vassal towns came like a snowflake.

Within the territory of the original Liu Han Dynasty, except for Liu Chong, the governor of Hedong, all the vassal towns, states and counties expressed their willingness to be loyal to the new Zhou Dynasty.

On the tenth day of February, Liu Chong published an eloquent revolt in Taiyuan to the people of the world, angrily and angrily denounced Guo Wei for usurping the throne and seizing power. At the same time, he announced that he would proclaim himself emperor in Taiyuan, inherit the title of Liu Han's country, and use the reign title of the fourth year of Qianyou.

Guo Wei also issued an order immediately, declaring the Hedong Army to be rebellious, and ordered Li Jun, the military governor of Hezhong, to strengthen precautions and mobilize his troops and generals to prepare for a large-scale conquest of Hedong.

The new dynasty was established, and the Zhou Dynasty inherited Liu Han's territory without bloodshed. Empress Dowager Li also completed her mission and moved into the Buddhist hall deep in the Taiping Palace, where she could recite Buddhist scriptures with peace of mind from then on.

If nothing else happens, Queen Mother Li will never step out of the palace again in this life, and she will die in front of the Buddha.

After the establishment of the new dynasty, Guo Wei decreed that Empress Dowager Li should still be respected as the Empress Dowager and given the title "Zhao Sheng", so that her honor would not be reduced.

In the next few days, a series of awards were also announced.

His wife Chai was posthumously named Queen Shengmu.

Zhang was granted the title of Noble Concubine, and Chai Rong's wife Liu Ehui was granted the title of Lady of Pengcheng County.

Guo Tong was named King of Yan, Guo Xin was named King of Qi, Chai Zongyi was named King of Yue, Chai Zongcheng was named King of Wu, and Chai Zongzhu was named King of Han.
Chai Rong was granted the title of Duke of Taiyuan, and Li Chongjin was granted the title of Duke of Hanoi. He was appointed as the envoy of the Huai Army and the governor of Suzhou.

Zhang Yongde was granted the title of Duke of Shangdang County, general of the left guard, and all the four commanders of the Inner Palace Zhi Xiaodi. He was also made the commander-in-chief of the Prince Consort and the governor of Hezhou.

Guo Qing, the wife of Zhang Yongde, was granted the title of Princess of Jin.

Zhang Yongde suddenly became the most prominent general of the imperial army in the Zhou Dynasty.

Weirenpu was granted the title of Founding County Duke of Ji County, with a settlement of [-] households, a bachelor of Wende Palace, a Privy Councilor, and General You Yulin.

Wang Jun was granted the title of Duke of Kaiguo County in Anyang County, and he also granted the title of privy envoy to two thousand households.

Fu Yanqing, the governor of the Taining Army who was still in Yanzhou, was granted the title of King of Huaiyang, and Gao Xingzhou was granted the title of King of Qi.

Even Murong Yanchao won the appointment of the governor of Yanzhou and stayed in Yanzhou as Fu Yanqing's deputy.

Another figure who aroused criticism from both the government and the public was Fan Zhi. Fan Zhi went from being a Hanlin scholar with no actual title to serving as minister of the Ministry of War. In just half a month, before his buttocks were even hot, he was promoted to deputy envoy to the Privy Council and concurrently served as minister of the Ministry of War. The minister became one of the most prominent powerful figures in the new court.

In a short period of time, Fan Zhi was promoted like a rocket class, and became an upstart in the imperial court in one fell swoop. His deeds were compiled into a story book and widely praised in Kaifeng city.

Although Zhu Xiu was ranked at the front of the list of merits, for some reason, he was the last to be awarded the reward.

He was granted the title of Marquis of the Founding of Dingyuan County, with a settlement of [-] households, and was granted the title of Deputy Envoy of the Huai Army, and was appointed governor of the State.

Finally, there is one more sentence, and he is limited to leave for Suzhou to take up the post within three days.

(End of this chapter)