After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 947: The New King Ascends the Throne
Hai Xiya began a busy working life.

Although he could go home as usual every night, it was usually very late when he got home. He only had time to eat a quick midnight snack, wash up simply, and then fall asleep. He had to get up again at dawn the next morning, eat a quick breakfast, dress warmly, and rush to the Ministry of Revenue to continue working.

Ma felt sorry for her husband, so she asked her family to drive him between her home and the government office every day. However, the Hai family was not far from Zhengyangmen Street, and the straight-line distance between the Hai family and the Ministry of Revenue was not long, but more than half of the distance was too much for Hai Jiao, a man of his rank, to travel by car or horse, so he could only walk. At most, he would take a nap in the car in the morning, and then get off the car again to continue on his way, or get on the car halfway on his way home, and just use the heater in the car to warm himself up a little before he got home. In fact, it didn't increase his sleep time much, it was better than nothing.

During the busy days at Haixi Cliff, the palace held a ceremony to enthronize the new emperor. The new emperor also formally conferred titles on his grandmother, Empress Dowager Zhou, as Grand Empress Dowager, and his biological mother, Imperial Noble Consort Xu, as Empress Dowager. The rest of the imperial father's concubines were all given additional titles, and even Consort Hu, who died shortly after giving birth to the little prince, was posthumously conferred the title of Grand Concubine. Only the deceased Concubine Sun was not mentioned at all. It was only at this time that Empress Wu, who had passed away many years ago, was officially posthumously conferred the title of Empress Dowager, with the title of the first empress of the previous emperor, Emperor Deguang, and a honorific title was added. The third prince, who died with Empress Wu, was posthumously conferred the title of Prince Dehui, which was considered to be a justification for his former status as the crown prince.

In addition, Concubine Liu Shu and the fourth prince, who had been persecuted by Concubine Sun, were also posthumously honored. The former was posthumously honored as Concubine Dowager, and the latter was posthumously honored as King. The new emperor also issued an order to select an heir from the royal family to inherit his brother's incense.

In contrast, the Sixth Prince, who also died early, did not receive any extra favors because he was born to Concubine Sun. He only continued the rewards given to this beloved son by the previous emperor. The new emperor never mentioned either the title of heir or the title of fiefdom.

Apart from the Sixth Prince, the new emperor even gave posthumous titles to his two deceased brothers whom he had never met, so he would naturally not be stingy with his Seventh and Ninth Princes who were still alive. The Seventh Prince was named King Kang, and was granted a palace, a royal farm, and a number of gold, pearls, and silk. The Ninth Prince was named King Qi, and because he was still young, he was temporarily raised in the inner court, so no palace or property was arranged for him.

In addition to the royal family, there are also graces among the princes of the royal family. However, compared with the grace and rewards given to the royal family by the previous emperor when he ascended the throne, the new emperor's hand seems much more stingy. However, the royal family has no objection at all. After all, they were just implicated by the Ji Wang Mansion and almost involved in a major treason case. They were able to escape safely and were rewarded. What else can they complain about? Even the two old princes and Prince An were rewarded, which shows that the emperor's grace is great. The new emperor is kind and is completely different from the previous emperor. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.

After the royal family, the new emperor rewarded the foreign officials according to their merits, but most of them were only rewarded with gold, silver and treasures, and very few were promoted to higher positions. However, the Marquis of Yingchuan received a red-lettered iron certificate, which was more practical than a title.

The new emperor also issued a general amnesty. Except for the "ten unpardonable" serious crimes, all minor crimes were pardoned. Some officials who were exiled and dismissed from their posts and persecuted by the Sun family were also pardoned this time. The whole country celebrated, and officials and people praised the emperor's grace. When the new emperor issued another decree, the next year would be the provincial examination, and the year after that would be the imperial examination. This made the scholars all over the world very happy. Everyone immediately focused on the special examination, and they didn't care about commenting on the new emperor and the Sun family.

Although the new emperor was still young, and it was unknown which elder or important minister in the cabinet had given him advice, the few letters of grace had a significant effect. The world was immediately settled, and the capital was extremely peaceful. No one was stirring up any waves. As for the Sun family trapped at home, they seemed to have been forgotten by the world. At this time, Haijiao finally got a vacation and returned home.

The whole family was overjoyed. Although Hai Chang'an was still stationed in the neighborhood where the entire Sun family lived and could not even take a day off, there had been no news about Hai Jiao. Now that he could finally return home safely, how could his family not be happy for him?
After being separated for more than half a month, Haijiao still looks the same as before he left home, but his whole temperament seems to be different, with a different kind of vigor and vitality.

When he sat down and talked to his family about his reward for merit, they realized that he had been promoted. Although he was still a Jinyiwei in name, he had been given the real title of a centurion, which was hereditary. He was no longer just a newly promoted Jinyiwei officer who had passed the military examination, but had truly taken root in the Jinyiwei. No matter how his superiors changed, his position in the guard could not be easily shaken.

Hai Jiao smiled and said, "After all, I have little experience and I am young, so it is difficult for the emperor to promote me to the position of Zhenfu all at once. He simply awarded me a centurion, so that I can have a more stable position in the guards and speak with more confidence. Tao Ge Lao said that it would be more practical for me to get this centurion than to be a Zhenfu of the fourth rank. After all, if a Zhenfu makes a mistake, he may be dismissed at any time, but as a centurion, as long as I don't commit an unforgivable felony, even if I lose my position, I will still be a centurion, and I can pass it on to my descendants in the future. When I think about He Baisheng, the centurion I met in Suzhou before, and how he has been promoted so quickly now, I feel that what Tao Ge Lao said makes a lot of sense. Even if someone laughs at me for having made great contributions, it is still an experience, and I have nothing to be dissatisfied with."

Hai Xiya laughed and scolded, "Of course you have nothing to be dissatisfied with! You have received such a great benefit, if you are still not satisfied, Grandpa will beat you! Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. You have only made some insignificant contributions, what's the big deal? How dare you despise the emperor's grace? A hundred households is still a sixth rank, you have been promoted three levels in a row. The emperor's grace is great, you should be more attentive to your duties and not slack off!"

Haijiao hurriedly stood up and saluted, then responded with a smile.

Ma pulled her grandson aside and asked him in detail, "What happened that night? Your grandfather didn't explain it clearly, and I don't know how you accomplished the feat. Are you injured? Don't try to fool me! You haven't been home for so many days, and I don't know you were injured. You have to tell the truth, and don't let me know the truth from other people and worry about you at home."

Haijiao laughed and said, "It's really nothing serious, just a few scrapes and a scratch on my soft armor, so I need to make a new one. But my minor skin injuries will heal in two days after applying medicine. After returning to Beijing, I can directly serve in front of the emperor and don't need to apply medicine at all. As for the soft armor, although it has a hole, my cotton jacket inside is fine, and it is far from my flesh. Zhou Yijun gave me a new set of soft armor, so my family doesn't have to worry about making a new one for me." As he spoke, he pulled open his outer jacket to show his grandmother the close-fitting jacket inside. It was still the one he wore when he left home, and it was indeed not damaged at all.

Ma finally breathed a sigh of relief and had the leisure to scold her grandson with a smile: "Even if it's just a little skin breakage, you can't hide it! Apply the medicine when necessary, but don't leave scars, or your wife will despise you when you get married!"