Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 599 Confiscating the house
Zhezong said: "My uncle Zhao Mu suppressed the rebellion and returned power to me. His loyalty is known to the sun and the moon. I hereby decree that my uncle be named the 'Second Emperor' of the Song Dynasty. He retains the title of emperor. Qi State will be removed from the vassal state and renamed 'Second Song'. The territory of Qi State will still be under the control of my uncle. My uncle can perform the ceremonial procession of the Son of Heaven and submit a memorial without calling himself a subject. All the etiquette and rituals are equal to those of the emperor. All the states in Anxi can respect my uncle as their lord."

After Zhezong finished speaking, Zhao Mu bowed and thanked him, saying, "Your Majesty, I, Zhao Mu, thank you for your grace!"

Seeing Zhao Mu and Zhezong singing the same tune, all the officials were speechless.

I feel like these two are being a bit too frivolous.

Let's talk about the matter of returning power to Zhezong first. Logically speaking, for such a big event, even if there is no platform for offering sacrifices to heaven, there should be a grand ceremony in the Taimiao. But Zhao Mu and Zhezong did not do that. Zhezong just walked up and Zhao Mu walked down. The matter of returning power was over.

Moreover, when Zhezong gave Zhao Mu the title of "Zhong Emperor", everyone naturally understood that it meant "Vice Emperor".

But how should people address Zhao Mu in the future? Calling him Your Highness would be wrong. Calling him Your Majesty? That doesn't seem right either. If we call him Your Majesty, how can there be two Your Majesties in this world?
However, no one raised any objection. After all, it was a foregone conclusion that Zhao Mu would return power to Zhezong. If people gossiped about it now, they might offend Zhezong.

And Zhao Mu's army has not retreated yet, and the city defense in the capital is under the control of the 20,000 troops under Zhao Mu's command.

If he said something that offended Zhao Mu, it would be more trouble than gain.

So everyone simply pretended to be deaf and dumb and watched quietly the farce between Zhao Mu and Zhezong that seemed like "playing house".

Zhezong felt a little embarrassed to see Zhao Mu standing alone in the hall, so he ordered the eunuchs around him to bring a chair for Zhao Mu.

Then the eunuchs brought a chair and placed it under the throne in the hall, and then invited Zhao Mu to sit down.

Looking at the spectacle of two emperors in one dynasty, the ministers were truly enlightened today.

However, the peaceful transfer of power and Zhao Mu's abdication were good things for most officials in Bianliang City.

Only the royal family and nobles of Taizu's line were unhappy and cursed Zhao Mu for being useless.

Afterwards, Zhezong began to govern the country, and all officials reported to him one by one.

Zhao Mu sat on the chair, silent as a log, and only made some additions when some official business that Zhezong didn't know about was mentioned.

Zhao Mu sat at the bottom, sometimes looking at Zhezong, sometimes looking at the officials.

Zhao Mu sighed in his heart, thinking that what he said was fake was fake.

Although Cheoljong has not been to work for more than half a year, he is still familiar with the rules and regulations of the court.

If Zhao Mu asked about or dealt with some things, he might have to spend half an hour with everyone, but Zhezong took care of everything in just a few words.

Zhao Mu also felt that it was a great fortune for the country to have such a monarch.

Zhao Mu was quite happy at the moment. Huizong was overthrown by him, and Zhezong survived. The Song Dynasty could still prosper in the future.

As for myself, I have been the emperor for a few days, and I have finally satisfied my addiction.

Even Zhezong allowed him to keep the title of emperor, which can be said to be a great honor.

Although he was only the "Son of the Western Heaven" and the "Second Emperor", Zhao Mu was already satisfied. Now he had face, status, money, and women. This was the life he wanted.

The court meeting lasted for an hour, and at this grand meeting, all officials also reassured Zhezong.

However, there were no major issues. General matters such as disaster relief, rebellion suppression, and criminal justice were handled by the six ministries, so the emperor did not need to worry too much.

But in the end, everyone had a disagreement on one thing. This was about how to deal with Huizong. Some advocated that Prince Duan be executed and his family be exterminated. Others supported a minor punishment and a severe warning, and lifelong confinement.

Of course, there were no fools present, and they all put the blame for the usurpation on Huizong. No one dared to mention the Empress Dowager Xiang, the instigator.

In the end, Zhao Mu stood up and proposed that the three courts of Zongzhengfu, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple jointly judge the case and sentence Prince Duan to death for treason. All of Prince Duan's family members were taken into slavery and their property was confiscated.

Zhezong also gave Zhao Mu face and commended Zhao Mu's contributions. He made Prince Duan's family slaves and made them Zhao Mu's property, and all the confiscated property also belonged to Zhao Mu.

As for Prince Consort Wang, there was no disagreement. Everyone advocated killing him.

The case of Wang Fu Ma colluding with Prince Duan to rebel was tried by the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and Kaifeng Prefecture. Afterwards, the officials of Wang Fu Ma's three clans were beheaded, and the rest of his family members were all sent to slavery and the male members were exiled to Lingnan.

As for the eldest princess, Zhao Mu pleaded for her in court, so she was confined in the Zongzheng Mansion and forced to reflect on her mistakes.

Finally, Zhezong began to assign tasks, and the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, Kaifeng Prefecture, and the Zongzheng Prefecture were to interrogate Prince Duan and his wife. However, there was nothing to interrogate, it was just a formality to make a record.

But even if it's just a formality, you should still ask about it as a routine.

Zhao Mu led his men to search Prince Duan's mansion. To search the Princess's mansion, Zhezong sent Su Che.

After the court meeting ended, everyone received their orders.

The troops that Zhao Mu led to search Prince Duan's mansion were the Imperial Guards.

The people Su Che brought with him were officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Dragon Guards who were responsible for supervision.

After Zhao Mu stabilized the government, he asked the Ministry of Justice to cancel the wanted order for all the Conglong Guards, and issued documents to order them to return to the capital to report on their duties. Except for Conglong Huang, Conglong Hong died in the line of duty, and Conglong Di was seriously injured and retired. Conglong Xuan and Conglong Huang are still outside Qiguo. The rest of the Conglong Guards have returned.

There is no need to mention Su Che's side, let's just talk about Zhao Mu's side.

After Zhao Mu returned home and changed out of his dragon robe and crown, he mounted his Han horse and led a large group of imperial guards to Prince Duan's mansion.

Although Prince Duan had been the emperor for more than half a year, his foundation was unstable, and he was at war with Emperor Zhaomu, and Emperor Zhezong was still living in the palace. Except for Queen Wang, Concubine Zheng, and Concubine Wei, the rest of Prince Duan's family members still lived in Prince Duan's mansion. They had not yet been canonized.

After Zhao Mu took control of the imperial city, he imprisoned Prince Duan in the Heavenly Prison, and then placed them all under house arrest in Prince Duan's mansion.

As the Imperial Guards and the Imperial City Administration completed the handover, Zhao Mu slowly walked into Prince Duan's Mansion.

Although Zhao Mu had lived in the capital for quite some time, he had not interacted much with most of the nobles. This was also his first visit to Prince Duan's Mansion.

Zhao Mu put his hands behind his back and looked around arrogantly.

"As expected of Song Huizong who enjoys elegance, the furnishings in his palace are much more tasteful than those in my Qi Palace." Zhao Mu thought as he walked.

Seeing the large group of people suddenly rushing in, the servants in Prince Duan's mansion were all frightened.

Zhao Mu said to the accompanying guards, "Carefully check the items in the middle and front yards, and then move them to the central yard for inventory. Move all the servants in the front yard here. As for the back yard, I will go check it out first."

The guards immediately shouted, "We obey your orders!" Then the commander of the guards began to send people to arrest the family members in the mansion.

After Zhao Mu finished speaking, he went straight to the backyard of the palace where Queen Wang and others were imprisoned.

(End of this chapter)