Thief Emperor

Chapter 900: Fame and Wealth
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, the Taiji Hall held another grand court session, during which the eunuchs announced the already drawn-up list of rewards.

In fact, a lot of this list has been leaked by now. After all, Zhou and his son have already heard about it.

However, when it was announced at this time, some people were happy and some were worried.

It is not so bad for civil officials, as they can be granted the title of earl, but for military generals, the only title they can get is the title of marquis.

When the eunuch who read the imperial edict reached the end, he paused and continued: "I hereby confer the title of Duke of Ying on Liu Bo, the Chief of the Nine Departments, and the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery on Zhang Hu."

These two imperial titles are listed at the end because they were added by Li Yun temporarily.

Originally, he had been hesitating whether to confer an imperial title on Liu Bo at this time.

Because although Liu Bo has done countless things and made countless contributions over the years, they were all done in the dark, and many people are not aware of it or even don't know about it.

Originally, Li Yun planned to hide him for a while, and then confer a title on him after the world was completely unified and stabilized.

But after much thought, Li Yun still added this list. After all, although more titles could be added later, the value of this first batch of titles would be different from those that would be added later.

The group of people who are now being conferred titles are all genuine founding heroes.

As for Zhang Hu, it is even simpler, it is entirely because of his qualifications.

He was the first one to follow Li Yun, no doubt about it. Although the two brothers had some unpleasant experiences during the process of starting a business, and Zhang Hu finally only achieved the rank of captain, after twenty or thirty years of friendship, he should at least be given a title, even if he did not get a high-ranking official position.

After the eunuch finished reading the last name, Li Yun stood up, glanced at the officials below, and said calmly: "All imperial edicts for conferring titles will be issued within this month. The corresponding official uniforms and crowns will probably take a little longer, but will be issued within half a year."

"He who has won a knighthood."

Li put his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice, "Don't be complacent, and don't bully the people by taking advantage of your power. I know about this."

"I won't forgive you."

He glanced at the ministers below and continued, "Those who did not receive the title should not be too depressed. This time, there will inevitably be omissions in the rewards, and the court's great cause has not yet been accomplished, so there will be many opportunities in the future."

"When I award the next prize, I will fill in the gaps and award new meritorious officials."

Civil and military officials knelt on the ground to thank the emperor for his kindness. Li Yun glanced at these people, was silent for a while, and left with his hands behind his back.

"The court is adjourned."

As soon as he left, the Taiji Hall was in an uproar.

Some people surrounded the ministers who had been awarded titles, congratulating them, while others surrounded the Minister of Works Zhuo Guangrui, asking how many more houses he would be granted.

Of course, some were happy and some were sad. Among the crowd, there were also people who said nothing, turned around and walked away with a very unhappy look on their faces.

There were also people who felt wronged and wiped their tears without caring that this was in the court, causing people nearby to laugh.

Du Qian, Yao Zhong, Zhuo Guangrui and others were surrounded by people, especially Zhuo Guangrui, who was quite uncomfortable with the crowded front.

Because although he had a lot of seniority, his position was not particularly high after all. He previously served as the Yin of Jinling and later as the Minister of Works, but neither was an important position in the court.

What no one expected was that one of the prime ministers, Yao Zhongyao, was only given the title of marquis, but this Minister Zhuo was given the title of Duke of Yu.

Originally, Zhuo Guangrui's hometown was in Wu County, so he should have been given the title of Duke of Wu. However, Li Yun had once been the King of Wu, so Zhuo Guangrui had to be given another title.

In addition to being conferred the title of Duke, the fifty mansions for meritorious officials that His Majesty was ordered to build are all in the hands of this Duke Zhuo. Who among you would not want to get a mansion among them?
For a time, the Minister of Works became a hot commodity in the court.

After finally rushing out of the crowd, Zhuo Guangrui saw Du Qian and Yao Zhong not far away, looking at him, talking and laughing.

He stepped forward, bowed, and said with a wry smile, "It's so cold, I'm sweating all over, but you two gentlemen didn't help me."

Yao Zhong smiled and said, "Minister Zhuo has been conferred this time, and he has received all the grace and honor of the emperor. Don't we all want to get some of the glory from you?"

"Don't even mention them. Even I want to get closer to you, Minister Zhuo."

Zhuo Guangrui shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Prime Minister Yao, you are making fun of me. This is all thanks to the two gentlemen's support."

Du Qian smiled and said, "This is what Brother Zhuo deserves, and it is also the meaning of the superiors. It has nothing to do with the two of us."

"Brother Zhuo, you have made outstanding contributions over the years and deserve the title of Duke."

Zhuo Guangrui shook his head and said, "Others don't know how much I have contributed and how capable I am, but I know it clearly."

At this point, Minister Zhuo laughed at himself and said, "The reason I am the Duke today is mostly because of the 50,000 strings of cash I received back then."

Du Qian's expression became serious when he heard this. He bowed to Zhuo Guangrui and said, "In the court today, some people laughed, some cried, and some even rolled on the ground. Brother Zhuo, for being able to say such words, has already surpassed others by a lot." Yao Zhong also bowed and said, "Minister Zhuo has not been brilliant in these years, but he has been diligent every day, and his contributions are no less than others."

The three of them talked for a while, and Zhuo Guangrui looked at Du Qian and asked, "Prime Minister Du, why did Xu Ziwang only get the title of Earl of Suyi?"

Du Qian looked at Yao Zhong, then at Zhuo Guangrui, and said with a smile: "He will soon become the Imperial Censor. The higher-ups are really protecting him."

"Don't just look at the title. Among your fifty houses, isn't there one that belongs to Xu Ziwang?"

Zhuo Guangrui smiled and said, "It is precisely because of him that I asked this question."

Yao Zhong said, "Xu Ziwang is too blunt and has offended many people over the years. He has to be inconspicuous now, otherwise he will become the target of public criticism."

Du Qian nodded and smiled, "This time, he got the title of Earl. I guess some people in the court will think that the person in power no longer likes him. It won't be long before someone will write a letter to accuse him."

"Just look at these people who wrote the letter."

Mr. Du said with a smile: "I'm afraid we're all going to be in trouble."

Zhuo Guangrui seemed to be thinking about something. While he was still thinking, Yao Zhong asked, "Minister Zhuo, how many of your fifty meritorious officials' houses are left?"

Zhuo Guangrui came back to his senses, looked at Yao Zhong, and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty promised the Zhou family another seat yesterday, and now only half of it is left."

Du Qian put his hands behind his back and said with a smile, "Take a look, it's very valuable."

"From now on, we will fight till our heads are broken and bloody."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said with a smile, "Brother Zhuo, when can I move into my apartment?"

"Prime Minister Du, didn't His Majesty reward you with a large house in Luoyang?"

"One yard owned by a yard."

Du Shouyi said seriously: "My family must have one too."

…………

Just when the civil and military officials were dismissing their court, Li Yun, at some point in time, brought Empress Xue, the Crown Prince, and the family of three up to the city wall of the imperial city.

Crown Prince Li Yuan looked at the ministers going away, then looked up at Li Yun and asked, "Dad, are we different now...from before?"

Li Yun was watching the officials go away. Hearing this, he reached out and touched Li Yuan's head, and said with a smile: "For me, there is not much difference. It's just that it's a little harder to go out than before."

"For you, it's very different."

Li Yuan scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

Li picked him up with one hand, held him in his arms, then looked into the distance and laughed softly, "These people below have followed Dad until today. They will listen to whatever Dad says."

"The soldiers in the army were brought up by Dad. They will listen to whatever Dad says."

"But you're different."

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "They are older than you, and they did not start their family with you. They have never received your kindness. In the future, if you want them to listen to you, it will be a little harder than it was for your father."

"It will be more difficult when you have a son in the future."

Li Yuan looked at his mother, then at Li Yun, and said, "But the eunuchs told me that as long as I become the emperor, no matter what I say, everyone in the world will listen to me."

Li Yun glanced at Queen Xue, then shook his head and said, "It's far from being like that. In this world, everyone has their own thoughts. Even as a father, I can't always say everything."

"Except for a very few people, the rest need to be tied up one by one with reins."

"Dad, they are not animals, why put a bridle on them..."

Li Yun looked up at the sky, his voice calm.

"Fame and wealth are the shackles."

When Empress Xue heard this, she frowned and asked, "How old is Yuan'er? Why are you saying this?"

After hearing this, Li Yun stopped talking and just looked at Queen Xue with a gentle smile.

"He'll find out sooner or later."

(End of this chapter)