Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 661: Cloud Sea Completed
Within a short period of time, an imperial edict was spread from Yizhou to all directions.

"General Liu He is a man of both civil and military talents, and he has made great contributions to the creation of the world. He should have been a loyal subject and served the country faithfully, but he was full of desires and committed acts of usurpation and rebellion."

"Liu He has four crimes: First, he usurped the throne and committed treason, which is disloyalty."

"Second, abandoning one's ancestors and defying family rules is unfilial."

"Third, the Yellow River burst its banks, heaven was angry and people were resentful, this is unkindness."

"Fourth, killing loyal and good people and slaughtering meritorious officials is unjust."

"For these four crimes, Liu He cannot redeem himself even if he dies a thousand times. Today, the country is in chaos, and treacherous officials are in power. I, Liu Yan, am the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xiaojing and a descendant of the Han Dynasty. I have no choice but to step forward and temporarily take over the throne. I will restore the ancestral temple and support the country. After the thieves are eliminated, I will abdicate. I hereby announce this to the world!"

When this decree was issued, the whole world was in an uproar!

The Luoyang court issued another edict, saying that the current emperor is of legitimate bloodline, and there is an edict of abdication from Emperor Xian and a letter of support from all ministers. They have offered sacrifices to heaven and earth and reported to their ancestors, and have not violated the law in the slightest. Liu Yan of Yizhou is conceited and ambitious and has made unwarranted accusations against the new emperor. His crime is unforgivable. In the future, troops will be sent to eliminate him, and the court will call on all heroes in the world to fight against the traitor. The meritorious ministers will be rewarded afterwards.

Both sides deployed heavy troops in Hanzhong and Chang'an Guanzhong areas, and the situation was tense. It seemed that a war would break out after the spring.

On the day before the New Year, a great piece of news came from Yunhai County.

"The five cities of Yunhai County have all been completed. The government offices, houses, shops, streets and alleys in the city, the official roads outside the city, and some small water conservancy facilities have all been built. The imperial grain consumed this time is 890,000 shi, thousands of cattle and sheep, and more than 870 million yuan. It involves 273 merchants, 193 craftsmen, and more than 416,000 laborers. A book of merit is attached to this chapter and presented to Your Majesty for your review."

After Xun Yu finished reading the memorial sent by Xun Chen, he handed it and the merit book to Liu He.

Liu He roughly looked through the thick merit book. The person ranked first was actually He Chang, which surprised him a little. After all, although He Chang followed closely behind Xun Chen, he only appeared halfway. Liu He did not expect that he could surpass him later. Moreover, looking at the merit record, he was much higher than the people behind him.

"Propose a plan for pouring the foundation of Dinghe City, propose a method for redirecting the river outside Dingrong City, solve the problem of the southern city wall of Anma City being prone to collapse, and save more than 34 million coins with these seven measures, and improve the method for building the Hu market in Fude City..."

Every single thing, every single achievement was clearly recorded.

"This He Chang is indeed a talented person. Chen Qing was not bragging that day."

Liu He said something.

Xun Yu said, "The Yunhai County was completed on schedule this time, and these merchants and craftsmen have made great contributions. According to the imperial edict, they should be rewarded one by one according to this merit book. You Ruo has come to ask Your Majesty, how should the rewards be given?"

Liu He heard this and thought about it for a moment.

"What do you three propose?"

Cui Jun was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I think that Your Majesty promised that day that those who have made contributions would be given titles and granted the same status as scholars. However, there are too many merchants and craftsmen participating in this event. If all of them are rewarded, it may be inappropriate. Therefore, I suggest that the top ten on the merit list be given the title of Township Marquis, the top fifty be given the title of Pavilion Marquis, and those above the fifty will not be given titles, but only be granted the status of scholars."

After listening to this, Liu He did not express his opinion, but looked at Xun Yu and Xun You.

Xun You stood up and said, "Your Majesty, my opinion is the same as Zhou Ping's."

"Hmm..." Liu He nodded slightly, but still did not express his opinion.

The three of them looked at the emperor's expression and felt a little puzzled.

Xun Yu's eyes rolled, and he seemed to have an idea.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I suggest that all those on the list who have made contributions and no faults be given titles. The first eighty will be given the title of Marquis of the Township, and the eighty and above will be given the title of Marquis of the Pavilion. In addition, the top ten people with the most contributions, such as He Chang, or the heads of the merchants, can be given something by the emperor as a special reward."

"They are just a few empty titles, with no salary or fiefdom. If we only take a portion of them as rewards, it will inevitably cause resentment among the many other meritorious people. Wouldn't that be counterproductive?"

After listening to this, Cui Jun also nodded continuously: "Wen Ruo is very thoughtful, it should be so."

Liu He smiled and said, "Wen Ruo's words are very good, but I think that this is not enough." The three of them were a little surprised: "I wonder what your majesty thinks?"

Liu He smiled slightly and did not answer. Instead, he picked up the pen and began to write on a blank edict...

Yunhai County, Fude County. This county is the only one of the five cities that has established a Hu market. It is also the first city where Anhan Commercial Bank settled. Because the five cities are newly established and the people have not moved in yet, almost no merchants have opened for business. However, despite this, the Fude County branch of Anhan Commercial Bank has already opened early.

On this day, the Spring Festival had just passed two days, and the weather in the northern part of the sea of ​​clouds was very cold. The wind was sharper than knives and roared like strange beasts. However, inside this business, it was very warm, and there were crowds of people, making it extremely lively.

Hundreds of people gathered here, and everyone's face was full of anticipation.

Not long after, the prefect Xun Chen and the branch manager of the local business came out from behind the tall counter, and everyone immediately surrounded them.

"Greetings, Governor!"

"Greetings to Governor Xun!"

Xun Chen smiled and gave a fake hand: "No need to be so polite, everyone. You are all great contributors to Yunhai County. It is a cause for celebration that such a huge undertaking in Yunhai County can be successfully completed in such a short time!"

"You are too kind, Governor. We are also Han people. It is our duty to contribute to the country."

"Not bad, not bad. As it should be, as it should be."

Although these people all said this, the anticipation on their faces was more obvious than before.

Xun Chen smiled and didn't keep the secret any longer.

"I'm sure you've all been waiting impatiently. Now that the project is finished, you must be eager to know how His Majesty will reward you and who will get the reward, right?"

Seeing that he had revealed his thoughts in one sentence, everyone felt a little embarrassed.

Upon seeing this, Xun Chen took out an imperial edict from his sleeve. When everyone saw it, they all became extremely nervous. Many of them were wealthy businessmen who had experienced many ups and downs, but at this moment they clenched their fists and broke out in cold sweat.

Everyone had some speculations. There were more than 400 merchants and craftsmen who had made contributions to the construction of Yunhai County. It was unlikely that all of them would be rewarded with titles. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there had never been such a large-scale title-conferring event. It was simply a fantasy.

Because of this, those who are not ranked very high in the book of merit appear to be more nervous.

Xun Chen glanced at the contents of the edict, then looked at the people in front of him.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, declares: I am delighted that the completion of Yunhai County has reached the capital, and the court and the people are all happy. I know that without the help of the merchants and craftsmen, this matter would have been delayed for a long time and wasted money. Although you are not in the court, your contributions are no less than those of the soldiers on the front line. I am deeply grateful."

When the imperial edict was read to this point, everyone's faces were relieved. With such a low status, they had never been treated in the eyes of the upper-class royal nobles since ancient times, but now they could be praised like this by the emperor, who compared them to the soldiers fighting on the front line and thanked them personally. Such a move was unheard of and unexpected, and everyone's heart was warmed.

Someone suddenly sighed, "Alas, your Majesty is truly a benevolent emperor. Just based on this sentence, even if we don't get the title, it's worth it for our Mu family."

When he said this, many people showed emotion on their faces.

Xun Chen smiled and continued reading: "Except for those who committed crimes, cut corners, and cheated, the remaining people who have made contributions this time include 229 merchants and 176 craftsmen, a total of 405."

After hearing this, everyone knew that the key content was about to come, and they all pricked up their ears.

Xun Chen smiled but did not speak, but his voice still reached everyone's ears.

"I appreciate your hard work and great contributions, and your loyalty to the country. I have decided to confer the title of county marquis to the top 30 on the merit list. The top 150 will be conferred the title of township marquis. The rest will all be conferred the title of pavilion marquis. In addition, I will hold a night banquet at the merchant house here, and invite the top 10 craftsmen or the heads of the merchants to have dinner together. The 11th to 100th on the merit list will be hosted at the county government in this city, and the prefect and the county magistrate will be present."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was speechless!

(End of this chapter)