Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 923 February

On the second day of the second lunar month, Luoyang was restored to its former glory.

A thousand-year-old imperial capital, a city of peonies.

Early-blooming peony varieties are just beginning to open in the greenhouse.

They were placed on both sides of the long street leading into the city gate by civil and military officials of Luoyang.

Princess Pei Manyayin, along with civil and military officials from Luoyang, knelt down at the city walls to welcome the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty.

After poisoning Wanyan Tieli, the old princess Pei Manya immediately sent someone out of the city to negotiate surrender with Yang Yuan.

After three days of negotiations and two days of preparation, Yang Yuan was to officially enter Luoyang on the second day of the second lunar month.

A gentle spring breeze blows beneath the walls of Luoyang.

In the second month of the lunar calendar, the grass and trees are covered in color, flowers are in bloom, and the earth is already showing signs of spring.

Yang Yuan rode a pure white warhorse, clad in armor, with a long sword at his waist, and looked up at the city walls of this ancient capital.

The newly formed wounds on the city wall are connected to old wounds from past dynasties, creating a mottled landscape.

But this ancient city still stands majestically.

The auspicious hour had arrived, and deafening cannon fire rang out once again. Yang Yuan slightly shook the reins and slowly moved forward.

The neatly arranged ranks lined up behind him, while the rest entered the forest.

"Welcome, Prime Minister Yang! Prime Minister Yang has recaptured Luoyang!"

A group of civil and military officials in Luoyang knelt on both sides of the city gate and shouted in unison.

A barely perceptible smile crept onto Yang Yuan's lips.

His achievement in destroying the Jin dynasty was enough to make him famous throughout history.

Yang Yuan gently spurred the horse's flanks, and the white horse slowly moved forward, its iron hooves making a crisp sound as they trod on the bluestone slabs.

Inside the city gate, welcoming people were kneeling on both sides of the road, with guards standing at attention every three steps, holding guns.

Any daring child who tried to look up to see what was going on was immediately spotted by the adults around him, who quickly pressed his head down.

At this time, Yang Yuan had not yet entered the city.

The white horse rode leisurely to the city gate.

As the sunlight gradually disappeared through the city gate, Yang Yuan was about to step into the shadows.

Suddenly, a strange "whoosh" sound came from the air.

"Prime Minister, be careful!" a soldier shouted.

Tiger General Yang Shou glared and shouted, then darted forward, his large shield already arrayed in front of Yang Yuan.

The civil and military officials of Luoyang who knelt on both sides of the city gate to welcome the prime minister into the city immediately had sharp steel knives placed against their necks.

After a period of chaos and fighting, people discovered that there were no assassins and the city gate had not collapsed.

However, above the tall city gate, several stones collapsed, revealing a dark hole where the stones had fallen off.

Yang Yuan, his hand gripping the sword hilt tightly, narrowed his eyes: "That is..."

Suddenly, something fell from the cave entrance, hitting the fallen stone slab with a metallic sound.

Everyone looked closely and saw that although the object had lost its luster and was covered in dust, the exposed part was yellow.

Especially the area that was just scratched by the stone, it shone with golden light.

It was a box, and it seemed... to be made of gold?
The scene was deathly silent; everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the mysterious box.

Yang Yuan dismounted, but Shao Hongyuan quickly stopped him: "Prime Minister, please do not go forward, it may be inappropriate. Please wait for me..."

"It doesn't matter."

Yang Yuan waved his hand and stepped forward.

It was indeed a golden box, carved with golden dragon and phoenix patterns and cloud patterns. The outside of the box was decorated with golden leaf-shaped ornaments and ruyi-shaped paddles, and there were golden handles on the left and right sides.

All the generals drew their swords and gathered around.

Yang Yuan, puzzled, took the heavy treasure box to a sunny spot outside the city gate and put it down. After opening the clasp, he thought for a moment, then took a step back, drew his sword, and used the tip to pry open the golden box.

Unexpectedly, inside the gold box was a small gold-lacquered box, made of some unknown wood, which was already slightly damaged.

Upon seeing this, Yang Yuan opened the small box again, revealing a seal inside.

The jade was pure white, with five dragons intertwined around its knob. Upon seeing it, everyone's eyes widened in astonishment.

Seeing that there was no mechanism, Yang Yuan bent down, grabbed the five-dragon interlocking knob, and took out the fist-sized jade seal.

When the seal was turned over, one corner was strikingly inlaid with gold.

Could this be...?

Yang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He looked closely and, with a preconceived notion already in his mind, immediately recognized the eight seal characters: "Received the mandate from Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous."

"This...it really is the Imperial Seal of the State!"

Yang Yuan was a little confused.

Even he didn't know the details of the origins of this Imperial Seal.

This was written by the women of the inner secretariat.

However, when they were planning this, Yang Yuan had not yet made up his mind to replace the Song dynasty.

Therefore, they kept Yang Yuan completely in the dark about this matter.

So much so that Yang Yuan's astonishment and disbelief at this moment were all genuine feelings, without any element of acting.

"If you receive orders from Heaven, you will live forever!"

"This is...this is the Imperial Seal of the State!"

Upon seeing the seal in Yang Yuan's hand, Lu You couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

With his exclamation, everyone who didn't know what was in the box, or who had seen it but still couldn't confirm it, heard it.

This voice resounded like a thunderclap in everyone's hearts.

While shocked, Shao Hongyuan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and knelt down first with a "thump".

Shao Hongyuan shouted, "The Imperial Seal of the State has reappeared! This is the Mandate of Heaven!"

"The mandate of heaven has been bestowed upon us! The mandate of heaven has been bestowed upon us! Long live Prime Minister Yang! Long live Yang! Long live Yang!"

The Imperial Seal of the State was incredibly powerful, especially for people of that era.

Countless officials and generals knelt down and cheered wildly.

The soldiers and civilians in the distance, who were still confused, remained bewildered, but... they heard the shouts coming from their superiors.

So they immediately joined in the chanting.

In an instant, shouts of "Long live Prime Minister Yang!" resounded throughout the entire city of Luoyang.

Yang Yuan never expected that the Imperial Seal of the State would fall into the city gate while he was just entering the city.

Could it be that this guy is truly destined for greatness?
For a moment, with the Imperial Seal in his hand, Yang Yuan even began to doubt himself.

The Imperial Seal of the State had been missing for a long time, and now it has reappeared during the restoration of Luoyang. What a divine intervention!

Yang Yuan held the Imperial Seal of the State high in the sunlight, carefully examining the precious jade, especially the gold-inlaid corner.

The officials and soldiers kneeling around him stared with fervent eyes at the imperial seal held aloft by Yang Yuan. The civil and military officials of Luoyang, who had initially thought someone was going to assassinate Yang Yuan and cried out that they were about to be killed, immediately joined in the shouting.

"Heaven has sent its will upon Lord Yang, Heaven has sent its will upon Prime Minister Yang!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiang suddenly felt a jolt in his heart and quickly regained his senses.

Damn it, this Imperial Seal of the State has been incredibly damaging to the Chinese people.

It must have some kind of magic; even I was almost bewitched by it.

Yang Xiang, I'm making a fool of myself.

Yang Yuan immediately shouted, "Shut up! Everyone shut up!"

A solemn silence immediately fell upon the city gate.

Yang Yuan said, "The appearance of the Imperial Seal is no ordinary matter. I will immediately send people to protect the seal and return it to Lin'an to be presented to the Emperor!"

Shao Hongyuan was taken aback upon hearing this. Send it to Lin'an?

Could it be that the Prime Minister truly has no intention of overthrowing the Song dynasty and replacing it?

The others also speculated, unable to understand Yang Yuan's intentions for the time being.

Yang Yuan had already put the seal back into the somewhat rotten inner box, closed the gold box, and handed it to Yang Shou.

"Shou'er, take three thousand soldiers and escort the Imperial Seal back to Lin'an."

Upon hearing this, Yang Shou was extremely displeased: "Uncle, it is Heaven's will that you become the emperor, why send you to Lin'an?"

Yang Yuan glared at him: "Watch your words, obey the general's orders!"

Yang Shou pouted and reluctantly agreed.

While military generals like Shao Hongyuan failed to grasp the meaning, the civil officials had already understood.

Lu You couldn't help but secretly admire Yang Yuan's strong will.

If it were him, even if the Imperial Seal of the State fell from the sky and hit him on the head, he would still be dizzy.

Unexpectedly, Yang Yuan regained consciousness in such a short time.

If he simply accepts this Imperial Seal, it would be far less desirable than presenting it to the current emperor and having him personally deliver it to him.

However, the Imperial Seal of the State has actually resurfaced!

Erlang... is he really the chosen one?
The news of the appearance of the Imperial Seal of the State only officially spread after Yang Yuan moved into Luoyang.

In a short time, memorials urging Yang Yuan to ascend the throne arrived in droves, stating, "The imperial seal has appeared in the world, and the mandate of heaven has been bestowed upon you. Please, Prime Minister, follow the will of heaven and assume the throne as soon as possible!"

However, after receiving these "letters of encouragement to ascend the throne," Yang Yuan did not approve any of them, but instead packed them up and sent them back to Lin'an.

Yang Yuan quickly composed himself and threw himself into planning the continuation of the Northern Expedition.

At this time, news of the fall of Luoyang had probably just reached Chang'an when the Song army was already advancing towards Tongguan.

They don't necessarily have to launch a full-scale attack on Tongguan. As long as the Tongguan garrison knows that they are isolated and helpless, like a caged beast, they will have achieved their goal.

At this time, Shaanxi was already in a state of utter chaos.

The Jin army clashed with the Song army, the Western Xia army, and the Quanrong army.

The Jin army's forces had been confined to individual cities and had been completely cut off from all communication.

It is conceivable that when news of Luoyang's fall arrived, and when the cause of Wanyan Tieli's death became known,

They knew there would be no more reinforcements to wait, and when the city's food supplies ran out, that would be the day it fell. Only a few men and a few cities remained to hold out.

Zhao Dun received the Imperial Seal of the State on the first day, while Qiao Zhen, the "Acting Governor of State," received Yang Yuan's packaged "Letter of Urgency to Ascend the Throne" the following day.

When Zhao Dun received the Imperial Seal, he opened the box and, together with the Second King Zhao Kai, examined the seal carefully for almost half an hour.

If it weren't for the current situation, how excited he would have been to receive the "Imperial Seal of the State"!

He would immediately take the Imperial Seal of the State to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices to his ancestors.

From this moment forward, all edicts he issues to the world must be issued using the Imperial Seal of the State!
But in the current situation, Qiao Zhen is in charge of Lin'an's political affairs, and Yang Ze is in charge of Lin'an's military affairs. The Song Dynasty's elite troops have all been taken to the northern battlefield by Prime Minister Yang. What good is the Imperial Seal to him?

Qiao Zhen was currently "in charge of political affairs," acting as prime minister when Yang Yuan was not in Lin'an.

However, although he was called an agent, his authority was actually limited. Important state affairs still needed to be reported to Yang Yuan for approval by fast horse.

Upon receiving those letters urging her to ascend the throne, Qiao Zhen immediately understood Yang Yuan's meaning.

Qiao Zhen couldn't help but start sighing, and she kept sighing all the way from the Political Affairs Hall to her home.

Seeing her husband looking worried, his wife and several concubines inquired with concern, "Why is Your Excellency so troubled?"

Qiao Zhen sighed and told his wife the whole story and his judgment.

Upon hearing this, the old woman slapped Qiao Zhen across the face.

“You fool, this immense wealth was practically fed to you by Prime Minister Yang. It’s a great opportunity that others would beg for, and yet you’re still sighing and complaining.”

Qiao Zhen wiped the saliva off her face.

His wife was still scolding him: "You quail-like scoundrel who's been pretending your whole life, now that the world is so big, Yang Xiangong is the biggest. He's offering you his leg, and you're still hesitating and sighing."

At that moment, the old wife started a tantrum, calling on several of her sisters to grab rolling pins and kick Qiao Zhen out the door.

“If you don’t act like a true man wearing a headscarf this time, then when you come back, you can be one of our sisters.”

"Bang!" The door slammed shut.

As soon as the door closed, Nan Yuan said worriedly, "Madam, what if the master really gets angry with us now?"

Tian Tian smiled and said, "Just listen to Madam, don't worry."

Madam Qiao also laughed and said, "Our master is a coward. He needs someone to nudge him before he'll step forward. Actually, he already has a plan in mind. He came back sighing and complaining just so I would nudge him. Don't worry about him, the matter is already settled."

Qiao Quanzheng returned to the government office and spent the night there.

The next morning, he invited a group of high-ranking officials, including Qian Ce from the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Weiqing from the Ministry of Rites, Ma Chongyuan from the Ministry of Works, Cheng Zhen from the Ministry of War, and Zhang Fangxun from the Ministry of Justice.

Due to the needs of the war, Liu Shangqiu of the Privy Council moved the Privy Council forward, so it was no longer in Lin'an.

When Qiao Zhen met with the ministers of various departments, he opened the "letter of urging Yang Yuan to ascend the throne" that Yang Yuan had sent him to deal with, and had it circulated among them.

Chen Weiqing of the Ministry of Rites took a deep breath and said, "Recently, auspicious omens have been reported to the imperial court from various places."

This statement may sound nonsensical, but everyone understood what he meant.

The auspicious omen appeared because of Yang Yuan, and the intentions of the local officials were naturally obvious.

Qiao Zhen asked, "Gentlemen, what do you think we should do now?"

The hall of state affairs fell silent for a moment.

After a long pause, Ma Chongyuan, the Minister of Works, slowly said, "Although the homeland of our Great Song Dynasty has not been fully recovered, the capital of our Great Song Dynasty has been restored."

Chen Weiqing and Ma Chongyuan were the pair of prime ministers who were discovered by Yang Yuan.

They really do talk in the same way, rambling on and on.

However, Qiao Zhen was incredibly perceptive and understood immediately.

He nodded and said, "Your Majesty, we should make a trip to the capital."

Qian Ce, Minister of Revenue, understood and said, "The Prime Minister is currently in Luoyang overseeing the war. Since Your Majesty is going to the capital, you should first go to Luoyang to reward the troops!"

(End of this chapter)