The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 526: Paying homage to the Ancestors
Ministers such as Wang Su stood on the road, with their heads lowered, waiting for the emperor's carriage to arrive.

At this moment, many of the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, and even important officials of the Secretariat were all standing on the road.

They never thought that the war would go so smoothly.

They thought that this war would definitely last for a long time, but they didn't have to wait too long. While they were handling various matters in Luoyang, they learned the news that Jiang Wei was defeated and retreated to Jiange.

The ministers had just been rejoicing over the conquest of Hanzhong when they heard that Shu had surrendered and Wei had won a great victory.

Now, the whole Wei State is talking about this matter.

From important officials to the common people.

Everyone talked about it with relish.

Whether it was Zhuge Dan, the nominal commander who destroyed Shu, or the emperor who led the army in person, their reputations had reached a certain height at this moment.

Especially Cao Mao.

After destroying the Kingdom of Shu, he truly became a king that no one could shake.

Not to mention Sima Zhao, even if Sima Shi and Sima Yi came out, they would not pose any threat to him.

The Wu Kingdom was fine, but the Shu Kingdom had always been a thorn in the side of the Wei Kingdom since its founding.

After all, this group of people called themselves the Great Han, and the legitimacy of the Wei State came from the abdication of the Great Han.

The battle between the two sides is a struggle for orthodoxy.

Both sides felt that they were the orthodox and the successors of the Han Empire.

Although Shu Kingdom did not cause much impact on Wei Kingdom in recent years and its destructive power was limited, Jiang Wei kept appearing in Yongliang like a natural disaster, which even made the people of Wei accustomed to it.

Suddenly, the Shu Kingdom was destroyed.

The entire Wei State was in an uproar, and grand celebration ceremonies were even held in various places. There were also some people who wanted to curry favor with Cao Mao and led the people to create a huge commotion. However, this was indeed useful, as it strengthened Cao Mao's position.

At this moment, all the ministers stood respectfully on the side of the road.

Cao Mao's carriage had not even appeared in the distance, but they had already entered the state of paying homage to the emperor, with their heads lowered, remaining solemn and silent.

This also shows Cao Mao's great prestige at the moment.

The ministers didn't know how long they had been waiting, but finally, an army slowly appeared in the distance.

The elite soldiers led by Yin Damu led the way. Wearing heavy armor, they walked towards here step by step. The armor collided, making a loud and rhythmic sound. The faces of the ministers became more solemn.

Cao Mao's biggest gain from this battle was that he once again strengthened his position in the hearts of the soldiers.

The armored soldiers of the Wei Dynasty were Cao Mao's most staunch supporters. After all, Cao Mao treated them very well.

Through this war of annihilation, Cao Mao will promote a large number of soldiers. These soldiers promoted by Cao Mao will become Cao Mao's firm supporters and expand his control over the army.

Soldiers kept coming and passing by the ministers on both sides. They deployed a long line of defense here.

The emperor's carriage finally appeared in the distance.

Under the expectant eyes of the ministers, the emperor's carriage stopped in front of them.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!!"

The ministers knelt down and bowed deeply in the direction of the carriage.

Cao Mao, wearing armor, walked out of the car and looked at the ministers in the distance. All the ministers surrendered before him, and no one dared to neglect them.

Cao Mao did not go down to support them, but shouted loudly: "Return to Luoyang!"

The ministers hurriedly stood up, stood in two rows, and began to lead the way. The emperor's carriage followed the crowd and headed towards Luoyang City.

Cao Mao stood on the carriage and entered Luoyang City again.

The roads had been under martial law for a long time, and ordinary people were not allowed to go out. Surrounded by his ministers, the emperor's carriage came all the way to the palace.

Cao Mao finally got off the car and led his ministers towards the ancestral temple.

The ancestral temple of the Great Wei enshrines three emperors: Taizu, Gaozu, and Liezu.

Only emperors who were given temple names could have official places of worship.

When Cao Mao led his ministers to his family's ancestral temple, the ministers bowed again, but Cao Mao alone continued to move forward.

"Zou Sunmao, today we will destroy Shu and restore Shuo's name! I will lead all officials to offer sacrifices to our ancestors!"

Cao Mao bowed solemnly in the direction of the three emperors.

The ministers bowed again.

"My descendants, Mao, will persevere and recapture the Wu Lord to complete the great unification! I hereby lead all officials to inform our ancestors!!"

Cao Mao worshipped again.

The ministers bowed again.

Cao Mao then ordered Pei Xiu to slaughter the livestock and use the captured flags, seals, and other items for sacrifice, telling the Cao Wei emperors, "What you all failed to do, I have accomplished!" The next step was to destroy the Wu Kingdom. If they could destroy the Wu Kingdom, Cao Mao's status would probably surpass Cao Pi's, and he would have a separate page in the family tree.

After completing these major events, Cao Mao followed his ministers to the Taiji Hall.

Cao Mao sat in the upper seat, and the ministers sat on both sides.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty for conquering Shu! Your Majesty is a mighty and powerful being, and your grace and kindness have blessed all of China. Your subjects are deeply moved by your virtues and are filled with tears."

Wang Su was the first to jump out and congratulate Cao Mao.

This old man was indeed a scholar of classics and debaters. His words were quite corny, and he spoke very quickly and for a long time. Anyway, he was always praising Cao Mao, saying that because of Cao Mao's kindness, the people were crying and crops were suddenly growing in the farmland that had not grown crops for many years.

Cao Mao muttered to himself: Is it because of the tears of those overly excited people?
What celestial phenomena, what strange signs, what the saints said, the prince just spoke without thinking.

Cao Mao did not interrupt him and waited patiently for him to finish.

After he finished speaking, Cao Mao was about to speak when Wang Chang jumped out again.

"Your Majesty, someone saw an auspicious beast in Yuancheng. It looks like a horse, with a white head, a red tail, and tiger stripes all over its body. Its cry is like singing. Passersby saw this auspicious beast singing towards the heights of Yuancheng, and then it disappeared!"

"I have read the classics and ancient texts and learned that this auspicious beast is called Lu Shu. Your Majesty rose to prominence in Yuancheng. Therefore, I speculate that this is a sign from heaven that Your Majesty will obtain the Lu and Shu, a symbol of great unification!"

Wang Chang spoke excitedly, and all the ministers nodded.

Cao Mao pursed his lips and said, "It's really difficult for you."

You must have found a lot of auspicious animals to compile this, right?
If Nai Gong had not read a little and knew that this auspicious beast symbolizes a large family with many children and grandchildren, he would have believed your nonsense!
Wang Chang proposed to change the reign title to the first year of Shenlu.

But Cao Mao did not agree to his request. The reign title Zhengyuan was working well. Why did you change it?
Besides, Zhengyuan, the original Kaiyuan, doesn’t this sound better than your so-called divine deer?
Fortunately, I saw the Shu deer. If you saw Dang Kang, would you call it the first year of the divine pig?

The ministers didn't care about this and just reported the good news. Because of the influence of metaphysics, everyone generally believed that when big events happened in the world, there would be some strange phenomena accompanying them.

Hearing what they said so truthfully, Cao Mao did not refute it.

After all, this seems to be very helpful in boosting self-confidence. Anyway, the common people and soldiers at the bottom of society are very fond of this. They believe that they can achieve unification, which is good.

After a lot of useless foreplay, Cao Mao finally decided to get straight to the point.

"Summon Lord Anle to the palace!"

Cao Mao said loudly.

At this moment, Liu Chan led his former crown prince and hurriedly walked into the Taiji Hall.

The eyes of all the ministers were immediately focused on him, which made Liu Chan very uneasy. He went to see Cao Mao in fear.

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Duke Anle, you can return to your fiefdom from now on. If any of your old ministers are willing to stay with you, I will grant them amnesty and allow them to stay."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

Cao Mao then announced the rewards for the generals who participated in the war.

The first one is Zhuge Dan. It is certain that he was promoted. He was originally a Marquis of Guannei, and Cao Mao directly made him a county marquis. In terms of official rank, his rank of Three Dukes had reached the limit, so several of his sons were made Marquis of Guannei, and he was rewarded with privileges such as not having to bow when entering the court and not having to name his name when paying homage.

Then came Deng Ai. Cao Mao talked about Deng Ai's merits and his seemingly presumptuous behavior in Shu. In the end, he offset his merits and demerits, dismissed him from his official position, and asked him to reflect in Luoyang.

Then came Zhong Hui. Zhong Hui of course went a step further and was promoted from Ting Hou to Xian Hou.

Cao Mao was very generous to his own people. His idea was very simple: if you work for me, I will not let you suffer any grievances, and I will give you all the treatment and benefits I can.

Many generals who went on the expedition were rewarded. Ma Long, who made great contributions, was appointed General Pingxi by Cao Mao and went to command the Yongliang Legion.

Wen Yang was promoted from a general of miscellaneous rank to General Anbei, and succeeded his predecessor to go to Youzhou.

Others, such as Cheng Ji, were also promoted from colonels to generals and received corresponding titles.

There were so many people who participated in the war, but Cao Mao remembered them all in his mind. Without asking Zhang Hua, he told them in detail the rewards and honors for everyone.

At the end, Cao Mao cleared his throat and looked at Zheng Mao.

Zheng Mao stood up and began to talk about the administrative planning and appointments for the State of Shu.

The ministers seemed to take this matter very seriously and they all listened attentively.

Liu Chan was standing in the hall at this moment, listening to them talking about this boring topic, and he felt a strange feeling in his heart. He secretly observed the ministers of Cao Wei. At this moment, he suddenly saw an acquaintance!
Liu Chan was somewhat happy and smiled at the acquaintance to show his closeness.

But at this moment, this acquaintance was a little confused.

That’s right, he is Luo Xian.

Luo Xian never imagined that while he was forbearing, he would actually bring his new colleague, Liu Chan! !
When Liu Chan smiled at him, Luo Xian's "Tao heart" almost collapsed.

That's not right. Didn't I come here to assassinate the Emperor of Cao Wei?
Why did Shu Kingdom perish first? !
So what should I do next?

Am I really a surrenderer?
That’s not right. It seems that the entire Shu Kingdom is now a surrendered nation, and even the emperor is smiling at him foolishly!
Luo Xian looked at this scene in astonishment, and only reacted when the emperor's reward came.

The mountain corps he trained made great contributions in this battle. Therefore, Luo Xian was also awarded the title.

(End of this chapter)