Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 14: Posthumous title of Zhongwu, the Emperor's death
Although long before this, rumors that Gu Xiao was in poor health and might not live long had already spread among the Han people.

But when this day finally arrived, the whole world was still shocked.

Gu Xiao is dead!
The Grand Marshal, Marquis of Guanjun, and leader of the meritorious faction died just like that!

When I heard the news.

Many people felt relieved as if a huge stone had finally fallen from their hearts, even those who had no grudges against the Gu family.

There was no way out for all the ministers during the Jianwu Dynasty.

The two words "Gu Xiao" are like a huge rock.

If he hadn't died, no one would have been able to truly come before the emperor.

Now that Gu Xiao is dead, it is obvious that the situation in the entire world will change.

The forces are about to be reshuffled!
Luoyang.

Ever since the solar eclipse, a strange atmosphere has permeated the court.

Because Liu Xiucai had just decided to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

Such a sudden change in the celestial phenomena at this critical juncture forced them to think more.

But they did not dare to talk about the emperor and could only suppress these thoughts in their hearts.

Liu Xiu himself fell into self-doubt.

He had always been somewhat fond of the Confucian school of modern literature, although he did not completely believe in the theories of prophecies and divinations therein.

But this incident still had a great impact on his mood, making him somewhat hesitant.

"Could it be that I haven't done enough?"

This question always lingered in his mind, and no one's advice could make him feel completely at ease.

And it was under such circumstances that news from Hebei finally arrived.

"His Majesty……"

The person who came to announce the death was Gu Sheng. He knelt in front of Liu Xiu, his eyes red and his voice choked with sobs, and slowly spoke out the last words left by Gu Xiao before his death.

"My father passed away in the mansion on the last day of the third month, Wushen day."

Liu Xiu was completely stunned.

This was an expression he had never shown since he became emperor.

The expressions of the ministers in the court also changed drastically at this time, and they all knelt down.

When Liu Xiu heard Gu Xiao say before his death that he must not hurt the dragon's body, his expression changed slightly.

But before he could say anything, his whole body suddenly staggered and he fainted.

"His Majesty!!!"

In an instant, the court fell into chaos.

When Liu Xiu opened his eyes again, he was already lying in his bedroom.

Yin Lihua was standing beside him, staring at him closely, and next to him was Crown Prince Liu Zhuang.

"Your Majesty, are you awake?"

Seeing Liu Xiu wake up, Yin Lihua hurriedly held his hand and asked with a worried look on her face, "How do you feel?"

After saying this, he instinctively wanted to call the imperial physician in.

"I'm fine!"

Liu Xiu simply shook his head, his expression surprisingly calm.

But Yin Lihua immediately noticed that something was wrong with him, and the worry on her face became more intense.

"Queen, don't worry..." Liu Xiu held her hand and comforted her softly, then turned his head to look at Liu Zhuang, "Zhuang'er."

"Father!" Liu Zhuang's face was also filled with worry, and he quickly responded, "Your Majesty, I'm here."

"Call the ministers in"

Liu Zhuang was slightly startled. He seemed to have thought of something. His expression changed drastically and he hurried out.

Soon, the ministers slowly walked in.

Different expressions
But there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

At this moment, Liu Xiu didn't care what his ministers thought.

When the ministers slowly entered the hall, he seemed to have thought it through long ago, and said with a calm expression:
"Summons."

"Marquis Guanjun has passed away. I am deeply saddened."

"From now on, I will suspend my duties for seven days to express my condolences."

"The life's work of the Grand Marshal should serve as a model for the people of the world."

"Let the students of the Imperial College commend him."

"Since the Grand Marshal has left a will to be buried in Hebei, this will not be changed. However, given the Grand Marshal's achievements, if we do not honor him, it will not be enough to correct the world's perception."

"Order craftsmen to carve a statue for the Grand Marshal, and follow the ritual accorded to General Huo Guang in the past. Deploy the five divisions of the Northern Army, along with their chariots and armored soldiers, to see him off. Bury him beside the Emperor's mausoleum, and enshrine him in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"The Crown Prince will lead the nobles to pay homage."

"Then the ministers will discuss the posthumous title for the Grand Marshal."

This series of imperial decrees was truly earth-shattering!
In the past, some of the ministers might have stepped forward to advise against it, after all, some of the arrangements were too shocking.

But at this moment, looking at Liu Xiu's calm expression, everyone inexplicably felt a sense of fear and did not dare to speak at all.

Liu Xiu just lay on the couch like this, and only at this moment did his expression change slightly.

He sighed deeply and spoke again: "From today on, there is no need to mention the Fengshan ceremony anymore."

"The celestial phenomena have changed, and we have lost the pillar of the Han Dynasty."

"I guess my merits and virtues are still shallow."

"From today onwards, when you submit your reports to me, you may no longer address me as 'Saint'."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the audience was shocked!

Everyone's expression changed. They never expected Liu Xiu to say such a thing.

Shouldn't he be called holy?

this.
Liu Xiu didn't care about everyone's reaction.

After saying this, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave.

The ministers retreated with different expressions.

In the end, Yin Lihua was the only one left to take care of the entire hall.

Only then did Liu Xiu's face reveal a strong expression of grief. He held Yin Lihua's hand and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Queen."

"You said that the death of Marquis Guanjun was God's punishment for me?"

"His Majesty!"

Yin Lihua held Liu Xiu's hand tightly and said, "You rebuilt the Han Dynasty, loved the people, and your achievements are unparalleled in history."

"The length of life is fixed."

"The Champion Marquis's last words were that Your Majesty must not harm the dragon's body."

"Your Majesty, please stop being so self-deprecating."

Liu Xiu looked at her silently and said nothing more.
This burial ceremony can be said to have truly demonstrated what it means to be the "first meritorious official."

The ministers spent a lot of time thinking about Gu Xiao's posthumous title, but in the end Liu Xiu decided on the two words "Zhongwu" for Gu Xiao.

"Loyalty" means serving one's superior at the risk of one's life and not rebelling in the face of danger.

"Wu" means to overcome disasters and chaos.

This posthumous title was so highly praised that it can be said to have set a precedent for posthumous titles for officials.

No minister had ever been given this posthumous title before.

The only person with the same posthumous title of "Zhongwu" was King Yan of Shache, who was not a minister.

Especially after deliberate publicity.

Even the moral atmosphere of the entire Han Dynasty was affected by this, and people all over the world gradually began to have the momentum to make this their goal.

And with Gu Xiao's posthumous title being completely determined, this matter finally came to an end.

To everyone's surprise, Liu Xiu did not reuse Gu's descendants, and did not even show any intention of using them, and let Gu Sheng return to Hebei.

But everyone is well aware of this.

He should be leaving this for the prince.

Contrary to what the ministers had guessed, there was no major problem with Liu Xiu's health.

Even after this incident, he became more diligent and cared more about the national strength of the Han Dynasty.

The 27th year of Jianwu;

——Marquis Zang of Langling and Marquis Ma Wu of Yangxu wrote a letter, intending to take advantage of the Xiongnu’s division to send troops to destroy them, so as to establish “merits that will be engraved in stone for eternity.”

Liu Xiu resisted by pacifying the people.

He just accepted the surrender of the Southern Xiongnu.

The 29th year of Jianwu;

——Shanshan, Cheshi and other sixteen kingdoms in the Western Regions once again expressed their willingness to send their sons to serve and offer tribute, and were willing to request a protectorate general.

Liu Xiu also refused.

No one knows why Liu Xiu refused these honors that came to him.

For an emperor, all of these are his achievements, which can make him more respected by future generations.

But Liu Xiu really refused.

Moreover, Liu Xiu followed up on various systems of the Han Dynasty.

He often brought up matters such as "measuring land" and "liberating slaves", and weakened the three officials, gradually transferring power to the Secretariat.

The Secretariat gradually became the political center, directly responsible to the emperor.

He also vigorously improved water conservancy, increased the enrollment scale of the Imperial College, encouraged the establishment of private schools in various places, and took a series of measures to benefit the people.

It is also because of this that the national strength of the entire Han Dynasty is growing day by day.

And it was under this circumstance that the issue of Fengshan was brought up again in the 30th year of Jianwu.

Liu Xiu did not express any opinion on this at first.

Only after waiting for many days and seeing that the world did not experience the same natural disasters as before, and that "auspicious signs" appeared all over the country, did he finally nod and agree to this matter.

Gu Yi has been watching all this silently.

He was like a god. With just a thought, he could go to any place in the world and see everything, but he could not change anything.

He really became a spectator.

In the dark, we can only watch the development of this world.

During this period, Gu Yi even quit the game for a while and went to ask Old Gu if there were any things left by his ancestors at home.

Gu Yi is hopeful about this matter.

After all, he left behind so many things.

But unfortunately nothing was left.

Everything he did seemed to be completely lost in the two thousand years of history.

Well, it can’t be said to be completely annihilated.

Marquis Guanjun of the Han Dynasty was the first official in history to be posthumously named Zhongwu, and this title has indeed been passed down.

But it doesn't help now.

Obviously, Gu's influence is not enough to withstand the correction of more than two thousand years.

After confirming this, Gu Yi focused all his attention on the game and on Gu.

The Gu family today is no longer what it used to be.

It has to be said that Gu Kang's political level far exceeded Gu Yi's imagination.

He was keenly aware of the embarrassing situation that the Gu family was currently facing in Hebei, and began to make changes.

Before, the Gu family could be said to have always been outsiders in Hebei.

The attitude of the big families in Hebei towards the Gu family is almost all wary.

But this style of doing things obviously no longer worked from the moment Gu Xiao passed away.

———Gu’s needs transformation!
Otherwise, when the Gu family really loses the "holy favor" one day, they will be eaten alive.

Gu Kang obviously saw through this.

So he showed an attitude to the outside world that was completely different from Gu Xiao's at the beginning.

At the same time, he quickly screened out some major families in Hebei through the court's repeated policies of "liberating slaves" and "measuring land".

Establish connections with them and form alliances.

Let the children of their family enter Gu’s private school under supervision.

I have to say that this is indeed a very wise move.

Although these are not world-famous families, they still have considerable influence locally.

And the Gu family has not completely lost its limelight.

These people are also willing to depend on you.

They all wanted to use the Gu family's reputation to get an official position, but Gu Kang's attitude towards this was ambiguous.

He will also select truly talented people from among them.

But most of them just give hints.

To put it bluntly, it's just empty talk.

Gu Kang really became a person with extremely flexible moral bottom line, but these people all fell for it.

Of course, Gu Kang did not give up Gu's policies towards the people.

With this kind of mutual support, in just a few years, after the loss of Gu Xiao, the pillar of the family, the status of the Gu family not only did not decline, but instead it completely gained a firm foothold.

Gu Yi was dumbfounded by all this.

Is this the horror of having political attributes almost maxed out?

Not to mention Gu Xiao.

Even for a modern man like him, it would probably not be easy to do.

After all, he has no exposure to politics.

What Gu Yi cared about most was that Gu Kang did not let his efforts go to waste.

He actually followed the direction that Gu Yi had hinted at.

The curved plow and waterwheel were invented.

Although it is not yet enough to promote large-scale applications, with this starting point, the future is promising!
When the news came that Liu Xiu was going to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth on Mount Tai, Gu was also shocked.

After all, this is indeed a big deal for people in today's era.

However, Gu Yi knew that Liu Xiu's life was about to come to an end.

After he confirmed that there would be no problems with the Gu family in the short term, he also set his sights on Liu Xiu.

I want to see with my own eyes what the scene of the emperor's Fengshan ceremony is like.

——The Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai has a long history.

Legend has it that the ancient emperors began to offer sacrifices to the gods on Mount Tai with Wuhuai, and later Fuxi, Shennong, Yan Emperor, Huang Emperor and others all offered sacrifices to the gods on Mount Tai.

It is precisely because of this.

Mount Tai holds a sacred place in the hearts of people all over the world today.

Everyone believed that Mount Tai was the highest mountain in the world and the best place to communicate with the gods.

And only the kings of a peaceful and prosperous era are qualified to come and offer sacrifices to the gods.

It is also because of this that Fengshan can be regarded as one of the highest honors for an emperor.

The purpose of Liu Xiu's Fengshan ceremony was very simple.

He needs to prove to the world that he is the emperor appointed by heaven!

He also needed this move to tell the world that the emperor was supreme and inviolable, and to restore the influence since Wang Mang usurped the throne!
This ceremony can be said to be the most important ceremony since he rebuilt the Han Dynasty.

Its scale is unprecedented.

February, the 32nd year of Jianwu;

——Liu Xiu led his ministers from Luoyang to Mount Tai.

After arriving at Mount Tai, they first built an altar on the east side of the mountain and held a sealing ceremony.

The jade tablet recording his achievements in receiving the mandate of heaven, pacifying the chaotic world, and revitalizing the Han Dynasty was sealed in a jade box and cast into a square altar.

Climb to the top of the mountain again and offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

Finally, a Zen ceremony was held in the south of Mount Tai to worship the god Hou Tu.

After doing all this, Liu Xiu's reputation undoubtedly reached the peak of his life.

He seemed to be affected as well, and after all the seriousness he had shown over the years, he regained his original high spirits.

He expressed his great ambition in public.

He wanted to restore the national strength of the entire Han Dynasty to the level it was during the time of Emperor Xiaowen.

After that, we must pacify the Western Regions, subdue the Xiongnu, and completely leave a lasting foundation for the Han Dynasty.

He announced the change of the reign title to "Zhongyuan".

It seemed that he wanted to use this as a starting point to lead the entire Han Dynasty to reach the height he had in mind.

However, he was destined to be unable to fully realize his ambition.

Time has always been the fairest force in the world.

No matter who you are, you cannot resist the passage of time.

In the second year of Zhongyuan, Liu Xiu's health suddenly collapsed.

And this time it's not like the previous times when danger can always be turned into safety.

His overall condition deteriorated rapidly, and later he was in a coma for a long time and rarely woke up.

Everyone understood that the emperor who rebuilt the Han Dynasty had also reached the end of his life.

On the Wuxu day of the second month of the second year of the Zhongyuan era;
——Liu Xiu died in the front hall of Nangong Palace.

The will said: "I have done no good to the people. All my affairs shall be conducted in accordance with the system of Emperor Xiaowen, and must be frugal.

Provincial governors and officials with a rank of 2,000 stone or higher were not allowed to leave their cities or towns, nor were they allowed to send officials or letters of condolence via postal courier.

Crown Prince Liu Zhuang succeeded to the throne.

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(End of this chapter)