After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 31 Welcome to King Qian
The bright sun rises from the east.

The glow of the morning sun spread over thousands of households in the capital of Shunchao and submerged the towering imperial palace.

Some brave people came to the East City Gate early in the morning and watched from afar. At noon, they saw all the civil and military officials in the city dressed in official uniforms gathered at the East City Gate.

They looked at the civil and military officials in the court and talked a lot.

"Who is the Shangshu? I've never seen so many officials before. If anyone knows the Shangshu, please point him out to me."

"What are you looking at the Shangshu for? Look over there, hey, do you know who it is? The Prince of Beijing!"

"What's a prince? Look at that Prince Yi, the emperor's sixth uncle!"

"Thanks to King Qian, we are finally able to open our eyes today!"

As they watched, the city gate slowly opened. This gate should have been opened long ago, as the rest of the city gates had been occupied by King Qian's army yesterday. Only the last gate was left for the civil and military officials of the Shun Dynasty to leave the city and surrender today.

Thousands of civil and military officials wearing official uniforms of different ranks left the city in order and stood outside the city gate in the positions they took during the grand court, facing the military camp of King Qian.

Jia Zheng was also among them, looking at Prince Qian's camp from afar. He saw dozens of riders coming. He inspected for a while, asked Prince Zhongshun, and then returned to the camp to report to Prince Qian.

Jia Zheng let out a long sigh. He had nothing to say now and could only wait for Prince Qian to appear.

Thousands of Shun Dynasty officials who were with him also remained silent, waiting for the new emperor to come out of the military camp.

In the military camp of Prince Qian, inside the commander's tent.

Chu Yan leaned back on the bench, holding a history of the Tang Dynasty in his hand, reading the section "Rebellious Ministers".

On the long table in front of him stood a rosewood box.

He glanced at the box twice, reached out his hand and wanted to pick it up, but after putting his hand on it and thinking for a moment, he put it down again.

He muttered to himself, "The date I agreed to meet with Zhaojun is just a few days away. There's no need to rush."

In his palace in Jinling, Jiangnan, he had a concubine named Xie Zhaojun, who was the daughter of the Xie family, a prominent family in Jiangnan. She was extremely beautiful and had a gentle and virtuous personality. Chu Yan originally wanted to marry her, but due to various concerns, he did not give her a formal status.

Before this Northern Expedition, Xie Zhaojun gave him a box and told him to open it after the city was captured and the capital was stabilized.

Chu Yan originally thought that the wooden box contained only some of her admonitions to him, but since he knew that this was the world of Dream of the Red Chamber, and recalled some miraculous things that happened to Zhaojun, Chu Yan began to doubt her identity.

"Your Highness."

Chu Ming entered the tent with a delighted look on his face, bowed, and reported, "The civil and military officials of the Shun Dynasty are lined up at the East City Gate, waiting for Your Highness to enter the city!"

"Where is the emperor?" Chu Yan asked.

"No. Before Prince Zhongshun left, he sent someone to the palace. News came from the palace that the emperor was in his bedroom and hadn't come out. The retired emperor was also in the palace."

"Ah."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "It seems that he has the guts to seek death."

"Your Highness, should we send someone to the palace first and have him under guard?"

"No need. I've already passed on the message. Whether it succeeds or not depends on God's will. It doesn't matter if he dies."

While the two were talking, civil officials and military officers came into the tent one after another, all looking at them with eager eyes.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "I know you are anxious to enter the city, but you have to finish your work before you can enter. I don't want to end up like what is written in this book."

He shook the New Book of Tang in his hand.

Xu Zhiyi knew which passage in the history of the Tang Dynasty it referred to at a glance and said with a smile, "Your Highness is only twenty-five this year, but Huang Chao was already sixty when he entered Chang'an. How can we compare?"

All the generals and soldiers flattered him.

Chu Yan smiled and ordered, "Please sit down, Chu Ming, and tell me more about the arrangements for entering the city."

Wu Xinan, Su Dingbian, Wei Liang, Xiahou Xin and others were getting impatient after learning that the Shun Dynasty officials had left the city to surrender, but since King Qian had spoken, they had no choice but to sit down.

Chu Mingdao said, "Your Highness, we will have 50,000 men entering the city. 10,000 of them have already occupied the city gates. Your Highness, your 5,000 personal guards will accompany you into the imperial city to serve as the imperial guards. The remaining men will maintain order within the city and confiscate the weapons of the remaining Shun Dynasty soldiers. These 40,000 men have already left the camp and are ready to enter the city with Your Highness."

Chu Yan asked, "Will the rest of the people go into the city?"

"No." Chu Ming shook his head and said, "The remaining 80,000 soldiers will be stationed where they are, in case any troops come to the capital to support the king." Chu Yan nodded and asked some more questions.

More and more civil officials and military generals arrived, crowding the inside and outside of the camp.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "It seems that you are all eager to enter the city and be appointed as marquises and prime ministers!"

Everyone laughed and said, "We are here to support His Royal Highness Prince Qian to ascend the throne!"

"it is good!"

Chu Yan stood up, his tall figure standing out among the other generals. He opened his arms and said with a smile, "Come, put on the armor for me once more. After we enter the city, I don't know when I'll put it on again!"

After entering the city, he would be the emperor, the ruler of the world. He would not leave the capital easily, and would never have to fight on the battlefield again.

"I'll get the armor for the king!" Wu Xinan hurriedly took the armor, and several generals who commanded the three armies came forward and personally put on the armor for Chu Yan. The civil officials could only watch, as it was not their turn to take action.

After putting on his armor, Chu Yan left the tent. His personal guards had been waiting for him for a long time. When they saw him come out, they all cheered in unison: "Your Highness is welcome to enter the city!"

Chu Yan smiled, mounted his horse, and said to them loudly, "I still have something to do."

No one knew what he was going to do, but Chu Ming guessed it and said, "Your Highness is going to see someone who is not allowed to enter the city."

Sure enough, everyone saw His Royal Highness Prince Qian riding a horse, walking behind him surrounded by his personal guards, and soon he arrived in front of a central military camp.

When the soldiers who were originally staying in the camp heard the news that King Qian had arrived, they all ran out and looked excitedly at His Royal Highness King Qian who was riding on a tall horse.

“Brothers!!”

Chu Yan spoke in a resonant voice. He rode his horse slowly in front of them and shouted to them, "Today, we have captured the capital of Shun Dynasty. This should be a day when 500,000 people cheer together!"

Inside the military camp, thousands of soldiers listened to his speech.

"Regretfully!" Chu Yan said, "Three hundred thousand men either stayed in Jinling or were stationed in various places. Only our two hundred thousand troops came to the capital!"

"Among them, over a hundred thousand are unable to enter the city with me and share the honor of being welcomed by all the officials because of the small size of the capital!"

"but!"

Chu Yan looked at them and said, "I will give you the land and money you deserve, not a penny less. When the city is stable, I will go out of the city and personally reward you brothers!"

When the crowd heard his voice, they all shouted loudly:

"Your Majesty, please enter the city and ascend the throne!! Long live the king!!"

The roar was like thunder and sea, which spread throughout the military camp. Everyone knew that His Royal Highness Prince Qian, who was about to enter the city, still remembered them and came to talk to them.

When the marching commander Li Changjin saw this scene, he couldn't help but think, with Prince Qian's amazing prestige in the army, who would dare to have second thoughts?

Chu Yan said goodbye to them and led the generals on horseback to the east gate.

Upon seeing him arrive, the 40,000-plus troops who had been waiting to enter the city, like the soldiers in the camp, shouted loudly, "Your Highness Prince Qian, please enter the city!"

The grand spectacle stunned thousands of Shun Dynasty princes, ministers, civil and military officials. Wang Ziteng couldn't help but admire him: "With such a reputation, no wonder he was able to conquer the Shun Dynasty... Our defeat was well deserved."

Chu Yan rode his horse to the city gate. More than 5,000 officials of the Shun Dynasty knelt down and saluted. A eunuch from the Palace Ceremonial Department cracked his whip, and they all said in unison:

"Welcome King Qian into the city!"

Chu Yan, wearing armor, rode his horse closer and his eyes fell on the jade seal held in Prince Zhongshun's hand. After coming in front of him, he bent down and picked it up.

He glanced at it for a moment, then handed it to his personal guard for safekeeping. He then addressed the kneeling 5,000 Shun Dynasty officials, saying, "This king has accepted your gift. Upon entering the city, I will punish all but the most heinous criminals. Rewards will be awarded based on merit, and punishments will be given based on crime. Officials above the fourth rank will be dismissed, while innocent officials below the fourth rank will remain in their positions pending replacement."

The officials looked happy. They did not expect to keep their official positions. When Prince Qian stabilized the situation, he would surely dismiss many of them gradually.

But at least, officials below the fourth rank can escape unscathed.

"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Qian, for your mercy!"

All the officials kowtowed again.

(End of this chapter)