Liu Xin thought for a while and said to Brother Xiahou: "After I heard that you are the famous general Xiahouying, now the portraits of your ancestors are hung in the pavilion of heroes, but you have done such a rebellious act. Isn't it a bit ashamed? Heart?"
Xiahoudun snorted coldly, and said: "Don't be benevolent and righteous. A man should stand and die. How can he live on his knees! If you want to lie to my brother to serve you, don't think about it!"
Liu Xin laughed loudly and said, "Xiahou Dun, your brother is no more than a martial artist, and my famous generals are like clouds, where are you two less? If you hadn't had a good niece, how would I care about your life and death! But you should too! Think about your wives, concubines and children. If you are executed, they will all be slaves for life!"
The portraits of heroes of the ancestors hung in the front, but at the back they faced their wives, concubines and children as slaves for life. Even the Xiahou brothers who had experienced countless life and death battles hesitated. Xia Houyuan's words loosened a little, and he hesitated: "What else do you want?"
Liu Xin waved his hand and said: "As long as you live in peace and security in the future, I will forgive you. If your children and grandchildren are promising, they can also enter the court as officials. I will not make things difficult for them because of your identities."
Xia Houyuan no longer hesitated, winked at Xiahou Dun, knelt down on one knee, bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for letting go of the previous suspicion, and someone is willing to surrender!"
"You don't need to thank me. If you want to, thank your niece." Liu Xin nodded and ordered, "Take the two brothers down and deport them back to their original places, and let their family members go."
Xu You and the others immediately became anxious and said repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I also really regret it. I don't want to be an official again, but I only want to save my wife, and I beg your Majesty..."
Liu Xin didn't wait for them to finish, and waved. The guards had been impatient for a long time. Seeing Liu Xin's gesture, they rushed up like a wolf, dragged them up and walked forward, raising the knife in their hands and falling, and a few strands of wronged souls went west. .
The ceremony of offering prisoners in the Taimiao is completed, and then the rewarding officials will be rewarded. Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and their family members were allotted to the heroes as slaves, and rewards were given to houses, fields, gold and silver jewelry.
In addition, Liu Xin formulated a new system of knighthoods, with the titles of Gong, Marquis, and Boss being established. Xu Huang, Zhang Fei, Zhang Yun, Dianwei, Xu Zhu, Zhao Yun, Tian Feng, and Jushou were all dukes. These eight people are either Liu Xin's righteous brothers, or the elderly who have followed Liu Xin since Hejian, enjoying such a nobleness, naturally no one disputes. Others such as Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Cai Yong, Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, etc. were all granted marquises, and even Lei Tong and Wu Lan were also made earls. However, Shi Huan and Wang Wei, who died in the war, used their merits and status as improper nominations. Liu Xin was grateful for the day when they did not win, and posthumously named them earls.
The title is the same as the official position, and both can enjoy generous salary. The salary of the duke is equivalent to the official position of the first grade, and so on, the salary of the marquis is equivalent to the official position of the second grade, and the salary of the earl is the same as the official position of the third grade. The most important thing is that the title can be hereditary. Of course, Liu Xin's hereditary rules are different from the previous dynasties. The title of knighthood can be hereditary, but the salary can only be hereditary for three generations.
Liu Xin did this for a reason.
Dahan's salary is quite generous, even the lowest-ranking earl earns as much as 5 million yuan each year. The northern states have just subsided from the turmoil, and things are still in a higher position. According to the price level of Jing, Yi and other places, one hundred thousand yuan is enough for a family of five to live a very comfortable life, five hundred Ten thousand dollars can feed two or three hundred people. And every year and festival, the court will give another reward. Because the title can be inherited, more and more people will have the title. As the Han Dynasty stretches for hundreds of generations, this salary will become a heavy burden.
On the other hand, Liu Xin did not want the children of these heroes to lie down on the ancestors' tribute, so that they would not want to make progress. As long as the salary of their titles is cut off, they naturally have to find ways to either study or enter official positions, or do business to earn money.
For the same reason, Liu Xin treated his children in the same way. When his children reach adulthood, their sons will be named princes and their daughters will be named princesses, but Liu Xin stipulates that they can only enjoy the earl's salary, and such salary can only be inherited for three generations. After all, these children do not contribute much to the country, they are only from a better background, and they cannot be kept by the country. Moreover, Liu Xin wants to cultivate the children to be self-reliant. After all, their starting point is definitely much better than other children's. Although the ministers had many objections to such a plan, Liu Xin treated his children equally, and it was hard for others to say anything.
After rewarding the ministers, Liu Xin feasted again in the palace to reward the ministers and workers. This time, Liu Xin did not limit the number of participants to the corps commander and the ministers above. Instead, all officials of rank 5 and above in the capital were allowed to attend.
It is a great honor for the ministers to be able to attend the banquet in the palace, and the various dishes on the banquet make them flourish. In fact, because Liu Xin implemented independent accounting for the expenditure of the palace, this meal did not use any delicacies from the mountains and the sea, but rather common ingredients. However, the unique cooking method has turned these ordinary ingredients into a rare delicacy in the world. Everyone who has attended the banquet praised the food they ate tonight, even decades later.
Unifying the entire Han and bringing the entire Mobei grassland into the territory of the Han, eliminating the biggest hidden danger of the northern nomads that have long plagued the Han people, especially realizing his desire to contain the sharp decline of the Han population. Liu Xin's mood is also extremely good. He seldom drinks alcohol, but today he also drank three cups in a row, and he became slightly drunk.
Seeing the ministers almost wiped out the various dishes on the table, Liu Xin laughed, waved his hand, and said: "I suddenly had an idea. Let us change the trick for this year's gift and we will no longer reward you. Gold, silver and jewelry, but allow each of you to send a cook to the palace to learn the cooking methods of these dishes. I don't know how you like it? Of course, if someone still wants a gift from the year, I will not force it. "
Zhang Fei stood up first, and said with a rough voice: "Big Brother, this is a good idea, and my old Zhang is the first to agree. This year's gift is no longer, and I want to eat such delicious food every day!"
Liu Xin pardoned his uncle today, and did not take away his gold medal for exemption from death, which made Zhang Fei very happy. After returning, he could make a good contribution to the surface in front of Xia Houjuan. , As long as Liu Xin puts forward an idea, he will applaud.
The annual gift given by the Han court is quite generous, and many ministers here are still a little distressed. However, Zhang Fei agreed first, and the others were embarrassed to refuse, so as not to make people think that they were worthy of their lives. Especially for most civil servants, reputation is really more important than life.
However, Jushou and the others actively agreed. They all understood that Liu Xin was trying to save money for the court. The annual gift is issued in the name of the imperial court and does not need to be paid from the inner treasury of the imperial palace. But to let the people of the northern states spend this winter safely, the national treasury will need to pay a large amount of money and food, and now it is indeed time to tighten the belt.
Seeing that the ministers had no objection, Liu Xin couldn't help being happier, and even drank a few big glasses. By the time the banquet was over, he was already a little fluttering. Seeing this, several court ladies hurried forward to help Liu Xin to rest in the harem. Liu Xin has never elected palace ladies among the people. These people are all official slaves who have been in the palace, and many of them are from noble families. But as soon as Hou Men entered deep as the sea, let alone the palace? They all know that the hope of being released in this life is very slim, and the best outcome is to be favored by Liu Xin. Now that Liu Xin drank a lot of wine, it was their opportunity.
Although these palace ladies are all young and beautiful, Liu Xin is no longer the hairy boy who first arrived at that year. He waved his hand without hesitation, causing all the palace ladies to retreat, and walked towards the harem staggeringly. Zhang Gou'er and several servants were worried about Liu Xin's loss, so they had to follow around, but did not dare to help him.
Although the newly built palace is not magnificent, it occupies a very large area. According to Xiang Lang, who is in charge of the project, there are nine and a half rooms of large and small houses, and most of them are concentrated in the harem. There are everything in the harem, pavilions, towers and pavilions. The only inconvenience is that the several women of Liu Xin live separately.
At this time, the night was dark. Except for a few lanterns on the road, the harem was completely dark, and there were only a handful of places where the lights were still on. However, Liu Xin still continued the previous rules when he was in Xiangyang. Today, as usual, he should go to Diaochan to rest, so Diaochan will not turn off the lights at this time.
Liu Xin just walked towards the place where the lights were lit, and soon came to the front of a quiet small courtyard, opened the door and walked in.
Zhang Gou'er hurried forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, it's wrong."
Coming along this road, some cold wind blows, Liu Xin is already sober, looking up, and sure enough, it seems that this place has never been to this place before, can't help but ask: "Where is this? How did I get here?"
Zhang Gou'er sneered and said: "Your Majesty has everything to do. There is no time to hang out in the palace. Naturally there are many places that have not been visited. This is a quiet room behind Cai Guifei's palace, and it contains some collections of the imperial concubine. Usually no one lives..."
Liu Xin didn't wait for him to finish speaking, frowning, and said: "Since there is no one inhabited, how can the light be on late at night? Could it be a thief? No, I must go and see!"
Zhang Gou'er was slanderous in his heart. The thieves all act in secret, so there is no reason to steal things with the lights on. It's just that Liu Xin's words have been spoken, but he dared not stop it. And even though Liu Xin drank too much, she still moved very quickly. People had already arrived in the yard with the effort to speak, and Zhang Gou'er would not have time to stop her.