Jin was originally a small border state, and it had just risen to prominence under the rule of Cheng Qianyu and Cheng Qianye's father, Marquis Wei of Jin. Therefore, even the palace where the king lived was not overly luxurious, but just magnificent.
Under the palace wall, several young palace maids took time out to play the game of throwing sachets. The small sachet drew an arc high in the air, and with a few crisp "Aiya" sounds, it was hung on the branch of the osmanthus tree.
The palace maids in their graceful robes gathered under a sturdy osmanthus tree, looking up at the sachets on the branches.
"How to do it?"
"It's too high to reach."
A man in black tapped the tree trunk with one foot, rubbed his body, and the sachet fell down.
The palace maids picked up the sachets, looked back at the young figure that had already gone far away, and started to discuss quietly.
"See? That's him."
"The lord's new favorite? I heard she's a slave. She doesn't seem as pretty as Xiao Xiu and Lu Yao."
"I think he's very handsome, tall, cold, and keeps to himself, like a lone wolf. That's probably why he charmed the lord."
Mo Qiaosheng came to the bedroom where Cheng Qianye was and knelt down to pay his respects.
Cheng Qianye was writing furiously at his desk. He said without even looking up, "Get up. I've made a small bed for you. You can sleep there tonight."
Mo Qiaosheng did not stand up, but raised his head and called softly, "Master."
"What's wrong?" Cheng Qianye stopped writing and looked up at him.
"I..." Mo Qiaosheng avoided her gaze, "This is the harem."
"Are you afraid of being criticized by others?"
"No!" Mo Qiaosheng raised his head, "I'm afraid of damaging the master's reputation."
Cheng Qianye smiled and continued to write with his head down: "My reputation is like that anyway. Didn't Xiao Xiu often stay here before?"
"I have a lot of difficult things to do when I come back this time. I will feel more at ease if you stay by my side to protect me."
Cheng Qianye put down his pen and waved at him, "Come here."
Mo Qiaosheng came to the table and Cheng Qianye showed him the written scroll.
"In every battle, the leader will be judged by his military achievements, and whoever gets a head will be exempted from slavery."
Reciting this sentence softly, Mo Qiaosheng couldn't help but stretch out his finger and press it on the elegant handwriting. His fingers trembled slightly and his heartbeat quickened.
"Like it? This is for you, and for all slaves like you."
Mo Qiaosheng looked at the tall man standing in front of the desk.
There was a gleam in that person's eyes, and he spoke in a soft voice. Each word was like burning charcoal, falling one by one and burning his heart.
"Qiaosheng, I hate this perverted system from the bottom of my heart," Cheng Qianye stared at the table, "I am determined to abolish it."
"I have always wanted to remove your status as a slave and abolish the slave system. But this is not easy. These noble families have been intertwined for many years. This matter infringes on their interests and is not easy to deal with."
"We will take it slow. We will first use the method of conferring titles based on military merit, starting with wars outside our home country, and gradually break down this rigid social class structure."
Cheng Qianye spread out his five beautiful white fingers, "Our Jin State is only this big now. If our army can grow stronger, our territory can expand, and our new policies mature day by day, we can go back and deal with these old stubborn people in the country, and then they won't be able to do anything to me."
Mo Qiaosheng's slender fingers gently stroked the twenty ranks of nobility on the scroll: Gongshi, Shangzao, Zhanniao, Bugeng... Dashuzhang, Guanneihou, Chehou.
Cheng Qianye stood shoulder to shoulder with him and said, "Qiao Sheng, you see, a junior nobleman can get a piece of land and a small house to ensure a basic life. The higher you get, the higher the reward, but it will be more difficult to get a high-level title."
Mo Qiaosheng's fingers slid across one by one, pausing on the last two words "Che Hou", and pressed them down hard.
He pursed his lips.
Cheng Qianye understood his unspoken thoughts.
She said softly in her heart: If you can get the title of Marquis Che one day, I will make you a general, and you will stand shoulder to shoulder with me, sweeping away all the corruption and injustice, and looking down on the world like a tiger. How heroic you are!
…
Concubine Xu, accompanied by several maids, walked towards Cheng Qianye's bedroom, carrying a bowl of bird's nest porridge.
She felt somewhat uneasy, for she knew that this man was not her husband but only her aunt, yet she had to act intimate with him in front of outsiders.
"Madam, look." A maid whispered behind her.
Concubine Xu looked up, and from their angle, they could just see a black figure squatting in the shadow of the pillars outside the palace gate.
"It's that person, the lord's..." another maid whispered.
"Is he crying?"
"The lord is becoming more and more domineering. He has bullied people to the point of tears."
"My lord seems to be different this time. I feel a little scared when I see him."
"No talking, you are not allowed to discuss your husband's affairs in private." Concubine Xu turned around and scolded in a low voice.
He led everyone to the front of the hall and waited respectfully for the message from the servants serving in front of the hall.
Cheng Qianye was very kind to her. He gave her a seat and asked about her health in a gentle voice.
Not long after, Mo Qiaosheng came into the hall with red eyes and stood behind Cheng Qianye.
Concubine Xu couldn't help but look at him several times.
I heard that this man is the princess's male... male lover. I wonder what the princess' attitude towards him is. Will I make the princess unhappy if I come here like this
Cheng Qianye smiled, and in front of everyone, she suddenly took Mo Qiaosheng's hand, pulled it onto the table, and shook it.
Mo Qiaosheng's face turned red, and everyone in the room lowered their heads.
"My beloved, is there anything bothering you? Feel free to speak up. If I can, I will do my best for you. You are pregnant, so you need to relax and not be so uneasy."
The gentle woman in front of her, who made her feel comfortable just by looking at her and had a soft goose yellow glow, was somehow filled with dark fear and uneasiness in her heart.
"Husband...Husband, why do you say that?" Concubine Xu stood up in panic, "I am very lucky to be able to give birth to a child for you."
She held the handkerchief in her hand and gently touched the bulging belly. "As long as this child can be born safely, I have nothing to worry about."
Cheng Qianye rubbed her fingers. As soon as she arrived in this world, she went to the battlefield and mixed with men. She didn't really understand the twists and turns between these ancient harem women.
But she couldn't bear to see a woman who was about to give birth so frightened and panicked. She thought for a moment and said, "How about this, you move to Chaowu Palace next door to me tomorrow. Be at ease and wait for the birth. If anything happens, just send someone to find me."
Concubine Xu bit her lip, held back the tears in her eyes, squatted down and bowed in gratitude, then left the hall.
On the second day, court officials gathered in the main hall.
Cheng Qianye proposed in court to send troops to reinforce Bianzhou.
Wei Sibu, one of the Three Dukes, stood up and spoke slowly and methodically: "Your Majesty has ruled the country and implemented benevolent policies. The people live in peace and security. They thought they had never seen war in their lives. Now I hear that Your Majesty has raised an army in Bianzhou. I, An, secretly respect Your Majesty."
Zhao Jikao, the head of the Nine Ministers, seconded the proposal, saying, "Last year, our Great Jin had no harvest, and the year before that, there were locusts again. People's livelihood has not recovered. The common people all rely on your majesty's grace to save them. Now we are sending troops thousands of miles away to provide food and clothing to enter Bianzhou. There are deep forests and bamboos, and the waterways are turbulent. Many people will die of illness before the battle. Your majesty's virtue is as great as heaven and earth. You will not bear to see the soldiers fearlessly dying. I, An, secretly respect your majesty."
Han Qianju, the envoy of Zhili, said: "Now that the people of Great Jin have been reconciled and the borders are stable, the lord can just stay in the government. Why go to Bianzhou, where there are many powerful countries and wars? It would be a waste of food and grass. In my opinion, it is best to call Xiao Sikou back to the country as soon as possible."
Everyone was talking at once, and in the end they all opposed sending troops.
When the voices gradually faded away, a clear and cold laugh was suddenly heard.
Everyone looked and saw that it was Zhang Fu, the first aide to the old Marquis of Jin. Zhang Fu waved his sleeves and said, "You all cherish your own feathers. You only know that Bianzhou is in constant war and the powerful countries are looking at it, but you don't want to get involved. Isn't our Jin country also surrounded by powerful countries? Have you ever thought about what would happen if the lord gave up Bianzhou and let the Quanrong take Bianzhou and destroy Li Wenguang. Who would be the next target of the Quanrong
Zhang Fu waved his sleeves and said: "Either go south to deal with Song and Wei, or go north to attack our Jin!"
Wei Sibu stroked his beard and said, "Mr. Zhang is wrong. A man who governs a country should establish politics with courtesy, treat the people with kindness, and treat neighbors with trust. If this is the case, the country will be as stable as a rock, and even if there are powerful countries, there is nothing to fear!"
Zhang Fu said with a smile: "If the Quanrong invade our Great Jin city, we can ask Wei Taibao to leave the city and use this set of etiquette to persuade them to withdraw their troops!"
Wei Sibu was so angry that his face turned red. He pointed at Zhang Fu and said, "You...you..."
The doctor-in-chief Helan Yanzhi stepped out and clasped his fists: "Mr. Zhang's words make sense. I think that since Bianzhou is the territory of our Great Jin, we should not give it to others for nothing."
Helan Yanzhi's relative-in-law, Imperial Censor Shentu Yu, stepped forward to support his in-laws.
There was an endless debate in the hall.
Wu Mian, the general commander of the army, saluted Cheng Qianye, who was sitting on the throne without saying a word, and said, "My lord, even if we want to send troops to reinforce Bianzhou, we don't have any troops to transfer in such a hurry except for the soldiers who are necessary to guard the border."
The hall fell silent for a moment, and many eyes were on Cheng Qianye.
Helan Yanzhi took the lead and said, "I can transfer 8,000 soldiers from my Helan family's fiefdom for you to command."
The rest of the ministers kept silent.
Cheng Qianye tapped his fingers on the armrest, was silent for a moment, and then opened his mouth and announced his decision directly.
"I have made up my mind. I will send 50,000 slaves to serve as soldiers, and together with the 8,000 brave men of the Helan clan, we will go to Bianzhou together."
"In addition, from now on, I hereby inform the whole nation that in any war, the new policy of conferring titles on those with military merit will be implemented."
"Han Qianju, the internal envoy of Zhili, was dismissed from his post and replaced by Zhang Fu, who was in charge of military supplies and food."
——————————-
This article was first published on Jinjiang. Please support the genuine version. Thank you.
The author has something to say: I recently read a good article, "My Husband is Responsible for His Beauty" by Ye Se. This author has the same taste as me, and I read this article every day. Haha, what a coincidence that she also read my article and recommended it to me today. If you like it, you can go and have a look. It's really good.
Let me also explain the issue of the military merit system.
1. With reference to Shang Yang's reforms in Qin, it was not as easy to get heads in the cold weapon era as everyone thought. Shang Yang's reforms really conferred titles on people who had one armor. For the sake of everyone's reading habits, I have enlarged the number to ten heads.
2. This title is different from what everyone thinks. It is not so high-ranking. The four lower titles are still ordinary people, with only some gold and silver rewards and partial tax exemption. The fourth level and above are only equivalent to the subordinate officials of the county government (county lieutenant, county magistrate, etc.).
3. Since this event happened in history, let’s just regard it as reasonable and not argue about it.
4. It is true that all reformers from Shang Yang and Wu Qi to Wang Anshi had a bad ending, but they were ministers, and the founding emperors who made the reforms were fine.
5. Cheng Qianye took his time and did not directly affect the interests of the nobles, boiling the frog in warm water.