Chapter 16: Posthumously Honored as Loyal and Martial, the Emperor Abandons the Fengshan Sacrifices

Although rumors that Gu Xiao was in poor health and likely not long for this world had already spread throughout the Great Han long before this.

Yet when this day truly arrived, the entire world was still shaken to its core.

Gu Xiao was dead!

This Grand Marshal of the current dynasty, Marquis of Champion, and leader of the meritorious faction had just died like this!

Upon hearing this news.

Many felt a sense of relief, as if a great stone had finally fallen from their hearts, even those who held no grudge or enmity toward the Gu family felt the same.

There was no helping it; for all the ministers of the entire Jianwu reign.

The two characters "Gu Xiao" were like a massive boulder.

If he did not die, no one could truly reach the Emperor.

Now that Gu Xiao was dead, it was clear that the situation of the entire world would change.

The power structure was about to be reshuffled!

Luoyang.

Ever since the solar eclipse that day, a strange atmosphere had permeated the imperial court.

Because Liu Xiu had just decided to head to Taishan to perform the Fengshan sacrifices.

For such an anomalous celestial phenomenon to appear at this critical juncture, they could not help but overthink it.

But they dared not discuss the Emperor, so they could only suppress these thoughts in their hearts.

And Liu Xiu himself had fallen into self-doubt.

He had always favored the New Text school of Confucianism, although he did not entirely believe in its prophecies and omens.

But this matter still had a great impact on his state of mind, making him somewhat hesitant and indecisive.

"Could it be that I have still not done enough?"

This question lingered in his mind, and no matter who came to persuade him, they could not put his heart completely at ease.

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

"Your Majesty..."

The person who came to report the mourning was none other than Gu Cheng; he knelt before Liu Xiu, his eyes rimmed with red, his voice choked with sobs, as he slowly recounted the final words Gu Xiao had left behind.

"My father passed away from illness at the residence on the last day of the third lunar month."

Liu Xiu was completely stunned.

This was an expression he had never shown since he ascended the throne.

The ministers in the court also had their expressions change drastically, and one after another, they could not help but kneel down.

When Liu Xiu heard that Gu Xiao was still saying he must not harm his imperial health even on his deathbed, his expression finally changed slightly.

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

"Your Majesty!!!"

In an instant, the court fell into chaos.

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

Yin Lihua was staring at him intently by his side, and beside her was the Crown Prince, Liu Zhuang.

"Your Majesty, you are awake?"

Seeing Liu Xiu wake up, Yin Lihua hurriedly took his hand and asked with a face full of worry, "How do you feel?"

Having said this, she instinctively wanted to call for the imperial physicians.

"I am fine!"

Liu Xiu shook his head directly, his expression unusually calm.

But Yin Lihua immediately saw the strangeness in him at this moment, and the worry on her face grew even deeper.

"The Empress need not worry..." Liu Xiu held her hand, comforting her softly, then turned his head to look at Liu Zhuang, "Zhuang'er."

"Father Emperor!" Liu Zhuang was also full of worry and hurriedly responded, "Your son is here."

"Summon the ministers to enter."

Liu Zhuang was slightly startled; he seemed to have thought of something, his expression changed drastically, and he hurried out.

Before long, the ministers walked in slowly.

Their expressions were varied.

But there was a trace of worry in their eyes.

Liu Xiu did not care what the ministers were thinking at this moment.

As the ministers slowly stepped into the hall, he spoke with a calm, ripple-free expression, as if he had already thought it through:

"Issue the edict."

"The Marquis of Champion has passed away from illness; my heart is filled with grief."

"Starting from today, court sessions are suspended for seven days to express my mourning."

"The achievements of the Grand Marshal's life should be a model for the people of the world."

"Order the students of the Imperial Academy to honor him."

"Since the Grand Marshal's last wish was to be buried in Hebei, it shall not be changed; however, given the Grand Marshal's merits, not honoring him would be insufficient to satisfy the eyes and ears of the world."

"Order the craftsmen to carve a statue for the Grand Marshal, follow the rites of the former Grand General Huo Guang, mobilize the five schools of the Northern Army, war chariots, and armored soldiers to escort him, bury him beside the imperial mausoleum, and grant him a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"Let the Crown Prince lead the ministers to offer sacrifices."

"And let the ministers deliberate on a posthumous title for the Grand Marshal."

This series of edicts was truly earth-shattering!

If it were usual times, some among the ministers might have stepped forward to remonstrate, as some of these arrangements were truly too shocking.

But looking at Liu Xiu's expression, which was as still as an ancient well, everyone inexplicably felt a trace of fear and dared not speak at all.

Liu Xiu lay on the couch, 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 sacrifices again."

"With the change in celestial phenomena and the loss of the pillar that held up our Great Han."

"I suppose my virtue is still shallow."

"From this day forward, when you ministers submit memorials to discuss matters, you are not to address me as 'Sage'."

Once these words were spoken, the entire hall was shocked!

Everyone's expression changed; they had never expected Liu Xiu to say such a thing.

Not allowed to address him as Sage?

This...

Liu Xiu had no intention of caring about everyone's reaction.

After speaking, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to withdraw.

The ministers withdrew with various expressions.

In the end, only Yin Lihua remained in the hall to care for him.

Only then did a look of intense grief appear on Liu Xiu's face; he held Yin Lihua's hand and said with a slightly trembling voice: "Empress..."

"Tell me... the Marquis of Champion passing away from illness, is this Heaven's punishment for me?"

"Your Majesty!"

Yin Lihua held Liu Xiu's hand tightly, "You rebuilt the Great Han, you love the people, and your achievements surpass those of the past and present."

"The length of one's life is determined by fate."

"The Marquis of Champion's final testament stated that Your Majesty must not harm your imperial health because of this."

"Your Majesty must not belittle yourself like this anymore."

Liu Xiu looked at her silently and said nothing more.

This funeral ceremony truly solidified what it meant to be the "Number One Meritorious Official."

The ministers also put a lot of thought into Gu Xiao's posthumous title, but in the end, Liu Xiu decided on the two characters "Zhongwu" (Loyal and Martial) for Gu Xiao.

"Zhong" (Loyal) is taken from the meaning of risking one's life to serve the sovereign and not turning back in the face of danger.

"Wu" (Martial) is taken from the meaning of suppressing and settling chaos.

The high evaluation of this posthumous title could be said to have set a precedent for the posthumous titles of subjects.

Never before had a subject been able to receive such a posthumous title.

The only other person with the same posthumous title "Zhongwu" was the King of Shache, Yan, who did not fall into the category of a subject.

Especially after deliberate promotion.

The moral atmosphere of the entire Great Han was even influenced by this, and people throughout the world gradually began to have a tendency to take this as their goal.

And as Gu Xiao's posthumous title was completely finalized, this matter finally came to an end.

Unexpectedly to everyone, Liu Xiu did not promote Gu Xiao's descendants, and did not even show any intention of employing them, letting Gu Cheng return to Hebei.

However, everyone knew the reason for this.

He was likely leaving them for the Crown Prince.

Unlike what the ministers had guessed, Liu Xiu's health did not have any major problems.

Even after this, he became more diligent in government and cared even more about the national strength of the Great Han.

The 27th year of Jianwu;

—Zang, Marquis of Langling, and Ma Wu, Marquis of Yangxu, submitted a memorial, intending to take advantage of the Xiongnu's division to send troops to destroy them, in order to establish "the merit of carving stone for ten thousand generations."

Liu Xiu refused them on the grounds of giving the people rest.

He merely accepted the surrender of the Southern Xiongnu.

The twenty-ninth year of Jianwu;

——The sixteen states of the Western Regions, including Shanshan and Cheshi, once again proposed their willingness to send their sons to serve at court and requested a Protector General.

Liu Xiu refused this as well.

No one knew why Liu Xiu would refuse such achievements delivered to his doorstep.

For an emperor.

All of this would have been his merit, allowing him to be even more revered by future generations.

But Liu Xiu truly refused.

Furthermore, Liu Xiu continued to follow up on various systems of the current Great Han.

He would often bring up matters such as "measuring the fields" and "liberating slaves," and he weakened the Three Excellencies, gradually transferring power to the Secretariat.

He let the Secretariat gradually become the political center, directly responsible to the Emperor.

Moreover, he vigorously managed water conservancy, increased the enrollment scale of the Imperial Academy, and encouraged the establishment of private schools in various places, among a series of measures benefiting the people.

It was precisely because of this that the national strength of the entire Great Han grew with each passing day.

And it was under these circumstances, in the thirtieth year of Jianwu, that the matter of the Feng and Shan sacrifices was brought up once again.

Liu Xiu initially did not express any opinion on this.

It was not until many days later, seeing that the world had not experienced the celestial anomalies of the past, and that "auspicious omens" had appeared all over the country, that he finally nodded and agreed to the matter.

Gu Yi had been silently watching all of this.

He was like a deity; with a single thought, he could go anywhere in the world to observe everything, yet he could change nothing.

He had truly become a spectator.

In the unseen, he could only watch the development of this world.

During this time, Gu Yi even exited the game for a while to ask if there was anything left behind by the ancestors in the old Gu household.

Regarding this, Gu Yi held onto hope.

After all, he had left behind so many things.

But unfortunately, nothing remained.

Everything he had done seemed to have truly vanished into the two thousand years of history in between.

Well... it could not be said to have completely vanished.

The Champion Marquis of the Great Han, the first minister in history to be posthumously titled Zhongwu, this title had indeed been passed down.

But it was of no help in the present.

Clearly, the influence of the Gu clan was not enough to withstand the correction of over two thousand years of time.

After confirming this, Gu Yi put his heart and soul into the game, focusing his attention on the Gu clan.

The current Gu clan was no longer what it once was.

It must be said that Gu Kang's political acumen far exceeded Gu Yi's imagination.

He keenly sensed the awkward situation of the Gu clan in the Hebei region and set about changing it.

Previously, for the Hebei region, the Gu clan could be said to have always been outsiders.

The attitude of the great clans of Hebei toward the Gu clan was almost entirely one of wariness.

But this style of conduct was clearly no longer viable from the moment Gu Xiao passed away.

———The Gu clan needed to transform!

Otherwise, once the Gu clan truly lost "imperial favor" one day, they would only be swallowed alive.

Gu Kang clearly saw through this.

Therefore, he displayed an attitude toward the outside world that was completely different from that of Gu Xiao.

At the same time, through the results of the imperial court's repeated policies of "liberating slaves" and "measuring the fields," he quickly screened out some of the great clans of Hebei.

He established connections with them and formed alliances.

He allowed the children of their families to enter the Gu clan's private schools under supervision.

It must be said that this was indeed a very wise tactic.

Although these were not the most famous great clans in the world, they still possessed considerable influence locally.

And while the Gu clan's momentum had not been completely lost.

These people were also willing to attach themselves.

They all longed to borrow the Gu clan's reputation to seek an official position, but Gu Kang's attitude toward this was ambiguous.

He would also select those with true talent from among them.

But for most, he only gave hints.

To put it bluntly, he was feeding them empty promises.

Gu Kang had truly become a person with an extremely flexible moral bottom line, yet these people were very susceptible to this approach.

Of course, Gu Kang did not abandon the Gu clan's policies toward the common people.

Under this complementary effect, in just a few years, after losing Gu Xiao as their pillar, the status of the Gu clan not only did not decline, but instead stood firmly on its own feet.

Regarding all of this, Gu Yi was left dumbfounded.

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

Let alone replacing Gu Xiao.

Even if it were him, a modern person, it would likely not be easy to achieve.

After all, he had never been exposed to politics.

And what Gu Yi cared about most was that Gu Kang had not failed his initial efforts.

He had actually followed the direction Gu Yi had hinted at back then.

He had tinkered with the curved-shaft plow and the waterwheel.

Although it was not yet enough to be promoted for large-scale application, having this starting point meant the future was promising!

When the news came that Liu Xiu was going to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Taishan, the Gu clan was also shaken.

After all, for the people of this era, this was indeed a major event.

However, Gu Yi knew that Liu Xiu was about to reach his end.

After confirming that the Gu clan would not face any problems in the short term, he also turned his gaze toward Liu Xiu.

He wanted to see with his own eyes what kind of scene an emperor's Feng and Shan sacrifices were.

——The Feng and Shan sacrifices at Taishan had a long origin.

Legend has it that the ancient emperors' sacrifices at Taishan began with the Wu Huai clan, and later, Fuxi, Shennong, the Flame Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, and others had all performed them at Taishan.

It was precisely because of this.

Taishan held a very sacred status in the hearts of the people of the world today.

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

And only a monarch of a peaceful and prosperous age was qualified to come and perform the sacrifices.

It was precisely because of this that the Feng and Shan sacrifices could be called one of the supreme honors of an emperor.

Liu Xiu's purpose for this sacrifice was very simple.

He needed to prove to the people of the world that he was the emperor who received the Mandate of Heaven!

And he also needed this act to tell the people of the world that the emperor was supreme and inviolable, correcting the influence left since Wang Mang's usurpation!

This ceremony could be called the most important ceremony since he rebuilt the Great Han.

Its scale was vast and unprecedented.

The thirty-second year of Jianwu, the second month;

——Liu Xiu led his ministers from Luoyang to Taishan.

Upon arriving at Taishan, he first built an altar with earth at the foot of the mountain in the east to hold the Feng ceremony.

He sealed the jade tablet recording his merits of receiving the Mandate of Heaven, pacifying the chaotic world, and reviving the Great Han into a jade chest, and cast a square altar.

Then he climbed to the summit to sacrifice to Heaven and Earth again.

Finally, he held the Shan ceremony south of Taishan to sacrifice to the god of the Earth.

When all this was done, Liu Xiu's prestige undoubtedly reached the peak of his life.

And he seemed to have been influenced, regaining the high-spirited appearance he had in the past, shedding the solemnity of these years.

He publicly stated his great ambition.

He wanted to restore the national strength of the entire Great Han to that of the time of Emperor Xiaowen.

After that, he would pacify the Western Regions, settle the Xiongnu, and thoroughly leave behind a foundation for the Great Han for ten thousand generations.

He announced the change of the era name to "Zhongyuan."

It seemed he wanted to use this as a starting point to lead the entire Great Han to reach the heights he envisioned in his heart.

However... he was destined to be unable to fully realize the grand wish in his heart.

Time has always been the most impartial force in the world.

No matter what status a person holds, they cannot withstand the passage of time.

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

And this time, it was not like before, where he would always turn danger into safety.

His entire state deteriorated rapidly, and later he fell into long periods of coma, rarely having moments of clarity.

Everyone understood... this emperor who rebuilt the Great Han had also reached the end of his life.

The day of Wuxu in the second month of the second year of Zhongyuan;

— Liu Xiu passed away in the front hall of the Nangong.

The imperial edict stated: "I have been of no benefit to the common people; all funeral arrangements shall follow the system of Emperor Xiaowen, and must be frugal.

Inspectors and high-ranking officials with a salary of two thousand shi are not permitted to leave their respective cities, and they must not send officials or use the post to deliver letters of condolence."

Crown Prince Liu Zhuang ascended the throne.

(PS: Please continue reading and support the data; the data is terrible, please provide recommendation votes and monthly tickets.)

A new plot begins again tomorrow; the author is even researching history in his dreams... Brothers, please show your support!!





(End of this chapter)