Chapter 99: Marriage Alliance

In the imperial palace.

Emperor Tianyuan, who had picked up a life, lay on the grand master chair basking in the sun, looking at the distance with empty eyes.

The gauze bandaged on his forehead proved that he was still a wounded person.

The blow brought by the great explosion to him was not only physical but also mental.

"Your Majesty, Duke of Cheng, Marquis of Zhenyuan, Marquis of Wuyang, Grand Secretary Xu, and Eunuch Zuo have returned!"

Hearing the eunuch's words, Emperor Tianyuan's eyes moved slightly.

"The Lianghuai salt administration was handled so quickly; it seems they put their hearts into this errand.

I don't want to move now; just bring them over together!"

Changing the time point, having completed such a great achievement, even if not letting the hundred officials go out of the city to welcome, at least a banquet should be held to celebrate.

Unfortunately, Emperor Tianyuan has no interest now, and the situation in the capital is not suitable for celebration.

A great explosion directly took away more than 20,000 people, and the injured are countless.

Now all over the city, white banners are hanging everywhere.

Even though a month has passed, funeral processions still often block the streets.

To save the disaster, the Great Great Dayu Dynasty spent its blood this time.

The Ministry of Revenue scraped together 2 million taels, and Emperor Tianyuan also took out 500,000 taels from the inner treasury.

Most of this huge sum was used for funerals.

The funeral affairs of the noble and official families that were wiped out were all handled by the imperial court.

The dead people also received a coffin.

The most thorny thing is not the dead, but the injured and disabled caused by the explosion.

The medical system in the capital faced an unprecedented challenge.

Not letting the situation collapse was entirely due to the super-level performance of the Great Great Dayu's bureaucratic system.

"Your subjects pay respects to Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, this slave has returned..."

Zuo Zuo Guangen's eye-catching performance of crying and complaining as soon as he appeared made the faces of the others very ugly.

Eunuchs can not want face and go directly to hug the Emperor's thigh, but these ministers cannot.

If eyes could kill, Zuo Zuo Guangen would have been torn to pieces by five horses by now.

It doesn't matter if you want favor, but you made it so exaggerated, what should everyone else do?

In an instant, several people realized that coming to see Emperor Tianyuan with Zuo Zuo Guangen was definitely a wrong choice.

"Fine, you silly guy, why are you acting like a child!"

Emperor Tianyuan scolded with a slight smile.

It was evident that he had no intention of being angry.

The head of the eunuchs who could establish the Eunuch Party and suppress the Qingliu group was definitely not a simple person.

But the outside world's cognition is useless; in Emperor Tianyuan's eyes, Zuo Zuo Guangen is a silly and honest person.

There is no other reason; the hundred officials all have their own calculations, only these eunuchs treat the Emperor as "Heaven."

"You guys are stunned for what? Why don't you hurry up and move chairs for the ministers; do you want me to do it myself?"

Perhaps realizing the occasion was wrong, Emperor Tianyuan immediately changed the subject.

According to the rules, the Emperor meeting ministers has a designated location, and the harem belongs to the forbidden area for the hundred officials.

It's just that Emperor Tianyuan is not a person who follows the rules; in the imperial palace, his rules are the rules, and the rules left by the ancestors can only constrain others.

"Your Majesty, your body is important; you don't need to get up!"

Hou Jue of Marquis Wuyang tactfully reminded.

Trusting eunuchs is fine, but there must be a degree.

Looking at the murderous eyes of the group of ministers, one knows they are dissatisfied with the Emperor's actions just now.

If it weren't for Emperor Tianyuan being injured, I imagine they would have started spraying.

Ministers scolding the Emperor has never been a fresh thing in the Great Great Dayu.

Dukes and Marquises should give the Emperor some face, generally not scolding the Emperor in public, but once they are angered, there is no guarantee.

"Ministers, you handled this errand well this time.

I have already read the memorials; just follow the methods of the ministers and promote them nationwide.

My body is a bit tired, so I can't hold a victory banquet for the ministers for the time being; wait until the salt tax is collected, and we will handle it together.

The rewards for all meritorious ministers, you ministers discuss with the cabinet to determine.

Zuo Zuo Guangen, you watch over it for me; don't let the meritorious ministers suffer grievances."

Emperor Tianyuan said with low interest.

The new salt tax system is almost a reprint of the original, nothing more than now being able to collect more money.

As a pragmatic Emperor, as long as money can be obtained, Emperor Tianyuan has no big opinion on the system remaining unchanged.

From now on, salt merchants everywhere have to pay two sums of silver.

One is the imperial court's tax silver, and one is the donation to Emperor Tianyuan.

The regular tax is 5 million taels, and the donation is 3 million taels, adding up to a full 8 million taels.

This huge sum is close to half of the Great Great Dayu's previous financial revenue.

Compared to the salt administration office that was complaining about the 1.3 million taels of salt tax every year before, it is completely heaven and earth.

As the price of rectification, the original salt administration officials will certainly be laid off.

Otherwise, keeping that group of parasites, in a few years, the current 8 million taels will slowly shrink back.

In order for the plan to proceed smoothly, even if there is no heart for government affairs now, Emperor Tianyuan forced himself to draw cakes for everyone.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, your subjects will certainly go all out!"

……

The short report ended, and everyone took their leave sensibly.

When leaving the imperial palace, several people looked at each other, their eyes full of worry.

Emperor Tianyuan's physical condition is far worse than they expected.

If they hadn't discovered something wrong in time and tacitly accelerated the reporting speed, I imagine they wouldn't have been able to pretend to be normal today.

The political impact caused by the great explosion is very bad; in order to stabilize the situation, the Emperor must endure the pain and pretend to be the same as usual.

Such behavior is clearly not conducive to injury recovery.

Yet they wanted to persuade, but didn't know how to open their mouths.

The smart people who saw through the Emperor's disguise are definitely not one or two, but everyone tacitly chose to play dumb and act.

It's not that everyone is disloyal, but the current situation requires this play to continue.

Emperor Tianyuan has no sons; once it is discovered that the Emperor's body has problems, those ambitious vassal kings will inevitably move.

A few vassal kings having ideas is not terrible; what is feared is them colluding with local generals.

Once a mess is stirred up, it will be a big mess.

……

Zhenyuan Hou Fu.

"Has anything big happened at home in these recent days?"

Li Yuan asked with slight fatigue.

When he was in the south, the family letters he received were all safe and sound.

Considering the tradition of reporting good news but not bad, some things that are not particularly important will be deliberately hidden by the family.

"The family is still stable; our mansion is far from the explosion location, so the impact received is not big.

Just damaged some buildings and injured

It only destroyed some buildings and injured a few servants; no lives were lost.

However, some relatives and friendly families were miserable, with quite a few people dead.

The most miserable was the Duke of Xingguo's Mansion; all hundred-plus members of the family died, and I'm afraid the family business cannot be preserved.

Hou Jue of Nanyang didn't fare much better; apart from a concubine-born son studying abroad, only a few servants escaped.

There were also the Marquis of Pingyuan's Mansion and the Earl of Xiangcheng's Mansion; they were one more miserable than the other, leaving only a group of women and children.

By the way, Grand Secretary Wang's mansion also suffered a catastrophe, with only a five-year-old grandson surviving.

……"

Hearing the Marchioness's reply, Li Yuan also felt a lingering fear.

Fortunately, the ancestors had foresight back then and chose a geomantically auspicious site to build the residence, which allowed them to escape this disaster.

Otherwise, like those unlucky ones mentioned above, being buried alive with the whole family, he could not bear it.

"Everything is in the past; it's good that we are fine!"

Li Yuan said slowly.

Compared to their own safety, the fact that the noble camp was severely damaged was simply not an issue.

Although this thought was a bit unprincipled, human nature is inherently selfish.

For families whose direct line is completely wiped out, even if there are collateral branches to continue the incense, they can basically be declared in decline.

According to the Great Yu law, in the case of the direct line having no heirs, one can apply to adopt a collateral descendant, who, after approval by the Emperor, will have legal inheritance rights.

Now that the parties involved are all dead, this adoption application cannot proceed at all.

In history, there have been more than one or two titles reclaimed by the court because the Emperor did not approve.

Now that the procedure cannot even be followed, the court reclaiming the titles is completely in accordance with the rules.

Even if the imperial grace is vast and they are allowed to adopt collateral descendants to inherit the titles, they cannot inherit the power.

They cannot even hold onto the current family foundation.

"By the way, Master, when I met with the Duchess of Chengguo a few days ago, I looked at a marriage match for Mu'er.

Because time was too tight, I didn't have time to tell you.

If you think there is no problem, then find a time to settle the matter first.

Although it is not suitable to hold the ceremony now, some essential steps still cannot be skipped."

Hearing the Marchioness speak, Li Yuan smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth.

"I was wondering why the Duke of Chengguo spoke so many good words for Mu'er when discussing the rewards for meritorious officials.

Hearing what you said, I suddenly see the light.

A collateral branch of the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion is indeed a good match for Mu'er; I agree to this matter."

Intermarriage within the nobility had long since become a habit.

Now that the noble camp is severely damaged, the only ones left who can shoulder the burden are him and the Duke of Chengguo.

The more it is like this, the more they need to huddle together for warmth.

Although collateral intermarriage has less influence, it is also a means to advance the relationship.

"Master, you seem to have misunderstood.

The one Mu'er is betrothed to is not some collateral branch, but the second daughter of the Duke's Mansion born to the primary wife."

Hearing the Marchioness's credit-seeking reply, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, Li Yuan, was dumbfounded on the spot.

The gap in social status between the two sides was too large; even if the two families needed to form an alliance, arranging a concubine-born daughter would be enough at most.

"Madam, this is not a joke, is it?"

Li Yuan asked seriously.

If it is the primary daughter of the Duke's Mansion, then this marriage is not Li Mu's personal matter, but represents an alliance between the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Mansion and the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion.

The things influenced behind it are numerous.

"Master, do I look like someone who doesn't know what's important!"

"When the Duchess of Chengguo proposed it, I was also startled, but I understood it after thinking about it later.

Previously, she was looking at the eldest son of the Duke of Xingguo's family for her daughter, but unfortunately, that boy lacked good fortune and died in the great explosion.

Master, you know that once such a thing happens, discussing marriage again will inevitably lower the grade.

So many people died among the nobles in the capital, including many heirs of various families, so there are not many people to choose from.

Most of those who could be looked upon favorably were taken to the south by you.

I guess it's because Mu'er appeared most frequently in the victory reports sent back to the capital, which caught the attention of the Duchess of Chengguo."

The Marchioness bluffed without changing her expression, completely concealing her own credit.

Secretly deciding on an alliance between two major families behind her husband's back was not something she should do.

With the Marquis of Zhenyuan's shrewdness, it would be easy to discover that this was targeting the concubine-born sons below.

To reduce trouble, she simply threw the blame onto the Duchess of Chengguo.

If the other party proposed the alliance and she agreed, the nature would change from targeting concubine-born sons to considering the big picture.

At the very least, from the perspective of family interests, this marriage has very important strategic significance for both families.

"Madam did the right thing; at a time like this, we cannot refuse the goodwill of the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion.

It's just that because of this, some of my previous arrangements must be adjusted.

I will write to Mu'er about this later; you pick a suitable day and settle the matter as soon as possible."

Li Yuan nodded slowly and said.

Things have reached this point; going back on it is out of the question.

Then we can only find a way to maximize the benefits of this marriage.

The noble group has suffered such heavy losses; I guess the Emperor will also find a way to let them recover some blood, otherwise the situation in the imperial court will lose balance.

At this time, two major power factions among the nobles forming an alliance to huddle for warmth is not considered taboo.

However, because of this, the Marquis's Mansion's resources in the military will have to be tilted more towards Li Mu.

The political resources allocated to other clansmen will inevitably decrease significantly.

There are many vacant positions now, so the impact in the short term is not big, but after a long time, everyone will definitely notice.

For the sake of family interests, it is not difficult to persuade everyone to accept it.

The resources allocated in a period of time are reduced, but the family's strength has grown; in the long run, it is still a profit.

The real trouble is the few concubine-born sons in the family.

Their academic performance is not up to expectations; wanting to achieve a transition from military to civil service is highly unlikely to be realized.

According to the previous plan, after three or five years, they would be arranged to develop in the military.

In the future, if there is no son born to the primary wife, one with the strongest ability will be selected from among them and adopted under the Marchioness's name to inherit the family business as a primary son.

Now that there is an extra key cultivation target, who is also the link for the alliance between the two major families, it will inevitably affect subsequent resource allocation.

After a brief moment of worry, Li Yuan quickly returned to calmness.

It is still too early to talk about future matters.

Only when the descendants are outstanding enough will there be fierce competition for resources internally; encountering this is also a happy trouble.

More families cannot even find one capable person.

(End of chapter)