93Chapter 93: Peace in the World, Internal Troubles Arise
Chen Cheng didn't know what the Western Regions would become, but he knew that when the drum sounds of Fenglangjuxu resounded throughout the entire northern desert, the Han Dynasty would soon usher in a not-so-short-lived peace.
This is the peace brought by the three great heroes of the Han Dynasty.
In the seventeenth year of Emperor Wu's reign, it was the turn of spring and summer.
Thunder roared.
The five generals of the Han Dynasty, namely, Marquis Qing, Marquis Tiao, Marquis Changxin, Marquis Lin'an and Marquis Guanjun, performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Langjuxu in accordance with the emperor's decree. The deafening sound of drums resounded throughout the northern desert, and bursts of cries were heard outside the distant Qilian Mountains.
The cries belonged to the Huns.
There is nothing in this world that does not require a price, and there is nothing free - this is especially true for the Huns' westward migration.
This brings us to the current internal system of the Xiongnu people.
The Huns were "slaves".
Yes, even when the Central Plains had entered the feudal dynasty system and even had changed to the second dynasty, the Huns were still in a slave system.
In fact, their "Qian Shou" are very few, or even none at all.
All they had were "big slave owners", "small slave owners" and "slaves", as well as the heads of the big slave owners and small slave owners - the Hun king.
The Xiongnu king was called a king, but in reality he was a bigger slave owner.
Once the slave owners decided to migrate, the slaves had no choice but to take the slave owners' property - including themselves - and travel to a more distant place.
In other words, they themselves are one of the slave owner's properties, or an important part of it.
The Huns, who had traveled a long distance and were about to leave their homeland, were wailing and reciting their own songs.
"The loss of Mount Yanzhi makes my women lose face. The loss of Mount Qilian makes my livestock unable to reproduce."
This ballad is destined to resound throughout the Central Plains, or in other words, throughout the history books of the Han Dynasty - because it is an integral part of the Han Dynasty, that is, an important part of the Han Dynasty's foreign wars.
Chen Cheng sighed slightly, and then found that everything in front of him slowly "rippled", like some water ripples, slowly spreading out. When these ripples condensed again, he found that what "he" could see at this time was the summer and autumn of the seventeenth year of Emperor Wu, the "time" after everyone returned to the court.
At this time, Chen Cheng became increasingly aware of the "attraction" coming from the "descending" ability, which was stronger than before. This also indicated that perhaps in a while, he would completely "return".
... ....
In the seventeenth year of Emperor Wu's reign, between summer and autumn.
The aftertaste of summer has not yet ended, but the chilling coldness of autumn has already arrived, sweeping across the entire world, leaving everyone in the world with a somewhat inexplicable feeling in their hearts.
This was especially true for Emperor Wu in the Weiyang Palace.
When Wei Qing and his men returned to the capital, he immediately issued an order to enthrone Wei Zifu as the queen. The first child Wei Zifu gave birth to was also named "Ju" by him, and he even directly made him the crown prince.
At this stage, Wei Zifu was still the emperor's favorite.
Under the influence of "love" and "martial arts", the status of Wei Zifu and Liu Ju was very stable. Basically no one would provoke Wei Zifu at this time, and the "power" of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in the court and the country also expanded.
Because they are part of the "foreign relatives" force, and are the most powerful foreign relatives force in the development of the Han Dynasty so far.
Emperor Wu didn't mind this.
only.....
In the autumn and winter of the seventeenth year of Emperor Wu's reign, when the first heavy snow of winter slowly fell and covered everything, Zhou Yafu fell ill. His illness was like the snowflakes floating in the sky, instantly covering his entire body.
When the news of Zhou Yafu's serious illness came on the first day, Zhou Yafu could still barely support himself and laugh, but after a night, the next day, Zhou Yafu fell into a coma.
When the sun set on the third day, Zhou Yafu had already been given a death warrant by the imperial physician.
It was the winter of the 17th year of Emperor Wu's reign, November 13th, a very ordinary day.
Zhou Yafu, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty and Marquis of Tiao, died of illness in Chang'an City.
He died at the age of seventy-three.
.... ....
It was also in this year that Chen Qing retired after returning to Chang'an City. The emperor tried to retain him again and again, but he refused and simply resigned and returned to Guandu.
After Chen Qing and Zhou Yafu left the court one after another, the court seemed a little empty.
This was the sixteenth year of Emperor Wu's reign. All the former "old aristocrats" and powerful officials in the court had been vacated, leaving Emperor Wu with a clean and vibrant Han dynasty.
In the same year, after failing to stop Chen Qing from retiring and returning home, Emperor Wu conferred the title of "Sikong" on Chen Qing. In this era when there was no "Sikong", this was an official position specially created by Emperor Wu to honor Chen Qing, and he declared that this official position was one of the "Three Dukes".
As for why there are four of the Three Dukes...
It's normal to have four of the Three Dukes, right?
After Zhou Yafu died of illness and Chen Qing retired, the two most important official positions among the Three Dukes, "Prime Minister" and "Grand Marshal", became vacant.
Emperor Wu did not choose to appoint some members of the royal family, or find some people who needed to take the blame, as prime ministers in order to launch his power struggle - after all, in this timeline, Emperor Wu did not need political struggles.
But he still had the final say in the entire court.
As a result, a large number of new nobles and new heroes directly took over the positions.
On the 30th day of the 12th lunar month in the 17th year of Emperor Wu's reign, the last day of the year, Emperor Wu announced the candidates for the three highest positions and the rewards for the "meritorious officials".
Chen Rui, the Imperial Physician, succeeded Zhou Yafu as Prime Minister, while Wei Qing succeeded Chen Qing as Grand Marshal. Later, Huo Qubing assumed the long-vacant position of Military Commissioner. As for Chen Ding? Emperor Wu dug through historical records specifically for him, uncovering an official title called "Grand Marshal," and reiterated that it was one of the Three Dukes.
Well, there are five of the Three Gongs, which makes sense.
then.....
Today's court has completely become a one-man show for the two huge forces of the "Queen-Crown Prince In-laws Group" and the "Chen Group".
Its members are as follows!
Chen:
The Three Dukes include: Chen Rui, Marquis of Guandu and Prime Minister; Chen Ding, Grand Marshal and Marquis of Lin'an; Chen Qing, former Prime Minister, Marquis of Qing and current Minister of the Interior.
Among the Nine Ministers: Langzhongling, Wenhou Chen Yu
Relatives by marriage:
Among the Three Dukes: Grand Commandant and Marquis of Changxin Wei Qing;
Among the Nine Ministers: Military Sima, Champion Marquis Huo Qubing
The balance of power seems unbalanced - in the eyes of some people, so some people have quietly made new moves.
As the saying goes, when external threats are resolved, internal worries will arise.
Some of the parasites who are inexperienced in foreign wars but experienced in civil wars are beginning to stir.
PS: There's about seven or eight chapters left from the CG perspective? It's almost time to return to the original perspective and the protagonist's third coming, and this time it's set in... the end of the Hanwu era, which is quite Lao Deng-like! Let's begin the Hanwu Battle Royale!