Chapter 1067: Coronation
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yin Huaixi held her hand.
Yu Youyao looked up. “What’s wrong?”
“Your lips haven’t moved, but I can smell the fragrance.” Yin Huaixi leaned closer and took a whiff. A unique sweet fragrance immediately entered his nose, making him feel tipsy. “Let me try it.”
Yu Youyao’s lips subconsciously moved.
He gently wiped the redness from her lips with his finger and placed it into his mouth to taste it carefully. Yin Huaixi narrowed his eyes. “It’s sweet.”
He clearly did not like sweet food, but he liked her lipstick. Usually, no matter what lipstick she used, he would always eat it. She did not know what was wrong with him.
Yu Youyao was both angry and annoyed. “I put a lot of beeswax on my mouth. Of course it’s sweet.”
“It can be sweeter.” Yin Huaixi stared at her lips.
Yu Youyao pursed her lips and smiled. “This is lipstick, not honey. Why does it have to be so sweet? Aren’t you tired of it? Don’t you want to eat? Why aren’t you leaving?”
“When the way you eat is different, the taste will naturally be different.” Yin Huaixi’s eyes were deep.
“Isn’t that how lipstick is? Are there different ways to eat it?” As soon as she finished speaking, Yu Youyao suddenly thought of something. Before she could react, Yin Huaixi had already lowered his head and sucked on her lips. He only let her go after finishing the lipstick on her lips.
Yu Youyao was furious. “I just applied lipstick…”
Yin Huaixi laughed and rubbed her lips. Her soft lips made him a little restless again. Seeing her angry expression, he quickly opened the eggsh.e.l.l porcelain box, picked out some lipstick, and applied it on her lips, using his fingers to apply it carefully.
After applying the lipstick, Yin Huaixi lifted her chin and admired her for a while. He opened the makeup box and picked out a large camellia flower. It was inserted diagonally at her temples, like a flower made of onyx, making her skin look bright and delicate. After admiring it for a while, there was a strong sense of joy in the corners of his eyes.
Yu Youyao studied it for a while and also felt that it looked good, so she let him be.
Yin Huaixi held her hand. “Let’s go eat!”
There was a lamp in the corridor, and the waning light shone on the delicate woman beside him, making her look obscure and illusory. Yin Huaixi couldn’t help but squeeze his hand. The softness of his fingertips made him feel a little more real.
Five days later, Eunuch Zhu personally went to the Eldest Princess’s residence to welcome Yin Huaixi back to the palace.
The second day after returning to the palace, Yin Huaixi led a group of officials to pay their respects to the altar. Then, he held a sacrificial ceremony at the altar to show that he had the right to be orthodox.
The third day was the day of the coronation.
On this day, the capital was under full martial law, and troops were sent to guard the various gates of the Imperial City.
At dawn, the n.o.bles and ministers were already wearing court clothes. They were examined by the imperial guards and entered the Imperial City.
All the doors of the Hall of Supreme Harmony were open. In the large hall, bright yellow flags fluttered in the wind. The emperor’s imperial flags were spread along the long red carpet until they reached the door.
Elder Yu and a few cabinet scholars entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony with the officials of the Ministry of Rites. They wrote the emperor’s edict for the coronation, their congratulations, and the emperor’s seal, all of which would be put on display in the hall.
The auspicious time had arrived.
The musician began to play music. The bells, flutes, and dozens of other instruments played a grand and solemn tune.
Yin Huaixi was wearing a black crown uniform with twelve embroidery patterns. He walked along the long line of flags and stepped on the long red carpet. He slowly entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony and stood at the foot of the steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, accepting the kneeling and kowtowing of the ministers. “Long live our emperor.”
After that, Yin Huaixi issued an edict.
A new dynasty was established, and its name was the Great Zhao. To show their virtue, the year was changed to the first year of Zhaoyong. Furthermore, an ancestral temple called “Great Ancestor Zhao” was built to show that their ancestors had contributed greatly.
After the coronation ceremony.
From then on, a new dynasty was established.
After Emperor Zhaoyong ascended the throne, he first announced the appointment of Yu Youyao, Eldest Princess Shaoyi, and ordered the officials of the Ministry of Rites to step up their supervision.
In fact, after the Eldest Princess returned to the capital, the officials of the Ministry of Rites had already been preparing for the ceremony. First, they had to prepare the golden books and treasures. Then, the cabinet scholars would write imperial books and precious books.
They were so busy that they did not even take a deep breath.
Then, Emperor Zhaoyong pardoned the world. Depending on the severity of the crime, criminals were given a reduction or exemption from punishment. Those who were wronged would be punished with 20 strokes of the cane. Then, their cases would be re-examined.
Once the case was settled, other than beating the drum and obtaining the emperor’s permission, it was usually not allowed to be reopened.
The crime was basically fixed.
One had to be punished with 30 strokes of the cane for beating the drum. Ordinary people usually couldn’t take it, causing the drum to be useless. Only a few people dared to hit the drum.
The reduction to 20 strokes of the cane was something that an ordinary person could endure if they gritted their teeth and endured.
Later, Emperor Zhaoyong abolished the original state and prefecture governance. He used the six-level management system by Cao Cao, which consisted of provinces, cities, counties, townships, towns, and villages. This made official governance and the responsibilities of officials clearer. Everyone’s rights were differentiated, preventing officials from overstepping their authority.
At the same time, he had also set up the administrative center of the cabinet in the court, or in short, the cabinet. It led the ministers and was the highest-ranking leadership body in the court. It was controlled by the Grand Secretary.
The General Court of Political Affairs, or the “Political Affairs Court”, was the highest executive body of the court. It was controlled by a second-in-charge.
The cabinet had leadership over the political affairs court, but the political affairs court had a certain amount of authority over the cabinet.
They restrained each other.
The Privy Military Affairs Department, or simply the Military Affairs Department, was the highest military inst.i.tution. It greatly reduced the restrictions of the Ministry of War on military matters and strengthened the emperor’s direct control over the military power. It was directly under the emperor’s jurisdiction.
With such a division, the rights and responsibilities of every official were clearly divided. No one could think of crossing the line. The situation of the cabinet’s struggle for supremacy in the past would never happen again. No matter which side wanted to cause trouble, they could not bypa.s.s the other two sides. The three sides kept one another in check, and their interests were constantly involved.
As long as one side was corrupted and disregarded the law, they could follow the vine of duty and go up, greatly reducing the corruption of politics.
All three sides were directly under the emperor’s control.
No matter what happened in the country, it could not be hidden from the emperor.
This system further strengthened the emperor’s control over the military, politics, and local officials on the basis of the cabinet.
All the ministers in the court were as obedient as quails.
Then, Emperor Zhaoyong executed benevolent governance.
First, he implemented the “Single Whip Law” proposed by Prime Minister Zhang of the previous dynasty. He would allocate the land tax, corvée, and other miscellaneous taxes into one, combining them. Silver would be collected from the people based on how many acres of land they had.
As soon as this initiative was issued, the country celebrated.
The rewards and corvée collected by the Imperial Court mainly included land tax, poll tax, and corvée for various items.
In detail, it was a mess.
The large number of taxes would be collected together. Based on how much land a family had, they would be taxed according to the rules. Other than the food that the government needed to collect, it would all be counted in units of silver.