Chapter 279 Dowry
When Princess Chenliu heard what Empress Dowager Hu said, contrary to what Empress Dowager Hu had expected, Princess Chenliu did not make a scene, but sat aside and cried silently.
Seeing that Princess Chenliu did not make a fuss, Empress Dowager Hu could not utter the words she had prepared.
In fact, Princess Chenliu and Empress Dowager Hu were both acting.
After Empress Dowager Hu learned about Yuan Ziyou's plan from the young emperor, and heard that Su Ze could help her control the imperial guards, she no longer cared about the royal family's affection.
Using a sister-in-law who has no blood relationship with him in exchange for regaining power, this is a huge profit no matter how you calculate it!
Even if Empress Dowager Hu was asked to marry her own daughter, she would be willing!
Originally, Empress Dowager Hu planned to use her sympathy to impress Princess Chenliu, and then put state affairs first to force Princess Chenliu to marry her.
But Princess Chenliu did not make a fuss. Instead, she looked resigned to her fate, which made it impossible for Empress Dowager Hu to continue her performance.
There was no way. Ever since the Xuanguang Incident, the royal family and ministers were afraid of offending Yuan Yi and cut off all contact with the palace.
Only Princess Chenliu kept doing nothing. She not only helped Empress Dowager Hu learn a lot of news from the outside world, but also helped her gradually gain some power in the palace.
Empress Dowager Hu felt a little embarrassed at the sudden change of expression.
Both sides were stuck in this awkward situation!
Princess Chenliu is also a person with high emotional intelligence. She immediately realized the "BUG" in the scene. If Empress Dowager Hu really softened her heart and did not marry her to Su Ze, then all her efforts would be in vain!
After realizing this, Princess Chenliu wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief and said:
"Sister-in-law, Su Ze is very powerful in the imperial army. If I marry Su Ze and can help the Queen Mother and His Majesty regain control of the government, then my sister is willing to marry him!"
Hearing such decisive words, Empress Dowager Hu was truly moved.
It is comfortable to talk to a smart person. Princess Chenliu was able to understand the benefits this marriage would bring to the royal family and was willing to "sacrifice" herself. Empress Dowager Hu really felt guilty.
Empress Dowager Hu thought for a moment and said:
"Logically speaking, Su Ze is the princess, so he should be allowed to return to Luoyang to get married. The current situation in the northwest is also known to the imperial sister."
"So, after consulting with the clan leader, Gaoyang King Yong, Guangyang King Shen decided to follow the old practice of marrying princesses to the chieftains of the tribes and send the emperor's sister to Guanxi to get married."
Although the Northern Wei Dynasty had been established for a long time, the corresponding systems and rules were only established during the reign of Empress Dowager Wenming and Emperor Xiaowen.
Before Empress Dowager Wenzheng came to power, official ranks in the Northern Wei Dynasty were unclear, officials had no salaries, and they relied on donations from merchants and extortion from the people to support their families.
It was not until the Empress Dowager Wenming implemented the system of official salaries and determined the ranks and salaries of officials that the dynasty began to take shape.
The same is true for the marriage system.
In the early years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, princesses were not precious. During the reign of Emperor Daowu, princesses were married off to the grasslands for free, and sometimes two or three were married off at once.
Even more recently, Erzhu Rong's wife, Princess Beixiang, who was also a member of the royal family, married Xiurong directly.
In dynasties with strict systems like the Song and Ming dynasties, the prince consort and the princess had to live in the capital's mansion. There was no such institutional requirement in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, following the old precedent of Princess Beixiang marrying Erzhu Rong, there was no institutional obstacle to having the marriage envoy send Princess Chenliu to the northwest to get married.
But in the eyes of Empress Dowager Hu, judging by her own experience, it was indeed unfair to let Princess Chenliu leave prosperous Luoyang and go to the desolate northwest.
At this point, Empress Dowager Hu was afraid that Princess Chenliu would make a scene, so she glanced at her carefully. Seeing that she had no reaction, Empress Dowager Hu continued:
"This is unfair to my sister, but the imperial court will still grant it to the prince consort. Xi Kangsheng's mansion in Luoyang is spacious. After Su Ze returns from the western expedition, he and my sister can live there? How do you think?"
Xi Kangsheng held a high position of power, but after his coup failed, his family was exiled and his mansion naturally became empty.
However, due to the two Xuanguang Rebellions and the emergency in Tongguan, many ministers resigned and left Luoyang, leaving too many empty houses in Luoyang.
Although Xi Kangsheng's mansion is large, its location is not particularly good, and there are no mansions of princes and important officials around it, so others are too lazy to take over, and it is now overgrown with weeds.
Princess Chenliu secretly knew that Empress Dowager Hu was just trying to get something for nothing.
She continued to shed tears, waiting for Empress Dowager Hu to make another bid.
"Let's put it this way. My sister can't be wronged when she marries him, and we can't let Su Ze, a coward, look down on the royal family. I, your sister-in-law, will definitely prepare a good dowry for you!"
Princess Chenliu couldn't help but roll her eyes. After Yuan Yi seized power, he took control of the imperial palace. Empress Dowager Hu had no money at all, yet she still wanted to prepare a dowry for her.
However, Princess Chenliu knew that there was one thing that Empress Dowager Hu could decide to take out.
Princess Chenliu said:
"National affairs are difficult. If we hold a grand ceremony, I am afraid it will cause criticism from both the government and the public."
Hearing Princess Chenliu say this, Empress Dowager Hu could only sigh that her sister-in-law was really caring. She was even reluctant to let Princess Chenliu marry Su Ze.
Princess Chenliu said:
"Sister-in-law, Su Ze was born a warrior. If the court can give him books, it will be considered as an encouragement for him to study and make progress."
Empress Dowager Hu's eyes lit up. Yes! There are so many books in the Imperial College, theoretically they are also the property of the royal family. Giving some books to Su Ze can save face and sound good!
Besides, the northwest should be a very boring place, so asking Princess Chenliu to bring some books over there can help relieve fatigue and boredom.
Empress Dowager Hu nodded and agreed. She was the one who made the decision on this matter. The Imperial College was the royal library, and Prince Jiangyang Yuanyi did not think highly of these books.
Princess Chenliu said again:
"As for the dowry, please ask the Queen Mother to give more craftsmen from the General Works Department as dowry to strengthen the momentum."
Will the supervisor be?
The Imperial Household Department was an institution under the jurisdiction of the royal family, and Yuan Yi did not pay much attention to it.
However, Empress Dowager Hu was still planning to continue building Buddhist temples in Luoyang after seizing power.
But if you think about it carefully, wouldn't it be easier to give these craftsmen to Princess Chenliu as a dowry? After you seize power, you can recruit craftsmen from all over the country.
Empress Dowager Hu pretended to be generous and said:
"That's it! I'll give you a thousand volumes of books from the Imperial College and a thousand craftsmen from the Imperial Academy as a dowry for my sister, how do you think?"
Princess Chenliu was satisfied now. In fact, Princess Chenliu knew that Su Ze did not value gold, silver, jewelry, silk and cloth so much.
Instead, it was these book craftsmen who were the "treasures" that he was thinking about in his letters.
Taking advantage of the fact that Empress Dowager Hu had arranged the marriage, Princess Chenliu, feeling guilty about herself, made a huge request for the dowry.
You should know that in the Han Dynasty, when princesses married far away, they were forbidden to bring books, porcelain, silk, and silkworm seeds with them.
The most generous dowry in history was the dowry that Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty received when she married into the Tubo Kingdom.
The dowry brought advanced technology to Tubo, and in a sense, created the powerful Tubo Empire in the future. However, Princess Wencheng's dowry only included 360 volumes of books and no more than 200 craftsmen.
It can only be said that Empress Dowager Hu was narrow-minded after all. She did not know the value of books and craftsmen, but instead felt that she had made a good deal.
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Zhengguang three years, the eighth day of the second lunar month.
Prince Yuan Shen of Guangyang, who had been promoting the Su Ze threat theory, suddenly wrote a letter to the court, requesting the royal family to marry Princess Chenliu to Su Ze in order to win over the hearts of the border troops.
King Jiangyang Yuanyi did not have much opinion on this. He had little contact with Princess Chenliu. Su Ze gave him so much money, so it was nothing to marry a princess to win her over.
Immediately afterwards, Prince Gaoyang Yuan Yong agreed with Yuan Shen's opinion, but suggested that Princess Chenliu was a close relative of the royal family and the marriage should be presided over by Empress Dowager Hu.
Yuan Yi also had no objection to this suggestion.
Arranging royal marriages was originally one of the empress dowager's jobs, and it was Empress Dowager Hu who was responsible for arranging the marriage of Princess Chenliu.
Next, news came from the palace that Princess Chenliu entered the palace in the evening and cried all night. In the end, it was Empress Dowager Hu who persuaded her to marry Su Ze.
The next day, Empress Dowager Hu issued an edict to the Ministry of Personnel, requesting that Princess Chenliu be given a thousand volumes of books and a thousand skilled craftsmen as a dowry.
Yuan Yi had no objection to the books, but he had some complaints about the craftsmen. His mansion was still under expansion and he also needed craftsmen.
But think about it, the Ministry of Works already had more than 5,000 craftsmen, and if it really didn't work, they could just continue to recruit them from all over the place. The Ministry of Personnel still passed a resolution and agreed to Empress Dowager Hu's dowry list.
At this point, Princess Chenliu's marriage was a foregone conclusion.
The court issued another decree, ordering Prince Yuan Buddha of Guangyang to be the marriage envoy, and then selected 500 elite Yu Lin soldiers to escort Princess Chenliu to the northwest to marry Su Ze.
Yuan Yi still had no objection to this order. The roads in Guanzhong were dangerous and it would be impossible to travel without soldiers to guard them. The imperial guards were also useless and could only serve as escort after some training.
Yuan Yi only agreed to the marriage with the Ministry of Personnel, but then he was overwhelmed by various urgent military situations and could not raise his head.
After Li Chong led his troops back to Pingcheng, such an army needed food and drink, so Yuan Yi had to order the Hedong states to transport food.
This again aroused opposition from the Hedong states, and some people started to argue that the northern expedition would be a waste of money and manpower, and it would be better to give up the Six Garrisons.
However, in this matter, the Wei court was much more resolute than when the Eastern Han Dynasty discussed abandoning Liang. After all, Pingcheng was the birthplace of the Wei, and the Six Garrisons were the ancestral law. No prime minister could decide to abandon the Six Garrisons, which would be tantamount to completely bankrupting his own political credit.
Under this situation, King Jiangyang Yuanyi finally agreed to Li Chong's final memorial.
Li Chong resigned from the post of Grand Commander of the Northern Expedition, was granted the title of Jinzi Guanglu Doctor, and returned to Luoyang to retire.
There was no way. Although Li Chong did not achieve any merit in this battle, he managed to save the army.
Moreover, when he was in the Six Garrisons, Li Chong fought well. If Zhang Shijun had not failed to defend Wuchuan, Li Chong would not have retreated to Pingcheng.
All in all, Li Chong cannot be punished.
However, Li Chong also said in his memorial that his health was poor and he was no longer able to lead the troops.
Yuan Yi also agreed to Li Chong's final suggestion, which was to abolish the military organization of the Six Garrisons, change the Six Garrisons into prefectures and counties, and allow refugees from the Six Garrisons to go to other prefectures and counties to be registered as citizens.
In fact, this policy was already too late, but at least it gave the people of the Six Garrisons an option to escape instead of staying in the Six Garrisons and becoming rebels.
The situation in Guanzhong is also deteriorating.
First, Mozhe Tiansheng attacked Liu Kai's army again, and Liu Kai had to retreat to the south bank of the Weishui River. Mozhe Tiansheng's army began to harass Yongzhou again, and rebels appeared near Wugong and Fufeng counties.
The rebel army led by Hu Chen in Huazhou controlled most of Huazhou after the Battle of Shayuan, and attacked Tongguan with impunity, disrupting the grain transportation route from outside the pass to Chang'an.
Xiao Baoyin was no longer happy with this, and he began to write letters to impeach Beihai King Yuan Hao, saying that he was incompetent and had harmed the country, affecting the suppression of the rebellion in Guanzhong.
The King of Beihai Yuan Hao also wrote a letter to criticize Xiao Baoyin for making no progress in more than a year after entering the pass, which was actually a tactic of nurturing the enemy to harm himself.
Yuan Yi just felt a headache. He was incompetent to begin with, and now he couldn't even choose a commander for the Northern Expedition. He could only appease the two of them. There was really no way to replace them.
Under such circumstances, these five hundred Yu Lin began training outside the city of Luoyang.
Yuan Yi did not realize that Empress Dowager Hu and the young emperor had already taken control of an army of 500 people under the pretext of escorting Princess Chenliu to her marriage.
The situation in Luoyang changed, but Princess Chenliu's mansion no longer cared about it and began to prepare for Princess Chenliu's marriage.
That was the dowry given by the royal family. In fact, in terms of financial resources, it was not as much as Princess Shouyang’s who went to the grassland to marry last time.
There was no way. After the successive troubles of Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Yi, the treasury accumulated during the reigns of Empress Dowager Wenming, Emperor Xiaowen and Emperor Xuanwu had been completely spent.
The royal family did not have much dowry, so Princess Chenliu had to prepare her own private money.
At the same time, Su Ze sent a letter to Princess Chenliu, persuading her to sell her properties near Luoyang.
Although Princess Chenliu did not understand military affairs, she knew that the court was in turmoil and no longer prosperous. Except for some industries that were transferred to Su Suan, she planned to sell the rest.
Take away all the gold, silver, and jewelry, and take the people away too.
She was ready to pack up and take away all the farmhands and craftsmen of Tangmuzhi Manor, the retainers she had recruited over the years, and even some low-level officials that Princess Chenliu had deliberately befriended.
Princess Chenliu was busy preparing for her marriage, and Su Ze was also busy trying to find a wife.
First of all, how would Princess Chenliu enter the northwest?
There are now two ways to enter the pass and enter Su Ze's territory.
One way is to go through Tongguan, then from Hanzhong to Guanzhong via Baoxiade or Chencang Road, enter Liangzhou, and then go around Liangzhou to Xiazhou.
Su Ze was obviously a little impatient, and he planned to lead his troops directly south along the Yellow River and open up a passage from Yongle City to Tongguan.
A young man with bandages on his hands was also sitting in the tent. This was Houmo Chenshun, who had fled from the Six Garrisons to Yongle City during the Battle of Wuyuan.
When Su Ze learned that Houmochen Shun was Houmochen Chong's elder brother, he was secretly delighted.
Su Ze immediately recognized Hou Mochen Shun's position as a military officer of Yueqi Army based on his contributions in the northern border.
At the same time, Hou Mochen Shun was also allowed to attend military meetings while he was recovering from his injuries.
Naturally, some people under Su Ze were dissatisfied with this appointment.
Su Ze spread the process of the Battle of Wuyuan, and the dissatisfied generals were slightly convinced.
If we put ourselves in his shoes, facing such a fatal mission, Hou Mochenshun's courage and ability are still admirable.
Of course, Su Ze's appointment also had the meaning of buying bones with a lot of gold. He used the name of Hou Mochen Shun to attract more military generals from the Six Garrisons.
(End of this chapter)