The King of Chu rode a fast horse and traveled through the starry night and hurried back to the country. As soon as he entered the gate of the King of Chu's palace, the old man was in tears: "Your Majesty is back!"
King Chu's heart moved: "What happened?"
The old man replied in a low voice: "The Queen Mother is missing."
The King of Chu was stunned in place for a long time before he smiled bitterly and said, "Why are you so shameless?"
After returning home, I found out that the Queen Mother went to Tongbao Temple to offer incense yesterday and disappeared together with two eunuchs, two nuns, and four maids. The government had already sent out all the people to investigate, but there was no clue. The King of Chu simply refused to look for it and didn't go.
When I saw my wife and children later, I just summoned the general to discuss matters in the palace.
The generals rushed over, and the King of Chu said sternly that the Hubei army was about to attack Chu. One general was surprised and said: "They just captured Chen State two days ago, they can't come so fast." The King of Chu's heart turned upside down: Seeing Chu
The army was defeated before the battle. He sighed softly: Isn't it the same for him? Then he waved his hands and said nothing, asking them to hurry up and prepare.
The four gates of the capital were tightly closed, and the officers and soldiers of the Chu State formed a tight formation to defend the country. The E State was to the east of the Chu State, so a heavy army was hoarded at the east gate. The King of Chu personally stood at the head of the city with a helmet and armor.
In the morning of the next day, the King of Chu was patrolling the city wall. Suddenly, a soldier rushed to report: "Your Majesty, the west gate has been lost, and the E rebels have poured into the city gate!"
The King of Chu was shocked and stumbled: "Miscalculation!"
A general said: "General Sun is a veteran general, how could it be lost so quickly!"
The messenger said: "Five or six Hubei troops disguised themselves as our troops and went to see him, saying that the North Gate was in danger and asking for help. These people were extremely skilled in martial arts, and General Sun was captured by them before he had time to think about it. There was also an Hubei army.
The leader wore our army's military uniform, held our army's military order, and led more than 300 Hubei troops to take over the defense of Ximen..."
The king of Chu was stunned for a long time and suddenly asked: "How is the palace?" Everyone looked at each other. The king of Chu asked again, "How many people from the Hubei army have mixed into our Chu army?" No one dared to answer. But just now someone came to report that the palace has been
It fell into the hands of the Hubei army. The King of Chu looked up to the sky and sighed. Not long after, soldiers from both the north and south gates came to report: the Hubei army had entered the city, and the method was exactly the same as that of the west gate. Counting the time, it was almost at the same time. It can be seen that the Hubei army had not yet sent many soldiers.
There were many men in the city, and the number of elite soldiers was staggering. The king of Chu threw down his musket in despair.
He led his troops to the gate of the palace, surrounded by soldiers wearing federal camouflage uniforms, with the word "righteousness" hanging high on the military flag, which was a bit shameless. Pan Xigui's daughter Pan Mingyi came out to greet her in person. The King of Chu stared at her for a long time, but finally
Be true to your word.
Pan Mingyi cupped her hands and said, "My lord, don't be sad. You were not personally at fault in today's battle. It's just that your soldiers have no fighting spirit. Look, they are all quite happy."
The King of Chu originally thought that his men had lost confidence due to the disparity in strength. After hearing this, he looked back and saw that there were indeed several people with smiles on their faces, and the rest were not depressed at all, not like a defeated army. However, he saw one man lost in thought and walked over to ask.
Him: "Are you happy?"
The man was so far away that he didn't see clearly who was asking him, so he said casually: "I'm so happy."
"Why are you happy?"
The man came back to his senses and knelt down in fear. The king of Chu sighed: "After all, our army has been defeated, and the lonely king will not do anything to you. Just tell the truth. It is obvious that we have suffered such a miserable defeat. Why are you happy?"
"
The man hesitated for a long time before saying: "The country of E has joined the federation. Then... the country of Chu will also join the federation."
The King of Chu stayed for half a day and then asked: "Why do you want Chu to join the Federation?"
The man said: "There are no military households in the Federation, and they are all good citizens. My son can go to school."
Someone next to him added: "I heard that the soldiers in the Federation are paid extremely high." King Chu was speechless.
Pan Mingyi said: "In a war, losing is more beneficial than winning. Where do the soldiers get their fighting spirit?"
King Chu turned around and looked at her and said, "If you don't set up military households, aren't you afraid that no one will be willing to serve as a soldier?"
Pan Mingyi said: "Don't be afraid, there is plenty of money."
"Where do you get so much money? Our country, Chu, has such big ideas and needs money for everything. In such a big country, the expenses are getting bigger and bigger."
Pan Mingyi said: "The industrial and commercial taxes, luxury goods taxes, etc. are very high, and there are gold mines in Japan. If the prince can save the money for raising the backyard, the soldiers can also increase their military pay a lot."
King Chu nodded slowly. "Where is my queen mother?"
Pan Mingyi smiled and said: "Don't worry, it's fine. I will return her to you in a while." King Chu was tired.
The Hubei army immediately began to reorganize the Chu army and took over the entire Chu state. The King of Chu's family moved out of the palace and moved into an outhouse. After the resettlement was compromised, Pan Mingyi personally sent the Queen Mother back. Because of the fright, the old lady no longer had the ambition to die for her country.
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In April, Wu Xiaoxi, the chief proprietor of Red Bones, took office as the Minister of Military Industry of the Federation, causing an uproar throughout the country. Red Bones was officially declared to be the Jia family's shop, and at the same time, it also cut off all transactions with the other countries of the Western Chu Alliance, namely: non-federal princes.
The country can no longer buy firearms, including bullets.
In May, "Yanjing Weekly" announced that the Yan army had captured the Liao Kingdom without anyone noticing. The King of Liao, the Crown Prince and others were no longer in the country.
In June, Lu State joined the Federation. Later, Xu Luo and other small countries also joined the Federation. Jia Cong suddenly remembered that Qiongzhou still belonged to Huo Sheng, so he negotiated with him and bought it for five thousand taels of silver. Huo Sheng thought it was too little.
, add it to ten thousand taels and close the deal.
The rebels of the state of Hubei attacked from all sides. At the end of July, among the eighteen countries of the Western Chu Alliance, only the state of Xiang was left alone. The King of Xiang also knew that he was not far away from being ousted from the throne, so he simply drank and dreamed every day. The prince was quite fighting spirit.
He personally trained his troops and horses to check the terrain and prepared for a decisive battle with the Hubei army.
On this day, the prince went to pay his respects to his father. By chance, he met his fourth and sixth brothers jumping out of the palace. He frowned and scolded: "You bastard! The country is in danger, but you two still have time to play."
The fourth child said: "Isn't your father also playing?"
The prince was speechless. After a long while, he shook his head and said: "As a prince, you don't care about defending the country. How can you expect your soldiers to fight tooth and nail?"
The fourth child said: "If we can't defend it, the Hubei army will not kill me and steal my money. If we defend Xiang, it's yours, not mine. What should I do with all the effort?" Nai pulled his brother and left.
The prince was so angry that he was shaking all over. He simply did not go to greet him and returned to the barracks. Then he discussed with his staff: "We can't defeat the enemy regardless of the situation, so we have to fight for their blood." So he decided to take out all the family wealth as a reward to the officers and soldiers who defended the city.
.
An aide said: "Most of these soldiers have never married, so Your Highness might as well reward them with some beauties."
The prince smiled and said: "It's easy to handle." He called a soldier and ordered him to send a message to fetch all the fans in the city. He also called another officer and soldier back to the house and asked the prince's concubine to take over the house's maids under the age of twenty-five.
All the concubines and concubines who had not given birth were gathered and sent to the barracks.
The staff looked at each other and were speechless for a while. A Confucian scholar said with a dark face: "Your Highness, I am feeling dizzy late in life, so I will go back for now." He stood up and left.
He had just walked to the door when the prince asked: "What's wrong with boosting morale?"
The Confucian scholar said: "Most of the prince's concubines are officials and ladies, but the prince actually puts them together with fans!" He left without looking back.
Another staff member advised in a low voice: "Your Majesty, just give me some maids."
The prince thought for a long time, then waved his hand and said: "The troops are approaching the city, we don't have to worry about so much."
Little did they know that the Confucian scholar did not go home after leaving the barracks just now. He only went to a small restaurant not far away. Suddenly there was a beeping sound in the restaurant. The prince stayed in the camp until night, and Fantou did not come. Ji, the maid of the prince's mansion,
There was no sign of my concubine. So I sent someone to the house to inquire, but she still didn't come back.
Only then did the Crown Prince notice something strange and went back to his residence in person. He saw that the door was tightly closed. After knocking on the door knocker for half a day, a doorman came out and opened the door. The Crown Prince was surprised and said: "Your Majesty?!"
The prince glanced at the darkness in the mansion and frowned: "Why don't you light the lamp?"
Menzi said: "There's no one around, so we didn't light the lamps."
The prince's heart skipped a few beats: "Where are the people?"
The disciple said: "Didn't the prince ask the prince's concubine to lead the whole family to move to the other courtyard on Nanxing Street as soon as possible?"
"When did I say this?"
Suddenly they heard a female voice say: "You didn't say it, I did." Everyone looked up and saw a figure walking leisurely from behind the screen wall. The moon was only bent at night and was not very bright, so they could only vaguely see the girl.
Zhang Xuebai's face moves from far to near.
The soldiers shouted: "Who is this!"
The girl smiled sweetly: "Don't shout, no one will come to save you even if you shout till your throat is broken." Then she said sternly to the prince, "Mr. Yu, what our superior means is to try not to lose lives. After all, the soldiers of the Xiang Kingdom cannot survive now.
How long will it take for them all to become common people of the Federation? If you want them to fight to the death for you, you will never succeed. Personally, as a woman, I cannot keep a person like you who treats women as objects and has a little power."
The prince suddenly felt cold all over and said with a sneer: "The rebels and thieves still dare to talk nonsense..." He suddenly became speechless.
The girl waved her hand, jumped up to the roof, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. In fact, all the soldiers had raised their muskets and aimed at her, because no one dared to take action without the prince. After waiting for a while, a soldier asked in a low voice: "
Your Majesty, what should I do?" The Crown Prince didn't make any sound, and suddenly he fell forward. The soldiers hurriedly stretched out their hands to help him, and unexpectedly touched something wet in their hand. Then they raised the lamp and looked carefully, and they saw that a tiny dart was nailed to the Crown Prince's neck.
, had already died of anger.
On August 12, the E rebel army surrounded the Prince of Xiang's Mansion, and the Prince of Xiang surrendered with his seal.
Due to the division of the princes in the past few years, Tibet, Xinjiang and other Xuanwei divisions were all in a state of herding sheep. Jia Cong then ran to ask Zhan Kun. Zhan Kun said: "They all want to make themselves kings. Don't ignore them now. In a few years
Clean it up again.”
Jia Cong said: "No, it's better to pack up early."
"Then you discuss it with Jarvis."
Jia Cong went to see Jarvis again and asked if he wanted to send someone over to re-issue the seal. Jarvis said: "No need. Naturally, we should replace someone of our own to take charge of the military and political affairs. Let's fight first and then talk about it. It's just that in recent years, the intelligence department has sent
There were few people in the past, and the geographical environment of those places was special. If you are not in a hurry, give me two years."
"Okay, two years." The two senior brothers high-fived each other.
In October, Qin Lu and other countries abolished the royal family, and the King of Qin was still traveling in South America. In December, the Shu Kingdom abolished the royal family. The plaque on the Zongren Mansion in the capital was taken down, and the sign of the Ministry of Communications was replaced. There is no king in the world.
Turning over to the new year, it was the tenth year that Jia Cong took office as the regent of Yan State, and the daughter Jia Dingbang was also eleven years old. The regent's palace had a completely new look, only a new signboard was needed. Lin Hai, Jia She and other old men flipped through the book for a long time, and finally The sixth day of April was chosen to hold the enthronement ceremony.
The weather was sunny that day, and the sun was warm and the wind was clear. Jia Cong wore a new crown and worshiped heaven at the Temple of Heaven in the Forbidden City. He ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. He canceled the name of the Federation and renamed it Empire of China, or China for short. He changed Yanjing to Beijing and designated it as the capital. All vassal states will be restored to provinces, with a constitutional monarchy as the government system, and dual parliamentary elections will be held in five years.
Then he made Chen Ruijin the Queen, Jia Dingbang the Crown Princess, Jia Xingguo the Chaoyang Princess, and Jia She the Supreme Emperor. Jia Xu was named Zhao Wang, Jia Huan was the Wise King, Jia Lian was the Ding King, Jia Baoyu was the Ying King, and Jia Gui was the Fu. Princess Lin, Jia Zheng is the king of An, and Jia Zheng's concubine Jia Jue is the king of Ping. As for Jia Lan, because his grandfather is still alive, he can only be a heir apparent. Mrs. Xing is in Dajiala and does not want to return to the capital, and has already looked away. , she only lived with her adopted son Han Quan, so she followed her wish and pretended that she was gone. Mrs. Wang had been dead for many years, but Jia Zheng still wanted to change her memorial tablet to that of Princess An.
Zhan Feng, Lin Hai, and Su Zheng were also granted the title of Grand Master, Grand Tutor, and Grand Protector. These were all empty posts. The three old men had retired long ago. The Political Affairs Hall was in charge of the administrative affairs of the country. Lin Daiyu was still the Prime Minister of the empire, and the six ministers still retained their names. The specific work was assigned to the ministers of various ministries. Jarvis was the marshal and commanded the country's troops. A bunch of other princes such as Liu Feng, Wu Xiaoxi, Roman Feng, Ziying, Liu Ying, Pan Xigui, etc. were re-confessed with marquis titles.
Jia Cong originally wanted to use the five-star red flag as the national flag for future generations, but he thought it was a bit blasphemous. So he changed the star-and-moon flag of the Federation into a five-star red flag with the moon. However, the moon changed from a crescent moon to a full moon, and it was still very beautiful even if you didn't pay attention. Like the national flag of later generations.
The Regent's Palace was renamed Tongtian Palace. According to Jia Cong's wishes, just put the word "Imperial Palace" on a new plaque, but his wife and daughter unanimously opposed it. The family of four discussed it for half a day, and finally it was Jia Xingguo who thought, and everyone said Her father is from the lower realm of Nezha. Nezha's name is Tongtian Grand Master. How about calling it Tongtian Palace? As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Cong was the first to applaud. Chen Ruijin and the eldest daughter Dingbang both felt that there was something wrong with using this name for a palace. For a moment, I couldn't think of a reason to refute, so I just followed her.
In June, the Chinese Empire promulgated its first constitution. The Imperial Central Bank was established and the first set of imperial banknotes and coins were issued. Motherland currencies such as silver and copper coins will cease to be used within three years. Because in five years, a nationwide trial will be implemented. During the election, various places were busy sending propaganda groups and opening up law classes. As the rule of man changed to the rule of law, legal talents were extremely scarce, and several universities of political science and law were established in Beijing, Shanghai and other places.
In July, Liu Feng renamed the Business Party the Prosperity Party and officially registered it as a political party. Shi Qiusheng renamed the Revolutionary Party the Workers' and Peasants' Party and registered it on the same day as Liu Feng.
In August, the Forbidden City was officially listed as the Palace Museum, open to ordinary people for visits, with an admission fee of 10 yuan.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, after being interviewed by a reporter from Beijing Daily, Jia Cong and Chen Ruijin put on more low-key clothes and took their two daughters to play on the street. The children looked at the clay figures in the front, while Jia Cong looked behind. After half a day, he frowned and said, "Ruijin, do you think Yaya is a little fat?"
"More than just a little fat?" Chen Ruijin said, "Qu'er has already called her little chubby girl. Qian'er was also talking about losing weight. He had just eaten two bunches of candied haws and a pack of candied roasted chestnuts. He won't be able to talk about it for a while. "
"What's wrong with being fat?" Jia Cong patted his chest and said, "I've been fat since I was a child, but I'm not so handsome now!"