klisemfg Chapter 633 Found a portrait of the empress
Chapter 633 Found a portrait of the empress
Shen Changgong hurriedly pushed him forward and said with a smile,
"They are a couple who love each other, why do you want to break them up? Just help them be together."
As he walked forward, he said to the people behind him,
"Marquis Hun De and his wife should follow me here. Everyone else should be taken outside the city!"
"As ordered!"
The soldiers immediately responded to the order, some of them escorted the people, and some went into the palace to search for the hidden god.
The Yan army had rich experience in destroying nations.
When attacking the palace, they would take away the money in the inner treasury and some of the more valuable gold, silver, jewelry and jade in the palace, but they would not touch the infrastructure and various other daily necessities.
Because the palace would be the temporary residence of the Emperor of Dayan in the future, and the emperor would stay in the temporary palace when he toured the world, and they didn't want the emperor to live in a shabby place.
After the State of Yan moved its capital, Shengjing became the capital, and the imperial palace in Yanjing became a temporary palace. Now, the imperial palaces in the States of Qi and Liang are also temporary palaces.
The Liang Kingdom's imperial palace was severely damaged by the Qin army, but the other palaces were intact and were under special protection and supervision.
In Shen Changgong's words, these palaces will become historical sites in the future, important bases for future generations to study historical materials, and treasures of human civilization. If they were built at such a high cost and then demolished, wouldn't the people's money be wasted?
These soldiers are very experienced and are under the supervision of generals, so everything is well organized.
The women in the palace were all very beautiful, and they looked at them with envy, but few of them were willing to take action.
They knew that the prince would not treat them unfairly.
Normally, after a war of annihilation, there would be a period of rest to replenish troops and supplies. Some women from royal and noble families would also be sent to be military prostitutes for their enjoyment.
They became extremely excited when they thought of these women who used to be high and mighty and lived in luxury, now screaming under the crotch of them, a bunch of peasants.
Praise the prince.
Shen Changgong, King Nan, and the generals strode into the majestic hall and looked around.
Yu Ziling exclaimed,
"Luoyang City is indeed a 500-year-old capital. It is truly extraordinary. The construction of this imperial palace is much better than that of Qi State."
Shen Changgong laughed, hugged her shoulders and said,
"That's because you haven't been to Shengjing yet. The imperial palace in Shengjing is much bigger than this one. The Kun Kingdom was really rich back then."
"Really? What about the one in Yanjing?"
"Well... let's not talk about it."
The State of Yan was the poorest. Before Shen Changgong appeared, it was in chaos and poverty, a mess. The court had little money, and the emperor was pitiful.
It’s getting better now, but the years of fighting are also very expensive.
Now we can still rely on destroying other countries and plundering the money accumulated over the years to support the war. If it were peacetime, with only taxation, we would not be able to withstand such a large-scale war.
Shen Changgong walked up to the dragon throne, but did not sit down. Instead, he casually flipped through the memorials on it.
He looked at it and complained,
"Another country has been destroyed, and now we have to deal with internal affairs. Where are the civil servants sent by the court? Didn't they tell them to send civil servants in advance this time?"
The Southern King snorted and said,
"The court doesn't have enough civil servants. We hold two imperial examinations a year, in spring and autumn, with several hundred people each time. But we're expanding quickly and every region and county needs officials to manage them. Those who just passed the imperial examinations are all newcomers. If you arrest all the officials here, who will do it if you don't do it?"
Shen Changgong scratched his scalp and said,
"What can I do?"
Yu Ziling immediately said,
"So, quickly notify those who are confiscating people's homes, and see who has a poor family and is a good official. Urgently select a group of them, forgive them and their families, and let them return."
Shen Changgong shook his head and said,
"An honest official is not necessarily an able official. On the contrary, these people are likely to be loyal to the State of Wei and may not be willing to work for us, or even sabotage us."
Zhang Han said,
"Didn't Huang Tao defect to us? Although he can't be considered loyal, he has at least betrayed Wei and is now on our side. We can ask him to recommend some people."
The Emperor of Wei was shocked.
"What? Huang Tao betrayed me?"
Shen Changgong shook his head and said,
"No, this person is very slippery. He will only recommend those who are close to him and loyal to him. Then he will form a clique for personal gain and dominate the market.
We can’t let the Wei State be filled with his people.”
The Southern King said,
"How about this, why don't we listen to the opinions of the people and ask them who are good officials and who are corrupt officials? Then we can compile a list and call everyone here at night. If they are willing to be loyal to Dayan, their families will be released. If they are not willing, they will be made slaves."
Shen Changgong's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said,
"Well, that's a good idea. The people have sharp eyes. Send people to interview the people immediately and tell them that we in Dayan want to select some good officials. They don't want those officials who are good to the people to become slaves, right?"
"Then go ahead and do it. Arrange one of your smart subordinates to lead the team. Li Bohan, you take some people with you."
"As you command, my Lord."
Li Bohan immediately walked out quickly.
The Emperor of Wei finally had the chance to speak.
"I...I don't understand. Why did Huang Tao betray me? What did he do?"
"Nothing. I just asked him to help persuade you to surrender."
At this point, Shen Changgong suddenly said,
"Did you see Cao Xiang among the people who surrendered today?"
"He's right behind me."
Emperor Wei said quickly.
"That's fine."
Shen Changgong flipped through the memorials on the imperial desk, then lifted the curtain to look at the layer below.
"Are these all calligraphy and paintings? Does the Emperor Wei have so much leisure time?"
Shen Changgong took out the calligraphy and paintings.
Emperor Wei's heart skipped a beat, and he said reflexively,
“Don’t open it!”
Upon hearing this, Shen Changgong narrowed his eyes instantly.
Since the other party said so, how could he not open it and take a look?
He opened a pair first, but didn't recognize it.
"A picture of a beauty? Whose woman is this?"
"Another beauty picture."
"You're still looking at these things when you're in court?"
Shen Changgong examined each painting one by one, until he opened a painting and was stunned.
"Huh? Who is that woman here? Why is she wearing a dragon robe and an imperial crown?"
He unfolded the painting and showed it to everyone.
The people of Yan State looked carefully and shook their heads to indicate that they did not recognize him.
Yu Ziling said with a strange expression,
"Could this be the Empress of our Great Yan? It seems that this is the only Empress in the world."
"Really? This doesn't look like her. I can't even recognize my own wife?"
Shen Changgong took the painting a little further away, then narrowed his eyes and said,
"If you don't look closely, it seems that there is a bit of a resemblance. Why did this guy hide the portrait of my wife?"