diskusbooks Chapter 351: The Wedding of Shen Changgong and the Empress
Chapter 351: The Wedding of Shen Changgong and the Empress
Apart from taking a look at the construction drawings of the Imperial College, Shen Changgong didn't care about anything else and just went about his own business.
Everything in Dayan was proceeding in an orderly manner. Officials from Kundi arrived one after another, government decrees were issued, all the original policies and laws were abolished, and all policies were calculated according to Dayan's.
The entire Dayan was thriving.
But other countries are not so lucky.
The battle in which Yan destroyed Kun shocked the whole world.
Before this year, all countries knew that the State of Yan, located far away in the bitter cold of the northeast, was a very weak, poor country with fragmented power, and was the weakest among the nine countries.
The two countries of Nan Daqian and Bei Dakun are recognized as the two strongest countries in the world. They both have millions of troops and strong national strength, suppressing the north and the south.
The six small countries in the middle trembled in fear and dared not to confront it.
Compared with these two big countries, the small Yan State is so transparent that it has no sense of existence.
If Yan State was not one of the Nine Provinces and had not possessed the Tripod of the Nation, they would not even be willing to admit that Yan State was of the same ethnic group as them.
With Kun State blocking the way, no one cared about the small Yan State.
But it is such a small country with only 200,000 central troops that has accomplished a series of miracles.
Centralize power, destroy Yuhuatian's 300,000 troops, invade Kun Kingdom, first destroy 200,000 troops, then destroy 400,000 troops, and finally surrender the last 300,000 troops of Kun Kingdom.
All in all, they defeated the 1.2 million-strong army of Kun State.
Although there were still 300,000 troops in the southern part of Kun State being tied down by Qi and Liang States, the momentum of Yan State sweeping through thousands of troops made all other countries understand that even if the 300,000 troops arrived, it would be useless.
Shen Changgong and Ma Ling, the names of the two great military kings and famous generals, resounded throughout the world.
Nowadays, the State of Yan has almost occupied all of Kun land, owning the two major territories of Yan and Kun, and has become the most powerful country in the north, with an army of one million, comparable to the southernmost Daqian.
In an instant, all countries in the world listed Yan as their number one enemy.
This country is too strong and ambitious, so we have to be on guard against it.
Just when other countries were wary of the State of Yan, a piece of news spread.
The Emperor of Yan and Prince of Lanling Shen Changgong will get married next year.
All countries were shocked.
No, what? Weren't these two married a long time ago? Why are they getting married again now?
Then thinking about it carefully, it seemed so. The empress just summoned Shen Changgong into the palace and did not hold a ceremony.
It’s just that everyone knew that Shen Changgong was the empress’s husband, so they mistakenly thought that they were married.
The State of Yan notified all countries, but only invited Qi and Liang. After all, time was tight and it was not convenient for other countries to come.
The countries that did not receive an invitation only submitted letters of credence, congratulating the Emperor of Yan and exchanging some friendly words.
However, the attitudes of the two countries that received the invitation were very different.
Qi State was originally waiting with great joy to send envoys to reclaim the land divided between them in the treaty, but in the letter sent by Yan State to Qi State, it was arrogant, rude, and conceited, as if it regarded itself as the suzerain state of Qi and as if it had done Qi State a great favor.
This made the Qi emperor and the court very angry and extremely dissatisfied with the Yan State.
But the two countries were allies after all, and for the sake of land, they decided to send envoys to the State of Yan.
But it was different on the side of Liang. In the letter sent to Liang, Yan's tone was sincere and its attitude was earnest. Its words completely treated Liang as an equal power like Yan, and it sincerely invited Liang's distinguished envoys to attend the wedding of the emperor and the prince.
After seeing this letter, the court of Liang praised Yan for its courtesy and emphasis on righteousness, saying that it was a country of gentlemen, with strength but not overbearing. This was the magnanimity of a great country, and their alliance was bound to be unbreakable.
The Emperor of Liang was a man of heroic character. He decided on the spot to go to Yan in person to offer congratulations and to become sworn brothers with the Emperor of Yan.
It was not until the minister reminded him that the Yan emperor's woman could not be sworn in as a sworn brother, and that the emperor was on a personal diplomatic mission and it would be bad if something happened on the way, that he persuaded the emperor to stop.
The Emperor of Liang shook his head regretfully. It was a pity that the Emperor of Yan was not a man, otherwise they would have to become sworn brothers.
Finally, it was decided to send the prime minister and Zhao Biao, the commander of the White Horse Army who had been sent to Yan State last time, to Yan State as an envoy to show their importance.
The envoys from the two countries set off quickly. They calculated the time and thought they would spend almost the New Year on the road and arrive two days before the wedding of the Emperor of Dayan.
Time passed day by day, and the Chinese New Year came in the middle. This was also the first time that Shen Changgong celebrated the Chinese New Year in this world, and he enjoyed the joyous atmosphere and excitement.
There was an endless stream of officials and businessmen giving gifts to the Shen family. The Shen family recorded them one by one and gave gifts of the same value in return.
On New Year's Day, there was no need to attend court and the whole country was on holiday. The emperor and the princes went to the military camp in person, awarded titles and medals to the generals who had made contributions, and rewarded them with gold and silver to reward their military merits. The whole army slaughtered pigs and sheep, and it was a very lively occasion. The soldiers were all overjoyed.
On this day, the soldiers on the border were also awarded titles by the commanders of their respective armies.
The four commanders Guan Shouchang, Yu Huatian, Zhang Han and Li Bohan were conferred the title of marquis. Nie Bei did not have many military achievements, so he was only conferred the title of fourth-class earl. Chen Qing was conferred the title of first-class earl for his contribution in destroying Kun.
Time finally arrived, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
All the imperial guards of Shengjing were mobilized to surround the Taimiao on the east side of the imperial palace. Officials and military generals arrived here early to accompany the emperor in offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors and to participate in the emperor's wedding.
The envoys from Qi and Liang also sent gifts and attended in person.
On the Qi side, Qi Dianke (an official position, one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of foreign affairs) and the doctor Liu Fugui came to attend.
Everything was prepared here early, but the main person hasn't arrived yet.
In front of the Kunning Palace, Gongsun Wan'er, wearing a festive red dowry dress, blocked the door and prevented Shen Changgong from entering.
"What are you doing? Get out of the way, do you want to get beaten again?"
Shen Changgong looked at Gongsun Wan'er and said.
Gongsun Wan'er was arrogant and snorted coldly,
"Do you understand the etiquette? How can you see the bride before the wedding ceremony? Go away, go away. You can only lift the veil at night."
"Are you sick? When the emperor gets married, he has to offer sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, and he has to face all the officials and common people. How can he wear a veil? This is not like an ordinary woman getting married."
Shen Changgong picked up Gongsun Wan'er's waist and threw her aside.
A maid who came with the dowry has become so powerful.
After entering the hall, Shen Changgong saw the empress putting on makeup in front of the mirror.
"The silver mirror you invented is really good. It's much better than a bronze mirror. It can reflect people so clearly."
The empress looked at her beautiful self in the mirror and said to Shen Changgong in the mirror.
After the invention of glass, the East Factory began to manufacture mirrors, giving priority to supplying them to the imperial palace.