After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 986 - 971: Issuing Consecutive Imperial Decrees
Zhao Hanzhang shifted her gaze back, smiled, and nodded at Zhao Shen before turning to Xun Xiu again, instructing those around her, "Escort him to the prison."
Xun Xiu spat out a mouthful of blood, his heart utterly despondent as he said, "If the envoy wants to kill me, then do it now, why wait for an auspicious day?"
Zhao Hanzhang coolly replied, "You must die, but I want to give the Xun Family a chance. However, if you don’t want to give them this chance, you may pick up the knife and end it yourself now."
Xun Xiu opened his mouth but said nothing before being taken away.
Zhao Hanzhang scanned the area, and all the soldiers from the Xun Family Army avoided her gaze, those still holding swords silently lowered them and surrendered.
Zhao Shen directly sensed Zhao Hanzhang’s prestige among the army and the people; he had only heard of it before, but witnessing it today, it was indeed well-deserved.
Zhao Hanzhang withdrew her gaze and saw Zhao Shen dismount immediately, coming forward with concern to ask, "Shen, are you injured?"
Only then did Zhao Shen feel the wetness and pain on his back. He reached back to touch it and looked at his palm, which was covered in red. His eyes rolled back, and he fell backward.
Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes widened, and she quickly reached out to catch him, calling out, "Quick, get the military physician."
She still wanted to ask about Uncle Ming and the Little Emperor.
Fortunately, even though Zhao Shen had collapsed, there were still Assistant Generals in the Zhao Family Army who knew where Zhao Ming was.
Upon hearing that Zhao Ming and others had already escaped out of the city, she could only call for scouts to quickly chase them down.
When she returned to the villa and saw the corpses on the ground and the blood everywhere, her expression grew even colder.
When Zhao Ming and the Little Emperor sneaked back under the cover of darkness, they saw her sitting with a stern face on the main hall, the corpses inside the hall and the courtyard had been removed, but the bloodstains hadn’t been cleaned. The walls and ground were stained with congealed blood, some of which wasn’t dry.
She sat amidst the crimson blood, chilling anyone’s heart.
However, the Little Emperor, upon seeing her, felt relieved. He ran forward with tears in his eyes. Zhao Hanzhang saw this, sighed, and walked forward with a smile, just about to comfort him, but he stepped into a pool of not-quite-dry blood, stumbled forward, and clung to Zhao Hanzhang’s leg.
Whether from pain or the daylong fear, the Little Emperor burst into wails.
With a sigh, Zhao Hanzhang tried to help him up, but the Little Emperor just wanted to cry, his teary eyes noticing her attempt to pull away, so he clung tighter to her leg, crying out, "Zhao Qing, Zhao Qing, wherever you go, take me with you. Don’t be a Great General anymore; be the Grand Commandant and stay by my side forever."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang chuckled sarcastically, took a handkerchief from Zhao Ming, and tenderly wiped his tears, softly saying, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, the Xiongnu are defeated, the land is at peace, and I won’t be leaving your side for the time being."
The Little Emperor raised his tearful eyes to her, "Really?"
"Really," Zhao Hanzhang assured him, helping him sit on the couch, "Your Majesty, the six states in the Northern Lands need new Inspectors appointed."
The Emperor eagerly replied, "The Grand Commandant can make those decisions without me."
Then, recalling something, he turned to Xun Fan and said urgently, "Uncle, please quickly issue an edict appointing the Great General as Grand Commandant, Minister of Supervision, and Minister of Education."
Xun Fan’s breath quickened upon hearing this, and he hurriedly glanced at Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang remained indifferent, advising the Little Emperor, "Your Majesty, it’s unprecedented to appoint one person to all three positions. Let’s not rush this; please issue orders for the Six State Inspectors first."
The Little Emperor sullenly whispered, "I’ll follow the Grand Commandant’s advice."
His Emperor’s Seal was always borrowed by Zhao Hanzhang, and the decrees were issued from her hand. So why bother asking him now?
When the Emperor wasn’t present, she could decide without consulting him, but now that he was here, Zhao Hanzhang had to ask, also for the sake of appearances to the public and the court.
With the Emperor’s approval, Zhao Hanzhang immediately issued nine imperial decrees. She officially appointed Shi Le as the Governor of Youzhou, Zu Ti as the Governor of Jizhou, Beigong Chun as the Governor of Bingzhou, Zhao Kuan as the Governor of Qingzhou, Sun Linghui as the Governor of Guangzhou, Zhao Ju as the Governor of Yan State, Liu Kun as the Governor of Xuzhou, Fu Zhi as the Governor of Yongzhou, and Zhao Ming, officially promoted to Yu State Governor.
As for Zhao Hanzhang herself, she took on the role of Governor of Si Province, which required no decree.
Among these, most had already received appointment letters with the Jade Seal previously. These imperial decrees weren’t for them, but for the world to see.
As one decree after another issued from Zhao Hanzhang’s hand, the courtiers lined up in two rows were all incredibly nervous. Few could find sleep that night; those aligned with the Zhao Family were excited, while the old officials of the Jin Dynasty feared Zhao Hanzhang would seize the opportunity to manipulate the Little Emperor and formally consolidate power over the nine continents.
Their fears proved unfounded; Zhao Hanzhang didn’t touch the Little Emperor. Worried he might be frightened and fall ill, she even summoned a doctor to check his pulse and provide a calming potion.
She had declared that the people needed stability, so she worked towards stability and wouldn’t take actions such as killing the Emperor that might incite war.
Moreover, the Sima family had already set a bad enough precedent. Even if she wished for a change in dynasties, she never intended to replace the Little Emperor by violence.
Throughout history, even if secretly the last emperors of various dynasties were forced to abdicate, publicly, proper protocol had to be followed. From the start of China’s recorded history, when a new ruler or king replaced the old, they always left a bloodline because eradicating a bloodline is a grave violation of moral virtue.
Thus, the Shang Dynasty had the Qi Kingdom to honor Xia Dynasty ancestors; the Zhou Dynasty had the Song State to honor Shang Dynasty ancestors...
The Sima family...
Forget it, let’s not mention them. In short, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want customs to deteriorate further. For this reason, she was willing to temper her temper and proceed gradually.
Of course, this applied to the Little Emperor and internal affairs. As for external matters, she would continue as she must.
Wang Han was captured, and Zhao Hanzhang didn’t even see him. After confirming he was truly Wang Han, she ordered his beheading and sent his head in a box to King Langya. She instructed the messenger: "Tell King Langya, the court has appointed a new Xuzhou Governor. This time, I’ll let him off. In the future, whether he plots against the Emperor or causes him to hear that he disobeys the court’s mandates, I will show no mercy."
Indeed, Zhao Hanzhang’s reason for killing Wang Han was his attempt to assassinate the Emperor.
"Tell Wang Dao to restrain the Wang Family; this time I’ll overlook it for the sake of him and his three siblings. Next time, the Wang Family won’t be so lucky."
The messenger accepted the order and headed south to Yangzhou with Wang Han’s head.
King Langya, upon receiving the box, opened it to find Wang Han’s wide-eyed head staring back. He was so terrified he stumbled, retreating backward by several steps.
Upon seeing Wang Han’s head, Wang Dao’s face turned instantly pale. He glared fiercely at King Langya, then turned to look at Wang Dun, seeing him remain expressionless but with eyes seemingly filled with fire, knowing that Wang Han’s actions were entirely within his knowledge, his anger mounting.
