Journey to the West: From the Primordial Era

Chapter 188 Emperor Xin Wants to Select Beauties

During this period, the Four Directions Marquis, the Nine Provinces Marquis and some other powerful princes came to Chaoge one after another.

The major princes were all lords of one side and nominally obeyed the orders and dispatches of Chaoge, but they were different from the ministers and court officials in the Shang Dynasty.

In essence, they were all rulers of their own countries. The Great Shang Dynasty was only the ruler of their vassal states. Once the Great Shang Dynasty infringed upon the interests of a vassal state, it was normal for that vassal state to rebel immediately.

From the Great Xia Dynasty to the present, countless princes have rebelled against the dynasty.

The emperors of all dynasties were both cautious and prudent in dealing with the princes in all directions. They were extremely cautious when encountering matters related to the princes, unlike the powerful courtiers in the royal capital who would kill at will.

They were secretly regarded as bumpkins from the border areas by many of the powerful people in Chaoge, but in reality, the status of the four princes was second only to the Emperor.

After the princes from all directions arrived in Chaoge, they also had to attend the court meeting.

As more and more princes came to Chaoge, the scale of the Shang Dynasty's court meeting became larger and larger.

As one of the nine states, Qingzhou Hou Xuanzong had to attend every court meeting. Only Xuankong, as the patriarch of the Xuan clan, secretly held many powers, but in public he was only the patriarch of the Xuan clan. His strength was in the middle stage of the Daluo Jinxian, and he had not joined the officials of the Great Shang Dynasty, so he was not qualified to attend the court.

"Zong'er, you look a little strange. Did something big happen in the court today?"

Qin Hua controlled the divine clone Xuankong and asked.

The last time Zong Er looked like this was when Emperor Xin was mediating the dispute between Qingzhou and Donglu in the court. That was not long ago.

For the sake of the Human Emperor, the conflict between them and Dong Lu was temporarily suppressed.

And now, he showed such an expression again, which made Qin Hua feel a little surprised.

Qingzhou Hou Xuanzong glanced at Li Jing and paused slightly.

Li Jing was very perceptive and immediately prepared to leave.

"Forget it, General Li is one of us, there is nothing to hide! During the court session this time, the doctor Fei Zhong reported that the king has very few concubines in the harem, and he wants to select beauties from all over the world to fill the harem..."

Qingzhou Hou Xuanzong sighed, waved his hand to let Li Jing stay, and then told his father Xuankong what happened in the court this time.

"Selecting beauties from all over the world to fill the harem?"

Qin Hua repeated it and instantly thought of the information reported to him by the spy leader. Before Fei Zhong made his report, such news had already spread among the upper echelons of Chaoge.

"Yes, the king has few concubines in his harem, and he should indeed select concubines to enter the palace to give birth to his children. But mobilizing so many people to select beauties from all over the world... this is a bit too much!"

Xuanzong obviously did not agree with this matter.

Concubines are different from ordinary beauties. According to the rules left by Emperor Huangdi, the Human Emperor can have three concubines in addition to the Queen.

As for the other women, they were just ordinary beauties in the harem, with no status.

Fei Zhong's memorial to select beauties from all over the world seems to be a move that could damage the reputation of the Emperor.

Therefore, Prime Minister Shang Rong, Bigan and others stood up to express their opposition before Fei Zhong finished his memorial.

"Beauty is the source of national disaster! The reason why Xia Jie was so stupid was because of Mei Xi! Now the king is selecting beauties from all over the world. This is not the behavior of a wise ruler!"

Xuanzong, Marquis of Qingzhou, had no ambition to replace Emperor Xin as the emperor, so he felt sorry for Emperor Xin.

How come Prince Yin Shou, who used to look so wise and powerful, kept changing after he ascended the throne of the Human Emperor and ended up looking like this?

"Although Fei Zhong will be a famous traitor in the future, Emperor Xin would never dare to act recklessly unless he was mentally disturbed. Is there any hidden reason behind this memorial?"

Qin Hua lowered his head slightly and pondered secretly.

He thought of the original plot, in which Fei Zhong immediately submitted a memorial asking Jizhou Hou Su Hu to offer his daughter to the palace.

"Uh, could it be that Emperor Xin and Fei Zhong wanted to form an alliance with Su Hu, but were concerned about Dongbo Marquis Jiang Wenhuan and Queen Jiang, so they came up with this as a cover?"

Duke Dongbo had just suffered a great defeat, and Queen Jiang had an inseparable relationship with Dong Lu, so she was bound to feel a little uneasy.

If Emperor Xin directly married Su Hu, wouldn't it be telling the world that because the power of Duke Dong Bo was declining, he had to find a new marriage partner?

Qin Hua's divine clone kept pondering and felt that his guess was very likely to be the fact.

Emperor Xin has not yet fallen into decadence after suffering a series of blows, and is still the wise and decisive emperor. Fei Zhong is also very careful in his actions and has not been branded as a treacherous minister.

The emperor and his ministers would not be so stupid. Fei Zhong's memorial was just a cover for the next step.

"Zong'er, it seems that Fei Zhong's memorial is just a means to stop the dissatisfaction of Duke Dongbo and Queen Jiang. The king's real idea should be to form an alliance with the princes of the four directions and win over the princes to consolidate his position..."

There was no one else in the mansion.

Qin Hua looked at Xuanzong's appearance and gave some pointers. When Qingzhou Hou Xuanzong and Li Jing heard this, their faces changed and they fell into deep thought.

"Father's guess..."

Xuanzong paused, frowned, and suddenly said in surprise: "Your Majesty, you don't want to form an alliance with Qingzhou? Is Ling'er old enough to get married?"

Qin Hua's expression froze. He didn't expect Zong'er to have such an idea.

But if you think about it carefully, the princes who are qualified to marry Emperor Xin are only the princes of the four directions and the princes of the nine states. It is normal for him to think of Qingzhou.

"No, it can't be our Qingzhou Xuan Clan! It's either the Nanbo Marquis, the Yanzhou Marquis, or the Yuzhou Marquis..."

Qin Hua's thoughts turned quickly, and he soon excluded Qingzhou, Xibohou and Beibohou.

There is no other reason.

Qingzhou had just fought a war with Donglu, so if Emperor Xin was sane, he would never have formed an alliance with Qingzhou. As for Beibohou, he had always followed Chaoge, so there was no need to form an alliance with him.

Xibohou was too powerful, and all the princes west of Chaoge were subjugated by Xiqi, occupying almost half of Shenzhou's territory.

In order to win over Xiqi, Emperor Yi also adopted the strategy of marriage and married his sister to Ji Chang, but it was of no use.

Emperor Xin's attempt to arrange marriage with the Duke of Xibo would be like throwing meat buns at a dog, which would never come back.

If these possibilities are excluded, the number of candidates for Emperor Xin to marry would be much smaller.

"Why can't it be the Marquis of Jizhou?"

Qin Hua asked.

"Marquis of Jizhou? Impossible! Not long ago, Grand Tutor Wen won a great victory in Beihai and conquered eighteen marquisates. The land was divided between Chaoge and meritorious generals. Marquis of Jizhou provided food, fodder, weapons, and manpower, but he didn't even get a marquisate!"

"Your Majesty is obviously trying to suppress the Marquis of Jizhou, so how could he possibly marry him at this time?"

Qingzhou Hou Xuanzong quickly shook his head.

As an official of the Xuan clan in the Shang Dynasty, Xuanzong also knew the intelligence that the Xuan clan had sent people to Chaoge to collect.

When Emperor Xin swallowed up ten of the eighteen marquisates and only took out eight to reward meritorious soldiers, Emperor Xuanzong felt sorry for the Marquis of Jizhou after seeing that he had done so.

I thought that maybe the Marquis of Jizhou had offended Emperor Xin in some way, so he was suppressed like this.

When he met the Marquis of Jizhou during the court session, he could tell that Su Hu was furious. Not to mention forming a marriage alliance with Chaoge, it was possible that he would not be able to endure the humiliation and would rebel directly the next moment!

"hehe!"

Qin Hua laughed and said nothing more.

It was useless for him to say anything now. Su Hu was in Chaoge anyway. It wouldn't be long before Fei Zhong would submit a petition asking Su Hu to offer his daughter to the palace...

The father and son discussed recent events and then went their separate ways.

......