Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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"Damn tanks, damn tanks!"

"It was these chariots that caused our Great Jin Warriors to suffer defeat in the field."

"Even if we surround them in the wild, they can form a wagon formation that is impenetrable no matter how we fight..."

"Cannons... so many cannons... how can we possibly win..."

As the various types of soldiers passed by one after another, Wanyan Xiyin's expression turned to despair.

When Wanyan Talan was captured, he knelt down and begged for mercy, probably knowing that he was going to die that day.

He knelt there without saying a word, seemingly too lazy to waste any more energy.

After a long silence, Wanyan Talan asked, "Wuqimai, you really haven't seen Shengdu?"

"Wu Qimai, Wu Qimai, I'm asking you a question!"

"Hmm?" Wu Qimai turned around to look.

Wanyan Talan repeated, "My son Shengdu, didn't he escape back to Shangjing?"

"No," Wu Qimai shook his head.

Wanyan Talan muttered, "Perhaps he's still alive, perhaps he's still alive."

Wanyan Shengdu fled with more than a dozen personal guards and then vanished without a trace. He was neither captured by the Ming soldiers nor escaped back to the Jin capital.

They might escape to some place, abandon their warhorses and armor, disguise themselves as ordinary defeated soldiers, and then be scattered and resettled as civilians by the Ming army.

They might freeze or starve to death in the wilderness!

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The sound of hooves rang out, and Li Bao rode over, shouting, "Prepare to present the prisoners!"

Li Bao, dressed in a python robe, was followed by a group of soldiers escorting more than thirty prisoners, slowly heading towards Xuande Tower.

Most of these prisoners were captured on the battlefield, while a small number were brought from the capital.

Although Wu Qimai was dressed in the robes of a Ming duke, he was bound hand and foot and led a group of prisoners to kneel and worship on the city wall.

"Show the prisoners!"

"Emperor Wanyan Wugumai of the Jin Dynasty, verify your identity!"

"Wanyan Xiyin, Vice Chancellor of the Jin Dynasty, verify your identity!"

"Wanyan Talai, the Deputy Marshal of the Jin Dynasty..."

An official from the Ministry of Justice came over, ordered the soldiers to untie Wu Qimai, and handed him a stack of legal documents.

Wu Qimai held the petition with trembling hands and read aloud: "Wu Qimai, the chieftain of the Jurchen barbarians, assisted his brother Aguda in usurping the throne of the Liao Dynasty."

“After establishing the Jin dynasty, it did not think of benevolent governance, but exploited the people, broke its promise to attack the Song dynasty, killed countless people, and plunged the people into misery.”

"The northern prefectures and counties are almost entirely deserted, with bones exposed in the wilderness..."

"The Ming army has besieged the capital, and Wu Qimai stubbornly resists, going back on his word and sabotaging the peace negotiations... His crime deserves death!"

The Minister of Justice said, "Wu Qimai deserves to be executed for his crime."

"Considering he is the ruler of a nation, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty hereby grants him a special pardon!"

In front of civil and military officials, envoys from various countries, soldiers and civilians, Wu Qimai knelt down below Xuande Tower, weeping bitterly and frantically saying, "The sinner Wu Qimai kowtows to thank the Emperor of the Great Ming for his grace."

The Minister of Justice pointed at the soldiers and civilians: "You still have to apologize to the soldiers and civilians!"

Wu Qimai then knelt and turned around, first kowtowing to the Ming soldiers, and then kowtowing to the Ming people.

The Minister of Justice then said, "Read it again while kneeling."

Wu Qimai held up another petition: "Wanyan Xiyin, the Vice Chancellor of the Jin Dynasty, failed to govern with benevolence and induced the ruler to engage in endless wars... His crime deserves death!"

"Drag him away and execute him!"

Wanyan Xiyin was immediately dragged away, and Wu Qimai closed his eyes in fright.

More than thirty prisoners were all read aloud about their crimes by Wu Qimai, and one by one they were dragged away and beheaded.

After the killing, Wu Qimai was completely paralyzed.

.....

After the presentation of captives concluded, the process of bestowing titles began.

One after another, the meritorious officials stepped forward to receive their titles.

Many others retained their titles, but their fiefs and estates increased significantly.

The day after the ceremony, all the newly arrived palace maids were moved to the Luoyang Imperial Palace.

A small number of eunuchs, some guards, and a contingent of the capital's imperial guards also went to Luoyang.

Anyone with eyes to see can tell that this is preparation for moving the capital.

Housing prices in Kaifeng have fluctuated, with a drop of more than 15% within half a month.

The Ministry of Revenue immediately ordered the Kaifeng Prefecture to post a notice declaring that even if the imperial court moved the capital, Kaifeng would always remain the secondary capital.

Moreover, half of the state treasury warehouses will be retained in Kaifeng, making Kaifeng the ultimate hub for the Grand Canal transport, and the three provincial government offices of Henan Province will also be moved to Kaifeng.

The announcement confirmed the rumors of the capital relocation, causing Kaifeng's housing prices to plummet by another 10%.

Actually, it's good that prices have fallen a bit, as housing prices here are indeed too high.

Many generals who had been granted titles left the capital one after another, and envoys from various countries gradually dispersed.

Wu Qimai and Tang Kuoshi, along with the westward-migrating troops, headed towards Luoyang, occasionally glancing at the palace maids in front of them.

He has several daughters.

The eldest daughter was granted the title of Princess of E and married Gu Alin.

This prince consort was wounded and captured while guarding Jinzhou, and was beheaded in public a couple of days ago.

The princess was nearly forty years old and was sent to the Luoyang Imperial Palace to wash clothes.

Chapter 3501 Wu Qimai

The second daughter died young.

The three women were also in their thirties, and they went to the Luoyang Imperial Palace to wash clothes.

Four daughters died young.

The fifth and sixth daughters were both in their early twenties and were given by Zhao Yuan to generals as concubines.

The youngest daughter, who was still a minor, was sent to Luoyang to work as an ordinary palace maid.

Most of the concubines that Wu Qi bought also went to the Luoyang Imperial Palace to wash clothes.

The younger ones were all given to meritorious generals as concubines.

"Hurry up, hurry up, what are you dawdling for?" a royal guard officer shouted.

Wu Qimai quickly lowered his head and wiped away his tears with his sleeve.

The officer escorting Wu Qimai was none other than Peng Qi, the Tianmu general.

He also has a historical prototype, whose experiences are far more exciting than those in the novel.

Historically, Peng Qi was initially a subordinate of Zhai Xing, but was forced to surrender to the puppet Qi regime midway through his campaign. He then surrendered the city to Li Heng (a civil official of the Southern Song Dynasty).

He then followed Li Heng and partnered with Niu Gao to fight against the Jin dynasty, and eventually both of them joined Yue Fei's forces.

After the defeat of Zhai Xing and Li Heng's generals in the resistance against the Jin dynasty, many of them joined Yue Fei's army.

Li Heng, who was determined to recapture Kaifeng, has now been promoted to prefect in the Ming Dynasty.

One by one, they boarded the ship. Soon it was Wu Qimai's turn, and Peng Qi shouted, "Go over there quickly!"

Wu Qimai carefully stepped onto the pedal, fearing that Peng Qi might suddenly kick him and he would drown without realizing it.

The western section of the Bian River is about 150 li long, and it probably flows into the Yellow River between Xingyang and Wushe in later times.

If the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, this section of the canal would become incredibly busy.

The grain and supplies transported from all over the southern region were gathered in Kaifeng, and then they were transported to the western section of the Bian River.

After passing the western section of the Bian River, there are still dozens of miles of the Yellow River, which then flows into the Luo River and reaches Luoyang.

The fleet docked outside Luoyang City, where Bai Chongyan led a group of officials to welcome them, and countless Luoyang citizens came to watch.

Luoyang's housing prices have been soaring recently!

The once powerful clan of Luoyang has been completely dismantled and scattered across various counties in Hebei and Shaanxi provinces.

However, a small number of clansmen and lands remained in Luoyang, and today they have all come to welcome the first batch of people who moved the capital, hoping to revive their families in the new Ming Dynasty.

Where is Wu Qimai?

The crowd asked each other, all wanting to see the deposed king.

Unfortunately, Wu Qimai was not wearing ducal attire, and his bald head was covered by a hat, so they searched for a long time but couldn't find him.

The eunuchs and palace maids headed straight for the palace.

.....

During the Tang Dynasty, there was a distinction between the palace city and the imperial city.

The palace complex included the emperor's harem, various palaces, inner court institutions, and the central government offices.

The Imperial City was the central office area for all major government agencies.

By the time of Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was already difficult to distinguish between the palace city and the imperial city.

The inner palace of Kaifeng: It is both the imperial city and the palace city; it is both the imperial city and the palace city—the space is too narrow, and everything is crammed together!

The Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate, and the Six Ministries of the Northern Song Dynasty...

It should have been located within the imperial city, but the imperial city simply couldn't accommodate it all, so they had to make do with building houses outside the imperial city, squeezing them together with various temples, residences, and shops.

In order to build the Mingtang Hall, Emperor Huizong of Song even moved the Zhongshu Sheng (Secretariat) office outside the imperial city.

Judging from the locations chosen for those central offices, the Northern Song Dynasty was nothing short of a makeshift operation!

But Luoyang is different.

This is where Zhao Kuangyin planned to move the capital; the palace and imperial city were laid out strictly according to the Sui and Tang dynasties.

If Zhu Ming had moved the capital to Luoyang, the perimeter of the palace city would have increased by one-third.

And they all belonged to the emperor, no longer needing to be crammed together with the crown prince and government offices.

(Historical records indicate that the circumference of the Luoyang Palace City in the Northern Song Dynasty was nine li and three hundred steps, but archaeological measurements show it to be twelve li and sixty-nine steps.)

There is another imperial city outside, with a circumference twice that of the palace city. This thing doesn't exist in Kaifeng at all.

Outside the imperial city, there was also a dedicated Eastern Palace and several inner city walls. These functional buildings were not present in Kaifeng.

After the capital was moved.

The emperor, the cabinet, and the Tongzheng Yuan (the Council of State Affairs) all worked within the palace.

The Crown Prince, the Six Ministries, the Privy Council, the Censorate, and other departments all operated within the Imperial City.

It immediately felt spacious and comfortable, and also appeared well-organized.

In recent years, the dismantling of powerful clans in Luoyang and the relocation of residents within the city have freed up a great deal of land.

Outside the imperial city, many official residences and dormitories were built.

Officials of the rank of Vice Minister and above may reside in independent official residences.

Although it has two or three courtyards, the area is not very large. This is to prevent it from being too luxurious.

High-ranking officials are unwilling to move out after leaving office—except for holidays, officials must stay there.

They can also own a separate house, but they can only live there on holidays or after retirement.

Officials below the rank of Vice Minister may reside in official dormitories.

Most are detached houses with their own courtyards, while a few require several people to live together—mainly provided for low-ranking officials who cannot afford to buy a house, while those who can afford a house can live wherever they want.

Newly appointed scholars were required to live in small courtyards shared by several people during their internships in Beijing.