Chapter 393
: Shock and Celebration
Chapter 393: Shock and Celebration
The killing of the Crown Prince of Emperor Ningkang, the surrender of the Xie family, the surrender of Jiangnan Prefecture, and the general amnesty of Emperor Wuxing were all earth-shaking events that shocked Tianfu County.
The news of a general amnesty must be made public in order to achieve the effect of deterrence and publicity. Otherwise, the emperor may have been replaced for several years and some farmers in the countryside may not even know about it.
Therefore, as early as five days ago, the secret order from the imperial court was delivered to County Magistrate Kang.
At this moment, Magistrate Kang, along with all the people in the county government office, their families, major merchants in the county, as well as the masters of some of the most famous wealthy families and patriarchs of major clans, a total of several hundred people, all knelt in front of the county gate.
Bang, bang, bang, the sound of horses galloping, shaking the earth.
Bang bang bang, the sound of vehicles running.
Boom, boom, boom, the festive and majestic sound of war drums.
Ding ding ding - the heavy and distant sound of a tripod bell.
Soon, a forest of black and red military flags came into view.
Under the military flag was a team of cavalrymen wearing heavy armor and with helmets covering their faces.
They were wrapped in coldness and murderous intent, escorting three carriages, and arrived at the city gate in the blink of an eye.
These were the Northwest Army lurking in Dongming Prefecture. The leader of the Northwest Army sang loudly: "Xie Jia, the commander of Jiangnan Prefecture, beheaded the Ningkang Emperor's prince and presented his head to Your Majesty. Your Majesty wiped out the remnants of Emperor Ningkang in one fell swoop in the second year of Wuxing, and won the submission of all the people in Jiangnan Prefecture. Since then, the world has been unified, and a decree has been issued to amnesty the world and share the joy with the people!!"
The Northwestern Army behind him repeated these words in a voice that shook the heavens and the earth, instilling both fear and a feeling of worship.
Following the Northwest Army came familiar faces - Captain Gao and Master Miao.
In ancient times, it was inconvenient to travel. If you didn’t bring a familiar face to the yamen, the villagers would think you were a liar.
The two of them, representing the government army and the government office, came up and said to County Magistrate Kang, "Your Excellency County Magistrate Tian Fu, the son of the culprit emperor has been executed, and the south is at peace. This is the imperial edict with the seal of His Majesty, you may take a look."
The clerk in the etiquette room of the government office knelt down, took the imperial edict from the Northwest Army, walked to the front of County Magistrate Kang on his knees, and unfolded the imperial edict.
After reading it, County Magistrate Kang was overjoyed and shouted: "Your Majesty is the true Dragon Emperor. You have punished the remnants of the evil emperor and brought the people of Wei back to their hearts. I, your humble servant, and the people of Tianfu County, weep with joy and congratulate you. May your Majesty's kingdom prosper forever!"
The people from Tianfu County behind him repeated these words, and the sound shook the sky again.
"Worship heaven and earth, and welcome the imperial edict into the city!"
Magistrate Kang led the crowd in burning incense and kowtowing for a full half hour before they welcomed the convoy carrying the imperial decree of amnesty into Tianfu County.
The imperial edict was escorted by the heavily armored Northwest Army. Wherever it passed, the people knelt to welcome it. The scene was even grander than that of last year's imperial edict to welcome the change of emperor.
The Northwest Army went around the neighborhoods of the county town, letting everyone see the imperial edict convoy and learn the news that Da'an and Dawei in the south had completely changed, and then they returned to the county government office.
Tianfu County was in an uproar, and everyone was talking about the imperial edict...but they were afraid of saying the wrong thing and being punished, so they didn't dare to make a noise and only talked about it secretly at home.
They hurriedly hung up red cloth, set up an altar for worship, and pretended to be celebrating.
You have to celebrate, otherwise the emperor will think that you, the people of Tianfu County, are unhappy that he is the emperor.
If the emperor gets angry, it will be terrible. People will die, and a large number of people will die!
……
The next day, the Northwest Army, along with county officials, began to leave the county and head towards various towns in the countryside.
Every time they passed through a town, officials from the county government would come forward and have the clerks from the Silifang bring the headmen of the ward and the village heads to kneel and welcome the imperial edict.
After burning incense and offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the Northwest Army shouted: "Xie Jia, the commander of Jiangnan Prefecture, beheaded the crown prince of Emperor Ningkang and presented his head to Your Majesty. In the second year of Wuxing, Your Majesty exterminated the remnants of Emperor Ningkang in one fell swoop and won the submission of all the people in Jiangnan Prefecture. Since then, the world has been unified. I hereby issue an edict to amnesty the world and share the joy with the people!!"
After staying in each town for half a day to ensure that the news had spread, the Northwest Army set off for the next town.
By the time they arrived at Taifeng Town, it was already the sixth day of the second lunar month. A day earlier, the clerks had notified the village heads to bring ten to twenty villagers to the town to welcome the imperial edict.
At the midnight of the sixth day, Grandpa Qin got up, burned incense, took a bath, changed clothes, and prepared solemnly to receive the imperial edict.
Then she asked Grandma Qin to call Uncle Qin Er: "Hurry up and wake up Uncle Er, take a bath and change clothes, and go together to receive the imperial decree of amnesty. This is something from heaven, and if you get a little bit of its scent, it can dispel evil and keep you safe."
Qin Xiaomi, who was woken up by Grandpa Qin to watch the fun, said: "..."
My solemn and serious grandfather, you are quite superstitious.
"Hey, I'll go call him right away." Grandma Qin also attached great importance to welcoming the imperial edict. She hurried to knock on the door of Uncle Qin and his wife, and shouted, "Second brother, get up quickly, take a bath and change clothes. We are going to the town to welcome the imperial edict... there will be a general amnesty."
Grandma Qin's voice choked.
The second son's ambition since he was young was to pass the imperial examination, become a good official, purify the world, and speak up for the people.
But because of his record of cheating, he can never take the imperial examination again in this life. Now that there is a general amnesty, the second brother has a chance to take the imperial examination!
Uncle Qin probably couldn't hear it.
Aunt Qin lifted the quilt off him and tickled him.
Uncle Qin couldn't stand this, so he moved his body to avoid it and shouted, "Stop it, bitch!"
"Hurry up and get up. Grandma is calling you. If you make her cry, your niece will deduct our second house's dividends." Aunt Qin continued to tickle him and whispered, "Change to a new emperor. Don't you want to go and see what the new emperor is like?"
Oh, Uncle Qin sneered, "What else can you say about the imperial edict that flatters the Xie family? It's just another puppet who compromises with the aristocratic families for the throne...hiss, bitch, be gentle!"
Aunt Qin sneered and whispered, "These people are all your blood relatives. Keep talking. At worst, I can help you dig a grave and bury them."
"Oh, then you are really righteous." Uncle Qin said, and shouted outside the house: "Mom, I'm getting up now, stop shouting, it's disturbing my ears."
"Well, then you'd better hurry up, otherwise the hot water will get cold." After giving the instructions, Grandma Qin went back to work.
More than half an hour later, the rest of the families gathered at Qin Xiaomi's house, and followed Grandpa Qin to worship the heavens, the earth, their ancestors, and their deceased relatives.
Tell them: "Today, the emperor's imperial edict of amnesty has arrived in Taifeng Town. From today on, the world will be peaceful again."
Grandpa Qin and Grandma Qin have a deep obsession for world peace.
For them, if the world is at peace, the people can live a peaceful and stable life without any more fear or worry.
Qin Xiaomi looked at the two elders kneeling devoutly, and the genuine joy overflowing from them made her feel a little happy in her heart, and her feelings towards this Da Wei deepened a little.
Everyone in the village had escaped famine and knew the value of peace and tranquility. With the exception of Huang Duogui's family and the Huang Wu family who had not yet returned to the village, all the villagers in the ghost village got up to burn incense and offer sacrifices.
But the villagers were very afraid of the soldiers, fearing that they would say or do something wrong and be caught and beheaded on the spot by the Northwest Army. Therefore, some villagers did not dare to go to the town to receive the imperial edict.
But Old Man Hu, Old Man Qian, Zhang Niuwang and others dared to go and were waiting at the west entrance of the village early.
Xu Zheng came to report: "Old boss, the heads of the Hu, Qian, and Zhang families are already waiting at the west entrance of the village."
Grandpa Qin brought a basket and handed it to Xu Zhengmao: "They must have missed breakfast. Give them these multi-grain cakes to fill their stomachs. We will set off after breakfast."
"Hey." Xu Zhengmao took the basket and went to the west entrance of the village to reply.
After half an hour of Mao, Xu Zhengmao came again: "Old boss, the people from Zhoujia Village have arrived at the entrance of the village."
"Let's set off now." Grandpa Qin took Uncle Qin, Qin Eryong, Qin Dashi and others on the donkey cart, and then picked up the heads of the Hu, Qian and Zhang families, and went to the village entrance together.
"Brother Qin, congratulations! At our age, we can still see today's grand scene. Our lives are not lived in vain." Village chief Zhou said with a happy face.