Volume 4 Chapter 81 Coronation
"Da Shilin Ya." Zhao Jiu thought for a moment and decided to verify his guess. "How I distribute the troops depends on what Da Shilin Ya thinks. East or west, you can tell me first. As the emperor, although it is impossible to satisfy all the families, I will do my best and will not embarrass my allies."
Yelu Dashi laughed again when he heard this, but then he said solemnly: "Your Majesty, whether it is the East or the West, they were all won by the lives of Khitan warriors! How can Dashi just give up?"
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then he looked around the table again, and finally he faced him solemnly: "Dashi Lin Ya, there is no such thing as your family taking advantage of everything! The current situation is that the east and the west are thousands of miles apart, and you can't take everything. If you take the east, I will take the west to reward myself; if you keep the west, I will take the east to defend myself..."
Yelu Dashi smiled again and said, "If that's the case, Your Majesty, why bother pretending? Just assign them directly."
Zhao Jiu looked at the other party for a moment, then nodded and said, "I gave Dashilinya the opportunity to choose, but Dashilinya was greedy and gave up the option. Then I can only make a small distribution for you... Hetao is yours, because Hetao was obtained by the hard work of the Khitan main force in Wulahai City; the three states of Hedong and the three states of Hewai all belong to Song, because these six states were obtained by the power of Song Dynasty... What do you think, Dashilinya?"
There was a moment of tension during the banquet.
Yelu Dashi paused for a moment and shook his head: "Your Majesty is too harsh!"
"For the sake of the Hundred Years' Alliance between our two countries, the Tiande Army, Yunnei Prefecture and Khitan." Zhao Jiu immediately changed his words. "But I have to exchange the Zhuoluo City (the northern half of Lanzhou) that you occupied this time... This is the final condition. If you don't accept it, you will lose it. Please take care of yourself."
Yelu Dashi took a deep breath and looked troubled: "Your Majesty! With this distribution, it will be difficult for Dashi to explain to the Khitan warriors under his command!"
"North of Hengshan, there are 150,000 Khitan and Xi tribes, as well as the Khitan tribes in the three states outside the Yellow River. I will send them all to you. The three states outside the Yellow River and Dongsheng state will be the exchange of these people." Zhao Jiu answered with a blank expression. "If anyone in the Dashilinya tribe is dissatisfied, let him come to see me!" At this point, seeing that the other party wanted to say more, Zhao Jiu interrupted him again and made an ultimatum. "At this point, if you want to make a fuss again, it will not be this kind of talk. The Dashilinya tribe is the fate of the tribe, and it should not be a personal situation to make enemies with a big country."
Yelu Dashi panted for a while, then suddenly stood up and left the table, as if he was leaving in a huff.
Seeing this, Gaochang Uighur King Bilege instinctively wanted to stand up and follow him, but seeing that Yelu Dashi was walking alone and surrounded by Song soldiers, the Uighur King just moved a little in his seat and stayed where he was obediently.
"Dashilinya, don't forget to come for the alliance meeting at noon!" Zhao Jiu didn't seem to care. He just reminded him from a distance, then turned around, held the cup, and drank with everyone.
Speaking of which, when facing the two Mongol leaders next, Zhao Jiu was not as nervous as when he faced Yelu Dashi, even though he suddenly learned a few days ago that the full name of Kublai Khan among the two Mongols was actually Kublai Borjigin.
You know, if the name Menggu was enough to make Emperor Zhao vaguely pay attention to these people, then the four words Borjigin completely lifted the veil of history and made Zhao Jiu completely understand who these people in front of him were.
Our Mongolian compatriots!
After the Jurchens, they swept across almost the entire Eurasian continent, of course including their Mongolian compatriots who later divided China into the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty!
However, although he was extremely vigilant and concerned in his heart, Zhao Jiu had nothing to say or do at this time... The reason was very simple. At this time, the Mongols were helpers of the Song Dynasty, not enemies.
The more important point is that he is unable to reach the grassland at this time!
In addition, after witnessing the power of the Song army, these Mongols may have had the experience of being controlled by the Khitans and Jurchens in turn, so they actually had very few demands this time.
According to the private communications in the previous few days, apart from the expected and inevitable common topics such as trade and division of spoils, the two Mongol leaders each had only one independent demand.
The great leader of the Kerait tribe, Huerzahusi, hoped that the Song Dynasty could make the decision and ensure that the Khitans handed over the promised Khatun City... Zhao Jiu was happy to accept this, not only because this request could further weaken the Khitans and ensure the leading role of the Song Dynasty in the alliance, but more importantly, the leader of the Kerait tribe was not named Borjigin.
As for Khabul, the Khan elected by the Eastern Mongols, after witnessing the might of the Song Dynasty and learning about Zhao Jiu's identity, he only put forward one condition. He hoped that Emperor Zhao would officially enthrone him as the King of Mongolia.
Zhao Jiu was skeptical about this for a while, because he didn't know whether this kind of enthronement would accelerate the unification of Mongolia, but he soon thought of a countermeasure and chose to make a private promise early on.
And this is the reason why the two Mongolian leaders have been cooperating with each other and not saying anything extra today.
To put it bluntly, Zhao Jiu demonstrated stronger political commitment, while Yelu Dashi was clearly inferior to the Zhao Song emperor. The two Mongolian leaders, who were still in a tribal state, had simpler minds.
What's more, it is not the Song people but the Jurchens who are currently suppressing Eastern Mongolia militarily. There is no conflict of interest between the two sides, only common interests.
In other words, as long as the 200,000 households of the Jurchens are still there, this alliance between the three parties and the four families will not cause any real trouble.
Even if they are Khitans, they have to come back honestly.
The banquet continued. Zhao Jiu chatted and laughed happily with the two Mongolian leaders. Civil officials such as Lu and Zheng tried to join in the fun, while several generals looked on coldly... It could be said that everything went well.
Only in the hot summer, as the sunlight became stronger and stronger, the lakeside gradually became hotter, and the breeze was a little weak today, so everyone couldn't help sweating profusely.
However, around noon, Yelu Dashi finally turned back, and this time he changed into a formal suit inlaid with gold and jade, looking quite imposing. Khitan generals such as Xiao Worila, Yelu Yudu, Yelu Yanshan, Zhao Heda, and the newly surrendered Yelu Nuge also accompanied him.
Obviously, although it can be guessed from their unhappy faces that these generals were not very satisfied with the conditions brought back by Yelu Dashi, they decided to come to the alliance after all due to the overall situation.
"how?"
After what happened before, how could Qu Duan and the others not know that some words they said were useless, so this time they sat down again and it was Emperor Zhao himself who broke the silence. "Did Dashi Lin Ya reach an agreement with the generals?"
Upon hearing this, Yelu Dashi said nothing, but turned around to look at the generals beside him. Seeing this, the faces of several Khitan generals became even uglier. No one responded for a while, and the atmosphere became tense again.
Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged. He just turned his head as Yelu Dashi did and swept his gaze over Xiao Worila's generals one by one. The originally angry men were looked down upon by this official one by one, and then they actually lowered their heads one by one. For a moment, no one dared to look at him.
In this way, the official only nodded in satisfaction after seeing Yelu Nuge at the end: "If you all agree, I have one more thing to say...Hetao not only needs to be carefully defended, but also a long-term market will be opened in Wulahai City in the future, so the three parties can exchange what they have. Therefore, it is appropriate to use a general with vision and understanding of the overall situation. I think it is better to let General Yelu Yudu take charge of Hetao, Tiande, and Yunnei... General Nuge is new here and has been operating in Yunnei for many years. I don't trust him. Please ask Dashi Linya to take him away!"
Under the big rock, many Khitan generals looked up when they heard the words, and then looked at Yelu Yudu and Yelu Nuge together. The two opened their mouths to speak, but neither said anything.
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu nodded again with satisfaction: "In this case, we have no more disagreements... It's almost time, let's go to the sacrifice together!"
Having said that, the Zhao Song official stood up and left. When he came out of the tent a moment later, he had changed into a bright red robe and a hard-winged hat, and then went directly to the altar. Since the Zhao Song emperor stood up, many Song generals and ministers also stood up and followed him. Soon, the two Mongolian leaders who had been impatient for a long time also stood up. Seeing this, Yelu Dashi paused for a moment, and finally led the Khitan generals to stand up.
King Bilege of Gaochang let out a long sigh and quickly stood up to follow.
The ceremony was very simple and crude. Although the altar was round, it was built in a hurry. There were no blue oxen or white horses. Only three kinds of animals were offered. The so-called crown and tassels only had one set, which could not have been delivered in a hurry. The two Mongol leaders were even more casual... They originally thought that all they needed to do was to swear an oath of blood.
But no matter what, with the awe of heaven and earth these days, the leaders of several military and political entities gathered together and wanted to make an alliance. They had to go through this to give an explanation to the world.
The tribute was presented and the sun was at its highest. Zhao Jiu took the lead and stood in the middle. Yelu Dashi was one step behind. Although the two Mongol leaders looked rude and had been drinking for half a day, no one went over to stroke the other's beard.
As everyone stood still, Lu Benzhong, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, presented a stack of eulogies to Zheng Zhichang, an international friend.
What a pile of sacrificial texts!
Zheng Zhichang was stunned for a long while before he realized that he had a sacrificial text in his hands. Then he gritted his teeth and began to read it under the scorching sun:
"After the reign of Yan and Huang...Yao, Shun and Yu passed down the throne to the world. Yu the Great was awarded the throne for his meritorious service in controlling floods. His son Xia Qi founded the empire. After three generations, China was ruled by Xia...Shang succeeded...King Wu defeated King Zhou, and Zhou ruled the world...During the reign of King Yi, the grandson of King Mu, the royal family declined, and the barbarians invaded and oppressed China...Later, Duke Huan of Qi emerged, respected the king and repelled the barbarians, and made the Nine Alliances among the princes. Only then did China become peaceful..."
The sacrificial text was written by Lü Benzhong and polished by Zhao Jiu himself. However, when Zheng Zhichang read it, everyone else felt as if they were listening to Chinese history, from Yanhuang to Yao, Shun, and Yu, and then to the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Southern and Northern Tang, and the Five Dynasties. Unexpectedly, all the major events in between were included... Moreover, in this process, the word "China" alone appeared dozens of times, which did not pay any attention to the literary setting of avoiding repetition as much as possible.
To be honest, as for this sacrificial text, those who know about it naturally know that it is a sacrifice to heaven and earth, while those who don’t know about it might think it is an introductory textbook on Chinese history!
However, after reading it, everyone gradually realized that this was not telling history, but listing family trees through telling history!
"After the Tang Dynasty, the country was divided into more than ten states, and was merged into the Song and Liao dynasties, and was left to Mongolia and Goryeo... Gaochang was the grandson of the Han Dynasty!" Zheng Zhichang had already turned over more than ten pages by now, and was so tired that his mouth was dry and sweating, but he did not dare to stop. "So it is said that the Chinese tradition is like a thread, which can be clearly listed and has never been interrupted!"
Upon hearing this, not only were the Mongols confused, but the very educated Khitans also had no objection, because they had considered themselves the descendants of Yan and Huang for eight generations, and even from time to time they wanted to compete with the Zhao and Song dynasties for the orthodoxy of Yan and Huang, saying that the Song people were the Southern Dynasty and they were the Northern Dynasty and so on.
It was at this time that the people who were also suffering from the sun finally came to their senses and realized why Emperor Zhao wanted people to talk about history and report family trees here.
"Before that, the Jurchens rose up in the Baishan and Heishui regions, and their roots have not been investigated. They took advantage of the fact that China was not unified and had a turbulent monarch, and sent out wolves and wolves to tyrannize the north, killing the Chinese monarch, looting China's wealth, destroying China's people, and occupying China's land. How can this be tolerated? In the Spring and Autumn Period, the various states of China held an alliance, and then drove out the four barbarians and stabilized China. Now the Emperor of Song has gathered the descendants of Yan and Huang for nine... nine? ... Nine times, the following four are called Liao; Mongolia; Gao... Goryeo; Da... Li? There is also the grandson of China, Gaochang, who is also among them. They held an alliance at the Golden Lake of the Yellow River, agreed on advance and retreat, and vowed to destroy the Jurchens and the Diyi, plow their yards and sweep their holes, so that China can be unified again! If anyone breaks the oath, the whole world will punish him together!"
After hearing this, although the word Dali appeared rather abruptly, it finally got to the point. No matter which tribe or family the people under the altar came from, they all felt relieved... As for Dali, they simply thought that Emperor Zhao had lost his mind.
"It is said that the barbarians will never have a country with a hundred years of destiny!"
Zheng Zhichang turned the page again with great effort. When he saw that there was only the last paragraph left, he suddenly became full of energy. He immediately turned up the volume and tried to finish reading. "It is also said that Youzhou and Jizhou are the capitals of China. How can the barbarians live there for a long time? It is also said that since ancient times, it has not been heard that China is a country of barbarians! At this time, the destiny of heaven is in circulation, the Central Plains is prosperous, and among the billions of people, civil and military officials are born. Jiu has mastered the talents and virtues of the Central Plains and has the help of the Yanhuang people. He will definitely drive out the barbarians, restore China, establish rules and regulations, and save the people. Please let heaven and earth see the future success or failure! Therefore, I hereby inform you, and I think you should know it."
This last paragraph did have some momentum and literary grace, but at this point , except for Yelu Dashi, almost everyone was dizzy from the sun and too lazy to praise it.
As for Emperor Zhao, who played with words and made himself the leader and the superior of everyone, considering that after all, the Song and Liao were on the same level, and below Yelu Dashi, the knowledgeable Khitans just accepted it with a pinch of their noses... Who made the Song Dynasty have a stronger army at the moment?
Without further ado, Zheng Zhichang almost collapsed after reading an article about China's 5,000-year history. Fortunately, Lu Benzhong, who wrote the article, was well prepared. Immediately, a soldier stepped forward to help Zheng Zhichang down and gave him some warm salt water, which allowed him to stand up again.
Before they could rest, the imperial guards rushed forward at the signal of the commander Liu Yan... They were not going to kill anyone, but to offer the blood wine that had been heated up long ago. From Zhao Jiu onwards, there were Yelu Dashi, Hebula Borjigin, Huerzahusi, Bilegebu, as well as Yue Fei, Wu Jie, Qu Duan, Wang De, Liu Qi, Li Shifu and other generals of Zhao Song Dynasty, Xiao Worila, Yelu Yudu, Yelu Yanshan, Zhao Heda and other Khitan generals who came on stage, plus Zheng Zhichang who had just come down, as well as Lü Benzhong, Ren Baozhong and others, and several heads of the same tribe under the two Mongolian chiefs, almost everyone drank a glass of blood wine.
Emperor Zhao did not hesitate at all. Instead of facing the altar, he turned around, raised the cup to everyone and drank it all in one gulp.
The civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty, as well as those Khitan generals who knew the situation, thought that Emperor Zhao was taking advantage of them again, but they were too lazy to care about it, so they just drank it all in front of the emperor, as if they were swearing an oath to him.
After drinking a bowl of blood wine, everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the heat.
But that’s not the end.
"Khubul Khan!"
Zhao Jiu waved his hand. "I was just about to take advantage of this opportunity to crown you the King of Mongolia!"
Everyone was stunned, but soon came to their senses, even Yelu Dashi did not say much... Hebule asked for the title on his own initiative, and the Zhao Song official was also happy to confer the title . One was willing to fight and the other was willing to be beaten, and there had been some vague communication before, and no one had anything to say.
Only Zha Husi's expression changed slightly, but he didn't dare to say much.
So, everyone made way, and soon Liu Yan came forward and held up a box. Emperor Zhao opened it in public and took out an exquisite golden crown from it... Ren Baozhong was the only one who was distracted, because he seemed to vaguely recognize that golden crown, it seemed, probably, the crown of King Liang of Western Xia. Who would have thought that Emperor Zhao was so stingy that he actually made use of waste here?
Hebule had no idea that it was something that a dead person had worn. On the contrary, when had he seen such an exquisite thing while wandering around the grassland? In his great joy, he simply took off his hat and walked forward. And Emperor Zhao did not ask Hebule to kneel or anything, but just picked up the golden crown and put it on Hebule's head, who bowed slightly, and that was it.
Hebula held the golden crown and found that the crown could just hold his shaved head. It was obvious that the Zhao Song government had made careful preparations for it. He was even more delighted. Then he stood up straight and bowed to the people around him who were congratulating him.
However, before the congratulations could subside, Liu Yanfu, the commander of the imperial guards, took a box from the guard behind him and brought it over.
Zhao Jiu opened the box and took out another golden crown of similar size but different shape. He then said with a calm and loud smile: "I have thought about it and there is no reason to only confer the title of King of Mongolia on Kublai Khan and not give a king to Hurjakhusi Khan... I mean, both of you have made great contributions this time, so Kublai Khan will be the King of Eastern Mongolia and Hurjakhusi Khan will be the King of Western Mongolia... How about both of you accepting my title?"
Without waiting for the two Mongolian kings to react, Yelu Dashi burst out laughing on the spot: "That's exactly what should happen! This is a great joyous event!"
Huerzahusi was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed, and he stepped forward to thank him, and actually knelt on one knee. Kublai Khan was slightly stunned, and thought about it again. After all, he was just wearing a golden crown, and smiled with the crowd: "It is time for one of my Anda to be the king. From now on, the eastern part of Mongolia belongs to me, and the western part belongs to Huerzahusi Anda."
As he spoke, Zhao Jiu didn't care about what Hebule Borjigin was thinking, and directly put the golden crown that originally belonged to Cha Ge, the King of Jin of Western Xia, on Huerzahusi's head in front of Ren Baozhong's complicated gaze.
After the alliance was reached, the kings of East and West Mongolia were crowned one after another, and the atmosphere on the scene became even more heated.
At this moment, Yelu Dashi, who was laughing happily, was suddenly stunned, because Liu Yan actually brought the third box in the midst of laughter, and when the box was opened, there was a high-topped golden crown inside, which was even more luxurious than the previous two golden crowns.
This time, Ren Baozhong had no doubts, he saw clearly that this was the golden crown of the King of Western Xia...it must have been seized from the city of Xingqing Prefecture.
"Big Stone Forest Fang."
Everyone suddenly stopped talking. Zhao Jiu, wearing a red robe and a bun, stood in front of the altar, holding the golden crown and facing the crowd. "I heard from General Xiao that you only called yourself the Khan of Khitan in the Western Regions because you were thinking of your old master. You didn't even become the Emperor of Liao. It 's ridiculous... A man born in this world, what is there to hesitate about being an emperor? Come on, come on, come forward. Song and Liao are brother countries. I, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, will crown you. Let's see who dares not to recognize you as the Emperor of Khitan?!"
Yelu Dashi was originally beside Zhao Jiu. He turned his back to everyone and stared at the Zhao Song official standing not far in front of him. He seemed to have reacquainted himself with him. Behind Dashi, the others were also in a trance... Can the emperor be crowned by another emperor? If this Khitan emperor can be crowned by the emperor of the Song Dynasty, is he still an emperor?
"Da Shi Lin Ya, come forward and be crowned!" In a trance, Qu Duan was the first to react. He drew out his sword and waved it in the air, then shouted encouragement on the spot. "This is the good intention of my emperor!"
“Well said!”
Wu Jie reacted immediately and drew his sword as well, but turned to face the pale-faced Xiao Wulila not far away. "This is the will of my emperor, and two hundred thousand troops are here to witness it. Dashilinya should be the Khitan emperor!"
Yue Fei also came to his senses. Although he did not say anything, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the Khitan generals with his sword. Since the three generals had given the signal, the other Song army generals did not hesitate any more and led their subordinates to draw their swords and cheer.
Even the two newly appointed Mongolian kings began to wake up at this time and simply brought a few subordinates to make a fuss.
"Dashi Linya." Amid the noise, Zhao Jiu smiled and whispered to Yelu Dashi who looked serious. "If I hadn't helped you today, Khitan might have split into East and West. You are so kind to me, but you are unwilling to help me with such a small matter? Even if you don't want to be so kind to me, you should remember that you are tied to the prosperity of your clan, right?"
Yelu Dashi smiled bitterly when he heard this.
By the way, this morning, Yelu Dashi acted too tough.
It was indeed too tough... You must know that everyone in the coalition army, including the Jinhe Lake, already knew the relationship between Song and Liao. Song was strong and Liao was weak, and the difference between the two had reached a certain level. In addition, even if we don't consider that the core figures and troops of Western Liao were all under the control of the Song army, the so-called Western Liao also had another huge and fatal weakness that was firmly grasped by the Song army.
To be more specific, before Emperor Zhao distributed the land in the morning, the land controlled by Yelu Dashi and his Khitan exile group was actually divided into two. To the west was half of the Western Regions and the six prefectures of Hexi, and to the east was Hetao and the six prefectures of the former Liao Kingdom that had just been conquered. In between, there were two routes. The one that could be used by large troops was of course the Xingling area, but it was in the hands of the Song people. The other route, from Khatun City to the Western Regions, was not impossible, but it was too difficult.
Moreover, whether the Khitans could get the theoretical six states in the east depended entirely on whether Zhao Jiu gave it to them.
Therefore, no matter what, just as Qu Duan and Lu Benzhong thought, Yelu Dashi should not have been so domineering this morning, but he did it anyway.
If something is abnormal, it is a demon. There are certainly some explanations for this.
And Zhao Jiu had guessed it early on - that is, Yelu Dashi probably didn't want... or to put it more appropriately... Yelu Dashi certainly wanted the six eastern states from an emotional point of view, as that was the core territory of the Liao Dynasty. However, as the leader of an exiled group, his reason told him that he could not accept the six eastern states of the Liao Dynasty.
Because once the Khitans obtain these six states, Yelu Dashi's exile group will be completely split. Those who are determined to restore their country will choose to establish a base in the six eastern states, while those who have their roots in the Western Regions and have no feelings for the Liao Dynasty will choose to return to the west to gain a foothold.
But he couldn't say it. How could he tell his subordinates that we have to give up our homeland for the sake of survival and unity?
How could he say that the Liao Dynasty could never be restored, and that neither the Song nor the Jin would give it this opportunity? If they stayed in the east, they would sooner or later be annexed by the Song or destroyed by the Jin?
How could he possibly say that he accepted the invitation from Emperor Zhao that day, partly because he hated the Jurchens, but also because he was a stray dog who was desperate and looking for a place to stay? The six counties in Hexi were already enough for him!
How could he admit that after conquering Hexi, he couldn't wait to march into Hetao, which was separated by the desert and the territory of the Song army, just to leave a gap in the east so that he could continuously accept Khitan compatriots to establish themselves in the Western Regions and strengthen the strength of the exile group? Was the Western Region the promised land of the Liao Dynasty?
How could he possibly hint to any of his subordinates, including Xiao Wulila, that the Zhao Song government had so many reinforcements that it was not what he wanted to see if they pushed all the way to the former Liao territory?
He couldn't tell.
Therefore, he could only hope that Emperor Zhao could use a domineering attitude to prevent the Khitans from obtaining the six states. Emperor Zhao had realized this early on, and even guessed it as early as the day when Xiao Worila came to persuade him to leave Hetao and continue his march.
That was a hint, and coming here alone this morning was also a hint, and Zhao Jiu understood it early on. And for the sake of long-term interests, Zhao Jiu finally did as Yelu Dashi wished... prevented the Khitan exile group from splitting, and became the big villain.
Now, it is time for Yelu Dashi to pay back his debt, it is time for him to face reality, and it is time for him to be responsible for the hundreds of thousands of his fellow tribesmen outside the Yellow River who are in the hands of the Song people.
He must bow his head, otherwise the Zhao Song official in front of him may make him unable to bear certain consequences.
Amid the noise, Yelu Dashi gave a slightly wry smile, then remained silent for a moment before he lifted his half-veil hat and lowered his head forward.
There was a sudden silence all around.
Zhao Jiu placed the crown on the man's head, then immediately stepped forward, held the man's hands, and helped the man to stand beside him... Suppression is suppression, control is control, but Zhao Jiu still respects this man very much.
All this happened in just a moment, and the surroundings cheered and rejoiced after a moment. Because of Qu Duan's stupid behavior, the surrounding soldiers waved their swords and cheered. Then, in the distant military camps, the soldiers who were unaware of the situation also cheered. Then, in the Khitan and Mongolian military camps further away, they also cheered when the alliance was finalized and Emperor Zhao crowned the three men.
Xiao Worila and others, who had looked somewhat embarrassed before, felt relieved after seeing this. Led by Xiao Worila, they stepped forward to pay their respects and congratulate... This was both a show of loyalty to their newly born monarch and an acknowledgement of the coronation.
"Now you know why the emperor did not take a Tangut woman as his concubine, right?" After watching for a while, Lü Benzhong suddenly smiled at Ren Baozhong and twirled his beard. "The concubine the emperor wants to take this time, how can a woman compare to her?"
Ren Baozhong's expression changed for a moment, but he nodded heavily...it was obvious that he agreed with it.
