Even though Ding Yun had tried her best to control the leak of information, as her coronation day approached, relevant news gradually spread beyond the city of Chang'an.
Compared to what ordinary citizens knew.
Simple information like the Grand Princess ascending the throne.
The aristocratic families, due to their close ties with court officials, and even the fact that many of those officials were their own kin, obtained more detailed information.
They were even clear about what had happened within the palace at the time.
Upon receiving the news, some minor aristocratic families largely planned to bide their time, waiting to see how things unfolded before deciding whether to cooperate with other aristocratic clans to cause trouble and rebel, or to continue living peacefully.
As for the major aristocratic families and the other five great clans.
Some disputes arose within them.
The debate was whether to prevent a woman from ascending the throne, or to simply let things take their natural course and see what happened.
...
Within the ancestral grounds of the Cui family of Huaixi.
The current patriarch, Cui Yingjie, along with several clan elders and high-ranking direct descendants, had all arrived within a week of receiving the news.
They convened together to discuss a plan of action.
"I believe there's no need for me to reiterate the specifics of the matter. What I want to hear are your proposals on how we should respond.
Should we ignore it and pretend nothing happened?
Or should we intervene?
We cannot let a woman rule over us?"
Although a family patriarch held considerable status and had significant influence, even an emperor couldn't act without opposition or persuasion. Much less a family patriarch. Minor matters could be decided unilaterally, but for major events, consultation was necessary, and this was undoubtedly a major event.
Therefore, it was natural for everyone to gather and discuss. Moreover, even if their family reached a consensus, they couldn't act immediately. They still needed to consult with the other great clans and aristocratic families.
To minimize losses for each family, before undertaking any significant action, these great clans and aristocratic families would typically inform each other. If everyone's opinions aligned, they would unite and advance together. This would not only reduce individual family losses but also allow them to exert a more formidable force, creating a powerful momentum that could crush any opposition.
"In my opinion, it's best not to meddle.
The realm has only been stable for a few years. If we stir things up again, the losses could be immense. As long as she doesn't interfere with us or infringe upon our interests, who becomes emperor hardly matters. A female emperor might even be better.
Perhaps it would be more conducive for us to control the general trend of the realm.
After all, the more incompetent the emperor,
the freer we can operate.
Besides, isn't that Dugu Luan a member of the Dugu family? Compared to us, shouldn't the other Dugu clans be more anxious? In my view, we should stay out of this directly. Even if we are displeased with a woman ascending the throne, we can privately assist other members of the Dugu family to contend for the throne, while we remain behind the scenes.
Patriarch, what do you think of my suggestion?"
Soon, a rather old and steady clan elder voiced his proposal. He didn't want the family to get involved in such troublesome affairs if their interests weren't harmed.
This was because even if they succeeded in such an endeavor, their family might not gain much. Conversely, if they failed.
The losses would inevitably be immense.
"I disagree. This is no longer a matter of family interests. It's a matter of pride for us men, accumulated over thousands of years. A woman ruling over so many of us men, what kind of precedent does that set!
When history records this, won't we, who lived in the same era as that Dugu Luan, be ridiculed by future generations? How can we allow such a thing, which could be considered an eternal disgrace, to happen?
In my opinion, we must oppose it.
Even if it means a change of dynasty, we must firmly oppose it."
Just as some approached the matter from the perspective of family interests, others viewed it from different angles, believing it involved not only family honor but also the dignity of all men. If this truly happened, wouldn't women in their households become insufferable in the future?
"Indeed, a female emperor will undoubtedly bring endless harm. Most importantly, don't forget that Dugu Luan has a daughter, and that daughter possesses royal blood from the previous dynasty. If we simply allow Dugu Luan to ascend the throne, then her daughter.
Will have a very high probability of inheriting her throne.
We may not have any deep-seated hatred for Dugu Luan, after all, her husband, Emperor Ling, wasn't killed by us; he died from taking medicine himself. However, between her daughter and us, there is indeed deep hatred.
After all, the previous dynasty was extinguished by our joint efforts.
And she herself inherently possesses the bloodline of the Dugu family, making it inconvenient for her to act against the Dugu family. However, towards us, she would have no such reservations. Wouldn't we be in a very passive position then?
It would be better to seize this opportunity now to eliminate Dugu Luan and her daughter, who carries the royal blood of the previous dynasty, truly eradicating the root of the problem!
Prevention is key.
Do not nurture a threat for future trouble!"
Soon, another person proposed their suggestion from a direction that most had not considered.
"To me, there's no need to make a big fuss about this. If you are truly worried, then just send someone to assassinate her daughter. Why create such a stir over a minor issue, mobilizing numerous families, and even initiating a change of dynasty?
If war breaks out, how much loss will it cause?
The province I govern has not yet recovered its population to its level ten years ago after a war. Tax revenue is less than seventy percent of what it was ten years ago. Therefore, it's best not to initiate conflict rashly.
If it can be resolved through other minor means, then use those means. Even if they are not entirely honorable, it's better than sparking a war that ultimately leads to widespread suffering."
"Indeed, once war is initiated, our family's accumulation of years will be depleted again. This depletion is our family's foundation! Frequent depletion is likely detrimental to the family's long-term prosperity and continuity. Most importantly, we have already depleted a lot in the past few years. It's only been less than ten years, so I do not agree with provoking war over this matter.
Peaceful development is still best."
In reality, the aristocratic families also did not wish to see frequent wars. This was because if a war broke out, even if they did not participate directly, they would be forced to increase their own protective forces. Furthermore, if the war lasted for a long time, was large in scale, and resulted in too many deaths, it could even lead to a significant population reduction.
They might not find people to farm their land.
Sales of their products would also decrease.
These were all losses for them.
Therefore, unless their interests were truly harmed, they would generally exercise restraint.
In fact, more people held this view.
Thus, after a period of debate and discussion, the Cui family ultimately agreed not to initiate war rashly, with the majority deciding to resolve the issue of Dugu Luan and her daughter through other means.
Concurrently, the discussion results from the other great clans and aristocratic families were largely consistent. Occasionally, a few families who wanted to make a big move eventually subsided due to the relatively favorable imperial edicts Ding Yun had issued towards the aristocratic families before her coronation. Although they did not explicitly support Ding Yun's ascension, they did not deliberately obstruct it.
As a result, regarding Ding Yun's ascension to the throne.
Although there might have been undercurrents privately, and she even encountered several assassination attempts, at least on the surface, everyone maintained a harmonious relationship. No one directly rebelled or caused large-scale unrest.
And this was precisely what Ding Yun desired.
Before she had accumulated enough strength.
Everything was focused on maintaining stability.
In addition, the day before her coronation, she accepted the beginner's mission and, at the moment of her official ascension, simultaneously activated the main storyline mission and the point mall.
The requirement for activating the main storyline mission was to ascend the throne as emperor.
The requirement for activating the mall was the activation of the main storyline mission.
Therefore, the moment she ascended, these two requirements were met simultaneously, and activation was only logical.
Of course, this was not the most surprising thing for Ding Yun. What surprised her the most was that because she had accepted the beginner's mission the day before her coronation, the task requiring her to possess her own territory among the three beginner missions jumped directly from the initial tens of thousands of mu to over five million square kilometers.
This figure occupied more than eighty percent of the realm's territory, illustrating its terrifying magnitude.
And the immense reward for this mission.
According to Ding Yun's understanding, the system had likely directly defaulted to her imperial identity and counted all the territory nominally under the emperor's jurisdiction, where the emperor could collect taxes, as her newly acquired territory.
As for why it wasn't all the territory in the realm.
But only eighty percent was counted.
It was likely because the remaining twenty percent of the territory had not paid taxes, or perhaps was not even registered, considered hidden land. Such territory could naturally not be considered belonging to the emperor, so this amount was also reasonable.
But regardless, the reward for exceeding the requirements of this single beginner mission alone was enough for Ding Yun to splurge in the point mall, and it was enough for her to smoothly activate the lord branch system, using the system's functions to determine the specific loyalty of her subordinates.
And whether they were loyal or had betrayed her.
There would be a notification upon betrayal.
This was undoubtedly an excellent tool for managing people.
With this branch system, Ding Yun would find it much easier to manage people in the future, without needing to assess their past character, determine their psychology, or carefully consider their loyalty.
However, because she had just ascended the throne, not only were many people's eyes on her, but there were also many people around her. Therefore, even though Ding Yun was excited that the system had finally fully activated and could be used completely.
She still managed to control her expression at the altar, not appearing overly happy.
And she completed the relevant ceremonies according to custom.
From morning to evening.
The entire coronation process was finally concluded.
After completing the ascension, Ding Yun officially began the usual process that other emperors followed after their coronation, which was the grand enfeoffment of the harem and meritorious officials. For example, the Empress Dowager was enfeoffed as the Grand Empress Dowager, her sisters who did not participate in the rebellion were enfeoffed as princes, and her daughter was enfeoffed as the Crown Princess.
In addition, the meritorious officials also received their own enfeoffments, some were promoted, and some were granted titles. This could be considered a form of distribution of spoils.
After all, everyone had risked their lives to follow her.
Now that they had succeeded, it was unreasonable not to give them some benefits.
After such enfeoffments were completed, Ding Yun could clearly see through the lord branch system that the loyalty values of many subordinates who were not particularly loyal had significantly increased. For those who were already relatively loyal, perhaps due to their initial high scores, the increase was not substantial. Only a few individuals, who perhaps felt conflicted and were unwilling to serve under a woman, did not see their loyalty values increase even after receiving rewards.
Ding Yun noted all these individuals in her little black book.
In the future, for any important matters.
She would definitely not entrust them with such tasks.
By the time all meritorious officials had been rewarded, it was already dark. Ding Yun had no further matters to address that evening, so she quickly announced the adjournment of the court and then, with her newly appointed Crown Princess daughter.
She went to Weiyang Palace to see the Empress Dowager with some apprehension.
Of course, she was now the Grand Empress Dowager.
Ever since she had led a contingent of soldiers into the palace to seize the throne that day, she had been unsure how to face her grandmother, the Empress Dowager. She had been using the excuse of being busy lately to comfort herself. However, now, after her coronation, even the busiest of tasks should be completed.
Avoiding each other indefinitely was not an option, so after enfeoffing the Empress Dowager as the Grand Empress Dowager today, she specifically took her Crown Princess daughter to Weiyang Palace.
Upon entering, someone announced their arrival.
"You still remember to come? I thought you'd forgotten about this old woman after becoming emperor!"
The Empress Dowager, or rather, the Grand Empress Dowager now, was still as unyielding as ever, giving no face to anyone and speaking without politeness.
The moment she saw Ding Yun, she spoke with annoyance.
Ding Yun could only plaster a smile on her face and quickly apologize:
"How could that be, Grandmother? If I said I was too busy, I would be lying to you. The reason I didn't dare to come was that I was unsure how to face you, and I didn't know how you viewed my ascension to the throne as a woman..."
Because Ding Yun knew very well that her grandmother was a very clear-headed person, not senile, and even more sharp-witted than many young people. Therefore, she dared not deceive her in the slightest and spoke truthfully.
"You're at least sensible.
You didn't fool me with empty talk. I don't know if it's good or bad for you to ascend the throne as a woman, but your father was simply asking for it. Years ago, I told him to discipline those princes.
But he didn't listen to an elder's advice and died before me!
Sit down. Let's talk. I never realized you had the ambition to be emperor. The most outrageous thing is that you actually succeeded.
Tell me, what are your plans now?
I heard you enfeoffed a Crown Princess, so are you really planning to let your daughter inherit the throne, resulting in two female emperors?"
Perhaps because after so many days, even the biggest matters were no longer as shocking as they were at the beginning, the Grand Empress Dowager's emotions were relatively stable. From her tone, it even seemed like she wasn't particularly saddened by her son's death, and even had a sense of smugness as if her predictions had come true.
After speaking, she directly pulled Ding Yun to sit down.
Planning for the grandmother and granddaughter to have a heart-to-heart talk.