Jingming

Chapter 430 Difficulties in the Harem
So much time has passed, and Gunbilik has already died of illness in Beijing.

In the two border areas of Hetao and Xuanning, the largest force among the Mongolian herdsmen is now the Duoyan tribe.

There were too many surrenders and surrenders to the Mongols back then.Even with the support of enterprises such as Qun Mujian, Baojin Bureau, and Tongyi Bureau, as well as the cultural education and guidance of frontier officials such as Tang Shunzhi and Lin Xiyuan to reclaim wasteland and cultivated land, most Mongolian people are still accustomed to herding.

In order to facilitate management, naturally they can only be restrained by the three parts of Duoyan, who are now very committed to submission.

The Ordos tribe no longer has a unified lord, but has been split into more than twenty small and medium-sized tribes.The Duoyan Tribe does not rule them in name, but there is a vague relationship of superiority and subordinates.

There was one thing in particular that the Duoyan tribe, which was the first to engage in new border trade with the Ming Dynasty, was better at making extra money by allowing some Mongolian people in the border areas to carry coal and iron back from farther away.

This is a very dangerous thing.

They want to leave the safe area where the Ming Dynasty border troops patrol daily and go deep into Mobei.It is necessary to contact the large and small tribes that are now under the rule of the Khan's court, exchange the Ming Dynasty's goods from them for coal and iron, and then transport them back in baskets or Lele carts.

If they were plundered by Mongolian cavalry on the way, Ming Dynasty would not take care of it without clear military orders.

In other words, we are just letting it go now: Datong is actually already mining on a large scale. This part of coal and iron is just to allow the Mongolian people who have not turned to work and farming to have a way to make extra money by grazing.

They became a special caravan traveling northward without any border market to Mobei. Ming merchants only collected their goods in Hetao and Xuanning.

Herdsmen who are able to have children will always have such men in their families, even the old and the weak.In order to live a better life in the Ming Dynasty, he took the risk of carrying goods deep into Mobei, in exchange for coal and iron at a lower cost, and then used his own manpower, which was almost not included in the cost, to transport the coal and iron all the way back.

Although the earnings are risky, tiring, and small, under the organization of Duoyan Department, there are still a large number of people doing it.

If they were robbed by the Mongolian tribe under the Khan's court, they would naturally have a grudge against those Mobei tribes.

For so many years, the small and medium-sized Mongolian and Yuan tribes closer to the Ming Dynasty have never been plundered by the Khan's cavalry. It can also be seen that An Da has a broad mind and extraordinary ambitions: Even if you do this form of business with the Ming Dynasty, you will get the grassland needs. of some goods.

He is not afraid that these small tribes in the south will become unstable factors in the future.

The two countries have been in this state for many years.

In the direction of Hetao, it is relatively peaceful. The border residents there carry coal and iron from the Outer Mongolia; in the direction of Xuanning, a brave general has emerged in recent years.The Xuanning cavalry led by Ma Fang had to engage in a chase and interception battle with the Khan's cavalry who went to Liaodong to rob the Jurchens every year, plus they raided Chahar and Tumut's headquarters and burned wasteland.

Now that summer is approaching, the snow on the grassland has melted, and the news of the queen's death in the capital has not yet reached the north. Ma Fang is now a colonel, guerrilla general, fourth rank, and the commander of a regiment of the Xuanning Cavalry Brigade.

Above him is the brigade commander of the entire Xuanning Cavalry Brigade, with the rank of major general and the general of the Xuanning Border Region.

Above that, there is Xuanda Chief Military Officer, Hanhaihou Yu Dayou, with the rank of lieutenant general, and the governor of the Chinese Army Dudu Mansion, Qian Shi, the second rank.

Ma Fang asked for a battle: "Master Marquis, the general has figured out a few more locations last year. This summer they must have tribes that want to move there. On the other side of Jiliao, the Jianzhou Guard has repeatedly invited your majesty to send troops to the north. Cut off the way for the Khan's cavalry to march eastward to plunder. If the Khan's court continues to be so unscrupulous, if the Jurchens surrender to the Khan's court, Ji Liao may be in trouble."

The commander of the Xuanning Cavalry Brigade was one of the generals who survived the [-] Ordos soldiers and civilians who were dragged down by Zhu Qi at that time. Now he is also eager to attack in a big way and be crowned a prince for his merits.

In the past many years, it was often just a regiment of two thousand cavalry that left the border fortress and went deep into Mobei.Over the past few years, because the first group had the best record, this job often fell on Ma Fang.In the 12th year of Jiajing's reign, a mere member of a hundred households had been promoted to a fourth-rank guerrilla general with the rank of colonel.

Yu Dayou shook his head: "The military affairs meeting has long had a strategy. Before there is an explicit order, the main purpose is to attack and harass. The Jurchens dare to surrender to the Meng Yuan Dynasty to harm the Ming Dynasty? That is a joke. Nowadays, although the two cavalry brigades of Xuanning and Hetao have their own talents, With more than [-] cavalry, it is still not enough to eliminate the northern invasion in one fell swoop. If the Khan's court cannot bear the attack and harass the army from the south, a decisive victory will be more certain."

Even with a large amount of pasture and surrendered Mongolian people, it is still not easy to accumulate cavalry strength.

What the Ming Dynasty wants is not showy cavalry, but cavalry that can truly take over the Meng Yuan's nest in the future.

One cavalryman and three horses, that's the basic thing.With the current steel output of the Ming Dynasty, there is no shortage of armor and weapons.

But these cavalrymen still have to hone their fighting skills when the Khan Court avoids fighting, so they can only rely on going out to harass.On the Hetao side, the key point is to manage the fortress to the south of the Yangtze River. The Khan Court headquarters is also concentrated in the north direction of Xuanning. Therefore, over the years, the achievements have been made by the Xuanning border area.

Tang Shunzhi didn't want to have greater achievements so soon.

Today, the two cavalry brigades are constantly rotated.Some of those who had experience in going out of the fortress were transferred to Hetao, and some of the cavalry there were transferred to Xuanning.

This guy Ma Fang has actually taken [-] to [-]% of the soldiers from the two cavalry brigades to unfamiliar places to familiarize themselves with the terrain.

But this is not enough.

Yu Dayou knew more information, so he just ordered: "The money and food allocated as usual is still two thousand cavalry, in spring and autumn, one trip to the fortress to burn wasteland, and one trip to intercept the Khan's court and plunder the cavalry. It is still the same this year, Ma Fang, It’s up to you.”

"...The last general takes orders!"

The general could only sigh.

One of them was promoted by Guo Xun, Duke of Yi, and the other was promoted by Zhu Qi, Duke of Bao.But if this situation continues, I am afraid that it will be Ma Fang who will lead the cavalry army in a decisive victory against Meng Yuan in the future.

There is no way, that guy's holy family is also prosperous.

I heard that Duke Yi Guo was still helping him match up, because the two princesses who were conceived during his majesty's southern tour in the third year of Jiajing and were born to Concubine Shu and Concubine Jing were already seventeen years old, so it was time to consider choosing a consort.

This matter was said to be something the Queen Mother was worried about before she passed away last year, and she and His Majesty seemed to have some differences over it.

They don't know that now that the Queen has passed away, these things will naturally be postponed.

In the Forbidden City, Zhu Houcong had already selected the Eighteen Daoling Ridge, which he renamed Yangcuiling according to Yan Song's wishes, as his auspicious land for thousands of years.

Whether An Bin and the others will relocate to Yangcuiling in the future is not something that needs to be decided now.

Lu Bing came over to see him off again.

This is a routine matter. In the imperial family, relatives, and officials, any abnormal behavior will be reported to the Jin Yiwei and the internal inspection factory.

Zhu Houcong read it silently.

After so many years, the clan and kin who were mainly engaged in business, around the Military Affairs Council, the Five Governments, and the lords of several major kingdoms were still planning for future military exploits. These were all obvious circles.

Among the civil servants, there is no obvious group except for the officials of the East Palace.But there will also be some running around before and after the major national policy conference held every three years.

Zhu Houcong can appoint anyone, but he has to consider the smoothness of future government orders and the seniority and prestige of important ministers.

Now there are more variables brought about by the position of queen.

"How is Qingyi's mood now?" Zhu Houcong suddenly asked.

Lu Bing replied: "The eldest princess is also very sad, I can only comfort her more."

Zhu Houcong remained silent.

His sister passed away many years ago, and the Empress Dowager Chiang also passed away last year. Now they are his brother and sister.

Zhu Houcong's eldest son is now nineteen, and his eldest daughter and second daughter are both 17 years old.The emperor's daughters have all been granted the title of princess, so Zhu Qingyi naturally became the eldest princess.

When Empress Dowager Jiang was seriously ill last year, she complained that he didn't care about her daughter's marriage.

There was nothing that could be done about it. The old man felt that he should worry about these things at the age of 16, but Zhu Houcong naturally felt that it would be better to be older.

"Come with Qingyi and have a meal with me tonight." Zhu Houcong paused and then said, "And Cui Yuan, you can also go and ask aunt to come with you."

"The minister takes orders."

The emperor wanted to have a meal with his aunt, uncle, sister and brother-in-law, and the palace immediately started making preparations.

This was a sign of the emperor's depressed mood.

After receiving the news, Cui Yuanxian sent someone back to tell Princess Yongkang to prepare in advance.

Today, Princess Yongkang is 62 years old.Because Cui Yuanshou was in a high position and she was the emperor's aunt, her status in the capital was quite transcendent.

Cui Yuan, however, was only thinking about what His Majesty said when he summoned him a few days ago.

As the president of Daming Bank, the accounts of the state treasury and enterprises under the Huangming Assets Bureau are all located in Daming Bank. Cui Yuan is naturally very aware of Daming's financial situation.

The Ming Dynasty has been peaceful for six or seven years, and I'm afraid there will finally be a big movement.

The order Cui Yuan received was to prepare for a major audit.Now, the emperor has not yet issued an explicit edict, so it is natural for Daming Bank to quietly deal with the flow of funds in this account.

Then, probably the Ministry of Finance and Taxation and other ministries and the Huangming Assets Bureau followed up.

Account audits have always been accompanied by a large number of cases.

The emperor has been concentrating on domestic affairs and the Institute of Science and Technology for several years, and he doesn't know what to clean at the moment. What does it have to do with the empress's position, the battle for the crown prince, and major national policy meetings and other obscure matters.

Before nightfall, another galloping horse entered the capital. Soon after, the bell tower rang nine times again, and all the officials and people in the capital were astonished.

Who went again?
The news then spread that it was Zhang Fuking who passed away at the age of 66.

As Zhang Fujing, who was favored by the emperor and promoted with all his strength, his official career in the second half of his life began with the new law, and he eventually became a highly respected minister.

He conquered the sky in Guangdong and overthrew the Confucian family in Shandong. After more than ten years in the central government, he always gained the emperor's trust. He even received the emperor's clear support and was re-elected as prime minister and minister of state more than a year in advance.

After him, no important minister has received clear support.

This year is another year of major national policy conferences. On the eve of qualified ministers starting to run for the position of Prime Minister and Minister of State, Zhang Fujing also passed away.

Calculating the time, it is three days behind the queen.

At this point, at the beginning of His Majesty's reign, the important ministers who accompanied him, except Cui Yuan, Yan Song, Guo Xun and a few others, Yang Tinghe, Yang Yiqing, Sun Jiao, Fei Hong, Wang Shouren, Zhang Fijing... have all left.The emperor's grandmother, mother, queen, and sister are also not alive.

The bells have ended, but the gloom in the hearts of officials in the capital is getting thicker.

An era has passed and the future is extremely unpredictable.

Yan Song and Liu Long were so busy that they never touched the ground. When a figure like Zhang Fujing passed away, there were a lot of things to do, including posthumous titles, burials, and funeral ceremonies.

Before nightfall, a decree was sent from the Yangxin Palace: the third son of the emperor, King Zhu Zaiyin of Ao, went to Yongjia, Zhejiang to offer condolences and attend the funeral.

Yan Song and Liu Long couldn't help but feel shocked and envious.

Yang Yiqing was treated like the eldest son of the emperor, and the king of Yue also attended Yang Tinghe's funeral ceremony.

After that, Wang Shouren enjoyed this treatment. It was the fourth son of the emperor who helped his body to be buried last year.But Fei Hong died earlier and did not receive this treatment.

Now, Zhang Fujing's funeral coincided with the Queen's national funeral, and His Majesty actually arranged for the prince to go at such a moment.

Is this the treatment that comes with being loyal to the emperor and making great achievements?

Isn’t Fei Hong worthy?
Yes, it was because of Yang Tinghe Qian Rang that Fei Hong became the first Prime Minister and Minister of State under the special circumstances at that time.But in those six years, he worked hard and achieved great results.The original plan was to win over those officials and gentry who were dissatisfied with the new law, and they were also notorious.

Is it because Fei Hong is still too selfish towards the Fei family, or is it because he overreacted to the establishment of a government office in the East Palace a few years ago and the emperor was displeased?
Yan Song was agitated in his heart: Back then, he also reacted wrongly to the establishment of a government office in the East Palace and was punished.

Now that the queen is gone, the officials are secretly speculating, will it be counterproductive?

Let Liu Long ask Cui Yuan for advice, I'm afraid he did something wrong!What wouldn't Liu Long say to Cui Yuan?What is the relationship between Cui Yuan and the emperor?
Your Majesty is afraid that Yan Song will see through him!
What should a smart person do? Yan Song thought about it with a grimace and found that he could only express his feelings by doing one thing.

That is to withdraw from the competition for Prime Minister and Minister of State and let Yang Shen enter.

Isn't the undercurrent in the court today the issue of the crown prince?Only if the prince's status is stable enough, there will be no hidden dangers caused by the selection of a new queen.

The East Palace official sits in the position of Prime Minister and Minister of State, which is more important than anything else.

Yan Song was worried about gains and losses, and sighed with emotion: It will probably take at least another six years for Yang Shen to sit on it.Your Majesty, you are so eloquent, can I really live to be eighty?I’m already 61, so I’m not young anymore!
The queen passed away and left the court for a long time.

If you want to express your stance, you need to contact some important ministers as soon as possible before the next court meeting and submit a joint petition.

Especially Zhang Bi.

Although he has already promised to take up his official position, it is most appropriate for him to take the lead in doing this.Since the prince thought of him well, Yan Song's "high integrity" was not so eye-catching, as if he had a great chance of winning.

Zhu Houcong doesn't know what Yan Song is thinking now.

In the Yangxin Hall, five people had dinner together.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was naturally very solemn. Zhu Qingyi's eyes were slightly red. She looked at her brother who was eating silently and didn't know how to comfort him.

After arriving here before, it was fine to chat with the emperor about homely matters.However, after the news of Zhang Fujing's death was reported, the emperor became silent again.

"...Your Majesty, your dragon body is important, and you need to relax your mind." The one who spoke was the eldest princess of Yongkang.

Zhu Houcong nodded: "That's what my aunt said. Everyone has his own destiny, but in the past year or so, there have been too many heartbreaking news for me."

Sun Ming allowed him not to worry about the affairs in the harem, and Zhang Fujing, from the beginning to quickly taking over as the real implementer of new laws in the court after Wang Qiong and the others left, was the person who made Zhu Houcong worry less in the past.

Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong?None of them really wanted to implement a new law of this magnitude.It's just that Yang Tinghe's change of direction is indeed of great significance, and Fei Hong did not cause any obstacles in the early stages of the new law's full rollout.

But it was Zhang Fujing who first returned to the Central Committee and later served as Prime Minister and Minister of State for six years, who really made the new law take root throughout the Ming Dynasty.

He only started working as an official when he was in his 40s. In the following ten years when his body and energy began to decline, Zhang Fujing was truly devoted and incorruptible and neglected his family.

He has been in the dynasty for more than ten years, and he has not allowed any ministers to visit him, nor has he allowed any private visits, nor has he allowed any one of his nephews to be indiscriminately shaded.He is upright, honest, devoted to public service, generous in chronicling events, and does not shy away from resentment.There is no such person as Ruofu Jingyun in the field of language and physiognomy.

This is the evaluation of Zhang Fujing in history.

In this life, he will have to meet Zhu Houcong, and he will have more comprehensive respect and trust, and his achievements will naturally be greater.

Today's Huanghuang Shengming, Zhang Fujing is the first to implement the direction pointed by Zhu Houcong.Yang Shen's appearance changed. Although he worked conscientiously, his structure was always small. He would always give advice on trivial matters, and even if he agreed with things, he would always express his disdain for integrity.

As for Yan Song...of course he was effective at doing things, but maybe his thinking had been set long ago. His starting point for thinking about problems was never to actively think about the country, but to focus solely on the emperor's will.

This is the difference between them and Zhang Fujing.

Zhu Houcong was indeed in a bad mood because of the news of Zhang Fujing's death.It is true that he became an official because his body was too overdrawn. Otherwise, Zhu Houcong intended to set a precedent for the Prime Minister and Minister of State starting from him, which could last for nine years.

During the three years he lived in his hometown, Zhu Houcong often learned about new legal issues from local and private perspectives through letters from Zhang Fuking.

Now, Zhang Fujing is gone too.

However, the 35-year-old Zhu Houcong wanted to gather his thoughts and start to achieve his real purpose of letting them all come to eat with him today.

"Ming'er has gone, and the court officials are going to ask me to appoint another queen." Zhu Houcong said, "This matter involves many people, including my sons."

The emperor used a term of endearment and said something that made their hearts skip a beat.

Princes... That is naturally related to the crown prince.

Zhu Houcong shook his head helplessly: "My health does not matter, and my life is probably not short. Now I have nine sons. Many years from now, the queen will not be the prince's biological mother, and the princes will all be adults. I'm afraid there won't be any headaches for me. Young Master. Ming'er has one more last wish, hoping that I will choose her sister to be the queen, and I have agreed to her. However, she is only seventeen years old, and it is not easy to suddenly take charge of the harem. She is related to the prince as an aunt and nephew, and it will be natural in the future. It will help the prince. But as a queen, it might not be good if she doesn’t have any biological children."

He stopped here, and Cui Yuan felt his heart pounding.

The incredible news is that the emperor already has a candidate for the queen.

But what the emperor didn't say was even more terrifying: Whether he can keep the harem peaceful is a matter of ability; but if he has this ability, can he sacrifice his own happiness? Do we treat our children as parents and look forward to having a worry-free life for the rest of our lives?
That's impossible. She is only one year older than the prince. It can be imagined that the relationship was originally very polite...

So what the emperor said may be very bad, because if the new queen has a son and has the ability to control the harem, wouldn't she want to make her own son the prince?
Sun Ming's beauty's early death really disrupted Zhu Houcong's future arrangements for his sons.

Sun Jiao has such a good lifespan, and Sun Ming is also the empress in the harem. Zhu Houcong really didn't expect that she would be thoughtful but didn't say it openly, because the selection of an empress, two concubines and nine concubines at once was very complicated. In the harem, Sun Ming was so seriously ill that it was difficult to recover because of the worries caused by his implementation of new laws, the expansion of territory and many other state affairs.

Now that the matter has come to this, Zhu Houcong has to face it.

Lu Bing didn't dare to say anything at all and could only look at Cui Yuan.

Does the emperor want them to give some advice, or has he already decided what he wants them to do?
Cui Yuan could only say: "Has your Majesty made a decision?"

Zhu Houcong sighed: "I want to calm the hearts of many people, and let her take charge of the harem well so as not to give me a headache. Everything else is easy to talk about. Only these days did I realize that Ming'er has gone. There is no certainty about future troubles.”

When it comes to matters in the harem, the empress can help, and the emperor doesn't know how much worry he will have to worry about.

Cui Yuan knew that the emperor's intention was already certain. The queen was Sun Lan, and the prince's status could not be shaken.

What troubled the emperor was just how the harem could continue to be so peaceful.

After thinking for a while, he could only say: "With His Majesty here, the hearts of the concubines have been calmed down. Once the old and new are balanced, things will probably stabilize. In my opinion, the concubines' positions in the harem have not been changed for many years, so it is time for them to be promoted to noble concubines." Yes, it is time for the prince to have clear arrangements, and for someone to become a concubine. In this way, there are still gaps in the six east and west palaces. Your Majesty is in his prime, and it is time for some new people to be added to the palace. "

Princess Yongkang couldn't help but tugged at him under the table, but asked with worry on her face: "New people and old people, won't that make things more chaotic?"

Cui Yuan looked righteous and awe-inspiring: "How wise is your Majesty? The new queen will have the help of the new people, and the old people will be rewarded and appeased. Only if there is no fear, the harem will be peaceful. As for the legitimate son, it will be in an orderly manner. Now all the princes Dear brothers and sisters, Your Majesty’s teachings are well received, so there is no need to worry too much about the future.”

When Zhu Houcong heard the word "brothers, friends, brothers, respect", he couldn't help but feel a little awkward now.

But he didn't expect that Cui Yuan's solution to his troubled problem of how to ensure the peace of the harem was to choose a few more with Sun Lan.

Zhu Houcong silently waved his hand: "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's just that I don't know who to talk to about the issue that I'm really worried about. I won't do it this year, and I will establish a queen next year. The harem thing is what I want to do. I worry about it myself.”

It is time to face head-on the thoughts of other concubines in the harem and the problems between the grown-up sons.

He could no longer just let the queen do her best to maintain the situation so that he would have less to worry about.

While chatting about other topics, Huang Jin walked in with an ugly expression.

"What's the matter?" Zhu Houcong asked.

"...It's not a big deal."

"Tell me, they are all from my own family."

Zhu Houcong opened his mouth, and then Huang Jin said hesitantly: "Over at Renshou Palace... a servant reported... that the Empress Dowager Cishou... has been praying for many years..."

Everyone was shocked and looked at the emperor.

Regardless of whether it is true or not, it is intriguing to report it at this time.

Zhu Houcong's face indeed darkened.

　Make up for what was owed yesterday.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)