King Xiang of the Red Chamber
Chapter 761: The Princess of Korea's Request
Chapter 761: The Princess of Korea's Request
In the blink of an eye, the twelfth lunar month had passed and it was the nineteenth year of Zhengtong.
Zhu Jinghong was enthroned as the crown prince on the first day of November last year. In fact, his life has not changed much. In order to express his remembrance of the former crown prince, he did not even move to the Eastern Palace to live.
According to him, he was extremely saddened by the death of the crown prince, and was worried that he would be unable to control his emotions when seeing the crown prince's remains, and would miss state affairs, so he would not move to the Eastern Palace before the crown prince's two-year memorial.
For Zhu Jinghong, moving to the Eastern Palace has more restrictions, and he is not as comfortable as living in Prince Xiang's Mansion. Moreover, he can also establish himself as a friendly and respectful brother, which is a good deal that kills two birds with one stone.
It is said that one needs to make up for what is lacking. The emperor agreed to Zhu Jinghong's ridiculous request, and obviously felt that brotherly love and respect were indeed lacking in some sense.
Of course, Zhu Xianming was not idle either. In order to show his filial side as a royal father, he arranged for imperial physicians to treat Zhu Jingyuan many times and often personally inquired about his condition.
You want to ask what disease Zhu Jingyuan had? The official explanation given by the Imperial Hospital was "mania", which was also recognized by everyone in the Gongshun Palace.
Of course, these are all off-topic, because Zhu Jinghong’s normal life rhythm was disrupted after the Chinese New Year.
Because there were too many sacrificial ceremonies to be held in the first half of the year, the emperor still let him do it all as usual.
And Baochai, the newly appointed Crown Princess, is even more tired than Zhu Jinghong.
It was because at the New Year's family dinner, the emperor specially issued an edict to split the power of the Empress into two.
The Imperial Concubine Jia, who was originally in charge of this matter, is now only responsible for managing the inner palace and can basically be said to have no power.
After all, the queen's most important duty is to manage and reward and punish a large number of women from outside the royal family, including civil officials, military officials, and members of the royal family.
With such a wide range of powers involved, it is of course legitimate for the Queen to be in charge. It was inappropriate for the Imperial Concubine to be in charge before, and Imperial Concubine Jia found many things difficult to handle.
Therefore, before this decree was issued, when dealing with important matters, Concubine Jia would take the initiative to invite Baochai to discuss, so as to share her own pressure.
Now that this part of the power has been divided out, Concubine Jia only felt relieved, without any complaints or imbalance in her heart.
She is a smart person. She is not fooled by the glitz and glamour, nor is she complacent because of the power she holds.
In charge of the management of women from outside the capital, there are more than a thousand women from the imperial family, including civil officials, military officials and royal family members, even those above the fifth rank, not to mention the officials from outside the capital who come to pay a visit to the emperor.
There were so many daily meetings, rewards and punishments, and condolences that Baochai, the Crown Princess, rarely had a moment of free time.
She handed over the miscellaneous affairs of the mansion to several female officials, and only important matters were reported to her.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Zhu Jinghong went to the Mausoleum of Emperor Shizu to pay homage on behalf of the emperor. The next day he also had to go to the Mausoleum of the Retired Emperor not far away.
Therefore, Zhu Jinghong will stay outside the city on the eighth and ninth days of the first lunar month.
On the afternoon of the eighth day of the first lunar month, an unexpected guest came to the capital. It was the Korean princess Cui Xiuqing.
After arriving in Beijing, she rushed to Prince Xiang's Palace, which has now been renamed "Prince's Palace", which seems a bit out of place.
The news that Cui Xiuqing was coming to Beijing was delivered half a month ago. The news that he would arrive in Beijing today was passed on to the Prince's residence yesterday.
But even so, Cui Xiuqing was not able to see Baochai immediately after arriving at the prince's residence.
"Your Highness, the Crown Princess is meeting with the Queen of Nanyue. Today, there are also the wives of the Zasak Khanate and the Yehe Tribe!"
Cui Xiuqing didn't care about the first two, but she hated Hai Lan, the wife of the Yehe tribe.
The reason was that more than half of the military supplies for the Yehe army were supplied by North Korea, and the Yehe army was always causing trouble, requiring North Korea to send more troops again and again.
"I'll have to sue her later!" Cui Xiuqing said secretly.
She had two main purposes for coming to Ming this time: one was to get closer to Baochai, and the other was to point out the difficulties of Korea.
Finally, Cui Xiuqing was led to the side hall on the east side of Tongxin Hall, where several ladies of noble rank were already sitting. Judging from their clothes, it was clear that they were of high rank.
Although there were seven or eight people in the hall, it was unusually quiet at this moment. Everyone just glanced at Cui Xiuqing and then turned their eyes away.
But Cui Xiuqing had just sat down and the female official who led the way had not yet left when another female official came in from outside.
"Princess of Korea, you should go to the West Palace to wait for an audience!"
Hearing this, the female official who led the way whispered, "Aren't they all waiting in the East Hall?"
"This is what Aunt Liu said!" replied the female official who came to deliver the message.
The "Aunt Liu" she mentioned was one of the four female officials in the prince's entourage, and was currently in charge of receiving ladies of high rank.
"Princess, please!"
So, Cui Xiuqing had to get up and follow the female official who delivered the message out of the East Hall, down the steps and head towards the West Hall opposite.
As she walked, she looked towards the Tongxin Hall on the north side. She knew that Baochai was inside at the moment.
Although they are only three or five meters apart, at this moment they feel like they are so close yet so far away. If you want to meet them, you have to wait patiently.
Entering the West Hall, there was only one person here. Judging from her clothing, she was of super-class quality, but Cui Xiuqing didn't know who she was.
After she sat down, a maid served her tea, and then she just had to wait quietly.
The room was silent for a while, and finally the woman sitting opposite Cui Xiuqing asked, "Are you the princess of Joseon?"
"Exactly... I wonder who you are?"
"I am the wife of the new commander-in-chief of the Andong Xingdusi, Geng Zonggui, Earl of Chengyu!" Geng Qin replied.
Cui Xiuqing was greatly surprised to hear this. She had no idea that the commander-in-chief of the Andong Xingdusi was going to be replaced.
The rebellions in Korea and Japan have been largely put down after a year. The governor-general in charge of the command returned to Beijing to report on his work in November last year. The defense of Korea, Japan and the Jurchens is now the responsibility of the Andong Xingdusi.
When Cui Xiuqing set out from Korea, the commander-in-chief was the first-class male Sun Maozhi, who had previously served as the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Regional Military Commission and had participated in the Pingchao Campaign with Zhu Jinghong.
Whether it is Qi Yanze, who was promoted to the associate governor, or Sun Maozhi, who was promoted to the deputy governor, they are both staunch supporters of Zhu Jinghong. There are many such people in the army, such as the husband of Mrs. Geng in front of him.
Geng Zonggui was already the deputy governor, and previously served as the commander-in-chief of the Fenwu Camp. His resume was even better than Sun Maozhi's.
Sending him to take over Sun Maozhi's position is usually considered "demotion", but this matter still needs to be analyzed based on specific circumstances.
The situation in Andong has always been difficult to stabilize. At this moment, Zhu Jinghong sent Geng Zonggui there, actually intending to use him. After the work is done, he will definitely be the governor-general.
As for Sun Maozhi, after he was dismissed from the Andong Xingdusi, he had not yet decided how to arrange for Zhu Jinghong. It was more likely that he would be sent to the northwest, where things were relatively easier to handle. The main reason for employing him was loyalty.
It is foreseeable that Sun Maozhi's official career would end here, and unless he had a great opportunity, he would only be able to reach the third rank.
But in fact, from another perspective, the highest actual rank for a military officer is the second rank, and his third rank as a deputy governor has surpassed most generals. The most important thing is that he can retire peacefully, which is actually a very lucky thing.
"It's Mrs. Geng. I'm so sorry!" Cui Xiuqing stood up immediately.
She was a princess of a county, three levels higher than a countess, so she shouldn't have to be so polite. But as the old saying goes, "It's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with the little devils." The prince could arrange her daily life for a female official, let alone the wife of the commander-in-chief.
Besides, the county magistrate is not as good as the current one. If she can make friends with Madam Geng and have a more harmonious relationship with the Xingdusi, she, Cui Xiuqing, will not have to endure the bullying of those Jurchen barbarians.
After Cui Xiuqing stood up, Geng Qinshi did not dare to be arrogant and quickly stood up to return the greeting.
After a brief greeting, the two sat down again and heard Geng Qinshi say: "Princess, you have come all the way to see the Crown Princess. You are so sincere!"
"Madam, you don't know that the Crown Princess and I were close friends when we were in Beijing, and we even ran for the Xiangwang Palace Consort together!"
This is called using a tiger's skin as a banner. Geng Qinshi really didn't know about these past events. It's not easy for a failed selection girl to attract attention.
"Back in the palace, we ate and lived together, wrote poems, sang, painted, and played chess together..."
After listening to Cui Xiuqing's words, Geng Qinshi's attitude towards her changed again and again, and in the end, she was only as "kind" as someone of her age could be.
"This kind of fate is really rare in the world. Now that we meet again... I'm afraid there will be a lot to talk about!"
"That's right. We have been communicating through letters for years. Even though the words are detailed, they are nothing compared to face-to-face conversation!"
The two chatted for a while, and soon half an hour had passed. At this point, they were already very familiar with each other.
Cui Xiuqing also learned that since both the elders in the family had passed away and the children had grown up and started their own families, Geng Qin would go to Andong in person to take care of her husband's food and daily life.
So in the second half of the conversation, Cui Xiuqing tried to get close to Geng Qinshi, hoping that she would be helpful to him in the future.
"Princess of Korea, the Crown Princess has summoned me. Please follow me!"
After waiting for half an hour, Cui Xiuqing was finally summoned, but Geng Qinshi, who had arrived earlier than her, still had to wait. It was obvious that she had cut in line.
Of course, who to meet and who to meet first is all up to the Crown Princess, so Cui Xiuqing can’t be blamed for this.
But Cui Xiuqing still said a few words of apology before following the maid out of the hall.
Walking towards the Tongxin Hall in front, Cui Xiuqing began to feel restless as he got closer, or to be more precise, nervous.
Just now she was chatting with Geng Qin, bragging about how close she was to the Crown Princess, but she herself knew the real situation best.
Are they close? Maybe they were close when they were running for election, but now it has been seven or eight years, and both of them have gone a long way in their lives.
As the princess of a county prince, Cui Xiuqing was well aware of the changes that had taken place along the way, and naturally understood that the new princess consort would change even more.
All the friendship and private tutoring had to give way to serious matters, and Cui Xiuqing was very clear about this.
"Princess, please!"
The female official who led the way brought her to the entrance of the hall and made a "please" gesture.
The main hall was empty, so Cui Xiuqing knew that this was not the place for the meeting, so she stepped into the hall.
There were several female officials on duty inside, and one of them shouted, "The Korean princess has arrived!"
Then a maid came out from the side hall on the east side and made a "please" gesture to Cui Xiuqing again, and then Cui Xiuqing walked towards the side hall.
When she entered the side hall, she saw that the room was not very big and there was a soft couch facing north.
On the soft couch, a graceful woman with a bun on her head, a dark blue short jacket on her upper body, and a dark green horse-faced skirt on her lower body was reading a list in her hand.
That’s right, Baochai is wearing casual clothes and her headdress is also simple, which does not hinder her noble temperament at all.
The main reason is that dressing too formally is too troublesome and uncomfortable.
"Your Highness, your humble servant, Princess Cui Xiuqing of the Joseon Dynasty, pays respect to Her Majesty the Crown Princess. May you live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"
Putting away the "memorial" in her hand, Baochai looked up at the scene in front of her, smiled and said, "No need to be polite, get up!"
"Thank you, ma'am!"
After saying this, Cui Xiuqing slowly stood up, not even daring to look up at Baochai again.
"Why, now that we're all here in Beijing, you don't even want to look at me?"
Hearing this, Cui Xiuqing raised her head while bending down, and then replied: "Your Majesty is radiant, your humble servant ..."
"Why do we have to be so unfaithful to each other? We are sisters who have rarely seen each other in many years. We should be closer when we meet again today. There is no need to say these lies!"
"Your Majesty is so tolerant and considerate that I am deeply moved to tears!"
Seeing that Cui Xiuqing was still saying these official words, Baochai felt somewhat disappointed. In fact, she had the extravagant hope that the sisters could reunite and share their heartfelt feelings, but the reality was that extravagant hopes were just extravagant hopes.
Of course, the so-called loss was just a slight one, and she was not a person who was overly pretentious.
After a rather unfamiliar and intimate conversation, Baochai finally began a formal conversation. She asked, "You have come from afar this time, so you must not just come to reminisce about the past with me!"
"Your Majesty, please understand. There are a couple of small matters that I would like your guidance on!" Cui Xiuqing answered carefully.
"What's the matter?"
Cui Xiuqing's two major tasks were, first, to get closer to Baochai. Up to this point, she had actually done most of it, and the completion could only be described as average.
But for Cui Xiuqing, being able to make friends with Geng Qin was already a pleasant surprise.
So right now, what she wanted to talk about was the second thing, which was to tell Baochai about the difficulties in Korea.
"Your Majesty, the current situation in North Korea is stable but worrying!"
"Oh?"
Seeing that Baochai did not express her opinion, Cui Xiuqing could only continue, "Korea is a small country and has always been poor. In recent years, the court has been constantly conscripting people. Now it is really..."
"Go on!" Baochai's expression was warm and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry.
"Now, Korea has to bear a total of 200,000 shi of grain and fodder for the Jurchen, Korean, and Japanese garrison troops every year. It was already extremely difficult to cope with this. Last year, the granaries were exhausted due to the great changes. This year's military grain burden... is really unsustainable!"
"North Korea has always been loyal and diligent in serving His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty. We hope that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will show more compassion and reduce the military rations this year!"
"If the imperial court can show us grace, the people of Korea will never forget the great kindness of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
After a few moments of silence, Baochai picked up the teacup and said slowly, "It is not convenient for me to ask about these military and national affairs. You are asking me for help... You have really found the wrong person!"
"If you have any difficulties, you can report them to the court. Your Majesty is wise and will surely be gracious!"
(End of this chapter)
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