Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Just as the bastion in the west of Beijing was being built in full swing, the blind date event that Zhu Youjian had arranged last year by releasing the older palace maids from the palace and asking the empress to prepare finally began on the Lantern Festival.

Because it was the first time and there were many older palace maids, the young unmarried officers had little interest in it. Only the older unmarried or widowed officers were more enthusiastic about it.

But these people alone were obviously not enough, so hereditary soldiers were also allowed to participate in blind dates.

Qian Wu, a first-class hereditary sergeant who was unmarried and had made many contributions, was allowed to participate, which made him very happy.

After all, she was a palace maid, and was a paradise on earth to him before.

If he had not joined the new army of the Patrol Battalion and made great contributions, how would he have had this opportunity?
This made him feel even more fortunate to have joined the army and even more grateful to the emperor. He resolved that as long as he had a son, he would go to the battlefield and fight hard to serve the current emperor.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, he and many officers and soldiers dressed up and attended the Lantern Festival.

The blind date was held at the Rong government next to the Lantern Festival, which was also the location of the Beijing Camp Yamen.

Here, Qian Wu saw many famous generals in the army, as well as palace maids dressed like beautiful flowers.

They all came from the nearby Jiaofangsi, and the musicians there helped them dress up.

There were also some eunuchs and female officials in the venue to maintain order. According to the level of their positions, officers and sergeants were asked to step onto a high platform and introduce themselves.

If a palace maid is satisfied, she can stand up and walk into the gauze curtain next to the high platform. Officers and sergeants can meet them. If there are multiple people standing up, they can choose. If they are not satisfied with any of them, they can refuse.

It can be said that this is a relatively equal blind date event. Everyone has the right to choose, and it is also allowed not to choose.

Even after starting the blind date, as long as they don't exchange tokens of love, they still have the chance to regret it.

Qian Wu received the so-called token of love, which was a specially made wooden plaque with his name and position written on it.

If he was satisfied with the woman, he could exchange wooden tablets with her and be granted marriage by the emperor after registration.

Qian Wu and others knew the first officer to come on stage. He was Hu Dawei, who defeated the bandits in western Beijing years ago.

After defeating the bandits with a hundred men and resolving the crisis in Tsinghua Garden, Hu Dawei was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, granted the hereditary title of a hundred households, and was granted sixteen square miles of land.

What is even more enviable is that he was given the surname Zhu by the emperor, and now his full name is Zhu Wei.

Qian Wu had met him at a military commendation meeting held before the New Year and was very envious of him at the time.

Now that I see that he can be the first to choose a woman, I am naturally even more envious.

As the most prominent general attending the blind date, Hu Dawei did not need to introduce himself, as many enthusiastic and proactive palace maids stepped forward, wanting to be his wife and become a noble lady.

Looking at so many women, Hu Dawei was dazzled for a moment. He dazedly chose the one he liked the most and went to see the lantern festival with her.

After Hu Dawei came Ai Wannian, who made contributions together with Hu Dawei.

Although he did not receive as many rewards as Hu Dawei, his background as a martial arts student and his former status as a scholar also won him the favor of many palace maids, and he successfully won the heart of a beautiful woman.

After that, there were many other officers, including Meng Ru Hu, who was as famous as Hu Da Wei. Both of them were Mongolians who returned from the outside of the Great Wall and had not yet married when they arrived in the Ming Dynasty.

In terms of strength, Mengruhu is not weaker than Hu Dawei, and is even stronger. They are known as the "Two Tiger Generals".

It's just that his luck was bad. He was injured in the martial arts tournament last year and missed the final eight.

As a result, his position in the Warrior Camp was not as high as Hu Dawei's, and he missed the opportunity to make meritorious service.

His status is not high enough now, but after his title as famous as Hu Dawei was reported, he was favored by some palace maids and they chose this person with potential.

Seeing that there were fewer and fewer palace maids in the field, Qian Wu and other low-ranking soldiers began to get anxious. Because there were only so many palace maids of the right age, it might not be their turn.

Some people also noticed that some palace maids had no intention of getting married, but were just pulled here by the female officials to make up the numbers and attend the blind date event.

This made Qian Wu and others who also came to make up the numbers feel a chill in their hearts, because they might not have any palace maids to choose from.

However, the female official who organized the blind date had obviously considered this situation.

Just as the officers finished their blind dates and the sergeants began to take the stage, a female officer led a group of prettier-looking women to join the blind date. She introduced them to everyone:
"They are prostitutes who have been promoted to good citizens. They are grateful for your majesty's kindness and want to marry soldiers who serve the country."

"After you choose, you will also have to marry her as your principal wife. After marriage, she will be transferred to the military and exempted from military service responsibilities."

This made some soldiers happy and some soldiers disdainful.

After all, it was only recently that the musicians were promoted to good citizens, and some people still discriminated against women from the musician industry.

In addition, the musicians had the obligation to serve the court, and if they did not want to serve, they had to pay a fee for exemption. This made some civilians even more reluctant to marry the musicians.

Therefore, it is common for musicians to marry within their own families.

However, some women from the music industry wanted to change. After finding out about the blind date at the Jiaofangsi, they took the initiative to participate in the blind date.

Even if the only choice they have is to be a sergeant, it is still a good opportunity to change their destiny.

These people were not prettier than the palace maids, but they were much younger, generally under twenty years old.

So they look younger and more beautiful.

Qian Wu, who was also young, was almost dazzled by the sight and thought it would be nice to choose a pretty girl.

Anyway, his father is not here, and the emperor will grant the marriage after the blind date. By then, the rice has been cooked, and it cannot be separated even if his father objects.

Thinking of this, Qian Wu calmed down, and appeared calm and appropriate when he went on stage to introduce himself.

Especially the fact that he had made great contributions years ago, which enabled him to successfully win the favor of a palace maid, who wanted to go on a blind date with him.

Although this palace maid was older, eight years older than him, and her appearance was not good, it seemed that she had done odd jobs in the palace.

But Qian Wu still chose this person without hesitation. He had consulted Zhang Yongan and Gu Yanwu before leaving, and knew how precious his chance to marry a palace maid was.

That can be recorded in the family tree, and future generations will feel proud when they see it.

As for his appearance and age, as long as he can make a fortune in the future, he will have plenty of opportunities to take a concubine.

When choosing a wife, of course you should marry a virtuous one.

Qian Wu, who did not discriminate against musicians, thought so, not to mention the choices of other soldiers.

Except for a few particularly beautiful musicians who were chosen by hereditary soldiers, most of the other women in the music industry failed to find successful blind dates.

On the contrary, the palace maids, except for those who did not want to get married, were almost all married. Some palace maids were even more than ten years older than the soldiers. Those women from the entertainment industry were naturally very disappointed. However, there was a benefit for them to actively apply this time, that is, the Women's Office would recruit some people from them.

The current queen plans to open a girls' school and will select some of them with special skills to teach students skills.

This comforted them a little. If they had the identity of a teacher in a girls' school, it would be easier for them to get married in the future.
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Qian Wu naturally had no idea about what was going on behind the scenes. He and the palace maid he had a blind date with happily attended the lantern festival.

He later forgot most of the scenes of the Lantern Festival, but he always felt it was very beautiful in his memory.

And later, a poem that Gu Yanwu taught him felt very appropriate:
"The crowd looked for him thousands of times, but suddenly I looked back, and there he was, in a dimly lit place."

He felt that he had found the person who would accompany him for the rest of his life at this lantern festival.

After successfully exchanging tokens of love, Qian Wu received news the next day that the emperor had chosen February 2nd to grant the marriage and preside over a collective wedding for them.

At that time, they will all be invited to Nanyuan to attend the banquet organized by the royal family.

If any family members can come, please notify them to come as soon as possible.

It doesn't matter if you can't make it, because the emperor will attend the wedding in person after the spring plowing ceremony is completed.

The reason for this arrangement was that some palace maids could not find their families and were unwilling to go home. In order to avoid embarrassment for them at the wedding because they had no family, Zhu Youjian chose the form of a collective wedding and let them get married collectively.

From then on, the imperial family was their natal family. If they were bullied after marriage, they could seek help from the female officials.

However, if they behaved improperly, the women's officials would ask the queen to punish them after learning about it, so as to avoid damaging the royal reputation.

Qian Wu's home is in Zhuolu District, so of course he can make it.

After learning the news, he hurriedly wrote his father and brother's names on the invitation letter and also wrote a letter to send back home.

When Qian Wu's father Qian Dali learned that his son was going to marry a palace maid, he happily set off firecrackers for three consecutive days and invited a troupe to perform.

Even the officers of Zhuolu Guard came to congratulate after learning about this, and many of them gave gifts.

These gifts were exchanges of favors, and most of them had to be returned in the future, so the Qian family could not be said to be making money from them, and the gifts they received were not enough to pay taxes.

The Qian family was happy that they had established connections with many hereditary officers through this incident. Maybe there would be opportunities for them in the future, and if Qian Wu became a hereditary officer in the future, he would be able to better integrate with them.

It can be said that because of marrying a palace maid, the Qian family's status was slightly higher, and they were different from ordinary hereditary soldiers.

Qian Dali was so happy that he asked his two sons to take leave and go to Nanyuan with their families to attend the wedding presided over by the emperor.

Perhaps because this situation was anticipated, the wedding was held in Nanyuan, which had just begun to be renovated.

Although this place is rather simple, it is large enough to accommodate many people.

Qian Dali was a former military household and came with an invitation letter, so he was considered a reliable person and was able to bring his family in.

At the gate of Nanyuan, he saw some people who were stopped. They were said to be the families of some palace maids, who rushed over after learning about the mass wedding and wanted to see if their daughters were among them.

But they had no invitation and no palace maids to testify, so they were stopped outside.

Qian Dali initially felt some sympathy for them, but after hearing what some people said, he no longer felt sympathy for them.

Because he learned that some palace maids returned home unwillingly to be sold by their fathers and brothers, and asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard for help and ran back.

If not for this, his son, a soldier, would not be able to marry a palace maid.

Joyfully greeting the wedding crowd, Qian Dali saw his son, and then saw the emperor from afar.

After excitedly paying homage to the emperor, the emperor asked an official from the Honglu Temple to read out the imperial edict to everyone.

In addition, a marriage decree was issued to the newlyweds as proof of the marriage.

Some officers' wives were even conferred the title of "Ladies with Imperial Honor" on the spot.

The queen did not come this time because she was pregnant, but she sent people to give some money as a dowry to the palace maids, along with the money they had saved.

This made all the palace maids feel grateful for the queen's kindness. Many of them prayed to the gods and asked the heaven to bless the queen.

It can be said that this group wedding was a great success. Everyone who participated was very happy.

However, Zhu Youjian returned to the palace soon after the decree was issued, because the queen who stayed in the palace was about to give birth.

Although he had made a lot of preparations long ago, he was still a little worried at this time. He planned to return to the palace and keep an eye on the matter.
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Perhaps knowing the emperor's anxiety, the baby in the queen's belly quickly crawled out.

On the morning of February 4, the queen successfully gave birth to a baby boy, and Zhu Youjian had his eldest son.

Moreover, he is the eldest son and will definitely become the crown prince in the future.

Zhu Youjian happily accepted the congratulations of his ministers and was smiling for a long time. He also once again rewarded his ministers inside and outside the court.

The birth of the emperor's eldest son meant that his career had an heir, and also proved that his fertility was fine.

Even if he died accidentally, according to the Ming Dynasty system his son would become his heir and maintain his posthumous reputation.

This will cause some people who want to harm him to have more concerns.

At this point, his throne can be said to be completely stable and no one can shake it.

Therefore, when martial law expired in March and the ministers requested the emperor to lift it, Zhu Youjian readily agreed to end it according to the previous agreement.

Although he could find a way to extend the martial law, it would damage his own credibility and make court ministers even more unwilling to accept martial law.

So he decided to keep his word so that he could continue martial law the next time something happened.

After the martial law was lifted, all the officials breathed a sigh of relief.

What they were most worried about was that the emperor would get used to handling state affairs by imperial edict and would continue to do so in the future.

However, the current emperor obviously knows how to exercise restraint. He lifted the martial law when it expired, and asked them to discuss at the court meeting whether the temporary policies issued during the martial law period needed to be continued.

This made them feel respected by the emperor, and they turned many temporary policies issued by the emperor into formal resolutions. They only chose to oppose some innocuous issues to show that they could overturn the temporary resolutions during the martial law period.

The martial law system has been improved after this practice. Liu Zongzhou and others are busy formulating and revising relevant laws so that there will be laws to follow when martial law is implemented next time. (End of this chapter)