Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Under the gray sky, the execution in the courtyard of Qingning Palace finally ended.

"Quickly, take Niu Mengmeng back and apply medicine!" Huang Pan saw that Niu Mengmeng's fleshy face was swollen, and immediately ordered a palace maid and a young eunuch.

Niu Mengmeng's butt just happened not long ago, but now her mouth has suffered again. She asked a little palace maid with whom she was close, "My mouth is swollen... Oops!"

While speaking, she pulled a nerve on her face and the pain caused her to stop talking immediately, but tears still burst out of her beautiful big eyes.

"Sister Mengmeng, please stop talking. Your mouth is swollen. Let's go back to Qianqing Palace to apply medicine!" Xiaojuan looked at Niu Mengmeng who was in pain, stretched out her hand and pulled Niu Mengmeng towards the direction of Qianqing Palace.

Niu Mengmeng still wanted to speak, but the pain made her face so painful that she did not dare to move. She just looked at Qingning Palace with worried eyes.

Even though Marquis Qingyun is your majesty's uncle, your majesty is your true destiny. How dare he, Marquis Qingyun, talk to your majesty like this, and he is not afraid of his ancestral tomb being struck by lightning.

In the main hall of Qingning Palace, the tense atmosphere had eased.

Marquis Qingyun's disrespect just now frightened many Zhou family members, but since the Empress Dowager was here after all, they would not really suffer the disaster of annihilation.

But judging from the conversation between His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, His Majesty did not obey the Empress Dowager in everything as they imagined, and the honor and favor of their Zhou family may not be as good as that of the Chenghua Dynasty.

However, the good news of acquiring a full five hundred hectares of land has diluted many people's worries. After all, it is a wealth that can be passed down to future generations!

"Yes, you are not joking!" Zhou Shou suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and nodded in agreement.

"Your Majesty, Jiao'er said that you have changed. The Ai family still doesn't believe it, but now you really don't look like the Tang'er who was raised by the Ai family!" Empress Dowager Zhou took a sip of tea to calm down, but it was Consider carefully.

She has been responsible for raising Zhu Youtang since he was six years old. All his actions are basically under her nose. Even with Zhu Youtang's look, she can guess whether he wants to eat or play.

But now Zhu Youtang has become like a fog in front of him, and it is completely impossible to see through Zhu Youtang's thoughts.

What made her feel the most chilled was that her brother made a disrespectful comment and refused to comment on her treatment of the palace maid. Finally, she began to settle the matter, so that she had no choice but to agree to this deal.

"Before his death, my father asked me to be a qualified emperor, to support the Zhu family, and to protect the country built by my ancestors. I don't want to live up to my father's wishes, nor do I dare to disappoint my ancestors. I am now I've just grown a little, but I'm still far from being a qualified His Majesty?" Zhu Youtang knew that the people around him must have doubts, and he seemed genuinely moved.

Zhang Yujiao suddenly understood when she heard this explanation, but the corners of her mouth raised slightly, knowing that Zhu Youtang was just trying to distance herself from herself.

"The Zhu family is lucky that Your Majesty has such an idea!" Of course, Empress Dowager Zhou couldn't believe it all, but she couldn't fault it, so she had to say it against her will.

A person's temperament can change a lot, but his mind can't change. Now the person sitting in front of him looks like a cunning fox. This is still unreasonable.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Zhu Youtang put down the tea cup in his hand and prepared to leave.

"Your Majesty, I have an unkind request. My eldest brother Zhang Heling is already of marriageable age, and I would like to ask your Majesty to marry the daughter of Prince Consort Wang Zeng!" Zhang Yujiao saw that Zhou Shou's matter had been dealt with, and she even thought of it. Say your request.

"The marriage is not allowed, there is no need to say anything more!" Zhu Youtang stopped playing casually and stated his attitude straightforwardly.

Zhang Yujiao's father Zhang Luan and his cousin Zhang Qitong studied under his uncle Zhang Jin, who was the Jiaocheng Jiaocheng at that time. Later, Zhang Luan and Zhang Qi entered the Imperial College in the name of rural tribute, but Zhang Luan failed to pass the exam.

On the other hand, Zhang Qi can be said to be extremely talented. He became a Jinshi in high school in the fifth year of Jingtai, and was promoted to the Liaodu Procuratorate and Youqiandu Censor to patrol Liaodong. He studied under Yuan Shang Fu, and his son Zhang Bangxiang married Xu Pu's daughter Xu Yuanxiu. It can be said that he was a proper member of the civil service group.

It can be said that Zhang Luan's Zhang family has become very close to the civil service group. Now if Zhang Luan's eldest son Zhang Heling marries the daughter of Wang Zeng, the grandson of Wang Ji, the former Minister of War, it will undoubtedly greatly deepen the relationship between the Zhang family and the civil service group.

You can turn a blind eye to what the Zhang family does, but if you want to guide them, a family of officials, this request itself is too much.

Zhang Yujiao saw that Zhu Youtang refused so ruthlessly, and immediately bit her lower lip and said in compromise: "If Your Majesty insists on my concubine's apology in public before agreeing to it, I will apologize to Your Majesty now!"

"You don't have to apologize anymore! If your family wants to marry Wang Zeng's daughter, just three letters and six appointments will be enough. It's just that the ancestors say that the emperor carefully selects and hires girls from good families of the common people. If your family is too noble, it will affect your position. !" Zhu Youtang stopped him calmly, and then warned him seriously.

Why did Emperor Chenghua only favor Concubine Wan Gui? Although he was prevented from canonizing Concubine Wan Gui as queen by the civil service group, he did not touch the young and beautiful Queen Wang.

This is because Concubine Wan Gui was born as an ordinary palace maid, and the Wang family where Queen Wang lives has a deep relationship with the civil service group. Emperor Chenghua could sleep peacefully by handing over his harem to Concubine Wan Gui, but it was not necessarily possible to give it to Queen Wang. .

Now that he has ascended the throne and wants to promote reforms, the salt policy alone has already caused great conflicts with the civil service group. The next reforms will inevitably touch a bigger cake of the civil service group.

Once his harem is too deeply involved with the civil servant group, the civil servants are likely to use the harem to disrupt the government, and even the day his son is born is the day of his funeral.

Although Zhang Yujiao is not necessarily a bad woman, and was praised as a virtuous woman by civil servants in history, her ideal harem still has to be given to a woman who shares her heart, even if this woman is stupider, it doesn't matter.

From my current perspective, even if Zhang Yujiao has no bad reputation in history, if the Zhang family gets closer to the civil service group, I still have to choose to be careful.

"Since you don't agree, forget it. My family will appoint a suitable date tomorrow, and we can be prosperous without your marriage!" Zhang Yujiao naturally couldn't listen and said angrily immediately.

Zhu Youtang looked at this arrogant woman and sighed secretly. He was also a stupid woman, so he said to Empress Dowager Zhou: "Grandma, I need to return to Qianqing Palace to handle government affairs, so I have to take my leave first!"

"Your Majesty has many things to do every day, so you should put your health first. I will have someone bring you a bowl of ginseng soup tonight!" Empress Dowager Zhou was a woman who had truly experienced the struggle in the harem, and she seemed very kind and authentic.

"Thank you, grandma. Farewell, grandson!" Zhu Youtang always felt that the ginseng soup sent by Empress Dowager Zhou had a strange taste, so he handed it over filially.

Zhou Shou saw Zhu Youtang about to leave, but he still remembered the tunnel: "Your Majesty, don't forget about Xiao Hou!"

"Your Majesty, my servants, send you off!" When the maids and eunuchs present saw Zhu Youtang was about to leave, they immediately knelt down and said.

When Zhu Youtang walked out of Qingning Palace, he couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Although there has been progress in the matter of the Beijing Army's military power, five hundred hectares of fertile land is related to the livelihood of thousands of people. This matter undoubtedly needs to be properly handled.

In fact, he could just pretend to be confused. As long as he gave that piece of land to Zhou Shou, Zhou Shou and his evil slaves could drive away the people there. If that didn't work, he would use the power of Shuntian Mansion to drive them away.

It's just that I was also a member of the ordinary lower class in my previous life. Although I saw too many injustices in society, even if my own land was favored, others would also...

When Zhu Youtang thought of this, he couldn't help but have an idea in his mind.