The light of the second year of Wanli seems to be particularly short.
Big or small, this year has come to an end in the blink of an eye.
In April, Chang'ang of the Duoyan Guard came to Beijing to pay tribute and settled the details of the Kuanhe mutual trade, which was considered to have settled the issue of the imperial court's use of troops.
The Ministry of Rites also invited Chang Ang to observe the ceremony of Emperor Mu Zongzhuang's nephew's ancestral temple before his departure.
In May, according to the title, Dongchang Prefecture in Shandong Province belongs to eight counties: Puzhou, Qiu County, Shen County, Chaocheng, Fan County, Qingping, and Guantao. Each year, the annual average of 50 taels of silver is 400 taels, totaling 400 taels.
The supply expenses of Jiguan County are difficult to cover because of the heavy tax in Guan County.
The imperial approval was not allowed and the document was transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs. In the future, if there are prefectures and counties where it is difficult to pay the tax, the patrol minister will go to study it in person, study the whole story, list the root causes, and then discuss the issue of apportionment and exemption of the tax.
In June, the newly built Prince Shouren worshiped Confucius in the temple.
In the same month, Zuo Prefecture and Xinning Prefecture were established. Confucianism each established a member of the Xue Zheng, converting the native to the current, and converting the Xia to the barbarians.
In July, the Hanlin Academy entered the "Records of Emperor Mu Zong", and all the officials were dressed in court to celebrate.
The emperor took the test in person and recorded that the chief executive, Zhang Juzheng, was the best.
In the eighth month, Haixi sent 211 people including Ashubu, the governor of the Wei Dynasty, and 179 people including Qian Shilongbu, the governor of the Wei Dynasty such as Talu and other women, to pay tribute and banquet.
An oral order was sent to Haixi to capture the chieftain's platform and arrest the Jurchen King Gao of Jianzhou without making any mistakes.
In September, heavy rains continued, and Mu Zongzhao's mausoleum was destroyed.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate, in conjunction with the Ministry of Works, investigated Yang Junqing, the internal and external management personnel at Zhaoling, and others to determine the circumstances and crimes.
Order the Ministry of Works to supervise repair matters.
In October, 472 officers and soldiers including Hu Shouren and others were promoted to Ji Liao for meritorious service; 156 officers and soldiers including Wu Mengbao and others were promoted to Liaodong for meritorious service.
In the same month, Yang Bozu, who was formerly the Minister of the Ministry of War, gave him the posthumous title of Xiang Yi as a memorial gift to the Taifu.
Ma Ziqiang of the Ministry of Rites asked Yang Bo to be worshiped in Weixin Pavilion, but the emperor refused.
In addition, there are also some awards for the parents of the first assistant, controversies on Confucian classics, etc.
…
Time staggers.
November has arrived in the blink of an eye.
The second day of this month is the winter solstice again.
Starting from early morning, heavy snow began to fall in the sky.
The Forbidden City was once again covered with a layer of silver.
Outside the palace, in the royal road, and in the pavilion, the maids in the palace were in groups of twos and threes, being called to and fro by the eunuch, who ordered them to clear away the snow.
Of course, there are also places where snow removal will not help, such as a few acres of farmland in Xiyuan.
The farmland was only opened this year. It was specially reserved by the emperor for the harem to encourage farming and mulberry cultivation, and to set an example for the world.
The main activity this year is planting potatoes.
At the turn of spring and summer, one round of planting had already taken place, and many people died of illness and not many could be fed. Even so, during the autumn harvest, not only the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households sang its praises, but also the townspeople and villages spread the praises.
Of course, planting for one season is already good, but now that the winter solstice is here, logically speaking, there should be no more potatoes in the ground.
But, since it is a field for experimentation, it still depends on what the nobles think.
so.
This season's potatoes were completely wiped out.
The emperor and his attendants were draped in large cloaks and squatting on the ground. The ministers were holding umbrellas beside them, with only a few snowflakes floating on their shoulders.
Zhu Yijun looked around, taking in the frozen potatoes in pieces, and felt a toothache.
He turned his head and looked at Li Baiyang speechlessly: "Where did Li Xuanshi get the wonderful idea to plant potatoes in winter?"
Although potatoes were just introduced to the Ming Dynasty, the people have now accumulated some experience.
When he sends people to search for original seeds, farmers will give more or less instructions on pest control, ripening seasons, and soil conditions.
At least it has been said that winter in the capital is a lifeless one.
But some people don’t believe in evil.
At this time, Zhu Yijun saw that the seeds that had just been planted in the autumn were frozen to death in a blink of an eye. How could he not feel a little distressed.
Li Baiyang pursed his lips and muttered with some grievance: "His Majesty said that we should breed them first. His Majesty only said to breed those that are big and mature quickly, so I thought of selecting some that can withstand the cold."
She raised her head and added unconvincingly: "I do everything according to the "Chen Chang Nong Shu"."
Zhu Yijun choked.
Then he shook his head in a funny way: "I grow leafy vegetables, but if you replace them with potatoes, you know it won't work."
Li Baiyang pulled out two frozen potatoes from the ground, poked them around with his finger, and said nothing.
When Zhu Yijun saw this, he couldn't stress anymore.
He turned his face away and tried to smooth things over casually: "Forget it, I'll ask the Chief of Ceremonies to collect some original seeds."
Li Baiyang finally found the steps. She dug a hole in the soil and buried the frozen potatoes back: "I still have a lot of the batch planted in the spring, so there is no need to go outside the palace to harvest them for the time being."
Zhu Yijun didn't respond after hearing this.
The palace is not short of this little silver, mainly because Li Xuanshi is like this, and he doesn't know how much he will have to live on.
He simply ignored the topic, waved to the minister, took the hot towel that had been prepared, and cleaned the dirt on his hands.
Taking advantage of the situation, he turned the hot towel over again, pulled it over to Li Baiyang and wiped it twice: "Then let these potatoes rot in the ground, which will be good for raising the ground."
Li Baiyang hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "Your Majesty, it's better not to do it."
Zhu Yijun looked at her doubtfully.
"Last time, Your Majesty followed the method of making manure and manure field according to the "Chen Chang Nong Shu", and derived the pit method for composting. I am still trying it."
"My concubine has fertilized the two acres on the left, and the two acres in the middle with bird droppings. The right side has not been fertilized."
"If the land is raised with potatoes, it will be difficult to distinguish the difference and compare the effects."
Only then did Zhu Yijun suddenly realize.
There is such a thing, but I didn't pay too much attention here and almost forgot to go.
However, I have to say that this kind of thinking is really contagious to people around me.
At least Li Xuanshi accepted it very quickly, and this control experiment was perfect.
Zhu Yijun naturally had no reason to disagree with this and simply nodded.
Immediately, he couldn't help but warned: "It's better not to do shit yourself, otherwise the world will say that I bully the harem."
It’s not that he thinks the compost itself is useless.
But if you let the harem do this kind of thing, some people will always feel embarrassed.
Now is not the time to talk about what is right. It is best to have as few criticisms as possible.
After all, in the next few years, the imperial concubines will have to bear the criticism of "failure to prepare internal positions and no heirs."
When Li Baiyang heard this, he responded obediently.
How could she, a teenage girl, not object to such things as excrement? It was just the emperor who raised the banner to encourage farmers. If it were done by others, it would always be a little bad.
Now that the emperor has spoken, she naturally has no reason to pretend to refuse.
Zhu Yijun clapped his hands and pulled Li Xuanshi to stand up.
The two of them walked around the field again, summarizing their experiences and lessons.
While he was pacing and talking, Wei Chao came quickly from a distance.
He calmed down a little and then walked behind the emperor: "Long live the Lord, the Queen Mother of the two palaces invites you to go to Cining Palace."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun turned his head and looked at Wei Chao: "Cining Palace? Have the two queens chosen a beauty?"
If the two palaces have nothing to do, they will not get together, let alone go to Cining Palace.
So as soon as Wei Chao opened his mouth, Zhu Yijun realized what was going on.
From the time people gathered in the capital in August to the second day of November, three months had passed, and it seemed that the decision had finally been made.
Wei Chao quickly replied: "As far as I'm concerned, Lord Long Live, the two palaces have selected fifty people to stay in the palace, and are about to ask your majesty to determine the grades of concubines."
The rank and title of the harem is quite complicated.
Queen, imperial concubine, imperial concubine, concubine, concubine, Jieyu, Zhaoyi, nobleman, beauty, Zhaorong, selected attendant, and lady are no less than the order of official ranks.
Of course, although there are many levels, the most important thing today is to select the concubine.
Of course, not all of the fifty people chosen by the two palaces in this beauty pageant will be given a spot.
At best, only three or five people were selected to give the names - according to the convention, the draft in the Ming Dynasty usually only selected one concubine and two concubines, so the quota was extremely limited.
What to do with the remaining forty-odd people?
Naturally, she acted as a palace maid, such as a valet in the two palaces, the emperor's personal maid, and so on.
Such maids are also the emperor's women, and they can have sex with each other if they are sexually attracted to each other - just like Guangzong's biological mother in history. After a beauty pageant, she joined Empress Dowager Li as a palace maid. When Wanli paid his respects to his mother, he didn't know what he thought of.
Immediately interested, he ran away from the palace maid on the spot.
It is not uncommon for someone to be concubine after being favored.
However, this is not included in today's grade classification.
Zhu Yijun thought for a while, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Li Baiyang: "Will Li Xuan go?"
Li Xuanshi lowered his eyebrows and shook his head gently.
Zhu Yijun didn't hesitate and asked the female minister to escort him back to the palace. He then turned around and headed towards the Cining Palace.
…
Beauty pageants must be held in the main hall of the palace.
Because the Qianqing Palace was damaged during the New Year period and was still being repaired, the renovation of the Ciqing Palace was not completed, so it was placed in the Cining Palace.
It was rare for the two palaces to be in the same hall, and Zhu Yijun had already imagined the tit-for-tat and incompatible scene in the palace along the way.
But when Zhu Yijun entered the palace, he found that the two of them were safe and sound, and the atmosphere was calm, which inevitably led to an unexpected secret.
He walked forward and bowed to the two palaces: "My son, please give my mother's regards."
He deliberately blurred the distinction between the legitimate mother and biological mother of the two palaces. Logically speaking, they should be called separately, for example, the former is called mother, the latter is called sister or something like that.
But now that the power is in the hands of the emperor, and with Zhu Yijun's understanding of this aunt, he will definitely not care. It is better to let Empress Dowager Li feel more comfortable.
As expected, Queen Mother Li's originally calm expression immediately revealed a smile: "My son, get up quickly."
Zhu Yijun stood up straight from Shan Ruliu, took off his cloak, and handed it to the chamberlain beside him.
Empress Dowager Chen was not surprised by the emperor's scheming, so she just asked curiously: "Didn't the Li family girl come with the emperor?"
Although she was the imperial concubine who was appointed by default, it was during the process that she clicked on her together, which was more in line with the emperor's impeccable style.
Zhu Yijun walked to the two palaces and said casually: "Li Xuan has been digging the ground all morning and is a little tired. I asked her to go back and rest first."
He did understand the little girl.
I guess it was because of the idea of ​​"I was the one who came first", and I didn't seem to be in a good mood.
There is no need for me to force people into the draft just to follow such a process.
Empress Dowager Li was not in the mood to engage in household chores at the moment, and eagerly pushed a book in front of the emperor: "This is the roster for this draft."
"The above beauties have their origins, ages, temperaments, and the testimonials of my sister and me. There are fifty people in total."
After that, he led the emperor to the side hall.
In addition to the roster, people will naturally also be able to meet.
Since the nine-month show girl entered the palace, she has been listening to the instructions in front of the two palaces and inspecting her character.
The emperor has not yet met.
The three of them came to the side hall, where there were three seats and a screen in front of them. It was a layout that would not be seen clearly by the outside world but could penetrate the sight.
The beautiful maids outside stood in the hall.
Zhu Yijun took a rough look.
All the seven or eight people who glanced at them all had slim and plump bodies, and their colors were like the morning glow reflecting the snow. They could be described as beautiful and graceful.
Zhu Yijun did not look at each one carefully, but quickly withdrew his gaze, sat down between the two palaces, and opened the roster.
Appearance is important, but some good looks are enough. The main thing is family background.
Zhu Yijun asked casually while flipping through the pages: "Marriage matters are always under the control of parents. Children should first listen to their mother's choice."
As soon as she finished speaking, Empress Dowager Li immediately came closer and pointed into the palace: "This is the Wang family of Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan."
"My father and ancestors were in business, and they were honest and honest. Wang herself is a beautiful woman, skillful and gentle, especially her appearance. You can tell from the first sight that Wang's maternal virtues are strong."
After saying that, a chamberlain came forward and brought the Wang family that Empress Dowager Li mentioned to the emperor so that the emperor could see more clearly through the screen.
When Zhu Yijun heard this, he couldn't help but scratch his toes.
The so-called strong maternal virtue means that it looks good to have children.
Sure enough, when he raised his head and looked up, he saw that Mrs. Wang had a plump figure with protruding peaks, making her look like the daughter-in-law of Empress Dowager Li.
This is what Zhu Yijun is afraid of.
He quickly interrupted Queen Mother Li, pointed to the family background on the roster, and said, "Mother, the Wang family has eighteen brothers. It can be seen that his father has many wives and concubines. I am afraid that he may not be favored at home since he was a child."
"Besides, if there are too many brothers, giving rewards to relatives is also a problem."
Queen Mother Li frowned and thought for a moment, then shook her head regretfully.
However, there was some truth in what her son said, but she couldn't refute it.
I had no choice but to wave my hand and let the chamberlain take me down and pretend to be a palace maid next to me - it seemed that I really liked it.
Queen Mother Li quickly put down the Wang family and pointed to another person: "This is the Zhang family in Yangzhou Prefecture, Zhili."
"My ancestors made great contributions during the Chenghua period. My father wore royal robes and guarded thousands of households. Mr. Zhang has studied classics. He is well-known and considerate."
As soon as he finished speaking, the emperor had already shaken his head before the servants brought him up.
"Li Xuanshi is already from Yangzhou Prefecture in Nanzhili. If the Queen chooses Yangzhou again, it will be a surprise both inside and outside the house."
It was as if he was rejected without showing up.
As for the reason, Empress Dowager Li was also unable to refute it.
Seeing that the candidates for good childbearing, consideration and courtesy were all rejected by her son, Queen Mother Li had no choice but to withdraw her hand of advice.
Zhu Yijun turned his attention to Queen Mother Chen again.
Queen Mother Chen pondered for a moment and then revealed her favorite candidate: "How about the Wu family in Xi'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province?"
"I am from the north. My father wears royal robes and guards thousands of households. I am an only daughter. Her appearance is not bad."
Zhu Yijun, Queen Mother Chen, said that the corresponding person was found on the roster.
After taking a look at his family background, it was indeed as Empress Dowager Chen said that he was suitable in all aspects.
He is a rare northerner with a clean family background. He has read the Four Books and Five Classics, knows some music and rituals, and is not too young either. He will be sixteen years old in June.
While the emperor was thinking, the chamberlain also brought Wu to the screen.
Zhu Yijun raised his head and glanced casually.
I was stunned on the spot.
This... is a little too pretty.
He suddenly understood why Empress Dowager Chen fell in love with this Wu family. Although her appearance was not bad, she clearly had the appearance of a heavenly being.
The temples are like spring clouds, the eyes are like autumn waves, the mouth is like red cherry blossoms, the nose is like hanging gallbladder, and the white teeth are fine and clean...
It's a pity that it's too good-looking. Zhu Yijun sighed quietly.
Zhu Yijun was originally interested, but after seeing this woman's appearance, he reluctantly rejected it.
It's not that he doesn't like beautiful girls.
It means that it is sometimes difficult for people to control themselves, especially when faced with things they like very much.
If the harem selects such a girl who perfectly matches his aesthetics, it may not be a good thing for him as the emperor.
I had another birthday in August.
As I get older, when I wake up in the morning, I have begun to toss and turn in a daze.
Under such circumstances, if this Wu family is chosen as the queen, there will be no need to mention that in the next few years, "internal positions will not be prepared and heirs will not be raised."
I'm afraid I have to think about Hexin every day.
It’s better to send it away and talk about it in a few years.
As the emperor shook his head, the chamberlain invited Wu down again.
The boring process of choosing a concubine has no emotion at all.
Ningxia Ma family...
Guangdong Zhou family...
One after another, they were rejected by the emperor because their family background was not pure enough, their age was too young and other reasons.
Especially because of the reason of being too young, the two palaces always looked at the emperor with unkind eyes - they even disliked people of the same age and insisted on being fifteen or sixteen.
Zhu Yijun couldn't explain it either.
Just keep silent and continue screening.
Shandong Zhao family...
The Lin family of Nanzhili...
The Liu family of Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang...
Um?
Wait, the Liu family in Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province?
Zhu Yijun turned back to the previous page.
Isn’t this Liu Zhaofei from the Wanli six-year beauty pageant in history?
Zhu Yijun thought he had made a mistake, so he looked back and forth for a long time. It was indeed Concubine Liu Zhao.
Historically, she was the concubine chosen in the sixth year of Wanli.
Most of that group of people are now only ten years old.
He originally thought that he would not meet this kind of concubine that he should have chosen, but unexpectedly, the Liu family jumped out.
Zhu Yijun confirmed Liu's age again.
Fourteen years old, my birthday is the ninth day of the first lunar month, that is, I will be fifteen years old in one month, which is not too young.
The historical evaluation of this Liu family is that he has a cautious and kind temperament.
Unlike Concubine Zheng, who was always involved in major cases such as beating the prince and poisoning the emperor, Liu had no sense of existence in the sixty-four years since she entered the palace.
Neither being favored nor making any mistakes, he lived quietly until the fifteenth year of Chongzhen. After two more years, he would be able to hand the rope to Chongzhen.
If that's the case, you definitely don't have a contentious temper.
It seems to be exactly what Zhu Yijun needs.
He couldn't help but knock his knees with his fingers and fell into deep thought.
After a long while, Zhu Yijun clicked on the name.
The ministers on the side understood immediately and went out to bring Mrs. Liu to the screen.
Zhu Yijun came closer and cast a scrutinizing gaze.
Well, it's pretty good-looking. Although it's not as stunning as the Wu one just now, it's still the same type as Feng Yi Guang Hao and Qian Fu Yi Ren.
Seeing that the emperor was thinking and seemed undecided, Empress Dowager Chen comforted her softly: "The emperor doesn't have to rush for a while. It doesn't hurt to choose more time."
Zhu Yijun closed the register and turned his head to look at the two palaces: "Mother, has the Qintian Prison arranged the day?"
The two palaces looked at each other, and Empress Dowager Chen nodded: "Qin Tianjian announced that the crown will be crowned on January 28th, the conscription will be accepted on February 3rd, the bed will be laid on March 8th, and the queen will see you on the 15th.
On the seventh day, I will confer a book of treasures and return them to the palace to unite."
Zhu Yijun nodded and expressed his position directly: "If the child is settled earlier, the inner court and the Ministry of Rites can arrange the grand ceremony earlier."
He paused and said seriously: "Mother, this is the Liu family of Hangzhou Prefecture."
Chapter completed!