"The emperor is here. I was just telling Qin'er when the emperor would come!"
Qin'er is the personal maid of Concubine Liu. She was just a little palace maid who swept the palace gate before. Because of her beauty and well-behaved character, she was noticed by Concubine Liu and has been serving her for more than half a month.
"I must come here early today to spend the Chinese New Year with the concubine. Sun Chen has not been to Cining Palace for a while."
Zhu Youxiao knew that Concubine Liu was old and there was no one in the harem to talk to to relieve her boredom. Moreover, when he saw the kind face of Concubine Liu, he couldn't help but think of his mother. Zhu Youxiao had traveled through time for so long and already regarded Concubine Liu as her mother. He lost his only relative, and he didn't want to see the concubine grow old alone.
Zhu Youxiao originally wanted to come over early today to chat with her, but who knew that he fell asleep on the chair before he said a few words as soon as he sat down, and he was snoring faintly.
Seeing this, Concubine Liu told people not to be alarmed, and then she covered it with her own hands, leaving Li Yongzhen and the two maids from the Qianqing Palace to wait on her, and she left with the others.
"Chao Wangfu, what is the Emperor's schedule during this period?"
"To concubine, your Majesty goes to bed very late every day and wakes up earlier. All major military and political matters of the day must be dealt with on the same day and will never be postponed for a day. Some time ago, due to matters related to Liaodong and the army, Your Majesty was intermittently Stayed up all night."
"Furthermore, the emperor has to practice riding, archery, and sword skills every day, and he won't stop until noon."
After hearing this, Mrs. Liu frowned and said slightly angrily:
"The emperor is still young and doesn't know how to take care of his body. Why don't you, a personal eunuch, give you advice? Have you been in the palace for so many years in vain?"
Wang Chaofu was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and said:
"The concubine should calm down. I have tried to persuade you many times, but I can't persuade the emperor. The emperor got angry several times."
It is a good thing that the emperor is diligent in his work, but is this too diligent? Concubine Liu couldn't help but worry about Zhu Youxiao's health. Now Zhu Youxiao is only seventeen years old. In the eyes of a person in her sixties, she is no more than a child. the difference.
…
Nanjing
"Brother Zhicai, brother Zhicai, His Majesty's order has come again, and an army has also arrived, asking you to hurry over and listen to the order!"
"Are Zhilong and the others back?"
Since the last time Zhu Youxiao mobilized the Xiaoling Guard's five thousand troops to go north, only 600 people were left to garrison Xiaoling in Nanjing. The guard general was named Li Zhicai, who was the elder brother of Li Zhilong, the current guerrilla general of Huben Camp.
He and his brothers were preparing to kill a pig for the New Year.
"It doesn't seem to be the case. I've never seen them. The leader's name is Zhang Shize. There are also many Jin Yiwei here."
Zhang Shize and the others could not have arrived so quickly, but on the way they received an urgent order from His Majesty, telling them to arrive in Nanjing before the New Year. Zhang Shize and the others hurriedly hurried and slowly arrived, and finally arrived on the last day.
"Your Majesty Li Zhicai respectfully welcomes the imperial edict!"
"Commander Li, this is His Majesty's order and handwriting. You can only watch it!"
Zhang Shize handed the order in his hand to Li Zhicai. Li Zhicai then went to the corner to read it. After reading it, he said to the soldier who reported the previous report:
"Ah San, call the four hundred sergeants to assemble quickly!"
He turned to Zhang Shize and said:
"Your Majesty asked you to hand over the command to me. Where is the flag seal?"
The so-called tiger talisman for mobilizing troops did not exist in the Ming Dynasty. Even in history, there were only a few, and not every general had a so-called tiger talisman.
In the Ming Dynasty, one general was in charge of an army, and this was done for generations. Even the recruited soldiers obeyed the orders of the generals. This led to the emergence of the abnormal army style of servants, which was a loophole that the emperor took advantage of.
He doesn't even have a title in the army anymore.
In order to prevent this kind of thing from happening and to avoid the idea that the sergeants only know the generals but not the emperor, Zhu Youxiao asked Wei Zhongxian to find craftsmen to specially create different order flags and seals to control the army.
Without the seal, the general cannot mobilize the army and cannot even leave the military camp. The flag is the command authority in wartime. Only with the flag seal can the general fully command the army.
Moreover, if a general officer is transferred to a position above the commander-in-chief, the law enforcement team must notify the entire battalion so that everyone knows who your current general officer is.
The generals usually only have seals but no flags. The flags are kept by Zhu Youxiao personally, and if they want to send troops to fight, they also need Zhu Youxiao's order. Therefore, just having a flag seal is basically useless.
Moreover, Zhu Youxiao further expanded the size of the law enforcement team. Today, the law enforcement team has nearly 3,000 people, composed of soldiers selected from Jinyiwei, Dongchang and the army.
These people are also responsible for indoctrinating them, holding half-an-hour classes every night to let them know that serving as soldiers is to protect their homes and country, that they are His Majesty's army, and that their troops and food are all given to them by His Majesty, etc.
Some extreme ideas are to be firmly controlled. Zhu Youxiao has good intentions for the army.
After Zhang Shize handed the flag seal to Li Zhicai, Li Zhicai immediately got on his horse, raised the flag seal high and shouted:
"The whole army is listening to the order. There are villains in Nanjing City who are causing trouble and intending to rebel. Follow me and rush to Nanjing to garrison immediately!"
"yes!"
Zhu Youxiao's edict made their lives difficult, but they did not resist it, and they were willing to work hard for the emperor.
Ever since they joined the Yulin Army, their life, although hard and tiring, was also the best period of their lives. Compared with the past, every day was like a Chinese New Year.
The people of Xiaoling Guard were even happier. They had been guarding Xiaoling for decades. Except before entering the military camp and after they got old, they had no chance to go out.
…
"The emperor is awake? But did he sleep peacefully?"
"The concubine is laughing. Grandpa Shenzong has no major affairs in the country. Since I came to the throne, there have been many difficulties. There are slaves in Liaodong and several droughts. I haven't had a good sleep in the past few days."
Concubine Liu also knew that these were troubled times, but the emperor could speak but he could not answer. Because of the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, so she just said with a worried face:
"The emperor is still young and has only been on the throne for less than four months. He still needs to take care of his health and not work too hard."
"Sun Chen knows!"
"The emperor must be hungry. Let's eat something to fill his stomach first. We have to watch the New Year's Eve tonight, and there will be a Zhengdan court meeting tomorrow. The emperor will have to work hard for another day!"
"Don't worry, Princess, Sun Chen is fine."
The practice of staying up late on New Year's Eve began in the Ming Dynasty. This is how emperors, princes, and common people all celebrated the New Year.
When it was midnight, firecrackers began to be set off in every corner of the palace, and it was very lively. Zhu Youxiao and Concubine Liu were watching the fireworks outside Cining Palace.
Then all the eunuchs and maids began to line up to receive the silver reward. Zhu Youxiao was very generous because he had made a fortune recently. Ordinary eunuchs and maids were given ten taels of silver and a piece of fine cloth, and so on, the higher the status, the more
At most, as the emperor's personal eunuch, Wang Chaofu received fifty taels of silver and ten pieces of cloth.
Moreover, Zhu Youxiao also specially ordered the food supervisor to say that today's meal was the best and the most they had eaten since entering the palace.
The forty-eighth year of Wanli is over!
The first year of Apocalypse has begun. This is Zhu Youxiao's era, the era of Emperor Apocalypse, it is coming!