Empress Zhang's background was not prominent. It can be said that most empresses throughout the Ming Dynasty had such backgrounds. In order to prevent relatives from interfering in politics, the concubines chosen by the princes of the Ming Dynasty were all selected from the daughters of ordinary families.
However, it is not that easy to enter the East Palace. First of all, you must have a clean family background. The so-called clean family background means that starting from the seventh or eighth generation of your ancestors, you must not engage in despicable businesses such as business or prostitution. In addition, you must have a clean family background.
, it also requires good moral conduct within the three tribes. In fact, to put it bluntly, what is required is that a scholar comes from a family. As for the woman's appearance, moral character, and temperament, they are also one of the factors in the candidate.
And Queen Zhang just met all the conditions. She was born into a poor family. Her father was once a student of the Imperial College, but he failed to pass. Although she was good at learning, she was always unlucky. Originally, there were thousands of families like this, and this was the candidate for the crown princess.
Be cautious, Empress Zhang would never expect to have such an opportunity no matter what.
But it happened that when Zhu Youtang became the crown prince, the people who chose the crown prince for him were his father and Concubine Zhang. His father had never paid much attention to his son, so he naturally let him go, and Concubine Zhang didn't care either.
, but after Zhu Youtang performed the coronation ceremony, the ministers saw that Zhu Youtang didn't have a wife yet, so they wrote letters one after another. In order to stop Youyou's mouth, Concubine Zhang randomly chose one.
This person is the current Empress Zhang. It can be said that it was under this unique background that the current Mother of the Nation was created.
Because she was born into a poor family, Empress Zhang was not extravagant or wasteful, and she kept her expenses in the palace simple. Her strict tutoring also allowed her to develop an honest and skillful character. Such a woman is perfect.
When she just got married to Zhu Youtang, Zhu Youtang's position was very embarrassing. It was Empress Zhang who shared the joys and sorrows with him, and it was for this reason that she gained Zhu Youtang's respect.
Empress Zhang seemed to have no other hobbies besides playing the piano. Liu Chengfeng looked at the list written by Zhu Houzhao and couldn't help but frown. Could it be that he was giving a piano? This seemed inappropriate. It was obviously not sincere to give someone an ordinary piano, but this
The best guqins in the world are all expensive. For example, when Liu Chengfeng set up his calligraphy stall, he knew that a guqin once sold for 30,000 taels of silver. It was not considered the most expensive, but was just an antique.
As for other preferences, they were not obvious, but Liu Chengfeng noticed that Queen Zhang seemed to have a quirk.
"Your Highness, the Queen never wanted to hug you easily when you were a child?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Houzhao seemed a little embarrassed and said: "This... my mother always treats me very well, but..."
Liu Chengfeng then added: "And the queen hates sweating the most? How many times does she have to bathe in a day?"
Zhu Houzhao looked even more embarrassed: "Master, you don't have to ask so many questions."
Liu Chengfeng took a deep breath and said: "This is very important. Let me ask you, does the Queen have any other quirks? For example, when meeting the wives of foreign ministers, does she always keep a distance from her?"
Zhu Houzhao was silent for a while, and then said: "It seems that some of the married women who are familiar with each other often sit on separate couches."
Liu Chengfeng suddenly realized it and said, "I understand."
"Understand what?"
"This..." Liu Chengfeng couldn't help showing embarrassment and said, "It's better not to tell you about this kind of thing, but Master now understands what gift Master should give."
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but gasped: "Master, how can you only think about yourself? What should I do with my gift?"
Liu Chengfeng smiled slightly and said: "Actually, His Highness's gift is the simplest and cheapest."
"oh?"
Liu Chengfeng rolled his eyes at Zhu Houzhao and said: "Your Highness only needs to copy the Classic of Filial Piety hundreds of times and send it to the palace. Who dares to say that His Highness's gift is not valuable? Your Highness does not need to give gifts, you only need to express your filial piety to your loving mother."
It was done before.”
"It will work this way..." Zhu Houzhao didn't expect it to be so easy and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
Liu Chengfeng vowed: "Anyway, the more filial piety scriptures you copy, in the eyes of the people in the world, it will be the most important gift to the queen. So what do Prince Ning and his son count? The most precious thing in the world is filial piety, not some ingot."
Zhuyu, your highness will do as I say, and I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”
Zhu Houzhao was also a very smart man. When he thought about it, he couldn't help but nod his head and said: "It makes sense!" After that, he continued enthusiastically: "Then I will start copying now, and I must please my mother."
Liu Chengfeng was thinking about his own affairs at this time. It was the Queen's birthday. As a member of the Royal Guards, he was invited to the palace to pay her respects. This was a great honor, but gifts that were not precious enough could not be given. On the one hand, Liu Chengfeng
Compared with Prince Ning and his son, Chengfeng could not afford to be so rich. On the other hand, he was from a hundred households. Even if he was rich, what would others think if he sent a gift worth tens of thousands of taels of silver? Most likely the emperor would think that he
The money obtained through extortionate expropriation.
Therefore, the gift must be less wasteful and attract the Queen. After roughly understanding Queen Zhang's preferences and taboos, Liu Chengfeng had an idea in his mind.
"That's it, I'll bet on this one." Liu Chengfeng thought for a while, and then said goodbye: "Since the prince has to prepare gifts, he also has official duties to do as a teacher, so I'll say goodbye. The Queen's birthday will be in a few days.
When the time comes, let’s enter the palace together.”
"Well, master, feel free to go, I will invite you when the time comes."
Liu Chengfeng said goodbye to Zhu Houzhao, and then rushed to Baihu House. The Yingchun Square was already in a mess. The lieutenants came out in full force to hunt down the rebels. They first took Lei Biao and tortured him all night.
After a few people confessed, the captain continued to get them, and these people confessed their partners. As a result, the gangsters on the street were all in a state of panic. At this time, Hou couldn't care less about loyalty and brotherhood.
. If it had been anyone else, everyone could have united and fought hard, but the shadow Liu Chengfeng left on them was too dark. The scene of the Hengdao immediately killing people was witnessed by countless people. They bumped into such a ruthless man.
, who dares to make any more changes?
In addition, Lei Biao couldn't stand the torture at first and confessed several people first. He Lei Biao was not loyal, so naturally everyone was not polite. They confessed all the people involved one by one like a bamboo tube.
In this way, a group of market scoundrels in Yingchunfang have been completely disintegrated. The reason why these people can come together is just for the so-called loyalty of the market. Even if loyalty is gone, how can we talk about sharing weal and woe? The Jin Yiwei are now dispatched everywhere, one by one.
Some of the people who were taken away had already packed up their belongings and ran away overnight, while some were taken away to the Baihu House one after another with a lucky heart. The whole Yingchun Square was in a state of solemnity.
At the same time, the stalls of Dongchang, Taoist priests of various sects, as well as many large merchants and the capital of Shuntian Mansion all received the famous post. The person who posted the post was Liu Chengfeng. The content of the post was very simple. The next day
At three quarters of noon, Liu Chengfeng was waiting at the Yunxiao Pavilion, and he must admire it.
Everyone who received this post was confused. What kind of trick is this Liu Chengfeng trying to play? You don’t have to guess too much, because the posts at Dongchang stalls and Shuntianfu all involve fireworks.
Hutong, as well as various avenue gates and merchants are also related to Yingchunfang.
Does this Liu Chengfeng want to establish his authority?
In this Yunxiao Pavilion, many people have already arrived. At this time, there is still a night before Liu Chengfeng's banquet.
For example, Deng Stall from Dongchang, Li Dutou from Shuntian Prefecture, and several big businessmen all sat together and drank for three rounds, but no one mentioned anything about Liu Chengfeng, a stall like that.
It wasn't until everyone was slightly tipsy that Li Dutou chuckled, looked at Dongchang's stall owner Deng with awe and awe, and said: "Deng's stall, Liu Baihu's banquet seems to have invited a lot of people, except for you
Dongchang, as well as our Shuntian Mansion, as well as several brothers here, have even invited people from that sect, what does he mean by doing this?"
Deng Baotou smiled coldly and said: "It's just to show his authority to all of us. He actually doesn't even look down on anyone from a hundred households. It's really hateful."
Li Dutou couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. In fact, according to common sense, Shuntian Mansion would not have anything to do with Liu Chengfeng, but Liu Chengfeng was taken to Dali Temple, and the fireworks alley was suddenly exposed.
Tianfu took this opportunity to step in and make a lot of money. Now that Liu Chengfeng is back, Shuntianfu should retreat wisely. However, the money in Fireworks Alley is so rich that Li Dutou is reluctant to part with it.
.
Therefore, Li Dutou was very concerned about Liu Chengfeng's every move, but at this time he was also paying attention to Dongchang. If Dongchang was willing to retreat, he would naturally pack up and leave without saying a word, but Dongchang would not
If you move, maybe you can still get some benefits.
Li Dutou is now testing Deng Baotou's intentions. Whether Deng Baotou is willing to give in is what Li Dutou is most concerned about now.
In fact, everyone knows that begging for food from Liu Duzi's mouth is similar to snatching food from the tiger's mouth, but there are too many interests here. How could Li Dutou be willing to let it go until the last moment?
"Deng Baotou, please tell the truth. If Liu Chengfeng wants to assert his power over us, what will you and I do?" Li Du half-squinted his eyes and looked like he was too drunk.
Deng Baotou also hesitated. He had never seen how powerful Liu Chengfeng was, but he gave in like this, but he was unwilling to do so. Last time, he was severely reprimanded because of this, but this time he was still
You just obeyed without taking action. Do you still want to put Dongchang's face on hold?
Deng Baotou's face had become a bit ferocious. He slapped the table and said fiercely: "Deng, don't believe it. There are so many of us, we can't deal with a hundred households of Jin Yiwei. As long as everyone is willing to work together,
, what are you afraid of? Don’t forget, those gates that Liu Chengfeng invited are not simple behind the scenes. At worst, we follow them and see how they do. If Liu Chengfeng pushes hard, everyone will
As long as you're willing to twist into a ball, what's the point of fear?"