Come from the masses, go to the masses, follow the mass line, and carry out mass work.
This was the selection policy set by Emperor Hongwu for Hu Shanwei.
Hu Shanwei suddenly felt a lot of pressure and said, "Your Majesty, this is an unprecedented event to select beautiful women. This is not to select ordinary beautiful women to serve in the court. This time we are selecting the Crown Prince's Consort, the Crown Prince's Consort, and some of the Princesses of the County Princes. This is of great importance and can affect the future of the Ming Dynasty. Please think twice, Your Majesty."
The boss opens his mouth and the subordinates run around.
It's not that Hu Shanwei deliberately shirked the responsibility, but out of practical considerations, most commoner queens or princesses were promoted from concubines, and to climb to that position, they were already experienced, high-IQ, high-EQ and high-level people, and their cultural knowledge had long gone beyond the original commoner class. How could the royal nobles of all dynasties marry a commoner as their original wife
What's more, the Crown Prince's Consort and the Crown Prince's Consort will both be clan wives in the future, with the important responsibility of educating children and being the mother of the country or the fiefdom. The children of common people, even boys, may not be able to read and write, let alone daughters
Emperor Hongwu was born a peasant in Fengyang and was illiterate, but Empress Xiaoci was born into a large landlord family and had been able to read and write since childhood. Her father had many heroic followers and often provided aid to various "heroes", similar to the character Song Jiang in Water Margin.
If her father had not died and her family property had not been seized by her clansmen, and her widowed mother had not taken her orphan to seek refuge with the heroic hero Guo Zixing, who had once been helped by the Ma family, Empress Xiaoci would not have ended up as the adopted daughter of a small leader of a peasant uprising army.
Even though Hu Shanwei herself came from a merchant family, her ancestors were from a prominent family in Jining, Shandong, and a family of scholars. Judging from the collection of books at home, the Hu family had a good academic background.
Emperor Hongwu's casual remark of "selecting beauties from the people and marrying off the land" was out of touch with the actual needs of the royal family. If it were someone else, they would just say "your honor is your will" and be done with it. After all, they were not marrying a wife for their own family, so they could just select a few beauties from among the people.
But Hu Shanwei would never blindly follow anyone. This was one of the main reasons why Emperor Hongwu chose her to be a palace lady. If he wanted a vassal, there were many of them in the harem.
Facing Hu Shanwei's objection, Emperor Hongwu used the words she had used to retort him: "It has always been like this, so is it right? The selection of concubines from the common people and the marriage of the landowners do not mean that we must find illiterate village women and street women. The daughters of small landlords and minor officials are all fine. As long as they are decent-looking, literate, well-educated, virtuous and talented, and have a clean background, they all have the opportunity to marry into the royal family."
"It has always been like this, so is it right?" This is what Hu Shanwei said when he proposed changing the country's filial piety system based on the funeral specifications of Concubine Chengmu Sun, based on the view that "both parents should be respected equally". This time, Emperor Hongwu finally found an opportunity to use her own method against her.
This old emperor is very evil!
Hu Shanwei was left speechless.
Seeing her being humiliated, Emperor Hongwu felt secretly happy: You have come to this day too.
In fact, Emperor Hongwu's idea of "selecting beauties from the common people and marrying them to the farmers" was not something he came up with suddenly. As early as the 17th year of Hongwu, there were no more women from noble families who were named concubines in the harem. All of them were of commoner origin, or simply tribute girls from Goryeo.
In the first month of the 26th year of the Hongwu reign, the Hongwu Emperor conferred titles on Li as Xianfei, Ge as Xianfei, and Liu as Huifei. Concubine Cui Shu, who held the power in the harem, was Cui Shangyi, who was a former female official in the harem. Therefore, the Hongwu Emperor was the first to take the mass line and take the lead in popularizing his huge harem.
In the past two years, there has been bloody storm outside the palace due to the "Lan Yu Case", but it has not affected the harem. Apart from the fact that Concubine Cui Shufei and Hu Shanwei are in charge, the real reason is that after the harem became popular, it is obviously calm and cannot cause any big splash, because these concubines of commoner origin have nothing to do with the stormy officialdom.
Otherwise, even if they ask the Mountain Guardian Taisui and the Sea Patrolling Yaksha for help, the harem will be filled with constant turmoil and "good dramas" just like the past, when Concubine Hu, Concubine Da Ding, and Concubine Duan Jing were all in turmoil.
Emperor Hongwu tasted the sweetness of popularizing the harem, and wanted to use this selection to let his grandchildren also taste the sweetness.
However, faced with Emperor Hongwu's wishful thinking, his grandchildren, including the Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen, actually refused. They laughed on the surface, but they were actually laughing in their hearts.
The Lan Yu case has come to an end. In this special period, all those who should be killed have been killed, and the grass on their graves is two feet tall. The risk of getting married is extremely low. Who doesn't want to marry a wife whose family is powerful and can help his career
What kind of talent show? I refuse!
However, it was of no use. Emperor Hongwu would not care about his grandchildren's ideas. They were also chess pieces and he could place them however he wanted. He thought he was doing this for his grandchildren's sake so that they would have less worries in the backyard in the future, "it's all for your own good."
Emperor Hongwu issued an edict to hold a talent show in economically and culturally developed provinces such as Henan, Beiping, Shandong, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. Newly developed areas like Yunnan or remote and poor places with shallow foundations and poor overall population quality were directly excluded to avoid having to pass the preliminary round and then be eliminated in the final selection in the capital. Not only would that be embarrassing, but the court would also have to pay for travel and accommodation expenses.
In the first round of auditions, unmarried women between the ages of thirteen and sixteen were sent by their parents to the provincial government offices for preliminary selection. The provincial government would select the best candidates and send them to the princes' palaces in various places for re-selection, which was under the responsibility of the princes and their princesses. The court would send female officials and eunuchs to assist the princes' palaces in selecting about one hundred outstanding candidates, who would then be brought to the capital to compete round by round with the selected beauties from other princes' palaces.
For the first time in history, a commoner princess was able to rise to power overnight and achieve a class leap that others could not achieve even after generations of hard work.
As soon as the imperial edict came out, many families with unmarried daughters could not sleep all night, and the next day they took their daughters to the provincial government office to sign up. There were huge crowds of people outside the government office, all of them were young girls who had the "dream of becoming a princess". They were one in a million, and although the hope was slim, what if they were chosen
The palace ladies were about to go on a business trip again, to various princes' palaces to select concubines. Hu Shanwei, as the palace lady and the person in charge of the first selection mainly for commoners, held a meeting for all the palace ladies before leaving.
Except for the number one scholar Shen Qionglian, the other female officials who entered the palace with Hu Shanwei included Chen Ermei, Jiang Quan, and her apprentice Huang Wei De. They were all female officials of at least the "Si" generation. As the backbone, they were all sent out to screen the selections.
This was Hu Shanwei's last mission and he could not afford to fail. In addition, the journey to the Prince's Palace was long and the older female officials could not stand the fatigue of the journey, so the elite of the younger generation were sent out this time.
Hu Shanwei explained the rules of the talent show in detail. It was already dark, and it was time for dinner. Hu Shanwei said, "I have one last thing to say—"
All the female officials rolled their eyes inwardly. According to their experience, the last point would always turn into a bunch of words.
Hu Shanwei said: "When you go to the Prince's Mansion, you must remember that nothing is more important than your own safety. Safety comes first, and the selection comes second. If you don't pay attention to safety, your relatives and friends will shed tears."
Hu Shanwei remembers the tragic incident of Liu Siyan cutting her tongue, and she doesn't want the tragedy to happen again. Xiu can be re-elected, but a life lost cannot be brought back.
The next day, the female officials went on a business trip under the escort of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Hu Shanwei stayed in the palace to prepare for the subsequent re-selection and final selection.
At the same time, the Beijing Jiaofangsi opened a theater at Wuding Bridge.
The classic southern opera "Pipa Ji" is performed today.
On the stage, the heroine Zhao Wuniang is singing the most classic song "Shanpoyang":
"A desolate and barren year, a husband who never came home, anxious and impatient parents, and a timid and helpless lonely man."
Zhao Wuniang's husband went to Beijing to take the imperial examinations and had not returned for many years. There was a famine, so she gave her food to her parents-in-law and secretly hid away to eat bran used to feed pigs. Her parents-in-law misunderstood that she was stealing something good.
Zhao Wuniang on the stage was a famous actress from the Jiaofangsi, and she played the heroine's grievance and sadness to the fullest. The audience cheered loudly, but there was only an old man sitting at the best small square table in the middle of the stage. The old man did not applaud, nor did he throw small coins or small jewelry on the stage as a reward. He just sat there quietly listening to the play and drinking tea, as if he was immersed in the play and deeply felt Zhao Wuniang's sadness. His eyelashes seemed to be a little wet.
A group of young men wearing bright pink wide-sleeved Taoist robes and black net scarves on their heads came rushing in, joking and playing with each other, as if they were talking about something interesting. In the middle were two thin young men, who were relatively quiet, as if they were visiting the brothel of the Jiaofangsi for the first time, and looked around curiously.
This pink and black outfit is currently the "hot item" combination in Beijing. This group of people are dressed fashionably and have extraordinary demeanor. At first glance, they are obviously rich and noble young men.
The male official slaves wearing green headscarves in the brothel hurried over to greet them and pointed to the two large tables on the left. "Everyone, please come this way. What kind of tea would you like?"
The standard attire for male official slaves of the Ming Dynasty's Jiaofangsi was a green headscarf. Moreover, slaves were not allowed to intermarry with good people and could only "self-digest". When official slaves married official slaves, their descendants would all be official slaves. The female musicians of the Jiaofangsi were sometimes provided for people's entertainment, and after a long time, if their wives had someone else's, they would be called cuckolds.
The young men felt that the view on the left was not good and it was awkward to watch the show, so they pointed to the big table in the middle and said, "Let's sit here."
The green hat explained: "There is only one table left in the middle, and there are five guests in total, so one table can't accommodate them all."
The leader was a plump, friendly-looking boy who seemed easy to talk to. He said, "In that case, we'll sit on the left."
"No." Next to the fat boy stood a tall and sturdy boy with an imposing manner. The boy pointed at the two thin boys with delicate features beside him and said, "These two... My younger brothers have finally come out for a trip, so they should have fun."
The tall young man took out a dime and gave it to the green hat. He pointed at the old man in the middle who was watching the show alone and said, "Give him the silver and ask him to move to another place. We can put the two tables in the middle together to make one big table. I will pay for his tea today. He can eat and drink as much as he wants."
The green hat refused to take it, looking embarrassed, "This...can't do."
"You think the money is too little?" The tall young man took out a five-liang ingot of official silver, "This should be enough."
"It's not about money." The green hat said, "He is a frequent visitor to our Jiaofangsi. He has been coming here to listen to operas for fifteen years. He is an old acquaintance. He usually sits in that seat to listen to operas. He is embarrassed to ask people to move."
The tall young man was a little impatient, and took the silver. "Don't you dare to offend the old customer? I'll go. I don't believe that you don't want the silver you picked up for free."
"Second brother, you--" The fat boy tried to stop him, but the tall boy didn't listen at all. He took three steps with his long legs to the old man, put the silver on the table, and politely explained his purpose.
The old man suddenly pulled himself out of Zhao Wuniang's story, a little confused, "Ah? Oh, no problem, it's just a show, you can sit there and watch it, I don't mind, since you can't sit at one table, you can share this one."
After saying that, the old man stood up and offered the table. The tall young man didn't expect the old man to be so easy to talk to, so he quickly stuffed the silver into his hand and said, "Don't forget to take the silver."
The old man refused to accept it. "It's just a small matter. I'm old, how can I accept your money? Where will I put my face in the future? Forget it, you young people should have fun."
The fat white boy was a little embarrassed, "Old man, we will treat you to tea."
The old man waved his hand and said, "No need. I won't accept the gift without merit. I can still afford the tea in the brothel."
Just as the fat boy was about to persuade him again, the tall boy stuffed the silver into the old man's pocket and said, "It's just a small gift. Take it."
The old man was stubborn and refused to accept it. The tall young man was obviously a firecracker. "I gave it to you, so take it. Why are you so stubborn, old man?"
Just as he finished his words, a slap came over and hit the tall boy on the back of the neck. It hurt so much that the tall boy got angry and smashed the person who attacked him from behind with a teapot.
"Stop!" The chubby boy looked fat but surprisingly was quite agile. He grabbed the teapot with one hand.
The tall boy felt a little aggrieved, "Brother, someone actually dared to attack me. I must beat him up today."
The fat white boy winked at him and winked wildly. The tall boy felt something was wrong and turned around to see the mighty and majestic man who was lassoing a horse. He was immediately frightened out of his wits and muttered, "Uncle... Second uncle, you're here. What a coincidence."
The man who slapped him didn't bother to pay attention to him. He straightened his clothes, bowed to the old man, and apologized, "Mr. Hu, my nephews are ignorant. Who are they trying to embarrass with their dirty money? Alas, they are all from remote rural areas. They have been in Beijing for less than three years. They usually stay at home and study hard. They are blind. Please forgive me, Mr. Hu."
It was obvious that Mr. Hu was an old acquaintance of this "Second Uncle" who showed up unexpectedly. Upon hearing this, he straightened his half-worn blue cloth gown that had been wrinkled when he pushed the silver, and said gently:
"Mr. Xu is here to listen to the opera, what a coincidence. Your nephews also have good intentions and want to compensate me, but I never accept gifts from anyone, no matter how much money, I always refuse, so there is some misunderstanding."
Yuanwai is a nominal position that ordinary people donated money for, called Yuanwailang. In feudal society, there were clear social classes, and ordinary people, no matter how rich they were, had to kneel before an official. If they didn't want to kneel, they would donate money for a nominal position, so that they could be on an equal footing with officials.
This Mr. Hu is Hu Shanwei's father, Hu Rong, the owner of a bookstore.
Master Xu is Xu Zengshou, the second master of the Duke of Wei's Mansion, the second son of the late King of Zhongshan Xu Da, the eldest son-in-law of King of Zhaojing Mu Ying, and the eldest brother-in-law of Duke of Qian Mu Chun.
The five young men "from remote rural areas" wearing bright pink Taoist robes are all Xu Zengshou's nephews.
The Duke of Wei's mansion had three princesses. The eldest Miss Xu was the Princess of Yan, the second Miss Xu was the Princess of Dai, and the third Miss Xu was the Princess of An. Of these three princesses, except for Princess An who had never gotten pregnant, the other two princesses were very fertile.
After all, she is the daughter of Xu Da, the first hero of the founding of the country. The three daughters are very tough in character. Princess Yan once taught her younger brother Xu Zengshou to be careful.
For a bet, he tied his brother's hands, dragged him for several miles on horseback, and pretended to chop off his fingers.
Princess Dai married Zhu Gui, the son of Concubine Guo Hui, who was known as the Ninja Turtle in the harem. The couple had children and often quarreled. When the quarrels became serious, Princess Dai took up weapons to fight her husband and never lost.
Princess An has never been pregnant, and she also does not allow her husband, Prince An, to take concubines, saying, "I am not even thirty years old yet, how can I not know that I will not be able to give birth to a legitimate son? Before I give birth to a legitimate son, Prince An's mansion cannot have concubines."
Princess An has no children, and the An Palace is the only palace in the capital that does not have a crown prince. To some extent, this is a blessing in disguise.
The six young men in pink Taoist robes are the prince of Yan's Mansion, Zhu Gaochi, the second son, Zhu Gaoxi, the third daughter, Princess Ancheng, the fourth daughter, Princess Xianning, and two princesses dressed as men. All the children in Yan's Mansion are born to Princess Yan, and they are brothers and sisters from the same mother.
Because the Prince of Yan's Palace was the most powerful, with the strongest army and horses, Emperor Hongwu was very wary of it, so he kept four children from the Prince of Yan's Palace as hostages. The other princely palaces only held one prince.
The other one is Zhu Xunyan, the prince of Dai.
Since they all came to the capital from vassal states, it is not an exaggeration for Xu Zengshou to say that these five nephews were "from the country."
Xu Zengshou and Hu Rong apologized, asked Hu Rong to sit back in his original seat and continue watching the show, and then took his six nephews to the private room upstairs.
As soon as he entered the private room, Xu Zengshou looked sullen and acted like an uncle.
Xu Zengshou is over 30 years old. When he was young and frivolous, he was the most arrogant playboy in the capital. He was raised by a great father, Xu Da, who spoiled him. He married Mu Ying's eldest daughter.
Mu had no children and was in poor health, so she passed away early. Xu Zengshou had a good relationship with Mu, so he decided not to remarry or take a concubine. He planned to adopt a son from his brother Xu Zuhui, Duke of Wei, in the future.
Xu Zengshou is a flirtatious widower who is in his thirties and still wears fashionable pink Taoist robes. Not only that, he has recently become fascinated by all kinds of gems. He lifted the wide sleeves of the pink Taoist robe to reveal his right hand, with rings on all five fingers inlaid with five kinds of gems: red, blue, yellow, green and black. He looks exactly like Thanos five hundred years later.
Xu Zengshou waved his five ring-covered fingers and slapped them on the table. "How dare you bring two girls, An Cheng and Xian Ning, to a brothel? Is this the kind of place girls should go to?"
An Cheng and Xian Ning stood on the left and right of Xu Zengshou. "We insisted on coming here. It has nothing to do with the three brothers. We are almost bored to death in the palace all day long."
Since the two sisters of the Xu family married the two brothers of the Zhu family, the four children of the Prince of Yan's Mansion and the Prince of Dai are both cousins and cousins. They are naturally closer than other cousins. The two princesses of the Prince of Yan's Mansion both call the Prince of Dai Zhu Xunyan "brother".
Xu Zengshou said: "If you two feel bored, just go to your uncle's house. Your uncle will invite the best actors from the Jiaofang Bureau to perform. You can choose any play you want. Isn't it more comfortable than listening to plays in brothels?"
But the Duke of Wei’s mansion is not as lively as a brothel. The two princesses thought so in their hearts and said, “Yes, we remember it and will never dare to do it again.”
The plump young man was none other than Zhu Gaochi, the prince of Yan. He wanted to change the subject to avoid being scolded by his uncle, so he asked Xu Zengshou, "Uncle, who was that Mr. Hu just now? Even someone of your status treated him with great respect."
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it. As soon as Xu Zengshou was mentioned, he got even angrier. "Mr. Hu, the biological father of the concubine Hu Shanggong, has always been low-key and never touches other people's money. You took five taels of silver and insisted on giving it to him. Isn't it shameful? Hu Shanggong is hosting a talent show to choose a wife for you. If she knew that you bullied her biological father and chose a silly woman for you, you would regret it too late."
He is actually the father of Concubine Hu
The five pink-clad boys were stunned.
The tall young man was Zhu Gaoxu, the second son of Prince Yan. He felt very regretful and couldn't believe it. "That Hu Yuanwai and Hu Shanggong are nothing alike. Hu Shanggong was so majestic in the palace. We were studying in the main hall and were very respectful when we occasionally met her. We didn't dare to be rude. But this Hu Yuanwai was ordinary and even a little cowardly. Is he really his biological son?"
Xu Zengshou was so angry that he waved his five-ring Thanos hand and slapped his nephew again, "Nonsense."
The author has something to say: Naughty kids will have their own way of dealing with naughty kids.
There is a 100-point quiz tonight. It is super simple and will be given to the first reader who answers correctly.
Excuse me, in the Marvel Universe, how many gems does Thanos wear on his hands