Sister Arei spoke up and said, let alone a few clocks, even a few mountains of gold would be no problem.
Zhu Zhanji had just given a clock to A Lei, and then he brought gifts to show his support to his uncle Mu Xin who had sprained his ankle.
Mu Xin slipped on the scented oil and fell hard. His ankle was swollen like a pig's hoof and he was recuperating in the princess's mansion. He just said that he accidentally fell and deliberately concealed the truth to avoid being discovered that he was secretly monitoring A Lei.
The son-in-law Mu Xin has always maintained a neutral stance. When the Eastern Palace was hit by the controversy over the deposed crown prince and was surrounded by enemies, Mu Xin and the Mu family did not add insult to injury, which was already rare and precious. Hearing that the son-in-law had sprained his ankle, the crown prince asked the crown prince to go to the princess's mansion in person to send her care.
Mu Xin: Thank you!
Looking at his uncle lying in bed, Zhu Zhanji was secretly happy, but he didn't show it on his face. He showed concern and regret, but he was treacherous. He continued to swing his 40-meter-long sword to stab his uncle's pain point: "Alas, the prince consort's feet are badly swollen. It seems that he will not be able to recover before the princess's memorial day. What should we do?"
Mu Xin: I can bear it!
In order to avoid exposing her investigation into Arei, Mu Xin had no choice but to swallow her bitterness and remain silent.
However, the fourth son of the Mu family is no pushover - after all, he was a ruthless man who sucked boogers when he was a child. Oil was smeared on the soles of his feet that day. He openly claimed that he fell in the mansion, but secretly sent his confidants to the restaurant to investigate. The restaurant had just opened in the morning, so how could it be such a coincidence that oil stains were accidentally spilled on the ground
What's more, when the waiter led him into the private room, they both stepped over the door one after the other and neither of them fell. When the waiter closed the door and went down to serve the dishes, he also did not fall. How come he saw A Lei coming out of the foreign goods shop through the window and slipped on the oil stain when he rushed over to follow him
There must be someone who wants to harm me.
Moreover, since the attack took place in such a short time, it should not be the guests on the first floor, but the guests on the second floor. Mu Xin sent his trusted confidant to give the waiter a reward and asked him to recall the guests upstairs that morning.
The waiter said confidently that there were only two guests upstairs at the time, one fell down, and the other ordered a table of dishes, ate only a crab bun and left in a hurry. And he arrived just after the guest who fell down.
The customer who achieved the freedom of the crab roe bun was a young, handsome, thin and tall boy.
The waiter even sighed, "He is so thin and eats so little, he is even more gentle than a girl."
When Mu Xin heard the guest's appearance, the first person that came to his mind was the Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji.
It was the eldest grandson of the emperor who did it. He ran into Zhu Zhanji in a foreign goods store that day. He also wanted to buy glasses...
Mu Xin felt as if he had accidentally discovered some secret, so he asked his confidant to find out whether the Crown Prince had any contact with the Hu family recently.
The confidant soon got the news that the Crown Prince had sent a clock to Hu's house.
Boys and girls, childhood sweethearts, and the usually elegant and harmless Crown Prince always accidentally poke his sore spots... With all these doubts combined together, what is there that Mu Xin, who once loved, doesn't understand
The Crown Prince regarded him as his love rival and thought that he had bad intentions towards Arei.
Well, Mu Xin used to feel that he knew too little, but now he feels that he knows too much.
In order to avoid being targeted by the Crown Prince and getting into trouble again, Mu Xin decided not to follow A Lei anymore and wait for her second brother's reply wholeheartedly.
It is said that while Arei was dismantling clocks at home, she developed a strong interest in mechanical axle brakes. She simply dismantled all the large clocks given by the Crown Prince. Every time she dismantled a part, she drew it on paper and recorded the order.
She found that the grandfather clock relied on a wound spring to keep turning automatically, with each tick representing one second. The minute hand made one circle and the hammer-like pendulum swung once. Are thought of the large ships built by the Baochuan Factory, and thought that if this kind of mechanical axle was installed in the ship and the oars at the end were replaced with a pendulum, the ship could be rowed automatically without the need for manual or wind-powered sailing.
Why not build a boat as big as a table to give it a try? A Lei found a new goal and started working. He rolled up his sleeves, bought a complete set of carpenter's tools, and cut wood and spliced mechanical axles every day. He was so busy that he had no time to eat.
After Hu Shanwei saw Mu Chun off, she was very busy with work - a new group of Korean women had come to the palace. She had to settle these women who had come from afar in the palace.
The Ming Dynasty has decided to move its capital to Beijing, so it must keep its neighbor Korea in good stead. There must not be any rebellion like Jiaozhi, otherwise
Those ministers who opposed the relocation of the capital would refuse to move it on the grounds that the capital was unsafe.
Of course, Emperor Yongle would never directly tell the real reason why these Korean women entered the palace. Two years ago, in the ninth year of Yongle, Emperor Yongle sent the Korean eunuch Haishou to Korea to select tribute women, and also issued a verbal imperial decree, saying:
"Last year, the women you sent here were fat, skinny, or short, none of them were very good. But because your king respected them, those who were given titles of concubine were given titles of concubine, those who were given titles of beauty were given titles of beauty, and those who were given titles of concubine were given titles of concubine. Now the king wants to find women to marry, so you can have two at most, or one at least, and bring them in."
Of course, Hu Shanwei had seen the large number of Korean concubines in the palace. All of them had dignified looks and elegant manners. For example, Concubine Quan Xianfei, who played the flute very well, was the best among them. None of them were "fat or numb". These were just excuses.
After a year of selection and a long journey, this group of tribute girls finally came to Beijing with the Korean delegation. They wore bright and fluffy ponytail skirts, and the wide petticoats woven from ponytails inside the skirts made the people inside look like flowers in a vase.
Most of the girls in Emperor Yongle's harem were Korean girl groups. Now another group of Korean girl groups has come in. The spectators who don't know the truth think that Emperor Yongle likes this kind of girl groups.
The King of Chu liked thin waists, and there were many starving people in the palace. The king's preferences were the driving force of fashion, and people followed the example of Korean women and used horsetail petticoats under their skirts, as if there was a fistful of slings hidden under their skirts.
It started with women, and later even men learned to do the same by fiddling with their skirts. When the hems of their skirts became bigger, they walked with the wind in their step, looking more majestic and impressive.
There were more than 30 Korean women in this group, and there were also about 40 young eunuchs who had been castrated in Korea to supplement the eunuch team.
Hu Shanwei counted the roster of new entrants to the palace. Most of them were daughters of Korean officials of the yangban class, and half of them were daughters of big Korean businessmen. Although their status was not as high as that of the daughters of officials, their families were wealthy and had trade with the Ming Dynasty. After preliminary communication, it was found that the daughters of these big businessmen were as eloquent as the daughters of officials of the yangban class, and could speak, listen, read and write fluent Chinese.
It was said to be trade, but in fact it was also providing intelligence about Korea. If Emperor Yongle wanted to ensure the success of moving the capital, he had to stabilize Korea and cast a wide net in Korea. As long as someone was close to the Ming Dynasty and willing to be the eyes and ears of the Ming Dynasty, their daughters would have the opportunity to be selected into the Ming Dynasty court.
The Ming Dynasty's response was to confer official titles and improve their social status. If they were officials of the Yangban of Korea, their family members would be promoted first. Having a Ming Dynasty concubine in the family was political capital for the family.
If he was not an official of the Yangban class but a commoner, such as Lu, one of the members of the female group entering the palace this time, whose father was a big Korean businessman, he was ambitious and wanted to emulate Lu Buwei in the Warring States Period and use offering beauties to gain political capital and complete class improvement.
Lu was successfully selected for the women's group, and her father was granted the title of Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple. Although it was just a nominal position without real power, under the current situation in Korea where class barriers were rigid and it was difficult to break down class barriers, the Lu family jumped from merchants to fifth-rank officials. From then on, the two-class officials of Korea did not dare to put on airs and blackmail the Lu family. It could be said that they were rising like a rocket.
However, for Hu Shanwei, who managed the harem, the bigger the forest, the more birds there were, and it was not as easy to manage as before. She did not discriminate against women from business families - she herself was the daughter of a bookseller, and her family was an ordinary merchant.
It's just that the backgrounds of this group of Korean girls entering the palace are too diverse and messy, which makes them a little different from the previous Korean concubines who were uniform, humble and pleasing to the eye, and almost cut from the same mold.
You are the worst class I have ever taught.
There are too many people, and it’s hard to lead the team.
Hu Shanwei looked at the roster and went to the Yanx Palace to find Concubine Zhang.
Concubine Zhang's elder brother, Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, was ordered to lead the southern expedition army to Jiaozhi again. Emperor Yongle gave many rewards to the Zhang family of Duke Yingguo and Concubine Zhang.
However, Concubine Zhang was not happy. She was looking at the big tree outside the window with a lonely look. A strong wind blew, shaking the tree. A leaf floated and fell on the windowsill.
Concubine Zhang picked up the yellow fallen leaves and looked at herself in the mirror. The beauty in the mirror was still youthful, with a well-proportioned figure and well-maintained. However, her belly was flat. She longed for a child, no matter whether it was a boy or a girl. She longed for a child with the emperor's blood to inherit.
In the past, Emperor Yongle personally led the army far away in Beijing, which was fine, but now that Emperor Yongle is back, she... she is still hungry.
She asked a female doctor, and she was told that she was in good health and had regular menstruation, which meant she was at the best age to conceive.
She never got pregnant, and the reason was hard to explain—Emperor Yongle didn't touch her.
According to the records of the female official Tongshi, after Emperor Yongle returned from the military campaign, he would summon Concubine Zhang about five times a month. Every time he slept with her, a grand ceremony of "Weimen's Bedroom" would be set up outside the Yanx Palace, with a crowd of people surrounding the palace, looking very impressive.
In Weimen's bedroom, it is only allowed to be displayed when the Empress of the Central Palace, Consort Zhang of the Eastern Palace, and Consort Quanxian of the Western Palace are in bed.
After the "sleeping ceremony" the next day, Emperor Yongle would also give some jewelry as a souvenir. These would be copied into the Tongshi archive as evidence of sleeping together, to avoid the situation where the emperor would not recognize the person after pulling up the pants, and to ensure the interests of future royal heirs.
But only Concubine Zhang herself knew that every time she served the emperor, she slept with a quilt covering her. Nothing happened. She was just sleeping in the literal sense.
It has been more than half a year since the Emperor came back, and this has happened every month. Every time, Concubine Zhang has gone from being shy and expectant at the beginning to self-doubt. No matter how she maintains her skin like a peeled egg, her figure like a willow swaying in the wind, or has aphrodisiac foods like leeks or oysters for her midnight snack before going to bed, nothing works.
Emperor Yongle always fell asleep immediately, and her seductive glances at the blind man had no effect at all.
Emperor Yongle was not a fat prince with a docile personality, and Concubine Zhang was not a fierce woman like Crown Princess Zhang and Donggong Guo Liangdi who were used to surviving in adversity.
The fat prince could lie down obediently, like a ball of cotton that could be rolled or flattened as he pleased, and let the Crown Princess and Di Guo Liangdi take advantage of him and play tricks on him. He also cooperated with the women in getting pregnant and having babies, and generously scattering seeds.
Emperor Yongle was a ruthless man who was ready to seize the world. He had an aura of majesty without even getting angry. Even when he was asleep, he was inviolable, like a sword. Even someone as noble as Concubine Zhang would not dare to touch her partner like the Crown Princess did.
According to the records of Tongshi, another concubine of Korean descent, Consort Gwon Hyeon, from the West Palace, also slept with the emperor about five times a month, and each time she did so, she performed the etiquette of the Emperor's bedroom in the Changchun Palace.
Every time Concubine Quanxian served Emperor Yongle in bed, she would play the flute for him, because Empress Renxiao loved listening to her flute when she was alive.
After the sleepover, Emperor Yongle also gave Concubine Quan corresponding items.
The next day, as the mistress of the harem, Concubine Zhang had to accept an audience with Concubine Quan and give her gifts to show her her gratitude for her hard work.
When Concubine Zhang looked at Concubine Quan, who was gentle and affectionate, she couldn't help wondering: The emperor didn't really touch me, so what about Concubine Quan? Did the emperor touch her
This question could not be asked directly, one could only guess. However, Concubine Quan Xian's mouth was like a clam, impossible to pry open, she could only smile and nod, as gentle as a floating cloud in autumn.
Concubine Zhang couldn't figure it out, but Concubine Quan Xian had never gotten pregnant.
Next year, that is, in the twelfth year of Yongle, at the beginning of spring, the emperor would go north to lead an expedition in person, and would also supervise the construction of the new capital and imperial city in Beijing. It would take him about two or three years to come back.
How many two or three years can a woman withstand
It's autumn now, and I only have about four months left. If I can't sleep with the emperor in these four months, I will have to wait another two or three years, and my health will not be as good as it is now.
Concubine Zhang was anxious! She rubbed the yellow leaves in her hands unconsciously, with a calm face and anxious heart.
Now a group of Korean concubines have come to the palace, each of them is as fresh and tender as a flower bud in early spring. The emperor has ordered me to settle these newcomers well. I guess this kind of women is more to the emperor's taste
Just as she was thinking about it, Cao Siyan came in and said, "My Lady, Concubine Hu is here."
Concubine Zhang came to her senses, threw the crumpled leaves into the spittoon, and wiped the fragments from her nails with a handkerchief. She looked in the mirror, made sure her makeup was perfect and her clothes were neat, and said, "Announce."
Hu Shanwei came in, holding a roster, "My Lady, the thirty-seven Korean tribute girls have been placed in Chuxiu Palace. They will first be taught etiquette and palace rules. They are all proficient in Chinese, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and some of them are good at writing poetry. It is estimated that they will be able to complete their studies and leave Chuxiu Palace in less than a month."
"After they come out, they will be separated and assigned to different palaces to live. This is the distribution map I have drafted. Please review it, Your Majesty."
Concubine Zhang looked at the roster and the allocation map, and after a while, she said, "It seems a bit crowded. New and old, Concubine Quan Xian's Changchun Palace actually has thirteen concubines living in it?"
Hu Shanwei said: "The foundation collapse of the harem is getting more and more serious. At present, half of the six palaces in the east and west are dangerous buildings. The people have been evacuated and they are not habitable. The other half can be lived in, but some of the beams are crooked and tiles occasionally fall off. They are repaired all year round."
"The Imperial Concubine has instructed me to properly house them. I feel that those palaces with problems cannot be used for the newlyweds to live in, so I will arrange them in palaces with relatively stable foundations or palaces like the Yanxi Palace and the Changchun Palace, which have undergone a second round of foundation filling and have been well repaired."
"As for why Concubine Quan has arranged the most concubines, it is because they are all tribute girls from Korea, and their language and background are easier to communicate. Concubine Quan has been in the palace for many years and knows all the rules of the palace. She has always been cautious. With her in charge of these newcomers, it is easier for the imperial concubine to control them."
Today, the Ming Dynasty's harem can be described as dilapidated, especially the six east and west palaces, which used to be the deepest place in the center of Yanque Lake and had collapsed most severely.
In recent years, the Ming Dynasty has been dredging the Grand Canal, moving the capital, and supporting the eunuch Zheng He's voyages to the West. Even more terrible is that Emperor Yongle personally led the Northern Expedition. The money spent on each major event is almost like flowing water.
The crown prince was regent. He paid close attention to the agricultural and commercial economy and tried his best to encourage farmers and merchants in order to increase tax revenue and fill the national treasury. It was like fighting floods and providing disaster relief, plugging one big hole after another.
As important matters were to be dealt with, the repair of the palace buildings was put at the end and was put off again and again. Originally, the emperor had returned from the expedition this year, and the prince had finally got some extra money, and wanted to renovate his father's harem. However, Chen Jikuan of Jiaozhi rebelled, and the Ming Dynasty had to march south to quell the rebellion. Wars are the most expensive, so the prince had to give up the idea of repairing the palace, and exchanged the extra money for military supplies such as firearms and food.
Just make do with this for now!
Concubine Zhang looked at the densely packed allocation map and said, "What Hu Shanggong said makes sense. The harem is short of housing. However, the royal family has its own dignity. It's a bit inappropriate to have such a crowded place. Is there no room to live in in the palace?"
Hu Shanwei thought for a moment and said, "There are existing ones. The foundations of the East and West Five Buildings of the Qianqing Palace behind the East and West Six Palaces were originally on the lakeside. They are relatively stable and have not collapsed yet. They can be lived in after a little cleaning. However, the East and West Five Buildings were previously where the underage princes of the palace lived, so they are a bit remote."
There were no underage princes in the palace. The only older grandson, Zhu Zhanji, had his own palace for the crown prince. The other grandsons were either still breastfeeding or still teething, and all lived with their mothers in the East Palace. Therefore, the East and West Palaces had been empty.
The author has something to say: There are not enough houses to live in, so build some affordable housing~
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Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!