Hu Shanwei stood on East Chang Street and recited the first palace rule with the other female officials. After they were sure that they would never forget it, Fan Gongzheng took them back to the Palace Administration Office to teach them the rest of the palace rules.
Hu Shanwei used to be a copyist. While Fan Gongzheng was talking, she took notes with a pen and paper, writing very fast, just able to keep up with Fan Gongzheng's pace. After a whole day, the notes on Hu Shanwei's desk had piled up as thick as a brick.
She summed it up herself and said that the so-called palace rules, in other words, are "Several Ways of Diing in the Ming Palace".
In the past, when people were common people, only crimes such as murder and arson would result in death penalty, but in the palace, many common things would lead to murder.
For example, if you are sick, you need to see a doctor. When the women in the harem see a doctor, whether they are concubines or little princesses or princes, they can only have the eunuchs go outside the palace to describe their symptoms to the imperial physician, who will then prescribe medicine. If the condition is too serious, the patient will be moved to the Emperor's Qianqing Palace, where the imperial physicians will feel the patient's pulse and examine him.
The doctors of the Imperial Hospital were absolutely not allowed to enter the harem, otherwise the doctors or the people who invited them to the harem would be beheaded! The only people who could treat patients in the harem were the female doctors or the medical women in the pharmacy of the Imperial Food Bureau.
For example, superstitious activities such as burning incense and worshiping Buddha, and beheading people in the palace.
For example, if a letter was delivered outside the palace, the writer, the deliverer, and anyone who knew about it would all be beheaded.
…
Fan Gongzheng talked for a whole day, explaining each point one by one, and female officials such as Hu Shanwei listened without blinking, because if they missed any one, they would lose their lives.
As the sun was setting, Fan Gongzheng said, "That's all for today. You are all well-educated and intelligent people. In fifteen days, you will be tested on the palace rules. You must not make any mistakes. If you fail the test, you will be expelled from the palace immediately."
Everyone was startled, and everyone looked worried, feeling insecure.
Fan Gongzheng looked relaxed. "Leaving the palace is not a punishment, it is to save your lives. If you are not familiar with the palace rules, you will be beheaded sooner or later. So if you regret entering the palace now, it is not too late to leave."
After listening to a day's lecture, the female officials felt as if they had walked back and forth through the gates of hell a hundred times!
When Fan Gong was leaving the classroom, all the female officials stood up and bid farewell to their teacher.
Hu Shanwei was tidying up the palace rules notes on the table, and a group of female officials gathered around him.
Someone spoke directly: "I write slowly, so I'm afraid there are omissions. I would like to ask Ms. Hu to lend me her notes so that I can check and fill in the gaps."
There were also female officials who praised her first with sweet words: "Ms. Hu writes very quickly, and we are far behind her."
Hu Shanwei thought to himself, I am just a copyist, I don’t have any other skills except that I write fast, but I never thought it would become an advantage.
Hu Shanwei was not a stingy person. He said, "If you don't mind my ugly handwriting, just take the notes. We can check and fill in the gaps together and share what we have. Just return them to me in the evening."
After the class, the young palace maids led the new female official to the designated room to rest.
The new female officials lived in a row of corridors on the west side of the Six Western Palaces. Each of them had a small room, which was divided into two rooms by screens and treasures: a bedroom and a study.
On the bunk bed in the bedroom, brand new bedding and clothes for all seasons were piled up like a small mountain.
There are three sets of clothes for each of the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. The fabrics are all top-quality clothes that Hu Shanwei has never worn before.
In spring, there are gourd brocade and hundred flowers brocade; in summer, there are crimson gauze and silk; in autumn, there are jade rabbit osmanthus brocade and grape cotton; in Double Ninth Festival, there are chrysanthemum and dogwood brocade; in the east, there are snowflake, plum blossom and bergamot brocade.
In addition, there are auspicious clothes such as Wanshou brocade for celebrating birthdays, Xizi brocade for celebrating the birth of princes and princesses, and mourning clothes made of white coarse linen used at funerals.
In addition, there are two sets of official uniforms, imitating the costumes of female officials in the Song Dynasty. They are purple round-necked, narrow-sleeved flowered silk robes embroidered with small sunflower branches and tied with gold threads. They are worn with a red skirt with a pearl-stitched gold belt, and black boots embroidered with small gold flowers.
The headdress was a black gauze hat commonly seen among officials, without brim on the sides, and with gauze flowers pinned on both sides that were lifelike.
There was also a silver-gilt jade belt with a peony flower, hanging loosely around the waist, decorating the official robe to show majesty.
This beautiful and solemn official robe dispelled Hu Shanwei's fear of palace rules: no matter what, as a female official, she would have a monthly salary and could support herself, and others would not dare to look down on her.
The students in Bai Kan said that she was too weak, felt sorry for her misfortune, and hated her for not fighting.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to resist, but how can a woman with no money and no status resist
How could she be willing to clean the toilet for her stepmother? If she didn't, her stepmother would find a reason to scold her for being unfilial. Even if the neighbors knew that her stepmother was too harsh and wrong, from the perspective of etiquette and law, disobeying parents and not obeying parents is unfilial!
Based on this rule, even if her stepmother beat her to death, she would not be punished. But if she dared to fight back and hurt her stepmother, she would be beaten with a hundred sticks at the lightest and beheaded at the worst.
Hu Shanwei didn't want to die with his stepmother. This stupid woman was not worth her life.
Hu Shanwei put the black gauze hat of a female official on his head. The palace rules are not scary, but the talents are scary.
As I was thinking, someone knocked on the door.
Hu Shanwei took off her black hat and opened the door. It was the old palace servant who had examined her this morning.
"I'm delivering the luggage to Ms. Hu." The old palace maid opened the box and took out an ironed old dress, an iron army badge, and a pair of shiny sheepskin boots.
Compared to the gorgeous new clothes and official robes piled up like a mountain on the bunk bed, this set of old clothes she wore when entering the palace looked like pickled plums taken out of a pickle jar.
Hu Shanwei hurriedly asked the old palace servant to sit down and poured tea. "Thank you for helping me iron my clothes and polish my shoes. You have helped me so much, but I don't even know your name."
The old palace maid didn't bother to be polite with her and sat down to drink tea and chat.
"I am an orphan with no name or surname. I was a slave girl who was sold here and there. I called myself whatever my master called me. Later, I worked as a maid in the Emperor's residence, Prince Wu's Mansion. The steward casually called me Meixiang, so I called myself Meixiang."
At this time, young palace maids or old palace servants from the next room came in one after another to pay their respects, and other new female officials were given rewards, such as gold and silver ear picks, hairpins and other decent small items.
Outside the door, there were voices of thanks from the palace servants, thanking the new female official for the reward.
Hu Shanwei's cheeks turned slightly hot. She was penniless. If Bai Kanjian hadn't given her a pair of shoes, she would have probably made a fool of herself on the spot. How could she have the money to reward Meixiang
Meixiang is very good at talking. She picked up the teacup and said, "You are an official. I am the lowest palace maid. I am just a few years older and eat a few more bowls of rice than others. Some people call me nanny. You treat me to tea. This is the best reward."
Having said that, Hu Shanwei still felt a little embarrassed.
Meixiang put down her teacup, took out a book that was almost torn apart, and said, "Ms. Hu was admitted by her own ability. The imperial palace is a treasure trove. There is no shortage of gold and silver treasures in this palace, but there is a shortage of talent. If you teach me to read, it will be a reward for me."
Hu Shanwei took a look and found it was a book called "Thousand Characters" for enlightenment. He said, "How difficult is this? I will teach you. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me."
Meixiang was overjoyed and knelt down on the spot to pour tea and pay homage to her master. Hu Shanwei was puzzled by the ecstasy in Meixiang's eyes, "Is it difficult to learn to read in the palace?"
Meixiang said, "It's not difficult. There are female officials in the palace who teach the palace maids regularly. The palace maids pass the exams, and those who perform well are called female scholars. Female scholars are assigned to six bureaus and one department to assist the female officials, do miscellaneous work, and then pass the exams and be promoted to eighth-rank female historians like you. So if you can't read in this palace, you will never get ahead."
"But, every time the palace opens a school, each palace nominates smart young palace maids who are in their teens. People like us who are in our thirties or forties have long lost hope and can only study on our own when we have time."
Meixiang held the book in her hand lovingly. "After years of self-study, I can write and read all the characters in the Thousand Character Classic, but if you break them up and put them together, and add some nonsense, I can't understand it. I beg Ms. Hu to teach me how to read."
Hu Shanwei was in awe of Meixiang. She was forty years old, but still had a thirst for knowledge and a desire to improve herself. Why shouldn’t I work hard
"Okay, I promise you, I will teach you to read whenever I have time. I will first teach you the Book of Songs, and then the Analects. Many allusions in the books come from these. Only if you read these two books, you can understand the Four Books."
"It's just..." Hu Shanwei also had something to ask for, "I'm new here and I know nothing about the palace. You're an old man from King Wu's palace, so I'll need your guidance in the future."
Meixiang patted her chest and said, "Leave it to me."
Hu Shanwei asked: "Why did the emperor erect iron tablets on the two long streets of the East and West Palaces, saying 'Eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Those who interfere will be beheaded'? I found that the tablets were erected not long ago and there is not a trace of rust yet. Fan Sizheng asked us to recite such a simple content a hundred times - what happened in the palace?"
Meixiang showed an admiring look, "Ms. Hu is very attentive. Others only see one thing, but you see ten. This is how it happened..."
It turns out that Emperor Hongwu hated eunuchs. Before he became emperor, he once said to his ministers in the Prince of Wu's Palace: "I have seen in historical records that the end of the Han and Tang dynasties were all ruined by eunuchs and could not be saved. I have always lamented it... But when you are building a country, you should not use villains. This is a deep warning from the saints. They can only be used to clean the palace, give orders, and pass on orders."
Emperor Hongwu was afraid that eunuchs would harm the country, so he only allowed them to do simple tasks such as cleaning and issuing summons. However, in the palace, eunuchs had to be used, and their power grew. Finally, in the tenth year of Hongwu, that is, three years ago, an old eunuch who had served as a pens and inkman for many years, was self-righteous and discussed state affairs in front of Emperor Hongwu.
Emperor Hongwu was furious and ordered her to return home and never enter the palace again.
Emperor Hongwu issued an order prohibiting eunuchs from being literate. If they were illiterate, they would not be able to read, understand memorials to the emperor, understand state affairs, and therefore would not be able to interfere in politics.
Hearing this, Hu Shanwei immediately understood the reason why eunuchs who read books privately would be beheaded in her summary of "Several Ways of Death in the Ming Palace". It turned out that the iron monument on the East-West Long Street was mainly to prevent eunuchs from causing harm to the country.
Mei Xiang said, "The Emperor uses female officials to control the eunuchs. All the paperwork in the harem is handed over to the six bureaus and one department. The eunuchs only take care of the affairs of the previous dynasty, and the female officials are responsible for all matters in the harem. In the third year of Emperor Hongwu's reign, there were only 38 female officials in the six bureaus and one department, but this year, including the newcomers like you, there are a total of 288 female officials."
"Even..." Mei Xiang whispered in his ear, "Even the emperor's seal is kept by the female official of the Imperial Clothing Bureau. In the past, when the emperor wanted to use the seal, the eunuch had to come to the harem to ask for the female official. The female official would check and verify that it was correct before she would take the seal to stamp it."
It turned out that a female official held the imperial seal! Throughout history, female officials in all dynasties had never had such great power.
Hu Shanwei suddenly felt that his horizons had been broadened and he realized that his career still had great potential.
Although the risks are great, there are at least a hundred ways to die as a female official in the Ming Dynasty court, but the prospects are also great!