Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 238: Choosing a Concubine is Not Easy (Part 3)
"Chengzong, you should go to Datong in person and bring your niece to Beijing."
"Father, which niece?"
"She is the daughter of your eldest brother's wife's cousin, named Youyi."
"Ah? Father, that little sister is only 12 years old now, right? Isn't it a little too early for you to let her participate in the selection of concubines?"
"Bah! She will be 13 this November. Do you think the selection of a concubine for the Crown Prince can be done in a month or two? Since the Crown Prince left Nanjing, has he not done some major events every year? Even if he does nothing this year and focuses on selecting a concubine, it will take until next year. Won't your niece be 14 by then? Didn't the current Empress Dowager enter the palace to serve the late Emperor at the age of 14?"
"Oh, I see. Then my son will ask the team officer for leave later."
The two people in the conversation were the former Datong General Ma Gui and his youngest son Ma Chengzong.
Although he was called the youngest son, Ma Chengzong was actually in his early forties that year, only four years younger than Li Shizhong.
But who made the Li family follow the crown prince so early? So at this moment, Li Shizhong is the vice president of this military academy, actually in charge of the work. And Ma Chengzong is just an ordinary student.
Yes, students. From the day this military academy was planned, all the generals knew very well that this was where the crown prince would train his own officers. Without this experience, they would never be able to make a name for themselves in the Ming military.
Therefore, when Ma Gui was invited to be a professor at the college, the only condition he put forward was to allow his 40-year-old youngest son to enter the school as a student.
"Chengzong, you must know that the Crown Prince likes us warriors. Although the rule of not allowing us to recruit servants does make us uncomfortable. But in any case, it is much better than those civil officials who owe us wages all day long, and require us to bow down to them at ordinary times, and give blind orders on the battlefield. Therefore, following the Crown Prince closely is the key to whether our Ma family can continue to prosper in the future!"
"Yes, father. Over the years, I have watched Li Shizhong and the Crown Prince accomplish great things. I am envious of him. In the past six months since I entered school, I have learned about the history of China, the bravery of our military predecessors, and the current world situation in various cultural courses. I feel that I have lived in vain in the first half of my life. I only regret that I met the Crown Prince too late and let the Li family get ahead of me! If my son could have become the Crown Prince's bodyguard more than nine years ago, his achievements today would not be worse than that of Li Shizhong!"
"So, if we want to catch up with the Li family, in addition to serving the Crown Prince well in the future and overwhelming the Li family with military merits on the battlefield, we must also find a way to become related to the Crown Prince."
"I understand your deep meaning, but father, can my eldest sister-in-law's niece succeed?"
"Hehe, your niece has a high nose bridge, big eyes, thick lips, and she didn't have her feet bound. She has been running around in the military camp since she was a child, so she has a heroic air. If it were a sick man like Crown Prince Huiren, he would definitely not even look at your niece. But the Crown Prince is different. Maybe His Highness likes girls with a healthy figure like this.
And although your niece was born in a military family, she didn’t read much. But today’s Empress Dowager was illiterate before she entered the palace.”
"Well... Father, what you said makes sense. However, I have been in Beijing for more than half a year, and I have heard that in many commoner families in Northern Zhili, if their daughters are pretty, they are trained to enter the palace from a young age. All kinds of etiquette, gait... uh, gait, hahaha~~"
"Understand? The emperor's decree clearly states that only women with natural feet can be selected. Just based on this one point, all those who specially train their daughters to enter the palace are finished! If you ask me, the prince is still insightful! What's the point of a woman with three-inch golden lotus feet and wobbling when she walks? Only women with strong bodies can give birth to healthy children. To be disrespectful, after Emperor Chengzu, the high mortality rate of royal offspring is also closely related to foot binding!"
"I understand. But father, the emperor's decree also clearly stated that this time, the crown prince will be selected a concubine, one principal wife and two concubines, and neither of them must be from a noble family, a civil official, or a military family."
"How could I have given birth to such an honest son like you! A family of generals! What is a family of generals? Dong Li and Xi Ma are of course families of generals, but your eldest sister-in-law's family is just an ordinary military household, how can they be considered a family of generals?"
"Oh, I see. Then my son will ask for leave right away."
"Forget it. I'll go with you. If what I guessed is correct, the Du family, the Li family, the Ma family, the He family, etc., are all thinking about sending their distant relatives to the palace! If I don't go with you to ask for leave, I'm afraid your team officer will make things difficult for you."
…
Just when the generals felt that they finally had a chance because of the hard condition of "natural feet" in selecting concubines, on the other side, in the residence of Li Sancai, the chief minister of the cabinet.
"Hahaha, Cunzhi's visit brings honor to my humble home."
"Haha, Daofu actually dared to open the main door to welcome me. This frankness is really touching."
"I always do things in an open manner. There is nothing that cannot be said. Come in, Cunzhi."
The so-called Cunzhi is of course Gao Panlong, one of the Eight Gentlemen of Donglin.
The Donglin Party was in extreme misery at this time. The Donglin Academy, the spiritual home of the Donglin Party, was also forced to close.
Zhu Youdong did not send the Jinyiwei to seal up Donglin Academy: the Shiwen incident had already brought Donglin Academy to the brink of closure, and the Gelsemium case was the final blow. Now the entire Donglin Academy was deserted, so why did he need to send the Jinyiwei to seal it up? Wouldn't it be better to just let everyone visit freely?
Of the eight gentlemen in the heyday of Donglin Academy, Gu Xiancheng has died of illness, and the other six have also scattered. Only Gao Panlong still insists on living in Wuxi, and still insists on doing simple cleaning in Donglin Academy every day...
Of course, someone reported this behavior to Zhu Youdong. After learning about this, Zhu Youdong just smiled slightly, waved his hand and stopped paying attention: No political faction in the Ming Dynasty can be wiped out, even the Donglin faction, some seeds must be left. This is the most basic quality of an emperor.
"Cunzhi, what can I do for you this time?" Although he shouted loudly at the door that nothing could be told to anyone, after leading Gao Panlong into his house, Li Sancai still found a secret room and sent away all the servants.
"I'll be frank with you. This time, the Crown Prince is choosing a concubine. Please help me and let the person I choose enter the palace. I don't need a principal concubine, but a concubine is fine."
"Hiss~~Cunzhi, you guys are still thinking about the Crown Prince..."
"What are you talking about? I had no idea what Meng Bai (Zhao Nanxing) and the others did . If I had known, I would have tried my best to stop them! After all, the purpose of Donglin gathering people to give lectures is to save the people of the world, not to kill the king and rebel."
"Cunzhi is one of the few honest people in Donglin. I believe what you say."
After offering tea, Li Sancai said, "Tell me about that woman. What is your purpose in sending her into the palace?"
"This girl's surname is Liu, her name is Yun, and she is 14 years old this year. She is a distant relative of mine. Her father is a student who has not passed the imperial examination for many years. Because of the poverty of the family, her feet were bound less and less every day, and finally she didn't bind them at all, so her feet are also natural. She is very beautiful and has been studying with her father since she was a child. Although she is not good at playing the zither or painting due to her poverty, she is a rare talent in calligraphy and Go. The purpose of sending her to the palace is, of course, to hope that someone can blow pillow wind to Your Highness: There are many problems in the Ming Dynasty, and it is right for the grandson to rectify it, but it cannot rely solely on military men and a group of lucky ministers, but there must be a group of upright gentlemen! Daofu, I have carefully studied the Jinling Daily for many years, and carefully observed and figured out the deep meaning of the grandson's various actions. I admit from the bottom of my heart that the grandson will be a wise ruler. But if the grandson did not have us, I am afraid that his highest achievement would be no more than Emperor Wu of Han!"
"Hmm..." Pulling his beard, Li Sancai said, "Cunzhi, according to the rules set by the Imperial Clan Bureau, this selection of concubines is divided into six rounds. The first five rounds are the county, prefecture, province, Ministry of Rites and Imperial Clan Bureau, the Queen Mother and the Emperor's Empress, and the Crown Princess Huiren, and the final one is decided by the Crown Prince himself. Although your momentum is not as great as before, I think, with the legacy of Shushi (Gu Xiancheng), it will be no problem for Miss Liu to pass the first three rounds."
"Yes, Daofu must find a way to help us pass the fourth or fifth round. Even if it's the sixth round, with Daofu's status as the Prime Minister..."
"Hey, Cunzhi, you've been away from the court for too long. You don't even know that the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty is not as useful as before."
"What does Daofu mean by this?"
"...The State Council system allows the Crown Prince to directly connect with the heads of the six ministries. For all matters, each ministry must prepare solutions ... Wasn't the greatest power of the cabinet in the past to draft proposals? With this system in place, when it comes to military and national affairs, why would the cabinet need to draft proposals? In the past, when the emperor did not attend court, the cabinet would take the lead in handling matters that required cooperation from various ministries, but now the Crown Prince arranges the work on the spot, so what is the need for the cabinet? The current cabinet has almost become an advisory agency. Not to mention that Wen Tiren is always watching me from behind."
"Ah? Daofu, this is no small matter. Donglin is no longer called a party now, and the people behind you...aren't they panicking?"
"Well... well, I stood on the side of the Crown Prince in the so-called case of alienating the royal family a few years ago, and I also have a certain friendship with the Queen Mother. I will do my best to handle this matter."
