Song Xiance stopped Li Yan and whispered: "Li Yan, the emperor is close to the age of no confusion, and there is no prince yet, this is a major matter that my subjects of the Dashun Dynasty are concerned about. Just now, the emperor listened to Wu Ruyi's performance, read a book of imitation characters, and had already moved to adopt the Fei Palace people as concubines. This is a great thing for my Dashun Dynasty, I am the deputy military division, and I am the secret minister of the imperial court, so I should persuade the emperor to summon Fei, why don't you say a word?"

Li Yan smiled: "The foolish brother has received the favor of His Majesty, has been treated as a national soldier, and has no way to repay him, so don't he care about the great affairs of His Majesty not having a prince? Besides, when he set off for Chang'an, about the matter of looking for a concubine for the emperor, he had passed down the advice of the queen's decree, how could the foolish brother dare to forget it? It's just ......?"

"How's that for you?"

"My brother has a little shallow opinion, and he only dares to say it to his brother, I hope not to let my colleagues know about it, and don't let the emperor know. ”

"You and I have been confidants for many years, and we have nothing to talk about, please speak up quickly. ”

"In my humble opinion, when the emperor first came to Beijing, he should take Anbang Jianye as an urgent task, first of all, to show the world that all the harsh policies of the previous dynasty should be abolished, and more importantly, from now on, the three days will be abolished, and will never be levied again; secondly, he will call on the officials of the former Ming Dynasty in Beijing and all over the country, as long as they are sincere and obedient, and they will be hired as usual, but the corrupt officials must be severely punished and not loaned, and they will use their family wealth to help the hungry people. ”

"Although Beijing was the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty, there were many poor people under the hub. On weekdays, Jiangnan's wealth and rice grain rely on Caoyun to supply Beijing. Recently, the Cao Yun has been cut off, and the Beijing official family can still support it for a while. Poor people have no food at home, and they will immediately have the worry of hunger. Although there are many difficulties in how to stabilize grain prices, provide relief to the poor, and reassure people's minds, there is still no time to delay. ”

"I also want to ask for a stable country and a hundred foundations, and we must recruit talents. Since ancient times, heroes who started a business can win the world immediately, but they can't rule the world immediately. Beijing is the world's audio-visual department, but also a place where talents gather, His Majesty to Beijing after the first urgent task should be to recruit wise men, is the so-called Zhou Gong spit feed, the world to the heart, today Your Majesty to Beijing will pay attention to the selection of concubines, although from the loyalty of the subordinates......"

Song Xiance shook his head, didn't let him finish his words, pulled him forward a few steps, and whispered: "There have been many good suggestions in the past few years, and my brother deeply agrees. On the way to Funiu Mountain, you wrote the letter in the Shenli place, discussing the situation in the world, and making suggestions to the Lord, according to Wanluo, to manage the Central Plains, establish the foundation, and plan the world. That letter, insightful, extraordinary, well-written, well-organized, quite like Lu Xuan's public discussion, is rare in modern times. Not only did my brother read it again and again, but he was also full of praise from the Lord. ”

However, my brother's grand plan and wisdom have not been put into practice, and they have become empty words. If we follow the proposed strategy, today our Dashun Righteous Army will not go on an expedition alone, so that you and I will not secretly worry about the joy of the whole army. For example, in Xi'an last November, when discussing whether the righteous master would quickly expedition to Youyan, there were only you and me among the ministers, and only Tian Yufeng among the military ministers. Today, I have entered Beijing, everyone is happy and excited, and the emperor may not be able to listen to other words, and it is not good to talk too much. ”

"Offering advice, the world is not decided, but the key to success or failure. There are some major events, you and I don't say anything, why don't you say it to Your Majesty and to all the people?"

Song Xiance was shocked in his heart, looked at Li Yan for a moment, and suddenly patted Li Yan on the shoulder with a relaxed attitude, and said with a smile: "The emperor and the generals are all on the rise, and the ministers are waiting for the emperor to ascend the throne and be promoted to the knighthood. At that time, you and I, as the chief and deputy military advisors, will have an unshirkable responsibility for success or failure, so we must naturally be loyal and advised. As for the emperor's early acceptance of a concubine, it is a trivial matter, why don't you go with the flow on such a trivial matter and be with the light?"

Li Yan also smiled, nodded and said, "Brother, please the world, what you say is very true. In fact, for the emperor's concubine, the younger brother is also very careful, this morning the younger brother was ordered to deal with the matter of Queen Yi'an out of the palace, and saw a palace maid with a different appearance, although in a panic, but calm demeanor, elegant manners. I asked Chen An, the eunuch in charge of Cining Palace, and knew that this palace maid's name was Dou Meiyi, and she was one of the best in the harem in terms of appearance, quite literate, and was a six-grade female official beside Empress Zhang, which was different from ordinary palace maids. ”

She asked to go out of the palace with Empress Yi'an to Zhang Guoji's mansion, and committed suicide calmly with the queen. Because the younger brother thought of finding a concubine for His Majesty, he did not agree to let her go out of the palace with Empress Yi'an. If His Majesty must choose a concubine among the current Rong Ma Xuan, Dou Meiyi may not be stronger than Fei Zhen'e. You should choose one of the two, so why rush to decide today?"

Song Xiance was suddenly happy: "Since you see that Dou Meiyi has outstanding talent and elegant manners, and is worthy of the choice of Dashun's harem, why don't you play Your Majesty?"

Li Yan said with a smile: "The reason why I am not in a hurry to play Your Majesty is that my brother thinks that His Majesty's selection of concubines should not be too hasty, and my brother does not want to leave a name for a beautiful woman who does not offer loyal words to the emperor. In the primary election, whether it was Fei Zhen'e or Dou Meiyi, in addition to the two of them, it was inevitable that there would still be widows in the palace. The ancients said that within ten steps, there must be fragrant grass, not to mention the city of Beijing? Once an edict was issued to select a concubine, in addition to the women in the palace, it was also necessary to carefully select among the women of innocent and good families in the city of Beijing. Why rush to decide?"

Song Xiance couldn't help laughing, and pulled Li Yan towards the Donghua Gate. Li Yan asked, "Why is Brother Ren laughing?"

Song Xiance said: "My brother feels the same way, but there is one thing that makes my brother laugh after thinking about it." ”

"What makes my brother laugh?"

"You saw a talented and beautiful woman in Ciqing Palace, which is worthy of being the choice of the harem, but you don't want to stay in the name of offering a beautiful woman to the emperor, and you don't want to play the emperor. This is where you are respectable and lovely, but it is also where you cannot be with the light in the rebels. In the past few years, you have become a thief who betrayed the imperial court, but you can't get rid of the eunuch son's anger and scholarly anger, how can you not make me laugh?"

Li Yan nodded and smiled. They immediately mounted their horses outside the Donghua Gate, and rushed to the Military Division's Mansion on Dengshi Street with a large group of civil and military retinues waiting outside the Donghua Gate.

For dinner, the imperial dining room still prepared a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes and dim sum for Li Zicheng, there were thirty or forty kinds, which were still richer than the formal banquets of the people. Li Zicheng frowned unconsciously, and asked Wang Ruifen, the head of the palace maid standing aside, "Is the head of the imperial dining room here?"

"Back to the emperor, he is waiting outside the palace. ”

"Call him in!"

The head of the imperial dining room was a middle-aged eunuch, who had not yet touched the temper of the new emperor, and came in in with trepidation, kneeling down and not daring to raise his head. Li Zicheng looked at him and said in a gentle tone: "From tomorrow onwards, don't prepare so many dishes for the imperial meal." I am well aware of the suffering of the people, and I do not want to see such waste in the palace. According to the original Ming Dynasty regulations, the emperor's imperial meal used thirty-four taels of silver every day, which was too wasteful. In the homes of the common people, it is not enough money to eat in a year. From tomorrow onwards, eight kinds of meat and vegetables will be enough for each imperial meal, plus a plate of chili juice. Has Chongzhen ever eaten mutton soup stewed buns and beef knife-cut noodles?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Emperor Chongzhen has never eaten. ”

"Ah, you probably haven't done it either. The imperial chef I brought from Chang'an will make it, and tomorrow I will ask them to cook these two Shaanxi meals, and you can learn from them. ”

"Slave obeys!"

After dinner, Li Zicheng rinsed his mouth and returned to the West Warm Pavilion of Wuying Hall to rest. Wu Ruyi came in, knelt in front of him and kowtowed, and said: "Emperor Qi, just now Niu Cheng sent someone into the palace and instructed the ministers to play Your Majesty, and tomorrow will hold the first morning court after entering Beijing." Because the military ministers were not familiar with the court, it was easy to mess up the shift too early, so he suggested that it be held at three o'clock in the hour. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Do you want to play music?"

"The prime minister said, this is the Chang Dynasty, there is no need to play music. However, other court ceremonies must act in accordance with the "Dashun Ritual System" formulated in Chang'an, in order to show the founding system of our Dashun Dynasty. Now the officials of the Li government are busy preparing. ”

Li Zicheng was worried that the generals really did not understand the court rituals, and there were many of them, so it was inevitable that they would make a joke when they saluted. He thought for a moment and said: "Tomorrow morning, the generals are busy with military affairs, so they don't have to come, as long as the ministers come to the early court." ”

Wu Ruyi asked, "Are the Marquis of Ru and the Marquis of Hao also exempt from the court?"

"Ruhou is in front of the civil and military officials, and he is not waiting to be the guard of the inner city of Beijing, maybe I will have something to ask after the early dynasty, so let them come to the early court too. ”

After Li Zicheng gave the order, seeing that Wu Ruyi was still kneeling on the ground and couldn't get up, he felt strange in his heart, and suddenly remembered the matter of the beautiful palace maid, and asked with a smile: "Ruyi, do you still have something to play?"

Wu Ruyi raised his head and said with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty has nothing to do tonight, can you summon that palace maid surnamed Fei?"

Li Zicheng's heart moved, and he said with a look of indifference: "Got it." ”

Wu Ruyi kowtowed and withdrew. For the first morning pilgrimage in Wuying Hall tomorrow, he had to assist the Li government and Honglu Temple to make a lot of preparations tonight, so he told Li Shuangxi a few words at Wuyingmen, and then hurried out of the palace. Among the important generals under Li Zicheng, Wu Ruyi did not have significant military exploits, nor was he outstanding, but with his loyalty to Li Zicheng, cautiousness, diligence and good popularity among the ministers of civil and military affairs, he won the appreciation of Li Zicheng and Empress Gao Guiying, and regarded him as a rare confidant.

Today, he happened to see Fei Zhen'e, and he hoped that this beautiful palace maid would be favored by the emperor and be favored. If Fei Zhen'e can give birth to a boy, he will be the crown prince, and he will be even more important because he has done a great good thing for Emperor Dashun. He understood that Fei Zhen'e could probably only be named a nobleman or a servant at first, but as long as she gave birth to a prince, she would be promoted to a concubine and a concubine, and then gradually promoted to a concubine and an imperial concubine.

When the crown prince inherits the throne in the future, today's Fei Palace people will be the Queen Mother of the Virgin Mary in the future. At that time, even if he was old, because of the favor of Our Lady, the glory and wealth of the family would be stable. Thinking like this, his steps were brisk, his brows were overjoyed, and his heart was extremely stretched.

Li Zicheng stopped for a moment in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Wuying Palace. A palace maid brought a cup of fragrant tea, bent down and put it on the table, uncovered the lid of the bowl, and said softly: "Please drink tea for the emperor!"

Li Zicheng casually glanced at the tea bowl, the tea was golden, with a light smoke, and the fragrance of hot tea was also exuded. Almost at the same time, he also glanced at half of the peach cheeks and cloud temples of the tea maid, and a smell of fat powder made his heart move. He originally maintained the respect of the emperor, but he couldn't help but glance at the palace maid who offered tea.

Wang Ruifen, the head of the palace maid, came to him and bowed down and said, "The emperor has been tired for a day, and there is nothing to do tonight, please go to the dormitory of Renzhi Hall to rest." ”

Li Zicheng nodded lightly and stood up from the dragon chair. But after all, he did not depart from the habit of the peasants, and glanced back at the tea bowl, and felt that it was a pity to pour it out, so he took it and drank it again. Wang Ruifen asked respectfully, "Does the emperor like to drink this kind of tea?"

Li Zicheng nodded and smiled slightly. Shaanxi does not produce tea, nor does it pay attention to tea drinking, so Li Zicheng has no knowledge of tea ceremony. But in order to maintain his status as emperor, he refused to ask more. Two palace maids led the way with two palace lanterns, and three or four palace maids followed behind, and he left the Wuying Palace and went to the dormitory surrounded by flowers and incense.

After Li Zicheng sat down in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Renzhi Palace, which was used as a temporary dormitory, a palace maid immediately presented a bowl of fragrant tea with a beautifully carved vermilion lacquered plum blossom tray. Wang Ruifen added incense to the bronze Boshan furnace on the red lacquer and gold high table, turned to him and asked softly, "Emperor, do you want to wash your feet?"

Li Zicheng remembered that he hadn't washed his feet for three or four days. Although the people of northern Shaanxi do not have the habit of bathing and washing their feet frequently, they are not comfortable after all. He glanced at Wang Ruifen's plump and white face, and unexpectedly met Wang Ruifen's bright eyes like autumn water, which made his heart move. He whispered, "Bring me the water for washing your feet!"

Wang Ruifen glanced at the palace maids standing behind. After a while, a palace maid brought a very short red sandalwood carved square table and placed it at Li Zicheng's feet, followed by a palace maid with a gold-plated copper basin and put it on the low table, and another palace maid who followed in held a dry white cotton towel and stood behind. Li Zicheng tried it with his hands, and the water for washing his feet was warm and suitable. He was about to take off his boots himself, when the two palace maids who brought Fang Ji and the gold-plated copper basin knelt down at the same time, took off their boots for him, and took off their white cloth socks for him.

Li Zicheng put his feet in the water, and he himself smelled the smell of his feet. He was about to wash his feet by himself, when two palace maids kneeling on the ground hurriedly washed one of his stinky feet. They didn't seem to be dirty, and their white and delicate hands were lightly washed, even the dirt hidden between their toes. After the two feet are washed, the gold-plated copper foot basin is immediately taken away, and the wet feet are placed on the small square table of rosewood.

The palace maid with the white cotton foot towel immediately knelt down and dried her wet feet. Another palace maid brought clean cloth socks, put on socks for Li Zicheng, and put on boots. Then Xiao Fangji took it from his feet, and the dirty socks on the ground were taken away. Li Zicheng felt comfortable, sighed in his heart and said: "Being an emperor is really different from the common people. ”