Everything went smoothly on the Xiongnu journey, and the court has been busy with a major event recently.

Emperor Zhao temporarily restrained the ministers, but if he wanted them to be completely subordinate to himself, the best way was to involve them with the royal family, so he thought of an excellent way, and that was the draft.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, the general election was basically what the previous emperors had to do after they ascended the throne, in addition to the previous royal palace's wives and concubines were rewarded, but also to the states and counties to issue announcements of draft girls, of course, the core personnel of the main concubines are still the daughters of the big officials in the court.

The draft has been almost prepared, especially the back position is in the spotlight, no, as soon as the early dynasty is in a hurry, some ministers are in a hurry to jump out.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that the young lady of the Shangshu family of the Ministry of War is gentle and graceful, and she can be the mother of the country." Master Zhang stood and said.

Lord Wu hurriedly came out to stop: "Your Majesty, the girl who is still a scholar in the Ministry of Virtue and Beauty is the most exemplary. ”

"The minister thinks it's still the family of the household servant........"

"The minister thinks ......"

Early in the morning, Emperor Zhao listened to the chatter of the ministers, and he really felt noisy, even the group of people who were candidates for the queen had to participate, was he, the emperor, being set aside?

"Zhongqing's family is quiet, the queen is the candidate, I will discuss it with the queen mother, think about it, if there is nothing to do, let's retreat." Emperor Zhao got up and left.

The ministers wanted to stay, but eventually withdrew from the court.

In Fenghua Palace, Empress Dowager Wen was weaving clothes in the warm autumn sun, she was cautious, stitches and threads were orderly, and she did not dare to be negligent.

"The queen mother is making clothes? Just let the palace people do this little thing. Huo Ze walked into the house and sat next to Empress Dowager Wen.

The palace maids hurriedly served hot tea and pastries, for fear of being a little negligent.

"I'm fine, I have nothing to do with horizontal and vertical, practice my hands and brains more, and I won't age fast in the future."

When Empress Dowager Wen got up early, she saw that her jet-black hair was mixed with a few sparse white hairs. Although the palace maids hid their gray hair in a bun in order to prevent her from being upset, she didn't stop it much, but she was really old.

Huo Ze's eyes were sharp, and he saw the clothes in the hands of Empress Dowager Wen, and the color embroidery looked like a man's.

"Is the queen mother making clothes for me?" Huo Ze asked.

Empress Dowager Wen shook her head: "Yours have already been done." Then she turned and told the maid to go into the back room and get the garment.

"And what is this?"

"Make it for your father, and in a few days it will be his sacrifice day." Empress Dowager Wen's expression was lonely, and her eyes were foggy.

Huo Ze knew that the father in his mother's mouth was by no means Emperor Qi, but his biological father, and only he would show such an expression and his mother would make clothes by himself.

"Queen Mother, my father is the first emperor, don't say anything wrong anymore." Although there was no one around, Huo Ze still warned him.

"It's the mourning family's negligence." Empress Dowager Wen wiped away her tears and asked Huo Ze, "Is there something wrong with the emperor's visit today?" ”

Only then did Huo Ze think of the purpose of his coming today.

"In the general election in three days, please also ask the queen mother."

"It's right, but is there a name for Empress Dowager Xue?" Empress Dowager Wen continued to ask.

Huo Ze shook his head: "No." ”

When Empress Dowager Xue was still the queen, she excluded the mother and son a lot, if it weren't for the fact that Concubine Wen was very favored at that time, maybe what would become of the two of them now, maybe she would find a reckless place to send it away.

"On such an important occasion, I still informed the Empress Dowager Xue, it was her business whether she came or not." Empress Dowager Wen said,

She has never regarded the Empress Dowager Xue as an enemy, the Empress Dowager Xue is a traditional person, and she is single-minded to Emperor Qi, and she is forced into the palace, and she really has no half mind about this mediocre emperor, if it comes to competition, it is probably also for the status of the prince, with the change of dynasties, the new emperor has also been produced, she Empress Dowager Wen has become the biggest winner, but there is no sense of victory, and Empress Dowager Xue is now in an embarrassing situation, she is not gloating, more sympathy.

"Yes." Huo Ze agreed, and the queen mother was much worried, but it was all for his good.

"But in this election, there are many show girls, I wonder if you have a candidate for the queen in your heart?" Empress Dowager Wen asked, the queen has always been basically predetermined, and there is no precedent for random selection from the show girls.

Huo Ze shook his head: "I came to discuss this matter with the queen mother, the minister of the court and the central government recommended many candidates for the queen this morning, and the ministers have not been able to make a decision for a long time, so I came to ask the queen mother's opinion." ”

"Oh? Who did the ministers recommend? Empress Dowager Wen put down the clothes in her hand and sat upright.

Huo Ze took out a book from his bosom, and he had listed all the candidates recommended by the ministers.

Empress Dowager Wen took the fold and opened it, and there were seven or eight daughters of famous nobles in it.

"Among them, the ministers recommend the most Miss Fu of the Ministry of War."

"Hmm." Empress Dowager Wen nodded: "I have also heard of this Miss Fu, she is intelligent, dignified and virtuous, and she is indeed the best choice for the queen." ”

Empress Dowager Wen also seemed to appreciate this Miss Fu very much.

"It's just that so many ministers recommend the Fu family, thinking that the military department is still huge, if his daughter is pushed to the back and the harem, they Fu can call the wind and rain." Huo Ze said after weighing the pros and cons.

"What does the emperor mean?" Even if Emperor Zhao was her biological son, as the queen mother, she didn't dare to speculate about the holy will.

"Fu Shi can be established, the military department and the official department have always been at odds, and the daughter of the official department is also in a high position, so how about letting them check and balance each other?" Hozer proposed.

Empress Dowager Wen nodded in agreement, this is indeed a good idea.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing, whether Concubine Ning's position should be promoted again." Empress Dowager Wen still takes care of her niece.

She just hates Wen Xiang, how innocent the people of the Wen family are, the seventy members of the Wen family were killed in the process of exile, she knows who did it, but Huo Ze is now the emperor, and he is not qualified to discipline him too much, but Wen Yue was originally the princess, and now she has a high position as a concubine, but after the election, there are a few more people above to press her, how willing is this, she is ashamed of the seventy members of the Wen family, and she is also ashamed of Wen Yue, so she tried her best to protect her.

Huo Ze thought of Concubine Ning's noisy woman, and he didn't have a good feeling in his heart, if it wasn't for her mother protecting her, I was afraid that she would have already gone to hell with those people in the Wen family.

But when the queen mother said this, it was not easy for him to refuse, so he dealt with it first: "After the election, it is not too late to discuss the matter of promotion, the minister will make good plans for this matter, and my mother can rest assured." ”

"Hmm." Empress Dowager Wen didn't force him until now, if she forced him, it would only backfire in the end.

The day of the election soon came, and the ladies in the palace walls lined up in two columns in an orderly manner, dressed in fancy clothes, and in the warm autumn sun, they cast a thousand manners on the wall.

"Xuanxiu girls enter the hall." Father-in-law Feng played an important role as always.

In the main hall, Huo Ze sat on the dragon chair in the middle, and on the left and right were the two empress dowagers Xue and Wen.

Empress Dowager Xue rarely attends this kind of occasion, since the death of the first emperor, she rarely attends banquets, although she is the queen mother, but like a loser, in the eyes of everyone, the Empress Dowager Wen is the most noble woman in the harem, but she came to the election this time, probably also to tell everyone that there is still her queen mother in the palace.

"Greetings to the emperor, greetings to the queen mother." The show girls abide by the palace rules, and every move is a rule.

"Get up." Huo Ze bowed his head and motioned for them to get up.

"Yes." The show girls got up when they heard this, but they lowered their heads for fear of offending Long Yan.

Huo Ze gave Gonggong Feng a look, and Gonggong Feng shouted after understanding: "The draft has begun, Wu Caibai, the daughter of the waiter of the Criminal Department, is seventeen years old. ”

"The courtier Wu family visits the emperor, the queen mother." The woman fell to her knees.

"Well, the rules are good, Lord Wu is extremely well educated." Empress Dowager Wen was quite fond of the Wu family, "Raise your head and take a look." ”

Wu raised his head in response, although the etiquette was good, his appearance was mediocre, and the Empress Dowager Wen was a little disappointed.

Huo Ze also didn't like it, not because of his appearance, but because he looked innocent, but the person in front of him seemed to have something incomprehensible. He raised his hand and motioned to put it down.

"Zhao Lingfan, the daughter of Dali Siqing, is twenty-three years old."

The woman also stepped forward to meet according to the rules.

Empress Dowager Wen looked at the booklet, twenty-three years old is indeed quite old in the draft. Looking at the woman in front of her, her facial features don't look like she has some hidden disease.

"Lord Zhao cherishes you and keeps you for so long?" Empress Dowager Xue was also curious and asked.

"Back to the Queen Mother, when the courtiers were young, they had to be fortune-told by a master, and the masters said that the courtiers were rich and noble, and the longer they stayed, the more noble their status became." Zhao smiled shyly, he thought he was a charlatan, but he didn't expect that he would really meet the election, if he entered the palace as a concubine, why not marry someone else.

Huo Ze didn't believe this, he put down the brand, whether he was honored or not was not calculated by others, but the fate of the whole Li Kingdom was in his own hands.

Zhao took the flowers and retreated, and she had to let her father arrest the charlatan and peel the skin when she went back! has delayed her beautiful years in vain, and now it is difficult to marry a wealthy family if she is not elected.

"Jiang Yi, the daughter of the secretary of the ministry, is eighteen years old."

The woman stepped forward to pay a visit, always smiling, innocent and lively.

It didn't seem to have any scheming, Huo Ze thought for a moment: "The Jiang family is named a concubine." ”

The Jiang family has a noble position, and being named a concubine is also a matter that Emperor Zhao's mother and son have already negotiated.

Jiang smiled and kowtowed, "Emperor Xie, Queen Mother." ”

"Fu Chu, the daughter of the military department, is nineteen years old."

No accident, after going through the process, Fu Shi was directly made the queen.

There were a large number of women in this draft, and Huo Ze was a little tired when he saw the end.