Inshou Palace, main hall.

In fact, the draft is a relatively long process, and because it requires a lot of manpower and financial resources during the period, it has not been liked by the civilian clique.

This draft is different from the past, it is not only to choose a palace maid for the Forbidden City, but also to choose the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, and it can even be said to choose a mother for the next emperor.

Because of the false rumors of the draft during the Longqing period, the people of Hangzhou married their daughters overnight?

It is precisely because Longqing already had a queen and gave birth to a prince at that time, who would want to send his daughter into the palace to be an old palace maid?

In fact, there are very few emperors in the Ming Dynasty who draft and marry after they ascend the throne, and they usually draw up the queen's candidates in the East Palace.

Like when Emperor Chenghua was just coming of age, Yingzong Zhang Luo chose the crown princess, and three were selected at that time, but they died before the sickbed.

The same is true of Zhu Youji, who was recommended by the civil officials to Zhang Yujiao, the daughter of Zhang Qi's cousin, and a group of women in the capital, and then the Empress Dowager Zhou finalized the candidates.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Zhanji, they all started a family first and then succeeded to the throne, and the only emperor who ascended the throne before getting married was Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, who succeeded to the throne at the age of eight.

Only now that history has quietly changed, Hongzhi will become the second emperor to be drafted for a big wedding after rejecting the marriage arranged by the civil official and the Empress Dowager Zhou.

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Rites, officials and eunuchs at all levels selected the best 5,000 beauties from all over the country and sent them to the capital.

After the primary selection, re-selection and selection, there are only 300 of the 5,000 beauties who came to the capital, and these 300 show girls will officially enter the palace tomorrow.

After entering the palace, they will be screened again, and then they will need to live a kind of collective life in the Forbidden City, mainly to observe their personality problems.

Only fifty people with dignified words and deeds and good conduct can enter the next round of screening, and finally the queen mother selects three people for the emperor to choose the queen.

As the master of the Forbidden City, one of the three hundred beautiful women will become the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, and it is indeed necessary to appear tomorrow to leave a little impression on them.

The Queen Mother has already regarded Zhu Youzhu as a relative, so now she is thinking about Zhu Youji, so she made such a request.

Zhu Youzhi was not so busy that he couldn't even squeeze out this little time, so he nodded lightly and said, "Okay, tomorrow you arrange a time, and I will go over and take a look!" ”

"The information of the three hundred show girls has been sent to the Qianqing Palace, but the mourning family wants to know about it!" The queen mother's fingernails were very long, and when she saw that the matter had been finalized, she gracefully picked up the teacup and smiled faintly.

Zhu Youzhu reached out and picked up a piece of osmanthus cake from the colorful porcelain basin and took a small bite, and said casually: "What's the matter?" ”

"What kind of queen does Your Majesty want? Your Majesty, don't get me wrong, the mourning family just wants to help you choose the most suitable candidate, and has no other intentions! The queen mother was worried that Zhu Youzhu would misunderstand that she was trying to manipulate the queen candidate for the civilian clique, so she explained seriously.

Zhu Youzhu knew that the Queen Mother had already been abandoned by the civil official group, and her importance in the Chenghua Dynasty was not as important as that of Concubine Shao, but he didn't have too clear standards in his heart.

In fact, there is no standard for this kind of thing, as in a joke: a rich man is about to marry a wife, and the rich man gives three candidate girls 1,000 yuan and asks them to fill the room.

One girl bought a lot of cotton to fill the room in half, a girl bought a lot of balloons to fill the room three-quarters, and the last girl bought candles for the least amount of money to fill the room with light.

Supposedly, the rich man should have chosen the last girl, but the rich man chose the one with the biggest boobs.

Zhu Youzhu chewed the sweet osmanthus cake in his mouth, and asked seriously: "Queen Mother, what kind of woman do you think is suitable to be my queen?" ”

There was no hint of caution in the language, but there was a sincerity, and it was indeed earnestly asking the Queen Mother about this question.

"This palace seems to be peaceful, but whoever wants to get more things for themselves will inevitably have friction and disputes, so the mourning family thinks that they still need a woman with a stronger temperament and who knows how to coordinate the relationship between the palaces to be the queen!" The Queen Mother realized that the intelligent emperor in front of her was still a "child" after all, so she honestly said her thoughts.

She took a sip of tea, and when she saw Zhu Youzhi listening carefully, she gave an example: "Just like the fish that Your Majesty caught in the Taiye Pond, you sent it to Concubine Shao for the first time, and the next day Concubine Yue Jing and Concubine Yang came to play mahjong, and there were little emotions in and out of the words, and there must be some resentment in your heart." It's just that the two of them won't take the initiative to speak, and it's impossible for them to run to your majesty and say that you are acting unfairly, so this requires your queen to be able to hear their hearts. She needs to know how to say it, how to do it, and there needs to be rules for dealing with the people and things in the harem, so that the harem can be kept in order, so that the harem can be kept free from strife! ”

After saying this, Liu Jin, who was standing next to him, cast an admiring look.

"No wonder you asked me to send fish to a few concubines who have children the next day, but I heard that Concubine Yang has been a vegetarian all these years, why do you want to eat fish?" Zhu Youzhu listened carefully, and took another bite of the osmanthus cake and said suspiciously.

The Queen Mother glanced at Zhu Youji, who was sometimes smart and sometimes confused, and explained bitterly: "How many concubines in the palace really like to eat fish?" It's just that this is the comparison between them, even if they get the fish and dig a pit and bury it, they still want His Majesty to send fish to their residence, which is their face! ”

"I don't want to be spoiled like this!" Zhu Youzhu doesn't mind releasing a little kindness to them, but he also has his own principles.

The Queen Mother pinched the lid of the tea and splashed the tea lightly, and said seriously: "The mourning family is also an analogy, but no one dares to spoil the fish sent by His Majesty!" In fact, it is good for you to send more fish, so that the concubines feel that they are still connected with you, and they can be regarded as more comfort in the palace! ”

"Anyway, I like fishing now, so it's okay to send them a fish or two once in a while! Now they also like to come to you to play mahjong, who really want to eat fish, then you can tell them a word! Zhu Youzhi put the rest of the osmanthus cake into his mouth, which was also very generous.

Due to the early death of Emperor Chenghua, these concubines are actually pitiful, and sending a few fish is actually a trivial matter.

The Queen Mother nodded lightly, but said sharply: "Speaking of mahjong, you have to ask the Ministry of Industry to get two pairs of mahjong to send to the mourning family, and now there are not enough mahjong!" ”

"Good! Your Renshou Palace is so lively now, you can open a mahjong parlor if you dare to love! Zhu Youzhu immediately agreed, but couldn't help but joke.

The Queen Mother took a sip of tea elegantly, but said very puzzledly: "Your Majesty, what is a mahjong parlor?" ”

"Set up ten mahjong tables with eight mahjong tables, offer them some refreshments, and then draw some silver for the winners of the first few rounds of each table!" Zhu Youzhu simply gestured according to the pattern in his memory.

The queen mother put down the teacup gently, but said with a clear attitude: "The mourning family just watched them live boring on weekdays, and wanted them to come to Renshou Palace to play together, but this gambling is not a good atmosphere!" ”

"Or the Queen Mother thinks long-term, this palace is really not suitable for gambling! I'm going to ask the Ministry of Industry to help you get a few more pairs of mahjong tomorrow, but the ivory in the treasure trove seems to have run out of tusks last time, so the ivory has to be purchased. I asked the internal officials and supervisors to see if they could purchase ivory in the capital, but it was really impossible to replace it with other materials for the time being, and then I asked Guangdong to purchase a batch of ivory and send it to the capital! Zhu Youzhu agreed with the Queen Mother's point of view, and proposed a plan to solve mahjong.

The Queen Mother is a person from Nanzhili, so she has heard about Guangdong, but she said in confusion: "Although the mourning family has never been to Lingnan, there seems to be no elephant in Lingnan, right?" ”

"It is true that there are no elephants in Lingnan, but the maritime merchants of Guangdong travel to and from Nanyang, and Nanyang has always sold ivory to Daming! If you really want to buy from Guangdong, I'm afraid you will have to wait a while! Zhu Youzhu picked up a piece of osmanthus cake again and explained very seriously.

The Queen Mother shook her head gently, but asked worriedly: "Your Majesty can do it with such heart, and the mourning family is already satisfied." It's just that the imperial court has spent so much trouble purchasing ivory, will this cause trouble to His Majesty, and will it attract criticism? ”

"Those scholars keep saying that the Ming Dynasty is rich and rich, so I have always felt that the Ming Dynasty does not need to communicate with other countries, but we don't know that Nanyang also has what we need! They want to oppose the ivory, in fact, they still want to prevent the city from collecting taxes, for fear that other merchants will get the ship and lead them to steal business! Ivory matters, whether they say it or not, I don't care, and I don't need to care! Zhu Youzhu had already seen the true colors of those sanctimonious people, and took a bite of the osmanthus cake and said disdainfully.

The queen mother knew that the emperor in front of her had completely mastered the court, but she suddenly said in her heart: "I heard that the Ming Dynasty and North Korea are going to open a sea market on Senzhi Island?" ”

"Yes, tomorrow I will finalize the first governor of the East China Sea, and in two days, I will lead the army to enter Daming City with cotton!" Zhu Youzhu chewed the osmanthus cake and nodded gently.

The Queen Mother asked curiously, "Who was the first governor of the East China Sea?" ”

Zhu Youzhu put the remaining lotus cake directly into his mouth, then dipped his fingers in a little tea, and then wrote a name on the table.

"How could it be him?" When the Queen Mother saw the name on the table, she looked up at Zhu Youji in confusion.

Because the osmanthus cake in Renshou Palace is the most delicious, Zhu Youzhi often eats two osmanthus cakes here.

Zhu Youzhi chatted with the Queen Mother for a while, and seeing that it was not early, and the business had already been over, he got up and left.

Qianqing Palace, which is well organized by palace maids and eunuchs.

Zhu Youzhi has been accustomed to dozens of palace maids and eunuchs surrounding him to serve him, because he has just eaten two pieces of osmanthus cake in Renshou Palace, and now he is not hungry, so he came directly to Xinuan Pavilion.

Xinuan Pavilion can be said to be a science and technology exhibition of this era, or a cutting-edge science storeroom. The Ministry of Engineering has been trying to improve sea ships and artillery, so it often sends some drawings or models.

"Your Majesty, this is the fishing line that the Ministry of Industry just sent!" The eunuch Wei Jun has been recalled to the capital by the imperial court from the Guangdong City Bo Tiju Division, and now he is working in the Qianqing Palace, and he said respectfully.

Zhu Youzhu picked up the long black line and pulled it hard, and found that the tensile force of this fishing line was indeed relatively strong, so he said lightly: "Tomorrow, I will put this fishing line on the fishing rod, I want to try to see if it will be stronger!" ”

This material is not silk or cotton thread, but horsehair.

Horsehair is used to make fishing line originated in Europe in the 18th century, because horsehair is soft and elastic, so it is a good material for making fishing line.

Although the tensile force of one horsemane is not strong, and it is impossible to catch much fish at all, the tensile force is still very considerable when spliced in the form of several decreasing ones.

Theoretically, the more horsehair you use for splicing, the stronger the pulling force will be.

When night fell, the Qianqing Palace was lit up with bright lights.

After dinner and bathing, Zhu Youzhi came to the East Warm Pavilion.

Zhu Youzhu usually does not deal with government affairs at night, but he will read the secret reports of the eunuchs, Dongchang and Jinyi guards from all over the country to get more information.

Although he is a high emperor, if he does not spend more time looking through information, he can easily become "blind".

Like the defeat of Datong in the nineteenth year of Chenghua, 2,000 Datong soldiers died, but they were concealed by the civilian official group and the eunuchs of the supervising army.

If it weren't for the selection of the imperial history, I'm afraid that Emperor Chenghua wouldn't know that his army had suffered such a defeat until he died, and it is likely that there would be no record in the history books.

Zhu Youzhi knew that he could not only understand the situation in various places from the officials' notes, but also combine the intelligence of the eunuchs and Jinyiwei, so that he could have a more comprehensive understanding of the Ming Dynasty under his rule.

Among so many secret reports, Wang Zhi is the most prominent one.

Although there is a lot of saliva, he is very diligent, but he can report every day, so that he can clearly grasp the progress of Qingzhang.

"His Majesty Liu Zhongcai's proposal was to be placed in ordinary homes by state and county officials, and his father-in-law was the home of a large squire. Because of the reward offered by the imperial court to expose the hidden field, the local people are enthusiastic, and the amount of hidden fields of the official gentry is amazing, and there are dozens of people in the register! However, dozens of families regretted it, and wanted to bribe Liu Zhong with a lot of money, Liu Zhong did not take a private penny, and he was indeed an honest governor! The notoriety of slaves and maids is quiet, and no evil gentry dares to take bribes from slaves and maids, for fear that slaves and maids will be killed! ”

Zhu Youzhu knew that since the Sun clan was found, the Qingzhang in Anlu Prefecture was now going very well, and he also believed that Liu Zhong would not live up to his trust.

Now, he only needs to wait for the results of Anlu Prefecture's clearing, and he can solve the problem of hidden fields in the two capitals and thirteen provinces step by step by breaking the surface.

Summer is a rainy season, and just as Zhu Youzhu was rummaging through the information of various places under the lamp, it turned out that the courtyard outside was already pouring down.

Zhu Youzhu was not affected by the heavy rain outside, and when he turned to the information handed over by Wang Yue from Guangdong, his face couldn't help but become gloomy.

(End of chapter)