Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 208: Selection of Queen, Emperor’s Wedding!

Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda, established a surrender city outside Xuanfu Town on behalf of the Ming court to accept the surrender of Dalai Sun, the nominal Khan of the grassland, the lord of the Eastern Tartars and the leader of the little prince's tribe, and his people.

And to express his sincerity, he allowed his eldest grandson Tumen to come to Beijing as a hostage and requested to include him in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Zhang Juzheng's cabinet was busy and overwhelmed.

The inner court, or to be more precise, presented the results of the national selection of concubines to the cabinet.

There are many procedures for selecting a concubine in the imperial court.

The two capitals and thirteen provinces sent more than 15,000 beautiful girls into the palace, but that was just the beginning.

In groups of 100, people line up according to their age and enter the palace in order to participate in the "selection".

The eunuchs who were shouldering the heavy responsibility looked far and near, and picked out those who were slightly taller, shorter, fatter, or thinner, and sent them back to their hometowns.

Those who stay will be regrouped by age and enter the first trial.

The eunuchs observed their appearance, listened to their voices, hair, ears, forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, shoulders, back, legs and feet. Those who were short, too tall, too fat or too thin would be eliminated. If there was any part that was not pleasing to the eye or the ear, they would be "returned" on the spot.

Tens of thousands of beauties were eliminated at this step.

Next, the eunuch took a ruler and measured the girl's hands, arms, waist, legs and feet, and then asked the girl to "move around".

A girl's ears, eyes, mouth and other facial features, waist circumference, skin, shoulder width are all screening details. Those who are slightly inappropriate will be eliminated, even if there is a black mole on the skin.

In this step, the girls' voices will be examined. Those with bad voices or stuttering will be eliminated. Those whose dimensions do not meet the requirements, whose parts do not match, or whose manners and demeanor are not good will be sent back home.

Another two thousand people left.

After strict screening in the first two steps, the candidates will be selected through naked selection by female officials and elderly palace maids.

The girl is asked to enter a secret room alone, take off her clothes, and have female officials and palace maids touch her breasts, explore her private parts, smell her, and examine her skin, etc. for physical examinations. Those who pass the examinations will receive etiquette training in the palace for about a month.

While they were getting familiar with the palace rules and learning etiquette, the female officials in charge of training observed their living habits, speaking attitude, IQ, character, etc.

Another two thousand people went.

There were also a thousand people who stayed behind, and they were all summoned into the palace to be selected as palace maids.

The Ming Dynasty's inner court had "six bureaus" which were managed by female officials. Each bureau had "four departments" and there were more than a hundred female officials. They were all candidates for the emperor's concubines.

And at the end, the elites will be brought in one by one according to the list on the table in front of them.

The girl stood instead of kneeling and answered some questions about her name, family situation and education.

The "examiners" would judge the appearance and pronunciation of the characters and select one queen and one concubine or several concubines.

This is usually the responsibility of the Empress Dowager, but the current emperor's biological mother has long passed away, as have his brothers and sisters. Among his many sons, Prince Yu and Prince Jing were exiled, and his other sons died young or early. It can be said that the emperor, who has ruled the Ming Dynasty in the capital for forty years, is truly a lonely man.

The three empresses of His Majesty, Empress Xiaojiesu, Empress Zhang Fei, and Empress Xiaolie, all passed away.

As a result, the inner court asked the only imperial concubine in the harem, Imperial Concubine Shen, to preside over the final trial.

Finally, only fifty people were selected, and they were given fine gauze handkerchiefs, gold and jade ornaments, etc., and they all became concubines.

This imperial court's selection of concubines is not the first one since His Majesty ascended the throne, so the number of concubines is to fill the vacancies in the harem.

There are seventy-two concubines in the three palaces, six courtyards, and currently one empress, two imperial concubines, and forty-seven concubines are missing.

Imperial Noble Consort Shen was a cautious person. After selecting fifty people, she presented the roster to Yuxi Palace and handed it over to His Majesty to decide on the candidates for the Empress and Imperial Noble Consort.

But I don't know what the emperor was thinking, but he actually transferred the roster to the cabinet and let the cabinet select the candidates.

Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang felt their scalps tingling when they looked at the names of the concubines in the roster who were of military, civilian, and even official origin.

Although His Majesty abolished the system of lock-up, a system that had been passed down for 200 years would not die out so quickly. The inner court thoughtfully marked the life stories of these future mistresses of the harem.

Behind the concubines, there are many interests represented.

The Ming Dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu Gao. In order to prevent anyone from usurping the throne, all the military generals were executed. To prevent foreign relatives from taking power, the Ming Dynasty learned the lessons of foreign relatives interfering in politics in the previous dynasties and strictly controlled the power of the royal family. Therefore, most of the empresses of the Ming Dynasty were beautiful girls from ordinary people.

Moreover, Emperor Taizu Gaozu compiled the "Nu Xun" in the first year of the Hongwu reign as a "house law" for managing concubines.

In the selection of empresses, in order to prevent powerful officials in the court from colluding with the harem, it was stipulated that "all the wives, concubines, and palace maids of the emperor and princes should be carefully selected from good families, and those who are recommended will not be accepted. Therefore, concubines and empresses are mostly selected from the common people."

Moreover, he preferred to choose women from poor families, trying to help the emperor to be frugal and diligent.

Although the royal family holds high titles, they have virtually no real power.

Emperor Taizu Gao also hung a red sign in the palace with words engraved on it warning concubines not to interfere in government affairs.

Therefore, during the 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, there never appeared a group of foreign relatives that disrupted the political situation and brought disaster to the government, like the Lu family, the Huo family, and the Dou family in the Han Dynasty, and the Zhangsun family and the Wu family in the Tang Dynasty.

In addition, Taizu also clearly stipulated in "Huang Ming Zuxun" that the emperor, princes, concubines, and palace ladies must choose girls from good families, "marry them with courtesy, regardless of their location, and do not accept them as gifts from ministers for fear of treacherous plots. However, prostitutes are not allowed to be intimate with them."

Taizu only emphasized the identity of "a girl from a good family", but did not distinguish between nobles and commoners.

This also meant that concubines from noble families accounted for a considerable proportion of the Ming Dynasty harem.

Call her "the noble lady".

And those concubines who came from the common people were not really poor, most of them came from prominent families.

There were actually not many concubines who rose from humble beginnings.

The reason why there was no trouble caused by external relatives was that women from prominent families were deliberately prevented from taking the positions of empress and imperial concubine.

This is not to say that the previous emperors and the current emperor are violating the ancestral teachings of Emperor Taizu Gao, but that there is really no other way.

Although selecting a concubine is not entirely based on beauty, beauty does play a large role.

How can a girl from an ordinary family, who has been working hard to help her parents make a living by chopping wood and cutting grass since childhood, exposed to the wind and sun, be compared with the noble lady who has never had to touch water since birth, has never basked in the sunshine for half her life, and has been leaning on a fan to support her daughter?
The legend of Tofu Xishi is beautiful indeed, but how many people can maintain skin as white as cream and hands as soft as catkins?
Then she won’t even be able to pass the preliminary selection after entering the palace.

In short, these fifty concubines were either daughters of generals, daughters of famous officials, or daughters of aristocratic families.

Zhang Juzheng even saw the name of a girl from the Chen family in Nanchong, Shunqing Prefecture, Sichuan, Chen Shuyan.

Needless to say, this must be the name of a girl from the family of cabinet minister Chen Yiqun, but it is estimated that she is not a direct descendant, or even a relative within the fifth degree of mourning.

This was probably not what Lord Chen meant. The Nanchong County Court knew that this girl was extremely beautiful, and in order to please the emperor, they sent her to the palace as a concubine for selection.

But the surname "Chen" often represents many possibilities.

"Most of the prime ministers are women from Jiangnan," Hu Zongxian reminded.

The water town of Jiangnan has always been home to many beauties. Among the fifty people selected for the imperial concubine this time, thirty-two or thirty-six were from Jiangnan.

The former dynasty and the harem.

To be precise, these are two dynasties. When the former dynasty selected scholars, it could not only select scholars from the south. Similarly, when the harem selected concubines, it could not only marry beauties from the north.

The Ming Dynasty was never just half the country. Zhang Juzheng felt even more troubled.

One empress, two imperial concubines, five imperial concubines, and forty-two concubines.

Instead of selecting from the largest number of concubines, it is better to select eight people first and designate these eight people as candidates for the empress, imperial concubine, and five concubines.

There are four elders in the cabinet, and each of them selects two. Although there are no portraits of concubines, the fifty people selected from hundreds of millions of people are destined to be stunningly beautiful.

At most, they are plum blossom, orchid, and autumn chrysanthemum, each has its own merits, and there is no distinction between good and bad.

The pressure of the task suddenly decreased, and soon Zhang Juzheng had put together a list of eight people.

Four noble ladies, four common ladies, four south of the river, four north of the river, extremely balanced.

Representatives of the noble ladies include Chen Shuyan, daughter of Chen Yiqin's Chen family, Wang Yihan, daughter of Wang Chonggu's Wang family, Zhang Nanqiao, granddaughter of Zhang Lun, former Duke of Yingguo and daughter of Zhang Yuangong, the current commander of the Five Cities Military Forces, and Li Haitang.

When they saw the name "Li Haitang", Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong and Hu Zongxian immediately looked at Li Chunfang who was trying to make a fortune in silence.

This woman from Yangzhou Prefecture in Southern Zhili was not from Xinghua County, Li Ge Lao’s hometown, but from Xianyou County in Lin County.

If nothing unexpected happens, this woman surnamed Li has more or less connection with the Xinghua Li family.

Li Chunfang smiled awkwardly and said, "This 'Li' is different from the 'Li' in my Li family."

"We didn't say anything, why do you feel guilty?"

Zhang Juzheng saw that Li Chunfang was trying to hide his true intentions, so he said with a smile, "I have heard that the Li family in Xinghua often married young talents from Yangzhou Prefecture and even South Zhili. So, has any girl from Zishi's family married a young talent with the same surname?"

"A distant relative of mine married a man with the same surname in Xianyou County." Seeing that she could no longer hide it, Li Chunfang simply confessed.

She was the daughter of his cousin's grandson, who married to Xianyou, Lin County and was named Haitang.

This distant relative has been out for three generations and five degrees of mourning. Even if Li Chunfang's ten clans were to be exterminated, Li Haitang would not be punished.

Before, his family had only told him that his cousin's great-granddaughter was going to the palace to be selected as a concubine, so he asked for help. He did not pay much attention to it. It was only just now, when he saw the name and hometown of 'Li Haitang', that Li Chunfang became interested in giving her some help.

Same surname, but not the same ethnicity.

But no matter what, among the four noble ladies, two are or can be considered as daughters of cabinet ministers, one is a daughter of a feudal lord, and the other is the granddaughter of an abolished duke.

Even if it does not violate the ancestral teachings of Emperor Taizu Gao, most of the loopholes that can be exploited in the ancestral teachings have been exploited.

No wonder His Majesty let the list of concubines be transferred to the cabinet for selection. I guess His Majesty has seen through the twists and turns here.

Zhang Juzheng was not satisfied with Li Chunfang's answer. He glanced at him and then turned his gaze to the daughter of the common people.

Representatives of ordinary women include Lin Zhixi, Xiao Muxue, Wang Liuwan, and Fang Yanmo.

Among the four girls, only Lin Zhixi was not from a prominent family, and Zhang Juzheng had his own ideas in mind. He said, "How about making Concubine Lin the queen?"

The disadvantage of her past family background finally became the key to victory at this moment. Lin Zhixi became the most suitable candidate for the mother of the country for Emperor Taizu Gao, the Ming court, the Ming harem, and the common people of the world.

Gao Gong nodded and said, "I second the motion!"

Hu Zongxian didn't have much to think about, so he followed suit and said, "Second!"

There were five cabinet elders in total, and three of them agreed to one thing, including the prime minister and the second prime minister. Even if Li Chunfang got Chen Yiqin's vote who was not in the capital, it would not change anything, so he could only agree and said, "Second the motion!"

The candidate for queen, Lin Zhixi, has been decided.

The cabinet had Zhang Juzheng write a special document for him, which was presented to the palace by Liu Tai, the cabinet secretary, to ask for the emperor's opinion.

Go quickly and come back soon!

After seeing the emperor's red-brush approval of the decision, Zhang Juzheng and his cabinet all breathed a sigh of relief and dared to continue selecting two imperial concubines.

The candidate for the empress was proposed by Zhang Juzheng, and the candidates for the two imperial concubines were proposed by the second prime minister Gao Gong.

"How about making Princess Wang and Princess Xiao Imperial Noble Consorts?" Gao Gong thought for a long time and said slowly.

The princess is not the princess of a royal family. The "Princess" here refers to the surname. But there is a "Princess" among both noble ladies and ordinary ladies. Which one does this refer to?
Gao Gong quickly added: "Princess Yihan!"

Wang Chonggu's origin as a Shanxi merchant and his family background as a governor could not conceal his contributions to the Ming Dynasty.

The Wang family was the gravedigger of the demise of Shanxi merchants. The trade with the Tatars was directed by Wang Chonggu. As a daughter of the Wang family, Wang Yihan was made imperial concubine in violation of the ancestral precepts of Emperor Taizu Gao.

This move has certain political implications. After the separation of military and politics, the emperor and the court need someone to completely control the military and ensure that separatist rule by local military governors will not reappear.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian, and Li Chunfang all realized that Gao Gong was preparing to propose Wang Chonggu as the supreme commander of the Ming Dynasty's military in the future.

The north is not yet at peace, and the emperor and the court need to reassure the generals and encourage them to be loyal to their country and ready to die.

There are too many considerations involved in making Wang Yihan the Imperial Noble Consort.

However, the inner court and Imperial Noble Consort Shen's evaluation of Wang Yihan was that she was not as spoiled as traditional noble ladies and was a lady who only took things as they came and not as people.

A person who is both beautiful and capable, the feudal royal family and the clan may be a burden to her.

As for Concubine Xiao Muxue, there is nothing to say. She is the legitimate daughter of a local prominent family and was made Imperial Noble Concubine in order to balance the harem.

"I second the motion." Zhang Juzheng nodded without objection.

"Seconded!"

"Seconded!"

Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang successively seconded the motion, saying that the second prime minister was not narrow-minded and there was no need to offend him in this matter.

Since then.

All the nominees have been finalized.

Queen: Lin Zhixi.

Imperial Noble Consorts: Wang Yihan and Xiao Muxue.

Imperial Concubines: Chen Shuyan, Zhang Nanqiao, Li Haitang, Wang Liuwan, Fang Yanmo.

The rest are forty-two concubines.

Zhang Juzheng drafted another petition and asked Liu Tai to send it to Yuxi Palace. When the word "approved" came out, the national imperial concubine selection finally came to an end.

After the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Astronomical Observatory selected a date, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month was an auspicious day.

The news of His Majesty's wedding instantly overwhelmed everything else and spread to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty...

(End of this chapter)