Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 310 Concubine Xiao is pregnant, Gaul takes the blame!
In the main hall.

Cabinet elder Li Chunfang gradually calmed down, and the harmonious atmosphere between the emperor and his subjects was restored.

Huang Jin brought an embroidered cushion for the three cabinet ministers to sit on. Gao Gong, the chief minister of the cabinet, took the seat first.

Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang shook their heads at the same time, saying that they had important matters to report and could not sit down.

Gao Gong also came from the period of Yan Song's cabinet, so this scene was very familiar to him. At that time, the emperor sat down to pretend to be an old man, while other cabinet ministers stood to report on matters, and it seemed like the emperor and his ministers were the only ones in the world.

Gao Gong was still a cabinet minister at that time. Only one person knows how it felt. Now Gao Gong has also formed a cabinet and understands what Yan Song felt back then. It’s true that he felt comfortable, but he also felt real fear.

The death of Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan, and the tragedy of Zhang Juzheng and Xu Jie, their teacher and apprentice, all started because of the word "power".

There were five people in the cabinet, and he was the only one left in the court. Gao Gong often reflected on himself. He knew that soon, the time Zhang Juzheng spent in cabinet would be longer than his. The size of the prime minister's power did not matter, but he must not repeat the same mistakes.

While thinking, Gao Gong stood up.

Zhu Houcong, who was sitting on the Sumeru throne, saw all the little movements of his ministers and smiled knowingly.

This is like teachers in classrooms in later generations. How can they not see what their students are doing? Studying hard and being lazy and playing tricks are two completely different states, and it is obvious at a glance.

I just don't want to care.

Zhu Houcong's eyes passed Gao Gong and fell on Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang, and asked, "Who will speak first?"

Gao Gong’s body stiffened.

Hu Zongxian bowed slightly, and Li Chunfang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, in recent days, we have found many ancient Roman Empire artifacts from Europe from the 'treasure ship', from 1,600 years ago to 100 years ago, all the ancient artifacts are accurate in age. Therefore, I have a humble idea, please abandon the treasure and alienate the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire."

Although Li Chunfang was more than 90% sure that King Francis II of France and the royal family could not resist the temptation of "Roman orthodoxy", the Holy Roman Empire would start a "War of Legitimacy" for the sake of its national foundation.

But nothing is absolute. It cannot be ruled out that Francis II was a spineless guy without the "king's heart" and hid the authentic Roman antiquities directly after obtaining them, or that he had just obtained the antiquities and was threatened by the Holy Roman Empire, so he handed over the antiquities with both hands.

Of course, in order to avoid such a thing from happening, Li Chunfang also thought of a countermeasure.

Zhu Houcong thought about it and understood Li Chunfang's plan. Of the four ancient civilizations, only China remained. China's history is much longer than the so-called Roman Empire. These things that can cut off the history of the Roman Empire are of little help in increasing the historical heritage of China.

It is a pity that it is tasteless.

If it can be used to disrupt the situation in Europe and benefit the Ming Dynasty's strategy, it can be regarded as "waste utilization".

Zhu Houcong raised his hand and motioned Li Chunfang to continue.

Li Chunfang bowed his body slightly and said, "May I ask your Majesty, given the layout of the Jinyiwei in the European continent, are there any prominent people in the Jinyiwei in the Kingdom of France?"

"Have."

Through the tulips, the tentacles of the Jinyiwei reached Portugal, Spain, England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, etc. The entire European continent was basically filled with the Jinyiwei's "civet cat aristocrats" and "civet cat priests".

In the Kingdom of France, although the Jinyiwei did not send the secret envoy Dayon to the position of duke or cardinal like Portugal, there was also a "Civet Count".

Within the Imperial Uniform Guard, all the exchanges and relationships established with the upper classes of Europe through tulips were referred to as "Tulip Diplomacy."

The identity, status and influence of the Count of Civet Cat in France were almost the same as those of Dayon in Portugal during the time of Count of Golden Flower. He could meet people like the King of France, royal family members, dukes, and cardinals at any time.

Both conspicuous and expensive.

"I request Your Majesty to use these 'European nobles' to publicly hand over the 'Roman Orthodoxy' to King Francis II of France, and when Francis II receives it, publicly declare that 'France is the only Roman orthodoxy'." Li Chunfang reported.

Transferring it in public prevented the possibility of Francis II hiding the authentic Roman antiquities privately, and shouting it out in public cut off the possibility of the Kingdom of France succumbing to the Holy Roman Empire without a fight.

Every country in Europe wants to become the legitimate successor of the Roman Empire, and all its people miss the rule of the Roman Empire.

Even during the heyday of the Roman Empire, the ratio of citizens to slaves reached a terrifying 1:100.

Today, the vast majority of people in Europe are descendants of slaves from the Roman Empire.

But no European will care, because all Europeans think they are the “1”.

Even if Francis II wanted to bow down to the Holy Roman Empire and offer Roman orthodox antiquities, the French people would never tolerate the cowardice of losing their identity as the "legitimate successor to Rome" without even a war.

As a result, Francis II had few choices left: either accept the orthodox identity of the Roman Empire and start a "War of Legitimacy" with the Holy Roman Empire, or abandon the orthodox identity of the Roman Empire and a civil war would immediately break out in France.

No matter what choice Francis II makes, it will be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty's future strategy in Europe.

Li Chunfang's plan was perfect.

At least from the perspective of the cabinet ministers who only read the "Jinyiwei Excerpts from the European Continent Briefing", this plan can fully prove that Li Chunfang would be a qualified strategist in wartime.

But as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the planner of the "Tulip Project", from Zhu Houcong's perspective, the "Roman Orthodoxy Project" is... even more perfect!
Li Chunfang didn't know how the Jinyiwei got those thousands of ships full of treasures. He simply thought that with the traditional methods of the Jinyiwei, all worries were solved and the treasures were "laundered" and shipped back to the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the Royal Guards looted the treasures of the European continent through the tulips. Many of these Roman antiquities and works of Dante and others were temporarily mortgaged to the Royal Guards' secret agents by royal families, nobles, and priests from European countries, waiting for the price of tulips to skyrocket again and then be redeemed.

But spring has arrived, and the tulips are not only not blooming, but are withering instead. No one can imagine what the Europeans who have lost their wealth will do, from emperors and kings to untouchables and slaves.

Lu Bing, the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei who is currently in England, recently crossed the ocean and presented a "pre-evacuation list" of Jinyiwei secret agents. On the list, most of the secret agents who have direct contact with Yu Jinhua must evacuate and return to their country to prevent retaliation.

If he had not been distracted by Wu Chengen's novels in Li Chunfang's mansion, he might have already been successful.

But now, that’s no longer necessary.

"Roman orthodox antiquities" were actually "stolen goods". Once King Francis II of France accepted these antiquities, it meant that the "mastermind" of the "Tulip Project" had appeared.

The person who plundered the wealth of the European continent became Francis II.

Even if there are sober people who know that Francis II was probably taking the blame for someone else, they will not come forward to defend Francis II. After all, someone has to bear the consequences for their losses.

Ordinary Europeans who are furious about losing their wealth, driven by their emotions, will not analyze the truth of the matter. What they want is an outlet to vent.

In this case, the Jinyiwei only needs to let one person evacuate the European continent, that is, the Count of the Civet Cat from the Kingdom of France.

Zhu Houcong's eyes were fixed on Li Chunfang. Just when Li Chunfang's heart was pounding, wondering if he had said something wrong and whether he should kneel down, he heard, "That's right."

Plan approved.

Li Chunfang let out a long sigh, looked at Hu Zongxian, and left with Gao Gong.

Seeing the ministers leaving the palace, Zhu Houcong looked at Huang Jin and said, "Li Chunfang is still capable. Don't reward him openly, but reward him secretly."

"The slaves obey the order."

Huang Jin accepted the order, but did not leave in a hurry. Instead, she knelt on the ground and said, "Your servant congratulates His Majesty. After the trip to Mount Tai, Concubine Xiao often felt tired, so he summoned Imperial Physician Li to the palace for treatment. Congratulations, His Majesty. Congratulations, His Majesty. Concubine Xiao is pregnant." Last year, when the Emperor went to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, Empress Lin Zhixi was pregnant and could not travel easily, so Imperial Concubine Xiao Muxue led the ladies of the court to accompany him.

During his journey, Zhu Houcong did not forget his hard work and reaped the rewards.

While Zhu Houcong was happy, he couldn't help but sigh. No wonder people in later generations traveled to other places for the purpose of getting pregnant. Changing the environment and changing the mood, from the perspective of metaphysics, changing the "qi" would give rise to the "pregnancy qi", which is not entirely unreasonable.

The Queen was about to give birth, and Imperial Noble Consort Xiao Muxue was pregnant again. Good things came one after another. Now Zhu Houcong could be completely sure that the palace before forty years of Jiajing was "unclean".

After several consecutive purges of eunuchs in the inner court and officials in the outer court, even the Forbidden City was cleaned up, and annoying things became less and less.

Having lived two lives, Zhu Houcong originally thought that after the national selection of concubines, a fierce fight would break out in the Forbidden City, or the harem, and the new and old concubines would fight endlessly, but the real palace fight and the legendary palace fight are two different things.

Before the national selection of concubines, the Forbidden City had not had a mistress for more than ten years. Even the imperial concubine was the only one left, Concubine Shen.

Shen had no children, so she raised the daughter of Concubine Cao Duan, who was Zhu Houcong's third daughter, Zhu Lu'ai, the Princess Ning'an of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Lu'ai married Li He, the top martial arts scholar, but she didn't expect that she married the wrong person. That damn Li He was a bastard who didn't care about men or women. A few months ago, Yu Dayou received the emperor's order and assigned Li He an impossible task, and then beheaded him in Liaodong Town for the crime of "missing the deadline".

Zhu Lu'ai became a widow and raised her son Li Cheng'en alone in her husband's house.

When Lin Zhixi became the queen, Shen took the initiative to hand over the power of the master of the harem and did not have any conflict with Lin Zhixi.

The other concubines did not dare to offend the queen in the slightest under her majesty, especially after she became pregnant, they did not dare to overstep the line in the slightest.

Perhaps in his heart he was hoping that Queen Lin Zhixi would give birth to a daughter, but he dared not reveal his thoughts.

In short, this is the real situation in the Forbidden City’s harem. Zhu Houcong even paid special attention to it for a while but found it boring.

Once the thought comes up, I can't stop it.

"Get ready." Zhu Houcong ordered.

Forbidden City.

It's lively again.

Just like when the Queen was pregnant, the Emperor visited the place and cleaned the house, added joy and hung decorations.

The concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards dressed themselves up extremely beautifully again and waited outside the gates of their own palaces.

It will be like this whether His Majesty comes or not. Even if His Majesty cannot see it, some people will see it.

Zhu Houcong first went to Xiao Muxue's palace, had a conversation with Xiao Muxue, and then accompanied Xiao Muxue for dinner, but rejected Xiao Muxue's invitation to stay overnight.

Amid her disappointed gaze, Zhu Houcong went to Kunning Palace, where he immediately won the favor of Queen Lin Zhixi. He held her hand and talked with her. Late at night, he rejected her invitation to stay overnight in Kunning Palace.

The sky was full of stars and a red cage was hung high. There seemed to be a rare warmth in the palace. But when Zhu Houcong returned to the West Six Palaces, he did not expect that the concubines were still waiting for him.

It seemed that unless he left the Forbidden City or made it clear which palace he would stay in, the concubines would wait for him day or night.

Zhu Houcong said to Huang Jin beside him: "It's chilly in spring, let the concubines return to the palace."

"Yes." Huang Jin accepted the order and called the eunuch to convey the emperor's will quickly, asking all the nobles to go and rest.

Except for Concubine Shen.

Zhu Houcong met this concubine who still had charm but had wrinkles between her brows.

Before the Jiajing period, there were no titles for concubines in the harem. Below the empress dowager, there were various concubines in the palace, with occasional titles such as Jieyushi, Zhaoyi, Guiren, and Meiren.

After Zhu Houcong entered the throne, he reformed the ritual system and followed ancient rites to select the nine concubines. He listed Fang (Empress Xiaolie), Zheng, Wang, Yan, Wei, Shen, Lu, Shen and Du as Concubine De, Concubine Xian, Concubine Zhuang, Concubine Li, Concubine Hui, Concubine An, Concubine He, Concubine Xi and Concubine Kang.

She wore a nine-翟 crown, a large-colored 鞠衣, a sceptre made of inferior jade with a grain pattern, and a gold-painted certificate, which was one-fifth less than that of the empress.

The emperor put on his robe and crown and reported to the Taimiao. He then put on his leather hat and went to the Huagai Palace to announce the decree and sent ministers to perform the ceremony of enthroning the emperor.

After the enthronement, the concubine followed the queen to the Fengxian Hall to pay homage.

After the ceremony, the emperor wore a leather hat and accepted congratulations from all officials. Thus, the etiquette of enthroning a concubine was formed.

The Shen clan is a large family in the south of the Yangtze River, the Wuxing Shen clan, and their ancestral family has officials registered in the Nanjing Imperial Observatory.

She was selected into the palace in the tenth year of Jiajing's reign, when she was fifteen years old.

On March 2 of the same year, she was conferred the title of Concubine Xi. She was ranked eighth among the nine concubines at that time and her status was not high.

Thirty-three years passed in a blink of an eye, and only Shen was left among the nine concubines. In the deep palace, when Zhu Lu'ai was around, she could still accompany Shen for a while, but since Zhu Lu'ai got married, Shen has been alone for the past nine years.

Zhu Houcong looked at Shen, and Shen was also looking at him. Huang Jin made a gesture, and all the eunuchs and palace maids immediately withdrew.

Zhu Houcong approached Shen, but Shen did not greet him. She just smiled, just like the scene when the couple met when he first entered the palace.

"Let Xiao Nannan return to the palace to accompany you."

A "媜" is a woman.

Zhu Lu'ai, before she got married, had this nickname in the palace, the same as Hai Rui's eldest daughter.

"Okay!"

"Is there anything missing in the palace?"

"Nothing is missing."

"Now that my little girl is back, I'll ask Huang Jin to buy some things for her. I'll ask Nanjing to take care of your mother's home."

"Ah."

"Thanks a lot."

"…It is my duty as a concubine."

"Now that the Queen and Concubine Xiao are pregnant, you will have to take more responsibility for the affairs in the Forbidden City."

"..."

(End of this chapter)