Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 314 The queen gives birth, and the eight sons compete for the throne!
Ming Dynasty, capital.

When news came from the European continent, military reports from the South Asian subcontinent also arrived.

The three elders of the cabinet, Prime Minister Gao Gong, Second Prime Minister Hu Zongxian, and Cabinet Minister Li Chunfang immediately went to the Forbidden City.

After more than 20 years, the elder cabinet member was finally able to appear before the emperor in the Forbidden City again, and all this was related to the upcoming delivery of the empress.

From the hour of Yin to now, just a few hours, but for Emperor Zhu Houcong, it felt like countless years had passed, a long and tormenting time.

Around the hour of Mao, news suddenly came from Kunning Palace that the empress was about to give birth, so Zhu Houcong hurried over from the West Garden.

For nearly two hours, the only sound was the Queen's screams of difficult labor. In the outer hall of the bedroom, Zhu Houcong was accompanied by Li Shizhen, the Imperial Physician, and a group of imperial doctors.

Even though Li Shizhen often said that everything was normal and there would be no problems, Zhu Houcong still couldn't help but feel worried. At this moment, even his heart, which had practiced Taoism and cultivated mysticism for many years, was disturbed.

Even the magical powers were temporarily forgotten.

It was not until a loud cry was heard that the heavy weight of my heart finally fell to the ground.

Just as Zhu Houcong sat down, the midwife came out from the inner hall and said happily: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty has a new princess."

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang had just arrived. When they heard that the queen had successfully given birth to a princess, they were stunned for a moment and did not rush forward to pay their respects, but stepped aside temporarily.

Zhu Houcong nodded and walked into the inner hall. He saw the queen, whose hair and face were wet with sweat. Her complexion was still pale and weak, but her eyes were full of love as she looked at her little daughter who had been washed and wrapped up.

Hearing the footsteps, she couldn't help but raise her eyes and saw Zhu Houcong. She subconsciously wanted to get up, but the pain all over her body made her groan.

"Lie down."

Zhu Houcong walked closer, leaned over to look at the little one who had closed his eyes and stopped crying, as if he was asleep, then looked at the queen and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"It's my duty." Lin Zhixi replied in an inaudible voice.

In any era, giving birth is a difficult journey for mothers, especially for the first time. Mothers will be overwhelmed by various emotions such as tension and fear, which is a double test for their mental and physical health.

Only after you pass the test can you completely relax.

The royal family is not like the common people's family. Zhu Houcong must reward people so that they will not think too much. He said: "You have made great contributions."

The queen's eyes dimmed, and she looked from Zhu Houcong to her daughter in her arms, and said, "I'm afraid I have disappointed many people."

There is no selfish thing in heaven.

As seven of the emperor's nine sons died young, only two sons were left. The deposed Prince Yu and Prince Jing did not look like the right people to rule the country.

Therefore, when the emperor was nearly sixty years old, the former chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng, took the lead in submitting a memorial to the emperor to hold a national selection of concubines again.

After the queen became pregnant, everyone in the world thought that the emperor's legitimate son, the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty would be decided, and the sacred artifact would soon have a owner.

Two generations of cabinet chiefs, Zhang Juzheng who returned to his hometown to end his term, and Gao Gong who was in charge of the country, organized important officials in the opposition and the court to present their poems from all over the country.

Even the Minister Chen Yiqin, who was implementing national policies in Sichuan, and the Minister Wang Chonggu, who was fighting back against the Mughal Empire in the South Asian subcontinent, submitted green poems.

Although the Qingci was meant to congratulate the Queen on her upcoming birth, everyone could understand the expectation contained in it. All the people in the world were waiting for the birth of a legitimate son.

The legitimate daughter will fall into the inferior class.

"I don't care."

Zhu Houcong shook his head. He saw no difference between his own children and his own sons and daughters, so the joy and disappointment of his subjects were meaningless.

Although the Queen thought the Emperor was lying, her expression still looked better.

"You have made merits. Now that you have entered the harem and the Forbidden City, I will not reward you with anything else. Your family comes from a poor family, so I will confer the title of marquis on your father." Zhu Houcong brought the topic back.

The queen was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I am afraid that people will criticize me for being conferred a title without any military merit."

"No." Zhu Houcong said softly.

In the current Ming Dynasty, everything is in his hands. As long as it does not involve civil affairs, the subjects will not easily voice any opposition.

Moreover, the current system of titles in the dynasty cannot be inherited. The Queen's father, the father-in-law of the emperor, is at least thirty or forty years old, and he will only live for a few decades. A little title and salary, no matter it comes from the emperor's treasury or the court's treasury, is not a big deal.

As wealth from the European continent continued to flow into the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty now possessed the wealth of half the world. Any treasure taken out at random would be enough to support a marquis for a lifetime.

"On behalf of the Lin family, I kowtow to thank His Majesty for his grace!" The Queen said, trying to get up, but Zhu Houcong stopped her and said, "Have a good rest."

After calming the empress's distracting thoughts, Zhu Houcong looked at his youngest daughter for a while, and when the empress was about to fall asleep, he walked out of the inner hall.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, and Li Chunfang came forward, knelt down, and said, "We congratulate Your Majesty!"

No matter they were truly happy or pretending to be happy out of disappointment, after all, this was the emperor having another daughter in his old age, which was a great happy event for the Ming Dynasty. In response to the joy, all eyes looked up at Zhu Houcong.

"Be flat."

After Zhu Houcong finished speaking, the three cabinet ministers stood up one after another after expressing their gratitude.

As the summer heat grew, three chairs formed a circle, with the three elders sitting around a white copper ice basin in the middle to dispel the heat that had come so quickly.

"Your Majesty, news has come from the European continent and the South Asian subcontinent."

Gao Gong took the lead and reported: "The Tulip Project was successfully completed, and the entire European continent fell into a serious economic crisis. Many European countries went bankrupt, even the three major empires, the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Spanish Empire. After the tulip bubble burst, the youngest Spanish Empire, under the means of its Emperor Philip II, quickly calmed the situation, restored domestic order, and expanded the empire's ruling area, incorporating the Kingdom of France into the empire. The surrendered French King Francis II was also appointed as the first King Governor of the Kingdom of France in the Spanish Empire. The territory of the Spanish Empire officially bordered the Holy Roman Empire.

Philip II's uncle, Ferdinand I, took advantage of the serious economic crisis in the country and led his army back to the Holy Roman Empire to compete with the Roman Church for the imperial leadership of politics and religion. The Holy Roman Empire fell into civil strife.

As for the Ottoman Empire, the elderly 'Kanuni (Suleiman I, the Ottoman Emperor and the Caliph of God, the emperor of politics and religion, had contact with the East, so he was known as Kanuni, also known as the Legislator)', suffered a heavy blow to his body and mind after the tulip bubble burst, showing signs of aging. His four sons gradually used all means to fight for the throne. Kanuni finally chose the sixth prince, Salam, and after executing the other three princes, he died suddenly..."

In Kanuni's hands, the Ottoman Empire's territory stretched from the Middle East in the east to North Africa in the west, and the imperial fleet dominated the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not have any war or conflict with it, it had had contact with it since the Hongzhi period and was not unfamiliar with it.

As the helmsman of a vast empire, Suleiman I personally initiated legislative reforms in society, education, taxation and criminal law.

The authoritative code (or Canon) compiled under his leadership was designated as the basis for all subsequent legal systems in the empire.

Because of Suleiman I's civil and military achievements, he is widely praised as "the Great" in the West and is as famous as Abbas the Great and Akbar the Great in the history of Islamic development.

In areas west of East Asia, including Europe and Africa, Suleiman I is called "Suleiman the Magnificent".

But in East Asia, because of the existence of the Ming Dynasty and the existence of the Holy Emperor, even the so-called emperors would be overshadowed by them.

Gao Gong started his address by calling him "Kahnuni", which was already a sign of respect for Suleiman the Magnificent.

According to the Ming calendar, Suleiman the Magnificent was born in the seventh year of Hongzhi and was the tenth emperor of the Ottoman Empire. If the Ming Dynasty does not count Emperor Jianwen, he would have the same number of emperors as the current emperor. He was also the longest-reigning emperor in the history of the Ottoman Empire, which is the same as the current emperor.

Suleiman the Magnificent succeeded to the throne in the 15th year of the Zhengde reign after his father passed away. The current emperor entered the throne after the death of the previous emperor, Emperor Zhengde, in the 16th year of the Zhengde reign.

In short, Suleiman the Magnificent has many similarities with the current emperor, and he is even older than the current emperor. As of this year, he is over 70 years old.

Suleiman the Magnificent had a total of eight sons, but the eldest son, Crown Prince Mahmud, died young. The second son, Crown Prince Mustafa, challenged his father Suleiman the Magnificent's imperial power after serving as crown prince for 20 years, and was then executed by Suleiman the Magnificent.

During this period, two other princes died of illness and accidents.

There are eight sons and four left.

The older people get, the more they miss the past and the more they cherish love.

The successive deaths of his beloved concubines and children made Suleiman I exhausted. He often regretted and reflected on his previous actions, and he cherished the four living princes even more.

However, Suleiman I's cherishing not only failed to make the princes live in harmony, but instead pushed the struggle for the throne to a climax.

According to the laws of the Ottoman Empire, each prince had his own royal guard. In order to fight for the throne, the four princes did not hesitate to start a civil war.

The empire's economy collapsed, the princes were killing each other, and Suleiman the Magnificent was defeated. The old tiger probably knew that the situation would not last long, and he did not have much means and energy to re-examine the four princes. He used the number of "tulips" in the hands of the princes as the criterion for judgment, and the one with the least, Salam, was eliminated.

However, according to intelligence from the Royal Guards, the number of "tulips" that Selam had was not the least among his brothers, but the most.

But this person was good at hiding his shortcomings and making a fortune in silence. Of course, he suffered a great loss in silence this time, but God knows that "blessings are closely related to misfortunes, and misfortunes are closely related to blessings."

Seram, which had long been bankrupt, could not even pay the salaries of its own royal guards, and naturally suffered defeat in the civil war with its other brothers.

But this made Suleiman I mistakenly believe that Salam was a "wise man" and a "wise man", and that he was the emperor and caliph of the empire who would definitely be favored by God.

Suleiman the Magnificent ordered his sons to lay down their arms, but with the throne at hand, no one was willing to give up, except for the penniless Salam, who directly disbanded his own royal guard.

According to intelligence from the Royal Guards, Selam was worried that if he delayed paying the soldiers any more, the Royal Guards would kill him first, so he decided to disband the Royal Guards and prepare to flee to Persia.

However, this action aggravated Suleiman I's misunderstanding. Suleiman I made the final decision and performed a last dance. He personally led the army and easily destroyed the guards of his three sons.

Suleiman I was worried that after his death, Salam would think of their brotherhood and cause more trouble for the Ottoman Empire, so he decided to kill all his three sons and their sons, that is, more than a dozen grandsons of Suleiman I.

Of the eight sons, only one remained.

After Suleiman I summoned his ministers and announced that Salam would be the next emperor of the Ottoman Empire, he could no longer hold on and died in Constantinople.

Salam II officially became the emperor of the Ottoman Empire and the caliph, the supreme spiritual leader.

The economy collapsed and the emperor passed away, and the entire Ottoman Empire was in mourning. During the state funeral, countless citizens and believers went to Constantinople to pray and mourn, and this process would last for several months.

And Salam II immediately announced that for the sake of Suleiman I, all troops at sea and abroad would be withdrawn immediately to maintain the peace of the empire.

According to intelligence from the Royal Guards, things are not that simple. There is a deep hatred between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire both at the imperial and religious levels. Now the Holy Roman Empire is in civil strife, and Ferdinand I and Pope Peter VII are fighting for dominance. As an enemy country, the most important thing the Ottoman Empire should do is to lead its army into the Holy Roman Empire.

It can be used for revenge, to seize territory, and to divert internal conflicts within the empire caused by economic collapse.

But Ceram II chose not to attack and even withdrew all his troops outside. Behind the scenes, Ceram II and the Holy Roman Empire secretly signed a treaty.

Ferdinand I and Peter VII promised Seram II through different channels that they would "donate" 300,000 gold coins to the Ottoman Empire every year, which would be valid forever, no matter who the final winner of the Holy Roman Empire was.

Ferdinand I and Peter VII delivered 600,000 gold coins to Ceram II when the treaty was signed. However, when the empire was in such a difficult economic crisis, Ceram II did not use the 600,000 gold coins to save the empire's economy, but put them into his own pocket.

Selam II sold out the interests of the Ottoman Empire for his own selfish interests.

According to the investigation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, after obtaining the 600,000 gold coins, Seram II secretly built a winery.

You should know that Islam, which believes in Allah, clearly prohibits all drinking. Drinking will make people forget their identity and responsibilities, stay away from Allah and faith, and fall into the temptation and deception of the devil.

During the period of mourning for his father, under the precepts of faith, Seram II did something so outrageous that the cabinet described him as "a disgrace to the world"!
(End of this chapter)