Chapter 182: Competing in beauty and splendor, a dazzling sight

The light of time in the second year of Wanli seemed exceptionally brief.

With matters both great and small, in the blink of an eye, the end of the year had arrived.

In the fourth month, Chang Ang of the Duoyan Guard came to the capital to pay tribute and finalized the detailed rules for the Kuanhe border market, which effectively concluded the aftermath of the imperial court's military campaign.

Before Chang Ang's departure, the Ministry of Rites took the opportunity to invite him, as a subject barbarian, to observe the ceremony of Emperor Muzong Zhuang's spirit tablet being placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

In the fifth month, the Provincial Governor and Surveillance Commissioner proposed that for the eight departments and counties under Eastern Depot Prefecture in Shandong—Puzhou, Qiu County, Shen County, Chaocheng, Fan County, Qingping, and Guantao—the annual labor-service silver for each be fifty taels, totaling four hundred taels, to subsidize the supply costs of Guan County, as the tax burden in Guan County was too heavy to bear.

The Emperor's rescript did not grant this, instead sending a dispatch to the Ministry of Revenue, ordering that henceforth, whenever a department or county found its tax burden too heavy to bear, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner should personally go to investigate and verify, examine the beginning and end, list the root causes in detail, and only after reporting them one by one, would the matter of apportioning or exempting taxes be discussed.

In the sixth month, Xinjian Bo Wang Shouren was enshrined in the Confucius Temple courtyard.

In the same month, the establishment of Zuo Prefecture and Xinning Prefecture was approved, with one School Master appointed for each to oversee Confucian studies, replacing native officials with flowing officials, using Xia to transform the barbarians.

In the seventh month, the Hanlin Academy presented the "Veritable Records of Emperor Muzong," and all officials celebrated in court dress.

The Emperor personally examined them and rated the Chief Compiler of the Veritable Records, Zhang Juzheng, and others as superior.

In the eighth month, the Jurchen Commander A Shibu and two hundred and eleven others from the Haixi Zhela and other guards, along with the Jurchen Assistant Regional Commander Long Bu and one hundred and seventy-nine others from the Talu and other guards, were each granted a tribute banquet, with rewards given according to precedent.

The Emperor issued an oral decree ordering the Haixi barbarian chieftain Wang Tai to apprehend the Jianzhou Jurchen Wang Gao, and not to fail.

In the ninth month, continuous heavy rain fell, and Emperor Muzong's Zhaoling Mausoleum was destroyed.

The Censorate, in conjunction with the Ministry of Works, audited the internal and external personnel who had managed the Zhaoling project, including Yang Junqing, and determined their respective circumstances and crimes.

The Ministry of Works was ordered to supervise the repair matters.

In the tenth month, rewards were granted to Hu Shouren and four hundred and seventy-two other officers and soldiers for their meritorious service in Jiliao; rewards were granted to Wu Mengbao and one hundred and fifty-six other officers and soldiers for their meritorious service in Liaodong.

In the same month, the former Minister of War Yang Bo passed away; he was granted sacrificial offerings and burial, posthumously awarded the title of Grand Tutor, and given the posthumous name Xiangyi.

Ma Ziqiang of the Ministry of Rites requested that Yang Bo be enshrined in the Weixin Pavilion, but the Emperor did not grant it.

Besides this, there were also some rewards for the parents of the Senior Grand Secretary, debates on Confucian classics, and so on.

……

Time swayed unsteadily.

In the blink of an eye, it was the eleventh month.

The second day of this month was once again the Winter Solstice.

From early morning, goose-feather snow began to drift in the sky.

The Forbidden City was once again covered in a layer of silver.

Outside the palaces, along the imperial paths, and inside the pavilions, eunuchs and palace maids were seen in twos and threes, being shouted at and directed by the Chief Eunuch to clear the accumulated snow.

Of course, there were places where snow removal was of no use, such as the few mu of farmland in the Western Garden.

The farmland had only been reclaimed this year and was specifically reserved by the Emperor for the inner palace to encourage agriculture and sericulture, serving as a model for the world.

And this year's main activity was planting potatoes.

By the turn of spring and summer, a round had already been planted; many died of disease, and few survived. Even so, when the autumn harvest came, not only did the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue sing praises, but even the common people in the markets and villages spread the word.

Of course, planting one season was already quite good. Now that it was the Winter Solstice, logically speaking, one certainly shouldn't be planting potatoes in the fields again.

But well, since it was experimental farmland to begin with, it ultimately depended on what the nobles thought.

So.

This season's potatoes were completely wiped out.

The Emperor and the Selected Lady, draped in heavy cloaks, squatted on the ground, while inner officials held umbrellas beside them, with only a few snowflakes drifting onto their shoulders.

Zhu Yijun looked out, taking in the patches of frozen potatoes, and felt only a toothache.

He turned his head and looked speechlessly at Li Baiyang: "Where did Selected Lady Li get the whimsical idea to plant potatoes in winter?"

Although potatoes had only just been introduced to the Great Ming, some experience had already been accumulated among the common people.

When he sent people to purchase the original seeds, the farmers would more or less offer advice on pest control, the season for maturity, and the soil environment.

At the very least, they had said that they couldn't be grown in the capital's winter.

Yet someone refused to believe it.

Seeing the seeds that had just been cultivated in the autumn now frozen to death in patches, how could Zhu Yijun not feel a bit of heartache?

Li Baiyang pursed her lips and muttered with some grievance: "It was Your Majesty who said to cultivate the seeds first. Your Majesty only said to select those that were large and ripened quickly, so I thought I would select some that were cold-resistant."

She raised her head and added, not quite convinced: "I did everything according to what was said in the 'Chen Fu Agricultural Treatise'."

Zhu Yijun choked.

Immediately after, he shook his head with some amusement: "That was for leafy vegetables. You switched to potatoes; you should have known it wouldn't work."

Li Baiyang dug out two frozen potatoes from the ground, poked them with a finger, and remained silent, not answering.

Seeing this, Zhu Yijun found it hard to pressure her further.

He turned his face away and, as if inadvertently, tried to smooth things over: "Fine, fine, I will just have the Directorate of Ceremonial collect some more original seeds."

Li Baiyang finally found a way out. She dug open the soil pit and buried the frozen potatoes back in: "I still have plenty left from the batch planted in spring; there is no need to collect seeds from outside the palace for now."

Zhu Yijun didn't respond to this.

The palace wasn't short of this bit of silver; he was mainly looking at Selected Lady Li's appearance and didn't know how many more she would raise to death.

He simply skipped this topic, beckoned to the inner officials, took the hot towel that had been prepared, and cleaned the mud off his hands.

He then took the opportunity to flip the hot towel over and wiped Li Baiyang's hands as well: "Then let these potatoes rot in the ground; it will just happen to nourish the soil."

Li Baiyang hesitated for a moment and shook her head: "Your Majesty, let's not."

Zhu Yijun looked at her in confusion.

"I am still testing the pit composting method derived from the way Your Majesty made manure and fertilized the fields according to the 'Chen Fu Agricultural Treatise' last time."

"I applied fertilizer to these two mu on the left, bird droppings to the two mu in the middle, and did not fertilize the right side."

"If I used potatoes to nourish the soil, it would be difficult to distinguish the differences and compare the effects."

Zhu Yijun suddenly realized.

There was indeed such a thing, but he hadn't been paying too much attention to this side and had almost forgotten about it.

However, it had to be said that when it came to being on the same wavelength, it was truly easy to influence those around you.

At the very least, Selected Lady Li accepted it extremely quickly, and her control experiments were already quite proficient.

To this, Zhu Yijun naturally had no reason to refuse and nodded decisively.

Immediately after, he couldn't help but urge: "As for making manure, don't do it yourself. Otherwise, people in the world will say that I am bullying the inner palace."

It wasn't that he thought composting itself was dirty.

It was just that letting the inner palace do such things would always make some people feel it was dirty.

Now was not the time to talk about being politically correct; it was best to avoid criticism whenever possible.

After all, in the coming years, the imperial concubines would still have to endure the criticism of "inner duties not prepared, imperial heirs not numerous."

Upon hearing this, Li Baiyang obediently responded.

As a young girl in her teens, how could she not have a sense of repulsion toward making manure? It was just that the Emperor had raised the banner of encouraging agriculture, and if she left it to others, it wouldn't be very good.

Now that the Emperor had spoken, she naturally had no reason to be coy and refuse.

Zhu Yijun clapped his hands and pulled Selected Lady Li to her feet.

The two walked around the fields again, summarizing their experience and lessons in a desultory manner.

Just as they were pacing and talking, Wei Chao came over quickly from a distance.

He caught his breath slightly before walking behind the Emperor: "Your Majesty, the two Empresses Dowager invite you to the Cining Palace."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun tilted his head to look at Wei Chao: "Cining Palace? Have the two Empresses Dowager chosen the beauties?"

The two Empresses wouldn't gather together for no reason, let alone run to the Cining Palace.

So as soon as Wei Chao spoke, Zhu Yijun realized what was happening.

From the gathering in the capital in the eighth month to the second day of the eleventh month, three months had passed; it seemed they had finally made their selection.

Wei Chao hurriedly replied: "In reply to Your Majesty, the two Empresses have selected fifty people to remain in the palace, and are waiting for Your Majesty to determine the ranks of the concubines."

The ranks and titles of the inner palace were quite complex.

Empress, Noble Imperial Consort, Imperial Consort, Consort, Concubine, Jieyu, Zhaoyi, Noble Lady, Beauty, Zhaorong, Selected Lady, Lady—there were no fewer than the sequence of official ranks.

Of course, although there were many ranks, the most urgent matter today was to select the Empress and Consorts.

Of the fifty people favored by the two Empresses in this beauty selection, naturally, not all would be given titles.

At most, three or five would be given titles—according to custom, the Ming Dynasty beauty selection generally only selected one Empress and two Consorts, with extremely limited quotas.

As for what to do with the remaining forty-plus people?

Naturally, they are used as palace maids, such as personal attendants for the two palaces or the Emperor's personal female officials.

Such palace maids were also the Emperor's women; if he were in the mood, he could share a bed with them—just like the birth mother of Emperor Guangzong in history, who was selected and then assigned as a palace maid beside Empress Dowager Li. When Wanli went to pay his respects to his mother, he didn't know what he was thinking, but he became interested and took this palace maid on the spot.

It was not uncommon for one to be conferred as a Consort after being favored.

However, that was not part of the rank determination today.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and did not leave immediately, but looked at Li Baiyang: "Is Selected Lady Li going?"

Selected Lady Li lowered her head and shook it gently.

Zhu Yijun didn't dwell on it, greeted the inner officials to send her back to the palace, and then turned and headed toward the Cining Palace with his people.

……

Beauty selection was something that had to be conducted in the main hall of the Imperial Palace.

Because the Qianqing Palace had caught fire at the end of the year and was still under repair, and the redecoration of the Cijing Palace had not yet finished, it was placed in the Cining Palace.

It was rare for the two Empresses to be in the same hall, and along the way, Zhu Yijun had already imagined the scene of confrontation and incompatibility inside the hall.

But when Zhu Yijun entered the hall, he found that the two were safe and sound, with a tranquil atmosphere, and couldn't help but secretly think it was unexpected.

He walked up and bowed to the two Empresses: "Child pays respects to Mother."

He deliberately blurred the distinction between the two Empresses—the legal mother and the birth mother. Logically, he should distinguish them, for example, calling the former Mother and the latter Sister, or something similar.

But now that the great power was in the Emperor's hands, and given Zhu Yijun's understanding of this legal mother, she certainly wouldn't care, and it would be better to make Empress Dowager Li feel comfortable.

Sure enough, Empress Dowager Li's originally tranquil expression immediately revealed a smile: "My child, hurry and rise."

Zhu Yijun rose as requested, took off his cloak, and handed it to the inner official beside him.

Empress Dowager Chen was not surprised by the Emperor's scheming and just curiously asked: "Did the Li girl not come with the Emperor?"

Although she was the internally designated Noble Imperial Consort, it was precisely the time to go through the process, and selecting her along the way would be more in line with the Emperor's watertight style.

Zhu Yijun walked up to the two Empresses and said casually: "Selected Lady Li dug in the ground all morning and was a bit tired, so I let her go back to rest first."

He understood the young girl.

He guessed it was some kind of "obviously I came first" thought, and her mood didn't seem too good.

There was no need for him to force her to stand in the beauty selection pile just to follow this little process.

Empress Dowager Li was in no mood for small talk and impatiently pushed a booklet in front of the Emperor: "This is the roster for this beauty selection."

"The background, age, temperament of the beauties above, as well as the evaluations by me and Sister, are divided into fifty people in total."

After speaking, she led the Emperor to the side hall.

Besides the roster, the people naturally had to be seen.

Since the palace maids entered the palace in the ninth month, they had been serving before the two Empresses to examine their character.

The Emperor hadn't even met them yet.

The three arrived at the side hall, where there were three chairs and a screen in front, a layout that could not be seen clearly from the outside while allowing the line of sight to penetrate through.

The palace maids outside stood in the hall.

Zhu Yijun took a rough look.

Every seven or eight people his gaze swept over were all slender and graceful, with complexions like morning clouds reflecting snow, truly beautiful and outstanding, with graceful postures.

Zhu Yijun didn't look at them one by one in detail, but quickly withdrew his gaze, sat down between the two Empresses, and opened the roster.

Appearance was certainly important, but a bit of beauty was enough; the main thing was family background.

As Zhu Yijun flipped through it, he asked casually: "Marriage is a major event, and parents have always been the gatekeepers. I should still listen to Mother's candidates first."

As soon as he finished speaking, Empress Dowager Li immediately leaned forward and pointed into the hall: "This one, the Wang clan of Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan."

"Her father and grandfather were merchants, honest and dutiful. The Wang woman herself is elegant and virtuous, and especially her appearance shows that she will have prosperous maternal virtue."

As she spoke, an inner official came forward and brought the Wang woman mentioned by Empress Dowager Li to the front, allowing the Emperor to see more clearly through the screen.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but twitch his toes.

The so-called prosperous maternal virtue meant that she looked like she was good at bearing children.

Sure enough, he looked up and saw the Wang woman's plump figure, with prominent curves, looking exactly like the daughter-in-law Empress Dowager Li was satisfied with.

Zhu Yijun was afraid of this kind.

He hurriedly interrupted Empress Dowager Li, pointed to the family background on the roster, and opened his mouth to decline: "Mother, the Wang woman has eighteen brothers, which shows that her father had many concubines, so I'm afraid she might not have been favored at home since childhood."

"Furthermore, with so many brothers, the rewarding of relatives is also a problem."

Empress Dowager Li frowned and thought for a moment, then shook her head with regret.

But since her son had a point, she couldn't refute it.

She had to wave her hand and let the inner official take the person away to serve as a palace maid beside her—it seemed she really liked her.

Empress Dowager Li quickly put down the Wang woman and pointed to another person: "How about this one, the Zhang clan of Yangzhou Prefecture, Zhili."

"Her ancestors made contributions during the Chenghua period, and her father inherited the position of a thousand-household commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The Zhang woman has studied the classics, is sensible and reasonable, and is very considerate."

As soon as the words fell, before the inner official could bring the person up, the Emperor had already shaken his head.

"Selected Lady Li is already from Yangzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili. If the Empress is also selected from Yangzhou, it will inevitably cause surprise inside and outside."

It was as if she had been rejected without even appearing.

As for the reason, it also left Empress Dowager Li unable to refute.

Seeing that the candidates who looked good at bearing children and were considerate and polite were all rejected by her son, Empress Dowager Li had no choice but to withdraw her pointing hand.

Zhu Yijun turned his gaze to Empress Dowager Chen.

Empress Dowager Chen pondered for a moment and said her favorite candidate: "How about the Wu clan of Xi'an Prefecture, Shaanxi?"

"A northerner, father inherited the position of a thousand-household commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, an only daughter, and her appearance is also passable."

Zhu Yijun found the corresponding person on the roster according to what Empress Dowager Chen said.

Looking at her family background, it was indeed as Empress Dowager Chen said, and all aspects were very suitable.

A rare northerner, with a clean family background, had read the Four Books and Five Classics, knew some music and rituals, and was not too young, having turned sixteen in the sixth month.

While the Emperor was pondering, the inner official brought the Wu woman near the screen.

Zhu Yijun looked up and swept a glance casually.

He froze on the spot.

This... was a bit too good-looking.

He suddenly understood why Empress Dowager Chen was fond of this Wu woman; this was not just passable, it was clearly a heavenly appearance.

Temples like spring clouds, eyes like autumn waves, mouth like a red cherry, nose like a hanging gall, white teeth and fine cleanliness...

Unfortunately, being too good-looking wouldn't work either, Zhu Yijun sighed faintly.

Zhu Yijun, whose heart had originally been stirred, painfully rejected the idea after seeing the woman's appearance.

It wasn't that he didn't like beautiful young girls.

It was just that people sometimes found it hard to control themselves, especially when facing things they liked extremely much.

If the inner palace selected such a young girl who perfectly matched his aesthetic, it might not be a good thing for him as the Emperor.

He had passed another birthday in the eighth month.

As he grew older, when he woke up in the morning now, he had already started to toss and turn in a daze.

In this situation, if he selected this Wu woman as Empress, let alone the "inner duties not prepared, imperial heirs not numerous" in the next few years.

He was afraid he would be thinking about the wedding night every day.

Better to send her further away and talk about it in a few years.

As the Emperor shook his head, the inner official invited the Wu woman down again.

The boring concubine selection process had no emotion at all.

The Ma clan of Ningxia...

The Zhou clan of Guangdong...

One after another, they were rejected by the Emperor because their family backgrounds were not pure enough or they were too young.

Especially the reason of being too young, which made the two Empresses look at the Emperor with unkind eyes—he was even picky about people of the same age, insisting on fifteen or sixteen.

Zhu Yijun couldn't explain either.

He just kept silent and continued to screen.

The Zhao clan of Shandong...

The Lin clan of Nanzhili...

The Liu clan of Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang...

Hmm?

Wait, the Liu clan of Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang?

Zhu Yijun flipped back to the previous page.

Wasn't this the Liu Zhao Fei who was selected in the beauty selection in the sixth year of Wanli in history?

Zhu Yijun thought he had misread it and looked back and forth for a long time; it was indeed Liu Zhao Fei.

In history, she was a concubine selected in the sixth year of Wanli.

Most of that group of people were only ten years old now.

He thought he wouldn't encounter such a concubine who should have been selected, but didn't expect a Liu clan to jump out.

Zhu Yijun confirmed the Liu clan's age again.

Fourteen years old, birthday on the ninth day of the first month, which meant she would be fifteen in another month; this age was not too young.

This Liu clan's historical evaluation was that her temperament was cautious and thick.

Unlike the lively energy of Zheng Imperial Consort, who was involved in major cases like beating the Crown Prince and poisoning the Emperor, the Liu clan lived in the palace for sixty-four years and never had any sense of presence.

Neither favored nor making mistakes, she lived quietly until the fifteenth year of Chongzhen—she could hand the rope to Chongzhen if she lived two more years.

In that case, she certainly wasn't a competitive person.

It seemed to be exactly what Zhu Yijun needed.

He couldn't help but tap his knees with his fingers and fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Zhu Yijun tapped on this name.

The inner official beside him immediately understood and went out to bring the Liu clan to the screen.

Zhu Yijun leaned closer and cast a scrutinizing gaze.

Hmm, she was quite good-looking; although not as stunning as the Wu woman just now, she was also of the type with plump cheeks and a broad forehead, and a pleasant appearance.

Seeing the Emperor's thoughtful expression, as if he couldn't make up his mind, Empress Dowager Chen comforted him softly: "The Emperor doesn't need to rush for a moment; it doesn't matter if you take more time to select."

Zhu Yijun closed the roster and turned to look at the two Empresses: "Mother, has the Imperial Observatory arranged a good day?"

The two Empresses looked at each other, and Empress Dowager Chen nodded: "The Imperial Observatory has memorialized that the twenty-eighth day of the first month is for the capping ceremony, the third day of the second month for the betrothal, the eighth day of the third month for setting the bed, the fifteenth day for the Empress's face-opening ceremony, and the twenty-seventh day for the conferment of the seal and treasure, and returning to the palace for the wedding night."

Zhu Yijun nodded and stated directly: "If I decide early, it will allow the inner court and the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the grand ceremony early."

He paused and said seriously: "Mother, let it be the Liu clan of Hangzhou Prefecture."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 183 =====