Chapter 104 The concubines left over from the previous dynasty
Chapter 104 Concubines left over from the previous dynasty
Song Xuan was not angry about Song Lian's dissatisfaction, but patiently explained it.
"If I were not the emperor, I would naturally feel it was unfair. But there is no way. From my perspective, I don't want to pass an imperial examination and cause the Wu Dynasty, which was finally unified, to be divided.
The provinces south of the Yangtze River were the territory of the Wu Dynasty, and similarly, the northern part of the Central Plains was also the territory of the Wu Dynasty. If the Jinshi were all from the south of the Yangtze River, but no one from the north was on the list, then would these provinces in the Central Plains still belong to me?"
Song Lian was silent, then bowed in the end and said: "I am not good enough, I hope your majesty will forgive me!"
Song Xuan waved his hands and said: "A discussion is a discussion, and there is no such thing as forgiveness!
Let’s discuss this matter here for now. You can go back and think about it carefully. Is there any way to maintain the fairness of the imperial examination without hurting the feelings of students from Jiangnan and Beiland?
Think it through, let’s discuss it tomorrow!”
Song Xuan naturally had some ideas. For example, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty specially set up two joint examinations in the north and the south. Students from the south of the Yangtze River and students from the north did not interfere with each other and had independent imperial examinations.
But Song Xuan did not say this method out loud. He did not want his important ministers to rely too much on him as the emperor for everything.
He is an emperor, and he is also an innate warrior. For Song Xuan today, state affairs are very important, but cultivation is also very important.
Thinking about problems and finding ways to solve them is what the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty need to do, and as the emperor, he only needs to make the final decision at the last moment.
If you have to worry about everything yourself, then why do you need all the civil and military officials?
Does he still want to practice?
That night, Song Xuan stayed overnight in Kunning Palace and fell asleep after having an in-depth exchange with Zhou Zhiruo.
On the second day of court, Song Xuan issued two decrees.
The first is the land reclamation order.
All unowned wasteland can be reclaimed by the common people on their own. The reclaimed land will be exempted from all taxes for five years. The local government must handle land deeds for the reclaimed land as quickly as possible and is not allowed to obstruct it for any reason.
The second order is the bandit suppression order.
Although the Wu Dynasty was unified, bandits, thieves and some rebel leaders who were unwilling to try to separate themselves as kings still existed in various places. These forces could not shake the rule of the Wu Dynasty, but for the local people, they were definitely a command.
The terrifying power that makes people unable to live with peace of mind.
The bandit suppression order orders the military to come up with a suitable plan as soon as possible to solve these bandit troubles as soon as possible to ensure that the people's spring farming will not be affected after the spring of this year.
The two decrees were issued, and no one among the officials dared to raise objections.
There are some things you can complain about, but there are some things you really can't complain about.
This is an imperial edict directly issued by His Majesty, and it is also an important matter related to the country. If anyone dares to come out and criticize it at this time, Your Majesty will definitely reward him with the special experience of a one-day tour of the Tsing Yi Guard Prison.
The Tsing Yi Guard has now become an independent organization, directly under His Majesty, and is not linked to any department in the court.
In the past, the Tsing Yi Guard was mainly for external affairs, but after His Majesty the Unification of the World came to the throne, this organization transformed and became a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the ministers.
There are no longer just one or two officials who died in the Qingyi Guard Prison because of corruption, perverting the law and oppressing the people.
Regarding the Tsing Yi Guards, Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen and other important ministers had appealed more than once, wanting to abolish this secret service agency that was outside the court, but unfortunately, His Majesty the Emperor, who was always good at listening to the opinions of his courtiers, was extremely determined this time.
No matter who comes to comment, they will all leave nothing to say. In a word,
It's impossible to ban the Tsing Yi Guards!
Not only is it impossible, His Majesty has even continued to expand the scale of the Tsing Yi Guards, constantly recruiting elite soldiers from the army to supplement the Tsing Yi Guards, so that the power of the Tsing Yi Guards can radiate to all counties and villages in the world.
For a time, Lao Liu, the commander of the Tsing Yi Guards, became a living king of hell that all civil and military officials feared to avoid after hearing the news.
After going to court, Queen Zhou Zhiruo and the two imperial concubines accompanied Song Xuan for a stroll in the imperial garden.
A few people were playing casually and unknowingly came to the outside of Chuxiu Palace. Looking from a distance, they saw a group of brightly dressed women kneeling on the ground to welcome him.
Song Xuan was a little surprised when he looked at the group of women in front of him. At a glance, there were hundreds of them.
"Where did so many women come from?"
As he said that, he looked at Zhou Zhiruo and the others and said jokingly: "What, you suddenly realized your conscience and want to open a big harem for us?"
There are hundreds of them at once, which is a lot of work. Even an innate warrior can't handle it!
Zhou Zhiruo turned her head to the side speechlessly. Xiao Zhao covered her mouth and snickered. Only Liu Qinglian was not afraid. She leaned against Song Xuan's chest and whispered: "It's not that it can't be opened. The key is that you have such a strong waist."
Can you live there?"
Song Xuan stared at her, and the two stared at her. Finally, Emperor Song coughed dryly and turned his gaze aside.
He really didn't dare to say that he could withstand it, otherwise Liu Qinglian, a little fairy, would definitely dare to drag him to inspect the goods on the spot.
"By the way, you guys haven't answered yet. Where do these women come from? Why don't I remember there are so many women in the palace?"
Zhou Zhiruo said helplessly: "Brother, how little do you care about the harem? Didn't the eunuch who served you say that there are still a group of concubines of Emperor Yuan Shun left in the harem?"
"Um?"
Song Xuan was stunned.
If you want to say this, then I will be interested!
"What's the situation? Even if Emperor Yuan Shun runs away, he won't leave his wife and children behind, right?"
"He really missed it!"
Zhou Zhiruo pointed to the women who were kneeling on the ground and trembled, and sighed: "Emperor Yuan Shun probably didn't even know how many concubines he had. At that time, the main force of the Yuan army was defeated in Huizhou, and the Ming army quickly approached Dadu. Emperor Yuan Shun probably didn't know how many concubines he had.
The run was a bit hasty, and it is understandable that some concubines were left out.
Of course, those who can be forgotten here must be those who are not favored, and some who were defeated in the harem battle and were relegated to the cold palace.
I only discovered them yesterday when I inspected the Sixth Palace."
Song Xuan snorted, his eyes constantly wandering around the crowd.
"Brother, what's so interesting about these ruined flowers and willows!" Seeing that Song Xuan seemed to have something wrong with his eyes, Liu Qinglian quickly whispered in his ear: "Brother wants to play whatever he wants, I can satisfy it, don't mess with it.
Is it okay if it’s someone else?”
"good!"
Song Xuan chuckled and withdrew his gaze.
No wonder Emperor Yuan Shun didn't take them with him when he fled. From Song Xuan's perspective, most of these concubines from the previous dynasty were in their thirties, or even older.
Perhaps it was because they had not been favored for a long time or even been relegated to the cold palace. Although they were brightly dressed, none of them looked very good and looked very haggard.
It's no wonder that Liu Qinglian called them "broken flowers and broken willows", as none of them could catch his eye.