Dongji Port in Nanyun Province, with the arrival of autumn, waves of cold wind blow from the north, giving the busy port a hint of autumn coolness.
Here at a dock, sixteen-year-old Anna was bursting into tears because she was about to leave here for the distant capital to participate in the selection of the concubine for His Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.
Sixteen-year-old Anna is tall and graceful, and very well-proportioned. She has long black flowing hair, eyes as pure as sapphires, skin like mutton-fat jade, and exquisite facial features. She is extremely beautiful.
This is the most beautiful girl here in Nanyun Province, selected by all ethnic groups after rounds of beauty pageants. They represent the Caucasians and Georgians of Nanyun Province who went to the capital to participate in the selection of the crown prince and concubine.
Like her, there were two equally beautiful girls next to her, both of whom were bidding farewell to their families with tears streaming down their faces at this moment.
"Child, take care of yourself~"
Anna's parents were also full of tears at this moment. They already knew that once their daughter passed away, it would be very difficult to see them again in the future. It was very difficult.
It's better not to be selected, and you can come back when the time comes, but once you are selected, it is almost impossible to come back as the prince's concubine. Even if they go to the capital, they want to see
It’s not easy for my own daughter either.
The palace has its own strict rules. Once a person enters the palace, she is no longer your daughter, but the prince's concubine. In the future, when the prince becomes the emperor, she will be the concubine of the emperor of tomorrow.
"I know, you should take care of yourself~"
Anna had cried until she had no tears left. She cried countless times along the way.
"The ship is about to depart~"
Here, the official responsible for escorting them into Beijing looked at the time on the port clock tower and shouted.
As soon as the official shouted, the three young girls and their families began to cry even more sadly. They immediately broke into a group, but in the end they had to reluctantly separate.
She boarded the ship with great reluctance and stood on the deck looking at her parents. Anna burst into tears.
However, no matter how much you are reluctant to give up, you still have to face it with strength. The ship set sail and gradually left the port. The parents on the port dock became smaller and smaller, and finally blurred.
Anna wiped away her tears, turned her head and looked forward. With the slightest hint of autumn wind, she couldn't help but hug her arms tightly, looking extremely lonely and helpless.
With uneasiness about the future, a trace of hope and yearning for the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the three girls kept heading east.
When they arrived in the Hezhong area, several more girls joined their team. These were the girls selected from the Hezhong area to go to the capital to participate in the selection of the crown prince and his concubine.
This time the prince's selection of concubines was very different from the past.
In the past, whether the prince selected a concubine or the emperor selected a concubine, they were basically selected from the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and the women selected were all Han women, generally women from ordinary families.
Of course, this ordinary family does not refer to the families of ordinary people, but refers to the families of small landowners, small officials, etc. who have some foundation and conditions. The children of the lower-level farming people will definitely not be selected. After all, whether they are the princess or the
Queen or something.
These are all representative of women in the world. At least, they must be well-educated and able to read and write. The daughters of ordinary people do not meet this requirement at all.
But this time, Prince Zhu Houzhao's selection of concubines was different.
The current Ming Empire has a vast territory, a large population, and countless tribes. It also has several vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and a large number of vassal states and colonies overseas.
In order to strengthen the empire's rule over various regions, it was also to promote exchanges and exchanges between various tribes, and to show that the Emperor of Heaven treated all tribes equally.
Therefore, in this time's selection of the prince's concubine, each province, vassal state, vassal state, colony, and tribe are required to hold their own beauty pageant internally, and then according to the requirements, send a certain number of girls to the capital to participate in the selection of the prince.
concubine.
Nanyun Province is a place that has only been under the rule of the Ming Empire in recent years. The main tribes here are Georgians and Caucasians, so the imperial court also requires that Nanyun Province must select Sanming beauties to go to the capital to participate in the selection of princes and concubines.
After this news reached Nanyun Province, the people here were extremely happy.
Since ancient times, the Caucasus has been a battlefield and plundering place for powerful countries and tribes, causing the local Caucasians and Georgians to suffer.
This was the earliest source of slaves for the Italian Genoese, ancient Rome, and ancient Persians. Even in recent years, it has always been a place of plunder by the Ottoman Empire, Persians, Mongols, and Tatars.
After being included in the rule of the Ming Empire, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty treated all the tribes here equally, allowing them to truly live a dignified, stable and prosperous life.
Although it has only been under the rule of the Ming Empire for a short time, it has a very high sense of identification with the Ming Empire.
The Ming Dynasty Crown Prince's selection of concubines also made them extremely excited. They held an extremely grand beauty pageant and selected Anna and other three young girls to go to the capital to participate in the selection of the Crown Prince's concubines.
For the people of Nanyun Province, this is something to be happy and proud of, but for Anna and the three young girls, this is not something to be happy about.
Of course, it was not just the three of them. When they arrived in the Western Region, there were more than ten young girls in Yili who had joined their team.
These dozen young girls, all dressed in beautiful national costumes, each one more beautiful than the other, each represents a tribe from the Western Regions and went to the capital to participate in the selection of the crown prince and concubine.
There is Qiqige, who grew up on a horse, herding sheep and horses, a girl who loves to laugh, and her smile is very sweet; there is Baha Guli, who was born in the Vuer ethnic group and is very beautiful.
She is also good at singing and dancing, and her beautiful singing voice can be heard along the way; and Dilida, who comes from the snowy areas of Tianshan Mountains, is as clean as the snow lotus on the snowy mountains, shy but brave and strong...
As we got closer and closer to the capital, the team grew bigger and bigger, and Anna made more and more friends. When we arrived in Gansu, three more girls from Uzang joined the team.
Dolma loves to laugh the most. It is said that there is an extremely vast grassland in her home with many herdsmen, and she likes Tibetan mastiffs the most; Ram is a devout Buddhist and recites sutras every day; Kelsang likes to make friends with people the most, and in many places he loves Tibetan mastiffs the most.
In a short period of time, I have become good friends with everyone.
The team continues to grow, and more and more young girls are joining the team headed for the capital.
…
The capital, Liu Jin’s residence.
Liu Jin was lying on his old man's chair, enjoying the rare leisure time in autumn.
Autumn in Beijing is the most comfortable season of the year. At this time, there is no summer heat and a hint of cool autumn wind, making people drowsy. There is no severe cold in winter, so you can enjoy the warm sunshine easily and comfortably.
In autumn and winter, the scenery is all yellow and the scenery is extremely beautiful. It is very suitable to go to Xiangshan to see the maple forest.
"The war between the Ottoman Empire and the European coalition forces has temporarily come to an end, but things cannot stop like this. We must give the Ottoman Empire more support so that it can continue to go west and pull these European countries hard.
"
Liu Jin was thinking about things in Europe.
Most of the entire earth has been included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The only people who can pose a threat to the Ming Empire are Europeans, so we must find a way to delay the development of Europe. It will not take long, it will be delayed by dozens.
Years are enough.
"We need to start a campaign here in Siberia's Winter City and send more prisoners there."
"Although this place is a bit cold in winter, it is rich in resources. It will be able to develop into one of the five polar bear cities in the future. It also has unique natural conditions."
"The immigration plan for the Kazakh Khanate must be started as soon as possible. In five or six years of operation, it can become the bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty to attack Europe, just like the Hezhong area."
"The population is still too small. If there were hundreds of millions of people, we wouldn't have to worry about human affairs."
Liu Jin frowned slightly as he thought about it.
With such a vast territory, the population of the Ming Dynasty was only 1.5 billion. The population was so small that there were too many places that could not be developed.
Like Liaodong, the land is fertile and the resources are rich, but it has only been developed to the position of Jilin in later generations. The more fertile and rich Heilongjiang Basin has not been visited yet.
There is also the Golden Continent, which has countless vast and fertile arable lands, but there are not enough manpower to cultivate it, so the North American bison can only be exploited.
"The advantage of having fewer people is that at least there are enough resources, so you can go to Huohuo as much as you want~"
Thinking of this, Liu Jin also laughed. In later generations, there are always people on the Internet who say that some countries have too many people. If there are hundreds of millions less people, the per capita income will be higher, how much higher, etc. It is ridiculous to think about it.
, how can one create so much wealth without so many people?
Only those who have everything have everything. Like now, the Ming Dynasty is very short of people. There are not many people who want to immigrate a million people to the newly acquired Kazakh region.
"Lao Liu, Lao Liu~"
At this time, Zhu Houzhao's voice came from far and near, and soon after, Zhu Houzhao walked over with excitement on his face.
"Listening to this voice, I always feel like this kid seems to have something happy again."
Listening to Zhu Houzhao's voice and fast walking pace, Liu Jin began to guess in his heart.
"Old Liu, hurry up, hurry up, follow me to the train station."
Zhu Houzhao looked at the lazy Liu Jin, pulled him up, and said anxiously.
"What are you going to the train station for?"
Liu Jin asked reluctantly.
"Of course I want to see the beauties. Today the beauties from Nanyun Province, Ha Trung Province, Xiyu Province, Uszang and other places will arrive in the capital. Come and have a look with me~"
