Then Xu Qin and other younger generations came forward to salute. She was not familiar with the younger ones behind Miaojin, but Xu Qin, Xu Jingchang and others in front were all very familiar to her. Miaojin usually rarely saw them, so she felt a little forgetful at this time.
He reached out and flicked Jingchang's head, and said with a smile: "Jingchang, I'm not happy to see your fourth aunt back home looking so dull. Fourth aunt loved you so much back then."
"Fourth aunt, you didn't dote on me back then. You were clearly bullying your nephew because of your seniority." Jing Chang yelled.
"How can we call it bullying you? It's not good for Fourth Aunt to play with you?" Miao Jin continued to say with a smile.
Jingchang joked a few more words, and Miaojin agreed to salute the others, and went to the backyard surrounded by people. She wanted to go to the backyard, but the eunuch who came with her was determined not to allow it, so she could only carry her to the backyard.
The female official Qingwen helped her get on the Bu Chu and headed towards the backyard.
Not long after arriving at the main hall of the backyard, Miao Jin stepped down, looked back at the scenery in the courtyard, and then walked in.
Everyone sat down according to their status. Although it was a family banquet, so many maids and eunuchs from the palace, and those brought by Xu Feixu and others were also maids from the palace. After all, it couldn't be the same as a family banquet at ordinary people's homes. There was a lot of negotiation.
, the highest status of a man in the Xu family is Xu Huizu, but he is only a prince, two levels lower than the prince, princess or imperial concubine, so of course he cannot be ranked first; Xu Feixu, as the former princess and current princess, is also a member of the Xu family.
The oldest and most senior person sat in the most distinguished position, followed by Xu Huihua, Xu Mengyu, Xu Miaojin, etc.
After sitting down, Miaojin sent out most of the serving maids and eunuchs around him, leaving only two personal female officials Qingwen and Bihen. Then he immediately said to Xu Huizu: "Brother, although I usually don't have the time,
There is no need to be so luxurious when you come to our house."
"Fourth sister," Xu Huizu saw that the servants in the room were all servants of the Xu Mansion or had left the Xu Mansion, so he spoke more relaxedly: "This is the first time you have returned to the mansion since you entered the palace in the first year of Jianye.
Brother, I will definitely make the best arrangements for the house."
"Yes, Fourth Aunt, my uncle was so happy when he heard that you could go back to visit the family. He didn't do anything else all day long. He was just thinking about how to arrange the decorations in the house. It's the first month now, and even the spring flowers are blooming.
No, otherwise my uncle will plant winter jasmine flowers throughout the house!" Xu Jingchang also said quickly.
Miaojin's eyes turned slightly red when she heard this. Although Yun was nice to her, she couldn't compare with her family members. Besides, Yun was the emperor after all. Although she didn't argue much, it didn't mean she didn't need to think about anything.
, and you have to obey Yun and not offend him. How can you get along with your family members comfortably?
But she has been in the palace for more than five years, and she is no longer the immature little girl she was back then. She quickly recovered and said: "My sister appreciates my brother's kindness, but if there is a chance to return to the palace next time, she must not waste it so extravagantly."
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"Furthermore," Miaojin whispered, "our family is now extremely wealthy. There are military commanders in all dynasties who have families like ours. Brother, the arrangement you make like this is very good for the family."
Miao Jin's words did not match the preface and follow-up, but everyone present understood it. Xu Huizu said softly: "Those who are staring at the Xu family, even if they don't have this incident, they will still be staring at the Xu family. Those who are not staring at the Xu family
No one will say anything if this happens. Besides, as the imperial concubine, you have a very high status, and no one dares to say anything if my elder brother arranges it like this."
"As for the future of our family, your elder brother and I already have a plan in mind."
"What's the plan?" Miao Jin asked.
But Xu Huizu didn't answer, and said: "Today is your wedding anniversary and a happy event. Why are you talking about this? We brothers and sisters should listen to the opera and talk about it while talking." He then ordered the maids waiting in the house to pass on the opera troupe to sing the opera.
The seven brothers and sisters just chatted while listening to the play. The seven of them are either in high positions in the Ming Dynasty or married into the royal family. Even chatting inevitably involves palace or court affairs. Besides, there are still people who want to ask questions.
.
"Fourth sister, have you heard in the palace that there is a change in support for the feudal kings who are sealed overseas?" Xu Feixu saw that there was singing on the stage at this time, and she couldn't hear others speaking if she was a little further away.
He came over to chat for a few words and then said.
"My sister has never heard of this." Miao Jin thought for a while and said, "There is just one thing. During the New Year's Eve banquet, the emperor said that after the new year, he would have the guards across the country suppress bandits and exile all the captured bandits to the
Go to Hanzhou. Later, who did the emperor tell about it? Not only the bandits who were captured alive during the bandit suppression in the next year, but also all serious criminals will be exiled to the Hanzhou continent. In this way, there will be fewer people who can be sent to other vassal states.
some."
"This," Xu Feixu was about to speak, when she suddenly thought: "The reduced number of people are all serious criminals. There are some good ones among them, but many of them are habitual gangsters. It would be a headache to send them there, even if they are all
When they were placed in the army, Gao Xu was afraid that they would teach other soldiers bad lessons, so it would be fine without them.'
At this time, the play was finished, and Xu Huihua ordered the maid to give the reward. When he turned around and saw the two of them talking about something, he also smiled and said, "What are the eldest sister and the fourth sister talking about?"
"Oh, we talked about the newly discovered Hanzhou continent. Why do you think there is such a big continent twenty thousand miles away in the east?"
Xu Huihua also sighed, but he was not very excited. For most people in the Ming Dynasty in this era, discovering a new continent is just a little more talk, and has nothing to do with their own lives. For them
It is somewhat related, that is, whether they will be sealed. But Zhu Gaoxu has already been sealed to Su Fan, and King Dai has also been sealed to the Western Regions. King An is determined to live in the capital, so they don't have to worry about this, and they can live with ordinary people.
Just use it as conversation material.
But what did Xu Feixu think of? She said to Miaojin: "Sister, I heard that I brought back some crops and seeds that I have never seen before from the Hanzhou continent?"
"That's true." Miao Jin replied. Of course, Yun couldn't just give it to Xiyao and her younger sister. All the palaces could eat it. Of course, the tomatoes were eaten in two meals. Only corn kernels and corn grains that the soldiers used as dry food were easier to eat.
There are a lot of preserved peanuts and peppers that everyone can eat.
"How do those crops taste? Are they delicious?" They also ate corn, peanuts and peppers during the New Year's Eve banquet, but now they asked about other things.
"There is a kind of fruit named tomato that is the most delicious, but it is difficult to bring back, and I only ate half of it. But I brought back a lot of seeds, saying that they should be planted in the field in the backyard of the palace next year. In addition,
There are also melon seeds, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc. The seeds are all prepared."
"The fields opened by my father are still there?" Xu Feixu said with some surprise. She married Zhu Di in the tenth year of Hongwu, and Zhu Di came to Peiping in the fifteenth year of Hongwu. Among the four royal wives present, she spent the most time with Zhu Yuanzhang.
The longest. Xu Huihua went to Datong a year after marrying the acting king Zhu Gui. Xu Mengyu and Miaojin didn't even catch up with Zhu Yuanzhang as his daughter-in-law/granddaughter-in-law during his lifetime. Although the royal family lived in separate houses after they got married, after all
They are all members of the same family. They have to go to the palace on the first and fifteenth day of every month, and also go to the palace during festivals. When they see Zhu Yuanzhang, they naturally have to salute. Xu Feixu naturally calls him "Father" as a habit.
Xu Miaojin obviously did not have such a habit, and said: "The fields opened by the late emperor are not only there, but also expanded a lot. The back half of the palace used to be a lake. The late emperor filled the lake to build the palace because of the excellent feng shui of this place. But after all,
The foundation is not as flat as the original ground, and the lake water does not disperse so easily. Some palaces began to seep water in the late Hongwu years, and it has become more serious in recent years."
"The emperor changed some of the layout of the palace, abandoned those palaces that were seeping water, and built several palaces in the original open space for people to live in. All those palaces that were seeping water were demolished and planted with rice."
"The emperor really cares about the people and farmers." Xu Huihua said in a very stylized manner, and then said: "But in this way, doesn't the feng shui of the palace change?"
"The emperor doesn't really believe in Feng Shui. He feels that the theory of Feng Shui must be believed but not completely. So he demolished the palace. However, when he built the new palace, he still let people who know Feng Shui take a look." Miao Jin said.
Xu Feixu didn't care about the feng shui of the palace. Zhu Di himself didn't believe in these things, otherwise he wouldn't have risked his life to rebel in history. Xu Feixu was also half-believing under his influence. She was more concerned about other things.
"Can the seeds brought back from Hanzhou be grown in places like Nanyang? I want to take some back and try planting them outside Qian'an City."
"Well, it is said that the places where some seeds were found are also very hot, and they can probably be planted. However, it is not easy to get some seeds. All the seeds brought back by Governor Fang were held in the hands of the emperor. He also told Wang Xi, no
His command was that no one could take away a single seed."
"Why is this?" Xu Feixu was very curious. It's just some seeds, why are they so strictly controlled?
Miaojin said hesitantly: "Sister, I heard the emperor mention it in a trance. It seems that she is afraid that there will not be enough seeds after the new year, so she is so strict now?"
"What will he do after the year?" Xu Feixu asked curiously. Not only her, Xu Huihua also looked at her curiously.
This time Miao Jin shook his head. "I don't know much about this, but it must be related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers."
"Sannong? What does this mean?" Xu Feixu asked again.
"Three rural areas, namely rural areas, agriculture, and farmers, are words recently invented by the emperor. All things related to farming, farmers, and the countryside are collectively referred to as three rural areas."
"This name is quite novel." Xu Feixu said.
She wanted to speak, but she heard Xu Huizu's voice from beside her: "Eldest sister, second sister, fourth sister, what are you talking about here and why are you so happy?"
"I didn't say much, I just talked about the novel crops brought back from the Hanzhou continent." Xu Feixu said with a smile.
Xu Huizu didn't ask any more questions. After hearing this, he chatted for a few words and said, "Sister, it's already past noon. Should we continue listening to the show here or go to dinner?"
"We've been here for a long time and we're tired. Let's go have a meal. But don't get a sedan or a walker. It's not snowing now, so we brothers and sisters can just walk there." Xu Feixu said.
Everyone had no objection. As a family of military generals, the Xu family would not fully follow Confucianism in raising their daughters. The four sisters all knew a little bit about boxing and did not like to be bored in the house all day. Even the pregnant Miaojin was not willing to do so.
He then wanted to walk over with them. The female official couldn't stand him, so she could only follow and escort him.
When they arrived at the place, the food had been prepared and placed on the dining table, and everyone sat down to eat. As a pregnant woman, Miao Jin ate differently from everyone else, so she prepared a separate portion.
After dinner, we took a short rest in the afternoon and then gathered together to talk again. "Jingchang, have you been naughty during the six months since I have been away from the capital? Did you cause any trouble?" Miao Jin said to Xu Jingchang. She would celebrate the New Year immediately after returning to the capital.
Well, Xu Huizu's wife didn't mention Jingchang when she entered the palace on the first day of the first lunar month to talk to her, so she asked.
"Four Aunt, why do you always suspect that I will commit something?" Xu Jingchang showed an aggrieved expression.
"Stop pretending! Fourth aunt still doesn't know what you are like? How can you feel aggrieved because of this little thing?" Miao Jin said with a smile.
"Fourth Aunt has seen through me." Jing Chang said with a smile: "In this case, Fourth Aunt should also be able to tell that my nephew has been staying in the house or the Weili for more than half a year and has not gone anywhere else.
.”
"really?"
"really!"
"Fourth sister, Jingchang has indeed not been to other places for more than half a year." Xu Yingxu testified.
"This is weird." Miao Jin was a little surprised: "You usually like to play the most, but you have resisted it for more than half a year?"
"Fourth Aunt, what you said is wrong. After my birthday in July last year, I turned twenty years old and am an adult. Naturally, I will not be the same as when I was a child." Xu Jingchang said.
"That's right, you're getting older too. The Xu family will have to rely on you in the future." Miao Jin sighed and suddenly glanced at Xu Qin. Xu Qin was so frightened by her look that he trembled.
"Brother, it's time for Qin'er and the others to get more training. Since he can't do literature, he can only do martial arts. He needs to train more. Next time we fight, let him go to the battlefield to get more training." Miao Jin finished this.
Then he hurriedly added: "Of course, you must also pay attention to safety."
"I know what you said. Next time there is a battle, let him go to the battlefield and give it a try." Xu Huizu said: "Not only him, but Tai'er and the others also need to experience. They don't have hereditary titles, so they need to do everything themselves.
Earn it. But..." As a father, Xu Huizu understood intellectually that his sons must go to the battlefield to gain experience, but after all, he was his own son, and he always wanted to pave the way for his sons in advance, without risking his life in exchange for a better future.
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"It would be great if there was a way to be safe and have a future." He finally said.
Of course Miaojin didn't know such a way, so she could only comfort him with a few words.
The afternoon passed quickly, and it was time for Miaojin to return to the palace. Everyone was unwilling to let her return to the palace, but the rules could not be violated here, so everyone could only say goodbye reluctantly.
But at this moment, a gatekeeper from the Xu Mansion ran over and shouted: "Master, Master! A distinguished guest is here!"
