Yunxi stayed in Hangzhou for a few more days. On October 18th, all the instructions were completed, so he bid farewell to Yunwen and others and set off back to the capital.
The day before Yunxi left Hangzhou, he sent a message to the capital: There is no need to send the memorial to Xingzai, and it will be handled after I return to the capital; general customary matters can still be handled by the fourth auxiliary officer.
The person who sent the message worked hard and arrived in the capital in just two days and two nights from Hangzhou. He informed the fourth auxiliary officer about Yunxi's upcoming return to the capital. Of course, the news was also received in the harem.
…
…
"Your Majesty is finally back." Xiyi said happily.
"Yes, His Majesty is finally coming back." Xiyao also let out a sigh of relief.
The birth date of Concubine An and Concubine Ye was approaching. If His Majesty was away and something happened to them during the birth, she would not be willing to worry about it. Xiyi was simply overjoyed.
Xiyao then ordered Dai Shi: "Go and tell Prince Heng and the two princesses who are still living in the palace about this." Dai Shi agreed and left.
Xiyi added: "Your Majesty is coming from Hangzhou. If you don't stop along the way, you will be able to return to the capital in six days. I hope these six days can pass peacefully and nothing will happen to Concubine An and Concubine Ye."
"Yes, it's best to have these past few days peacefully." Xiyao said. But her expression changed slightly in an instant, and she added: "But I don't know how to tell His Majesty about that matter. It involves royal secrets, and I don't know what Your Majesty will do.
How to dispose of it.”
Xiyi also knew what she was talking about, and suddenly she became sad.
The two of them chatted for a few more words, and when Shi returned to Kunning Palace, Xiyao saw something wrong on her face and asked, "What's going on?"
Dai Shi said with some fear: "Queen, Empress, Her Royal Highness Princess Zhongshan..."
Xiyao listened to her words and asked a few more questions to confirm. Although her face was still normal, she said to Xiyi: "It's another troublesome thing that I don't know how to tell His Majesty when he comes back!
"
…
…
Seven days later, on October 25th, Yunxi's carriage returned to the capital. He drove the carriage directly into the capital without any ceremony. Fortunately, at this time, the Ming Dynasty did not have strict etiquette for the emperor's tour, so there was no need to worry.
Break the rules.
Yunxi ordered the carriage and horses to stop outside Chengtian Gate, got off the carriage and walked towards the palace.
Although there was no welcoming ceremony in the outer court, Xiyao ignored that she was seven months pregnant and led the concubines, eunuchs, and female officials in the inner palace to welcome her at Qianqing Gate.
When Yunhe saw Xiyao, he immediately stretched out his hand to pull her up and scolded: "You are still pregnant, why did you come out to greet me? Just let Xiyi come."
"Your Majesty, I am fine with this concubine, and as a queen, I should be like this." Xiyao said with a smile.
"You, you," Yunxi didn't know what to say to Xiyao, so he could only say in the end: "You must never do this again."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Xiyao explained: "Your Majesty, I am not ungrateful. If I were ** months pregnant and about to give birth, I would not come out to greet Your Majesty. Today I did not let Ming Fei (
Ye Baoqin) and An Bi come here."
Afterwards, everyone dispersed, and Yunxi also asked Yunzhi and others who had followed him to go back to each palace to find their mothers. He and the Xiyao sisters came to Kunning Palace.
Sister Xiyao first talked about what happened in the palace recently, and then Xiyao looked at one of Yunxi's personal maids who was standing under the palace, and said to Yunxi: "This maid is very cool. It is His Majesty who is in the East."
A palace maid collected during patrol?"
Yunxi said slightly awkwardly: "This is the new concubine I took during my eastern tour." When his wife mentioned the concubine, he still felt a little embarrassed.
On the contrary, Xiyao was more adaptable to this. In this era, except for concubines and concubines, there are no powerful men who would not take concubines. Although Xiyao did not like this kind of thing, she could only accept it. She said: "Your Majesty, you can take concubines." Are you going to give me a title?"
"Of course I want to give her a title, and I'm going to make a concubine." Yunxi said.
"In that case, I remember that An and Liu still have room in Zhongcui Palace, so why don't you place her in Zhongcui Palace?" Xiyao asked tentatively.
"Well, let's do it like this." Yunxi said.
The two chatted for a few more words, and after having lunch, Yunxi went to Qianqing Palace.
During this period, nothing major happened in the Ming Dynasty. Yunxi listened to their brief report and looked through the memorials to find out what happened.
After that, Yunxi dealt with the four or five memorials accumulated by the ministers in the Heavenly Palace that could not be approved. He was so busy that he finally finished answering them all around dark time.
…
…
In the next few days, there were no changes in the outer court. It was just that the emperor changed from criticizing memorials in other places to answering memorials in the palace, and the morning court started again. Countless officials who suffered from going to court privately felt that it was better than the emperor in other places. Woolen cloth.
But the influence of the inner palace was great. The emperor added another concubine, which was both joyful and worrying for the palace maids who pursued "improvement"; Baoqing, Yunzhi, and Xianqin brought back a bunch of new gadgets for them to stay in the palace. The princess and the princesses were very jealous, so Min'er made a fuss in front of Yunxi that she must go with her next time she went out of the capital; but the biggest impact was Yunxi's reform of the harem system.
Yunxi formulated a more rigorous system of concubines, referring to the systems of the Zhou, Han, and Tang dynasties, and stipulated that the emperor's harem should have one queen, four concubines, and nine concubines. There was no quota for nobles, no quota for talented people, and no quota for married women.
There are also new regulations on the system of concubines for princes and princes: the system of secondary concubines is permanently abolished. The prince, prince, one main concubine, two concubines, four concubines, and the rest are undetermined; unless the main concubine is seriously immoral, otherwise it is strictly prohibited. The abolition of the position of the concubine and the abolition of the concubine must be approved by the clan government, and the prince has no right to abolish it privately.
The number of concubines at various levels and the number of servants of the princess was also strictly limited, and a system was established. Palace maids and maids of the palace who were over twenty years old after entering the palace and willing to leave the palace were allowed to leave the palace; they would not be delayed until their prime time passed. , and then be expelled from the palace when her appearance grows old.
Yunxi's reform of the harem aroused praise from officials from other dynasties. The strict system of concubines was highly agreed by Confucian scholars of all schools. The system of releasing palace maids after they were twenty years old was considered to be a benevolent policy.
…
…
Then Yunxi broke the peace in the outer court. He announced the establishment of the Maritime Administration and the Shipping Department of Bao'an City, appointed Zhang Yanfang as the envoy of the Maritime Administration, and temporarily concurrently promoted the Shipping Department of Bao'an City; Yang Ren, the former right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, served as the general officer. The Chief Envoy of Dongzuo also announced the complete separation of the Municipal Shipping Department and the local government offices.
Although some officials raised objections, most of the relevant personnel made no move. Although Zhang Yanfang was promoted from the fifth rank to the third rank in one fell swoop, his promotion was very fast, but his contribution in presiding over the Shanghai Shipping Department in the past two years was not small. It's a blessing. Moreover, Yunxi's prestige is growing, and everyone will not be in trouble.
Then news came from Liujiagang: the northward exploration fleet led by Fang Mingqian himself had returned, and the expeditionary navy sent to Southeast Asia was about to return.
Yunxi was planning to summon Fang Mingqian, but the news from the palace made him put the matter behind him for the time being.
