Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 320: The Lord of the Upper Country and the Concubine of the Lower Country

After Ding Xiu left, Hou Shilu turned his head and beckoned to one of his followers: "Come."

"General." The personal attendant clasped his fists and waited for orders.

"Put these things away." Hou Shilu closed his eyes, and immediately a wave of moisture, soothing his dryness, welled up from his tear glands. "Send someone to Shenyang to check the records and see if this person actually exists."

"Yes." The attendant took the order and left.

"Marshal Hou, I have a request." Tong Zhongkui called out after Hou Shilu opened his eyes.

"Deputy General Tong, please feel free to speak." Hou Shilu smiled back.

"Can you give me this person named Ding Xiu?" Tong Zhongkui asked.

"Oh?" Hou Shilu chuckled. "Deputy General Tong is also interested in talent?"

"You could say that," Tong Zhongkui nodded. "But it's mainly for the mission assigned by the governor. Although the southwestern soldiers are good at navigating the mountains, they're not very familiar with the Liaodong area. I originally wanted to recruit some local hunters as guides to help us quickly familiarize ourselves with the terrain. This mountain man was not only able to successfully escape from the mountains full of slave bandits, but he was also able to bring back the heads of three slave soldiers through a surprise attack. He's really the perfect person."

"Okay. After verifying his identity, I will lend him to you." Hou Shilu said.

"borrow?"

"Yes, I will." Hou Shilu's main mission was to defend Weining and prevent Nurhaci from invading along the river and heading straight for Liaoyang, but he also wanted to get a piece of the action hunting Jurchen tribesmen. Otherwise, he'd just end up doing odd jobs. "I can also help arrange for a guide," Hou Shilu added.

Tong Zhongkui didn't hesitate for long. "Then I'll have to trouble Marshal Hou."

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In the main hall of the Imperial Household Department, Wang An was looking through the list of newly recruited eunuchs this year, with his head bowed.

There is always someone to come in when there is someone to go out. While the Imperial Household Department was in charge of the reduction of the inner court, it also formulated a set of regulations for recruiting palace servants, centered on "making the best use of the available resources, uniform recruitment, and strict review."

The so-called "measure out to measure in" means that the number of deaths is the standard, and the principle is that the number of eunuchs recruited this year is the same as the number of deaths last year. It can fluctuate according to actual needs, but the total number of eunuchs in the palace must not exceed the threshold.

Unified recruitment meant that eunuchs were selected and castrated by the newly established Neixuan Division of the Imperial Household Department within a specific timeframe. Apart from this method and the emperor's personal authorization, no one was allowed to recruit eunuchs into the palace for any reason, or they would be impeached by the Western Depot.

Strict review involves checking whether the candidates and their family members have committed crimes or owe huge debts.

The selection criteria were: voluntary application, age between six and twelve, and healthy. In other words, people like Wei Zhongxian and Liu Ruoyu who had castrated themselves were no longer eligible for the imperial palace.

"No problem. This booklet is well made." Wang An closed the list of eunuchs, raised his head slightly, and looked down at Li Shi, the new deputy director of the Internal Selection Office, who was kneeling on the ground.

"Thank you for the praise, ancestor." Li Shi kowtowed firmly to Wang An.

Li Shi used to work in the inner chambers and had a good relationship with Liu Ruoyu. The two would occasionally get together for drinks. After Liu Ruoyu rose to fame, Li Shi immediately flattered him, almost calling him godfather.

Later, when the Internal Selection Office was established, Liu Ruoyu thought of him and recommended him to Wang An. This time, Wang An did not refuse and directly gave the position of Deputy Office to Li Shi. As for the Chief Office, Wang An himself served concurrently.

"Go ahead." Wang An nodded slightly.

"Yes." Li Shi kowtowed and said goodbye.

Wang An turned his head and handed the list to Cao Huachun, who was standing beside him, and instructed: "This year, we must select more young people to enter the inner school."

"Yes, godfather." Cao Huachun took the list and placed it on the corresponding shelf.

Wang An took a sip of tea and casually asked, "Which teachers are here to teach the little ones today?"

Although the Inner Academy urgently transferred a large number of young students who had not yet completed their semester to work as errand boys due to layoffs, these people did not abandon their studies. While working as errand boys, they still had to continue their classes.

Without hesitation, Cao Huachun replied, "Shen, the Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy; Wu Zongda, the Director of the Imperial College; Qian Qianyi, the Editor of the Hanlin Academy; and Zhuang Jichang, the Compiler of the Hanlin Academy. These are the four."

"Zhuang Jichang?" Wang An smiled knowingly. "The top scholar is back?"

Zhuang Jichang was both the top scorer and the first place winner in the imperial examination in the 47th year of the Wanli reign, a position he held alongside Sun Chuanting and Yuan Chonghuan. His paper was found to contain typos and signs of scraping and mending, drawing widespread criticism. Yang Lian, then a military official, sarcastically remarked, "If a top scorer had typos, three hundred people would be illiterate. If a top scorer had scraping and mending, three hundred people would be illiterate."

Yang Lian was saying that if someone like Zhuang Jichang, who could make a typo on an exam paper, could become the top scholar, then everyone else would be illiterate. Zhuang Jichang was so angry at such taunts that he resigned and returned home. Only recently, at the behest of the new emperor, did he leave his hometown in Fujian and come to Beijing to serve.

This incident caused a huge stir at the time. Anyone who paid the slightest attention to the imperial examinations, whether in the outer court or the inner court, knew about it. If it weren't for the disastrous defeat at Sarhu in Liaodong, this would probably have been the top news of the year.

"Yes. This is his first time teaching in the inner school." Cao Huachun replied.

"Remember to prepare the fees and ceremonials. Don't be disrespectful." All teaching activities in the palace required teachers to be paid, and it was quite substantial. Including various holiday gifts, a teacher could earn over a hundred taels a year.

"Son, save it."

Wang An pulled out the knock-off replica watch the emperor had gifted him and checked the time. He saw the Forbidden City would be open in a quarter of an hour. "It's getting late. I have to go back to the study. Come back tonight." Wang An stood up, and Cao Huachun immediately took the cloak off the hanger and put it on Wang An's shoulders.

"Go away, godfather."

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At six o'clock in the morning, the supreme ruler of the Ming Empire, Emperor Taichang Zhu Changluo, woke up after a slight disturbance. He opened his eyes and sat up, and immediately a soft hand was placed on his back.

"Your Majesty, you are awake." After a few months in Beijing, Pu Mei could already speak fluent Chinese. Aside from some awkward pronunciations, there was almost nothing unusual about her.

"Since you are up, go and pour a cup of hot water for me and your sister." Zhu Changluo pinched Pu Yi's little face and instructed her.

Pu Yi had just picked up her socks and hadn't even put them on when she heard the emperor's order. "Can you wait a moment?" There was no "matron" in the harem to manage the affairs and set the rules, and the emperor never showed any resentment towards the sisters, which allowed them to remain relatively relaxed in front of the emperor.

"Yes. You have the final say today." Zhu Changluo smiled as he looked at Pu Yi. She was wearing a thin, pure white silk shirt, with an indigo-colored waistband underneath. Beneath the waistband was skin as white as pink jade and two low, raised peaks.

"Go!" Pu Mei scolded in a delicate voice, "How can you let the emperor wait for you?"

"Don't be so serious so early in the morning. Smile." Zhu Changluo lifted Pu Mei's face and kissed her forehead lightly. Her cheeks immediately flushed. "Your Majesty." Pu Mei subconsciously put her arm around the emperor's shoulders, ready to respond to his gentle gesture. But the emperor stopped her.

"Don't." Zhu Changluo stretched out a finger and pressed it against Pu Mei's lips. "I don't want to do morning exercises in bed."

"Your Majesty!" The slight blush on Pu Mei's face turned into a burning red.

"It's time to get up." Zhu Changluo patted her head, lifted the quilt and got out of bed, then took the robe from the hanger and put it on himself.

"Let me help you change your clothes." Park Mi's clothes were even thinner than Park Mi's. She only had a bellyband hanging on her upper body, and the string was not tied yet.

"Okay." Zhu Changluo stopped and accepted it calmly.

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The emperor's biological clock set the standard for everyone in the Forbidden City's sleep and sleep schedule. As soon as the emperor and his two Korean concubines finished dressing and washing, a female official from the Imperial Food Bureau arrived with a group of palace maids to deliver their meal.

The breakfast was as sumptuous as ever, including stir-fried lamb, pan-fried goose with minced meat, stir-fried pork with yellow vegetables, braised vegetables with clear sauce, steamed pig's trotters and tripe, pan-fried fish, oven-roasted pork, suanzi noodles, soft-boiled chicken in broth, fragrant rice, bean soup, and tea. It was said that this was the recipe Taizu had prepared in Nanjing. The emperor instructed the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor to be frugal and avoid excessive spending, and Wang Tiqian dug up this recipe from among the archives.

In addition, there was the emperor's own order: warm goat's milk, peeled boiled eggs, a tray of small steamed buns with sand filling, and a small bowl of honey for dipping the buns.

"Your Majesty, please." Pu Yi served the emperor a bowl of white rice.

"Okay. Put it here." Zhu Changluo tapped the table with his knuckles, then picked up a peeled boiled egg and ate it with goat milk that had almost no fishy smell.

Pu Mei glanced at the bowl of eggs inconspicuously, then picked up the chopsticks to help the emperor pick up some food.

"You guys take care of yourselves." Zhu Changluo looked at the floor clock in the hall and found that the hour hand had reached the 1:15 position. So he slightly quickened the pace of his meal.

"Yeah." Park Mi still put the stir-fried pork and yellow vegetables with chopsticks on the white rice.

While still in Korea, the two sisters had heard more than once that the emperor of the Celestial Empire, because of his surname, Zhu, did not eat pork and forbade the common people from doing so. But after entering the palace, they discovered this was pure nonsense. The imperial chefs there could prepare every edible part of the pig to perfection, and even the emperor himself had no such taboos. Furthermore, the meals in the palace were truly sumptuous, and at one point, they even thought their own meals were better than those of the king of their home country.

"What do you think of Li Zong?" The emperor suddenly asked while having breakfast.

"Lord Lingyang definitely doesn't eat as well as I do." Pu Yi said subconsciously in a trance.

Zhu Changluo put down his chopsticks and patted Pu Yi's head gently. "Who asked you that? I meant what kind of person he is."

Pu Mei secretly glanced at the emperor and said carefully, "Lord Lingyang should be a good person."

"What do you mean by 'should'? Didn't he send you to me?" Zhu Changluo raised his eyes to look at Pu Mei, who immediately withdrew his furtive glance.

"Although we were fortunate enough to be chosen by Lord Lingyang as tribute girls to serve His Majesty, we have only met Your Excellency a few times and haven't even spoken much." Pu Mei had many concerns in her heart, especially about her own background, and she chose her words carefully.

"Is that so?" Zhu Changluo asked again, "What about Li Hun?"

"How dare I criticize the king?" Although she didn't know what the emperor wanted to know, Pu Yi could still vaguely sense the subtlety of the situation. "Besides, our ancestral family rules are clear, how dare I talk about state affairs so lightly?"

"I was just chatting with you guys for a minute, but how did you end up talking about our ancestral family rules? You're so cunning." Zhu Changluo shook his head and chuckled. "If you don't want to talk about it, then don't talk about it."

Zhu Changluo ate very quickly, and soon the imperial bowl was empty. Pu Yi kept an eye on the emperor's movements, and when he put down his bowl and chopsticks, she did the same. Pu Yi reached for the imperial bowl, wanting to add more rice to the emperor's bowl, but Zhu Changluo had already finished eating, so he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "No more. I'm leaving."

"Then let's go back too." Park Miu immediately stood up.

Zhu Changluo let go of Pu Yi and gently stroked the top of her head. "No hurry. Eat slowly and leave after you've finished. Don't come to serve me for a while and then go back hungry."

"You're so kind," Park Mi smiled sweetly. The emperor's appearance completely fulfilled her imagination of a superior ruler and a perfect husband. Except for not being able to leave the Forbidden City, everything here was perfect.

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After rinsing his mouth with the help of a palace maid, Zhu Changluo left the Qianqing Palace. As soon as he left, Shi Fuming, the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace, followed him with a group of eunuchs.

"Farewell, Your Majesty." Pu Yi and Pu Yi, along with a group of palace maids, knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor's back.

Shortly after the emperor's back disappeared from view, Pu Mei stood up and returned to her original seat. She didn't pick up her chopsticks immediately, but instead smiled at the female official in the Imperial Food Bureau. "Hu Shangshi," Pu Mei called softly.

"I'm here." Hu Shangshi took two steps forward.

"Can I ask you for a small favor?" Park Miu said.

Hu Shangshi hurriedly said, "Master, I am sorry to bother you. If you have any instructions, please tell me."

"Next time we sisters come to the Qianqing Palace to serve the emperor, could you please replace these eggs with shells?" Pu Mei pointed to the bowl where the eggs were placed. It was now empty.

"With the shell?" Hu Shangshi was confused. "Isn't it better if you peel it?"

"I want to peel it myself." A hint of cunning like a white fox flashed in Pu Mei's bent eyebrows.

Hu Shangshi was stunned for a moment, then a look of realization crossed his face. But she still politely declined, saying, "If the Emperor found out, he would blame me for not serving him well. I can't bear that."

"No. When the time comes, you can just put this bowl in front of me or Ni'er." Pu Ni pulled the empty bowl in front of herself and then pushed it in front of Pu Ni'er. "We'll take it and peel it right away."

"I can't do that." Hu Shangshi had no choice but to tell the truth. "I am just serving the meal. There are also the chief eunuch and the eunuch who holds the seal of the Shangshenjian above me."

"Just say hello to them." Park Miu thought it was a trivial matter.

"How dare this humble servant greet the eunuch Shangshen?" Hu Shangshi smiled awkwardly. "Master, please go and ask the old ancestor for help."

"Oh. Fine." Pu Mei pursed her lips. "I'll tell Wang An next time I see him." In Pu Mei's memory, Wang An was a kind and gentle old man, always smiling.

(End of this chapter)