Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 431 Reward 2
At this moment, in Empress Xia's Kunning Palace, Xiao Xizi, accompanied by a group of eunuchs, respectfully bowed to Empress Xia, who was seated in the main seat, and then began to read the imperial edict aloud once again.

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said:

Consort Mu is gentle, virtuous, graceful, and wise; she is hereby conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort!
Qin Zai. "

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:" After the sacrificial ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Zhu Zhanhe immediately issued more than a dozen edicts to the harem to officially recognize the dozen or so concubines who had borne him children.

Of course, Princess Xia gave birth to the eldest son Zhu Qiyu and the second son Zhu Qiyuan. She was then made empress and given the three treasures! This goes without saying.

The other concubine, Lady Mu, gave birth to two sons, Zhu Qihao, and was conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort, and was given a book and seal.
Concubine Mu gave birth to three sons, Zhu Qihui, and was later granted the title of Noble Consort Yi.
Consort Ruan (Annam) gave birth to six sons, Zhu Qijun, and was later granted the title of Noble Consort Wen.
Consort Luo (Laos) gave birth to eight sons, Zhu Qiren, and was granted the title of Noble Consort Zhuang.

Consort Zhou (from Zhenla) gave birth to nine sons, Zhu Qide, and was granted the title of Consort Jin.
Consort Zonglawimong (Siam) gave birth to ten sons, Zhu Qirong, and was granted the title of Noble Consort Xian.
Consort Ang (from Myanmar) gave birth to eleven sons, Zhu Qigui, and was later granted the title of Noble Consort Rou.
Consort Brahman (Sindhu) gave birth to twelve sons, Zhu Qiqing, and was granted the title of Noble Consort Hua.

Concubine Lopez (Banggela) gave birth to thirteen sons, Zhu Qiwu, and was granted the title of Consort An;
Concubine Khosani (Persian) gave birth to fourteen sons, Zhu Qifeng, and was granted the title of Consort Yue;
Concubine Jones (Rosas) gave birth to fifteen sons, Zhu Qirui, and was later granted the title of Noble Consort Xi.

Concubine Cai (Temasek) gave birth to sixteen sons, Zhu Qihong, and was granted the title of Consort Wu.
Consort Lahe (a Mughal Han woman) gave birth to seventeen sons, Zhu Qizhen, and was granted the title of Noble Consort Zhen.
Concubine Yun'er gave birth to four sons, Zhu Qize, and was granted the title of Consort Nian;

Concubine Jian'er gave birth to five sons, Zhu Qixiang, and was granted the title of Consort Rong;

Concubine Xiaozhi gave birth to seventeen sons, Zhu Qi'an, and was granted the title of Consort Shu.
"Your Majesty, we thank you for your great favor!" Upon hearing Xiao Xizi's imperial decree, the women of the harem, led by Imperial Noble Consort Mu, immediately knelt down, overjoyed to receive the decree and express their gratitude! After all, from this day forward, they would be the high and mighty Imperial Noble Consorts!

In short, of the fifteen wives and concubines who bore children for Zhu Zhanhe, apart from Xia Shi being made Empress and Mu Shi Ping'er being made Imperial Noble Consort, almost all the others were promoted to the rank of Consort or higher! And most of them were promoted to Noble Consort. After all, having children always puts one in a higher position than those without children!

Of course, there were also Yun'er and Jian'er, who grew up with Zhu Zhanhe, and Xiao Zhi, the Empress's maid. Although they gave birth to children, they were not made into Imperial Concubines, but only Consorts.

After all, no matter how capricious Zhu Zhanhe was as emperor, the three women's backgrounds were undeniable, and the officials in the court were watching. The fact that they were made concubines based solely on their offspring already showed Zhu Zhanhe considerable favor!

As for the other positions in the harem, such as concubines, consorts, ladies-in-waiting, beauties, and talented women, Zhu Zhanhe simply delegated the authority to Empress Xia, allowing her to submit her requests directly, which he would then approve.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!" After the imperial edict was read out by Xiao Xizi, the concubines, led by Imperial Noble Consort Mu, quickly lined up and bowed to Empress Xia once again.

"Alright, my sisters, no need for such formalities, please rise." Empress Xia sat regally in the main seat, looking at her sisters kneeling before her, and gestured for them to rise. At this moment, it would be a lie to say Empress Xia wasn't excited! After all, after years of hardship, she had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel!
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress!" Although Empress Xia was very polite, the concubines were still very perceptive and only stood up cautiously after expressing their gratitude.

After calming herself down, Empress Xia looked at the group of sisters standing in front of her and began to speak with a smile.

"Sister, come to your sister's side~!" Afterwards, Empress Xia looked at everyone and beckoned Imperial Noble Consort Mu to come to her side.

"Yes~" Imperial Noble Consort Mu obediently came to Empress Xia's side, letting her sister hold her hand.

"His Majesty has bestowed great favors upon all the sisters."

As for the other sisters who haven't received any rewards yet, don't worry. As long as you please the Emperor, I will personally petition for rewards for you! Now that the Emperor has established the nation, the rules regarding who serves the Emperor in bed will need to be changed. After all, the palace has its own rules!
This is the opportunity for all of you sisters.

When that time comes, if anyone continues to bear the Emperor's heirs, I will certainly ask for a reward for my sister;

In particular, if someone were to give birth to a princess for the emperor, he would surely be overjoyed.

After all, this is something His Majesty has been thinking about for so many years. Gently holding her younger sister Mu's hand, Empress Xia looked at her sisters who had received rewards with great joy, while those who had not received rewards looked dejected. Immediately, Empress Xia kindly comforted everyone.

After hearing Empress Xia's words, all the concubines in the harem were naturally overjoyed, and even those women who had no children and had not yet received any rewards were filled with excitement.

After all, everyone knew that their Empress was kind and benevolent, allowing the women of the household to bear children for the Emperor. Otherwise, where did the birth of almost one son a year come from?!
At the same time, everyone held Empress Xia in the highest esteem, since all future rewards would have to be requested from the Emperor by the Empress! Therefore, even though the Empress was magnanimous, one should never anger her!
"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty!" With just a few words, the sisters in the harem were firmly under the control of Empress Xia!

After dealing with the affairs of the harem, and taking advantage of the fact that the country had just been established and everyone was present, Zhu Zhanhe did not stand on ceremony and directly implemented some other rewards.

Officials in all departments were promoted directly according to their positions; moreover, Zhu Zhanhe arbitrarily granted all officials' land a one-year tax exemption! The common people also had their taxes reduced by 30%!
All that's possible now is that Zhu Zhanhe is rich and can do whatever he wants!
Yes, Zhu Zhanhe's officials also had to pay grain taxes! After all, Zhu Zhanhe gave them so much land, not so that they wouldn't pay taxes!

Next, Zhu Zhanhe did not launch another war against foreign powers, but instead suspended external offensives and began to accelerate the systematic digestion and integration of the internal affairs!
The plan included a series of unified initiatives such as dredging waterways, encouraging childbirth, reducing or exempting taxes, building roads and bridges, standardizing the language, weights and measures, and teaching Chinese. It also included building Taoist temples to commemorate fallen soldiers, optimizing the military structure, and establishing a military promotion system.

In short, it refers to what the First Emperor, Zu Long, did.

Now, Zhu Zhanhe is carrying out a comprehensive implementation within his vast territory! He's even doing it more comprehensively than before!

Of course, there is another important matter, which is to reward the meritorious officials!

Zhu Zhanhe was not stingy with his meritorious officials. In addition to bestowing titles of kings upon them, he also granted the most prestigious titles to every loyal minister and general under his command!
As for whether anyone has any objections to the bestowal of rewards?
Sorry, not yet! And nobody dares to!

Time flies, and another year has passed.

Gradually, Zhu Zhanhe discovered something else: his sons were growing up and starting to have their own little schemes!

To avoid a repeat of court intrigues, Zhu Zhanhe planned to summon his sons to his presence once again to discuss his future plans for them.

However, things rarely go as planned. The unexpected happened suddenly and at just the right time!
On this day, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Emperor Longwu, Zhu Zhanhe, was discussing with Xia Yuanji and other cabinet ministers several important issues, including the progress of water conservancy projects in various regions, the registration of local people into households, and the Sinicization of surnames.

Suddenly, Xiao Xizi's hurried and unsteady footsteps came from outside the door.

(End of this chapter)