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

Chapter 461 Requirements for Selecting a Concubine
After all, official corruption throughout history has been nothing more than embezzlement, bribery, forming cliques, and seizing fertile land.

Among these issues, the most serious problem of corruption was virtually nonexistent in the Dragon Kingdom. After all, compared to the meager salaries of Ming Dynasty officials who had to resort to bribery and extortion to survive, Emperor Longwu was incredibly generous with the salaries of all officials within the Dragon Kingdom!
I ask you, which official present here hasn't been granted a thousand or so acres of fertile land by Emperor Longwu?

Furthermore, the imperial court provides officials with substantial stipends, making it simply not worth losing one's position and implicating one's family for a little money! After all, Emperor Longwu is ruthless when it comes to killing people!
Moreover, the First Prince just announced the requirements for establishing the Dragon Scale Pavilion inner cabinet and outer court, which is practically a death blow to officials! After all, nobody wants to be remembered with infamy for eternity!

"Yu'er's suggestion has already been explained to all the officials."

Let's set a timeframe of ten days for this matter!

"If no officials submit any suggestions for improvement during this period, then this matter shall proceed as is!" Seeing that his eldest son had finished speaking and that none of the officials present had raised any objections, Emperor Longwu immediately made the decision!
They even decisively set a ten-day deadline!
Once ten days have passed, we'll begin work immediately!
This scene clearly demonstrates Emperor Longwu's approval of the matter!
"Your Majesty, we will obey your decree!" Seeing that their emperor had stood directly behind the eldest prince and spoken like this, what could the ministers do but bow respectfully and accept the order?
"Tonight, at the Qionglin Banquet held in the palace for the scholars who have passed the imperial examination, Her Majesty the Empress has prepared a surprise for all the top three scholars!"
"Don't be absent when the time comes!" Seeing that his ministers had no objections to what he said, Emperor Longwu stood up from his dragon throne and added another sentence.

After saying this, Emperor Longwu patted Zhang Tingfang, who was standing beside him, on the shoulder, then turned and left with a smile on his face and his hands behind his back!
"Court adjourned!" Seeing the Emperor leave, Xiao Xizi quickly waved his snow-white whisk again and loudly announced the adjournment of the court! Then, Xiao Xizi himself quickly followed Emperor Longwu's steps!

"Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty!" The officials below the imperial road, seeing that their emperor had already turned and left on his own, quickly bowed respectfully to see off Emperor Longwu.

After watching Emperor Longwu depart, the court officials breathed a long sigh of relief and gradually dispersed. Before leaving, countless officials couldn't help but take a serious look at the six armored soldiers still standing at the top of the imperial road.

Because all the ministers knew that the future of the Dragon Kingdom was a rising star, and its momentum was unstoppable!

As several burly eunuchs appeared from afar and came to lift the dragon throne from the top of the imperial road, the six civil and military officials who had been standing on either side of the dragon throne gradually dispersed.

"Senior Brother Zhang!" "Junior Brother Li!" "Junior Brother Li!"

"Senior Brother Fang!" "Junior Brother Yuan!" "Junior Brother Zhao!"

While the eunuchs were carrying away the dragon throne, the six top-ranking students from both the civil and military departments, led by Zhang Tingfang and Fang Xingjian, stood facing each other and greeted each other with clasped hands.
At this moment, there was an inexplicable sense of closeness in the eyes of these six people!
Because the six of them knew that from this day forward, they would become a newly formed but not to be underestimated group in the Dragon Kingdom's court!

Moreover, they are the purest imperial faction in the Dragon Kingdom's court!
Similarly, they are also the purest supporters of the imperial power in the Dragon Kingdom!
They are still the absolute defenders of the interests of the Dragon Kingdom and the Emperor!
Furthermore, these six individuals will undoubtedly become the future leaders of the Great Imperial Party!
On the other side, after the morning court session, Emperor Longwu took his eldest son to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to rest and review the memorials submitted by the Grand Council the previous day.

At this moment, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Emperor Longwu, Zhu Zhanhe, sat upright before his dragon throne, flipping through the memorials piled on the table, occasionally picking up his brush to add a few words of annotation. His eldest son, Zhu Qiyu, stood behind his father, exchanging a few words with him from time to time.

"Father, Mother and the two concubines from the Mu family have almost finished preparing for the selection of consorts for my two younger brothers. The range of candidates has been roughly set at around thirty."

"Mother and my two aunts hope that Father will spare some time to go to Kunning Palace to help out!" At this moment, the eldest prince, Zhu Qiyu, suddenly brought up the matter of his second and third brothers' selection of wives. After all, his two younger brothers were about to be enfeoffed as princes, and they were still not married, which was indeed a bit inappropriate. "It's just choosing wives for these two little rascals, the second and third princes!"

What's the point of choosing between these two options?

The top-tier women selected from across the entire Dragon Kingdom were then further refined by the palace matrons. Those chosen in this way were generally exceptional in appearance, character, and demeanor.

Those were all exceptional candidates, each one of whom was qualified to be a princess.

"There's not much to choose from!" When it came to the selection of wives for his second and third sons, Zhu Zhanhe really didn't care much. After all, in Zhu Zhanhe's view, the candidates had already been selected several times by the palace maids through a nationwide talent show.

Those who remain are all top-tier women, selected from among the best! Any one of them would be more than qualified to be a queen!

Of course, Zhu Zhanhe understood that the Empress and the Mu sisters meant for him to make the selection. However, in Zhu Zhanhe's view, the choice of a consort should ultimately be up to his sons. After all, the young couples would have to live their lives together from now on!
"Yu'er, regarding the selection of the second and third sons, in your father's opinion, the main issue now is simply deciding which of your two younger brothers you like!"
Your father still says the same thing he did when you were choosing your wife!
Now that we adults have made our choices, the rest is up to you kids to decide.

Just like when you were selecting concubines, you knew all the information about the candidates, including their identities, appearances, and character.

Everyone is standing there, letting you kids choose a wife you like.

After all, it's the two of you who will be living your own lives from now on. As long as you find each other agreeable, that's better than anything else!
Go tell your mother that there are also two concubines from the Mu family.
The second and third sons are both grown up; they should have some autonomy! Let them choose for themselves! After all that, Zhu Zhanhe's meaning was simple: let his two sons choose their wives from the existing pool of about thirty young women.
"Father, what about Mother and the two concubines?" Upon hearing his father's words, Zhu Qiyu instantly understood his father's meaning. However, he still hesitated, wondering if he had failed to fulfill his mother's instructions.

Of course, Zhu Zhanhe also noticed his son's hesitation and immediately spoke again.

"Besides, Yu'er, we have to hold the Qionglin Banquet for the scholars later today, so we don't have time to go and see the candidates!" Zhu Zhanhe's idea regarding his son's marriage has always been to take the lead, select a group of the best candidates, and present them to his son so that his son can choose his favorite one as his principal wife!
Although it's not that Zhu Zhanhe advocated for children to freely choose their partners, in this feudal era, Zhu Zhanhe's actions did give his sons some autonomy in choosing their marriages!

Okay!

"I will tell Mother and Aunt!" At this moment, Zhu Qiyu also realized that his father seemed to be very busy today. So he agreed without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)