Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 30 The Emperor's Absurdity and the Appearance of the Imperial Concubine

When Zhou Yanru seized the position of Minister of Personnel, the Donglin faction couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.

The court may seem to be dominated by the eunuch faction, but in reality, the majority of those in power are actually from the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions, while the Donglin faction has very few members.

Zhou Yanru was not actually a member of the Donglin Party; he merely considered himself a member of the Qingliu faction.

The Qi-Chu-Zhe faction in the court didn't actually want to break ties with the Donglin faction, nor did they want to completely offend Feng Quan. Their main goal was to get rid of Wei Zhongxian, because only by getting rid of Wei Zhongxian could they possibly regain control of the court.

Feng Quan used this to push Zhou Yanru to the top.

Such was the nature of factions in the Ming Dynasty court. Whether it was the Donglin Party or the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party, their primary goal was to control the emperor. Even Wei Zhongxian's usurpation of imperial power was unacceptable.

Just as these guys were sharpening their knives, preparing to deal with Wei Zhongxian, Wei Zhongxian was desperately selecting concubines!
He knew very well that only by gaining the favor of the reigning emperor could he truly control the power.

The Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party are simply insane. How can they possibly control the court when they are fighting against the reigning emperor?
During the late Wanli period, the Taichang reign, and even the early Tianqi period, the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party were constantly fighting against the reigning emperor. What was the outcome?
Did they truly control the power in the court?

This will only throw the court into chaos; these guys are the real troublemakers!
When he won the favor of the Tianqi Emperor, that was when he truly wielded power and ruled the court with absolute authority.

That's the key point.

To put it bluntly, it meant flattering the reigning emperor; he was a professional at flattery.

Sure enough, the young emperor urged him, and within a few days he had selected the imperial concubines.

He had thoughtfully prepared everything before eagerly running over to see the young emperor.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., Zhu Jue was preparing to review memorials when a voice announced, "Wei Zhongxian requests an audience."

Wei Zhongxian's request for an audience must be for something good; otherwise, this fellow would never dare to bother him.

What good news could this be?

He said with considerable interest, "Announce."

Soon, Wei Zhongxian scurried in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and asked directly, "What is it?"

Wei Zhongxian said with a fawning expression, "Your Majesty, the ladies-in-waiting have been selected, and I have already had them waiting in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. I have also ordered the imperial carriage to be prepared."

You're getting more and more efficient at getting things done.

Just then, almost all the officials from the inner court arrived. Wang Zheng, Xu Guangqi, and the Bi Maokang brothers were already busy and needed help.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded approvingly and said, "Yes, this was handled well. Let's go take a look."

After saying that, he got up and walked out.

Wang Chengen and Liu Ruoyu quickly followed, and Wei Zhongxian also eagerly followed.

Fang Zhenghua and Wu Yan were waiting by the imperial carriage outside.

Zhu Jue didn't waste any time. He boarded the dragon carriage, passed the Wanshou Palace, crossed the Jade Belt Bridge, and entered the palace in a grand procession, heading straight for the Huangji Hall.

This caused the officials in the outer court who received the news to start whispering among themselves again.

The young emperor is such a freak! The square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is used for the morning court sessions, but this kid has never held a morning court session, yet he makes thousands of young ladies ascend the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony first. It's truly absurd!
Zhu Jue didn't care whether it was absurd or not.

Amidst a chorus of sweet, cheerful shouts, he strode confidently to the dragon throne, sat down, and then raised his hand, saying loudly, "No need for formalities, rise."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty," another sweet voice rang out, and thousands of palace maids rose to their feet.

Once the young women have been selected, the next step is to choose imperial concubines. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, the first imperial selection should produce one empress and nine concubines. These nine concubines will then be promoted to the ranks of Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consort, and Imperial Concubine.

He already has Zhou as his first wife, so there's no need to choose an empress. This time, the main focus is on choosing the nine concubines.

The thousand palace maids on the square were lined up neatly, waiting for his command to stand in rows on the steps for him to choose from.

He wasn't in a hurry to choose concubines; he was in a hurry to choose relatives of the empress.

However, the maternal relative was not in the square.

He thought for a moment, then raised his hand and said, "The roster."

what?
You can just look at the people, why are you looking at a roster?
Wei Zhongxian was taken aback for a moment before he hurriedly ordered someone to bring over a thick register.

Zhu Jue took the roster, turned to the first page, and then said authoritatively, "Let's begin."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian immediately waved his hand and ordered the eunuchs below to have the young ladies line up and come forward.

There are ten in this row, and ten on each page of the register. The register contains not only information about the candidates, but also information about their families.

Zhu Jue didn't look up at the candidates; instead, he looked down at the roster.

The first person on the first page is named Tian Xiuying, born in the year of Renzi, a member of the military, originally from Yangzhou Prefecture, and now settled in Sanwei, Tianjin.

Father, Tian Hongyu, was originally a Qianzong (military officer) in Yangzhou and is currently a Qianhu (military officer) of the Right Guard Rear Office in Tianjin.

Tian Hongyu was quite famous; it was this guy who brought Chen Yuanyuan to the capital!
Originally, Tian Hongyu was worried about losing favor because his daughter had died young, so he wanted to use his adopted daughter Chen Yuanyuan to win favor. However, Emperor Chongzhen had no interest in going to the harem, so Chen Yuanyuan had no chance to see him. As a result, he had no choice but to give his adopted daughter Chen Yuanyuan to Wu Sangui, who held military power. This led to the famous story of "a crown was lost for a beauty".

Tian Hongyu is a good researcher; people like him are usually quick-witted and should be a useful talent.

The key point is that this guy is from the Third Guard of Tianjin, and the garrison households there used to grow sweet potatoes.

Upon thinking of this, Zhu Jue raised his head and said loudly, "Tian Xiuying."

As soon as he finished speaking, a slender, curvaceous beauty stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

This young beauty has a unique charm; her looks are almost on par with Lady Zhou's. No wonder she ranked first among thousands of young women.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Hmm, not bad. Send him to the harem, and he will be officially appointed later."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian immediately ordered the eunuch beside him to take Lady Tian to stay in the inner palace.

Zhu Jue lowered his head again to look at the roster.

The second person on the first page is Yuan Qiaoxin, a native of Daxing County, which is adjacent to the capital. She was born in the year of Gui Chou and was registered as a craftsman. Her father, Yuan You, was a carpenter.

This is good too. Wang Zheng needs a carpenter to help him build the steamship.

Thinking of this, Zhu Jue raised his head again and said loudly, "Yuan's ingenuity."

As soon as he finished speaking, a plump and beautiful young woman stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

This young lady is quite pretty, similar in appearance to Tian Shi.

It seems that the selection of these candidates was not random. The more beautiful they are, the higher they are ranked. Otherwise, if he, the emperor, were to look at all these thousand candidates, his eyes would probably be overwhelmed.

This is also a problem.

He's only looked at two, and it's already taken him quite a while. If he were to look at a thousand, it would probably take more than a morning.

Why did he have to look at them one by one?

He wasn't really choosing concubines; he was choosing relatives of the empress. And these relatives needed to be used and trained before it became clear whether they could be entrusted with important responsibilities.

In other words, he was simply wasting his time.

He glanced down at the register, which was still full of farmers, artisans, merchants, and soldiers, all of whom were still useful to him.

At this moment, he couldn't tell who was capable.

He looked up again and saw the eight remaining girls in the first row. They were all quite good-looking, not the kind of girls he couldn't bring himself to touch.

Perhaps he was frightened by the palace maids in later dramas, who were just extras hired for a pittance, and whose appearances were really not flattering.

These young women were different; they had gone through eight rounds of selection. Not to mention being ugly, they were eliminated if they had any flaws.

So what other options are there?
After thinking for a moment, he simply said, "Eunuch Wei, arrange the food and lodging of Lady Tian and Lady Yuan as concubines, then arrange the food and lodging of the remaining eight as ladies-in-waiting, and arrange the food and lodging of the eleventh to twentieth as ladies-in-waiting."

Uh, do you have such a big appetite?

This talent show isn't something you can only do once; if you like, I can let you choose every year.

Wei Zhongxian was taken aback for a moment before repeatedly bowing and saying, "This servant obeys the decree."

Zhu Jue then instructed in detail: "You shall order people to bring the families of the Tian and Yuan families to live in the Yangxin Hall. All the families of the talented women and selected ladies-in-waiting shall be brought to the capital. I will arrange places for them to live. As for the families of these young ladies-in-waiting, as long as they are willing to come to the capital to work, bring them here. I will also arrange places for them to live."

what?
These are thousands of young women, and their families number at least four or five thousand.

What are you trying to do?

Wei Zhongxian was taken aback for a moment before repeatedly bowing and saying, "This servant obeys the decree."

That's his good point; he can figure out what the emperor likes and dislikes, and he won't ask questions he shouldn't.

He had experienced firsthand the little emperor's domineering nature; whenever the little emperor made a decision, he would be criticized if he raised any objections!
He would never do something so foolish.

(End of this chapter)