Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 217 The Xishan Women's Textile Workshop is Established?

"Where else could it be?" Empress Dowager Li's eyebrows shot up. "Lady Wang has been pregnant for more than three months, and the Emperor still tried to hide it. If I hadn't seen it, the royal bloodline would have been tainted. Even the Emperor cannot bear such a crime!"

This female official was naturally not the Empress Wang of the harem.

She was originally an ordinary palace maid in Cining Palace. Three months ago, she was unexpectedly encountered by Emperor Wanli, who, upon seeing her beauty, secretly slept with her.

According to the custom of the Ming Dynasty imperial palace, when the emperor had sex with a palace maid, an eunuch had to be present to record it, and the emperor had to give her a token as proof.

However, Emperor Wanli was like a man who would turn a blind eye to a woman's true nature and even deliberately conceal the truth until the woman's belly grew bigger and Empress Dowager Li saw through it, finally revealing the truth.

Zhu Yaoying's face stiffened. While she could excuse other things, this really couldn't exonerate Zhu Yijun.

Even she felt that the emperor's trip was extremely dishonest.

"Oh dear~ Didn't Mother Empress have my brother, the Emperor, grant Lady Wang a title, and then choose an auspicious day to confer upon her the title of Consort?"

"What's the use of that? I've repeatedly sent the Emperor to Jingyang Palace to visit her and to show him great care for the child in Lady Wang's womb, but what has the Emperor done? He's simply..."

Empress Dowager Li's hesitant manner suggested that if the emperor hadn't come of age, she would have certainly called him a "rebellious son."

"I may not care about anything else, I will follow the Emperor wherever he goes, but what I care about most is the imperial heir, the imperial grandson!"

Empress Dowager Li was well aware of the importance of royal bloodlines.

Having spent many years in the palace, she had witnessed far too many princes and princesses die young.

For example, if an emperor were to die without an heir, it would be a huge deal, such as for the Crown Prince Xianhuai or the Prince Jingdao. Just look at the trouble that occurred after Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, died without an heir.

It can be said that nothing is more important than royal offspring.

Empress Dowager Li spent her days fasting and chanting Buddhist prayers, hoping that Emperor Wanli would have an heir, but she never expected the emperor to treat her with such disdain.

Zhu Yaoying sighed, "Mother, please don't be angry. My brother is just like that. If..."

Her eyes darted around, and she tentatively said...

"I happen to have nothing to do in the palace, so I think I can keep an eye on things at Jingyang Palace. Otherwise, how about I move to Jingyang Palace to take care of Lady Wang?"

Logically, she should be addressed as "Emperor's Sister-in-law," but since Lady Wang has not yet been formally appointed, she is still addressed as Lady Wang.

"Can Ying'er take care of people?" Empress Dowager Li was quite skeptical.

Zhu Yaoying, however, appeared confident: "Mother, just watch. Your son has read quite a few medical books, so taking care of Lady Wang is naturally no problem for me."

"This"

Empress Dowager Li pondered for a moment, but then felt it was feasible.

Zhu Yaoying, in her capacity as Princess Yongning, went to take care of the royal lady-in-waiting.

On the one hand, it would show that the palace attaches great importance to this matter, and on the other hand, it would protect its safety.

She nodded slightly.

"That's good, but I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you. Serving others is no easy task."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!"

For some reason, Zhu Yaoying didn't feel burdened at all; on the contrary, she seemed quite happy.

She desperately wanted to leave Cining Palace. She had grown up by Empress Dowager Li's side since childhood, and was subject to her discipline every day. Even reading, writing, and reading novels were restricted.

Going to Jingyang Palace, although she had to take care of a "royal sister-in-law," it was also a good opportunity to verify some of her guesses from medical books.

Most importantly, from now on no one will be able to discipline me, let me read books and newspapers, and even read vernacular novels!

The scorching heat of August had not yet subsided, and the mornings in the capital were already rather chilly.

Outside, the rain was continuous, and the cold wind kept blowing in. Although it was early autumn, it felt as cold as winter.

"In June of the fifth year of the Wanli reign, Suzhou, Songzhou and other places experienced continuous rain and were as cold as winter, and crops were damaged by frost one after another."

Inside the Wenyuan Pavilion, Shen Shixing couldn't help but sigh. "If even the warm south of the Yangtze River is like this, what about the northern regions of Zhili? The weather has been getting colder and colder over the years, and this winter I fear many people will suffer from hunger and cold again."

“This is not an isolated case.” Zhang Juzheng frowned. “A review of the local gazetteer reveals that during the Chenghua era, heavy snow fell in Liaodong Commandery in April, while Yuexi Guard in Sichuan experienced both rain and snow in July and August.”

He said with a solemn expression, "The sun will likely be even colder in the future, so we need to make plans as soon as possible."

"Does Your Excellency also believe in the idea of ​​yin prevailing over yang, as mentioned by Magistrate Zhang in the Wanli Xinbao?"

"Is that the theory of the Little Ice Age?" Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "It's rather far-fetched, but the cold is widespread and not limited to one corner, so this scene is indeed real."

"It just so happens that the coal from Xishan will come in handy, and this winter it may save many lives."

Shen Shixing said with a mixture of relief and unease.

"However, recently Magistrate Zhang mentioned some methods for predicting the weather in the newspaper, which is rather absurd."

“Heretical.”

Zhang Juzheng succinctly added that he was already used to his youngest son's way of doing things, and shook his head as he spoke.

"Let him be. I'm more interested in seeing if his so-called Xishan textile workshop can be established, as well as the affairs of Jiangnan."

"Zhang Tongzhi's talent is evident to all."

Shen Shixing wore a self-deprecating expression.

"But unexpectedly, one day, the affairs of the nation will depend on the methods of craftsmen and follow the way of commerce, something never seen before in ancient and modern times."

Zhang Juzheng squinted and said, "I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse."

After saying this, he paced back and forth in the Wenyuan Pavilion, glancing back at the reports on his desk every now and then.

Lately, he has even had no time to attend to matters of the palace.

This conflict with Jiangnan is far too important.

If we cannot prevail over the arrogant and domineering Jiangnan gentry in this dispute, neither Zhang Juzheng's "Single Whip Law" nor Zhang Yunxiu's "reform" will be able to make any progress in the future!

Shen Shixing, however, had another idea: "Since Your Excellency is so worried, why not find another day to go to Xishan and see for yourself? Seeing is believing. If the Xishan textile workshop can be established, what is there to worry about in the Jiangnan textile industry?"

"Going to Xishan again? I'm afraid so."

Shen Shixing said helplessly, "If the Emperor wants to find a result, he must go to Xishan. Otherwise, he will have to stay at Wenyuan Pavilion and wait for the report from Nanzhili."

After a struggle with his conscience, Zhang Juzheng looked at another newspaper on the table.

How has the Gyeonggi Ilbo recently evaluated Seosan?

Shen Shixing smiled wryly: "They're just saying that Magistrate Zhang opened a women's workshop in Xishan, using money to swindle respectable women. They're probably planning to open a brothel and sell sex."

"It won't cause any trouble."

The Gyeonggi Ilbo's tit-for-tat stance has been going on for quite some time.

Zhang Juzheng never considered abolishing or suppressing it; it wasn't that he couldn't, but rather that he didn't want to.

The saying goes, "If there is too much, there will be too little; if there is too much, there will be a reversal." In the face of the high pressure of implementing the new policies and the repeated failures in resisting Zhang Yunxiu, it was always necessary to leave a loophole for the upright gentry, lest they really become desperate and reckless.

Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly: "If it were in the past, I would have thought the same thing about prostitution."

From an outsider's perspective, Zhang Yunxiu's gathering of a group of women to Xishan inevitably raises suspicions.

However, Zhang Juzheng has now learned from his mistakes.

He tossed the report aside, nodded, and said...

"In that case, I shall make my third exploration of the Western Hills!"

　Note 1: The Little Ice Age's influence, from the "Five Elements (I) Water: Constant Cold" section of the "History of Ming Dynasty, Volume 28, Treatise 4": "In the fourth month of the thirteenth year of Chenghua (1444), there was heavy rain and snow in Kaiyuan, and many livestock froze to death. In the seventh and eighth months of the sixteenth year (1457), there was rain and snow in Yue and Songjiang, and the cold was like winter. In the fourth month of the first year of Zhengde (1512), frost fell in Wuding, Yunnan, killing wheat, and the cold was like winter. In the sixth month of the fifth year of Wanli (1580), there was heavy rain in Suzhou and Songjiang, and the cold was like winter, damaging crops. In the fourth month of the forty-sixth year (1587), there was heavy rain and snow in Shaanxi, and two thousand mules and camels froze to death."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)