Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Taichang Emperor
When Emperor Wanli passed away, due to the protracted illness, the courtiers had been psychologically prepared, and they were able to calmly support some reforms by "promulgating a will" to reform some bad policies.
The "mining tax" that caused the people all over the world to complain so much took this opportunity to cancel, and some extremely important official positions that had been vacant for a long time in the court, which could not be replaced because Emperor Wanli was not in the court, were also able to open up vacancies; The internal funds and private houses that the Wanli Emperor refused to use were first issued two million taels to reward the soldiers of Jiubian and Liaodong respectively-the maladministration of the Wanli Dynasty began to have a new opportunity.
Hope returned to the hearts of the people.
Chang Luo held the ascension ceremony on August 1st, named Taichang, and next year is scheduled to be the first year of Taichang; The vacancies were filled by Shi Jikai, Shen Yun, He Zongyan, Liu Yijing, Han Gun and others; Zou Yuanbiao, Wang Dewan, Meng Yanghao, Jiang Yinglin, Zhong Yuzheng, Feng Congwu and other forty-eight people were appointed as officials. , Suddenly created a "ZTE atmosphere".
However, this new atmosphere is only on the surface - a terrible hidden worry is quietly spreading in the invisible darkness.
Although many people in the imperial court have been promoted, not everyone has been promoted, and those who have not benefited feel dissatisfied; there are as many as forty-eight newly appointed famous people, but not all of them have been missed. Of course, those who have not been employed have another idea; a new situation of struggle has already taken shape.
And this is still a hidden struggle that will only be revealed after a period of time. Another incident that has developed to the point of breaking out, has been brewing in the palace for a long time, and has long since become a semi-public state.
The incident and the initiator of the incident were of course Concubine Zheng.
Once she is smart, she will be able to think calmly and rationally once she doesn't get angry; she can see clearly the overall environment she is in and the key points of the problem, and she has also discussed with Zheng Guotai a countermeasure.
She has lost the decades-long battle, and now, in order to protect herself, she must try her best to curry favor with the enemy who has gained the upper hand——
She took out her private money and asked Zheng Guotai to find beauties who could sing and dance among the people. After strengthening the training, she selected eight of them with the best looks and the best singing and dancing, and secretly sent them to the palace. On the night of his ascension, he was sent to the Qianqing Palace in the name of celebration to win his favor.
At the same time, she put down her body and tried her best to befriend Chang Luo's harem beauties.
There are not many harems in Chang Luo, and there are two most favored beauties in daily life, both of whom are "chosen servants" and both are surnamed Li, so they are distinguished by the location where they live, one is called "Dong Li" and the other is called "Xi Li"; Among them, Xi Li's favor is slightly better than Dong Li's - this is her chosen target.
The status of "chosen servant" is far lower than that of her "imperial concubine". In the past, she would dismiss her, but now, the situation is different.
She first picked out a few pieces of exquisite and precious jewelry from her cage, and ordered the maid to send them to Xi Li——she was sure that Xi Li was born in a humble family and had nothing to wear since he was a child. His identity when he entered the palace was A court lady with a servant nature can't be said to be particular about clothes and jewelry. Even if she is chosen by Chang Luo, she is selected as a servant, and she is favored, but because Chang Luo herself is not favored in front of Emperor Wanli, and money is tight, there will be no good things to reward her. for her.
"People like this have shallow eyelids..."
People who have never seen the prosperous world and used good things are very easy to buy!
Sure enough, after accepting a few pieces of jewelry, Xi Li only took a little time to repair his appearance, and hurried to Chengqian Palace to "thank you" in person.
Even, as soon as she saw Concubine Zheng, she knelt on the ground, kowtowed her head and said: "The concubine kowtows to the imperial concubine, the empress is a thousand years old!"
This is a big ceremony, and Zheng Guifei personally helped her up with a smile, and said kindly: "This is not in the class, what a big gift! Come, come, come, let's have a good word." Don't stick to any etiquette in family life—for my own family, if there are too many etiquettes, it will feel unfamiliar!"
As he said that, he hurriedly ordered the maids to watch the seats and serve tea, and ordered repeatedly: "It's hot, bring cold melons and fruits! The tea and food only need to be light!"
After finishing the order, he still felt that it was not enough, and added: "Prepare a little extra for all kinds of food, and bring them back to Li Niangniang in a while!"
In Changluo Palace, there has never been any exquisite and delicious food, and it was the first time in Xi Li's life that someone was called "Ms. Li". The words came from Concubine Zheng's mouth, and when she heard them, she was almost moved to tears. ——
As a result, the distance between the "mother-in-law and daughter-in-law" who were originally strangers was immediately shortened, so close that there was no distance at all.
And a conditional exchange agreement was launched three days later.
Concubine Zheng was the first to mention it, of course—she touched Xili's heart with her words first: "Once the crown prince succeeds to the throne, he will be named a queen—good boy, I feel distressed no matter how I think about it for you; The only difference between a good character is that the emperor's grandson has not yet been born. When the time comes, compared with the other people who gave birth to the emperor's grandson, he will suffer..."
As she spoke, her eye sockets turned red; afterward, after turning her eyeballs a few times, tears slowly fell.
It's not that Xili didn't have a child, she gave birth to a princess—Chang Luo already had several sons, including Youxiao and Youjian, and the emperor's eldest grandson, Youxiao, was sixteen years old. Someone put forward a call for the establishment of the "emperor's grandson" as if preparing for a rainy day; in short, it is an iron fact that the future heir to the throne was definitely not born to her.
Therefore, Concubine Zheng's words directly hit the vitals deep in her heart; while Concubine Zheng continued to wipe away her tears: "You have to plan ahead, don't follow my old path!" ——Look at me now. On the surface, I am in a good mood, but my heart is empty! It’s not that I haven’t given birth to a prince, but I will be a feudal prince after leaving Beijing. In this life, it will be difficult to see each other again! With a good daughter-in-law like you who can talk, isn't she a complete lonely old woman?"
The words made Xi Li also cry with bitterness, "the rabbit died and the fox was sad", and the sense of crisis in her heart surged up with the bitterness; so she begged Zheng Guifei: "What should I do? My mother taught me Teach me!"
Concubine Zheng pretended to be pondering, and after a while, she said the plan she had already thought up: "First find a way to ascend to the position of Crown Princess..."
She analyzed for Xi Li that the success rate of this matter is very high, because the crown princess Guo died of illness a few years ago, and the position of crown princess has been vacant and has not been re-registered; at present, the beauties around Chang Luo are well-known. There are only "nobles", "talented people" and "chosen servants", while others are not as favored as Xi Li.
However, things are not guaranteed to happen: "This matter, in addition to the crown prince's consent, has to be agreed by the Long Live Lord, and the ministers have no objection..."
Xi Li was born in a humble background, alone and alone, and was unable to do anything other than being able to speak in front of Chang Luo.
Thus, the "mutual aid" pact between the two was formed——
Concubine Zheng suggested: "I will help you become the crown prince, and I will also ask you to speak well in front of the crown prince, and try to make the Lord Long Live make me a queen!"
Xi Li asked first: "Long Live Lord is sick, how can we make Long Live Lord a queen?"
Concubine Zheng said confidently: "It's very simple, just add it to the edict - all along, the edicts are drafted by the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince's men and horses. As long as the Crown Prince is willing, nothing is difficult!"
After finishing speaking, she made a firm promise: "If I ascend to the empress position, I will be very sure that I have the right to make you the empress dowager; when the new king takes the throne, I will be the empress dowager and you will be the empress! "
Xi Li understands, and even has a method to proceed——
On the second day after the death of Emperor Wanli, Chang Luo personally preached to the ministers: "Father's last words: "My mother, the imperial concubine Zheng, has served me for a long time, worked hard and worked hard, and became the queen." Instruct the Ministry of Rites to investigate the case."
However, the ministers are not all idiots with low IQ and poor thinking like him. Of course, these words aroused opposition.
The ministers first murmured: "Is the crown prince crazy? Forgot how Zheng Guifei treated him in the past? He even said such a thing!"
Then, everyone said in unison: "This is absolutely impossible!"
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