Work overtime

Chapter 777

But Jiang Yuebai didn't have much time to grieve. It was the end of the year again, the busiest season for the government, and also the busiest season for Li Beichen.

Endless nights, endless meetings, endless account books and summary reports. Jiang Yuebai felt that he was just working in a different place, and the nature of the job was no different.

She did not feel bored, but excited and fulfilled. Lichun had become her most capable assistant, saving her a lot of worries.

Lichun was originally trained to be a personal bodyguard, but in reality she became a secretary, taking on the auxiliary work she had previously done for Li Beichen. Instead, martial arts training became just a daily fitness habit.

After years of silent observation and thinking, Lichun has learned how her master does things. She sorts out memorials, categorizes them, writes key points, indicates important related information, guides the forwarding departments, and simply writes "read" or "understood" on the plain memorials.

She did it very well, which made Jiang Yuebai look at Lichun's growth with new eyes. In his heart, he was silently grateful to Han Ziqian who taught Lichun to read and write.

Lichun felt the same way and was extremely grateful to her master.

Recently, I met Master Han again when he returned from Southeast Asia with his fleet. Listening to his elegant and humorous talk, a different kind of emotion arose in my heart, which made me blush and excited.

She felt the small happiness that her sister Ximo had when she saw the emperor, and like her sister Ximo, she decided to hide this feeling in her heart and not reveal it at all.

Inspired by the Third Prince's enthusiasm for learning foreign languages ​​and the unprecedented integration of the harem, Jiang Yuebai formed her first political proposition after she took over the government.

Make Mongolian the official language of Ming Dynasty. Add a foreign language test to the imperial examination, and choose one of Mongolian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, or Arabic.

Ye Xiang didn't need to say anything, Jiang Yuebai's words were his. The favor of keeping Concubine Hua in the palace for her retirement directly turned Ye Xiang into a die-hard fan.

Zhou Xiang was a little more difficult. He was deeply rooted in traditional Confucianism. He believed that China was the Celestial Empire, so how could we learn the language of barbarians and use it to select talents?

Ridiculous, really absurd!

Moreover, if it is really to be used for the imperial examination, where would so many teachers come from to teach the language?

Jiang Yuebai: "Since we have achieved the great cause of unification and recovered the Tatars and Oirat in the Mongolian region, making these regions our territory and the people in these regions our subjects, we must treat them equally and strengthen cultural exchanges with them."

Zhou Xiang: "It is very important to strengthen exchanges. But why should we learn their barbarian language? They should learn Chinese. The thousands of years of Central Plains culture is broad and profound, far superior to their grassland culture. If we learn their language, it would be a shameful regression."

Jiang Yuebai: "Learning their language is to further strengthen the connection and integration with them, to become a real family, and to avoid war. The pursuit of common development in a peaceful environment is the lifelong goal of the late emperor. Otherwise, he would not have violated the ancestral precept of never marrying in marriage promulgated by Taizu, and the harem would not have included as many foreign concubines as Han concubines, and would not have given birth to so many royal heirs in such a short period of time.

I am carrying on the will of the last emperor, trying to win over the grassland peoples as much as possible, reduce wars and riots, save the people of the Central Plains from the suffering of war and military service, cherish the people's strength, and let the people live and work in peace. Moreover, the royal family of the Tang Dynasty, our ancestor, had Xianbei blood, and Emperor Taizong of Tang even called the Mongolian Khan a brother.

Your Majesty is now the "Heavenly Khan" recognized by all on the grassland at such a young age. You should care for your people and unite all the people under your rule. If you can't even speak their language and can't communicate, how can you convince them? Without such a pattern, how can we talk about the Celestial Empire that all nations come to congratulate. I beg the Prime Minister to support me."

Li Chengji, who had been silent while listening to the debate between his mother and the prime minister, said, "Prime Minister Zhou, I think my mother is right. My brothers and sisters and I are all working hard to learn foreign languages. In the future, we will all be able to master at least three foreign languages."

Zhou Xiang was stunned when he heard this.

Although he admired Jiang Yuebai's outstanding contribution in redressing treason, he had always been critical of Jiang Yuebai's participation in political affairs. But now he felt sincere admiration for him. Although he could not agree with Jiang Yuebai's ideas, it was really extraordinary for him to have such quick thinking and a grand vision.

He replied respectfully, "The imperial examination is the foundation of the country. Changing the examination subjects is no joke. Your Majesty, please think twice."

Since the imperial examination was mentioned, Jiang Yuebai proposed her second proposal, to open a special examination in the new year, and to pre-admit 100 people. After three months of closed-door Mongolian language training, only those who passed the examination would be finally admitted, otherwise they would not be admitted. They would be sent to work in northern Mongolia as local officials.

Although the two major prefectures of Anbei and Anxi were established to manage the northern Inner and Outer Mongolia and parts of the western region, they were not set up with more layers like the inland provinces.

Jiang Yuebai then proposed that since it had become the territory of the Ming Dynasty, an administrative management structure that was basically consistent with the internal structure must be implemented. This would require a large number of local talents who were proficient in Chinese culture. However, if these talents did not understand the local language, they would not be able to carry out their work smoothly.

With such rigorous logic, Zhou Xiang found himself convinced again.

Finally, in the court, Prime Minister Zhou, who had always been conservative and fair, became a staunch supporter of Jiang Yuebai and pushed for the opening of the special examination in March of the new year.

It was just a detailed adjustment to Jiang Yuebai's plan. For example, the pre-admission was changed to admission. However, those who failed the exam could only serve as local ninth-rank officials, but those who passed the exam would be given seventh-rank or higher official ranks. This was undoubtedly very tempting.

Jiang Yuebai then further proposed selecting 200 young and middle-aged people from the two regions to go to the Han area to study Chinese language and culture.

She did not mention ethnic autonomy for technical reasons. This is what the Tang Dynasty did in history, but talking about it more would easily cause more controversy. After all, the appointment of officials and the matching of chief and deputy officials only require consultation with the Ministry of Personnel.

Persia sent envoys to ask for marriage with the royal family. During the Yuan Dynasty, Persia intermarried with the Yuan Dynasty. The State Council discussed it and named the second daughter of the second eldest princess as Princess Anyuan, and married her to Persia. Han Ziqian escorted her back to Persia from the sea via Sumatra.

On December 6, the Korean Queen Dowager Li gave birth to the seventeenth princess, who died an hour after birth.

There were only two pregnant women left in the harem: Jiang Yuebai and the blonde, blue-eyed Persian beauty Yang Taipin Seth.

In the twelfth lunar month, Jiang Yuebai still followed the old custom and organized all the concubines to send New Year gifts to the family members, which were delivered to the door by special people organized by his uncle.

Last year, Mongolia was not included, but this year, all of them were taken care of and delivered to the door. The Koreans sent envoys to deliver them. The Persians could only be brought back after Han Ziqian went out to sea again after the New Year.

Every festive season brings more thoughts of family members. Hometown is almost everyone’s soft spot and emotional sustenance.

He had insisted on delivering New Year's greetings to the families of the concubines for several years, which made all the concubines deeply grateful and they kowtowed to Jiang Yuebai again and again.

Jiang Yuebai was unable to fulfill his filial duties to his parents in his previous life, so he deeply understands the helplessness and guilt of daughters far away from home. Helping them is also helping himself.

Politically speaking, it is about winning over the hearts and minds of the people and uniting the local nobles; managerially speaking, it is about uniting the harem and reducing vicious incidents; personally speaking, it is about redeeming one's former self and making friends with these cheerful foreign girls.

Because of the national mourning, there was no New Year's Eve palace banquet, but a simple family banquet. Before the family banquet began, Jiang Yuebai rewarded several dishes to the old ministers of the previous dynasty and the capable ministers of this year according to the custom.

There is still one table for adults and one table for children.

Without Li Beichen, the family dinner didn't feel like a family dinner. There was no festive atmosphere at all. It just became a New Year's Eve memorial service. Everyone had tears in their eyes, and Jiang Yuebai was the same. He was only busy greeting everyone, "Eat, eat, drink, drink!"

It was the first time she did not leave early, and it was the first time Concubine Lu did not have to run around, but sat at the table to eat and drink.

In previous years, people would sing and dance freely, play musical instruments and even perform martial arts, but this year everyone was very silent.

Just drink.

I don’t know how many cups everyone drank in the end. I only know that they were all drunk and hugged each other and cried, talking about what happened when the late emperor was still alive and how much they missed him.

Jiang Yuebai's eyes were red, but she tried hard not to let the tears fall. She didn't need to cry in front of others. Missing someone is actually one's own business.

Later, the concubines from Mongolia got drunk, broke a lot of bowls and plates, and began to sing Mongolian songs while crying. It seemed that in addition to missing their deceased husbands, they also missed their families in their hometown.

Jiang Yuebai told them the policies for the new year.

Their fathers and brothers can sign up to study Chinese language and culture in the capital, and then they can see their relatives. And if they perform well, they can also work in the capital, buy a house in the capital, and settle down.

They can all write to their families to tell them the news in advance and prepare for it.

The concubines from Mongolia were so happy that they cried with excitement and toasted Jiang Yuebai with many glasses of wine.

Concubine Li of North Korea couldn't help asking, "Can North Korea be accepted?" Jiang Yuebai said, "Of course, we welcome them."

The Celestial Empire is a country that recruits talents regardless of their background. Only when there are enough high-level talents can we promote the rapid development of science and technology and culture and start the first industrial revolution as soon as possible. According to the history of the real world, the spinning jenny was not invented in Britain until the early 18th century.

Jiang Yuebai gave Li Beichen the blueprints and basic ideas and principles, and Li Beichen ordered skilled craftsmen to conduct research. Three years ago, they developed a cotton and wool spinning machine that was more advanced than the Jenny spinning machine. A year ago, they developed a silk spinning machine that doubled the production efficiency.

The productivity of cotton fabrics has been greatly improved, and the cost and price of domestic cotton fabrics have been greatly reduced. Coupled with the elegant and advanced pattern design and extraordinary printing and dyeing technology, the overseas sales of cotton fabrics soon exceeded the demand. Two years ago, Han Ziqian brought a large number of cotton fabrics and cotton textile crafts to the West, trying to open up sales for the domestic textile industry.

Han Ziqian originally planned to rest for a while before sailing to the West for the second time, but the Persian envoy's proposal for marriage forced him to start preparing for another voyage in May of the new year.

The next year was the first year of Taixing, the beginning of a new era.

On the first day of the first lunar month, Jiang Yuebai accompanied her son Li Chengji to get up at Yinshi, dressed in the queen mother's formal attire, and went to the Taimiao to worship the ancestors and pray for the new year. After returning, she accepted the princes and princesses who came to pay New Year's greetings in order and gave out red envelopes in turn.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the foreign concubine Seth from Persia gave birth to a pair of healthy twins, a boy and a girl. Jiang Yuebai named them Li Chengyang and Li Zimu.

Jiang Yuebai summoned the Persian envoy to the palace for an audience, allowed him to visit the newborn twins in the Qinzheng Hall, and rewarded him generously.

The successful birth of twins was considered a great omen, indicating that the royal families of Persia and the Ming Dynasty were blessed by heaven. The last time such twins were born was when the Empress gave birth to a son six years ago.

The Persian envoy was very excited and said that he would bring this good news to His Majesty the King.

In the first month of the first year of Taixing, Jiang Yuebai announced several major new national policies:
Mongolian was listed as the second official language. The Ministry of Rites took the lead, with the participation of the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy. All the main laws of the Ming Dynasty were translated into Mongolian, distributed to the administrative agencies in the Mongolian region, and special personnel were arranged to preach them.

All future important policy documents must have Mongolian versions;
In March, the imperial examination was reopened to select 100 officials for the Anbei and Anxi Protectorate areas, and Mongolian language training was provided.

Select outstanding young and middle-aged people and tribal leaders from ethnic minorities in Anbei and Anxi Protectorate to serve in the central government.

One hundred Mongolian young men were selected from each of the Anxi and Anbei Protectorates to come to the capital to learn Chinese language and culture;

The imperial examination was changed to a selection period of three years.

Three years later, foreign languages ​​became a compulsory subject in the imperial examination. The optional languages ​​were Mongolian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Japanese. The examination content was divided into two parts: written and oral. Those who were proficient in two or more foreign languages ​​were given priority for promotion.

As soon as the policy was promulgated, it caused a huge sensation inside and outside the court. A group of old officials were very dissatisfied with the new policy implemented by the Queen Mother, believing that it was a rhythm to destroy the country and allow the Yuan Dynasty to reoccupy the Han area.

In addition, she had transferred Chen Ping from the Anbei Protectorate back to the capital years ago and appointed him as the Minister of Rites.

Zhou Shipeng didn't expect that the plan the Queen Mother finally came up with would be more comprehensive, more radical, and more inward-looking than his.

Isn't this going to kill all the scholars?

Is learning a foreign language really that important?

Is it more important than reading the Four Books and Five Classics and learning mathematics well?
Studying is hard enough. Now you have to learn one or even two foreign languages.

He said he couldn't understand it and it was too outrageous.

But he agreed that this would indeed promote stability and integration in the Mongolian region, strengthen the Mongolian region's recognition of the royal family and the Ming Dynasty's jurisdiction, strengthen the central government's management of the Mongolian region, and normalize the central government's management of the northern region.

So even though he didn't understand, he still chose to withstand the huge pressure and support Jiang Yuebai.

When his former colleague Chang Yian came to ask for his opinion after the court session, he still sighed.

"Sparrows cling to their grass nests, thinking that they are safe as long as they keep them. However, when a storm comes, they have nowhere to hide. The Queen Mother is preparing for a rainy day, using her greatness to ride the wind and seek the Central Kingdom. I admire you!"

Chang Yian couldn't help but ask, "But what if this is the woman's way, thinking it's to win over someone, but in fact it's to invite a wolf into the house?"

Zhou Shipeng glared at Chang Yian and said, "How can the foundation of a country be shaken by a few barbarians? If you don't understand, read more. Go read the history of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and you will find the answer there."

"Aren't you worried at all? We can't let the Ming Dynasty fall in our hands." Chang Yian asked in confusion.

He really couldn't understand why Zhou Shipeng, an old scholar with strong principles, who had been the most ardent opponent of the harem's interference in politics in front of the late emperor, would stand on the side of the empress dowager.