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Chapter 783

Jiang Yuebai said tentatively, "Has the emperor thought it through? This may cause strong opposition from the court officials. After all, whether in the Tang Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, the empresses of all dynasties were women from Han ethnic families."

Li Chengji said calmly, "Someone has to be the first to take the first step. Our relationship with the Mongolian region is no longer what it used to be. If we establish a queen, we can make the Mongolians and the Han people live in peace and friendship without spending a single soldier. My son thinks it is worth it."

Jiang Yuebai cast an approving look at Li Chengji, "I am very pleased that the emperor has such a broad vision, cherishes the people's strength, and makes the Mongolians and Han people one family for generations. I believe that if your father were still alive, he would support your decision."

"Father." Li Chengji's eyes lit up and then dimmed.

Before I knew it, my father had been gone for ten years. He made a promise to Bater, and now Bater has fulfilled his promise, and the second eldest princess has already married.

I wonder if my father would be satisfied when he sees him and the Ming Dynasty today?
Li Chengji raised his eyes to look at his mother. Seeing that his mother seemed to be lost in the memory of his father, he took the initiative to ask, "Son wants to go see the father. Would you like to go with me, mother?"

Jiang Yuebai pulled himself away from his memories of Li Beichen. "Over the years, you must have a lot to say to your father alone. This time, I won't go with you. By the way, do you have any plans for the queen?"

"My son has several candidates. Ask someone to send the information over for mother to review."

Temujin, the leader of the Torghut tribe who had written to tease Jiang Yuebai, wrote again, asking for his legitimate daughter to marry him as the queen. Jiang Yuebai, of course, did not agree. He said that at most he could give her a concubine position, just like Bater's sister. The two concubine positions could only be given to Han women.

After reading the letter, Temujin was extremely angry and decided not to marry. The one he had given Li Beichen before was a concubine's daughter born to a woman inherited from his father, and it didn't matter what position she was given. Now that she was a legitimate daughter, he thought it was a great insult.

After hearing that the queen finally left for a Mongolian woman from another tribe, he became even more furious and decided to teach the Ming Dynasty a lesson. He beat and scolded Jiang Qingqing, the woman who had married her, leaving her with a bruised face and nose, which led to her miscarriage.

It turned out that after some discussion, Jiang Yuebai and his mother decided to make the empress the third daughter of the leader of the Choros tribe, one of the largest tribes in the Oirat. Concubine An's niece, Kokozhen, was made the empress. In addition, Meng Xin's eldest daughter Meng Hui and Xie Yizhi's second daughter Xie Yashan were made the second concubines.

The four concubines were Li Fangying, the legitimate daughter of Concubine Yi's younger brother, the Shaoqing of the Guanglu Temple; Hailan, the legitimate daughter of the leader of the Uriankhai tribe; Wurenhua, the half-sister of Shun'an King Bater; and Jiang Yanqing, the daughter of Jiang Binglian, the Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate.

The emperor's decision indeed caused an uproar.

The first was to make a Mongolian woman the queen, which could be said to be the first such person since ancient times; the second was to make a woman from the Xie family the concubine, thus preserving the glory of the Xie family and not deliberately causing its decline just because the Protector of the Country was beheaded for disobeying military orders; the third was to openly win over the Uriankhai tribe.

The court was divided into two factions, one in support and the other against.

But in the past six years, he organized Mongolian language learning, promoted outstanding Mongolian youth to the central government, and sent central officials to the grassroots level in Mongolia for training. In addition, he followed the emperor to inspect northern Mongolia two years ago and witnessed the enthusiastic support of Mongolian people and nobles for Li Beichen. The number of people who opposed was not large, and the voice was not loud.

Those who strongly opposed it were all old scholars with high knowledge and relatively conservative ideas. They believed that this move violated the ancestral system and were worried that a foreign queen would overthrow the country and that the Yuan Dynasty royal family would use this opportunity to assassinate the emperor and counterattack the Central Plains. They were also worried that the descendants of the barbarians would be detrimental to the purity of the bloodline and confuse the dragon bloodline.

Li Chengji only said that the world is one family, the Mongolian region was originally the land of the Ming Dynasty, the Mongolians and the Han people were originally one family, and there was no confusion between inside and outside.

He did not give any further explanation, did not preach too much, and did not punish those ministers who strongly and stubbornly opposed the marriage. He just made it clear that the emperor had made up his mind and ordered the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory to start arranging the wedding. The ceremony of conferring the title of empress was scheduled for the twelfth day of the eighth lunar month of that year, a day of clear and crisp autumn weather.

Jiang Yuebai privately asked Li Chengji if he had a sweetheart. Li Chengji said that Kuo Kuo was his sweetheart.

This is too outrageous. The queen is not a stranger, but a sweetheart?
Her own son had a lover, but she knew nothing about it. This was even more outrageous than the chance encounter between the male and female protagonists in the love picture book written by Concubine Rui.

Li Chengji, who looked like an old man since childhood, showed a shy and happy smile for the first time. "It's a long story. I have to thank my mother for her good policies."

It turned out that Jiang Yuebai stipulated that the leaders of the Mongolian tribes could come to Beijing to work, buy houses and settle down, and the court would provide subsidies. Concubine An's eldest brother was selected to work in the Ministry of Households, and then bought a yard in the capital and brought his family over.

Because the capital was prosperous and life was much more comfortable than on the grassland, Concubine An's eldest brother Ajisai brought her two unmarried sisters, the third and fourth sisters, to the capital to live and learn Chinese language and culture.

Then Li Chengji wanted to learn horse riding and archery, but the Han teachers didn't have much practical experience, so they didn't teach him well enough. So he simply asked the Black Eagle of the Grassland, who was brave, good at fighting, enthusiastic and talkative, and was recommended by the Mongolian officials to teach him horse riding and archery.

Ajisai's two sisters were bored in Beijing. When they heard that they could go horseback riding and archery, they clamored to go, but Ajisai did not agree.

Li Chengji made rapid progress under Ajisai's dedicated teaching. During a casual chat, he asked Ajisai about his family's situation in the capital. Ajisai mentioned that his two sisters also came to the capital. Li Chengji asked about his two sisters' study and life, and arranged for them to study in Huazhangyuan with the princesses and ministers' daughters.

As a result, Ajisai's sister, Kokozhen, became close friends with the Fifth Princess. The Fifth Princess gave Kokozhen a Chinese name, Kezhen, and often mentioned it to Li Chengji. Li Chengji practiced horse riding and archery with the Fifth Princess, and also invited Ajisai's two sisters.

The horse riding and archery class for five people is a cover for the secret love between two people.

Jiang Yuebai had heard about the Fifth Princess mentioning her Mongolian good friend "Ke Zhen", and had also heard about Li Chengji taking the Fifth Princess to practice riding and archery hard, but he had never expected that there was such a secret behind it.

Of course, thanks to Li Chengji, the Fifth Princess's riding and archery are even better than Jiang Yuebai's, and she can be said to be better than her master.

The emperor's marriage was thus arranged, with a few little ones left.

Needless to say, Jiang Li's marriage was arranged. After Jiang Yuebai told the emperor about it, he issued an imperial decree to betroth her to Qi Ming. After the two of them compared their horoscopes, the wedding was set for September 26th.

The third brother has been with Han Ziqian for two years and there is no news of his return, so there is no point in worrying about him.

The fourth son had been unable to settle on a marriage because he couldn't figure out what kind of person he liked, so he told his brother, the emperor, that raising a child was troublesome, and it was even more troublesome if he didn't meet someone he liked. He wanted to live happily for a few more years and didn't want to get married and have children so early and be burdened by the family.

The world is so big, he wants to travel around during holidays to see the beautiful scenery of Ming Dynasty.

In fact, he was born into a Buddhist family. He had been passively involved in the past 16 years. At first, he was involved in the imperial examinations, and then he was involved in the imperial examinations. Last year, he passed the imperial examinations and was assigned to the Ministry of Personnel by the prince. He was also very involved in the imperial examinations, studying late into the night, which was no easier than when he was preparing for the exams. Now, he has to involve his wife and children.

just forget it.

After much thought, I decided that a public-funded trip would be a good excuse to go to the grassroots level to investigate the people's conditions on behalf of my eldest brother. I had already persuaded my mother in advance and strongly expressed that I did not want to get married for the time being.

Li Chengji originally planned to directly order a marriage for him, but he didn't know that the fourth child was very cunning and won the support of his mother in advance.

Jiang Yuebai was not so supportive of getting married and having children at the age of 16. When he heard Xiao Si's request for late marriage and late childbearing, he naturally chose to support it. Moreover, Xiao Si's suggestion of a secret visit was indeed necessary. Jiang Yuebai naturally helped to express Xiao Si's ideas in front of Li Chengji.

Li Chengji laughed, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "I didn't know that Xiao Si was just going out to travel around under the pretext of investigating the people's sentiments."

I have loved lying down and playing dirty since I was a child.

Jiang Yuebai quickly tried to smooth things over for Xiao Si, "You can't say that. Xiao Si's ideas are still good. How have you done over the years? There are definitely achievements, but there are definitely a lot of problems. You can't just listen to the officials singing praises and flattering them. You still need someone reliable to go down there and take a look for you."

As a result, Li Chengji assigned a task to his fourth brother, to travel around the country in disguise, to investigate the local customs and people's livelihood, and to check whether local officials had been corrupt, annexed land, oppressed the people, and caused false cases.

Finally, we had to write a report and send a letter home every time we visited a place. Is this still called a public-funded tour? Even kicking the donkey in the production team was not this harsh.

The fourth brother wanted to cry but had no tears. "It would be better to go to the fiefdom and become a vassal."

Li Chengji said calmly, "That's fine. You get married and have children first, and then I'll let you go back. Otherwise, you'll be too far away to take care of me, and it'll make my mother worry about your marriage all day long."

This hit the fourth brother's weak spot.

Alas, I can’t win, I have been unable to win since I was a child.

He leaned back in his chair with a look of despair. "Okay, okay, okay, I just went down to investigate. Isn't that enough? I just handed in the investigation report. Can't that be enough? Treat me to three days of delicious meals first."

"Okay." Li Chengji agreed readily.

Jiang Yuebai couldn't help but think back to when they were kids, the second child grabbed an official seal and inkstone, the third child grabbed a sword, and the fourth child grabbed a lucky bag containing a jade pendant.

Now it seems that it is still somewhat effective. However, there has been no news from the third brother for two years, and Jiang Yuebai is very worried.

Jiang Yuebai felt sad when she thought of the eldest princess who died young after catching the sweet-scented osmanthus cake and the second princess who changed her identity after catching the book. As a princess of the royal family, although it seems glorious, there are actually many dangers and no choice.

This year, the fifth princess born to Jiang Yuebai and the sixth princess born to Concubine Rui turned fourteen years old and moved into the princess's mansion, living together with the fourth princess born to Concubine Xie.

Yu Guipin's sixth son, Li Chengxi, also moved out of the palace and built his own palace, and was named Prince Yu by his brother.

Since his mother didn't like reading, didn't know how to tutor him, and didn't like to push him hard, he had poor academic performance since he was young.

Last year, he took the imperial examination but failed, so his salary was cut in half, which made him very distressed. Every day, he went to his good brother, the fourth brother, to eat for free.

His mother, Concubine Yu, could not read, but she had a clear mind.

He was told from a young age to learn from the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince, to get along with them, to listen to the Crown Prince, and to cling to their thighs. So he liked to get close to these three brothers since he was a child. Fortunately, they were not arrogant and did not find him annoying.

He followed the study plan set by his elder brother, the Crown Prince, without fail. He had no talent for the Four Books and Five Classics. He could recite every word and sentence, but he was not very good at it.

He was very good friends with his fourth brother, who was also not very smart in studying. The two of them often complained about how hard and tiring studying was and how it made them lose sleep.

When he heard that his fourth brother was going to go to the grassroots to inspect, he felt bad because no one would support him, and he panicked. His fourth brother treated him to a big meal and comforted him, saying that although he was going to the grassroots to train.

But his uncle who worked in the Ministry of Revenue still lived in the Liao Palace. He was easy to talk to and loved to cook. He just needed to give him a call and he would definitely provide meals. The Sixth Prince was so moved that he drank three cups in a row and cried bitterly while hugging his Fourth Brother.

But Li Chengji thought it was not a big deal to see his sixth brother, this little follower, staying at home all day reading pornographic comics.

Influenced by his mother, Lao Liu likes to wield swords and guns. He is not good at studying, but he is very good at kung fu and has a generous and carefree personality.

Li Chengji arranged for Lao Liu to join the East City Bingmasi in the capital as an assistant commander. He was not given a position or rank. He was responsible for catching petty thieves, dredging the streets and drains in the capital, and putting out fires.

It turned out well for him.

He was brave and cheerful, hated evil and had great boxing skills. He could easily catch a petty thief, and beat the gangsters and hooligans in Dongcheng so badly that they knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. He sent these gangsters and hooligans to work in a smelting plant in Hebei to learn how to forge iron and make various iron tools.

The public security in Dongcheng quickly ranked first among the five cities, and Lao Liu became famous.

He also accidentally solved the mystery of the murder of Jiang Yuebai's father and his family. They were caught by Xi Fei's brother, who was working in the East City Military Department at the time. He used Jiang Jingxian's huge wealth to half lure and half coerce him to rob Jiang's house and kill the whole family.

At that time, the whole city was in chaos, and a group of hooligans couldn't help themselves and raped the sleeping woman in Jiang's house. But when they were happy, another group of people came and killed his companions and the people in Jiang's house, and put the blame on them and chopped off the men's heads. He was young at the time and was responsible for keeping watch outside, so he was able to escape.

After hearing about it, Li Chengji captured Concubine Xi's brother and interrogated him overnight, but still could not find out the identity of the second group of people.

He told his mother Jiang Yuebai. Jiang Yuebai thought of the tragic death of her father and burst into tears.

The entire Zhen family was executed. Concubine Zhen's brother and his son were all sentenced to being sliced ​​into pieces and fed to dogs. The wives, concubines, and daughters were demoted to lowly slaves and sent to the army to be prostitutes. The men were slaves and the women were prostitutes for generations.

According to speculation, the second group of people were most likely Li Beiwang's men. According to the man, they did not insult the men in the mansion at that time. They chopped off the heads of the men and killed the women and left. When Li Beichen was there, Li Beiwang's mother's family and his remaining followers had all been killed, which was considered revenge.

So there was a third group of people. Because there was no one left to kill, they took the opportunity to insult the body. This group of people was probably Chen Ang. She had already executed Chen Ang's two daughters and his grandchildren, so she had already taken revenge.

Li Chengji singled out the Sixth Prince for commendation at the court meeting, made him a regular employee in the name of his outstanding performance, and gave him a large bonus, which made the Sixth Prince smile from ear to ear.

He managed to get into the civil service by taking the civil service exam. Awesome Glass.

With this bonus and the confiscated stolen money, Lao Liu always had chicken legs or a plate of beef slices when he ate out. He also had a drink with his brothers at night, and his life was quite comfortable.

Of course, he knew what to say and what not to say. When others asked about the details of the Jiang family tragedy, he avoided talking about it.

He would go to the Liaowang Mansion to eat with his uncle whenever he had nothing to do. Because his mother, Concubine Yu Guipin, told him that this man had thick thighs and was the Queen Mother's younger brother, so it would be good to hug him tightly. Besides, the food cooked by his uncle was really delicious. How could there be a man who could cook in this world? It was really strange.

Not only he came to eat, but also several good brothers who grew up with him.

For example, the fourth brother's study partner was James, the emperor's study partner was the top scholar Lu Changlin who worked in the Hanlin Academy, the third brother's study partner was Qi Ming who worked in the Jinwu Guard, and the eldest son of Du Heng, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Du Wenrong, who worked in the Ministry of Works.

Occasionally, Jiang Bingliang's sister Jiang Jinshu would come to visit her brother.

As they kept getting along, he noticed that there was something wrong between them. Du Changlin and James both seemed to like Jiang Jinshu, and his uncle seemed to like Du Wenrong's second sister Du Rufang, who was chosen by the eldest princess as her study partner.

Qi Ming was about to get married, and he always ate and drank in a gloomy mood, as if his bride was not his ideal. On September 20, six days before the wedding, Qi Ming got drunk.

Everyone who was eating together thought that he must be worried. But when asked who the girl was, he refused to tell them. After some private reasoning, they all agreed that it was the second princess. There were very few women who could make Qi Ming think about them day and night and love them but could not get them. Combined with Qi Ming's simple interpersonal relationships, it can be guessed that it must be one of the princesses.

The Fifth Princess has not yet married, if she wants to marry, she can still have a chance to marry him by asking the Emperor for his hand in marriage. Only the Second Princess has already married, and it was Qi Ming who took the initiative to send her off, which is most likely to make Qi Ming heartbroken and disheartened.

After getting drunk, Qi Ming seemed to have figured things out and returned to his former high-spirited state as a young general, but there was always a hint of worry between his brows.