Work overtime

Chapter 789

The pattern on the bracelet is a clever combination of complex geometric shapes. It is difficult for ordinary people to appreciate its beauty.

The third prince said that he also found a notebook with poems copied in Han Ziqian's room, which was filled with long and short sentences. There was no rule, but it read very rhythmically.

When she picked it up, she just took a look at it and dropped the notebook on the ground in distraction.

"Winter is here, can spring be far behind? Shelly"

The English poet Shelley was not yet born.

"Mother, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I just feel a little uneasy lately." Jiang Yuebai waved his hand and put away the notebook as if nothing had happened.

She hesitated and asked, "Have you given the bracelet to Master Han's sister?"

The third brother said proudly, "I have."

After the third brother left, Jiang Yuebai continued to open the book, but found that it was mostly a mess of words and sentences, unlike the sentence on the cover, which had the characteristics of a famous historical quote. What she held in her hand seemed to be an encrypted note.

She sent someone to ask Princess Chengping to borrow the bracelet. She suspected that the bracelet was the key to decipher the book.

After getting the bracelet, she carefully turned it. At a certain angle, a pattern on the bracelet formed a heart shape under the light.

As she turned the bracelet, she gradually read some simple sentences, such as "You are my weakness" and "I miss you".

One afternoon, she suddenly discovered that on the gold surface inside the bracelet, there were words engraved in English: YUE, I LOVE U.

After seeing this, she dropped the bracelet to the ground in panic.

It's like a Pandora's box, and you don't know what monster will appear when you open it.

It's like a big white bear in my mind.

The more I try not to think about him, the more I think about him.

After thinking about it for a night, she returned the bracelet and burned the notebook over a candle.

So Han Ziqian is the third time traveler. Are there others?
If he was a time traveler, was there a system or cheat code? How could a person from a new era castrate himself? Did he castrate himself?
It’s terrifying to think about it, and my mind is in a mess.

Jiang Yuebai would rather not know or think about it. Because she already knew the biggest secret. He had traveled through time. He liked her. He knew her identity. Maybe he also knew Li Beichen's identity.

Who is he? There is no way to know, because she has burned the book of answers.

She didn't want to know the answer. No matter what the answer was, it would be an abyss.

Since knowing the truth is useless, let time bury everything.

In April, the third prince, Prince Andong, married Han Suxin, the legitimate daughter of Marquis Wei, and led 150,000 troops to take up his post in the Far East Protectorate. Mengshu was appointed as the deputy protector and left for the post the same day. He was responsible for managing social affairs in the vast area of ​​the Greater Khingan Range, including Sakhalin Island, and maintaining relations with the Jurchens.

This will be the birthplace of Nurhaci of the future Qing Dynasty, so differentiation and sinicization must be carried out in advance.

The vast Outer Northeast region is divided into three major areas for management, with more than 60 county-level management areas including Harbin County, Qiqihar County, Hailar County, Mudanjiang County, Jiamusi County, and Mohe County.

In the end, it is still Tai Wanyi who is the happiest. Her son, the Eighth Prince, is working in the capital. His job is not tiring. He just draws drawings and supervises others' work on site. Building temples also accumulates merits. Others are envious and drooling. It seems that it is better to have a child who is not too dazzling.

For example, the Eighth Prince had poor academic performance when he was young, and was neither good at literature nor martial arts. He drew illustrations on the textbooks of the Four Books and Five Classics, and used tree branches to draw on the ground when practicing martial arts.

Others practiced martial arts, but he was just standing aside, posing and studying the composition of each action. He often shouted to his brothers, "Don't move. The punch you just threw was so powerful. Can you show me another one?" Then he would go back and draw a picture of the punch he just threw. He was simply crazy.

The apparently serious atmosphere was made to seem relaxed by him, and the tense core abdominal muscles relaxed instantly.

Because the Eighth Prince often scribbles and blasphemes classics, and even draws portraits of his brothers, sisters, and teachers on them, he is punished to copy the texts and be beaten with a stick. His mother, Concubine Huan, often stays up late to help him copy.

The princes who were good at studying now have wrinkles on their faces. They attend meetings every day and stay up late every night. Those who are good at martial arts are sent to guard the border.

On the contrary, the Eighth Prince is the most fortunate one as he stays in the capital and holds an idle position.

Everyone felt sad.

In June of this year, Li Fei of the Khoshut tribe gave birth to the sixth prince, and the emperor named him Li Hongsheng; He Guipin Naren of the Torghut tribe gave birth to a princess in July, and named her Li Zhixin, but unfortunately she died three days later;

Gao Wa, a talented Mongolian woman, gave birth to the sixth princess, Li Zhilan, in early June, who was raised under the name of Naren.

On the eighth day of the eighth month, a certain Liu Chang gave birth to the seventh princess, Li Zhiju, who was raised under the name of Lupin. Lupin was the daughter of the elder brother of Concubine Lu. She was initially named a noble lady, and after the emperor favored her, she was named Lu Liangyuan. This time, she was promoted to Lupin.

Just as Jiang Yuebai was watching a huge fight about to break out in the harem, something happened that she could not accept.

Li Chengji fell off his horse during the autumn hunt on August 24. He rushed back to Beijing, but died less than a week later after unsuccessful medical treatment. He was only 22 years old.

Before her death, she secretly discussed with the Queen Mother for many times, and finally issued an edict to pass the throne to Li Hongyuan, who was personally raised and taught by the Queen Mother, and arranged six ministers to assist in government affairs. All concubines were promoted one level in their original positions, among which Concubine Hui was promoted to Concubine Hui Gui, and Concubine Li was promoted to Concubine Li Shu.

This year Li Hongyuan was three years old and Jiang Yuebai was thirty-eight years old.

The saddest thing in the world is when the elderly send off the young. This is the third child Jiang Yuebai has sent away. And this time is particularly sad. This is the person she and Li Beichen have jointly chosen to lead this country.

The heartache made her dazed. She didn't understand why it happened so suddenly.

She didn't shed tears, but her heart was ten thousand times more sad than if she had cried.

She had no time to grieve. For the sake of her young grandson and the country, she could not fall. The former dynasty needed her to step up and take charge of the world and stabilize the overall situation. The harem needed her to take care of the subsequent trivial matters and arrange for the concubines and the royal heir.

As the empress dowager, Jiang Yuebai could only bear the grief in her heart and force herself to be calm and strong to ensure that everything was in order. Li Chengji's posthumous title was finally determined by the State Council as "Su". The posthumous title law says: "Su means to be resolute and resolute" and "Su means to be upright and respected by others". He was called Emperor Su of Ming Dynasty in history.

Because I have done all of this before, so I just follow the steps and copy them.

First, the emperor's funeral was handled. Then arrangements were made for his coffin to be enthroned.

According to Li Chengji's will, his legitimate son Li Hongyuan was made the new emperor, and the Empress Dowager Cining ruled the country from behind the curtain, assisted by six ministers of state.

Then settle the concubines and royal heirs.

Since Li Chengji was sixteen years old, a total of thirty-two women have entered the palace, and ten of them have given birth to his children.

After Li Chengji's death, there were eight concubines who had children. Because there were not many of them, the old and new concubines lived together in Ci'an Palace. The originally empty Ci'an Palace was once again filled with people.

More than 20 concubines were sent to Puning Temple because of their low status or because they had no children. Death is easy, but living is difficult.

Except for the new emperor Li Hongyuan, all other princes, regardless of age, were sent to be raised by the princes, while the princesses were raised by their mothers.

On September 28, Meng Tai Ronghua gave birth to the eighth princess, who was named Li Zhizhu; on October 3, Shun Tai Wan Yi Lana of the Uriankhai tribe gave birth to the ninth princess, who was named Li Zhilian.

In the next two months, two more women were found to be pregnant with posthumous children, one was Concubine Hui and the other was Concubine Zheng who worked in Puning Temple.

Jiang Yuebai brought Consort Zheng into the palace and arranged for Ningcui to live in a separate courtyard. Consort Hui was arranged to live in Jiang Yuebai Palace.

Unfortunately, Consort Zheng died in her womb at the end of the year and died of illness soon after. Consort Hui gave birth to the seventh prince on May 12 of the following year, and Jiang Yuebai named him Li Hongtai.

The next step is to settle the government.

Because Jiang Yuebai took the initiative to limit his own authority the last time he was in power, and consulted the State Council for most matters, he achieved remarkable results, quickly stabilized the court, and accelerated the recovery of the economy. Later, he took the initiative to return power to the emperor ahead of schedule, which made everyone in the court very convinced of his ability to govern the country and his moral sentiments.

Last time, the court officials complained about the emperor's behind-the-scenes administration, but this time, it was a natural thing to do and there was no resistance. Moreover, this time, Jiang Yuebai simply removed the curtain and took the little emperor to sit directly on the throne.

The core departments in the court were all Jiang Yuebai's confidants. Although Ye Xiang and Zhou Xiang were in charge, they were both close to seventy years old and in poor health. Jiang Yuebai's calmness made the originally panicked court feel like it had a backbone.

The two emperors, Li Beichen and Li Chengji, had the people's hearts in their hands. Apart from wanting to take advantage of the national mourning to make some money in the name of paying tribute, no one dared to have any other thoughts.

The last person who questioned Jiang Yuebai's qualifications to rule the country from behind the scenes, Lord Zhang, was beaten to death on the spot by Li Chengji six years ago. However, there are still some upright and polite newcomers who jumped out to point out that it is not in accordance with etiquette for Jiang Yuebai to walk into the court and sit on the dragon throne in this way.

Jiang Yuebai said calmly, "I listened to government affairs in this way when the previous emperor was in power. What's wrong with that? If you are successful, you should do things; if you are not successful, you should quarrel. If you want to benefit the country and realize your personal ambitions, you should do things, not question me."

"Even so, the Empress Dowager must follow etiquette and cannot sit on the dragon throne." The other party retorted with a determined look.

Jiang Yuebai retorted: "I protected the little grandson from falling from the throne, this is the etiquette. You questioned the will of Emperor Su, which is against the etiquette! Now foreign invasions are frequent, you can neither suppress the rebellion by force nor get into arguments and lawsuits with your literary talent. What use are you? Come, drive him out!"

The other party's face changed. "Your Majesty is so disrespectful to the law, so arbitrary and tyrannical, so neglectful of the court officials, so wanton and reckless, I don't want to be an official anymore! I hereby resign, and there is no need for the Empress Dowager to expel me."

Jiang Yuebai stood up holding the three-year-old Li Hongyuan and snorted coldly.

"Stop! You keep claiming to be a subject. Whose subject are you? The person in front of you is the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You are a good man carefully selected by the previous emperor, but you want to resign casually. Is this what you think is the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects, and the way to be loyal to the emperor? So what you care about is not what position I sit in, but that I am in charge of the government. I am asking you if it is true or not?"

"Yes." The other party answered without hesitation.

"Let me ask you all, why did you study so hard, pass the imperial examination, and become an official? Was it to serve the country and prosper the Ming Dynasty? Was it also to realize your personal ambitions, to be respected, and to bring honor to your family? Was it not true?"

"Yes." The court officials answered without hesitation.

"All of you are elites hand-picked by Emperor Jingwen and Emperor Su in the palace examination. You are the best among your peers and the pillars of the country. Is that right or not?"

The courtiers answered without hesitation, "Yes."

"All the ministers hope that the country will be prosperous and strong, and the people will live in peace and happiness. All of them hope to achieve great achievements and gain a high status. Is that right or not?"

"Yes." The court officials looked at each other, wondering what the purpose of Jiang Yuebai's questions was.

"I was in charge of government affairs when Emperor Su was young. I was diligent and respectful, and I took the initiative to return to court. What I did was for the country and the people. Heaven and earth can bear witness to it. Now that Emperor Su has passed away at a young age, there are wolves all around us, and the borders are in danger. You should all be of one mind and one heart, instead of quarreling among yourselves. Is that right or not?"

"Yes."

Jiang Yuebai looked around, "In this case, you should focus on thinking about how to defend against the enemy, rather than being provoked by those with ulterior motives. I am in power in accordance with the will of the emperor, and those who question it are disobeying the will of the emperor. If anyone makes a fuss about this in the future, they will be beaten to death. Those who do not accept or believe it can resign, and I will agree to it. Dismiss the court!"

The ministers did not expect Jiang Yuebai to be so strong, and they all looked at the highly respected Prime Minister Zhou.

Prime Minister Zhou's eyes were heavy and his face was heavy. He didn't understand why the Empress Dowager, who was always sensible and knew her limits, insisted on sitting on the Dragon Throne and causing such controversy. Could it be that she really had thoughts that she shouldn't have?

In the afternoon, Jiang Yuebai summoned Prime Minister Zhou to meet him.

After some deliberation, Prime Minister Zhou said, "The actions of the Empress Dowager today are very different from those of the past. There are some complaints about this in the court. The Empress Dowager has always been cautious and wise. Please think twice."

Jiang Yuebai said calmly, "The current situation is critical, and someone must step forward to lead the current decision-making. The Ming Dynasty needs a strong person to lead the situation more than ever. Now it is not just a battle against Mongolia, but Mongolia, Eastern Chagatai, Japanese pirates, and Annan. We are surrounded by enemies and are constrained from all sides. Any hesitation or hesitation may bring disaster to the Ming Dynasty."

The surrounding countries all wanted to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's internal affairs to make some money.

With the death of Li Chengji, Annan and the Torghut tribe directly launched a rebellion. In the Annan region, the remnants of the Chen Dynasty were always very active, very cunning and good at guerrilla warfare, often invading and fleeing to Laos. The scale of this rebellion was particularly large. Seeing that the Ming Dynasty was attacked from all sides, the Japanese pirates on the sea also gathered together and made a comeback.

However, the Tatar tribes under the rule of Wuzhitu stood firmly on the side of the Ming Dynasty and jointly suppressed the restless Mongolians and Jurchens in the northeast.

There are royal family members and generals guarding the vicinity of both places. Jiang Yuebai advocates sending troops to suppress the rebellion in both places at the same time.

Lu Ruilin advocated starting with the easy and then the difficult, giving priority to "raising troops with the Yi and using the Yi to control the Yi", and by uniting with several other tribes in the Tatar region to quell the rebellion of the Torghut tribe and stabilize the northern border, Annan in the south could be temporarily abandoned and retreated, the Japanese pirates in the southeast should be defended, and the Jurchens in the north should be won over;

Zhou Xiang believed that at this stage of transition from the old to the new, it was better to negotiate and win over the people rather than engage in large-scale warfare or fight on multiple fronts.