Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

At this time in the capital, Zhu Youjian was worried about one thing.

That is, after Princess Wuliangha came to Beijing, she carried out extensive activities in the capital.

Not only did he send envoys to the court to request the Ming Dynasty to send troops to rescue the Chahan tribe, he also asked the concubines from the grassland in the palace to ask the emperor for support.

Zhu Youjian, who had never encountered such a thing before, was very angry. He had never expected that someone in the harem would take the initiative to break the rules:
"Could it be that my previous indulgence caused them to lose their reverence?"

"It seems that we must strictly follow our ancestors' teachings from now on and not allow the harem to interfere in government affairs."

According to the "Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions", even the empress was only allowed to "manage the affairs of the women in the inner palace and not interfere in any affairs outside the palace."

However, after Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he relaxed this policy a little and set up a female official department in the inner palace to accommodate female officials and palace maids who did not want to return home after leaving the palace.

The queen was also allowed to contact people outside the palace through the Women's Office to handle matters such as blind dates for palace maids and selection of ladies.

Concubine Hai Lanzhu, who came from the Khorchin tribe, and Concubine Zhao, who came from Korea, were both allowed to contact people from their hometowns and win over the powerful and influential.

Perhaps because of this, the concubines in the harem became more and more bold, to the point that these concubines who came from the grasslands actually had a say in the important matter of whether the court should send troops.

Although Zhu Youjian understood their concern for the war in his hometown, he would never tolerate such interference in politics. He did not want to deal with political affairs in the court and then have to worry about these things when he returned to the harem.

After reflecting on what he had done, he came to Kunning Palace and said to the Queen:
"The empress must organize the palace people to study the regulations regarding the harem in the Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions."

"You will be in charge of dealing with those who have recently violated the ancestral teachings."

Queen Zhou was shocked when she heard this, because she knew the strictness of the ancestral precepts. If they were really strictly enforced, she would also be one of the people who violated the rules.

Although she never actively interfered in political affairs, she did intervene in matters outside the palace.

Carefully stroking her already bulging belly, Empress Zhou bowed and asked:
"Is the emperor unhappy about the affairs of those grassland concubines?"

"Since our ancestral teachings do not allow women in the harem to interfere in matters outside the palace, I will also withdraw from my position as a female official!"

Zhu Youjian didn't wait for her to finish the formalities, he reached out to help her down and blamed her:

"Haven't I already said it? When a concubine becomes pregnant, the priority is to keep the baby safe, and all complicated etiquette should be waived."

"You've been pregnant for several months, why are you still like this?"

He helped the queen sit down and said to her with a smile:

"The Women's Office was set up to house the palace maids, and it cannot be abolished just like that."

"But we need to set up rules for the matters we are responsible for, and we are not allowed to exceed our authority in the future."

"Also, the Queen's decree for handling matters outside the palace must be issued in my name as well."

"This way, it's not the Queen actively interfering in the affairs outside the palace. It's me and the Queen handling the matters involving the harem together."

The Queen is still allowed to handle those matters, but that's all.

All the powers previously given to the queen began to be gathered, standardized, and fixed in these areas.

Moreover, the Queen's decree also needs the Emperor's approval. Otherwise, it is just a piece of waste paper and no one outside the palace will care about it.

Empress Zhou was not very interested in interfering in the affairs outside the palace, and was worried that if she did something wrong, it would affect the status of the crown prince. So she didn't care about the emperor's restriction at all, and instead said happily:
"Then I will feel relieved!"

"With Your Majesty and I handling matters outside the palace together, I don't have to worry about making mistakes."

They believed that the emperor's measure was necessary, and that other women in the harem also needed the emperor's approval to have contact with people outside the palace.

Zhu Youjian felt a headache when he heard about this tedious matter. He said:

"For ordinary harem affairs that do not involve political affairs, the queen can just look after them and handle them. Anything outside the palace must go through the queen."

"If it involves political affairs or other court institutions, it must be reported to me through the Imperial Household Department."

"Those in the harem who have high ranks can submit memorials to the Imperial Household Department to express their opinions."

"It's not that I don't allow them to care about the affairs of their hometown, but everything must be done according to the rules."

Queen Zhou now felt relieved, knowing that the emperor was not trying to restrict her power. Instead, he made clear her right to handle harem affairs.

From now on, if Concubine Zhao recruits people into the palace, she will need her approval. She can no longer recruit maids privately and offer them to the emperor to win his favor.

So she happily accepted the emperor's order and said to him:
"Although Shunpin and others broke the rules, they were also worried about the affairs of their hometown."

"I think they should be treated leniently. In the future, we will need their families to help restore order on the grassland!"

This reminded Zhu Youjian of the original reason for accepting women from the grassland into the palace, which was to support a group of people on the grassland who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

Now this goal has been achieved, but he has also felt the negative impact it has brought to the palace.

This made him sigh: You can't have the best of both worlds.

At the same time, I admire the foresight of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who set the ancestral precept of choosing girls from good families:

"It is better for concubines in the harem not to get involved with various forces. In the future, we should choose girls from good families."

"The daughters of nobles and ministers cannot be admitted into the palace."

The Imperial Instructions of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the emperor, his relatives, concubines, and palace ladies must choose the daughters of good families and marry them according to the proper etiquette, regardless of where they live; they must not accept ministers to present them, as they may have evil intentions. However, prostitutes are not allowed to be intimate with them.

Zhu Youjian initially did not take it seriously. Apart from abiding by his ancestors' precepts of not being close to prostitutes, he did not refuse the ministers' gifts. He also planned to select some noble women to enter the palace and marry them to nobles who were granted fiefdoms overseas.

Now, after the incident with the concubines in the grassland, he realized the harm these people were doing in the palace:
That is, whatever happens outside may affect the palace.

When he deals with people in the palace, he also needs to take the outside world into consideration.

For example, Zhu Youjian needed to treat Shunpin, who was born in the Chahan tribe and gave birth to the prince, well. Even if she made a mistake, she could not be dealt with arbitrarily.

If it was an ordinary girl from a good family, there would be no such problem. As long as she was not the queen, Zhu Youjian could do whatever he wanted with her.

He was tired of compromising with the ministers and dignitaries in the court, and of course he didn't want to compromise in the harem.

So he told the queen:
"This time when selecting ladies from the garrison, we must strictly follow our ancestors' teachings."

"The palace only selects girls from good families, mainly from families with stable wealth, and it doesn't matter if they are poor."

"But the daughters of high-ranking nobles must not be taken into the palace."

"The daughters of dukes, marquises, earls, and officials of the same clan cannot be brought into the palace."

Many of the hereditary officials of the capital's guards were relatives of the dukes, marquises, and earls, and many of their daughters also ran for election.

Zhu Youjian didn't care about this before, but now he plans to screen them strictly and eliminate them all.

Queen Zhou was of course happy about this, because she didn't want to have a bunch of noble ladies in the palace who couldn't be treated casually by her.

However, in order to appease these families, she said:

"The emperor and the princes must choose girls from good families, but ordinary royal family members do not have this restriction."

"I think since these people can pass the preliminary selection, they are all talented and good-looking."

"We can organize the royal family members who come to the capital to go on blind dates with these women."

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"The royal family will go overseas to establish fiefdoms in the future. We can let them marry into the nobility to increase their strength."

"But the princes and other nobles have vast fiefdoms, so they can only choose girls from good families."

"The same applies to the royal family who have the right to inherit the throne. They are not allowed to marry ministers or high-ranking nobles."

Princes, dukes and all royal descendants are included in this restriction.

This was to prevent the kingdom from becoming too powerful in the future, or forcing royal family members to marry ministers and nobles to challenge the crown prince's position.

Queen Zhou was of course happy about this, because it would help consolidate the position of the prince.

It can't be that the prince can only choose girls from good families, but his younger brother can choose girls from noble families, right?

So she actively discussed these matters with the emperor and incorporated them into the palace rules.

After the emperor left, she summoned Shunpin and other concubines who came from the grassland, scolded them severely, and sent them to Yinghua Hall to worship Buddha and repent in front of the statue of Jiulian Bodhisattva.

In particular, the concubines who gave birth to princes and posed a threat to the crown prince were deprived of the right to raise their children. She would send people to teach the princes and princesses born by these people to prevent them from not knowing the rules when they grow up.

Zhu Youjian did not interfere at all, allowing the queen to handle palace affairs and punish unruly concubines.

The news that the Daxiying Camp had conquered Alukeerchin and encountered Ligdan Khan also reached the capital at this time.
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"So Lin Danhan is here!"

Finally, a doubt was solved and Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief.

What he was most worried about was that the Jianlu would capture Ligdan Khan and force him to surrender.

That would allow Jianlu to gain the title of ruling the grassland, and many tribes would become dependent on Jianlu as a result.

Now that Lindan Khan has taken the elite troops of the Chahan tribe to Khorchin, he is finally relieved of this worry.

However, thinking that Lin Danhan dared to deceive the Ming Dynasty and conquer other tribes without authorization, Zhu Youjian was very angry with him:
"This Lin Danhan is really unruly!"

"The Ming Dynasty supported him to help him fight against the invaders, but he ran away to the northern desert." "I wonder how much change this will bring to the situation on the grassland?"

Summon the ministers of the Lifanyuan and the Privy Council to discuss the matter.

Kong Zhenyun, the deputy director of the Lifanyuan and the Minister of Internal Affairs, also had something to report. He said:
"Princess Wuliangha suddenly asked me to come to the palace to serve Your Majesty."

"I dare not take the initiative in this matter. I hope Your Majesty will make the decision!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers in the Wuying Hall looked at the emperor with ambiguous eyes.

I wonder if Princess Wuliangha made a unilateral request or if the emperor and she were in love with each other?
Although the princess was older and a widow, as far as they knew, the emperor did not care about that.

The emperor had previously selected a group of concubines of advanced age from the palace. This time he was selecting ladies from the garrisons, and also allowed widows who had completed their mourning period and had no children to participate.

Therefore, many ministers were wondering whether the emperor and the princess had a private affair, which led the princess to make this request.

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he was also shocked, and then became very angry.

Because it was Princess Wuliangha's instigation that caused the chaos in his harem.

Because of this incident, he decided not to allow noble women to enter the palace.

Upon hearing this, he immediately rejected it:

"Your request is not granted!"

"Princess Wuliangha is the widow of Guiyingqia. Let her raise her children well and inherit the title and territory of Duke Shunyong."

"Also, who requested this? Was it the princess herself or someone from the Chahan tribe?"

Kong Zhenyun immediately replied:
"How can I meet the princess? I am an envoy of the Chahan tribe and the Lifanyuan."

"He said that as long as Your Majesty marries the princess, all the people and livestock owned by the princess will belong to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youjian was thoughtful after hearing this, and took out the intelligence sent back from Heilongjiang and showed it to these ministers.

Then he asked these people:

"Do you think this incident has anything to do with the war in the north?"

"Did King Shunli foresee this happening long ago, so he sent his sister here to appease my anger?"

Only then did the ministers realize that Lindan Khan had fled to Khorchin. They were all relieved, but also as angry as the emperor.

The Ming Dynasty supported Ligdan Khan in order to enable him to fight against the Jianlu.

Who would have thought that he would flee without a fight and go to conquer Mobei.

Yuan Keli, the Privy Councilor, said:

"Your Majesty, King Shunli and his men are not defending their territory. They should be stripped of their titles according to etiquette and law."

"All city rewards should be abolished. We can't let them waste Ming Dynasty's money anymore!"

Officials of the Privy Council echoed this and called for the killing of Ligdan Khan. Some even thought that troops should be sent to punish him.

Officials of the Lifanyuan had an ambiguous attitude towards this.

Because the greatest achievement of Kong Zhenyun, the deputy director of the Lifanyuan and the Minister of Internal Affairs, was to confer tribute to Ligdan Khan.

The reason why the Lifanyuan had a place in the imperial court was also related to the internal and external vassal states such as King Shunli and King Shunyi.

Apart from the affairs of these princes, many of the things that the Lifanyuan is currently responsible for are not worthy of discussion in the court.

Therefore, the officials of the Lifanyuan were unwilling to remove the titles of Shunyi Wang and others. The head of the Lifanyuan, Huang Liji, said:

"The territories of King Shunli and others have not been formally divided, and the method of dividing the grasslands is still being formulated."

"I'm afraid it would be a bit harsh to strip them of their titles for this reason."

"I think we can reprimand them or lower their titles, but we should not easily remove their titles."

"Otherwise, without restraint, they might turn against the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Youjian also agreed with this and nodded:
"There is some truth in what Huang Qing said."

"Although Prince Shunli is unruly, he still has some respect for the Ming Dynasty."

"Otherwise I wouldn't have sent my sister here to offer people and livestock to please me."

"This time he encountered the Great Western Camp but did not engage in battle, which also shows that he had no intention of rebelling against the Ming Dynasty."

"In order to unite the various tribes on the grassland to resist the invaders, I think their titles can be retained."

He also said to the Privy Council officials who were calling for the fall of King Shunli:
"Of course, there must be due punishment!"

"King Shunli and his men fled without a fight and failed to promptly report the information to the court. All noble titles will be demoted to the lowest level of their class."

"Prince Shunli was demoted to a prince, and the other earls were demoted to third-class earls. Their salaries were reduced by 30%, and the trade quotas were the same."

"Warning King Shunli and others, if such a thing happens again, the court will strip them of their titles and completely abolish the city rewards."

The punishment for Lin Danhan and others was decided, and their titles were simply demoted.

It seems that Lin Danhan and others don't care about the demotion of their titles. However, Zhu Youjian's reduction of salaries and trade quotas along with the demotion of their titles will make them feel a real loss.

He wanted to use these to warn the powerful people of the Chahan tribe to serve the Ming Dynasty honestly, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would have plenty of ways to control them.

Kong Zhenyun then asked:
"Prince Shunli was demoted to a prince, and his sister Princess Wuliangha was demoted to a county princess?"

Zhu Youjian thought about it for a while, and without paying attention to the ambiguous looks of the ministers, he decided:

"Princess Wuliangha is the widow of Duke Shunyong, so there is no need to lower her rank."

"Everything remains the same, just like before."

Kong Zhenyun now understood that although the emperor had punished the Chahan tribe, he still took it very seriously.

It can even be said that the current Ligdan Khan is more important than before. After the Shunyi King was defeated by the Jianlu and fled, and many Tumed tribes also surrendered to the Jianlu, the only leader of the anti-Jianlu on the grassland was Ligdan Khan.

Once Ligdan Khan was defeated or surrendered to the Jianlu, the entire southern steppe would be conquered by the Jianlu.

Under such circumstances, the Ming Dynasty could only support Ligdan Khan. As long as he did not openly oppose the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty would provide support and support him in fighting against the Jianlu.

Lin Danhan had anticipated this, so he was fearless. He also knew how to control himself. Not only did he send his sister to the capital to show goodwill, but he also refrained from fighting when he encountered the Great Western Camp to seize the spoils of war.

Kong Zhenyun thought that this person had such a character, and he had not seen it before, so he took off his hat and apologized:
"Your Majesty, King Shunli is unruly and unruly. I have been on many diplomatic missions to the grasslands but have not fully realized it."

"Please remove my position and punish me for my crimes."

Zhu Youjian certainly did not agree to this, and he personally stepped down from the throne, put the black gauze hat back on Kong Zhenyun's head, helped him up and said:
"King Shunli secretly attacked Mobei through Chencang. Kong Qing was not the only one who didn't see it."

"If I dismiss you from your position for this reason, who here can escape?"

Kong Zhenyun was touched, but still insisted on it. He believed that the main responsibility for this matter was on himself, and had nothing to do with the emperor or others.

Zhu Youjian was very pleased that he had the courage to take responsibility. Although he was reluctant to punish Kong Zhenyun for this, after he asked three times, he pointed to the map and said:
"Zhang Xianzhong led his troops westward and recovered Muhewei and other places in the middle and upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River."

"The Solon people in that area are quite brave and can almost be compared with the Jianlu. We can set up more guards to subdue them."

"I plan to build Mohe City in the Muhewei area as the headquarters of the Mohe Military and Civilian Government."

"Find a mountain range between Hailanpao and Yaksa as the dividing line, and Yaksa and its west will be under the management of the Mohe Military and Civilian Government."

"Kong Qing will serve as the Guard Commander of the Mohe Military and Civilian Office and concurrently as the Inspector General of Heilongjiang. He will be responsible for dredging the Heilongjiang River, choosing a site to build a city in Alukhorchin, and conducting trade with the various tribes in northern Mohe."

With a wave of his hand, Zhu Youjian established three military and civil governments, namely Mohe, Heihe and Heishui, in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River to govern the local garrisons.

Kong Zhenyun was put in charge of the Mohe Military and Civilian Government upstream, and served as the inspector general of the entire Heilongjiang River to ensure the smooth flow of the river.

The Heilongjiang River is navigable for several months every year. Zhu Youjian needed larger ships to build a city in the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River for trade with the various tribes in Mobei.

I believe that with the Ming Dynasty's powerful material and military strength, the tribes in northern Mobei will tend to side with the Ming Dynasty rather than surrender to the Jianlu.

Kong Zhenyun listened to the emperor's plan and knew that the treatment he received could not be considered as exile.

The position of River Inspector General is equivalent to that of Governor-General, which is suitable for him to transfer to now.

The establishment of a trade town in the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River was a perfect fit for him.

Because he is the person in the Ming Dynasty court who is best at dealing with the grassland tribes.

Especially since Lindan Khan fled to the northern desert, he, as the person who had the most dealings with Lindan Khan, of course had to follow him.

Considering this appointment, Kong Zhenyun said:
"Your Majesty, do you want to allow the Chahan tribe to continue trading, but only in the northern desert?"

"How should the land in Alukorqin be dealt with?"

(The navigable river section in the northeast) (End of this chapter)