Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 725: God? Human?
In the governor's office, Zhang Pu had a lively conversation and gained the continued support of Cao Wenheng and Zhang Yixian.

Then, before leaving, he whispered to Zhang Yixian:

"Take care, Eunuch Zhang. I have something else to trouble you with."

"The people in the workers' association feel uneasy about paying such a small amount of rent and taxes."

"They knew that the empress was from Suzhou and the emperor was the son-in-law of Suzhou, so they selected a few people and sent them to the palace to serve the emperor and empress."

"I have reprimanded those who wanted to castrate themselves, but there are still a few who are impotent and want to enter the palace."

As a scholar, Zhang Pu found it difficult to talk about this matter.

But Zhang Yixian didn't think it was a big deal and said:

"Since His Majesty ascended the throne, self-castration has been strictly prohibited."

"Besides, the palace is letting people out, so even fewer people can enter the palace."

"But for those who are naturally impotent and have no male sex, there is still a way out for them."

"We can let those people apply to join the Inner Court Service Group first. If they do well, they may be able to enter the palace."

This is special care for the "five no men" to prevent them from being discriminated against and having their psychology distorted, thus becoming an unstable factor.

Even some who castrated themselves were able to enter the service group on the grounds of not being a man.

However, in light of the lessons of powerful eunuchs such as Wang Zhen and Wei Zhongxian, it is difficult for those who join the service group after adulthood to get the opportunity to enter the palace as eunuchs.

Only those children who have been educated since childhood and studied in the inner school can become eunuchs in the palace.

This policy is not good for the eunuch group, which is mainly composed of people from Northern Zhili. Especially the current emperor is more inclined to train eunuchs from children of other ethnic groups.

Wang Tiqian did this in Nanyang, just like when the Duke of Ying, Zhang Fu, offered a boy as a gift. He castrated many native children in his fiefdom and raised them, and even sold them to other fiefdoms.

The Inner Court Service Group now accepts all the Five No Men in order to recruit more Han people and prevent the Inner Court from being controlled by eunuchs of foreign races in the future.

Even those places in Northern Zhili, which had a tradition of eunuchs, had begun screening children, and if they were found to have five undesirable qualities, they would report them for castration so that they could be recruited into the palace.

These children are the successors trained by the eunuch group today. As for those who are castrated after adulthood, they are just helping them.

So Zhang Yixian agreed easily and even agreed to write a letter of recommendation. As long as it was confirmed after inspection that these people were the "five no men", they could enter the inner court service group.

Similarly, there are also five types of women who are not disabled. As long as their hands and feet are healthy and they have no other disabilities, they can apply to be palace maids. These people are less likely to get married and can continue to work in the palace.

Zhang Pu was relieved when he heard this response. When he heard Zhang Yixian mention the palace maid, he smiled and said:
"It is rumored that the emperor likes natural feet, and that six or eight inches is considered beautiful."

"The women workers in the hired workers' association are planning to hold a foot contest to select a few women with beautiful feet and send them to the palace."

"Now is not the time for selection, please help me, eunuch, and send them to the palace."

Zhang Pu was unwilling to present women to the emperor. Not to mention that he wanted to become a minister in the court and the current emperor did not accept ministers' gifts, he was unwilling to do such a thing just for the sake of his reputation in the literati circle.

The female workers in the Helpless Employment Association were very enthusiastic about this. Most of them came from poor backgrounds and had never had their feet bound. They certainly did not like the trend of considering small feet beautiful.

They were usually criticized for this, but after knowing that the emperor liked natural feet, they planned to select a few beauties with natural feet and send them to the palace to let the world know that the emperor also regarded natural feet as beautiful.

Some unmarried women were also very enthusiastic about this, and even their families supported it, because the current emperor's maids could be released, and as long as they worked in the palace for a few years, they could change their status and marry officials and gentry.

If a daughter is favored by the emperor and becomes a concubine, the whole family will benefit. Zhou Kui was granted the title of Earl because his daughter became the empress, and Tian Hongyu was granted the title of Noble because his daughter became a concubine... This became a model for many families, who wanted to send their daughters to the palace to gain wealth and status.

So when the members of the Employees Association learned about this, they were very enthusiastic about it and wanted to offer the person in the name of serving the emperor and empress.

Zhang Pu was so annoyed by them, and in order to reassure the people in the employment association, he asked the female workers to set up a special female branch to be responsible for organizing the foot competition.

At the same time, he entrusted this matter to Zhang Yixian, the eunuch in the inner court, to do it.

Zhang Yixian was of course very welcome to this. All the eunuchs in the inner court now knew that the current emperor did not have many hobbies, and only liked music and beauties.

Being in Suzhou, a place full of beautiful women, if the emperor had not strictly prohibited disturbing the people, Zhang Yixian would probably have selected beauties and sent them to the palace long ago.

Now that the Women Workers Association has taken the initiative to make a request, he is of course very happy, and said to Zhang Pu with a smile on his face:
"Our family will definitely support this kind of thing."

"If you need us anywhere, just let us know."

He happily agreed to Zhang Pu's request and said to him:

"Do you know Mr. Zhang, the eunuch of the Metropolitan Prefectural Office?"

"He will come from Huguang tomorrow."

"If you are willing, you can receive him together with our family."

"Eunuch Wang from the Metropolitan Prefecture?" Zhang Pu thought for a moment and realized it was Wang Wenzhen.

He had a good relationship with Cao Huachun and knew a lot about the inner court.

Cao Huachun was under the name of Wang An and had close relations with the Donglin Party.

This Wang Wenzheng was different. He was arranged by Wang Tiqian to go to the emperor's residence. Wang Tiqian was able to retreat safely thanks to his help.

After Wang Tiqian retired, Wang Wenzheng took over many of the remaining forces of the eunuch party. Although he could not be called a remnant of the eunuch party, many of his men were.

Zhang Pu, who stood on the side of Donglin, certainly could not get too close to this person.

So he shook his head and said:
"This is my father-in-law's business. I will not get involved."

"When Eunuch Wang comes, give him my regards."

He bowed and said goodbye to Zhang Yixian, and did not get involved in the disputes among the eunuchs.

Zhang Yixian looked at his back and sighed, feeling that Zhang Pu was still distant towards eunuchs like them.

If this person was not really capable and the emperor had not ordered the inner court personnel in Jiangnan to obey this person's orders, he really would not want to bother with this person.
-
The next day, Zhang Yixian led the eunuchs of the Susong Supervisory Office and borrowed a small team of Yingyang Army from the Jinyiwei to welcome Wang Wenzhen at the dock.

However, he still did not prepare enough people. Wang Wenzhen brought quite a few people with him when he came to Suzhou this time, and many members of the Chu royal family also came with him.

He was ordered to confiscate the property of the Chu clan, and it took him more than half a year to sort out the property of the Chu clan.

But the harvest was also huge. The property confiscated from the Chu clan amounted to as much as six million.

The emperor was delighted and promoted him to Viscount, allowing him to choose a fiefdom of 200 li in Xinjiangnan.

After he returns, he will be officially appointed as the commander-in-chief of the East Factory and become the second eunuch in the inner court.

Wang Wenzheng asked Zhang Yixian for help this time, and he also intended to build good relations with the eunuch supervisors in various places. After all, the emperor positioned the East Factory as an intelligence agency, so it was natural that there would be times when he would need to use the eunuch supervisors in various places.

After some greetings, Wang Wenzheng praised Zhang Yixian and said:
"You have done great things in Suzhou. I have heard about it in Huguang."

"You must work hard in the future. I will wait for you to be promoted to the capital."

Zhang Yixian was so happy that he smiled, but he said modestly:

"How can it compare to the prince?"

"Suzhou is still in chaos!"

Wang Wen Zheng smiled but said nothing. He couldn't say that the money he obtained from the house search was a one-time thing. After Susong was reorganized, it would continue to provide more taxes.

Moreover, the confiscated money could not be used directly now, because a lot of it belonged to the royal family of Chu. The emperor promised to use this wealth to purchase weapons and distribute it to the royal family of Chu to open up their own fiefdoms.

It doesn't cost much to buy guns and cannons alone, but it's different for ships, especially warships with many cannons.

It just so happened that Zheng Zhilong captured a huge plywood ship in the Battle of Luowan. The emperor ordered the Royal Shipping Group to build a shipyard in Jiangnan to imitate the Dutch-style plywood ships for ocean voyages.

Now Zheng Zhilong has sent people to sail the ships here, and Wang Wenzhen came here for this matter as well. He used the money confiscated from the royal family of the Chu vassal state to order ships and distribute them to those who wanted to go out to sea to establish their own fiefdom.

The Jiangnan Shipyard will also use this money to start up and recruit boatmen to imitate plywood boats.

The emperor arranged this shipyard in the new district so that the new district would prosper as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Wang Wenzheng asked Zhang Yixian:

"Has Mr. Liu come to Suzhou?"

“Have you chosen a location for the new district?”

Zhang Yixian said:

"He has already come to Suzhou. A few days ago, he asked me for information about the Employment Association."

"I'm not very clear about the new district. How about asking Mr. Liu to come over?"

Wang Wenzheng knew that the emperor attached great importance to Liu Lishun, so he certainly didn't dare to order such a person around. He shook his head and said:

"Don't worry, our family will stay in Suzhou for a while."

"Let's settle the Chu clan first. They will sail out to sea from here."

When Zhang Yixian heard that Wang Wenzheng was going to stay for a long time and that he would also make arrangements for the Chu clan, he hurriedly said:
"In that case, please move to Songjiang. Suzhou is a bit chaotic right now."

I told Wang Wenzhen that there was still a strike in Suzhou and that there was a dispute caused by Zhang Pu's autumn harvest operation.

Wang Wenzheng listened with great interest and said:

"Operation Autumn Harvest?" "This Zhang Pu is really interesting and bold!"

"I only knew that Suzhou was in big trouble before, but I didn't expect it to be so big."

"Forget it. I'll go to the new district after I meet Mr. Liu. I won't stay in Suzhou."

Then he asked Zhang Yixian:

"The Hired Workers Association has such a great influence, are there any of our people in it?"

Zhang Yixian replied:

"We have arranged a few informants, but they have no status."

"The association is currently managed mainly by the Jinyiwei."

"Captain Gu Yanwu, he also brought people to help them train."

This made Wang Wenzheng unhappy, and he instructed:

"The Hired Workers Association was established according to the Emperor's instructions. The inner court must be involved."

"Previously, the Newspaper Association was taken over by the Imperial Guards, but the Clothing Association and the Coal Association are all under the control of the inner court."

"There are more people joining the hired workers' association. We must find a way to control them."

Zhang Yixian was in a dilemma, because with the mixed situation of the workers' association, no one except Zhang Pu dared to control it.

But he couldn't ignore Wang Wenzheng's instructions, so he could only say:

“We are already tightening control.”

"The female workers of the Hired Workers Association have established a female branch. I plan to assign some tasks in the weaving workshop to them."

"These women workers are very supportive of the emperor and the empress. They are even going to hold a foot competition to select beauties with natural feet and send them to the palace."

Put what you are going to do first and say that the competition is your own achievement.

Wang Wenzheng listened to him and nodded slowly, saying:

"These female workers can earn money and have status in the family. Even men have to listen to them."

"You must support them well. I will arrange for a few more palace maids to join the Women's Workers Association in a few days."

"It's also good that the Foot Competition selects natural foot beauties. The Emperor and the Empress have both issued instructions to treat the prohibition of foot binding as an important task."

"With fewer women with bound feet, more people will come out to do activities. And more vehicles, shoes, socks, etc. can be sold."

After hearing the inside story from a high-level perspective, Zhang Yixian suddenly realized:
It turns out that the emperor had this purpose in advocating natural feet.

I control the Suzhou weaving workshop, which produces shoes and socks. It seems that I need to vigorously promote the Tianzu selection so that I can sell more of them.

At this time, Zhang Yixian heard Wang Wenzheng say:

"There is one more condition for sending the natural foot beauty to the palace."

"In addition to having beautiful feet and good looks, you also need to pay attention to the above."

"The emperor's poem about six inches and eight inches is not just about feet!"

This made Zhang Yixian confused, and he asked puzzledly:
"Doesn't the poem also advise people to throw away their foot bindings?"

"Why are you talking about more than just feet?"

"Now everyone in the world knows that the emperor likes natural feet, especially six-inch and eight-inch ones."

Wang Wenzheng laughed loudly and said:

"You, after all, are not with the emperor, so you don't know his preferences."

"The Emperor has no preference for feet, he just doesn't like foot binding."

"So this year, all those who bound their feet were expelled."

"But if you say you like six-inch or eight-inch feet, that's not true."

"No woman was chosen as a concubine just because of her beautiful feet."

Zhang Yixian was the supervising eunuch in Suzhou and Songjiang, how could he know all this?

Hearing that Wang Wenzheng was willing to tell him about the emperor's preferences, he immediately smiled flatteringly and said:
"If it weren't for the prince's explanation, I would have almost missed the big thing."

"What does the emperor like? Please give me some advice, eunuch."

He kept flattering Wang Wenzhen, expressing his willingness to surrender.

Wang Wenzheng came here to win him over, so he naturally offered him some benefits. He revealed:
"The six-inch round skin and eight-inch plump beauty in the poem can be used not only to describe feet, but also breasts."

"If you replace the foot binding with a chest binding, you will probably understand better."

"Do you know the cup types of bras in the palace? In this year's selection of ladies, all those with cup sizes of six inches or more were selected for the final selection. There were even two with cup sizes of eight inches, and they were favored that night."

"This is what the emperor really likes. Don't make the wrong choice."

This made Zhang Yixian dumbfounded. He never expected that the poem was not only referring to the feet, but also to the chest.

The so-called six inches and eight inches actually refer to the cup size. There are various styles depending on the difference between the upper and lower bust.

These were all made by the palace tailors according to the emperor's instructions. They were manufactured by Suzhou Weaving Factory. I heard that an underwear exhibition was also held in the red-light district of Beijing.

Zhang Yixian thought about all sorts of things, and immediately slapped his head and said:
"I was wondering why the emperor chose several older concubines and often favored some of the grassland concubines. It turns out that the emperor not only likes petite women, but also plump women."

"It seems that the feet are not important, the most important thing is the chest, so this foot competition will be..."

After a pause, Zhang Yixian asked Wang Wenzhen for his opinion on whether to proceed.

Wang Wenzheng said:

"The competition will continue!"

"The Emperor asked us to change customs and practices and change people's mindsets."

"Using foot competition to select natural foot beauties is a good way to change customs."

"After the selection, you can distribute clothes to them in the name of Suzhou Weaving Factory and send tailors to measure their bodies, including socks and bras."

"When the palace selected ladies this time, there were physical examinations and fittings. Everyone's physical condition was clear at a glance."

"The Football Association should also do the same, and add the medical examination to prevent the spread of diseases."

Wang Wenzhen gave various instructions on this matter and planned to select several beauties in Suzhou and send them to the Queen's palace.

This way, you can please both the Queen and the Emperor. It is hard to find such a thing that kills two birds with one stone.

Wang Wenzhen even planned to promote the foot contest and expand it into a beauty pageant to select more beauties to please the emperor.

He knew that the emperor loved beauties, but it was hard to find a truly stunning beauty, and up to now there were only Concubine Tian and Concubine Chen.

If he could find a truly stunning beauty, he would definitely be able to consolidate his position.

It can also reduce stress and anxiety around the emperor.

Yes, uneasy! Including Wang Wenzheng, many of Zhu Youjian's close ministers actually felt uneasy.

Having been with the emperor for a long time, he has a much deeper understanding of the emperor than most people.

Unlike other emperors who claim to be true dragon emperors but are actually no different from ordinary people, or even worse than ordinary people, the current emperor is truly divine in the eyes of close ministers like Wang Wenzhen.

This was not only because of the myths and legends spread from the emperor's mouth, but also because the emperor's behavior after ascending the throne was like a revelation from heaven.

No matter what the matter was, the emperor could understand it at a glance and learn it immediately. He even had a thorough understanding of matters far away overseas.

What makes people around him particularly uneasy is that the current emperor has a very good memory. He can even remember clearly what he said a few years ago.

This made Wang Wenzheng, Gao Shiming and other people who served the emperor feel a lot of pressure, fearing that they would say something carelessly and be found out by the emperor a few years later.

Gao Shiming risked angering the emperor by asking for the fief of New Jiangnan, which Wang Wenzheng saw as asking for retirement. This old man had no intention of staying in office for long, and planned to retire and go to his fiefdom in a few years like Wang Tiqian did.

Wang Wenzheng had this thought in mind, so he was actually glad that the emperor liked beauty and had human shortcomings.

If not for this, he would probably really regard the emperor as a god.

"Fortunately, the emperor still has some preferences, otherwise I really don't know how to work under him."

"Is it God? Is it a man?"

"Your Majesty, are you a god or a human?"

Thinking silently in his heart, Wang Wenzheng thought of his viscount title and the fiefdom in New Jiangnan. He planned to recruit a few talents in Jiangnan to assist his brothers and nephews to open up fiefdoms there.

In this way, he will have a safe place to retire in the future like Wang Tiquan and Gao Shiming.

(End of this chapter)