Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 961
Appreciating the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festive day in the harem.

As for the court ladies and eunuchs, a shift system was adopted, with a shift of six hours. They could get half a day off at this time, as long as they came back before the palace was locked.

This is no less than a benevolent government.

At the same time, the bodyguard department also adopts a shift system, divided into four shifts, so that they change every three hours, so that they can all feel the joy of the festival.

The meaning of reunion is very clear.

The emerald green glazed tiles, bright gemstones and gold and silver complement each other.

It is a festival at this time, and brocades are hung in the palace, colorful, and the warm atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival blows towards our faces.

Before it was dark, there was a big red lantern in front of the palace gate, with a diameter of five feet, which can be described as huge.

Fragrant rose pulp and rippling bayberry vinegar form a wonderful color and aroma.

The songs and dances in the palace are graceful and varied, and the beautiful tunes played make people involuntarily immerse themselves in it.

And the most exciting thing is the stage.

Although there are often opera troupes in the harem, their repertoire is mostly selected by the queen and nine concubines.

But now the stage has directly set up two classes, one for the emperor and concubines, one for court ladies and eunuchs, which can be regarded as having fun with the people.

Of course, the right to choose is still in the hands of the chief inspector.

But they don't have to follow the ladies to watch the show, they can call for color and play. This is their most relaxing day.

The colorful satin flutters up, and the colors are colorful, which makes people feel relieved.

Five feet away from the stage, there are only eleven chairs in the best position.

They are the ten supervisors of the inner court: the Rites Supervisor, the Duzhi Supervisor, the Zhidian Supervisor, the Shangshan Supervisor, the Internal Official Supervisor, the Rites Supervisor, the Construction Supervisor, the Accounting Supervisor, the Imperial Prison, and the Punishment Supervisor.

These ten eunuchs have the same rank, but their powers are very different.

But at this moment, even the eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, had to be in the second row, taking the lead, and did not dare to offside in the slightest.

Because the palm print eunuch represents the ceremonial supervisor.

The ten prisons do not represent himself, but represent dozens of hundreds of eunuchs under his command.

Besides, despite the prestige of the Supervisor of Rituals, it is only for the outer court, and the highest status in the inner court is the Du Zhijian.

Because he is in charge of the emperor's travel, and he is always by the emperor's side.

In the inner court, the competition is not about ability, but favor.

In addition, the internal official supervisor is not inferior to the official supervisor. He is in charge of the promotion of the middle and lower eunuchs.

The Punishment Department is even more fearless. They are in charge of the punishment and the monitoring of the inner court, and they can report directly to the emperor at any time.

The other prisons have their own means, if the chief inspector goes too far, he will naturally run into walls everywhere in the inner court.

"Boom-"

When the huge chime clock rang, it was seven o'clock.

At this time, a large number of fireworks burst into the sky, bursting out with a large number of colors, colorful and eye-catching.

The emperor sat, looked at the fireworks in the sky, and nodded: "The color is not bad."

The young princes clapped their hands happily, and the concubines also covered their mouths in amazement, obviously extremely satisfied.

Liu Afu bowed and said: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs specially recruited them from all over the country. They are from Hunan."

"reward!"

In less than a quarter of an hour, the fireworks finished blooming. Although the princes and princesses were reluctant to let go, they had no choice but to make decisions.

The emperor felt sorry for them, and said with a smile: "There is a small stage specially arranged for you to sing shadow puppetry, go and have a look!"

The group of little guys immediately cheered and ran over impatiently.

For them, shadow puppetry is today's animation, and it is more enjoyable to watch.

On time, on time, the stage begins.

In other words, opera is the art of the elderly, nearly forty years old, Zhu Yixi has no rejection of opera at this time, and beats to the rhythm from time to time.

The charm in it is self-evident.

When the mind and body slow down, it is natural to like slow art.

Among the several princes, the king of Qin is still in the state of Qin, taking care of the mess after the war.

The second prince, King Qi, took care of the Sulu Kingdom in Nanyang, plundered wealth and population, and strengthened his own Qi Kingdom.

As for the third son, Prince Zhu Cunqu, he was still in the Liaodong officialdom, and he was not allowed to come back when he was a junior official.

The fourth king of Liao, the old king of Wuyue, and the sixth king of Wei all shrank behind the emperor. Although they were very impatient, they could only pretend to be serious and listened.

King Liao glanced at the stage, then turned to King Yue and said, "Father is still listening to Zaju, this is old."

"Fourth brother, you are well-informed, do you want to give your opinion to the emperor?" Yue Wang teased.

"Get out." King Liao immediately shrank his neck, turned his eyes to the emperor who was half lying in front of him, and said, "Listen to your play!"

The princes suddenly laughed, and everyone was very happy that the fourth brother who jumped was deflated.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has called you over!"

Soon, an eunuch passed by, which frightened the king of Liao.

"Ok!"

King Liao patted his sleeves, then walked away quickly, and sat by the emperor's side.

"Father."

"You came?"

Zhu Yixi looked at the stage without turning his head, and said directly: "I heard that you have a lot of knowledge in opera, and you have written a play, right?"

"Your servant is just playing around." King Liao rolled his eyes and said hastily, "Isn't this admiring the deeds of Emperor Taizu and your old man, just wanting to write a play—"

"You have a heart."

Zhu Yixi didn't believe in his casual excuse, and it wasn't his purpose.

"In addition to breeding horses, you can also integrate some scholars to compile the types of operas, operas, origins and pasts, which can be regarded as the history books of operas."

"Although opera is a small way, it is also a good thing for you. It can add some fame and leave a name in history!"

As the saying goes, when you think about it, you think about it, and you are talking about the emperor.

Zhu Yixi came from a later generation, so naturally he would not underestimate opera like people of this time, opera is also an important part of culture.

Opera, this is the folk feedback at this time.

For example, The Romance of the West Chamber conveys people's longing for free love; Dou E's injustice reflects the corruption of the Yuan Dynasty government.

These things are the crystallization of today's thinking and culture, which was nothing to people at that time, but later generations like to study this stuff.

Culture is a thing, no matter how compiled it is, it is good for preservation and continuation.

What's more, when the time comes, it will be distributed directly to the various feudal states, and they can be sung directly by copying it.

It is very conducive to the spread of Ming culture.

"My son understands." Liao Wang was overjoyed by this, and forcibly suppressed the smile on his face.

"Remember, you need to compile books, but you also need to do horse breeding. This is a test of your ability."

After speaking, the emperor waved his hand, and the latter couldn't wait to leave.

A group of princes watched the fourth brother's return helplessly, and started asking questions in one go.

Regarding this, the King of Liao said loudly: "Father asked me to compile a book. Although it is only the way of opera, he knows me well and knows that I am very talented!"

"Of course, it's a well-known fact."

As soon as these words came out, everyone laughed.

Because a few days ago, King Liao went to Taipu Temple to do breeding work, and the nickname "Horse King" suddenly became popular, and some were even called Stallion King.

King Liao was furious about this, but he couldn't control other people's mouths.

Now that he is writing books, although it is only about opera, it is extremely beneficial to his reputation.

After all, no matter how you say it, repairing books is also an elegant thing.

No matter how ugly Xi Wang is, he is better than Ma Wang.

And another drama began to unfold.

The ten prisons took their seats, but Liu Afu, the eunuch who knew that he served the emperor, did not come, but his seat was reserved, and no one dared to sit there if it was empty.

After a while, the queen's close friend, Shang Gong, the leader of the six rounds, took the No.11 chair.

"I think everyone is here, so let's play, these monkey cubs are eager to scratch their heads!"

Tian Ren, as the minister of the emperor's hidden residence, and the eunuch in charge of the chief of ceremonies, was naturally the head of the internal officials. He smiled lightly and spread out the script.

"How about just ordering a copy of Di Gong's Case?"

Tian Ren said softly: "Mr. Di has a big heart and can solve cases like a god. It's worth watching!"

"What Lord Tian said is true, the case of Mr. Di is the case of Mr. Di!"

The imperial eunuch agreed.

Hearing this, the internal officer frowned, and said: "The Zhao family's orphans are not bad. This drama rewards loyalty and loyalty. It's suitable for those of us to watch every day."

"That's right!" Several eunuchs also nodded slightly.

"Then the first fold is Di Gong's case, and the second fold is Zhao's orphan."

Tian Ren didn't care too much, and looked at the only female official: "Zhao Shanggong, what do you think?"

Feeling everyone's eyes, Zhao Shanggong nodded slightly: "Let's do it like this, it's just what I want!"

The two plays are a complete set, and if one set is sung, it will not be over in three to five days, so I know that I took the wonderful part of it and sang it for an hour each.

Bang, bang, when——

When the gongs and drums sounded, several actors came onto the stage.

All of a sudden, the eunuchs and maids of honor watched him attentively.

When the song reached its climax, many people tipped it copper coins and silver coins, and it was very lively.

On the other hand, the ten supervisors seemed to be comparing each other, and the rewards were constantly increasing, and then dropped in the end, so as not to cause trouble.

Only that Zhao Shanggong, sitting and watching a play, eating melon seeds, had no intention of participating in these people's struggle for power and profit.

The Sixth Bureau is under the leadership of the empress, responsible for managing the maids, as well as the monthly payment and treatment of the concubines. It can be said that it is independent of the eunuchs and parallel to each other.

Of course, eunuchs have great power, and to a certain extent they can interfere with foreign courts. Who doesn't have a few relatives and friends outside?
Having a good relationship is the most important thing.

After the show ended, Tian Ren found Zhao Shanggong during the interval:
"I don't know when the selection will start?"

"Should be at the end of September."

Zhao Shanggong said softly: "Based on the brochures you submitted, the Sixth Bureau has already screened two thousand girls..."

"I have a candidate for him. His family is well-educated and his father is a Juren. He is very suitable..."

Tian Ren said in a low voice, with a little eagerness in his eyes.

Selecting Chu is also screening palace ladies.

Among the 2000 people, 200 people were selected to enter the palace for etiquette training after preliminary selection.

At this time, the emperor would choose some women to enter the palace, maybe three or five, sometimes seven or eight, as concubines in the harem.

The remaining women will enter the palace as maids of honor and leave the palace to marry after four years.

This year is different. I heard that the emperor plans to select some women with both ability and political integrity to go to the harem of the vassal kings.

Commonly known as choosing a daughter-in-law.

It is even rumored that a princess will be chosen.

This is an opportunity for nobles, let alone ordinary people.

Among Tian Ren's clansmen, there happened to be a suitable candidate with a distinctive appearance.

Seeing his expression, Zhao Shanggong showed a smile: "Why, you also have someone to choose?"

Tian Ren resisted the urge to scold her, and took out a stack of banknotes from his sleeve: "You don't need to worry about it."

After Zhao Shanggong touched it roughly, he saw a piece of paper with his name, hometown, age and date of birth written on it.

And these banknotes cost no less than a thousand silver dollars.

She was overjoyed in her heart, but she remained calm on the surface: "I can let her pass the primary election."

"You've worked hard." Tian Ren endured the pain and took out another stack.

Feeling the silver ticket, she smiled and said: "Don't worry, as long as she is a little bit pretty, she is guaranteed to be selected."

"It's just that you know that the matter of choosing a concubine depends entirely on the wishes of the Queen and Your Majesty."

"Take care of me." Tian Ren's complexion changed slightly, and he took out the money again.

Only then Zhao Shanggong patted his chest and said: "Your Eunuch Tian's face, no matter what, my niece is also a noble person."

At this time, Tian Ren breathed a sigh of relief.

In the harem of the Ming Dynasty, the ranks of concubines were strict.

Empress, imperial concubine, concubine, concubine.

These four classes, collectively referred to as concubines, are the official wives and concubines of the emperor.

The fifth class is the group of concubines, namely Zhaoyi, Jieyu, beauties, talented people, Xuanshi, ladies and so on.

The lowest level is the changing clothes from the eighth rank.

A nobleman is from the sixth rank, which is not too low for a newcomer.

"Your Majesty can choose the best. If you can become a vassal king, it's not bad to be a side concubine..."

In fact, this is what Tian Ren thought.

What's the point of being a nobleman of low rank, no matter how much the emperor loves him, it's hard to be promoted to the rank of concubine.

It's better to find a prince.

After all, she is the concubine appointed by the emperor, so what is her status?
"Yo, Lord Tian, ​​you have a good idea."

Zhao Shanggong shook his head: "This cannot be said lightly, there is no place for us to interrupt."

"But for the sake of these banknotes, I can only promise you to do my best."

Tian Ren said generously: "You just take it, no matter if the matter is done or not, I will thank you."

Zhao Shanggong shook his head, and then left briskly.

No fool would believe this.

It seems that we really need to find a way.

It was a big show that sang until midnight before dissipating.

The emperor ordered a concubine, and the two left together.

At this time, Liu Afu was free and took a rest.

"Why, how is the show today?"

The eunuch who was serving on the side beat his legs and pressed his shoulders: "Grandpa Tian is shaking his prestige, but he left for a while on the way, it seems that he went to see that Zhao Shanggong."

Hearing this, Liu Afu chuckled lightly and said, "Tian Ren is old and has been in charge of the Supervisor of Rituals for so many years, so he should retire for the elderly."

"At this time, it is smooth to seek some things."

"As it should be."

"You mean the election?"

"Not bad, but smart." Liu Afu praised.

"Godfather, if you want me to say this supervisor, you have to be the most suitable."

"Nonsense, how many people are watching!" Liu Afu sneered.

(End of this chapter)