The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 788
But she still said immediately: "Slaves and servants are in pairs, whoever's turn it is, can't sleep all night, wait outside the door, and listen to the prince's summons at any time."

This is the custom of the palace.

In the past, when Chongzhen was here, there were four eunuchs and four maids waiting outside.

"You guys haven't slept all night?" Ding Yi couldn't believe it. Looking carefully, they were indeed pale, and they looked like they didn't have enough sleep when they woke up.

"The servants are not asleep, really not." The two were startled and quickly knelt down.

In fact, some people may fall asleep standing up in the middle of the night, but they will wake up with a start after a short sleep. They can't help it. There are people who sit on the ground and sleep.

In the past, there were patrols, and they dared not sleep. Now that the patrols do not enter the palace, they sometimes dare to take turns to squint.

I thought Ding Yi found out that they were going to be punished.

Ding Yi hurriedly said: "Get up, this king didn't blame you."

Only then did the two tremble.

After Ding Yi got dressed and washed, he walked out of the room accompanied by the two court ladies.

First, I went to the room on the left to have a look. The room on the left was empty, and there were many books in it, which was separated from them by a wall.

"When Zeng Shanggong wakes up, ask her to arrange to put two beds here and add sleeping items."

"From now on, you will sleep here at night. If you need anything, I will knock on the wall or shout. The room is not very soundproof. If I shout, you should be able to wake up."

Su Yue and the other little palace maid looked dull and couldn't believe it.

"You two find a place to sleep for a while, and two people come over." Ding Yi strode out.

The two women looked dazed, perhaps a little unaccustomed to such a master.

Zeng Ruan and Aimee Zhu didn't get up until after nine o'clock in the morning. Both of them were scared to death, so they got up quickly.

Only after he got up did he realize that Ding Yi had gone to the Leng Palace with two court ladies and two eunuchs.

The two women looked at each other.

Auntie Zhu blushed and said, "It seems that the two of us did not satisfy the prince last night."

Zeng Rou said solemnly: "The princess is worrying too much, the prince must be doing it for official business."

Aunt Zhu was noncommittal.

Jingyang Palace is the coldest cold palace in the imperial city. Generally, concubines who were convicted of crimes would be placed here. However, Emperor Tianqi and Emperor Chongzhen did not marry many wives. Their combined concubines were only a dozen or so, which can be regarded as the Great Ming Dynasty The emperor has the fewest wives.

Therefore, there are no criminal concubines in Jingyang Palace now, they are all left over from the previous dynasty.

Concubine Ren Rong, Concubine Yuan Gui, Concubine Liu, and Concubine Fan Hui are all here. Yuan and Liu are the concubines of Chongzhen, and they were moved in after Ding Yi came in.

After being visited by Li Zicheng, in the entire Daming Palace, there are only these four people who are less than [-] years old and have some good looks.

The rest either ran away, died, or were too old.

As soon as Ding Yi arrived outside Jingyang Palace, the eunuch Wang Xiangyao had already brought someone to kneel at the door.

"Your Highness is a thousand years old."

"Get up." Ding Yi said lightly.

Wang Xiangyao got up and followed Ding Yi closely.

"How many more concubines in the harem?" Ding Yi asked as he walked.

Wang Xiangyao immediately said: "There are 26 more people over forty, and the young ones are Concubine Ren Rong, Concubine Yuan Gui, Concubine Liu and Concubine Fan Hui."

Some of them are over [-] or [-] years old, and they are all concubines of Wanli, who are old enough.

Ding Yi couldn't help but glanced at him, and he didn't ask how old he was, Wang Xiangyao was such a treasure.

"Gather them all together."

"Yes, my lord." Wang Xiangyao immediately asked the eunuchs to call one by one.

After a while, dozens of women came to Jingyang Palace compound one after another.

Some people didn't live here before, and some people have lived here all the time. It can be seen from the skin that those white and cold ones are probably obtained from living in the cold palace all year round.

I heard from Wang Xiangyao that in order to take care of these people, there used to be hundreds of court ladies and eunuchs here. Of course, Li Zicheng made a fuss, and now there are not so many.

The women also knew that this was the current new owner of the Forbidden City. Some people knelt down and called the prince knowingly, while others didn't move with regret, with a look of indifference.

But it's not bad, no one rushed out and scolded Ding Yi for being a traitor and a traitor, and Yin messed up the harem.

Ding Yi quickly noticed that several of the more beautiful and younger ones were standing on the right.

On the left are two old women, both in their 60s and [-]s.

"My lord, this is Concubine Ren Rong, Concubine Yuan Gui, Concubine Liu, Concubine Fan Hui." Wang Xiangyao introduced to Ding Yi.

The four daughters paid homage to the prince one after another.

Ding Yi's eyes suddenly focused on Concubine Yuan Gui and Concubine Fan Hui.

There is an obvious difference between the two women. The front of the jacket is bulging, and the long loose skirt can't hide it.

In comparison, last night's little princess Zeng Rou was simply unwatchable.

Wang Xiangyao observed Ding Yi's expression and was secretly delighted.

Ding Yi greeted the four concubines, and then looked at the girls.

Many women have indifferent expressions, more like walking dead.

"In the depths of the imperial city, there is indifference and emptiness. This king knows that some people may not like to stay in this kind of place." Ding Yi's first words resonated with many people. The eyes of some indifferent women gradually brightened stand up.

Concubine Fan Hui looked at him strangely, feeling that Ding Yi was different.

"This king wants to give everyone a chance."

"If you have relatives in your hometown, if you are willing to leave the imperial palace, you may ask your family to pick you up, or let me send someone to see you off. As long as you want to leave, I will let you go."

There was a commotion in the crowd, and many people looked in disbelief.

"When you leave the palace, you can marry as you please. The imperial court will distribute 50 taels of silver every month for your daily life until you grow old."

"But there is one thing, don't talk about state affairs, don't mess with the king's reputation."

"Has anyone ever wanted to leave?"

Woo, some people cried bitterly at the scene, and then more people hugged and cried together.

When Li Zicheng entered the palace, some people took the opportunity to escape, more people committed suicide, and some were killed.

Unexpectedly, they would also have the opportunity to leave. For most of the people present, many with family members were still willing to leave.

"What the lord said is true?" Concubine Yuan Gui asked tremblingly.

Her father is Yuan You, a small official in the capital, who is still in the capital.

"What's the point of this king joking with you?" Ding Yi asked back.

Concubine Yuan Gui quickly bowed down: "Thank you, my lord, I want to go home."

"Let your family pick it up, or send someone from me to see you off."

"Don't bother me, my lord, please invite my father to pick me up."

Ding Yi turned around and said, "Wang Xiangyao, please remember to inform Concubine Yuan Gui's family that the imperial court will issue silver every month from now on."

"My lord is benevolent and righteous, and this slave will thank you on behalf of everyone." Wang Xiangyao quickly knelt down too.

Ding Yi gave them money because he was afraid that their family members would not care about them. As long as they had money, they could live on their own, and their family members would take care of them for the sake of money.

Concubine Yuan Gui took the lead, and family members stepped forward one after another, demanding to go home.

In the end, there were only two older concubines, probably from the Wanli era. They seemed to have no family members, or they were used to this place and wanted to stay.

Concubine Fan Hui is willing to stay.

Only then did Ding Yi know that Concubine Fan Hui looked less than 36 years old, but she was actually close to [-] years old.

But it still looks really pretty now.

Ding Yi asked the two older ones to live in Jingyang Palace temporarily.

Then he looked at Concubine Fan Hui.

Concubine Fan Hui also expressed that she still wanted to live in Jingyang Palace.

Ding Yi thought for a while, then nodded slowly: "If Concubine Fan Hui has any needs, just talk to the maids. As long as it does not violate the ancestral system, this king will support it."

A look of surprise flashed in Concubine Fan Hui's eyes. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Ding Yi quietly.

Ding Yi remained calm, turned around and left.
-
The sixth day of March.

Eunuchs Wang Lian and Wang Xiangyao, young eunuchs Zhou Xiangwen, He Zhongming and Zhong Xian who were around Chongzhen in the former dynasty came to Wuying Hall.

There is another female officer, Zeng Rou.

Zhou Xiangwen and He Zhongming were both young eunuchs who had good friends with Zeng Rou back then. After Ding Yi entered the palace, he was promoted and reused by Ding Yi.

Zhong Xian was the little eunuch who followed Ding Yi before, Ding Yi felt that he was smarter, so he was cited as a personal eunuch for temporary use.

Wang Lian and Wang Xiangyao were eunuchs before Chongzhen, and Ding Yi continued to use them.

Wang Lian will report to Ding Yi that after a period of rectification and retreat, there are still 400 eunuchs and more than [-] court ladies in the palace.

According to Ding Yi's request, all the eunuchs, except the leader, should be over 13 years old and under 18 years old.

The court ladies are all over 13 years old and under 18 years old, and they are complete.

Ding Yi was taken aback when he heard this, when did I ask for this?

He looked up at Wang Xiangyao, who had a flattering expression on his face.

The rest of the eunuchs and court ladies were dismissed, and those who stayed in the capital were given three taels of silver every month by the palace until they died.

Those who return to their hometown in the local area will be given two taels of silver by the local county government every month until they die.

Wang Lian and Wang Xiangyao kept looking at Ding Yi during the report, and they were very grateful to Ding Yi in their hearts.

Whether Ding Yi let the harem concubines leave, or dismissed the maids and eunuchs, he continued to take money to support him. In their eyes, he was simply the number one sage in all ages.

In all dynasties, no emperor has treated these slaves so well.

Although Li Zicheng came in to make trouble, but in the end the number of eunuchs and maids was reduced to tens of thousands, and the empire would need to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver every year to support them.

But in fact, they spent more than that in staying in the palace before, and even had to spend several times to support them.

After the report, Wang Lian knelt down together with Wang Xiangyao, Zhou Xiangwen, He Zhongming, and Zhong Xian, and Wang Lian and Wang Xiangyao even choked up: "Slaves and servants, on behalf of everyone, thank you, my lord, for caring about us poor people."

"Long live the prince."

Ding Yi signaled them to get up, and took the roster to meditate for a while.

It is said that there were 11 eunuchs at the peak of the Ming Dynasty. I don't know if it is true or not, but it is estimated that there were [-] to [-].

History shows that there were 9000 court ladies in the late dynasty. I don't know if it is true or not, but there must be two to three thousand.

At the very beginning, the court ladies of the Ming Dynasty had several characteristics. First, they were required to be young. When entering the palace, they were required to be over 13 years old and under 19 years old. Second, all court ladies were required to be literate.

Because Lao Zhu didn't allow eunuchs to read and write, so in the palace, only court ladies could read.

Those in charge of the emperor's harem treasures, commonly known as "neizang", are also court ladies. Because the eunuchs are illiterate, it is difficult to find out how much private wealth the emperor has.

Of course, after Yongle, when Zhu Di came to power, he corrected a lot, and there were more eunuchs who could read.

In the fourth year of Xuande (1429), the status of the supervisor of ceremonies was promoted, and the system that Taizu forbade eunuchs to read and write was abolished.

(End of this chapter)