Inside Deyang Palace.
Liu Hong sat on his throne, looking at the few memorials on the table, a happy smile on his face.
Thanks to Liu Hong's years of painstaking efforts, the Han Dynasty's institutional framework is now quite comprehensive.
Currently, the cabinet handles domestic affairs and the Privy Council handles military affairs. What Liu Hong needs to do is urge the Censorate to keep a close eye on officials at all levels.
The person now in charge of the Censorate is Man Chong, whom Liu Hong recently promoted.
Speaking of Man Chong, his methods are even more terrifying than Yang Qiu's. Any official who is found to have any problems will be punished, at the very least, have their property confiscated and be exiled, and at worst, be implicated and torn apart by chariots.
Under the leadership of this ruthless official, the Censorate truly became a powerful force for supervising all officials, and even several cabinet ministers were wary of him.
Of course, there was also the all-pervasive intelligence agency led by Cheng Yu, which instilled a deep sense of awe in Liu Hong among the officials of the Han Dynasty.
Sometimes, even the Censorate could not detect acts of corruption and abuse of power, but they ultimately could not escape the eyes of the Investigation Department.
Now, all the officials of the Han Dynasty are well aware that although the emperor may seem to be indifferent to affairs on the surface, the entire empire is firmly in his hands, and no one can do anything wrong.
At this time, the Han Empire was in a state that even Liu Hong could not describe.
Politically, although the government affairs were managed by the cabinet, the power of the civil service group was not as great as in the Ming Dynasty, and there were no annoying censors to cause trouble for him.
Militarily, the presence of the Privy Council and the staff system largely prevented the possibility of local separatism.
Economically, with the development of the Great Han Bank and the Royal Bank, the country's overall economy is under control and will not experience major turmoil.
After processing several memorials, Liu Hong suddenly felt that the most important thing for him at the moment was to raise his sons well so that the empire could continue to expand and advance.
Now, his eldest son, Liu Cheng, is fourteen years old, and it's time for him to gain some experience.
However, thinking about how the two empress dowagers and the empress had been constantly mentioning the matter of selecting consorts for the princes, Liu Hong couldn't help but smile.
According to Liu Hong's plan, his initial selection of concubines was for the sake of political balance, and he had no choice but to select a woman from the Dou, Yin, Ma, and Wang families to enter the palace.
Now that the political situation has been balanced, the royal family no longer needs to arrange marriages with those old powerful families.
Therefore, the selection of princesses should be based on merit, such as choosing women from scholarly families, wealthy merchants, or commoners.
Immediately, Liu Hong got up and walked towards Chang Le Palace.
Inside Chang Le Palace.
Empress Dowager Dou and Lady Dong were overjoyed to see that Liu Hong was finally preparing to select a consort for his eldest son.
Soon, Chang Le Palace issued an edict ordering local officials to select suitable women for the eldest prince.
The imperial edict caused an uproar both inside and outside the court. Time had passed so quickly that even the princes were starting to arrange marriages.
Amidst their reflections, everyone busied themselves with preparations for the Crown Prince's upcoming marriage.
Officials from various prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty also began to travel around and select suitable women.
December 25th.
In a mansion in Ye County, Ji Province, a young girl wearing a silver sable cloak sat by the fireplace, holding a pen in one hand and calculating a pile of account books beside her.
This woman was none other than Zhen Mi, the daughter of the Zhen family.
"Mi'er, good news, great news!"
Just then, a joyful voice drifted into Zhen Mi's ears.
Looking up, I saw Zhen Yi walking briskly towards me with a happy expression.
As one of the first trainees of the Imperial Guard, Zhen Yi returned to his family after retiring and began to take over some of the military manufacturing businesses of the Han Dynasty.
Over the years, thanks to the emperor's influence, the Zhen family has prospered. Several of their sons have entered the Imperial Guard and three academies, respectively. It can be said that the Zhen family has now entered the ranks of the elite families.
Of course, what makes Zhen Yi happiest is having such a precious daughter as Zhen Mi, who is not only stunningly beautiful, but also proficient in arithmetic and has a keen business sense.
Such an exceptional woman will surely bring unimaginable benefits to the Zhen family in the future.
"Father, what makes you so happy?"
Seeing her father approaching, Zhen Mi, who was busy at work, stopped what she was doing and asked him obediently.
"Haha, this is wonderful news!"
Zhen Yi laughed loudly, and then said, "The prefect just came over and said that the Empress Dowager and His Majesty have decreed that a consort be chosen for the eldest prince, and the prefect has already recommended you to Luoyang!"
"The eldest prince is choosing a consort?"
Upon hearing this, Zhen Mi was also taken aback.
"Yes, the eldest prince is now thirteen years old. After the New Year, he will be of marriageable age, so it's natural to start making preparations!"
Zhen Yi said with a smile, "The prefect also said that with Mi'er's looks and talent, she will surely catch the eye of the emperor and the empress dowager!"
Upon hearing this, Zhen Mi blushed and lowered her head.
Although Zhen Mi had never met the eldest son of the emperor, there is a saying that a tiger father will not have a dog son.
With the current emperor being so wise and powerful, the eldest prince, as the future heir, will certainly not be too bad either.
As the saying goes, a young girl is in love, especially a woman like Zhen Mi, who naturally hopes that her future husband will be far superior to ordinary people.
Seeing his daughter's shy expression, Zhen Yi felt both happy and a little reluctant.
After all, he had raised his precious child for many years, and now that the child was about to get married, the father naturally felt reluctant to let him go.
However, the thought of his daughter marrying into the royal family dispelled that last bit of reluctance.
Subsequently, Zhen Yi invited the most famous painter in the area to paint a stunning portrait of his daughter, which he then presented to the prefect.
Besides the Zhen family, the Mi family of Xuzhou, as well as other famous families from various places, also handed over portraits of their daughters to the local government.
After all, everyone knows that the eldest prince is a sure thing to inherit the throne in the future, and being selected as a concubine means that he may become the empress in the future.
Although the status of maternal relatives was no longer as prestigious as it had been in the past, the benefits they enjoyed were still unimaginable.
February of the twenty-fifth year of the Kaiyuan era.
Inside Chang Le Palace.
Empress Dowager Dou, Lady Dong, and Empress Song Yue were also overjoyed and began to pick and choose from a pile of portraits.
"Oh my, Cheng'er's life is so much better than Hong'er's back then. Look at these girls, they're all so beautiful!"
Empress Dowager Dou held several portraits in her hands and said with a sigh, "Besides Zhen Mi, there are also portraits of the daughters of the Mi family and the two daughters of the Qiao family among them."
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