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◎Small sachet◎
Emperor Xingwu remembered his daughter's birthday and the ages of the sons of several meritorious officials, but he did not have the time to remember their specific birthdays.
However, on July 23rd, when the father and daughter had lunch together after the morning court session, the daughter told him that she would take the morning off to go look for Yan Zhenzhen. Emperor Xingwu suddenly remembered, "Today is Zhenzhen's birthday?"
In previous years, my daughter would also leave the palace and go to the Left Prime Minister’s residence to give gifts and celebrate birthdays for her friends.
Seeing his daughter nod, Emperor Xingwu began to think while eating, and from time to time he glanced at the little princess opposite him.
Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, the little girls have grown up. He has already found a good husband for his daughter. The left prime minister's family is so popular, so those ministers outside must have been eyeing her for a long time, right?
After a break in the afternoon, Emperor Xingwu went to the Imperial Garden and sent someone to invite the Imperial Concubine and the Beautiful Concubine.
The imperial concubine was not surprised to learn that the emperor wanted to see her. Although the emperor favored Concubine Li alone in recent years, he had always given her the proper respect. He would invite her and Concubine Li to enjoy elegant activities such as appreciating flowers, boating on the lake, and listening to operas. Sometimes he would also call her alone to ask about the affairs of the inner palace.
After a simple packing, the imperial concubine set off with a palace maid. When she arrived outside the door, she happened to meet the Li concubine who came to accompany her. The two concubines then went to the imperial garden side by side.
Emperor Xingwu sat in the waterside pavilion. The lotus flowers by the lake had all withered, leaving only a few green lotus leaves with yellowing edges. The sky was blue, the water was clear, and the breeze was cool, which was quite pleasant.
Noticing that the emperor was in a good mood, the two concubines relaxed a lot. They came in, bowed, and sat down on the chairs prepared in advance next to Emperor Xingwu.
Emperor Xingwu spoke in a casual tone, "Lin'er went to celebrate Zhenzhen's birthday and hasn't come back yet. Did you bring a gift for Zhenzhen?"
Yan Zhenzhen is the imperial concubine's niece, so she must have prepared gifts. Of course, Concubine Li also prepared some gifts because she loves her daughter.
Emperor Xingwu sighed, "She's fourteen now, she's already a grown-up girl."
Concubine Li's heart tightened, fearing that the emperor would arrange a marriage for her daughter with a man whom neither she nor she knew well.
The imperial concubine's heart was also tense, as she had already guessed that the person the emperor wanted to marry was her niece Yan Zhenzhen.
Under the two concubines' sometimes nervous and sometimes inquiring gazes, Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Zhenzhen is so innocent and naive, and the third concubine has a pure heart. I think they are a good match. What do you think?"
Concubine Li was stunned. The marriage was not for her daughter, but for her son?
After staying there, Concubine Li looked at the Imperial Concubine guiltily. She also thought that Zhenzhen was beautiful and cute, and her family background was impeccable. The problem was that the third child was lazy. Would the Imperial Concubine and the Left Prime Minister like him?
The imperial concubine also looked surprised, but her mind was racing as she pondered the deeper meaning behind the emperor's proposal.
She was a noble concubine, and her father was the left prime minister. In the early years, the noble concubine was very afraid that the emperor would suspect that she was planning to support the second prince to be the crown prince, so she was cautious in her words and actions. After the eldest prince became the crown prince, the noble concubine was relieved, but the other half continued to worry that the crown prince would be suspicious of the second prince because of the Yan family.
So, did the Emperor bestow Zhenzhen upon the Third Prince in order to divide the Yan family's influence, which might have supported the Second Prince? At the same time, the Yan family's desire to support another prince faded, and the Crown Prince could relax a bit. After all, the Third Prince was a man who kept to himself and wouldn't fight for his own position, nor would he help his Second Brother snatch the First Brother's.
Emperor Xingwu looked at the two concubines and said, "Don't think too much. I just like Zhenzhen."
The imperial concubine hurriedly said, "It is a blessing for Zhenzhen to be favored by the emperor. As long as Concubine Li doesn't dislike Zhenzhen, I am willing to accept it on Zhenzhen's behalf."
How could Concubine Li be disgusted? She just felt like it was a blessing from heaven!
These were all expected reactions. Emperor Xingwu said slowly, "Don't worry. Parents should make the final decision on their children's marriages. You should first ask the Left Prime Minister and the Imperial Library for their opinions."
Yan Wenxuan, the younger brother of the imperial concubine and the father of Yan Zhenzhen, is only 35 years old. He is currently serving as the Left Secretary of the Dali Temple, a fifth-rank official. Yan Xizheng also has two illegitimate sons, all of whom have been sent to serve as officials in other places. After all, they are still officials of the sixth or seventh rank.
Emperor Xingwu once approached the Minister of Personnel, Yang Zhimin, and asked him to promote the three brothers of the Yan family. Yang Zhimin smiled bitterly and said that he had wanted to promote them for a long time, but every time he mentioned it he would be scolded by the Left Prime Minister, because the Left Prime Minister felt that his sons were mediocre and were not worthy of their current official positions.
Since Yan Xizheng's words were not entirely self-deprecating, Emperor Xingwu did not interfere any further, thus fulfilling Yan Xizheng's character as a wise minister.
The next day, the imperial concubine invited her father and brother to Changchun Palace.
Yan Wenxuan, who is used to having his father make the decisions on all matters big and small at home, said that he would listen to his father.
Yan Xi was stroking his beard, the faces of Emperor Xingwu and the little princess flashing before his eyes alternately. After thinking it over, he could only agree. After all, that was the emperor's wish. As for the third prince, the more incompetent he was, the safer it would be. He was not afraid that he would betray his granddaughter.
After discussing it privately, Emperor Xingwu happily granted the marriage at a palace banquet during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the wedding date would be set after the two of them reached the age of coming of age and the age of hairpin.
Qin Ren, who had just picked up a dish and was about to put it in his mouth, froze. He looked at his father, then at the left prime minister sitting next to his eldest and second brothers.
Yan Xizheng didn't look at him, but left the table and went to Emperor Xingwu to express his gratitude.
Emperor Xingwu glared at his third son who was stupid, lazy and blessed.
Although Qin Ren was still confused, he knew the etiquette. He put down his chopsticks and quickly went to express his gratitude.
Emperor Xingwu waved his hand, and after the old man and the young boy sat down again, Emperor Xingwu picked up the wine jar, his eyes swept over the ministers below, and finally fell on the face of Duke of Wei Zhang Jie. Seeing that Zhang Jie noticed and looked back at him, Emperor Xingwu made a toast to him and smiled.
Zhang Jie: “…”
.
With his third daughter's marriage settled, Emperor Xingwu felt a bit better. In mid-September, when his youngest grandson, Zheng'er, celebrated his third birthday, Emperor Xingwu was even happier. He let Zheng'er rest with him for the afternoon, and when he woke up, Emperor Xingwu took the little one to play in the imperial garden. He had played with his daughter like this before, but now that she was older, studying, practicing martial arts, and out of the palace, she spent less and less time with him.
While holding Zheng'er by the pond and watching the fish, Emperor Xingwu said nostalgically, "My aunt went to Chongwen Pavilion to study when she was three years old. Zheng'er is also three years old. Would you like to go to Chongwen Pavilion to study with my aunt tomorrow?"
Zheng Ge'er knew that he had to listen to his grandfather, so he nodded obediently.
Emperor Xingwu patted his grandson's head with satisfaction, and instructed the little grandson's wet nurse who was waiting beside him to go back and talk to the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess to send the little grandson to Chongwen Pavilion at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to try reading for half an hour.
The wet nurse responded respectfully.
Because he thought of the time when his daughter was three years old. At dusk, Emperor Xingwu went to Jiuhua Palace and saw his daughter running out from the study to greet him. Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Are you reading again?"
Qingyang shook her head, asking her father to guess what she was doing.
Emperor Xingwu tried several guesses but failed, so he followed his daughter to the study. He saw several sheets of paper scattered on the desk in a mess, with traces of erasures between the dense handwriting on each sheet. Emperor Xingwu picked one up and looked at it. When he understood what he saw, he was stunned. His daughter had calculated the food and military pay spent by Deng Chong when he led his troops to attack the Pyu Kingdom.
Qingyang showed the clearest one to his father. "About 50,000 dan of grain per month, right?"
Emperor Xingwu would issue an order for Deng Chong to dispatch troops next month. He had already estimated the food and military pay. He praised, "It's about right. My son is really becoming more and more powerful."
Qingyang asked her father to sit down, and she sat beside him, even more worried about whether this campaign would go smoothly. "For over two hundred years, the previous dynasty had frequent wars and peace with the Pyu Kingdom, but regardless of victory or defeat, the Pyu Kingdom's miasma would always cause a loss of 10% to 20% of the troops. Deng Chong has never lost a battle in the Central Plains, but he has never set foot in Pyu Kingdom. Isn't your father afraid that he will fail in his campaign?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Xingwu looked at a bookshelf next to him, on which was neatly arranged a set of newly completed history books of the previous dynasty.
Emperor Xingwu pointed at the history books and asked, "Have you read them all, Lin'er?"
Qingyang: "Let's pick the war with Pyu first. Father must have seen it too, right?"
Emperor Xingwu sighed, "How can my father have the time to read it?"
Qingyang: "...The troops are about to be dispatched, and yet Father still has the leisure to tease me."
Unable to fool his daughter, Emperor Xingwu immediately smiled again and comforted her, saying, "Geng Yue, the deputy general of Yunzhou, is also a veteran of the previous dynasty. He has led two campaigns against the Pyu Kingdom. This time, he will oversee the route, timing, and logistics of the Pyu Kingdom. With him here, Deng Chong only needs to focus on fighting. I will tell Deng Chong that as long as we can force the Pyu Kingdom to negotiate peace and surrender, it will be a great victory. There is no need to fight a protracted battle. The Pyu Kingdom was ungovernable in previous dynasties, so it is useless for us to control it. It is enough to deter them from invading again."
Da Qi would not take the initiative to attack Pyu, but Pyu thought Da Qi was easy to bully and always came to provoke it, so Da Qi had to send troops to enhance its national prestige.
Qingyang resented the Pyu invasions and felt sorry for the soldiers and military pay of Great Qi. His father had founded the country fifteen years earlier, and the first four had been spent unifying the country. The treasury had been empty due to the wars. After unification, he had to reduce land taxes to allow the various regions to recover as quickly as possible. The treasury was barely able to break even, and with the costs of repairing the Great Wall, building warships, and digging canals, as well as the most important military pay, the treasury had finally saved up some silver. If this battle went well, the total cost would be around 1.8 million taels. If not...
Qingyang didn't want to think about it anymore.
Emperor Xingwu patted his daughter's shoulder and said calmly, "Don't be afraid, father is here. Lin'er, remember, no matter how difficult the battle must be fought, father has made all the necessary preparations. The rest is up to the soldiers. If the first battle fails, we can prepare for the second. As long as the national strength allows and we have capable soldiers and generals, we don't need to be afraid of fighting anyone."
Qingyang looked into his father's calm and deep eyes, and his uneasy heart, which had been disturbed by the approaching war, also calmed down.
.
Yunzhou.
In early October, before Emperor Xingwu's order to send troops arrived, Zhang Suxian received the third letter sent by the third prince this year.
The letter was written by the Third Prince after the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Third Prince first talked about his shock after being granted a marriage by the Emperor and the teasing from the little princess. Then he lamented that everyone had grown up. He guessed that Zhang Su would definitely be arranged a marriage by the Duke and his wife after returning to Beijing. He wondered what kind of girl Zhang Su would marry, etc.
Later, the Third Prince became worried about his war against the Pyus, and explained the origin of the large bag of gray sachets: the little princess had someone prepare them, and they were mixed with herbs such as mugwort, angelica, and calamus to dispel miasma.
Zhang Su opened the bag and counted them. There were fifty palm-sized sachets in total. The letter instructed him to change one every three days.
In fact, the military camp was equipped with similar sachets for each soldier, but the quantity was not so large. The generals naturally had enough, and his mother and sister-in-law also prepared many sachets for him and his elder brother respectively. There were so many that the two brothers distributed all the shares they had received before.
But Zhang Su still took out a sachet, placed it in front of him and smelled it for a long time.
【Author’s words】
Here I come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
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