After the racecourse caught fire, the water in the reservoir quickly ran out, and the two wells in the inner city alone could not control the fire.
Soon the city gate of Hetuala was opened, and countless soldiers pushed carts to the river to fill the water.
There was chaos at the time, and naturally no one noticed Abahai and others.
They just took advantage of the chaos and left Hetuala.
Soon Abahai and others were sent to a carriage outside the city.
Abahai finally came to his senses at this time and asked: "Where are we going?"
The guard responsible for "rescuing" Abahai said: "Big Belle has established himself in North Korea. Of course we are going to Pyongyang."
Abahai is the niece of Bu Zhantai, the leader of the Haixi Jurchen Ula tribe. Since her father died early, she was raised by her uncle.
In the 29th year of Wanli (1601), Nurhachi attacked and destroyed the Hada tribe of the Haixi Jurchen, and Buzhantai felt tremendous pressure. So Abahai, who was only 12 years old, married Nurhachi, who was 31 years older than him and had seven concubines.
However, Abahai still relied on his beauty and intelligence to be canonized as the "Dafujin" in the second year, and then gave birth to three sons and one daughter to the Khan. Even in the 42nd year of Wanli, his uncle fell out with Jianzhou because of Ye He's Dong brother, but it did not affect Abahai's status at all.
Abahai soon discovered something was wrong. This road was the road leading to Ye Hetong Wula. She asked sternly: "Shouldn't we go south when going to North Korea? Why are we going west?"
The guard was a little unhappy, thinking that this smart woman was really troublesome.
But on the surface, he still said politely: "The Great Khan will definitely suspect the Great Concubine when she disappears, and they will definitely pursue her all the way south."
"We are carrying two little brothers along the way, and the speed is definitely not as fast as the cavalry sent by the Great Khan, so we will go west first, and then cross the Tumen River and enter North Korea!"
In the end, they successfully arrived at Kaiyuan City through Ye He!
Although there is no horse market now, as Li Xianzhong's base, it is very safe here.
Many merchants still use this place as a transfer station for grassland trade. A large number of goods come in and out every day, and the market in Kaiyuan is also extremely lively.
Since there are a large number of military production bases in Pinglu Fort, the goods they produce are mainly sold through Kaiyuan Market.
There are a large number of copperware, porcelain and various daily necessities produced in Pinlupu on the Kaiyuan market.
Kaiyuan also opened a livestock trading market to sell live animals such as cattle, sheep, and horses.
Those businessmen who had made money and the officials of Kaiyuan Third Road bought houses in Kaiyuan City one after another, causing all the land in the city to be snapped up.
The houses and shops in Kaiyuan are also increasing, and entertainment industries such as brothels and restaurants have also developed.
Due to the implementation of the "Open China Law", merchants can trade goods out of customs in exchange for quotas, without additional taxes.
However, shops in Kaiyuan City are required to pay a fixed commercial tax. Kaiyuan Zhizhou Yamen will set a monthly fixed tax amount based on the type of industry and the size of the shop.
Vendors in mobile markets pay rent based on their space.
However, the overall tax rate is not very high, about one-tenth of their revenue, and there are tens of thousands of taels of business tax every month.
There is only one commercial tax in Kaiyuan City, and there are no exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by officials at all levels, nor extortion by green-skinned rogues.
It can be said that Kaiyuan's business environment is the best in the entire Ming Dynasty, bar none.
Therefore, businessmen are still very willing to pay these additional business taxes.
Of course, this commercial tax was collected additionally by Zhang Wenbing, the magistrate of Kaiyuan, ordered by Li Xianzhong.
Thirty percent of them are officials at all levels in Kaiyuan, and subsidies for servants are directly paid.
Given the level of pay for officials in the Ming Dynasty, if they didn't extort money, they probably wouldn't be able to survive first.
Officials are now willing to serve businessmen because the prosperity of Kaiyuan can directly increase their income.
Today, Kaiyuan is already planning to build a larger outer city.
After all, there are not many shops left in the city that can be rented out, and the cost of building the city wall is very high.
However, the prices of various land in the city will also rise with the tide, and it is still easy to earn back the money.
Although Kaiyuan is the current capital of Li Xianzhong, it is too close to the inland after all. In the future, it will be nothing more than a prosperous border town with limited development potential. What can be gained now is a little bit.
Abahai did not expect that she would be kidnapped by the Ming army and taken to Kaiyuan. She had almost never left Hetuala since marrying the Khan.
Although Hetuala is the capital of Dajin, compared with the prosperous Kaiyuan City, it is more like a rundown small county town.
Since she found out that these people were Ming soldiers, she didn't ask any more questions because they didn't tell her.
At this time, her heart was full of anxiety, but she was more worried about the safety of her two children, Dorgon and Dodo, than herself.
It's a pity that I can't do anything now.
Soon they were taken into Uncle Ningyuan's Mansion in Kaiyuan City.
At this time, Cui Shixing was being received by Li Xianzhong.
I saw Cui Shixing saying respectfully: "Cui Shixing of the Thousand Households in Huanghae Road, North Korea, Department of Intelligence, pays homage to Uncle Ning Yuan!"
Cui Shixing's resume is actually not false. His ancestor was indeed a court physician in the Goryeo Dynasty, and he himself is indeed proficient in medical skills.
As one of the first Intelligence Department personnel discovered by Kong Youde in North Korea, Cui Shixing has been promoted to the fifth rank, Qianhu, and is the person in charge of the Intelligence Department in Hwanghae Province, North Korea.
Li Xianzhong said: "Cui Qianhu went deep into Hetuala this time. He has worked hard and achieved great results. He should be promoted to the town governor of the Intelligence Department!"
Although Zhen Fu Envoy is only from the fourth rank, he is already the second in command after Kong Youde in the North Korean Intelligence Department.
Cui Shixing hurriedly said: "This time it was all Uncle Ning Yuan's ingenious plan. Cui Shixing didn't dare to take credit!"
Li Xianzhong said: "Mr. Cui Zhen doesn't have to be humble. I am also a little knowledgeable in medicine. Although the principle of this 'fire therapy' method is simple, it requires extremely high skills from the doctor. If Cui Zhenfushi hadn't completed the treatment quickly, I'm afraid that The old slave won’t be able to survive the treatment at all.”
"Originally, according to the rules of the Intelligence Department, each individual and organization will receive half of the rewards for performing tasks. I made an exception and rewarded all the thousand taels of gold to Ambassador Cui Zhen."
"My uncle has prepared a house for you in Kaiyuan City. Your family will no longer have to suffer in North Korea. They will all become Ming people by then. In the future, your heirs can take over your official position or even your title!"
Cui Shixing's eyes suddenly shone when he heard this, and he said: "Thank you uncle for your kindness! My subordinates spared no effort when treating Nurhachi. He can only survive for 3 months at most."
Li Xianzhong nodded with satisfaction and said: "You have a new appointment. North Korea's leader Jin Zidian will arrange for you to enter North Korea's internal hospital as a post of chief minister. Kong Youde will assign specific tasks to you."
After Cui Shixing retreated, Abahai was brought to Li Xianzhong.
Originally, according to Huang Taiji's request, Abahai would be executed secretly after being sent out of the city.
However, Li Xianzhong was still very interested in the concubine who fascinated Nurhachi and his generation, so he asked Fan Wencai to bring the three of them to Kaiyuan.
After all, Abahai is known as the "second most beautiful woman in Manchuria", and his wife Haqiya has inherited the appearance of Dong Ge, the "most beautiful woman in Manchuria". He still wants to compare the two.
Although due to the hasty escape and the bumpy road, Abahai's makeup was not intact, and her hair was even a little messy.
However, the well-informed Li Xianzhong was still amazed!
His skin is as fair as jade, his eyes are as deep as black pools, and he exudes a noble temperament.
Abahai's facial features are also very delicate, especially her long and picturesque eyebrows, coupled with her affectionate eyes, it is easy to be fascinated by her.
Of course, what surprised Li Xianzhong the most was her curvy figure, which looked very well-proportioned.
It's hard to imagine that this is a thirty-year-old lady who has given birth to four children.
Even standing next to Hazia, she is not much inferior, but rather like a twenty-year-old elder sister, exuding the unique charm of a mature woman!
Abahai was also surprised by the other party's appearance.
The young man wearing a red unicorn suit in front of him must be in his early twenties at most.
Although she had long heard that Li Xianzhong, Ning Yuanbo of the Ming Dynasty, was very young, Nurhachi and others had always described him as a murderous demon.
Therefore, Abahai could not help but imagine him as a ferocious butcher.
The Uncle Ning Yuan in front of him was very handsome with a high nose and sharp eyebrows.
He was so heroic that he was better than any man she had ever seen before.
How is it possible that such a handsome young man actually killed Abatai and Amin, who were highly skilled in martial arts, and slaughtered tens of thousands of Dajin soldiers?
Li Xianzhong first broke the deadlock and said: "Don't you want to ask yourself why you came here?"
Abahai bowed to Li Xianzhong and said: "I am just a woman abandoned by the Great Khan, and I am no longer a concubine!"
"Uncle Ning Yuan, don't waste any more time on me."
The Jurchens do not have any concept of keeping abreast of their husbands. They regard women more as a kind of property inheritance. After the death of the husband, it is normal for a wife to follow her brother or son (not a biological child).
Abahai's ability to take the initiative to seek out Daishan further proves that she is not a chaste and fierce woman.
Li Xianzhong naturally saw through this hard-to-get trick at a glance.
He smiled and said: "You were indeed deposed as concubine by Nurhaci, but your sons Dorgon and Duduo are still the sons of the old slave."
When Li Xianzhong talked about Dorgon and Duoduo, Abahai shuddered. It was obvious that Li Xianzhong had grasped her weakness!
In fact, Li Xianzhong met Abahai out of curiosity at first, but he and Hazia always spent less time together and more time apart, and they almost died last time in the capital.
As a normal man, he still needs to vent, and visiting a brothel in his current capacity is even more inappropriate.
It was obvious that Abahai had attracted his attention. At this moment, he suddenly understood why there were so many "Cao thieves".
After all, women who conquer their opponents also have a sense of accomplishment, but it's a pity that Nurhachi didn't see it with his own eyes.
Adults don't need too much explanation. Sometimes they can understand the other person's thoughts with just a look.
Abahai knew very well what she wanted to do to Li Xianzhong now.
The two soon fell in love with each other. The experienced Abahai naturally knew how to satisfy Li Xianzhong better than a little girl like Haqiya.
And Li Xianzhong's physical fitness is naturally much stronger than that of Daishan and his son!
Li Xianzhong also generously told Abahai that Nurhachi was about to die soon, and Daishan had been forced to stand on his own by Huang Taiji.
She didn't expect that Si Beile, who usually seemed harmless to humans and animals, could be so vicious. He had repeatedly framed Daishan and even wanted to kill herself to silence him.
As a mother, she begged Li Xianzhong to let Dorgon and Duduo go.
She knew about the Imperial Alliance Army.
Although Nurhaci had been trying to block the news, under the operation of the Intelligence Department, thousands of people in the Zhenglan Banner surrendered, and the news of the Imperial Alliance Army's attack on Mardun Village spread in Hetuala.
She even proposed that the two of them recognize Li Xianzhong as their adoptive father, and when they grew up, they would join the Imperial Army to fight for the Ming Dynasty.
After all, as the sons of the Great Khan, it is still very useful to use them to rule the Jianzhou people.
Li Xianzhong admitted that Abahai's proposal still had some appeal, and he himself had considered it.
However, Dorgon's failure to enter the Pass ended the Han people's empire, and Duduo caused many massacres such as the "Ten Days in Yangzhou" in the south of the Yangtze River.
With these two people as adopted sons, he felt that he was more dangerous than Dong Zhuo.
Li Xianzhong said: "The Imperial Alliance Army does not include pure Jianzhou Jurchens, but only incorporates Haixi Jurchens and other ethnic groups who were forcibly conscripted into Jianzhou by Nurhaci."
"I will definitely exterminate the Jianzhou Jurchen clan!"
"But you are from the Uranala clan, and the two of them are at most half Jianzhou people. For the sake of your enjoyment, I will give them a free pass. I promise not to kill them and send them to the intelligence agency." Si will act as a spy for the Ming Dynasty from now on."
After careful consideration, he decided to follow the Ming Dynasty tradition and send the young son of the captured enemy chief to the Ming Palace as a eunuch.
Maybe in the future these two people can become famous eunuchs.
The famous eunuch Zheng He of the Three Treasures in history and Wang Zhi, the admiral of the West Factory, were sent to the Ming Palace in this way.
One of them is 8 years old and the other is 6 years old. It is appropriate for them to be trained in the Intelligence Department for a while and then sent to the palace.
Anyway, the Intelligence Department has been sending young eunuchs to Ming Palace.
So Dorgon and Duduo were sent to the training point set up by the Intelligence Department in Kaiyuan.
People recruited from all over the country gather here.
Especially some people with particularly outstanding looks are easily favored by powerful people, so they will be trained from an early age. In the future, they will become gold medal agents of the Intelligence Department.
Those who look different will be trained as eunuchs, slaves, palace maids, and maids.
The first step for those chosen to serve as eunuchs was to purify themselves.
Only by castration can they settle down and aspire to be eunuchs.
Usually the selected young eunuchs will be starved, beaten and other punitive measures before being purified, until they can't stand it anymore and are willing to sign an agreement to prove that they have voluntarily castrated.
This is actually an examination of them. People who can't stand it after a while basically have no great future, and such young eunuchs will lose the qualifications for key training.
Only those young eunuchs with a certain amount of patience are more likely to succeed in the future.
Then various courses will be arranged for them, teaching them a series of rules such as doing odd jobs, serving tea and water, and even how to reply.
Among them, retired old eunuchs from the palace will inspect and score these young eunuchs.
Then continue to do targeted intensive training based on their strengths.
In order to determine which yamen in the palace they will be sent to serve as errands in the future.
Those who performed well would also be arranged to teach them literacy, as well as the hobbies and habits of some of their masters in the palace, and how to please their masters and the eunuchs in charge.
Of course, ideological work is indispensable. These young eunuchs must be given ideological training for at least an hour every night.
Let them aspire to become outstanding eunuchs from an early age, and they must always be loyal to the Intelligence Department.
There will also be some loyalty tests mixed in during the training. If they fail the test and eventually betray the Intelligence Division, then only death awaits them.
The entire course lasts about 9 months, and less than 30% of the young eunuchs can eventually pass the test and be sent to the palace.
But once these young eunuchs were sent to the palace, their adaptability, ability to please the old eunuch, and ability to please their masters were simply not comparable to those of eunuchs of the same age.
Especially for those young eunuchs who are focused on training, the Intelligence Department will also arrange special personnel to pave the way for them, so that they can be promoted quickly and contribute to the Intelligence Department as soon as possible.
According to the training eunuch, Dorgon and Duduo performed very well in the first test, directly breaking the original record.
Because most young eunuchs cannot survive three days, those who can survive five days are considered excellent.
The two brothers persisted for more than ten days before signing the contract.
That was because Duduo was ill, and Dorgon was forced to sign this contract in order to save his younger brother.
In any case, these two brothers have "voluntarily" purified themselves.
Now they have accepted this reality, joined the Intelligence Department, and determined to be a promising eunuch.
Dorgon and Duduo still need to undergo a period of training before they can be sent to the Ming Palace.
Currently the most shining eunuch in the Forbidden City is undoubtedly Wei Zhongxian.
Although he has become the eunuch of the Bureau of Ceremonies, the eunuch Bingbi and the admiral of the East Factory, Eunuch Wei is still far from being "nine thousand years old".
Because currently the biggest celebrity around Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao is not Wei Zhongxian, but his wet nurse "Mrs. Fengsheng" Ke Yinyue.
Therefore, Eunuch Wei's pursuit of the "holy lady" became even more intense.
Especially the East Pearl given by Li Xianzhong, it is a priceless treasure that can only be found but cannot be sought. Naturally, Ke Yinyue cannot put it down.
The love affair between Eunuch Wei and the "Beng Sheng Lady" gradually came to light.
Originally, he had considered saving some face for his "brother" Wei Chao, but now he was just doing it unscrupulously.
After Wei Chao discovered the relationship between the two, he even scolded Wei Zhongxian for being ungrateful.
Once, the two even fought in the Xinuang Pavilion of Qianqing Palace in order to compete for the Hakka family, which directly alerted Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Tianqi.
In fact, Zhu Youxiao had already noticed the relationship between Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka family.
He asked directly: "Madam Fengsheng, who are you willing to pair up with?"
Ke Yinyue finally chose Wei Zhongxian.
So Emperor Tianqi personally designated Wei Zhongxian and his guest Yinyue as a pair of food.
Now that he has seen through, Wei Zhongxian naturally no longer needs to be polite to Wei Chao.
Soon he demoted his "brother" Wei Chao to Fengyang, and finally killed Wei Chao directly.
The two of them sang together and completely influenced Emperor Tianqi.
Wei Zhongxian tried his best to make Zhu Youxiao happy, accompanying him on boating, riding horses, and doing carpentry work.
Wei Zhongxian also organized the maids and eunuchs to line up in the palace and conduct drills in the morning and evening, which was called "internal training".
Emperor Tianqi could command everyone to fight with each other like a general, making the harem a mess.
Even Wang An, the eunuch and eunuch who is the nominal boss of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, is helpless about this.
Zhu Youxiao can't live without Ke Yinyue for a moment now. Zhu Youxiao, who is 16 years old, actually has to be coaxed to sleep by his wet nurse every night.
There are even rumors that the two slept together.
Now that the 100-day mourning period for Emperor Wanli and Emperor Taichang has passed, the emperor has grown up, and all the officials have written letters to choose a queen for Emperor Tianqi.
But Emperor Tianqi said that this year the Ming Dynasty lost two emperors in a row. He was extremely sad and had no intention of choosing a successor.
Therefore, it is requested that the post-election be postponed to next year.
Originally this was an act of great filial piety, and ministers should not object.
But now that His Majesty and the Hakkas live together day and night and are inseparable, the ministers have to have other associations.
It turns out that the "Fengsheng Lady" Ke Yinyue is 18 years older than Emperor Tianqi, and ministers should not think this way.
But Ming Dynasty had a bad precedent in this regard.
Chenghua Emperor Zhu Jianshen's concubine Wan Guifei was 17 years older than him.
Since there is already a person who is 17 years older, the one who is 18 years older is not so safe.
Fortunately, Ke Yinyue is already married and has a son, otherwise she would be a replica of Wan Guifei.
Therefore, Chief Assistant Ye Xianggao and others did not agree with Emperor Tianqi's delay in choosing his concubine.
Their reasoning is also very simple. There are three types of unfilial piety, and the worst is not having an heir!
This is true for ordinary people, but the heirs of the royal family are even more important.
In the end, both parties took a step back and completed the selection of queens and concubines this year. Next year, they will hold the canonization ceremony of the queen and concubines to officially welcome them into the palace.
So the Ministry of Rites issued an edict to the world: Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Tianqi is getting married. Within and outside the capital, from a family of officials and people with virtue, he must choose a woman whose parents are virtuous and have a good family law. She is between thirteen and sixteen years old. Anyone with a clean appearance, pure temperament, calm speech and movement, and good manners can be selected as a lady.
The news of the emperor's wedding quickly spread throughout the world. The Ming Dynasty has always had a tradition of selecting girls from good families from among the people, and it was also a shortcut for many commoners to become relatives of the emperor.
Soon, five thousand ladies to be selected gathered in the capital.
Whether chosen as a queen or a concubine, it is the best way for the Intelligence Department to send spies to the palace.
Of course, Li Xianzhong, who had a "God's perspective", would not miss this opportunity. Soon the commander of the Intelligence Department, Mao Yuanyi, returned to the capital to take command.
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(End of chapter)
