Within the Xiyuan, surrounded by mountains and rivers, there are beautiful buildings and jade buildings, giving the impression of a heavenly family.
Zheng Zhilong held the future Empress Zheng in his arms and followed Pang Tianshou and Shang Fuming on the bluestone road between the mountains and rivers. From time to time, he could see eunuchs and maids walking silently.
The eunuchs and maids here all look very young. They were obviously recruited by Zhu Youjian after he took over the power - he really grew up in the emperor's family, and he doesn't think there is anything wrong with using eunuchs as his slaves. The key is Use it with confidence.
Therefore, the "old people" left behind by Emperor Tianqi were either sent to the prince's mansion, or left to eat and die in the increasingly deserted Forbidden City. Those who can work in places such as Xiyuan, Xuanfu Imperial City, Datong Imperial City, and Nanhaizi Palace are basically young newcomers.
In addition, after the replacement of the old with the new, the number of eunuchs used by the Tianjia was greatly reduced. From the tens of thousands during the Tianqi years, the number dropped significantly to less than 1,000.
Because the number of people was small, they could not do the work that tens of thousands of people had done before, so most of the hard work in the palace was packaged to the handymen hired from outside the palace.
As for the new Xiaohuangmen, except for some tasks that must be done by eunuchs, they have to go to the inner study to attend classes!
But don’t think that you can stop studying if you cut off your lifeblood! This is really life-long learning, even after cutting off the balls!
Moreover, the homework in the inner study is very difficult. What you learn is almost the same as what Nizi learned. If you are good at it, you have to learn management from Widow Xu - now the Imperial Village is divided into two divisions, the left and right. The department is still under the supervision of Yu Ma, and the eunuchs who will take charge of the affairs in the future will have to be selected from these small yellow gates who study in the inner study.
As for Yousi, it was returned to Shang Gong Bureau, which was put in charge of Xu Ruolan.
By the way, Xu Ruolan has been promoted again. She gave birth to a daughter for Zhu Youjian at the beginning of the sixth year of Chongzhen, but Zhu Youjian did not bring her into the harem. Instead, he named her "Mrs. Zhaobao" (sounds like a lucky cat) and put her in charge. Youhuangzhuangsi. She also promoted several people from the Bai family of Shanxi merchants where her late husband lived to serve in important positions in Youhuangzhuangsi, and also let the Bai family take over Tianjin Wei's commercial port... Of course, the direct superior of Tianjin Wei commercial port is Youhuang The boss is in charge of "Mrs. Zhaobao" Xu Ruolan.
As for the young palace maid, she has many uses. The ones who look good can be promoted to waiters, and the smart ones can also enter the study room and become classmates... The rest can be used for a few years, and can be given a dowry to the front of the tent or the front of the palace. Military officers and soldiers become wives to win over people's hearts.
Moreover, it is a year of great disaster, and there are boys and girls everywhere who are about to starve to death. Choosing them to enter the palace will be a great favor for their survival!
And these little eunuchs and maids who have just entered the palace also cherish the current "happy life" of having enough food and drink and getting some money, so they are all very diligent and careful, compared to a bunch of old oilmen in the early years. I don’t know how much better it is.
Under their careful care, Nuoda Xiyuan really has a bit of a fairyland on earth.
After walking in this fairyland-like place for an unknown amount of time, Zheng Zhilong, who was holding a girl in his arms all the way, felt a little sore when he came to a building that exuded a fairy-like atmosphere. Pang Tianshou and Shang Fuming both stopped.
Shang Fuming turned around and said to everyone: "Everyone, please wait a moment. Our family and Eunuch Pang will go ahead to report to the Long Live Lord."
Pang Tianshou warned: "Be careful!" Then he and Shang Fuming walked to the palace in front.
Zheng Zhilong, Li Guozhu, Han Buan, and Hans Putsmann looked at each other with expectant expressions.
They did not wait for too long when they heard Pang Tianshou's voice coming from the palace: "Slave Pang Tianshou, accompanied by Admiral Zheng Zhilong, General Li Guozhu, foreign general Hans Putsmann, and general officer Han Bu'an introduced , I respectfully request the Holy Spirit to inquire..."
Zhu Youjian's voice sounded in the palace, "Where's the tea girl? Is she here?"
Zheng Zhilong's ears were very sharp, and when he heard Zhu Youjian's words, his heartbeat accelerated!
Does this long-lived man really value Tea Girl that much?
"Coming, coming too..." Pang Tianshou's voice rang.
Then came Zhu Youjian's voice again: "Boss, your wife is here. You go and play with her for a while. I want to talk to your old Taishan for a while."
Zheng Zhilong was stunned after hearing this... The woman he was holding turned out to be the future empress of the Ming Dynasty! But you have to hold it carefully, hold it firmly, and don't fall!
"My son, I have received the decree." A child's voice sounded majestic.
Then I saw a six- or seven-year-old boy wearing a small arrow jacket, swaggering out, followed by a little girl holding a rag doll, also six or seven years old, very big, almost bigger than The boy is a little taller. Behind the two little boys, there was a young female official and several eunuchs and maids, and then they saw Pang Tianshou coming out.
Needless to say, these two little brats are Zhu Cihong and Wu Sanmei...real childhood sweethearts, childhood sweethearts, oh, they are about to become childhood sweethearts. What an enviable threesome!
Zhu Cihong still looked like a young adult. After leaving the door of Yuxi Palace, he walked straight to Zheng Zhilong who was holding Zheng Chagu in his arms.
Zheng Zhilong quickly put his daughter on the ground, then bent down and saluted: "Your Majesty Zheng Zhilong, I sincerely wish you a safe and happy life."
"Flat body." Zhu Cixiang responded in a pretentious manner, and then walked up to the ignorant tea girl, "Little sister, there are rocking horses and slides on Nantai Island, which are really fun! There are also many beautiful cats. Want to play?"
"I think..." Zheng Chagu nodded, and then looked at her father eagerly.
Nantai is Yingtai. Yingtai is gone. There are only Yingtai rocking horses, Yingtai slides and Yingtai royal cats... This place is a children's paradise.
Although Zhu Cihong had a lot to learn, he still needed to balance work and rest, so Empress Zhou had people build such a place.
However, Zhu Cixiang didn't like it very much. He preferred to ride a little red horse in Xiyuan in his free time. While riding, he would also shoot targets with a small bow... Look at this, in the future He is also an emperor on horseback.
And the future emperor on horseback was very good at coaxing little girls. Not only did he coax Wu Sanmei into submission, but he also lured Zheng Chagu away with just a few words. Zheng Chagu, who just wanted her mother, after obtaining the consent of her father Zheng Zhilong, followed Zhu Cihong and Wu Sanmei...
Looking at his daughter's leaving figure, Zheng Zhilong was of course in a good mood - from now on, the Zheng family will be the in-laws of Emperor Zheng!
"Everyone, please come with us. Don't keep the emperor waiting." Pang Tianshou's voice rang again at this time, urging everyone to follow him into the Yuxi Hall to meet the saint.
Zheng Zhilong and others quickly followed and entered the Yuxi Palace together. After entering the Yuxi Palace, they discovered that in the Yuxi Palace, in addition to the Emperor Tianming and a few Daxians, there were also a group of civil servants in court uniforms, who should be the bosses of the Sixth Department of the Cabinet.
Seeing this scene, Hans Putsmann was so excited! He was merely an executive of the United East India Company, not an envoy of the Prince of Orange, nor did he carry the credentials of the United Provinces. Therefore, his visit was semi-official at best. Being able to see the Emperor of Ming Dynasty has shown that the Ming Dynasty attaches great importance to it. Now even the big bosses from the six cabinet departments are here, obviously treating him as an official envoy.
Following the etiquette given to him by Pang Tianshou, Hans Putsmann, Zheng Zhilong, Li Guozhu, and Han Bu'an together gave Zhu Youjian a grand gift. He just stood up and wanted to hand over the gift list that he had prepared long ago, but Zhu Youjian spoke first.
He spoke in fluent Latin: "Free monopoly, freedom of monopoly... This is what the United East India Company wants, and it is also what I, the Emperor of China, want. But our goals do not conflict, so I believe that the Ming Dynasty and the United East India Company can cooperate!"
