In the 22nd year of Kuanyong, it was the seventh day of the sixth lunar month.
The 21-year-old Emperor Koiko, who lives in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan, does not know that the trajectory of his life will change dramatically on this day.
In the early morning of this day, the Empress woke up from the erotic dream of dating Hikaru Genji again. Throughout the next morning, she felt ashamed of her dream and lamented her misfortune.
The life of being born into an imperial family and becoming emperor at a young age was not what Emperor Koiko wanted. She would rather be born into a wealthy feudal lord's family like her cousins.
Her mother, Tokugawa Kazuko, was the daughter of the second-generation general Tokugawa Hidetada and the royal family Asai. This background was nothing to the Imperial family, but it was extremely noble to the samurai family.
If Kazuko hadn't married the emperor, she would have married into a wealthy feudal lord's family with hundreds of thousands of stones... Koiko would often imagine that her father was a particularly wealthy feudal lord, and she grew up. When she grows up, she can also marry a rich and very handsome feudal lord. In this way, she will not have to worry about spending her whole life, and she can also enjoy the love of her husband, give birth to several children, and watch them grow up little by little.
This is Xingzi’s dream life!
But now, although she is the emperor, it is not affordable at all. The entire imperial family only has a total income of 10,000 shi. This is not her personal income, but the income of the entire imperial family!
Except for her mother, Tokugawa Kazuko, who also had an additional allowance from the shogunate, the entire imperial family lived on such a small amount of money... That was an imperial family, and there were many places to spend money!
First of all, the Imperial Palace is so big that it needs to be repaired, right? Although the Imperial Palace is becoming more and more dilapidated with repairs, it still has to be repaired. Without repairs, it will no longer be inhabitable.
Secondly, the female officials in the palace always have to give food, clothing and monthly money, right? Otherwise, they would all run away, and the Emperor would still have to do his own laundry and cooking, which would be unseemly!
Thirdly, Emperor Masahito and his bunch of concubines have to spend money, right? Emperor Masahito retired early and was in good health, so he took in many concubines with poor looks. In fact, Emperor Masahito's concubine was the prettiest, but Masahito was not interested in her. Being beautiful means that his bloodline is not noble! Isn’t it because she followed Asai Nagamasa and Oda Ichi that she became beautiful?
Fourth, the most hateful thing is that Emperor Jung-in continues to have children! Every time he gives birth to a child, the emperor's already thin purse will become even thinner. Moreover, the son of Emperor Jung-in and those ugly and weird concubines will inherit the throne of Queen Heung-ja... It makes me angry just thinking about it! Moreover, the "ugly" brothers and sisters can get married, but she cannot.
It’s so infuriating!
But it was useless for her to be angry to death. Her father still asked her when she was going to abdicate the throne as soon as they met... This is also in Japan. If the Ming Dynasty was next door, who would dare to ask Emperor Chongzhen such a question?
In fact, Emperor Koiko doesn't particularly care about the throne. The question is where can she retreat? If you haven't saved up any money for your position, how can you survive if you give up your position?
The Koiko Emperor has been frugal since he was sensible, and has never lived a good life where he spends money lavishly.
The thing she regrets most now is that she didn't take advantage of her grandfather Tokugawa Hidetada's lifetime to save a little more money for a private house...Grandpa still loved her, and she could always get a lot of money if she really wanted to be poor. . But her uncle Tokugawa Iemitsu was not so easy to talk to, and Iemitsu was not familiar with her either!
Moreover, once she became the emperor, she was too embarrassed to write to her uncle, a general, begging for money!
So Emperor Koiko is a poor emperor. If he abdicates the throne again... he will have to die in poverty?
Just before noon, when Emperor Koiko was about to enjoy a lunch that was full of ceremony but actually contained no real ingredients, he suddenly came to report that General Zhengyi and Guan Bai both came to the imperial palace and asked for summoned.
"Nani?" Queen Koiko was stunned when she heard this, "Isn't the general far away in Nagoya? Why did he come to Kyoto? Could it be..."
As she spoke, Queen Xing was already a little nervous.
She frowned her slightly upside-down eyebrows and said, "Please, General and Guan Bai, wait at the Zichen Hall. I will go right away."
Shichenden is the most magnificent hall in the Imperial Palace of Kyoto. When it is not windy or raining, it is the ideal place for the emperor to receive ministers. If it is windy and rainy, water leaks in Shichenden, and the ministers may get wet.
Fortunately, it was a sunny day today, so Empress Koko was able to summon Tokugawa Iemitsu, who had traveled from Kyushu, and Guanbai Kujo Daofang, who accompanied Iemitsu, in the very dark Zichen Palace.
Although I said I could see it, I couldn't actually see it at all, because there was a bamboo curtain between them, so I could only vaguely see people's figures.
"Your Majesty the Emperor..." Kujo Dobō reported to the Emperor in a very strange "Ya Yin" that seemed to be spoken in a hoarse voice, "General Zheng Yi, Iemitsu, the elder of the Genji family, came from Nagoya. I have something important to report."
Queen Xingzi also said in a elegant voice that could only be spoken in a high voice: "Really? What's the important matter?"
He asked, but in his heart he thought: What important matter could the Emperor have? You don't want me to abdicate, do you?
Tokugawa Iemitsu could not say "Ya Yin", so he said to the emperor behind the curtain in a normal tone: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Arimei proposed to your Majesty..."
"Nani?" Queen Xingyu was really frightened, and even her voice became normal.
"Your Majesty," Tokugawa Iemitsu said, "an envoy from the Ming Dynasty arrived in Nagoya a few days ago and asked you to marry His Highness Cijiong, King Ning of the Ming Dynasty..."
"What happened..." Queen Xing's breath was a little short, "I wonder what His Royal Highness Prince Ning of the Ming Dynasty looks like? What is your official salary this year? How much is his salary..."
Isn’t this too direct a question?
Tokugawa Iemitsu and Kujo Daofou were both stunned...How much does this emperor want to get married?
"Ah," Tokugawa Iemitsu said, "Your Majesty, the painting minister of Prince Ning of the Ming Dynasty has been brought here."
"Roll up the bamboo curtain." Empress Xing immediately ordered the female officials to roll up the bamboo curtain - she had to see clearly.
After rolling up the bamboo curtain, Empress Koiko saw a man, probably Tokugawa Iemitsu, handing a scroll to an attendant. The attendant raised the scroll high above his head, and then another attendant unfolded the scroll. An upside-down figure suddenly appeared in front of Queen Xing'er.
"Took it down!" Queen Xingyu muttered, and did not let the attendants put the painting back. Instead, she got up and walked out to look at it.
"This painting is so long!" Xingzi found that the unfolded scroll was too long and the attendant couldn't lift it up. Part of it was spread on the floor.
"It's not the painting chief," Tokugawa Iemitsu said, "but the fact that King Ning of the Ming Dynasty was very tall... Although he was only 14 years old, he was already a handsome man."
"Only 14 years old... so young?" Queen Xingyu had already seen the face in the portrait of Prince Ning Zhu Cijiong, "He is really very handsome, exactly like the Guangyuan clan in the dream!"
Iemitsu glanced at the emperor and noticed that she seemed to be swallowing...
"Your Majesty," Iemitsu quickly changed the subject, "The salary of King Ning of Ming Dynasty is 2 million dan!"
"Two million..." Emperor Xingzi suspected that he was dreaming, 2 million dan! It’s twice as much as Maeda’s million koku, and it’s almost as big as the Shogun’s!
"Then, can he like me?" Emperor Xingzi was no longer confident.
Tokugawa Iemitsu said seriously: "Your Majesty, you are the Emperor of Japan!"
"Oh..." Emperor Xingzi nodded, "The emperor of ten thousand koku... By the way, can the emperor get married?"
"Yes!" Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded heavily, "But after you get married, you can no longer be the emperor, but you have to abdicate and become the emperor."
"Yao Xi..." Emperor Xingzi frowned with slightly upside-down brows, a rather upright face full of worries, "I wonder if this prince of the Ming Dynasty is willing to marry an emperor. ?”
"Your Majesty," Tokugawa Iemitsu said with a smile, "This marriage can resolve the long-term war between the Ming Dynasty and Japan. This must be the wish of the Ming Emperor. Therefore, your marriage to Prince Ning of the Ming Dynasty will definitely succeed!"
