Asan Palace, thatched palace.
Zhu Heji finally took a closer look at the little girl Li Wenji from a relatively close distance.
This little girl is only thirteen or fourteen years old. Of course, her body has not grown, but her facial features are as beautiful as the ones in the painting, with willow eyebrows and phoenix eyes, a beautiful nose and cherry mouth, and skin as smooth as gel. Although there are some places that are far inferior to "big beauties" like Da Bo Ling, those small and exquisite soft charms also have the characteristics of oriental beauties.
If you grow up for another four or five years, when you are eighteen years old, you still don’t know what you will be like?
"Your Majesty, our country has encountered a great calamity. The eldest son of the Li family has slaughtered all the barbarians for the Qing Dynasty. There is really no one who can be the king. I have no choice but to be a woman. I have the right to know the affairs of the country, but I have little talent and little virtue. In fact, I have no choice but to be a woman." It’s hard to be competent…”
It was Li Wenji who was kneeling at the feet of Zhu Heji, weeping and complaining. When the little girl talked about her sadness, she burst into tears, and the tears flowed down, dripping down the wood under her body. The floor was all wet.
The North Korean ministers who followed Ri Wen-hui also shed tears. Everyone cried bitterly. They looked as if the country was about to be subjugated... This "withdrawal" is not subjugation. Is it necessary to cry like this?
Zhu Heji looked at Li Wenji sympathetically, waiting for her to say the most crucial sentence... Only after she said that sentence could he comfort the little girl!
"Concubine, concubine Li Wenji, I sincerely request His Highness King Ming, the Supervisor of the Ming Dynasty, to withdraw from the Korean vassal state and establish prefectures and counties. From now on, all the mountains and rivers three thousand miles east of the sea will be integrated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, so that tens of millions of people in Korea will become the people of the emperor, and they will always be blessed by heaven. .
If the king can grant my request, I would like to become a nun and pray for the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng to pray for the king and the Ming Dynasty..."
After saying this, Li Wenji, who was already crying, tremblingly took out the upper sheet written in the name of "Knowledge of North Korea's state affairs" and raised it high above her head.
Yan Yuan quickly took Li Wenji's form and handed it to Zhu Heji. Zhu Heji was also a little excited... This was a new territory!
Although Zhu Heji now has three-thirds of the world and holds the territory of six provinces, these territories have long been the basic territory of China and cannot be regarded as opening up new territories.
And to withdraw the Korean vassal state and establish provinces and counties, that would be a real expansion of territory!
From now on, Ming and Korea will always be one and never be separated.
This contribution will be remembered for generations to come. .
"Wen Ji, you are my hero for the Ming Dynasty, and also my hero for Zhu Heji... Ming Dynasty will never forget your contribution, and I, Zhu Heji, will never forget it!" Zhu Heji's tone was also a little excited. , he paused, calmed down, and then said: "Wenji, don't say that you became a nun or something like that, you will be the princess of my Ming Dynasty from now on! Your title is Princess Ming'an, right?"
"Yes." Li Wenji replied.
Zhu Heji nodded: "Ming'an... The Ming Dynasty is peaceful and the people are safe!
This title is good and you can keep it. However, a princess is not enough to gain merit. Only Princess Ming'an can slightly equal your contribution to the Ming Dynasty. I will name you Princess Ming'an of the Ming Dynasty for the time being!
Your princess is different from other princesses. Her status and salary are comparable to those of a prince. She can also be hereditary... If her son succeeds to the throne, she can be renamed King of Han and guard Seoul. "
"I thank you Lord for your kindness." Li Wenji quickly thanked her.
Zhu Heji said again: "Ming'an, don't be too busy thanking me. I still have a large reward to give you...but you are still young and not suitable to receive it. How old are you this year?"
"I am fourteen years old this year." Li Wenji replied.
Zhu Heji nodded, "Fourteen is too young. How about I reward you when you turn eighteen?"
Li Wenji seemed to have guessed what Zhu Heji's reward was? He didn't agree immediately, but raised his head and looked at Zhu Heji with a red face.
Zhu Heji's appearance in the 21st century is very un-Korean and un-"fresh". He is just a vicious old man with a beard, who looks like he is about to bite someone.
But in the seventeenth century, this kind of honor was quite popular with women. Da Bo Ling liked it very much, and Qiu Shuzhen also thought Zhu Heji looked majestic!
As for Li Wenji, who grew up in the Joseon court, she saw "Korean Wave" and "fresh meat"-looking people every day, but they were all eunuchs.
Therefore, in her eyes, Zhu Heji was a good man who was also "fierce and high-spirited".
"How?" Zhu Heji asked with a smile, "Are you willing to agree?"
"Well..." Li Wenji pursed her lips, hummed softly, and bowed down again.
"Okay, okay!" Zhu Heji smiled and nodded, looking very happy, "Ming'an, let me tell you about the salary of this Ming prince... Although the current new Ming has inherited the orthodoxy of the previous Ming, However, many bad policies were also abolished, including the bad policy that the kings' salaries were too generous.
Nowadays, in addition to the widow and the Supreme Heavenly King, there is only one Tang king in the Ming Dynasty, who is the sixth brother of the widow and a hereditary prince. His annual salary is ten thousand silver dollars! Ming'an, from now on your salary will be the same as his, which is also 10,000 silver yuan! "
"Ten thousand silver dollars?" Li Wenji seemed to have no idea about silver dollars, so she asked curiously, "Is it a lot?"
"Your Highness," Song Shilie took the question, his voice trembling a little, "Ten thousand silver dollars is equivalent to ten million copper coins, and can buy about ten thousand shi of white rice."
"Ten thousand shi of white rice..."
Li Wenji felt as if she had been hit by happiness.
The salary standard in North Korea is very low. The monarch with the highest official title naturally received the highest salary in North Korea, with an annual income of one hundred shi per meter and thirty-two pieces of cloth. If it were all broken into white rice, it would be one hundred and thirteen stones. However, one stone in Korea is more than one stone in Ming Dynasty. One hundred and thirteen Korean stones is equivalent to about 200 stones in Ming Dynasty. However, these two hundred stones are not white rice, but medium rice and brown rice.
In addition, North Korean officials can also get job land, and the Maharaja can get about 220 knots (six to seven thousand acres) of job land. However, these job fields are not completely owned or controlled by the prince. Instead, the land rent can only be collected according to the standard of one knot and four dou, which is equivalent to eighty-eight ashes of rice, plus the previous two hundred ashes, one year. My income is less than 300 gold stones...
This is the standard of a "majestic king" and cannot be obtained by Princess Ming'an (she is a princess in North Korea).
As soon as Zhu Heji took action, he gave Princess Ming'an a salary that was thirty times that of the North Korean monarch... This salary increase really skyrocketed. From now on, if Princess Ming'an wants to buy luxury goods from the Ming Dynasty, she no longer has to worry about running out of money!
"I thank you for your kindness!" After Princess Ming'an came to her senses, she thanked her happily again.
And as Zhu Heji reported the number "ten thousand silver dollars", the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became cheerful.
Of course these North Korean officials knew that Ming Dynasty officials were all "highly paid"... and here, the monarch only had an income of about 300 Mingshi a year, which is estimated to be less than 300 silver dollars, and only about 300 Mingshi a month. Twenty dollars.
This income in today's Ming Dynasty is almost the standard income of an eighth-rank official.
Zhu Heji also noticed everyone's thoughts, and immediately smiled and said: "All North Korean officials who follow Princess Ming'an will be converted into officials of the Ming Dynasty... However, their grades and positions must be re-determined. As for the Of course, the salary is the same as that of Ming officials at the same level. Nowadays, the official salary set by the new Ming Dynasty is relatively generous, so after you become a Ming official, your income should be increased several times or even ten times!"
When the two senior officials below heard that they could get such a huge salary increase, they immediately tasted what Ming Dynasty had to offer... This is included, it's a bit late!
Thinking of this, someone immediately cheered: "Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live the Ming Dynasty..."
Then there was great joy.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Heji also burst out laughing, but he thought in his heart: "Don't be too happy too early. Ten times the salary must be ten times the effort... Under the wise leadership of the widow, North Korea The annual income will have to increase ten to twenty times in the future!"
