Even Zhao Wushu's troops, after arriving with all the cannons captured in De'an, were unable to break through the rebel camp in a short time. Although Xie Jinchuan has never actually been on the battlefield, his foundation is very solid. Arranging the entire formation into a strange formation, no matter which direction Cao Rui attacked, he would encounter desperate resistance from the rebels' cannons, bows and arrows, and the built earth fortresses.
But fortunately, the rebels on the north bank came from afar for reinforcements, and they could only carry limited food and grass. Therefore, on the third day of the offensive and defensive battle, the rebels had already run out of food. In order to raise food, the rebels also sent troops and horses to plunder everywhere. However, the rebel cavalry was far from comparable to the elites of the four major battalions. Instead, it gave Cao Rui the opportunity to weaken the rebels. Originally, Cao Rui planned to adopt a long-term siege after learning that the rebels were out of food.
However, when Ouyang Shan launched a feint attack, he inadvertently broke more than ten camps on the rebel left flank. Cao Rui discovered that the rebel left wing was relatively weak, and because of the lack of food, the left wing generals were already wary of war. With this discovery, Cao Rui mobilized Zhao Wushu's troops to attack the rebel left flank with all his strength. And handed all the cannons to Zhao Wusha.
After a short half-day of fierce fighting, the 30,000 troops and horses on the left wing of the rebel army were defeated first. Then Cao Rui concentrated his troops and attacked the rebel central army with all his strength. By this time, the rebel army, which had been without food for three days, was no longer able to mount a massive resistance. In less than an hour, the entire Chinese army collapsed. By noon of the second day, the 20,000 rebels on the right wing, who were still intact, surrendered voluntarily when they saw that the central army was also defeated.
In the battle of Hualinshui, Cao Rui captured Xie Jinchuan, the rebel commander of Huguangdu, and led more than 100,000 rebels and captured countless baggage. Armor, various ordnance, fire, medicine, and cannonballs were piled up. More than fifty brass cannons alone were captured. However, because the horses were either captured by themselves before or killed by the hungry rebels, only more than 500 Tianzhu and Dali horses were captured.
Now Cao Rui has ordered Zhao Wuye to escort the prisoners back to Jiangning immediately, and Ouyang Shan immediately goes south to rescue Nan'an. The pseudo-emperor, the prince and the princess, and all the captured pseudo-officials captured by Ouyang Shan are being escorted to the capital. In the memorial, Cao Rui asked Huang Qiong for instructions to take command of the rest of the troops and rest on the spot for one to three months. Although they fought continuously, they defeated hundreds of thousands of rebels.
But the elites who went south have suffered heavy losses after continuous battles. Especially in the Battle of Hualinshui, the casualties reached 20,000. Although it was not half damaged, the casualties were quite heavy. The most critical thing is the continuous fighting. They are exhausted from top to bottom, and there are also certain difficulties in the transportation of grain and grass. If we don't take a break, we won't be able to fight again for at least a short period of time.
After closing this memorial written by Cao Rui, Huang Qiong's heart was filled with excitement. He didn't know how long it had been since his mood had fluctuated, and he was even a little excited at this moment. This battle was a great victory, and the overall situation of the entire Jiangnan counterinsurgency this time can be said to be settled, as long as there are no major twists and turns. It can be said that he is basically guaranteed to win. It can be said that Cao Rui fought beautifully in this battle.
Reward, must be rewarded heavily. The title must be given, the promotion must be given, and the money and silk must be doubled. Thinking of this, Huang Qiong stood up and paced back and forth excitedly in Wende Hall. At that time, I thought about calling Fu Yuanshan and several people to discuss and give rewards to the generals fighting in the south of the Yangtze River. However, Huang Qiong raised his head and looked at the sky, and finally gave up the idea temporarily.
Huang Qiong, who was supposed to go to bed, was so excited that she couldn't sleep. I feel like I can't vent all my energy. When I returned to the harem, I originally wanted to go to Situ Huanshuang. But after learning that Situ Huanshuang had rested, Huang Qiong hesitated and finally gave up the idea. At this time, he remembered that he had not invited the Chu family to sleep with him for some time.
Then he turned around and went to the bedroom where the Chu family members were. When Huang Qiong entered the Chu family's bedroom, several women who had been notified in advance were already kneeling on the ground to greet him. Seeing Huang Qiong raising her hand to signal her to get up, several women also stood up tremblingly. Different from other women, although these five women followed Huang Qiong into the palace, they still do not have any status.
It's not that Situ Huanshuang, Duan Jin, He Yao and other women have any opinions on these women. Even the two people with the lowest background, Zhao Jinse, also had the title of Zhaoyi. The Gu family's daughters also named Jieyu. When the women in the harem were divided into enfeoffments, Situ Huanshuang and others also thought carefully about it. Basically, they were not awarded based on their birthplace, but based on the time they gave birth to children and followed Huang Qiong.
Nowadays, except for Duan Jin and He Yao, no concubine has been granted a title. Lin Wanqing's daughters, Wu Zhiyu, and Liu's two daughters were only concubines. Among those who followed Huang Qiong from Xijing, only Dong Qianhong, Cai and Li were granted concubines. The rest also sealed Zhaoyi and Jieyu. Originally, Cai did not want this title, but Huang Qiong, Situ Huanshuang, Duan Jin and He Yao all firmly disagreed.
If it weren't for Cai's life-and-death refusal, Huang Qiong originally wanted to directly give Cai a concubine position, and even thought about the title. Cai was a generous person, had a long-term vision, and had a deep chest. He was no less intelligent than Duan Jin. Now he has given birth to a son to himself. But for Huang Qiong, the most important thing is that she is a direct relative of Situ Huanshuang and can help Situ Huanshuang.
It's just that Mrs. Cai disagreed and insisted that so many people who preceded her in the palace did not become concubines. If she becomes a concubine as soon as she comes, how will others view Situ Huanshuang, the main empress, in the future? The harem, which was originally peaceful and without any twists and turns, will cause a storm because of her concubine. If it weren't for Huang Qiong's insistence, Cai wouldn't even want the title of virtuous concubine.
According to Da Qi's ancestral system, there must be one concubine below the queen, and no more than nine concubines. The remaining levels of women in the harem are concubines, Zhaoyi, Jieyu, nobles, and talented people. Except that the number of concubines cannot exceed twelve, the rest are not fixed. Although Cai didn't want it, Situ Huanshuang still wanted to be granted the title of concubine. After all, she is the master of the middle palace. If she doesn't ennoble any concubine, she will be under a lot of pressure.
Especially when Huang Qiong left the decision-making power on this matter to herself, she couldn't explain it without making her a concubine. But after several discussions with Duan Jin, He Yao, and Lin Hanyan, the list was rejected by Huang Qiong. As for Lin Hanyan, she actually didn't agree with the title of concubine now. Huang Qiong and Lin Hanyan meant that the concubine should not be granted the title so early, so as to leave some room for advancement in the future.
In order to prevent the other ladies from developing some resentment towards the queen, Situ Huanshuang. Huang Qiong also specially called the girls together and announced that this was his intention. As for how the concubines will be promoted in the future, it depends on their respective performances. Including the education of children after they have children in the future. And I won't treat them favorably because of their titles, they will all be treated equally.
Nowadays, among the women in the harem, except for Lin Hanyan and Tang Rushi, the two former princesses, and the mother of Qingyang's eldest son, these five women are the only ones who have no status. Even the ex-wife and ex-daughter-in-law of Commander Liao in Xijing were granted the title of Jieyu, and their daughter was also granted the title of noble. It's not that Situ Huanshuang doesn't want to give them names, but Huang Qiong has never thought about how to arrange them.
According to the laws of the imperial court, the family members of criminals who committed heinous crimes were either exiled together or sold into slavery. Although the Chu family is extremely wealthy, because they are all white men, they are not qualified to be included in the Jiaofang Department and the Huanyi Bureau. It can only be sold by the official, whoever buys it belongs to it. Some families will buy them as slaves, while others will buy them as concubines. Of course, these are all servants of the family or the family's children.
Of course, if the Prime Minister of Jiaofang is willing to spend money to buy a woman from the Chu family who is beautiful or capable of singing and dancing, that is another matter. The female members of the Chu family were able to live as slaves in the palace without even going to the Jiaofang Bureau. Huang Qiong only gave them preferential treatment because the head of the Chu family volunteered to lurk. Of course, these women also contributed a lot to the hard work of serving in certain aspects.
According to the current situation, the status should still be given. But Huang Qiong still has to think about how to give it. After all, once you are canonized, you will be on the roster. These girls are different from Dong Qianhong. Although Dong Qianhong's adoptive father is extremely evil, he still has many relatives and friends in the court who look after him. Moreover, in the officialdom, there is an unspoken rule that cannot be brought to the surface, that is, if the official is unlucky.
But even if they are political opponents in the court, they generally will not pursue and beat up their family members. As long as the emperor does not issue an imperial edict to strictly correct him, he will basically not do anything too extreme. Because this is called being a human being and keeping a thin line, so that when you are unlucky, others will treat your family members in the same way. Therefore, the matter of Dong Qianhong's concubine did not cause any criticism. Moreover, Dong Qianhong gave birth to a prince to Huang Qiong.
No one could guarantee that the prince would be like the current new king, who had stayed in the cold palace for eighteen years and then turned against the wind not long after he came out, so everyone was holding back. The same cannot be said for the Chu family. Although they were rich in the past, they did not have deep connections in the court. The most important thing is that because of the Chu family's affairs, so many officials were brought down at once.
Not only were there many officials in Xijing who were unlucky, but there were also many in the DPRK who were implicated. There are many people in the court who, although they dare not say anything on the surface, privately hate the Chu family to death. For people like the Chu family, those officials did not say that they were less guilty than their wives and children. Especially since they were caught personally by the former crown prince and now the new king, there is basically no chance of a comeback.
At this time, if you don't add insult to injury and avenge your comrades, then how long will it take? At the same time, there was more than one occasion where he was always outspoken and idle, bored and not looking for anything to do, as if to show the importance of his existence. Or the kind of person who quarrels with heaven and earth, who insists that every word and deed of the emperor should be listened to all day long, and who talks about how the emperor will rule from the top, writes a letter that the family of sinners cannot be tolerated in the palace.
There are even people who directly name the five women of the Chu family and want them to be slaves if they are not pregnant with the prince, so as not to tarnish the blood of the Tian family. Of course, Huang Qiong has always been willing to stay in this kind of memorial that is just looking for trouble. But at least at this time when the rebellion in the south had not been put down, Huang Qiong did not want to cause trouble in the court. Therefore, Huang Qiong directly suppressed the status of these five women.
Huang Qiong shook his head when he looked at the five women standing in front of him, wearing only thin pajamas and showing off their beautiful figures. I also remembered that I hadn’t visited them for quite some time. As for these five women, seeing that everyone else in the palace had their names and treasures distributed, I'm afraid they felt uncomfortable. Only they themselves know the bitterness of it.
Lifting the chin of Mrs. Yang, the fifth wife of Chu, she looked at the lovely woman in front of her. Huang Qiong's hand went down along his chin, staying at the top for a long time, and finally said: "Don't think nonsense, I will give you whatever I should give you. As long as you stay in the palace with peace of mind, I will never I treat every woman badly. It’s just that some things are a little late.”
