The return gift from Ye He and Baylor finally arrived. In addition to allowing Jinghua to establish the "Changchun Station" in the northern part of Ye He's territory, this time the two cities of Ye He's east and west sent a quite sincere return gift.
The most precious thing in this return gift is a string of "pale gold, almost transparent, with flowing light inside" Buddha Dong beads. It is strung with 108 top-quality Dong beads, all of which are the most precious pale gold among Dong beads. Big golden beads, perfectly round. Holding this in your hand, the light shines brightly, as if the Bodhisattva is personally present.
Dongzhu is often thought to come from the East China Sea, but this is not the case. This is a kind of freshwater pearl produced in the Northeast. It is usually not comparable in size to the southern pearls in the Pearl Pool of the South China Sea (later Beibu Gulf, mentioned in the Guangxi volume of this book), and the variety of colors is not as good as the southern pearls. Only this The "Light Gold Dongzhu" with a high sense of nobility is particularly precious and is classified as a divine product.
In the Liao Dynasty, one of the major tyranny that provoked the Jurchens to resist was that the Khitan royal family went too far in forcing the Jurchens to search for the Eastern Pearl. This shows how precious the Eastern Pearl is. In addition to the unique noble color, the difficulty of collecting Dongzhu itself is also an important reason. People at that time had a saying: "If you count the rivers easily, you won't find a single clam; if you gather the clams in a boat, you won't find a single pearl."
The reason why Ye He's return gift was delayed until close to the middle of the year was because the best time to collect the Dongzhu was around March and April. At that time, it was still extremely cold in the Northeast, and pearl divers had to jump in naked. Looking for clams in the glacier, there is only one pearl among a thousand clams, and one flawless pearl among a hundred pearls is rare.
Therefore, even though Ye He is the most powerful Jurchen chieftain today, he not only took out the collection from the past, but also spent all his efforts to search for pearls in March and April this year, and finally collected these 108 flawless pearls. Light gold Dadong beads are strung together to form this Buddhist bead.
Why are prayer beads made? Because Gao Jingshi was the third Ming King... Yes, Tibetan Buddhism has been spread to the Jurchens through the Mongols, and Ye He, who is closest to the Mongols, also already knew the news about Gao Jingshi's "The Third Ming King Reincarnation" and quickly took pictures This is flattery.
As for why King Ming took their princess as his concubine, well...there is no need to pursue this matter too much. After all, Anda Khan is still the King of Wheels. It's trivial, it's trivial.
After receiving the gift in return, according to Jurchen rules, Gao Jingshi should consummate the marriage with Meng Guzhezhe. Previously, in order to show respect for tradition, Gao Pragmatic let Meng Guzhezhe live in Baiyulou. Now he was too busy to go to Baiyulou to spend the night, so he simply asked Mengguzhezhe to be brought to Rixin Building.
Gao pragmatism was so busy that he went to the government office of the Ministry of Revenue before returning to Shangshu Gaofu. When he arrived at Baiyu Tower for dinner, he asked Gao Mo whether he had received it.
Gao Mo said: "Reply to the master's words, as if Madam is waiting in the room."
"We're here, okay." Gao pragmatically said smoothly: "Have she eaten? If not, come over and eat first. I have some reports to approve later, so I won't go to bed so early, so don't let her go hungry." "
Gao Mo was obviously stunned and said hesitantly: "Come here to eat?"
"Otherwise?" After Gao Pingshi said this, he realized: "Oh, you mean the concubine can't come to my table?"
Gao Mo whispered: "This is a rule..." After a pause, he also knew that his master sometimes likes to break the rules, so he unconsciously added: "If the master insists, I need to arrange it." , arrange for irrelevant people to go."
Gao pragmatic pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "Then you make arrangements." He actually knew what Gao Mo meant. After all, an old man like Gao Mo was the most insistent on rules. Although he could not go against his own wishes, he still As much as possible, he hopes that his "breaking the rules" will not be spread out, because in his opinion, such things will have an impact on his reputation.
There was a famous incident in the late Qing Dynasty, which vividly demonstrated the "rule" that the concubine could not eat at the master's table. It is said that Tan Yankai's mother, Mrs. Li, was originally just a maid in the Tan family. It was not until she gave birth to Tan Yankai that her status became slightly better and she was officially taken as a concubine.
However, although her status has finally been improved and substantially improved due to the fact that mother is more valuable than son, Mrs. Li is still not allowed to eat at the table, and there is still a gap between her and the main wives.
Fortunately, Tan Yankai has been filial and sensible since he was a child. He sees and remembers everything his mother has done for the family. So he worked hard and studied very hard. He especially liked to learn calligraphy from his father. After several years of hard work, his calligraphy skills have greatly improved, and each of his works is so smooth that even his father praised him.
When he was 11 years old, he entered a private school. In just two years, he won the title of scholar in the boy examination. In the imperial examination in 1904, he won the honorary title of Huiyuan. At that time, he was only 22 years old. His official career was very prosperous, and after two years, he was awarded the Jinshi, and was called a unique genius by Guangxu.
As the son's honors increased, the status of mother Li finally changed dramatically. It was also after Tan Yankai became a Jinshi that Tan Zhonglin, Tan Yankai's father, said to Mrs. Li, "Sit down and eat!" when his family was having dinner.
For this sentence, Mrs. Li had waited for 24 years, and it was only because her son won the Jinshi that she finally waited for this "gift". This shows how difficult it is for the concubine to sit at the same table and eat with the master.
Seeing that Gao Pragmatic still insisted that Meng Guzhezhe dine with him, Gao Mo looked helpless, but he still bowed and said, "Old slave, I'll make arrangements now."
After all, Gao Pragmatic treated Gao Mo differently from ordinary servants. Seeing him like this, he explained: "Uncle Mo, Meng Guzhezhe is different from ordinary concubines after all. It is related to the overall situation of Liaodong and must be expedited. Have you ever I have heard a saying: The rules are there, but you can go beyond the rules; changes are unpredictable, but you still don't deviate from the rules."
Gao Mo nodded and said: "This statement came from the Song Dynasty Prime Minister Lu Gong. I was lucky enough to hear it." After a pause, he added: "As for Mrs. Ru's family background and the significance of this family background to the master, I also have some understanding of it. .”
Gao pragmatic nodded and said no more, then Gao Mo went down to make arrangements. However, Gao Pragmatic didn't wait for Meng Guzhezhe, but started eating first.
Not long after, Gao Mo's voice came from the door: "Master, Madam is here."
"Come in." Gao pragmatic replied and raised his head at the same time.
The woman who came in after hearing the sound was none other than Meng Guzhezhe. Meng Guzhezhe in the 16th year of Wanli was still very young, only fourteen years old. If it were placed in future generations, he would not even have graduated from junior high school. Therefore, Gao Pragmatic can see obvious youthfulness, even immaturity, on her face.
However, such a young and immature girl is currently holding her hair in a bun that only women have. She is wearing a dark green flowered skirt, a plain white dotted skirt, and very few hair accessories on her head. There is only a gold walking stick and two simple gold earrings of dongzhu.
If there is anything special about this outfit, there are only two points: it is clearly made and clean. But Gao Pragmatic took a closer look and found that she was able to express her own characteristics very well.
Meng Guzhezhe's face is round, and when it comes to delicate facial features, he is slightly inferior to Liu Xin and Zhu Yaonao, not to mention Huang Zhiting, who is known for her natural charm. However, Meng Guzhezhe has a unique advantage. Her skin is as white as the snow in Liaodong.
Green is a difficult color to control in women's clothing because it "eats" the skin. If it is not white enough, the complexion will appear dark and the "delicate" feeling will be lost. However, in Chinese aesthetics since ancient times, there has always been a saying that "one white color covers a thousand ugliness". Therefore, women rarely choose green tops unless their skin color is as white as snow.
Meng Guzhezhe knew the importance of today, but she specially chose a dark green half-armor suit, naturally to show off her skin as white as fresh snow.
As soon as Gao Pragmatic's eyes fell on her cheek, she seemed to blush a little, and her skin became white and rosy. Without even waiting to reach Gao Yingshi, he timidly gave a standard gift and said softly: "I have met the master and served him for dinner."
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "I didn't ask you to wait for the meal, you can come and eat."
Meng Guzhezhe lowered his head slightly and replied: "I am very grateful for the master's favor, but it is a matter of rules and regulations, and I dare not violate them."
Gao pragmatic didn't expect Meng Guzhezhe to say this, and subconsciously glanced at Gao Mo. Unexpectedly, Gao Mo also seemed a little surprised. Seeing his gaze coming over, he shook his head slightly.
It turned out that Gao Mo hadn't confessed it in advance? Gao pragmatic narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Meng Guzhezhe, and thought to himself: Could it be that I underestimated this girl?
Gao pragmatically thought about it, and he thought that in "Qingshilu", Huang Taiji's biological mother Yehenara Mengguzhezhe was called the queen. She is also the first queen of the Qing Dynasty (chasing honor), and the first queen from the Yehenala family.
However, this history book was revised when Huang Taiji was in power. As the saying goes, the mother is more valuable than the son. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, it was natural for him to respect his mother as the queen.
So, can this be evidence? Gao pragmatic did think so before, but now that he thought about it carefully, it seemed that it was not necessarily true.
It is recorded in "Biographies of Celebrities in the Qing Dynasty" that after Huang Taiji became the emperor, according to the Han system, he revered his concubine's biological mother as the filial, compassionate and high empress.
However, Huang Taiji was born as a concubine and directly related to the government, because he was the "Khan" who was elected by public recommendation after Nurhachi's death. So if the previous sentence is true, it means that in the Manchu clan system, there is no distinction between direct descendants and concubines, and everyone has the opportunity to inherit the throne.
So some people thought: Huang Taiji took Dorgon's position, and Dorgon was the legitimate son at the time (the eldest son of the then concubine Abahai). If this statement is true, since Huang Taiji was born as a concubine, then he was "taking the concubine for the legitimate son."
Is this really the case?
After all, Huang Taiji's father Nurhachi was just the previous tribal leader. Although it was normal to have many wives, most of the marriages of Jurchen leaders at that time were political marriages. According to the "Records of Emperor Wu of the Qing Dynasty": There were four people in the royal family, among whom was Huang Taiji's biological mother Meng Guzhezhe, who was called the "Queen of the Middle Palace". Meng Guzhezhe only had one son, Huang Taiji.
However, this record was only revised after Huang Taiji ascended the throne, so whether its statement is true or not needs to be verified. However, one thing that is certain is that in the original history, Meng Guzhezhe came to Nurhachi between the arrival of his step-concubine Fucha and his eldest concubine Abahai. The characters, time, and reasons can all be matched.
In the twenty-fourth year of Wanli, the Fucha family seemed to have faded out of people's sight. In 1620, "the concubine was offended and died." This shows that the Fucha family has fallen out of favor, and even the title of concubine is no longer guaranteed.
In "Manwen Old Files", there is such a story: Huang Taiji once recalled that when he was a child, he often gave his food and clothing to Mang Gurtai - this is very suspicious, because Mang Gurtai was a big man. The son of the concubine Fucha.
If Mrs. Fucha was still a royal concubine, how could her son be in such a miserable state? Regarding the ending of the Fucha family, there are different versions in historical data: one theory is that Mang Gurtai drew his sword in front of the emperor, which made Huang Taiji angry, saying that he "killed his mother to invite favors." This theory is more mainstream. (mentioned earlier in this book); but there is another theory, which comes from the records in the "Manuscript of Qing History", that she was "convicted" and sentenced to death.
Regardless of how she died, in short, after the Fucha family was deposed, the next main wife should be Meng Guzhezhe. Therefore, Huang Taiji has only been directly "raised" by his father Nurhaci since then. Living conditions were prosperous, so he had extra supplies to support his brother Mang Gurtai. The story of Yue Tuo's childhood can also confirm this.
Huang Taiji was deeply loved by Nurhaci and was raised in the palace. Living in the same room, it was his biological mother who took care of Huang Taiji's daily life, which shows that Meng Guzhezhe also "lived in the same room."
Gao Pragmatic had not thought about this issue carefully at first, but now she had a general idea based on Meng Guzhezhe's simple performance just now. Meng Guzhezhe's ability to sit in the principal position was inseparable from her background and His personal appearance.
In the tenth year of Wanli, in the fifth year of their wedding, Nurhachi went to Menggu Zhezhe's natal family, the Haixi Jurchen Yehe tribe, to seek support. Menggu Zhezhe's father, Yang Jiniu, caught his eye and betrothed his eight-year-old daughter to Nurhachi. , there are also many horses and armor as dowries.
Six years later, Meng Guzhezhe officially married Nurhaci. Judging from Meng Guzhezhe's background, she would definitely not be a concubine, and judging from the time, Meng Guzhezhe could not have been the main concubine at that time, so the most likely thing is that Meng Guzhezhe was a side concubine at that time.
According to the "Manuscript of Qing History", Meng Guzhezhe had a good temper and a docile personality. He did not interfere in government affairs and took care of "Taizu" wholeheartedly. These words are generally a bit exaggerated, but one thing that is certain is that Meng Guzhezhe not only has a good background, but also has good appearance and conduct, so he is loved by Nurhachi.
In addition, when Meng Zhezhe died, Nurhaci had four slaves bury him, killed a hundred cattle and horses each for sacrifice, and fasted for several months. Not only that, Nurhachi also buried Menggu Zhezhe in the yard where he lived for three years, and then buried him in Shiniaman Hill. Later, Nurhachi moved his capital to Liaoyang, and Meng Guzhezhe's remains were also moved to the Tokyo Mausoleum.
In the Tatar royal family, the criteria for classifying wives and concubines are actually quite simple: first, the noble family status. The more powerful the mother's family is, the married woman will have status in her husband's family, because this kind of marriage has more The first is alliance; the second is the degree of favor of the husband. Throughout the dynasties, emperors have had many wives and concubines, and it is very common to compete for favor; the third is the order of first come, first served. This standard is the easiest to be overturned. Those who have a slightly inferior background but are not A woman who is favored by her husband can easily be eliminated.
Gao Pragmatic found that, looking at it this way, Meng Guzhezhe's advantages were indeed great.
Because of this, the Fucha family fell out of favor and was expelled from the main wife. Meng Guzhezhe became the main wife as a matter of course, which is normal. Therefore, the term "Queen of the Middle Palace" should be Meng Guzhezhe's true identity during the Nurhaci period.
In this way, in Huang Taiji's early years, he was actually the son of the mother, so he was able to be named the "Big Belle" with Daishan, Amin, and Mang Gurtai, whose status was second only to "Khan".
On the other hand, the reason why Huang Taiji was elected as "Khan" was not only his own abilities, achievements and political methods, but also his status as "legitimate son" (or one of the legitimate sons).
In other words, when Nurhachi died, although the eldest concubine was already Abahai, Abahai's children were not the only legitimate sons. The sons of all the eldest concubines earlier were counted as legitimate sons. Although Nurhaci followed some traditions of the Mongols and had different views on the establishment of elders and younger ones than the Ming Dynasty, the principle of "establishing direct descendants" did not waver.
However, since Gao Jingshi thought about this matter carefully, he knew that Meng Guzhezhe's concubine was not easy to win. At the time when she became the concubine because the Fucha family fell out of favor, the relationship between Jianzhou and Ye He was basically the same. Water and fire, if Meng Guzhezhe herself has no ability, it may be difficult for Nurhachi to be willing to make her the concubine.
Earlier, Gao Pragmatic was confused by Huang Taiji's outstanding performance and ignored Meng Guzhezhe's ability. Now he finally changed his mind after seeing it in person. He even had some doubts that Huang Taiji paid special attention to the culture of the Han people. Could it be that Meng Guzhezhe also contributed to it?
Otherwise, where did Meng Guzhezhe's standard and ladylike etiquette come from? It would be unreliable to say that she learned it temporarily after being named by her two brothers to marry her.
Gao pragmatic squinted his eyes and looked at Meng Guzhezhe for a while, then suddenly said: "What if I insist that you sit down and eat with me?"
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