The snow is falling heavier and heavier, and the shabby branches are covered with white flowers. They are bent down under the weight of the snow, which is a special kind of beauty.
Li Qing got up to his bad taste and kicked a tree, making the snow whirl, making the three girls laugh.
At noon, the little eunuch prepared hot pot. The four of them cooked the hot pot and drank warm wine. The taste was endless.
After lunch, Li Qing took them to the backyard under the guidance of the eunuch.
~
"Greetings to the Queen, she is a thousand years old." The three girls saluted, feeling a little frightened in their hearts, but on the surface they were generous and thoughtful.
"No gift."
"Thank you, empress!"
The three women stood up and stood aside.
Xu Miaoyun had a delicate heart. When she saw this posture, she understood what Li Qing wanted. She chuckled and said, "What are your names?"
"People's daughter Li's red sleeves, Li's pity and fragrance, Li's graceful spirit." The three women answered one by one, bowed and bowed again.
"No need to be polite." Xu Miaoyun smiled and said, "The Li Qing family is the pillar of the country. The emperor has made great achievements. The Li Qing family has dealt with a lot, and the help of three good housekeepers is indispensable. I heard that you also helped build the Weaving Bureau before. Quite busy.”
The three girls said reservedly, "Your Majesty, you are too praised."
"Haha... of course you will be rewarded for your merits." Xu Miaoyun thought for a moment, "Well, let's make you a second-grade imperial concubine. What do the Li Qing family think?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward." Li Qing bowed and turned around to wink at the three girls.
The three girls were stunned for a moment, then felt ecstatic and almost lost their composure. They quickly followed suit and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
Xu Miaoyun smiled and said to the young eunuch aside, "Xiao Linzi, go and register. After returning to Jinling, send the reward from Madam Gaoming to the Yongqing Marquis Mansion."
"My slave obeys the order."
Xiao Linzi responded and hurriedly went to prepare.
Li Qing achieved his goal and raised his chin towards the three women.
The three women understood and bowed, "People... I, my concubine, will retire."
Xu Miaoyun nodded with a smile, and after they left, she said: "Okay, you have achieved your goal, do you have to reciprocate the favor?"
Li Qing's face turned hot and he said secretly: The girls are still as smart as ever.
"I don't know, ma'am...?"
"How long can I live?" Xu Miaoyun said, "To tell the truth, I will not blame you."
Li Qing touched his nose and thought for a moment, "Take good care of it and it will last for a long time."
Xu Miaoyun's health is much better than that of Empress Ma. The main reason is that Li Qing was the chief minister from the beginning. Otherwise, this female student might be a handful of dirt by now.
"One year..." Xu Miaoyun nodded, "It's not too short."
After pondering for a moment, he said, "Li Qing, the emperor relies on you very much, and the prince is also the closest to you. If I pass away, the task of admonishing the emperor will be left to you. The Zhu family will treat you well..."
Barabara...
There was another round of cakes, and Li Qing choked and rolled his eyes, but he had just won someone's favor, so he couldn't say anything, so he could only draw the cakes in the opposite direction, "Don't worry, I will give my best and die."
Xu Miaoyun obviously didn't agree with him, and glanced at him, "You don't have to die, I will be satisfied if you can devote half of your life."
"..." Li Qing said humbly, "Madam, I am about to start diagnosis and treatment."
"Yes." Xu Miaoyun raised her wrist and put it on the table, "You should also sit down!"
Li Qing nodded and sat across from her, feeling her pulse and asking about her physical condition. After looking around, he added two more medicines to the original prescription.
"Take it once in the morning, noon and evening every day, after meals. Eat a light diet. You can eat a little fish, meat and eggs, and eat small and frequent meals..."
After the doctor's instructions, Li Qing took out the needle box and applied acupuncture on several key points on Xu Miaoyun's shoulders and arms, secretly adding some vital energy.
Two quarters of an hour later, Li Qing put away the needle box, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, you can walk around a bit, but it's cold in Beiping, so you have to keep warm."
"Yes, I understand." Xu Miaoyun nodded, "Please step back!"
Li Qing resigned and turned to Zhu Di. After obtaining permission to visit the new capital, he led some royal guards and the three girls to the new palace.
…
More than half an hour later, the group arrived at the new capital, the Forbidden City.
Looking at the Meridian Gate directly in front of them, the three women marveled, "It's so big and impressive."
It is indeed impressive. The new capital is much larger than Jinling. When Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Jinling, he pursued speed and simplicity, but here there are more than 100,000 craftsmen. Counting corvees and labor, there are nearly one million people. So far, there have been It took nearly ten years.
Every brick, tile, and stone slab is the product of working people.
The main construction of the palace has been completed. Although it is not exquisite enough, it is very magnificent.
There are five gates in the Meridian Gate. Only the emperor can enter the central main entrance. Even the queen and prince are only eligible to enter the palace when they are married and canonized;
In addition, only the scholars who achieved first place, second place, and third place were lucky enough to follow the emperor once when they left the palace.
The door on the east side of the main entrance is the way for civil and military officials to enter the palace, and the door on the west side is for the royal family and princes to enter the palace. Although it was not completed, Li Qing did not want to violate the taboo and led the three girls into the palace through the east gate.
After entering the Meridian Gate, the first thing you see is the five Jinshui Bridges, which correspond to the five gates of the Meridian Gate. The Jinshui Bridge in the center is wide and large. The stone bridge is carved with real dragons and auspicious clouds. It is the exclusive royal road for the emperor.
The Jinshui River below has not yet been introduced into the river, and craftsmen are doing finishing work, which is very lively.
Fengtianmen, the square in front of the temple alone covers an area of dozens of acres, which is really big.
The craftsmen are clearing the snow and preparing for the subsequent laying of slates. In this era, there are no batch production lines. Every slate is made by hand. You can imagine how much manpower and material resources are consumed just for the square in front of the temple.
Li Qing couldn't help but sigh: No wonder, the profits from maritime trade are huge, but the hole to build a capital still cannot be filled. Building such a palace in this era is really a waste of money!
If nothing else, take the solid Jinshui Bridge in the center as an example. Just transporting stones and carvings takes a lot of energy.
Li Qing was not too surprised by the size of the new palace because he had been to this place before.
However, although the scale is the same, the current imperial palace is still very different from the Forbidden City in later generations, and it gives people a more shocking feeling.
The three girls were amazed again and again. Such a large building complex really exceeded their imagination.
In front of the Fengtian Gate, the two stone lions are more than a foot tall, as tall as two adults, and are very majestic.
Enter Fengtianmen and go to Fengtian Hall. However, as the most important hall of the palace, Fengtian Hall’s construction progress is the most meticulous and elegant. Only half of it has been built, and it is not worth seeing.
Li Qing took the three girls and continued walking inside. Palaces stood tall, with high walls made of red paint and glazed tiles... all exuding the wisdom of the craftsmen.
Big, too big.
After walking around for a long time, they didn't even finish a tenth of the palace. Near evening, the four of them returned to Prince Yan's Mansion.
When they returned to their residence, the three girls were still amazed and asked Li Qingming if they could still go see it.
Li Qing had already received permission to visit, so naturally he allowed everything.
In the evening, Li Qing was summoned and went to the attic to meet Zhu Di.
"How about the Forbidden City?"
"It's so majestic!" Li Qing said with a smile, "A building of this scale is unprecedented and unprecedented."
Zhu Di showed a hint of complacency on his face, and said happily: "It will be completed in a few years, and the canal has also reached the final stage. From now on, the capital of the Ming Dynasty will be in Peiping, and it will be immortal for thousands of generations."
"Eternal and immortal for eternity!" Li Qing agreed. Zhu Di was right. After him, Peiping really became the capital of China.
Zhu Di's move created a prosperous metropolis in later generations.
And Peiping does meet the conditions of being a Kyoto. It is surrounded by the Canghai on the left, Taihang on the right, spans the Central Plains on the inside, and controls the desert on the outside. However, it is still relatively desolate at the moment.
After all, in this era, Peiping was a bitterly cold place with a cold climate and poor environment. There were several sandstorms every year. The productivity and economy were also low, far inferior to Jinling.
"Your Majesty, it will be very difficult to move the capital then!" Li Qing sighed, "Almost all the civil servants and generals' homes are in the south. They will definitely not want to come all the way to the north."
Zhu Di nodded: "I also expected this, but moving the capital is inevitable. Besides, besides being a bit colder, Peiping is pretty good!"
"..." Li Qing smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, you are used to being here. Of course you think it's good, but the officials don't think so. They definitely prefer the wealthy Jinling."
"This can be discussed in the long term. It will take several years to move the capital." Zhu Di waved his hand and sighed, "I think what you said this morning makes sense. I will accept it in the future, but..."
Zhu Di snorted coldly: "The emperor must have the majesty of the emperor, and I will never tolerate them."
Li Qing nodded. It would be great if Zhu Di could restrain his temper. After all, the fourth child and Xiao Xiao Zhu are not the same kind of people at all. It is simply wishful thinking to ask him to treat Xian as a corporal.
If that's the case, it's not a good thing.
As long as Zhu Di can hold back a little, and add Xiaopang to reconcile, the disaster can be greatly quelled.
After chatting for a while, Li Qing asked, "Your Majesty, how long do you plan to stay here?"
Zhu Di thought for a while and said, "The Chinese New Year is coming soon. Let's go back to Jinling after the Lantern Festival!"
Stretching, Zhu Di added, "Actually, I feel quite comfortable living here."
You are comfortable, but you are very tired, little fat guy... Li Qing rolled his eyes, "Your Majesty, is it time for the King of Han to become a vassal?"
Although Zhu Di has defeated Zhu Gaoxu's two guards and re-determined the place where he will become a vassal, the court will not be truly peaceful until Zhu Gaoxu becomes a vassal.
Zhu Di pondered for a long time, nodded slightly, and said: "Li Qing, do you think...Does Gao Xu hate me?"
Needless to say? I must hate you to death... Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "The King of Han is open-minded and will not bear grudges against the Emperor. Besides, no son can blame his father. Your Majesty, you are too worried."
Zhu Di smiled guiltily, with a hint of guilt on his face.
He muttered, "This kid is just too blind-minded to listen to what's happening."
Li Qing: "..."
