In the hall, three girls stood gracefully.
This was Zhou's careful selection. In the end, three people were selected from the twelve beauties whose knowledge, cultivation, and appearance were all the best.
My son is still young, so he can't choose too many, otherwise it is always bad to lose the dragon body.
But when she chose this place, she ran into trouble.
Because the three of them are really indistinguishable, they are all of the same age, with the same figure and appearance. As for their status... the royal family does not care about this.
Who to choose?
She frowned. She liked all three girls in front of her, wanted them all? sure!
But there has to be a big and small king, right?
After all, there can only be one queen.
The Wu family comes from a family of military commanders, and has a somewhat strong temperament, but as a queen, she has to be a bit arrogant to be able to maintain her majesty;
Wang is from a civil servant family and has a softer and more reserved personality, which is quite good;
Bai's background was slightly inferior, and due to family influence, her temperament was too weak, but she had the best figure. She was fat when she should be, and thin when she was supposed to be. She looked good at giving birth... Empress Dowager Zhou was so spoiled for choice that she couldn't make a choice.
After clearing the curtain, Zhou put down his pen, put it down and picked it up again, still unable to make up his mind.
When Niu Yu, the eunuch of Bingbi, saw this, he said cautiously: "The Queen Mother is... in trouble?"
"Hmm... It's really hard to choose." Empress Dowager Zhou put down her pen again and looked at the three women outside the gauze tent, her brows furrowed.
Niu Yu accompanied Xiao Xing and said, "I think the Wu family is the most suitable... Ah, I'm too talkative."
Queen Mother Zhou was not angry. She was in trouble at the moment and asked, "Why do you think she is more suitable?"
"This slave dare not say anything."
"But it doesn't matter."
"Then... I'm being presumptuous." Niu Yu said after careful consideration, "The Wu family comes from a family of military commanders. The Emperor attaches great importance to military matters. If... haha... I will just tell you, and the Queen Mother will listen."
Mrs. Zhou really listened. In the afternoon, she heard her son say that he was busy with military affairs on the grassland.
Hmm... Let's take her... Zhou took up his pen and wrote the word 'Wu'.
When Niu Yu saw it, she immediately smiled and asked, "My dear, the other two...?"
Zhou thought for a while and said, "Once we enter the palace, let the emperor decide for himself."
She really isn't good at making decisions, so she might as well not ban her account.
"Hey, this doesn't work." Niu Yu couldn't help but said, "The Queen Mother, the two brides to be married, it's better to decide in advance."
"Then let's have a noble concubine and a virtuous concubine." Empress Dowager Zhou said casually, "It's getting late. I'll go back first. You can have someone take good care of you here. The emperor will get married in a few days."
Niu Yugang wanted to ask carefully which one was the virtuous concubine and which one was the noble concubine, but he saw that Mrs. Zhou had already stood up and left.
I wanted to stop, but I felt that I had talked too much today, and it would inevitably deepen the impression of the Queen Mother. Anyway, the goal was achieved, and other things were not urgent for a while.
"My slave, I would like to send you my concubine..."
~
The inner hall of Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Jianshen put on his clothes and said: "Zhen'er, just stay here for now. Don't worry, I will make arrangements for you regarding your identity. But now... it's a bit tricky. Give me some time."
"Well..." Zhen'er nodded obediently.
The psychological satisfaction and physical pleasure were absurd and exciting, and she was still in a state of infatuation.
"Where is the emperor going?"
"There are still some official matters to be busy with." Zhu Jianshen said warmly, "You can rest first and have dinner with me."
"good…"
Zhen'er pulled the quilt to cover the large area of white snow.
…
Zhu Jianshen looked at Guibiao and saw that it was almost the end of Shenshi.
Guessing that the Ministry of War office was about to close, he simply ordered someone to go to Yu Qian's house to deliver the message. He had just come out of his warm bed and didn't want to make a trip.
Yu Qian's home is not far from the palace, but it gets dark early in winter. When he received the order, it was already getting dark, and there was only half an hour left before the palace door was locked.
He didn't care whether it was cold or not, he didn't even sit in the sedan, he got on his horse and rushed to the palace.
This twelfth lunar month of winter is extremely cold, and it is a huge test for a 66-year-old man.
When he dismounted in front of the palace gate, he shivered uncontrollably, and his breath condensed into frost and stuck to his beard, making him look a bit...sloppy.
But time was urgent, and he couldn't take care of his image at the same time. He wiped it casually and hurried into the palace.
Yu Qian's legs and feet were quite nimble, and he arrived at Qianqing Palace in half a quarter of an hour.
"No need to salute, come and sit down quickly." Zhu Jianshen's conscience was still lingering, and he couldn't bear to see Yu Qian like this.
He stepped forward, asked Yu Qian to sit down, and moved the stove towards him.
This was Yu Qian. If it were Li Qing, even if he could hold back his words, he would still have to scold this guy in his heart.
"The emperor summoned his ministers, why?" Yu Qian didn't complain about anything and went straight to the point.
"Ang, that's right." Zhu Jianshen said, "Today morning, the teacher said that the situation in the grassland is strange and that a large-scale war may break out. How confident are you?"
Yu Qian thought for a while and said: "In fact, they should have fought a long time ago, but they have been holding back. But this time... I dare not say 100%, but I am 70% sure."
After a pause, he suddenly realized something and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it's their business to fight or not to fight. We just need to wait and see what happens."
With the lessons learned clearly in his mind, Yu Qian was really scared, "I only wanted to let the emperor know this when I told him this in the court, and had no other intention." gòйЪ.ōΓg
Zhu Jianshen didn't think so. He said: "As the saying goes: when snipe and clam fight, the fisherman benefits. While they are fighting, let's have a mantis catch the cicada and the oriole behind. Wouldn't it be beautiful?"
"Your Majesty, you must not conquer it yourself!" Yu Qian knelt down directly.
Zhu Jianshen was confused: "Teacher, please get up quickly. When did I say that I was going to fight in person? I have elite soldiers and generals, why do I need to go out personally?"
Uh... It's too early to kneel down... Yu Qian couldn't help but blush, and stood up and sat down in embarrassment.
It's not his fault, it's mainly because he was frightened by the emperor's personal conquest.
"Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty cannot take action." Yu Qian said seriously, "If we don't take action, it will be a civil war on the grassland. But once we take action, we will make them stop the civil war and even join forces to resist the Ming Dynasty;
Your Majesty, hitting one, pulling another, pouting inside and outside is the best strategy! "
Zhu Jianshen frowned and said nothing.
Yu Qian quickly added: "Your Majesty, even if the Ming Dynasty can just catch up with them and get tired from the fierce battle, and thus annihilate the main force of the Tatars and Oaras in one fell swoop, it will not have much effect;
The population of the grassland is more than five million. Going further, if the Ming Dynasty really wiped out the Oara and Tatars, other tribes would also rise. With such a large grassland and such a large population, it is really impossible to rely on war alone;
Besides, the cost of using foreign troops... is too huge, and the national bank balance is not much..."
Barabara...
Zhu Jianshen's head hurt when he heard it, and he said helplessly: "Okay, I'll think about it again. It's getting late, teacher, please go back quickly."
"Uh...yes, I'll take my leave."
After leaving the palace, Yu Qian touched his nose and smiled bitterly.
Nothing has been done. This trip is in vain. It's such a cold day...
Yu Qian had no choice but to mount his horse and head home in the shuofeng. Halfway through, he finally felt uneasy and went to Lianjia Tun'er instead.
Small courtyard.
The family had dinner and had a daily tea party.
The charcoal basin is burning, the room is as warm as spring, and the New Year atmosphere immediately comes up.
Li Qing was talking about classics, and the two of them listened with gusto, making jokes from time to time, which was quite amusing.
Zhu Wanqing took advantage of Li Qing's tea break and asked, "Uncle Li, don't you want to be there for a while?"
She said with longing and admiration, "Uncle Li's story is definitely more exciting."
"A good man doesn't talk about his bravery in the past, so it's okay not to talk about it." Li Qing knew that this girl had noticed something, so he naturally didn't fall for it and said angrily: "Are you still listening to the Dream of Red Mansions?"
"Listen, Uncle Li, continue." Zhu Wanqing didn't force it, mainly because she couldn't force it.
Li Qing's anger sank into his dantian, and he said leisurely: "If you want to know what happens next, let's listen to the explanation next time."
Zhu Wanqing: (⊙o⊙)…
"Uncle Li, why are you like this?" The little girl broke her guard again. She was most annoyed by the broken words.
Li Qing said lazily: "I am old and have low energy. I cannot compare with you young people."
"Then let me tell you!" Li Hong volunteered, "Sister Wanqing, let me tell you about the three heroes fighting Lu Bu."
"... Fighting and killing, what's there to listen to?" Zhu Wanqing pouted, "I've read that book."
Li Hong: "..."
But at this moment, there was a knock on the courtyard door, and Yu Qian's voice came: "Sir, are you at home?"
"Here!" Li Qingyang replied with a surprised expression: It's already dark...
"There may be some business matters. You two should go back to your respective rooms and rest."
"Okay." Zhu Wanqing nodded sadly, got up and walked out.
Li Hong hurriedly followed, "It's dark and the road is slippery. Sister Wanqing, I'll help you."
"Come on, you just want to touch my hand."
"How can you think so?" Li Hong said hurt.
But Zhu Wanqing was not fooled at all, and hummed back to her cabin, leaving Li Hong speechless in the wind.
Li Qing shook his head in amusement, his godson was missing a rank after all.
Li Qing walked to the door and opened the courtyard door. Seeing Yu Qian trembling all over, he quickly asked him to come in.
Yu Qian was really frozen, and he didn't care about his manners. He sat down in front of the charcoal basin and lit the fire, his teeth still chattering.
"Why is it so frozen?"
"I just rode a horse into the palace, and then rode a horse back to my husband's place. I was scratched all the way, but I was frozen to death." Yu Qian said with a wry smile.
Li Qing frowned and said, "What happened?"
Yu Qian said in a deep voice: "The emperor has the intention of sending troops to the grassland."
"Personally conquered?"
"no."
"Then it's okay." Li Qing said with a smile, "His mentality of sending troops to the grassland is normal. This is the mentality that a qualified emperor should have."
Yu Qian said anxiously: "Sir, you know the situation in the grassland very well. You cannot send troops!"
"Hasn't he sent out troops? Why are you so anxious?" Li Qing laughed, "I really admire you. It's a cold day, but you're not afraid of catching the cold. Don't you know how old you are?"
"..." Yu Qian said helplessly, "This is not important. The important point is that the emperor wants to send troops. I have already persuaded him, but I have not dispelled his thoughts."
Li Qing rolled his eyes: "You have been serving as Minister of War for so many years in vain. Let me ask you, why does he want to go to war?"
"The young emperor, young and vigorous, will inevitably enjoy great achievements..."
"Wrong." Li Qing interrupted: "His father has done this to him before, do you think he will still be so impulsive? Besides, he has been in charge of government for several months, how can he not know that the national treasury is not rich? ?”
Yu Qian was stunned for a moment and said, "Sir, what do you mean...?"
"He is trying to gain military power." Li Qing said with a smile, a look of satisfaction flashed in his eyes: This boy really followed his father and his master. He had a unique political vision and grasped the essence right away.
