I

When Yang Zhenqing cleverly captured Xiuyan City, here in Nanjing, Zhao Han had only a few days to move into the Forbidden City.

Li Xiangjun's official promotion was slow, but her actual status was very high because she had become a female official who compiled memorials for the emperor.

Before the emperor went to work, Li Xiangjun was already in place, and there were several female officials behind him holding memorials.

The memorials were all handled by the cabinet and classified by Li Xiangjun. In particular, the memorials that are related to each other are all listed in separate paper sheets with yellow stickers from female officials.

It is very convenient for the emperor to review, and he can search it immediately. Similar to the memorial, it can be reviewed at once, which saves time, labor and effort.

Of course, in order to prevent the female officials from being clever, when Zhao Han reviewed the memorials, he would randomly select one copy, instead of reviewing them from top to bottom or bottom to top.

When Zhao Han came to work, Li Xiangjun had already finished grinding the ink.

In addition to the female officials and maids of honor, there were also two civil servants sitting. They belong to the living order and history, and follow the emperor every day to record every word and deed of the emperor, both good and bad.

The idea that whichever concubine the emperor slept with would be recorded in the daily notes is sheer nonsense - historians were not allowed to go to the harem unless they were ordered to do so, so they would certainly not know where the emperor slept at night.

Han Yue wrote: "On a certain day, I reviewed the memorial at eight o'clock in the morning."

Then put down the pen and read by yourself. Only when Zhao Han summoned ministers to discuss such-and-such memorials would he start working again.

The wording "eight o'clock in the morning" was strictly required by Zhao Han. Nowadays, clocks have become popular in cities, and some rich people in the countryside also have clocks in their homes.

Zhao Han sat down, glanced at the memorials, and randomly selected them from the pile of punishments.

Just reading the beginning makes me very unhappy. The deputy transport envoy of Henan was found to have been embezzled while transporting resettlement grain. This is a nest case, implicating more than 20 officials, and it is considered the largest corruption case this year.

The cabinet's reply was: serious investigation and punishment.

Zhao Han wrote Zhu Pi in red pen: Investigate and punish severely.

A memorial from the Ministry of Punishment was processed in this way.

Moreover, one word difference can make a big difference in the processing results.

Under the emperor's supervision, officials may be held accountable. Why promote such people to transport food?

The Henan transit envoy will definitely be held accountable. There has been a case under your command, and it has lasted for two years. How come you, as the leader, don’t know anything?

Then he took out the memorial from the Ministry of Rites, and Zhao Han immediately smiled.

The old king of Sulu asked for a daughter in marriage for the second time and wanted to send his youngest daughter to the palace.

The cabinet's reply was: The matter is left to His Majesty to decide, and it is recommended to accept it in order to reassure the country.

Zhao Han thought about it carefully and said, "Yes."

Royal marriage, this method is very primitive, but it has always been effective. If Zhao Han accepts this sultan's daughter, the sultan of Sulu will definitely feel more at ease.

It's just that he's too young.

The king of North Korea is even more funny. He sent his own sister here. She is only a few years old. This is not a nursery.

Sending girls was not enough. This year, the North Korean king requested to donate the daughter of a North Korean minister.

This is a consistent practice in North Korea. The Ming Emperor's harem often had concubines from North Korea, almost all of whom were the daughters of North Korean ministers. Moreover, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty and the King of Korea would occasionally marry a pair of sisters, aunts and nephews.

For example, Zhu Di's concubine Han Li's niece is the princess of North Korea.

Huang Meiren, who was sent to Beijing with Han Lifei, was extremely nonsense at the time, and Zhu Di discovered that she was not a virgin. After careful interrogation, it turned out that she had had an abortion and had several boyfriends in North Korea. One was her brother-in-law and the other was her neighbor...

Zhu Di's favorite concubine is Concubine Quan Xian from North Korea. She can be said to be the favorite of the six palaces in one.

Even Zhu Di personally went to Mongolia and took Concubine Quan Xian with him. Concubine Quan Xian's brother was specially recruited to China and promoted to the rank of Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple.

But the beauty was ill-fated, and Concubine Quan Xian died of illness a year and a half after entering the palace. According to North Korean records, she was poisoned to death. There are only eight words left in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" to comment on him: his appearance and quality are pure, and he is good at playing the jade flute.

Just look at the emperor Zhu Di who had so many Korean concubines (there were also many Korean palace ladies), and you can understand why the Korean king went crazy about offering beautiful women to Zhao Han.

That is people's tradition. If they don't accept it, the North Korean king will be afraid: Does the Chinese Emperor father have a problem with me?

The third memorial: The Zhang family in Longhu Mountain requested the restoration of 200 acres of sacrificial land.

The cabinet's reply was: No.

Zhao Han's Zhu Pi added a line: No. If there are any relevant memorials, they will not be given, and they will not be allowed to be presented to the cabinet or before the emperor. If I see such a memorial again, the relevant officials will investigate and deal with it strictly!

It's only been a few years, and all kinds of monsters and ghosts are jumping out. It's just that the scars have healed and they have forgotten the pain.

The emperor's work was so boring. He spent the whole morning reviewing memorials. During this period, I stood up, walked around the room, and then continued to sit down to review the memorials.

No wonder eunuchs with pen pens were born. Everything was left to the eunuchs to handle. It was so relaxing and enjoyable to be an emperor.

The cabinet ministers are also tired, and the cabinet's approval is sometimes lengthy. Even several cabinet ministers argued endlessly, and in the end it was the chief minister who made the final decision, drafted the votes and sent them to the emperor for final decision.

Seeing the chief minister's decision, he knew that Zhao Han's cabinet adopted the system of the mid-Ming Dynasty.

The name of the Ming Dynasty cabinet remained unchanged, but the power structure changed several times.

The early cabinet, to put it bluntly, belonged to the secretariat, and the real power lay with the emperor and the ministers. Yu Qian was too lazy to join the cabinet. As a minister, he could control the cabinet at will.

The cabinet's control of power began in the Sanyang era.

By the time of Emperor Jiajing, he reached the peak of his power and could finally crush the six ministers. When Zhang Juzheng was in power, he reached another peak, and he was called a true powerful official.

After the peak, comes the trough.

The cabinet is still the cabinet, and the chief minister is still the chief minister, but the chief minister can no longer make the decision. Hehe, cabinet ministers have the right to vote, and whoever has the most votes will listen.

Then the party struggle came!

Since the chief assistant can't make a decision, let's form a clique. Whoever holds more seats will have more votes and can influence the cabinet, even bypassing the chief minister to do things.

Once you vote, once the party fights, it's life and death.

What you agree with, I firmly oppose. If you want to do something serious, I will destroy it for you.

If you take down one of your cabinet ministers, I might get one more. Just one more person will give you one more vote and you can influence the opinions of the cabinet.

This cabinet voting system did not actually end until the Chongzhen period - it was still used superficially.

As far as Chongzhen is concerned, it doesn’t matter who says it, only what I say counts!

A lesson for the past and a guide for the future.

Zhao Han didn't dare to let the cabinet ministers vote on the resolution. You can discuss it internally, or the chief minister can organize the vote, but in the end the decision must be made by the chief minister.

For very complex matters, the cabinet vote must be detailed, listing the pros and cons of various decisions. After summarizing, make a decision, and then send all the decisions over to see if the emperor listens to your opinions.

The emperor could not judge matters that were too important and complicated, so he would call ministers from various ministries to discuss the matter.

Today's work was pretty easy. Around four o'clock in the afternoon, all the memorials were approved.

Zhao Han felt dizzy and asked, "Which courtyard are you in tonight?"

The female officer in charge of daily life said: "Your Majesty, I would like to honor Concubine Liu Zhuang today."

"Let's go." Zhao Han stretched out and went out.

The two officials in charge of daily living wrote a sentence today and read by themselves the whole time. This job was actually very comfortable.

The two of them strode to the street without calling for a sedan chair. They sat there all day and wanted to take a walk to stretch their muscles.

Han Yue sighed: "Oh, I don't know when I can go outside. This kind of life is really boring."

Ding Shijing smiled and said: "What's not good? I can serve His Majesty and be a real minister of the Emperor. I also have a lot of leisure and can read every day. I would like to write notes on daily life for the rest of my life."

Han Yue said: "The dynasty has just been established, and everything is waiting to be revitalized. Where can we not put our talents and learning to use?" Suddenly, Han Yue said with a smile, "I plan to apply to be appointed as a county magistrate after passing the exam. Even if I can't become a county magistrate, I can become a county magistrate." It's okay to be a prime minister. It's best to go to the north and become an official. There are many things you can do, and you can definitely show off your ambitions!"

"I won't go, you have to go." Ding Shijing didn't like to mess around.

Although the civil servants of the Datong court have become factions, their overall vitality is still very high. As long as you are capable, dare to fight, and dare to do things, you will generally have opportunities for promotion and find a place to display your talents.

This is what a business should be like in the early stages of a business.

The same cannot be said for Li Zicheng. When Shanxi was just recovered, the Dashun Group was also very energetic. But they could no longer expand, and the civilian officials were suppressed by the military generals. It was difficult for the military generals group to win military merits in battles, and they had already entered the stage of corruption in advance.

The Manchu and Qing Dynasties are somewhat similar.

The Manchus and Qing Dynasties had always had fierce internal strife, but they could continue to expand and internal conflicts were passed on. Now that expansion is impossible, internal conflicts have begun to intensify, and Dorgon and Hauge are once again at war with each other.

Zhao Han, who had been sitting for a day, also took a walk to Liu Rushi's courtyard.

While walking and doing radio gymnastics, he felt that he was almost useless and would probably have some extra fat in a few years.

"His Majesty!"

"Hail, Your Majesty."

Zhao Han nodded towards Liu Rushi, then said to Tian Xiuying with a smile: "Mrs. Tian is here too, let's take a stroll in the garden together."

After strolling around the garden for a while, Zhao Han lay down on the lounge chair and let the powerful maid massage him. He felt that the muscles in his back shoulders were a little sore.

Liu Rushi played the piano, Tian Xiuying played the flute, and the palace maid massaged. Zhao Han fell asleep while listening.

It's winter now, it didn't snow today, but the temperature is also very low.

Liu Rushi quickly said to the palace maid: "Go quickly and get a blanket for Your Majesty."

After taking a nap until evening, Zhao Han finally woke up.

Tian Xiuying bowed and saluted and said: "Your Majesty, the common girls are here to say goodbye today. Your Majesty and your empresses are about to move into the Forbidden City, and the common girls will find a house to live in on their own."

Only then did Zhao Han remember that the address of the previous royal family had not yet been arranged.

Zhao Han thought for a while and said, "You can move in too."

Tian Xiuying said: "It's not very convenient."

Zhao Han carefully admired Concubine Tian with the pure eyes of a man. The appearance that surpasses Chongzhen's harem, as well as the intellectual and graceful temperament, hide a faint heroic spirit in the middle.

To be honest, Cao Cao's thief's heart has long been moved, but he has never been too embarrassed.

Men are all big pigs. At the beginning of the incident, Zhao Han, who was afraid of the negative impact and did not even dare to take a concubine, has now turned into a pervert step by step.

Of course, he has been tolerant enough and has controlled the world for several years. Now he only has one concubine and three concubines. Even among the emperors of the past, he is one of the top "bad women".

On the pretext of moving into the Forbidden City, Zhao Han said, "You should come too, the palace is still short of a concubine."

Tian Xiuying was startled, then blushed with embarrassment.

(My wife has a fever of 40 degrees and has to stay in the hospital for a week. My mother-in-law is accompanying her now. I still owe an extra chapter.)