Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

Zhu Gaochi was a cunning man, but he was not a bad person.

Although his heart was not with her, he recognized her character and praised her in various ways in front of others.

She reflected on the inappropriate aspects of herself when people were together, and she has improved a little this time.

But it’s hard to change one’s nature, and most of the time I’m still very straight.

She had never thought of pleasing Zhu Gaochi. After all, he had only been emperor for ten months before he died. Whether she was upright or not, Zhu Gaochi couldn't depose her.

In my previous life, my father-in-law, mother-in-law and eldest son were my greatest support.

This time, no one knew what was wrong with Zhu Gaochi, but he was very accepting of her directness, and the relationship between the two was much more harmonious than in their previous life.

This is a good thing.

Zhu Gaochi was an extremely intelligent man.

People like this have many, many ideas.

She couldn't predict what would happen in the future by herself, but she could influence the eighteen-year-old Zhu Gaochi through constant discussions with him.

Today is just the beginning.

She still has two years, and hopes that by then her father-in-law's start will not be so difficult, and her mother-in-law can live in good health with her father-in-law until old age.

With her mother-in-law as her backbone, life in the palace will be much easier for her.

As for the children, we will consider it after they have overcome the current difficulties.

In short, she took the first step and the second step.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xin fell into a deep sleep.

~~~

Ming Dynasty, the 29th year of Hongwu, April.

After Zhu Di came back, the family no longer had dinner together.

Zhu Gaochi returned to the miserable days of being taken to the army by Prince of Yan for training.

The women in the mansion resumed their exchanges of feelings during breaks in class.

Zhu Anle and Zhu Zhiming were both at the age of looking for a groom, and Xu mainly analyzed various young talents for the two younger ones.

"It's always these same people. Why do I feel like many of them are the same as when I was with my eldest and second sisters?"

Zhu Zhiming, who was not even twelve years old at the time, was shaking the whole booklet and pouting in complaint.

"Those who can come before you have already been selected again and again! Some of the younger ones have always been on the list."

Mrs. Xu gave her youngest daughter a slap in the face.

"Hey, mother lied to me again. How many people who can be a groom have a promising future?"

Zhu Zhiming was hit and touched his forehead without crying out in pain, but the words he said were even more unpleasant to hear.

"Don't make too many demands on your son-in-law, and think more about your own merits and abilities."

Xu was not happy.

"I, I, what's wrong?"

Zhu Zhiming protested by stiffening his neck.

"You were born a princess, and your food, clothing, and shelter are all of the highest quality, but this is all the blessing of your ancestors. What about you yourself, are you good at literature or martial arts? From what I see now, you are just willful."

Xu didn't offer any comfort.

“Ahhhh————”

Zhu Zhiming shouted in frustration.

"Grandfather has thought it through very carefully. Even if Yibin is unemployed at home, he will have enough food and clothing. But we can't have all the people."

Mrs. Xu knew what her daughter was thinking and waited until she finished shouting before continuing.

"A husband who has nothing to do, two people facing each other every day, eating one meal after another? How boring."

Zhu Anle did not express his dissatisfaction like Zhu Zhiming did. He just leaned on his elbow and spoke quietly.

"Whether it's interesting or not depends on how you live your life."

Mrs. Xu glanced at her third daughter and sighed. She was also a restless one.

"What about the military? Can't the Yibin go there?"

Zhang Xin originally thought that it was not appropriate for her to interfere in her sister-in-law's choice of a son-in-law. The two sisters-in-law and their groomsmen had little influence on the funeral arrangements and they just quietly peeled walnuts on the side.

At this moment, I felt that the sisters-in-law were a little depressed by the blow from their mother-in-law, so I said a few words to comfort them.

"It's because you can go to the army, sister-in-law. Look at this list of people. They are all from military generals and noble families. Even their portraits are so ugly, let alone the real people."

Zhu Zhiming, as if he had found an accomplice, held the booklet in front of Zhang Xin with a sad face.

"How good-looking is your elder brother? Are you good-looking? In our family, only Xin'er is good-looking." Xu's words hurt several people, and she added with unsatisfied meaning, "If you want a good-looking one, there are brothels on the street. If you want to get married, the people will definitely want to marry you. I can find one for you right away!"

"What is a brothel?"

Zhu Zhiming heard that something was wrong, but he didn't understand exactly how.

Wu Shanggong, who was standing behind Xu, couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to advise:

"Princess. The princesses really don't need to know about the filthy things going on outside."

"It's okay. I'm not one of those people who can talk about saints and sages like Confucius and Mencius. At this age, I need to understand what I should understand."

"But this——"

Concubine Wu wanted to persuade her again, but was stopped by Xu with a wave of her hand.

Then, Xu really explained in detail to her two daughters, who didn't understand what a brothel was, which made her two daughters blush.

Zhang Xin is okay, there are some in Yongcheng. Old man Zhang is a big mouth sometimes.

In her previous life, she had obtained a ban on prostitution because of her son, so she knew some of the ins and outs of this matter.

"Mom!!! I said it should be good-looking, but it doesn't have to be this good! This man and this man——"

Zhu Zhiming paused for a while, the blush on his face faded, and he pulled Xu's sleeve and started to make trouble.

"It's nothing between men. After all, our Ming Dynasty can't support so many people, so there must be people who do menial jobs to make a living. Prostitutes are better, but those whores are worse off than prostitutes."

Xu's face looked heavy.

"Can't you support yourself by farming or working in the city?"

Zhu Zhiming was puzzled.

"Tian Zhen, it's just about supporting yourself. You have parents, grandparents, and children if you're married. How much land do you have to support your family? What if you don't have any land? What about the old and young in your family? There are also weak men. What do you want them to do?"

Xu sneered.

"What is a prostitute? Is it done secretly?"

Zhu Anle also raised questions.

"Not long after your royal grandfather established his dynasty, he issued a decree - officials who sleep with prostitutes are guilty of a crime second only to murder. Even if they are pardoned, they will be banned for life. They are not allowed to sleep with prostitutes, but they have a little money in their pockets and go looking for prostitutes. This is a common problem among men. If they are banned on the surface, they will eventually become secret prostitutes, private prostitutes, and those who are kept at home."

Xu felt that this matter should be discussed in more depth.

Among the daughters, the eldest and the second were better, but the ones born later were locked up in the mansion and really became the kind of people who were out of touch with the world.

That does not work.

When you get married in the future, if the servants don’t tell you what the groom does outside, they will be completely blind to it.

"Mother, do you think that the Royal Grandfather shouldn't issue a decree?"

Zhang Xin interrupted again and said that the ban on prostitution had been in place since the Hongwu period of the emperor's grandfather and was banned during the Xuande period of his eldest son. It was banned every year, but prostitution still occurred every year.

But the sixteenth floor built by the emperor's grandfather himself later became a place where birds of a feather flock together.

Before Zhu Gaochi's death, she had no idea that the outside world had become so extravagant.

[Small science: According to Wu Za Zu (Five Miscellaneous Articles) by Xie Zhaozhe of the Ming Dynasty, “Taizu built sixteen towers in Jinling to house courtiers and entertain tourists from all over the world.” If I have time, I will open a chapter to talk about the sixteenth tower, which is comparable to Fan Tower in the Song Dynasty. The service industry during Zhu Yuanzhang’s reign was quite like a poor man suddenly becoming rich.]