[Qing wear] Harem promotion expert

The queen mother serves a large number of people, but very few people can enter the inner hall and often follow the queen mother.

Just now the empress dowager and the empress were discussing the matter of conferring concubines in Jin, so only Aunt Wu Ya was waiting in the room.

Seeing that the emperor didn't like sweet and sour preserved fruits, the queen mother asked Aunt Wu Ya to fetch salt and pepper pecan kernels for the emperor to eat.

After Aunt Wu Ya also stepped back, the emperor asked, "Does the empress still remember Master Yunjia?"

The queen mother began to try hard to remember: it can be seen that the old man said that she was paying homage to the Buddha, and she often invited masters and masters to explain Buddhism, but in fact she only likes to listen to legendary stories-this is not even difficult to recall the master himself.

A few days after returning from the prairie, the Empress Dowager also asked Jiang Heng to recompile for her a book called Gao Dashang's "Guru's Proverbs", which was actually the legendary story book of "Arabian Nights".Sometimes, without blushing and heartbeat, she would say to the wives inside and outside: "The Ai family read the Buddhist proverbs until the second watch yesterday." Others quickly cheered: The queen mother is really pious!

Fortunately, Master Yunjia is indeed the eminent monk among the eminent monks, and the eminent celebrity among the celebrities, the Queen Mother finally remembered it.

"Is it Master Yunjia, who was appointed by the late emperor as the Grand Master of Guangci, and personally praised him as 'Buddhism is so comprehensive as if you have heard it personally under the Buddha'?"

The emperor nodded and said: "After Huang Ama passed away, Master Yunjia went out to travel around the capital. Weaker. It's God's will, Empress Empress no longer needs to worry about her son's heirs, she always obeys the law of heaven."

The emperor, who temporarily gave his mother a reason, resigned peacefully, thinking that he could live a quiet life for a few years, but the queen mother who was left behind was very troubled.

Aunt Wu Ya just came back after peeling the small hickory nuts. Seeing that the emperor had left, she put it in front of the queen mother: "Your Majesty, eat some. The small wild hickory nuts that General Jilin paid tribute to are only a few catties every year."

The queen mother said: "Why do you still eat small walnuts? The Ai family will eat it too." Seeing no one around, she simply said: "It was the same with the late emperor. Back then, it must have been said that the emperor's temper was volatile, and he was not stable enough. Tell him to read more about Buddhist teachings on self-cultivation and self-cultivation, and the emperor still believes in it seriously."

The queen mother's feeling at this time is: what should I do if my dead husband suddenly starts attacking me?

On the eve of the New Year's Eve, the list of concubines and concubines was officially released.

In the palace, it was as if the college entrance examination had finally passed, some families were happy and others were sad.

The joy of the Yonghe Palace is the kind of peace of mind that the dust has finally settled, and there is not much surprise.

The most surprising thing is Concubine Yu, who is now Concubine Yu.

It happened to be snowing that day, Qiu Xue came back from the outside, stood by the charcoal basin to warm her hands, and said to Jiang Heng: "Madam, the happiness in Xianfu Palace is really going to be turned upside down! Sister Huang Yang laughed so hard that her face froze. gone."

Concubine Yu was promoted to concubine Yu, and the Guo family was promoted to nobleman. Xianfu Palace is really like a palace name, and salty is blessed.

After the decree of Jin Feng came down, the queen gave a reward, and the rest of the palaces also wanted to send congratulatory gifts to Concubine Yu, a freshly baked concubine.Just now Qiuxue went to give gifts on behalf of Yonghe Palace.

Jiang Heng looked outside, only to see heavy snow falling outside, and the gloomy snowy sky was like dusk.However, the snowy days under the New Year’s Eve do not look bleak at all. Instead, due to the countless bright red lanterns and glowing palace lanterns of various colors, it shows a solid and lively New Year’s feeling.

The ladies and eunuchs who came in and out of the Yonghe Palace all had happy and busy smiles of the New Year on their faces.

After Qiu Xue roasted her hands, she took out a big red silk purse: "Your Majesty, look at this silver purse, you can see that Concubine Yu is happy. Those who go to Yonghe Palace to celebrate today will be rewarded." After a pause: " Concubine Yu and Guo Guiren all congratulated the master, saying that when the weather clears up, they will invite the master to visit Xianfu Palace."

It has been snowing heavily for the past two days, so the concubines and concubines will not have to worry about the queen's morning and evening, so it is not easy to run around to visit each other, and they seem to be unable to calm down.

So they just gave gifts and congratulations first according to the number of etiquettes.

Jiang Heng nodded, and by the way began to list the New Year's schedule: "Tomorrow is the New Year's Eve, and the empress has the most things to do, and she has already made an appointment to avoid asking for peace. Tonight is the New Year's banquet, so it's not easy to talk. Let's go there the day after tomorrow." Visit Concubine Yu."

Concubine Yu is a very interesting person and loves to talk. Every time Jiang Heng chats with her in private, he can always hear a lot of hidden rules for living in the palace.

Early the next morning, Yonghe Palace received the palace attendants from the respect room.

"The slave congratulates the concubine Xin, and the empress is overjoyed!"

The uniform on Zhang Yuzhu's body originally had two blue borders, but in the twelfth lunar month, it was replaced with red borders. Even the turtle back Ruyi pattern on the cotton waistcoat is also red, which looks like a festive bandage. The big glutinous rice balls are also like a huge Brazilian turtle wrapped with colored threads.

Originally, the number of newcomers who came to the palace was too small, and Zhang Yuzhu was afraid that his position would not be stable and he would lose weight, so he changed from glutinous rice balls to strip-shaped rice cakes.

But ever since Chen Debao subdued him and Zhang Yuzhu took over the power of the respect room, he became relaxed and happy, and gradually brought himself back to the round shape.

It looks particularly white, fat and festive.

Jiang Heng ordered someone to bring a New Year's purse to Zhang Yuzhu.Zhang Yuzhu took it from Qiuxue with both hands: "There will not be enough manpower in all the palaces next year. My mother has just been promoted to the concubine. I am afraid that there will be more big things and small things to be busy. No, the servant rushed to give my mother a new one." The palace servants are here."

As he spoke, he let out the eight court ladies and eight eunuchs behind him.

Now that the Queen Mother's order has been issued, the concubines of the Jin Dynasty have become an established fact.

The respect room has always been obedient: this time it is not a big seal in the palace, but an early promotion.Those who can get into the Jin Dynasty this time must be those who are remembered in the eyes of the emperor or the empress dowager.Therefore, although the New Year has not yet passed, and the canonization ceremony in the spring has not yet been seen, the respect room is dedicated to filling up the corresponding serving population for the Jin concubines.

With Zhang Yuzhu's wit and thoughtfulness, Jiang Heng was not surprised to send people here in advance, but Zhang Yuzhu also brought too many people.The number of concubines is only two more court ladies and two eunuchs than nobles, and the number does not change much.The biggest change is actually in the rank of the palace ladies. Now Jiang Heng can pick a palace lady to be promoted to the first class, and manage all the palace servants in Yonghe Palace.

There are only two black slits on Zhang Yuzhu's Bai Shengsheng's face, where the eyes protrude, like black sesame glutinous rice balls with missing fillings. "The slave deliberately brought a few more people here, and asked the empress to pick and choose."

Then he patted his chest and promised: "These people are kept clean and honest. If there are dirty hands and feet and wrong thoughts, the empress can just find slaves!"

Then he turned around and looked around at this group of palace people: "Although they are all innocent and capable people, if they want to serve in the Yonghe Palace, they must be in the eyes of the empress, right?" , you usually see that there are good palace people in the various departments and treasuries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and you just order the servants to adjust them for you."

Zhang Yuzhu thought that the concubine Xin had been in the palace for nearly a year, and she had contacts with various places in the palace, so there might be a maid and eunuch in the palace.For example, Yinqiao, who was persecuted by Chen Debao, has a relationship with her concubine Xin. If you want to transfer her, it's just a matter of words.

Jiang Heng nodded, this is the benefit of being promoted. Compared with the palace servants who could only accept the palace officials from the House of Internal Affairs and the Respect Room back then, Jiang Heng now has the autonomy to choose palace servants.

"Do any of you know how to read and write?" After nearly a year of literacy classes, the four maids of Yonghe Palace can already recognize basic characters, and can also write records such as 'out', 'in' and numbers. Account required words.

The most important thing is that they have all accepted Jiang Heng's stick figure system, and draw stick figures for any characters they don't know how to write.Jiang Heng saw that the hot pots they drew from the manufacturing office looked decent, even the five-petaled plum blossom.

Zhang Yuzhu heard the words, and quickly replied: "Back to the empress, these maids can recognize and write superficial characters--Long live God ordered, the empress has always had a bookkeeping practice here, and from now on, the empress not only wants In charge of the Yonghe Palace, and also the book collection in the Jingyang Palace behind, the maids who call must be able to read and write."

For the emperor's order, Zhang Yuzhu even accepted a lot of bribes with tears in his eyes - how many palace people in this palace wanted to squeeze into the Yonghe Palace to serve, they desperately stuffed money to get through the back door.However, with the emperor's order, being able to read and write has become a rigid indicator with a high threshold.

Zhang Yuzhu had no choice but to give up some extra money with regret, and only selected a few court ladies who could read.

Jiang Heng didn't expect the emperor to even order this.

She didn't have any other requirements, so she picked the two maids who looked the most pleasing to the eye and the two eunuchs stayed.

Since then, her Yonghe Palace team has become: six court ladies (one first-class, two second-class, three third-class), and six eunuchs.If adding the Jingyang Palace behind her, she would become the team leader with more than a dozen people under her command.

Jiang Heng crossed time and space and made a horizontal comparison. If this was placed in the public institution system, the concubine should be at the official level.

Before the arrival of the new year, she made a five-year plan for herself, to guarantee five years and strive for three years to be promoted to the first rank (concubine).

Within two days of the new year, Jiang Heng was pleased to find that after Zhang Yuzhu's visit, the atmosphere in the Yonghe Palace became more united and uplifting.

The day before yesterday, Zhang Yuzhu came to see him off, saying that after most of the palace people were left to be picked by the concubine Xin, the original palace people of Yonghe Palace would inevitably become nervous.Even Qiu Xue, who has always been trusted and is now a quasi-first-class court lady, is the same.

They were lucky. They were assigned to this Yonghe Palace to serve the nobleman a year ago, which is equivalent to directly buying the original stock with daily limit.Walking in the palace now, wearing the badge of the Yonghe Palace, the smiles are a bit more than those in other places.They don't want to be competed for posts by others, squeezed out from the Yonghe Palace, and they don't want to be compared by newcomers.

Especially when I heard that the new palace servants who came in this time were ordered by the emperor to be able to read and write. The enthusiasm of the maids and eunuchs in Yonghe Palace to attend literacy classes suddenly skyrocketed.

Originally, the purpose of learning to read and write was to complete Jiang Heng's task, but now he is studying hard for his own future: the empress is now a concubine, and the momentum of the empress will definitely go up in the future. As more and more people came, they had to do more and be more loyal and clever in order to leave a place in the empress's heart.

And the newcomers, knowing that they can't compare with the affection of the old ones, are even more determined to leave a name impression in the eyes of Concubine Xin.

For a moment, the atmosphere of the Yonghe Palace was full of competition.

Jiang Heng thinks it's good, there is competition and motivation.The principle that running water does not rot and household hinges do not rot is always right and fair: the target of my roll is the emperor, the ultimate leader, and the target of the palace people is me.Everyone has their own duties and work to do, and we will go to a better future together.

Sure enough, soon someone showed his true nature as a little clever ghost, and began to contribute the information he had inquired to Jiang Heng.

At this moment, those who can still enter the Yonghe Palace through Zhang Yuzhu's path, there are always two brushes.

Jiang Heng received several new news, for example, the concubine Qi who was not conferred by Jin was in a very bad mood, and Changchun Palace even sent a eunuch who 'made a mistake' to An Le Tang that night.Also, what Qiuxue hadn't heard before, the reason for the promotion of the concubine this time may have come from the fact that the eighth Fujin raped the empress in person.

It is equivalent to the information system of Yonghe Palace, which has undergone an upgrade.

For Jiang Heng, the New Year's banquet and various sacrifices during the next year are not difficult.

When she entered the palace, she really participated in a lot of the daily procedures of the harem.

But there was one thing that was always on her mind, and that was that she was about to meet Jiang Heng's biological mother, Jue Ercha.

Both Chinese and foreign wives in Beijing have to enter the palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager during festivals, but there is a difference between internal and external wives.

The inner wives, that is, the Fujin, side Fujin and wives of the royal family, all belong to the royal family, and the empress dowager often leaves a few to talk as appropriate.However, the wives, that is, the mothers and wives of officials, usually enter the palace to pay their respects according to the rules, and then follow the big slip out.

During Jiang Heng's entry into the palace for more than half a year, the Jueercha family had been sent to the palace to pay their respects several times as the first grade, but the mother and daughter had never had a chance to speak alone, and it was rare to be able to see each other from a distance.

The only difference is during Chinese New Year.

From ancient times to the present, Chinese people have always put the Chinese New Year above all else, and everything is 'let's talk about it after the New Year'.Even the beheading by the imperial court is not done during the New Year's Day or during the first month.

According to the former emperor's old practice, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the wives were ordered to enter the palace to greet the empress dowager, and concubines above the master's position could meet their family members in their own palace.

Although the number of relatives meeting each other cannot exceed three, and the time cannot exceed one hour.But such a short time is also very precious to the women in the palace.

Jiang Heng was promoted just a few years ago, just in time for the last train to see his family.

Jueercha really didn't expect that he could see his daughter when he enters the palace this year!

After Guanbao left Beijing, Jue Ercha supported his family at home.

Many big families in Manchuria have always carried some prairie customs. When the men go out, the women have to take care of the house and the outside.Therefore, the Jueercha family also knew about some changes in the officialdom in Beijing. Those officials were harvested by the emperor in batches like wheat.

The harem she has been paying attention to is even more so: two new concubines lost their status to plant flowers, and even the noble concubine was relegated to the concubine position because of an incident.

Jue Ercha was really worried like the parents in those fairy tales who sent their daughters to the dragon's den.

For more than half a year, Jueercha's heart trembled when he thought of his daughter.The thirteen Fujin often come to comfort him, and only Daoxin nobles are quite favored.

Thirteen Fujin thought it was a consolation, but Jueercha was even more afraid: her daughter has a soft personality, and if she is favored in the palace, she might be ensnared by others.

She originally only hoped for her daughter's safety, but she did not expect to be promoted to the main position so quickly.

Jueercha didn't bring any daughter-in-law with him, so he went to Yonghe Palace to explain to his daughter again.

After seeing the objects such as the star movement instrument, the wishful life, and the Furong frozen stone tripod, Jue Ercha felt relieved.Not because things are precious, but because they all carry the chapters of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, which are gifts from the imperial court.

Because it was led in by the maid from the House of Internal Affairs, Jueercha came first according to the rules: "Congratulations to the empress, congratulations to the empress who has been promoted to the rank of concubine." When I see my daughter next time, it will be in the main hall ahead.

Qiushuang gave the red seal and sent away the maid who led the way, so only her own people are left in this palace.

Jue Ercha is not the kind of pedantic person who still insists on his status without outsiders, respecting his mother-in-law and his wife.

She quickly took Jiang Heng's hand: "Good boy, let Er Niang take a look."

The kind words and the gentle and loving eyes made Jiang Heng relax immediately.

When Qiu Xue came to serve tea, Jiang Heng stopped by to tell Mrs. Jueercha the name of her court lady.Hearing these windy, frosty, rainy and snowy names, Jue Ercha nodded: Sure enough, the fortune teller is still very clever, these names are Wang's daughter!

Qiu Xue Qiushuang followed Jiang Heng's introduction and came up to say hello, Jue Ercha quickly gave two big purses: "Two good girls."

The two were a little confused: just hearing a name, why is Madam so happy.

Sure enough, the daughter follows her mother, and they are all kind and generous people.

And Jueercha, like all mothers in the world, cared about her daughter's life, and quickly asked repeatedly: "Why did you feel wronged when you entered the palace? How did the emperor treat you? How did the empress dowager treat you? This harem concubine Are you easy to get along with?"

Jiang Heng rose to the position quickly enough to answer the first few questions.

Jue Ercha's focus is also on the last question: being favored in the palace is also making enemies, women are not being bullied by other concubines, right?

Jiang Heng smiled: "Don't worry, Er Niang, I have never blush with anyone."

Qiu Xue next to her: ...how to put it, that's right.The master has never blushed with anyone before, and it is her problem that the imperial concubine blushed with the master.

Having cared about her daughter, Jue Ercha remembered that the first thing she had to do before entering the palace was to establish a channel for communication or money delivery with her daughter.

She once thought that she would bring more gold and silver for her daughter when she entered the palace this time, but when married women enter the palace, even the maids are not allowed to bring them with them, and they have to follow the guidance of the palace people when walking, sitting and lying down, how much gold and silver they can bring ?Even if she covered her arms with gold bracelets, she wouldn't be able to wear two gold belts.

But silver bills are easy to carry around, but they are unrealistic and impractical.

One is that the denomination of the bank note is large, and it is a bank note as soon as it is sold. No matter how rich the family is, it is easy to be taken advantage of by such a reward; In the palace, the bank note is often equivalent to a piece of paper, and some eunuchs can go out of the palace, but they are all on business according to the order, and they may not be free to exchange the silver.

There is no real convenience of gold and silver.

It is enough to establish a long-term transportation system.

Speaking of this matter, Jue Ercha once again annoyed the former imperial concubine and now the concubine to death.

It's all because of the decree of her assistant Liugong at the time, that the new concubines can't bring their own maids into the palace - otherwise, the maids who bring their children into the palace, even though the maids themselves will be the maids of the Ministry of Internal Affairs nationality, but her family is still in the mansion, which is a natural passage.When the maid meets her family at the Shunzhen Gate, she can hand in the gold and silver.

It is forbidden to bring most things inside and outside the palace, except gold and silver.It's just because the rules for concubines and concubines were established by the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.The old ancestors did not change the rules easily, but inflation is also a reality, and the concubines who only rely on the rules have to live a tight life.

It can't be that there is less distribution in the palace, and the mother's family is not allowed to subsidize it.

Jiang Heng heard that Er Niang still wanted to put money in for her, so he said: "E Niang, actually it is not necessary. The money brought into the palace at that time plus my share, as long as the mediation is proper, it is enough. It is a human relationship. , There is also income and income, and I do the calculations. Last year, there was no time when the status of the nobleman was not in hand." In his previous life, Jiang Heng was used to the accounting app, and he never forgot to write down when he bought tea eggs in the morning. , so I have a good idea of ​​my expenses.

The calculation of income and expenditure is very accurate. This year, the nobleman graduated successfully and made a lot of money.

When you reach the concubine position, you should be more generous.

"I don't need Ama Erniang to try to send me money..."

Before she finished speaking, she was categorically rejected by Jue Ercha: "You child, you are talking big things after only half a year. How can you always have enough money? It is good to be prepared! For example Although our family has a lot of income, we can't keep it all , won't it be difficult for a while?"

"Besides, you are different from your family. There are many ways to rush to use money outside. Where do you go when you are in the palace? Could it be possible to use your head as a job in the House of Internal Affairs?"

With a loving mother's heart and fists, Jiang Heng only bowed his head to be taught.

As soon as the communication between the mother and daughter came to an end, Jue Ercha took a sip of tea.

But at this moment, Qiu Xue stepped forward suddenly, and said deeply, "Ma'am, this servant has something to ask. There are several brothers and sisters in this servant's family. The elder brother and the younger brother can do rough things like dancing with guns and sticks, and the sisters do needlework. Just like slaves and maids, they are all self-satisfied mothers, and they are a bit hot. I also ask my wife to promote the slaves' family members, or brothers to be long-term followers, or sisters to be embroidered mothers, but according to the orders of the family."

Qiu Shuang was dumbfounded: Madam and Niang Niang are talking about business, why did sister Qiu Xue suddenly start to find things for her family?Sister Qiuxue is not such a blank person.

Qiu Shuang was surprised, but saw that his wife was not angry at all, even the empress knew it.

Jueercha said with a smile: "Miss Qiuxue's family must be good. You just need to feel at ease in the palace and do your job, and the family members outside don't have to worry about it. The matter of the man at home will be arranged when the master comes back. The matter of the sisters , it can be done now. It’s enough to make a work contract with the mansion for the master embroidery worker, it’s all a living contract, and you won’t be enslaved by the mansion.”

Qiu Xue blessed her body again: "The whole family of slaves and maids are entrusted to the blessing of the master and wife."

Qiu Xue is a very clever girl.Her and Yinqiao's family backgrounds are actually similar: they are both the most common people in the family, and when the times are bad, food and clothing are difficult.Of course, her life is better than Yinqiao: her parents are honest and responsible people, obediently doing some small business under the banner, and earning a living carefully.Although it is the same as people in this era, they value their sons more, but they will not sell their daughters directly, and they still take care of them to the best of their ability.

It's just that Qiu Xue's family has a large population, with older brothers and sisters at the top and younger siblings at the bottom. Among the five children, Qiu Xue was born in the middle, so she inevitably became the one who received the least attention.This has forged her temperament that she has been able to figure out people's hearts and winks since she was a child, and it also gave her the desire to live a good life.

So after the newcomer entered the palace, Qiu Xue gritted her teeth, took out the body she had saved for three or four years, found a way out, escaped from the Shangyi prison, and wanted to find a way out from the newcomer's concubine.

Fortunately, her career and luck coexisted, and she was assigned to the most trusted person among the newcomers.

Since then, Qiu Xue has been conscientiously working as her own maid.

Now Mrs. Xin has become a concubine of Xin, and Qiu Xue has also become a first-class court lady with a name and surname in the palace.She is very grateful and content, and is willing to stay in this Yonghe Palace for a long time.

It is not so difficult for the ladies of the court to meet their family members.

When Qiuxue saw her family these two times, she saw that Er Niang was smiling more, and she pulled her and said, "Master Guan Bao's house takes good care of our family. Every year and festivals, the family steward will send some money for the festival, saying It's because you are too busy serving the nobles in the palace."

Because Er Niang had given birth to five children, her family was not well-off, and she had a lot to worry about. At the age of 40, she seemed to have had a lot of vicissitudes than the concubines in their fifties and sixties in the palace.

She held Qiu Xue tightly with her somewhat rough hands and said, "Girl, we are honest people, and we must have a conscience. Since you entered the Yonghe Palace, seeing these father-in-laws who guard the gate have been polite to you, you won't be so polite to Er Niang It seems that you have been staring at the needlework all the time and hurt your eyes. Now not only you, but our family has also received a lot of grace from Mr. Dutong's house, you should work hard in the palace."

Qiuxue made up her mind, anyway, she was going to follow the empress for a long time.Let's take the initiative to make the family members more tightly tied to Lord Dutong's house.

As far as she knew, many concubines' servants in the palace, especially the nannies of the princes, would be sold by the concubines' mother's family.My mother's family has this strength, but they don't act like this.

Qiu Xue seized this opportunity very keenly.

For the Jueercha family, the court ladies next to their daughters, of course, must be closely watched by their family members.

Isn't one's own family can also gradually develop into one's own family, as long as the fundamental interests are tied together, it is stronger than a family.It is not the best policy to press someone's head and forcefully sign a contract of sale, so why make people complain.

At this moment, Qiuxue had the heart to introduce her brothers and sisters at home, which showed her loyalty.

In the future, money can be passed on to the palace through Qiu Xue and his family.