What does it mean to have a correct attitude? Kneel down when you should. Zhu Er felt that the tiger in front of him and the Korean envoy who immediately followed him to kneel on the ground were making a certain Li Cao consult. This is the best example. Only

However, after having been in contact with the young Goryeo royal family for a long time, he found that the people were sensitive and delicate, but actually very timid, so when he saw the people trembling all over, he was a little amused.

Fortunately, he received a look from the fourth prince at the next moment, and quickly went up to help Zheshanjun up, and then stuffed him into the quilt - for him who was clumsy and had never done anything like serving others, he

To accurately describe that rude action, it was indeed a gag.

But even if his action was simple and rough, Councilor Li Cao was still grateful. After all, although Zheshanjun was only from the royal family, and it was impossible for him to inherit the throne when the king was still young, but if he really left the country before entering the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty,

Whatever the problem was, he still couldn't escape being held accountable when he returned to China. When he saw Zhang Lu even gave him a handkerchief, he quickly bowed and thanked him.

Seeing that the effect of scaring people had been completely achieved, the fourth prince tried his best to say in a serious tone that was completely inappropriate for his age: "Actually, my father has already ordered King Xingwen of Goryeo to investigate this matter. Although it is the cold weather in the first month, but

The messenger has already set off day and night, and it is said that he will arrive in Kaijing in at most thirty days."

There is a difference between an urgent military situation traveling four hundred miles a day and a traveling six hundred miles a day. Although this is not an urgent military situation now, and it is in the first month of the year, the road from here north to Liaodong and then into our own country is not easy to walk, but it is very easy.

Obviously, in order to arrive on the 30th, the messenger would not only be able to make it in time, but would also probably have to take a very high risk.

Zheshanjun was young and didn't know what the thirty days at most represented, but Councilor Li Cao couldn't possibly understand.

So, he secretly took a breath of cold air, and then said more cautiously: "If my Majesty finds out, I will do my best to investigate. Whoever harbors those pirates will definitely be severely punished!"

Zheshanjun thought in his heart that for his uncle, this was also the best opportunity to eliminate dissidents. He didn’t know how many heads would fall in the court. However, while he was distracted, he soon heard a startling sound.

Phew, I quickly came back to my senses.

"What, the decree given to our country by the Celestial Empire has been tampered with, and it did not ask for tribute girls? Nor did it ask for maids and firemen?" If he was scared out of his mind just now, then at this moment, Li Cao consulted

I felt that I was going to die soon, and that I would die without a burial place! You know, the Xingxing Sixingren mentioned by the fourth prince was the one who received him in the first place!

Zheshanjun had already noticed that Councilor Li Cao was on the verge of collapse, but he happened to be distracted and didn't hear anything, so he could only look at the others with help-seeking eyes.

The fourth prince had already discovered that he was just an empty-headed royal family. At this time, it was too late to stare at Councilor Li Cao, and he did not notice him at all. Zhang Lu, who always had eyes and ears to listen to, was kind enough to repeat it in a low voice.

But this time, while Zheshanjun was frightened on his face, he sneered in his heart. Tribute girls were very common in the early Ming Dynasty. Emperor Gaozong Shizong once took in the concubines of Goryeo, but the number gradually decreased over the years, so he got

After receiving the decree, his uncle almost urgently summoned all the ministers of his faction and ordered the most beautiful legitimate daughter to be selected and sent, hoping that one of them would stand out.

After all, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong and Sejong, the number of annual tributes was reduced, but the annual gifts were very generous. Everyone in the country believed that it was given by the noble lady who was named De Fei. Today, the emperor of Ming Dynasty is still in his prime, although no one expects it.

If a noble girl from this country enters the Daming Palace, she will be lucky enough to give birth to a future heir or something. After all, the East Palace now has a master, but even giving birth to a princess would be good.

Therefore, he tried his best to keep his head down and pretend to be nervous, but in his heart he was laughing at his uncle who just ascended to the throne because of good luck. He was ambitious, but he didn't care about the humiliation he had suffered in the Ming Dynasty in the past, and he had to pretend to be submissive and try his best to show his kindness.

.However, when he saw Councilor Li Cao's frightened expression, his mood quickly dropped.

From Zheng Mengzhou, the last famous official of the previous dynasty, to Zheng Daozhuan, the hero of Taizu of this dynasty who was killed by Taizong, all of them came to the Ming Dynasty personally to serve as envoys, and the principle of being respectful and doing great things was almost passed down from generation to generation like the ancestral precepts.

Therefore, even if my uncle had acted imprudently in the past, he still has to treat Ming Dynasty respectfully when he is in power now.

If he were the king, would he dare to disobey the Celestial Empire? No, disobedience is impossible, but can he be able to defy the rule of law?

I'm afraid it's not that easy. You know, because the Ming Dynasty selectively ignored their credentials to change the country's name, after so many years, they are still the envoys of Goryeo, not North Korea.

Zheshanjun was playing coy, but Councilor Li Cao obviously couldn't. He could only try his best to explain that he didn't know anything about the situation in his country, and he didn't even dare to try to shift the responsibility to the pedestrian because he was worried about the Ming Dynasty.

Taking advantage of the so-called Jeju Island pirate incident, they directly sent a fleet to sail across the sea to kill them.

This is not impossible. Think about it, when the last emperor of the previous dynasty wanted to help Meng Yuan, Taizu, who had not yet ascended the throne at that time, had made a direct attack on the sea ship, until several bright-eyed ministers in the country tried their best to stop him.

This caused the previous dynasty's reign to be extended for a while.

Precisely because he did not dare to shirk his responsibility, he almost told the story of the reasons why his daughter-in-law was selected as a tribute to the king, what status the families held in the court, and what famous families these women's maternal families came from.

, I wish I could explain clearly the three generations of each family.

Although he has an excellent memory, the problem is that no one, whether it is the Fourth Prince, Zhu Er, Zhang Wu or Zhang Lu, understands the official system of Goryeo, and certainly has no interest in understanding it. Therefore, after listening patiently for a while, the Four

The prince finally became impatient and interrupted angrily: "Stop submitting your official resume. I didn't ask about this. As you said before, what other maids and firemen are there?"

What is a fireman?

This is what the Fourth Prince really wanted to ask, but he was finally beaten so hard by the Emperor that the two legs he was kneeling on in the Fengxian Hall almost no longer belonged to him, so he very cleverly changed the way he asked the question.

, and also added the word "maidservant".

Then, the Councilor Li Cao's answer made him stunned.

"The ten maids sent this time are definitely not from untouchable backgrounds. My father and ancestors were once in the Yangban class, but they were demoted to official maids because they offended them. They are skilled in etiquette and can speak Ming Dynasty Mandarin very well, so they were selected. As for those firemen

These are also people whose fathers and ancestors saw sins and were castrated at a young age. Later, they were trained in etiquette and became proficient in Ming Dynasty writing."

The current fourth prince still understands what the word castration means. But because he understands, he only feels numb at this moment. Just because his elders are convicted, his son will be tortured and his daughter will be reduced to an official position.

slave girl?

His father told him that Emperor Taizu once promulgated laws. If officials found guilty, rebelled, or conspired to rebel, the clan would be punished, and those who deserved exile would be exiled. But no good people were allowed to be slaves. No matter what.

Corruption or something else, unless the wife and children follow in the corruption, then only one person is guilty and the property is confiscated.

For example, the emperors of the previous dynasties and even some dynasties castrated the children of officials and even ordinary prisoners into slaves for their own selfish interests, even if they were not used as maids. This was just to vent their own selfish anger and undermine the strictness of the law.

.

In the Liao Dynasty, there were often palace upheavals and even turmoil. This was because prisoners and even their children were often taken into their own homes as slaves and their enemies were placed at their side. Isn't this the source of trouble?

Of course, the emperor was a crazy admirer of Emperor Taizu, but the fourth prince also heard from Zhang Shou another explanation of his ancestor's philosophy - it is not a serious crime to commit treason, but to flee without a fight.

, Surrender after defeat, leading the enemy into bandits, and other extremely heinous crimes, do not implicate family members. This is progress in the law. If it is not a serious crime, family members must be implicated, which is turning back the wheel of history.

He still remembered Zhang Shou's words that in the Han Dynasty, there was always a big weapon of killing the clan. If you kill one person without resolving the hatred, then the whole clan will be exterminated. The emperor has no business keeping those who have resentment as slaves.

I feel like this is not neat enough.

Even Sima Qian, who wrote "Historical Records" after being corrupted, is said to have been secretly executed in the last years of Emperor Wu, let alone others?

In the Tang Dynasty, the so-called important ministers were frequently offended. In addition to being executed, it was common for them to be punished by the palace and then exiled. However, there were also often those whose entire family members were not slaves. For example, the famous Shangguan Wan'er was a daughter of a prime minister.

Become a slave in the palace.

Until the Song Dynasty, scholar-bureaucrats were treated favorably, many were exiled and demoted to death, and many had descendants who were unable to serve in official positions. The treatment of military generals was relatively harsh, but it was rare to be reduced to servitude.

Only barbarian courts like the Liao, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties had the bad habit of frequently demoting officials and good family members into slaves.

What Zhang Shou did not tell the fourth prince was that the last two dynasties in history, the Ming Dynasty, first reversed the course of history and reintroduced the extremely cruel system of burial from unknown corners, and it was not abolished until the Yingzong period.

, then, successive generations of emperors not only often executed officials for trivial matters, but even affected their family members and made them slaves.

Zhu Di did not mention that Zhu Zhanji, who was warmly praised by the ministers of the Ming Dynasty as the rule of Renxuan, once killed his old teacher because he complained about it, and then had the teacher's uncle and his clan brother's family also copied, and his family was

A young son is castrated into a fire creature.

But in the Qing Dynasty, things got even worse. Not only were Han officials and Han people always enslaved with armored men, but also the Manchus themselves. They were once prosperous in the past, but once they fell into slavery, they became slaves of masters and slaves all over the world. This atmosphere is really smelly.

.

But even what Zhang Shou said was enough to make the fourth prince very disgusted with such an approach. He frowned tightly at this time, even if he knew that this was the custom of other countries, Korea was just a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, and the Koreans were not citizens of the Ming Dynasty.

, he still sneered angrily: "The convicted criminals are then used as slaves. It is really a good custom in Korea."

Councilor Li Cao never expected that the fourth prince would be dissatisfied with this. After being stunned for a moment, he quickly explained: "Your Highness, the fourth prince, is afraid that these people will be resentful and disobedient? That is absolutely impossible. They have all been unemployed since childhood.

As a slave, I have not experienced the heyday of my family, so I have been able to accept my identity for a long time, and I have also learned various things since I was young..."

Before he could finish his words, Zhu Er had to cough again. Unlike the third and fourth princes, who had been influenced by the emperor since childhood, and because of his teacher Zhang Shou, he developed some kind of mysophobia, so he

I think the issue of the Korean tribute girls can still be discussed, but a small matter like sending a few maids and firemen...then there is no need to worry about it!

Therefore, even if he knew that the fourth prince was in charge today, he still had to change the topic and said: "Since I know that someone is behind the incident of the Korean tribute girl, then, according to your wishes, what should be done about this matter?

?”

Councilor Li Cao, who had some say in the domestic court, was sweating profusely at this time. Historically, the official positions of the fathers and ancestors of Goryeo tribute girls were not particularly high. The daughters of senior officials in the third grade hall were often the queens in the harem or even

Since there was no better candidate for the head wife of the clan, and there was also the need to marry among various families, it was only possible to choose an official from a lower-level official or even a lower-ranking official.

Anyway, as long as she is beautiful, it is enough. With such a distance, how could the emperor of the Celestial Dynasty care about the official position of Gongnu's father and ancestor?

But this time, because Xingrensi's decree stated that the legitimate daughters of Shangguan's family should be those with a third rank or above, so these girls had to be selected urgently, and before leaving the capital, they were even more crying and miserable.

Qi. However, if we really want to send them back like this, it would be even more tragic!

Who would want a woman who was returned by the Ming Dynasty? Or to be more precise, who would dare to want it? But the daughter who was supposed to be the candidate for marriage or even the queen ended up in such a situation. Their family was bound to find someone to vent their anger on.

At that time, wouldn't he, the Li Cao Councilor, be the target of thousands of criticisms?

Therefore, when the poor Councilor Li Cao saw the fourth prince standing there with his hands folded like a young adult without saying anything, he could only say pitifully: "Your Highness the fourth prince, three young masters, this time the envoy came to Beijing, and the journey was difficult and difficult.

, several of the rich ladies even fell ill on the road, it is not easy to reach the capital, and if they just go back like this, others will only think that their women's morals are lacking."

"It is the custom in our country that once a woman is engaged, even if she has not actually married yet, she often has to guard the family. And in this situation, they are afraid that they will not even be able to enter the house after they return. I hope the heaven will be considerate and even stay in the palace.

Sweeping is also a blessing for them. Please show mercy to Your Highness the Fourth Prince."

Why do you want my pity? I don’t want to offend the Korean girl!

The fourth prince frowned into a knot, and he was extremely disgusted with the customs of Goryeo. Emperor Taizu always encouraged widows who lost their husbands but had no children to remarry, while widows with children just obeyed, and he was particularly disgusted at one time.

There is a so-called chaste wife. So until now, if the daughters-in-law of wealthy families have no children after losing their husbands, many of them remarry.

He was about to denounce such red tape, but he caught a glimpse of Zhu Er winking at him frequently, and finally he could only say angrily: "Those women who my father used to choose concubines for his eldest brother and second brother are now engaged in marriages, not to mention
Chapter completed!