Chapter 193: Factional Struggle: The Last Dance! Three Thousand Concubines and a Special "Dual Cultivation" Method!
The residence of the Minister of War, Li Chengwu.
"The emperor is going to take a concubine, which means that soon, my Ming Dynasty will have many more princes," Zhang Tingrui, the white-haired and somewhat dull-looking Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, pinched his beard, shook his head and sighed, "The emperor has been hesitant to appoint a crown prince, and now he is suddenly taking a concubine. Alas, this is a troubled time..."
Today, almost all the high-ranking officials from the six ministries, the Inspectorate, the Dali Temple, the Tongzhengshisi, the Hanlin Academy, and the Imperial Observatory have gathered in the Li Mansion.
Of course, in the Ministry of Revenue, in addition to the Minister and the Vice Minister, twelve of the thirteen Qinglisi came. This was naturally because the Minister of Revenue was the Cabinet Minister Zhao Zhenji, and the Vice Minister was Li Zhiyuan.
Others, including the Minister of Works Xu Fan, were naturally excluded.
When they heard Zhang Tingrui start talking, everyone subconsciously looked at the Minister of Rites Zhao Chongli.
After all, it was the clan affairs office and the Ministry of Rites that led the emperor to take a concubine, and the Ministry of Rites did not tell any of them about this.
Zhao Chongli is 51 years old this year. He is thin but looks very healthy and has the demeanor of a humble gentleman.
After noticing that everyone's eyes were on him, Zhao Chongli frowned slightly, but still said:
"Before this, the emperor was already old and it was not appropriate for him to take another concubine. The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court stopped mentioning this for the sake of the emperor's health."
"Now that the emperor has found immortal fate and embarked on the immortal path..." Zhao Chongli paused for a moment, then continued, "The crown prince is related to the stability of the country. The emperor is reluctant to appoint a crown prince, so the crown prince must be chosen from other princes. This is the responsibility of my Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court!"
When Zhao Chongli finished speaking, his tone became even more serious.
Everyone smiled awkwardly when they heard what Zhao Chongli said.
"As a minister, what Zhao Butang did is worthy of our learning," Li Chengwu said, "but we are all on the same side, so Zhao Butang should keep us informed in the future."
"For example, the matter of taking a concubine concerns the prince, and even more so the crown prince. The selection of the crown prince is also closely related to our careers. If we fail to do it well, it is very likely that all our plans will go to waste."
Upon hearing this, the others all nodded.
Zhao Chongli also knew that what he had considered before was indeed inappropriate, and by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
Now, suddenly seeing everyone looking at him, he naturally felt that they were blaming him for not informing them in advance, and he almost instinctively began to explain.
Zhao Chongli was a gentleman with noble character and integrity. The reason he joined others to participate in party struggles was because of family pressure and he had no choice.
So as I explain and explain, I can't help but feel some resentment.
After Li Chengwu's efforts to smooth things over, the originally awkward atmosphere was dispelled a lot.
"Everyone, our chance has come!" After seeing that the atmosphere on the scene was almost the same, Li Chengwu suddenly spoke.
Those present were officials at the pinnacle of power in the Ming Dynasty, so they naturally understood what Li Chengwu was talking about.
"The power of the cabinet is too great. It has seriously affected the operation of the court. The emperor has been in seclusion, and the cabinet has even begun to take charge of the six ministries. All major events in the world are decided by the cabinet."
"This is irresponsible to the court and to the people of the world!" Li Chengwu said as he stood up. "Now, our chance has come!"
The officials naturally knew what opportunity Li Chengwu was talking about. After all, they were already prepared to fight with the cabinet, and they naturally had some understanding of the situation in the court, especially in the cabinet.
Prince Yu and Prince Jing had long been at odds with the Yan family, Xu Jie and others. Now they have lost the support of these people in the court. If they want to gain a foothold in the cabinet, they need to choose a prince.
But they will not let Xu Jie and others get their wish!
They will kick Xu Jie and others out of the cabinet and the court before other princes are born!
"Everyone, success or failure depends on this. Whether the cabinet can return to where it should be depends on whether we can defeat Xu Jie and others!" Li Chengwu looked at everyone with an unprecedented serious expression.
The others also had solemn expressions on their faces at this moment.
Moreover, the real reason for overthrowing the cabinet, besides removing the cabinet’s power, is another reason, and that is immortal fate!
The reason why the cabinet can get the immortal fate is because the emperor needs them. If the cabinet falls, the emperor will need people like them, and naturally, the immortal fate will fall on them.
For the sake of power and immortality, the cabinet must die!
……
Yuxi Palace, side hall.
"Master, the matter of selecting a concubine has already been instructed to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Clan Affairs, and they will announce it to the world soon." Lu Fang bowed to Jiajing and said.
"You are fully responsible for this matter. Aren't you afraid of offending Prince Yu and Prince Jing?" Jiajing looked at Lu Fang.
"I do this all for the emperor and for the peace of the Ming Dynasty. I don't care about offending anyone or not." Lu Fang shook her head, her tone firm as she spoke.
If someone else had said this, Jiajing would naturally not believe it, but since it was said by Lu Fang, there was naturally no doubt about it.
"Earlier in the world of cultivating immortals, your suggestion was very good," Jiajing in the abode raised his finger slightly on the Taoist platform and said, "I said before that I would reward you with something, and now I have it."
Hearing that the master was going to reward her, Lu Fang was suddenly excited, but she still said, "It's what I should do, and even if I didn't have it, the master would definitely think of it."
"On the contrary, it is the servant who is too eager to show off."
"Heh," Jiajing chuckled, and did not dwell on this matter any longer. He raised his hand and handed a brand new book about three or four inches thick to Lu Fang. "This book is called 'General Notes on Cultivation'. I did not have many treasures before, so it is meaningless to tell you about some things on the road to cultivation in advance."
As he spoke, Jiajing pointed at Lv Fang, who had already picked up the "General Notes on Cultivation", and said, "Do you know that when a person is born, there is an innate thing in the sea of consciousness in his brain, called his destiny!"
Destiny? Or innate? When Lu Fang heard this for the first time, he was stunned.
Before he could ask, Jiajing's voice sounded again, and he repeated his natal chart and natal objects.
"Now it's all right. I just got a lot of treasures from Li Changqing. There are many resources in it that can be used to make life objects for you all." Jiajing looked at the shocked and surprised Lu Fang, smiled and raised his hand, and took out a palm-sized tripod, saying:
"Your life form is a small tripod. This thing is a top-grade treasure. In the world of immortal cultivation, it is worth at least tens of thousands of spiritual energy."
A top-grade treasure! ?
When Lu Fang heard that his master had rewarded him with a top-grade treasure at once, he was shocked.
When he was sorting the treasure mountain he got from Li Changqing, he had already learned from his master the grade classification of military equipment.
They are ordinary tools, which are common items used by cultivators before or in the early stages of Qi training.
Then there are magic weapons, which can cooperate with the spiritual energy of the cultivator to exert extraordinary power in battle.
In the world of cultivating immortals, magic weapons have become the choice of most practitioners, and above magic weapons are treasure weapons!
Compared with magic tools, treasure tools have not undergone any major changes in essence, but the materials used are more precious.
Even some high-quality treasures, if the materials used to refine them are good enough, can be continuously polished and transformed into spiritual weapons.
Above the treasure weapon is the spiritual weapon!
The biggest difference between a spiritual weapon and a treasure weapon is that a spiritual weapon has a spirit. To put it simply, the treasure is spiritual and has its own consciousness.
Of course, weapon spirits can be divided into two types: "living spirits" and "dead spirits". The former means that the weapon spirit has its own consciousness, while the latter means that although the weapon spirit is still there, its consciousness has been erased.
As for who is more powerful, there is a big difference. It is related to the grade of the spiritual weapon, the materials used in refining, and the strength of the weapon spirit.
Above spiritual weapons, there are even more powerful ones such as magic weapons, spiritual weapons, and even higher ones. At this level, the strength of weapons is vastly different.
For example, Lingbao and Lingbao are both divided into innate and acquired.
The innate nature here does not refer to the weapons that existed before heaven and earth, but refers to the weapons that are nurtured innately in nature. The acquired things are made by using innate things supplemented with other materials and forged by master weapon refiners.
Naturally, Lu Fang didn't dare to think about these things. He only knew that his master had rewarded him with a top-grade treasure and asked him to polish it into his life object.
And since it is a top-grade treasure, it means it has the qualifications to become a spiritual weapon. He believes that as his cultivation level improves and he reaches the point where he can use spiritual weapons, this treasure will also improve.
"Thank you, my master!" Lu Fang immediately knelt down and kowtowed.
"Before you reach the foundation building stage, you can polish your natal item in advance, but you need to recognize the owner through dripping blood," Jiajing raised his hand and motioned Lu Fang to stand up. "This process requires you to meditate constantly and nourish your own spiritual energy to connect your natal item with it."
"In this way, you can enjoy the innate abilities of your own destiny in advance..."
As he spoke, Jiajing couldn't help but think of Liu Quan.
When I first met Liu Quan, his cultivation was only at the seventh level of Qi training, but because of a previous adventure that had reflected his innate nature, he had polished his innate objects in advance and was able to use his innate talents.
After listening to Liu Quan's narration and reading the "General Notes on Cultivation", he finally understood that since the spiritual consciousness is not connected to the natal body and the natal objects, the natal objects cannot feed back to the natal body.
Before this, if one wants to use his innate talents in advance, for example, if his innate object is a mirror and his innate ability is to see through illusions and judge truth from falsehood, he needs to nourish it with his own spiritual energy.
"Yes, I understand!" Lu Fang looked at the small bronze tripod in her hand and carefully wrote down everything Jiajing said.
"Master, do you want to tell the cabinet about my natal chart and my natal belongings?" After putting away the small tripod, Lu Fang looked at Jiajing again.
As Jiajing's confidant, he naturally knew the reason why his master kept all the people in the cabinet, because they were a group of useful people, and his master's goal was most likely to get involved in the entire world of cultivation.
Yes, Yan Song was not the only one who guessed that his master might be plotting against the "immortal world". Even he had thought of this. But now it has been proven that the legendary immortal world does not exist, and instead there is a world of cultivating immortals.
But the master's purpose has most likely never changed, and the world of cultivating immortals is also the master's goal!
Moreover, in Lu Fang's view, the people in the world of immortal cultivation are just a group of immortal cultivators, and the world is not the fairyland where immortals live in the legend.
In this way, the difficulty for Daming to get involved in the world of immortal cultivation is undoubtedly much lower than the legendary fairyland. However, whether it wants to get involved in the fairyland or the world of immortal cultivation, it requires people!
The elders in the cabinet were the first group of people to practice Taoism in the Ming Dynasty besides their masters. They had grown up with great difficulty, so it would be a pity to give up.
Originally, the upper limit of the lifespan of a Qi Refining cultivator was only 150 years, and that was only after they had cultivated to the late stage of Qi Refining. Therefore, older people like Elder Yan and Xu Jie were actually in great danger.
Even though the spiritual veins are now directly connected to their yard, the concentration of spiritual energy obtained is several times or even dozens of times stronger than before, and the Immortal Dynasty will obtain more spiritual resources in the future.
However, for Yan Song and others, they still cannot escape the danger of running out of lifespan. They are already old, and their qualifications and talents are not top-notch. No one can guarantee that they can break through to the foundation-building stage before their lifespan runs out.
During the foundation-building stage, the upper limit of lifespan is three hundred years!
But now it’s different. The existence of natal objects is to make up for the lack of innate qualifications and talents.
In other words, resources are everything. As long as they have enough spiritual resources, Yan Song and his people can use resources to improve their cultivation by polishing their natal objects. In this way, with the power and status of Yan Song and his people, they naturally do not need to worry about the supply of spiritual resources and life span.
Now, it depends on whether the master is willing to reveal the existence of the natal object to everyone in the cabinet.
Lu Fang could confidently say that he understood his master's thoughts, but he did not dare to say with certainty that he could guess the emperor's intention!
"Don't worry," Jiajing said, closing his eyes. "These people are going to fight, right? Then let me see what the result of their fight will be, and then I can make plans..."
Seeing this, Lu Fang bowed and retreated silently.
After closing the gate of Yuxi Palace, Lu Fang looked at the blood-red sunset in the sky and thought to himself, "The fish leaping over the dragon gate is just this much, the elders must make sure to jump over it."
Lu Fang understood what his master meant.
The master never cared about the fights among his subjects, and even encouraged them. Previously, it was to balance factions and maintain the supremacy of imperial power, but now, the fights were for the benefit of the country.
Since the 39th year of Jiajing, the Qingliu and Yandang have been fighting each other. The results of the fights have been the shortage of military supplies, the restoration of the Weisuo system, the destruction of the Mongolian leader Altan Khan, the cleansing of the bureaucracy, the destruction of Japan, and the resolution of the royal family issue...
Afterwards, there was a struggle between the Yan Party and the Confucian sect. Duke Yansheng was abolished, and the Confucian sect was leaderless. They silently cooperated with the court, and the new reform "Qisi Innovation" developed!
The result of all the struggles is for the development of the imperial court, to push the Ming Dynasty, a mortal dynasty, into an immortal dynasty from the inside out.
Everything is a profit for the Ming Dynasty!
The battle for the crown prince and the battle between the court and the cabinet have begun again. There is no doubt that this battle will be the last tragic dance of the Ming Dynasty as a mortal dynasty!
The Ming Dynasty will announce the existence of the Immortal Dynasty to the world by stepping on the "corpses" of these ministers who stood at the pinnacle of the Ming Dynasty.
The reason why Lu Fang hoped that Yan Song and others would survive was simply because he knew that the Xian Dynasty needed people, and he did not want his master to have to give up on his previous training.
This is tantamount to waste!
……
Time flies, and several months have passed.
The Ming Dynasty officially entered the fiftieth year of the Jiajing reign. Just after the New Year, the emperor's selection of concubines was coming to an end.
Xuanpu Palace, in the main hall.
"Three thousand people?!" After hearing Huang Jin's report, Qingfeng's bright and pure eyes widened slightly, and his small mouth opened slightly, as if an egg could fit in it.
"Of course." Unlike Qingfeng's surprise, Huang Jin took it for granted and said, "Nowadays, our Ming Dynasty is unprecedentedly prosperous, the population is booming, the people are well fed and clothed, there are many good girls, and there are as many as 6,000 candidates this time!"
"Besides, even before this, the emperor initially selected 5,000 concubines. After the preliminary and re-selection, they had to go through layers of screening, such as chastity, etiquette, character, etc."
As the person who served Lu Fang when he was not on duty, Huang Jin knew everything about the emperor's daily life and the selection of concubines.
"But now is different from the past. Now the master has embarked on the path of cultivating immortals and has died, but his offspring are few..." When Huang Jin talked about the fact that Jiajing had few offspring, his tone couldn't help but become a little depressed, but he quickly recovered.
"Therefore, the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court have decided that the concubines selected this time only need to have good-looking facial features, a graceful figure, and still have chastity. Other standards can be lowered as appropriate."
"But even so, out of more than 6,000 people, we finally screened out more than 3,000. Ha..." Huang Jin suddenly chuckled as if he had thought of something. "It is often said that the emperor has 3,000 beauties in his harem, but from ancient times to the present, how many emperors have had 3,000 concubines? This time, the master has surpassed other emperors in the number of concubines!"
Listening to Huang Jin's chatter, Qing Feng had regained his composure, but he still subconsciously muttered, "Three thousand men, His Majesty the Emperor is really amazing..."
"A cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage is so terrifying!"
Hearing Qingfeng's mumbling and what he said, Huang Jin's face suddenly froze, and then his head was full of black lines.
"Master, please be careful with your words and actions. Never say such things again. Although the master will not blame you, you are a woman. How can you say such things?"
"I know." After hearing Huang Jin start to nag again, Qingfeng frowned helplessly and sighed.
Huang Jin was originally a servant of the emperor, but with Jiajing's tacit consent, he came to serve Qingfeng. After all these years of companionship, Qingfeng naturally felt close to Huang Jin like a family member.
Moreover, Huang Jin has taught her a lot over the years, and the relationship between the two can be said to be that of both teacher and friend.
So even though Qingfeng sometimes felt that Huang Jin's nagging was a bit long-winded, he would not really ignore it.
Looking at Qingfeng's appearance, Huang Jin opened his mouth, then shook his head helplessly, chuckled, and turned away.
"Three thousand people, how long will it take for them to sleep..." After Huang Jin left, Qingfeng's curious mutterings suddenly sounded in the hall again.
There were a total of three thousand concubines selected into the emperor's harem.
Among them, four concubines, twelve imperial concubines, twenty-four noble ladies, forty-eight talented ladies, ninety-six beauties, more than one hundred selected maids, more than two hundred ladies, and more than three hundred court ladies were conferred titles.
The rest were all imperial concubines and concubines.
In Yuxi Palace.
His spiritual sense swept over the memorial jointly submitted by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Clan Affairs. Looking at the number and ranks of these women, Jiajing pondered for a moment, and a yellowed, old ancient book appeared in his hand.
The cover is torn and only the word "Tai" can be seen, but this is not the point. The point is that this volume of nameless martial arts is a true "dual cultivation" method.
This was found when searching for treasures in Li Changqing's storage ring.
The "dual cultivation" method collected by Li Changqing has its own unique features. The general "dual cultivation" method refers to the mutual assistance between cultivators.
However, cultivators and mortals are not allowed to "dual cultivate", unless the cultivators practice evil skills that would harm mortals.
This method of "dual cultivation" is quite special. Not only can it be used to dual cultivate with mortals, but it can also be used to give back to mortal partners so that they can also embark on the path of cultivation.
As the number of times increases, the partner's cultivation will also increase accordingly. Of course, just like this, this "dual cultivation" method is naturally not enough to be collected by someone of Li Changqing's status.
The biggest special thing about this volume of "Dual Cultivation" is that the partner's innate ability will also be obtained by the person who practices this volume of "Dual Cultivation"!
The acquisition here does not mean directly taking it, but is similar to "picking seeds".
This "seed" is absorbed by one's own destiny, then nurtured, and eventually another kind of innate ability is produced in one's own destiny. Of course, the more "seeds" one gets, the more talents one will have.
As we all know, everyone is born with a destiny, and this destiny has its own unique talents and abilities.
This ability can be applied to the natal object.
For example, Jiajing's birth name is "Great Ming", and his innate ability is an entire country. He has absolute control over this country, and his control can be expanded as the country's territory expands.
Liu Quan's innate talent is to see through people's hearts and falsehoods. When it acts on his innate object, his mirror naturally has the ability to see through people's hearts and detect lies and truth and falsehood.
If you know that a woman possesses a very powerful and rare life force, and you have this volume of "dual cultivation" skills at this time, you can naturally find a way to become a Taoist partner with her, and naturally you can also obtain the other party's innate life force seed.
"Huh." After taking a deep breath, Jiajing closed the "Dual Cultivation" method in his hand, looked at Lu Fang, and said, "Make arrangements. Order the four concubines Wen, Xian, Shu, and Zhuang to sleep with you tonight."
Four at a time? Hearing his master's words, Lu Fang was stunned at first, but he didn't say anything. He bowed and said:
"Yes. I will arrange it right away."
After saying this, Lü Fang was about to leave, when Jiajing's voice sounded behind him again, "Also, have the twelve concubines get ready..."
When Lu Fang, who was about to leave, heard this, her steps froze for a moment. She turned around and wanted to persuade her master to be a little more restrained, but when she thought of her master being a cultivator in the late stage of foundation building, she changed her advice to: "Yes, I will definitely arrange it."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The evening drum sounds, the palace gates close, and night falls.
Since the "Renyin Palace Change" in the 21st year of Jiajing's reign, Jiajing had not lived in the palace for decades.
Even though the incident happened a long time ago, he still has some grudges in his heart. Of course, he might have been worried before that he would be assassinated again in the same way as last time, but now he is not worried at all. He just feels uncomfortable psychologically.
After all, with his level of cultivation, there was no one in the Ming Dynasty who could kill him.
If there weren't three thousand concubines living in the palace, and the four concubines and twelve concubines were already stripped naked waiting for him, he would definitely not have set foot here.
Even if I want to step into the palace in the future, I have to rebuild it into a real fairyland and renovate it inside and out.
Jiajing came out of Yuxi Palace in a sedan chair, crossed the Yuhe Bridge and headed east. After entering the palace from Xuanwu Gate, he went straight to Qianqing Palace. After Lu Fang made the arrangements, Shi San was already ready.
In order to make his master live comfortably, Shi San even replaced all the eunuchs and palace maids serving in the Qianqing Palace with his own people.
These people are all trusted followers who have practiced the Immortal Martial Arts.
"Master, I am just outside the palace. If you need anything, you can tell me through your telepathy. I will be right there..." After helping Jiajing finish washing up, Lu Fang bowed and took her leave.
"Remember to put the ban on." Jiajing, who was wearing a thin inner garment, said to Lu Fang who was leaving with a smile on his face.
"Master, rest assured. Once the four concubines are delivered, I will set up restrictions." Lu Fang said with a slightly playful smile, "I promise that the outside world will not disturb the master."
"Go away." Jiajing waved his hand to signal Lu Fang to go down.
"Yes." Lu Fang smiled and closed the door.
Given the master-servant relationship between Lu Fang and Jiajing, a little joke, especially at such a happy moment, was naturally allowed.
Soon, four beds were carried into the Qianqing Palace by palace maids who practiced immortal martial arts. On the beds were four young girls who were as beautiful as the moon and flowers and had never had sex with anyone.
When the palace maids and eunuchs left the palace, Lu Fang raised his hand and cast a forbidden talisman to block out the sound from the Qianqing Palace.
Inside the Qianqing Palace, Jiajing looked at the four quilts on the huge dragon bed, chuckled, walked forward, and casually opened the first volume.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
