Netizen uploaded episode 49

  Without the oceanic climate regulation, Beijing was unusually cold in November. After lunch, Fang's mother lit the kang, and Minglan and her grandmother slept together in the warm pavilion at night. It was warm enough, but it was very dry. Minglan was not used to it and got up several times during the night to drink tea, still feeling parched. The next morning, she woke up dazedly and listened to Fang's mother talking.

  The capital is the first place of goodness, the local small emperor is close, and the imperial censor's ears are sharp and his eyes are bright, the salivary system is well-developed, Sheng Hong is very vigilant. He gave the best row of houses in the mansion to Mrs. Sheng to live in, called Shou'an Hall, then it was the main house where he and Wang lived, Lin Niang's Lin Qi Ge still leaned against the west, next to Zhang Feng's small courtyard, Zhang Bai alone had a yard, preparing to make a new house.

  The mansion in the capital was not as spacious as Dengzhou, and the three sisters lived separately. They set up a large courtyard with three rows of houses, separated by fences and shadow walls, and then built their own houses and pavilions for the maidservants. The original name of the Weirong Pavilion had hidden the name Hualan, but Molan and Rulan didn't like this name anymore. This time they quickly gave their own courtyard new names: Molan's was called Shanyue Residence, Rulan's was called Taoran Hall, and Minglan remained the same.

  Minglan was confused, but Cuiwei and Danju remembered everything. One of them directed the servants to move the luggage from Shou'antang to Wucangzhai, while the other supervised the young maids and rough-handed women in washing and cleaning. It took a whole morning to finish. Old Lady Shi was still worried, so she pulled Minglan along to take a look around. Wangshi accompanied them on the side, feeling a bit anxious, but only relaxed when she saw Old Lady Shi nodding her head.

  The Beijing version of the Meng Cang Zhai only has three large rooms, with the middle room being the main house and the two side rooms. Minglan likes to have private space, so she specially partitioned off her bedroom, then used the Baibao Pavilion and curtains to separate the right side room into a study. Danju and Xiaotao personally opened each trunk and box, wiped clean all the books and decorations inside, and arranged them according to Minglan's intentions.

  Not waiting for Minglan to finish cleaning the house, Rulan came to visit. Having just arrived in Beijing, with her personality, how could she make friends so quickly? She was tired of arguing with Molan every day and had a lot to say to Minglan. As soon as Danju poured a bowl of steaming hot Maojian tea, Rulan eagerly pulled Minglan into the inner room.

  "Sixth sister, don't you feel that fourth sister seems quite unhappy this time?" Lan couldn't wait to get straight to the point before they had even exchanged a few pleasantries.

  Minglan composed herself, thought for a moment, and hesitated: "It's okay, I think Fourth Sister is just being a bit cautious. At noon, she came to my room and took a look around, but didn't say much before leaving." This was strange, as Mo Lan was someone who valued appearances, always maintaining a calm and gentle demeanor on her face, even if she had other thoughts in mind.

  Like an orchid, she had a 'just as I expected' expression, and in a mysterious low voice said: "You weren't around this time, Fourth Sister ran into big trouble at the Ping Ning County Princess's place."

  In theory, except for the Crown Prince and the too young princes, all other princes are supposed to be enfeoffed, with those in favor going to rich places and those out of favor going to remote border areas. However, the current situation is strange, the Crown Prince has not been determined yet, and three or four princes have stayed behind with the emperor's tacit consent. This sixth prince's rank was neither high nor low, he was made a duke and his fiefdom was in Daliang.

  Last year, when the emperor celebrated his 60th birthday, the sixth prince came to congratulate him with three well-behaved children in tow. The third prince, who was childless, almost envied them to tears, especially the youngest one, who was only four or five years old and had a round face and a lovable expression. The more the third prince looked at him, the more he liked him. The sixth prince was deeply affectionate towards his brother, and the sixth princess was considerate of others' feelings, so she often brought her children to visit their uncle.

  "Oh, I see! I heard when I was in Jinling that the Third Prince wanted to adopt a nephew. Could it be this one from the Sixth Prince's household?!" Minglan suddenly understood and then became confused again, "Huh? But what does this have to do with Fourth Sister? This is imperial family business, how can we intervene?"

  Lan De's head nodded in satisfaction: "The Sixth Prince's household also has a young county princess, recently the emperor's birthday is approaching, the Sixth Princess brought this son and daughter to Beijing."

  Ming Lan racked her brains for a while and asked tentatively: "Could it be that they have a deep relationship with the Princess of Ping Ning?"

  Yu Lan patted Ming Lan's shoulder and smiled: "Sixth sister is really clever... That day, Ping Ning County's hostess had a banquet, Mother took us two there, Fourth sister was very flattering to the county hostess, both trying to please her and show off, but it was too obvious. Who knew that the county hostess ignored her, only talking to Sixth Princess and her mother, when we got back, Madam told Master about it, she scolded him severely and even grounded Fourth sister for half a month, hehe..."

  "This is also too embarrassing." Minglan could imagine the scene and felt embarrassed, no wonder this time back, Sheng Huan seemed to be quite strict with Mo Lan.

  Now the old emperor is getting older, the third prince just needs a son to be legitimate, and the sixth prince's branch immediately becomes popular. The Princess of Pingning wants to burn the stove and has taken a fancy to this county lady as her daughter-in-law. Thinking carefully, Mulan's family background is not comparable to that of the county lady.

  Yu Lan was delighted and wanted to find someone to share her joy with, but Ming Lan didn't seem pleased and had a worried look on her face. She furrowed her brow and said, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for Fourth Sister?"

  Minglan sighed and said, "Fifth sister, what I'm worried about is us. Although it's Fourth Sister who will lose face this time, we sisters can't escape either. When outsiders talk about it, they'll say that the daughters of the Sheng family are not well-educated."

  Ruolan's heart skipped a beat, and she thought about it twice in her mind. She secretly thought that something was wrong. No wonder these days, when attending tea parties and poetry gatherings, those official ladies didn't pay much attention to her, and their words were subtly sarcastic. She had thought it was all directed at Molan alone, but unexpectedly... she was implicated too! Ruolan suddenly became furious: "This, this little —!"

  Xiang wanted to scold but couldn't, and Lan's face turned red with anger. Minglan quickly went to persuade her: "Speak softly, don't talk nonsense, we're living close by now, be careful not to be overheard!"

  Ruolan slapped the table and spat out a sentence: "No big deal, she just went to Lin Qiuge's place, hum! If she continues to come and go with that side, I'm afraid she'll do something even more outrageous!"

  Minglan watched in distress as the lid of the bowl fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. It was a complete set!

  Lin Qi Ge, on the kang had a cloud bat patterned golden incense burner lit up. Lin Yiniang looked at her daughter in front of her who was sulking and said with a frown: "You were just scolded by Master once, what's with this expression?!"

  Mo Lan hung a fragrant sachet with the pattern of Fu Lu Shou, and glanced at Lin Niangniang: "For the first time, I was punished like this, it's really embarrassing! If it wasn't for Old Lady and the others coming back this time, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to come out."

  "Good-for-nothing! You're useless, only knowing how to cry and put on a long face without any idea of plotting. Alright, alright, you have your own life, but you don't have the ability, so just go back and find an ordinary family for yourself!"

  Mo Lan's face turned red with anger and she said, "That county lord is only average in terms of character and appearance, it's a pity for Brother Yuan Ruo."

  Lin's aunt was silent for half a day before saying, "Others are born with better lives than you, this is more important than anything! Don't think about Qi Heng anymore. I asked your third brother to go out and investigate, it turns out that the Princess of Ping Ning is also someone who only cares about power, seeing that the Sixth Prince's family has gained power, she's trying to curry favor with them! Forget it, let's not talk about this... Hey, I told you to go take a look at Ming Lan, have you seen her?"

  "Mo Lan slowly raised her head: 'The decorations are quite elegant, but there aren't many valuable items. I don't see what's so special about it; Mother, Eldest Aunt dotes on Minglan, no matter how we compete, it's useless, why bother?' Lin Yiniang slapped the kang table with her palm and scolded: 'You're really worthless! You shouldn't have shown your face, but you did. You should be fighting for what's rightfully yours, but instead you've become timid! This time Minglan returned to Rongyang's old home, who knows how she managed to win them over? Your uncle's family all likes her, and so do you. In the past, when I told you to coax Pinlan, you refused, saying she was too rustic and unrefined! Now look at Minglan, returning with big and small packages, aren't you angry? You have a similar background as hers, but your mother is from an official's family, and you have a brother to back you up. You should be ten times stronger than her, but now you're not even comparable to her!'"

  Mo Lan Meng suddenly turned her head and hummed in a huff: "The old lady is stubborn, she doesn't like me, what can I do?"

  After Lin's aunt got angry, she calmed down and said slowly, facing the swirling smoke: "Look at Old Lady's appearance, I'm afraid even Minglan's marriage has been settled. If it was planned early by Lady Lin, then when Wang's uncle returns to Beijing from his foreign post, it will be mentioned soon. My child, only you are still floating in uncertainty."

  Mo Lan heard this and couldn't help but worry, nervously glancing at her mother. Lin Yiniang turned around and smiled at her, saying: "If it's just an ordinary scholar or official's son, neither your father nor brother knows many people like that. But if you want someone with good character and talent, who is also from a wealthy and noble family... that's much harder to find! I don't know what kind of person Old Lady wants for Minglan..."

  Minglan looked at the old woman in front of her, who was crying and sobbing, with a bewildered expression. She stared blankly at Housekeeper Fang, who was dressed in a dark red silk jacket with a black velvet cape over it. The old woman grasped Minglan's hand and wept: "Miss, Wei's wife passed away early, this old servant is useless, she fell ill suddenly back then and couldn't take care of you..."

  Minglan was really unable to keep up with the situation and could only stare blankly.

  The housekeeper coughed and said, "Mrs. Cui is getting old, her son and daughter-in-law want to take the elderly back to support them in their old age. It's not good for a young lady to be without a mother by her side, so Madam had Aunt Yu brought over from the villa, she was originally supposed to be with the young lady anyway, it's better that way."

  Minglan nodded, but in fact she had no impression of this Yu mother at all. She only remembered that when she was pretending to be silly, she heard the maids talking in a low voice, vaguely remembering that they said Wei's wife was weak and honest, with only one called Die'er who was loyal, while the others were greedy and deceitful, and as soon as something happened, they all ran away without a trace. And this Yu mother...?

  After the screen retired the crowd, Mrs. Fang said honestly: "Originally, the old lady was going to choose a reliable one herself, but all the ladies sent them over, and it's not good to lose face in front of the ladies."

  Minglan thought for a moment and suddenly asked: "Since she is already in the Zhuangzi, which path did she take to enter the inner courtyard?"

  The young lady's wet nurse was a beautiful and capable person, with a generous monthly salary, not to mention that she could sit on an equal footing with the housekeeper, and order the little maids around. At first, she was probably afraid of being implicated in Wei Niang's death, so she slipped away quietly, but now she has come back again.

  Fang's mother saw that Minglan was able to ask this question, and her heart put down half of its guard, saying in a low voice: "The girl has a good heart, I heard that she had been thinking of coming up several years ago, but at that time the girl already had Cui's mother by her side, this time I heard that she used silver to persuade Madam and the previous one."

  Minglan asked again: "Isn't there anyone behind?"

  Mrs. Fang shook her head: "If there is, the old lady would never allow it. Because she was originally a young girl, and now that she's in charge, it's only natural; I've investigated carefully, and it's just that the matchmaker's wife received some benefits; but if there were someone lazy and troublesome, the young lady wouldn't want to lose face by suppressing them."

  Ming Lan slightly raised the corner of her mouth and smiled, "Don't worry, mom, I'm already this old, it's not good to be protected by you for my whole life." She smiled again and said helplessly, "If I really can't hold on, then I'll come back to ask for your help."

  After waiting for her mother to leave, Minglan sat alone on the Xiangfei couch in the main room, bowed her head and thought for a moment, then said: "Please ask Mother Yu."

  Xiao Tao left at the sound, and Yu's mother came in immediately, again with tears streaming down her face, talking about how helpless she was when she left, and how much she missed Minglan in Zhuangzi. Minglan listened with a smile, gesturing to Xiao Tao to bring over a stool.

  You Mama is not old, just a middle-aged woman, with a diamond-shaped face and a big mouth, looking quite clever and capable. When she left, Minglan was only five years old, but now Minglan is almost thirteen. She often talks about the interesting things Minglan did when she was young and how hard it was to raise her. Minglan listens quietly, waiting for her to finish speaking, before slowly saying: "I'm afraid I don't remember much."

  Yu's mother was shocked, the memory card was the only big card in her hand, she quickly wiped away her tears and said: "The girl was small at that time, but she was clever and smart, whatever thing she learned would be remembered, how could she forget?"

  Minglan took the tea bowl handed over by Danju and gently lifted the lid, saying in a low voice: "After Wei's wife passed away, I fell ill and was unconscious for many days. When I woke up, many things were unclear. Unfortunately, my mother wasn't around at that time, or I would have recovered faster."

  Yu's mother had a slightly awkward expression on her face, and dryly said: "It's all because the old lady is not doing well, and she fell ill at that time." She wanted to say something about Wei Niang, but the housekeeper had already reminded her earlier, so she didn't dare to speak.

  Minglan let out a soft sigh, with a hint of sadness: "Those days were really unbearable, taking medicine every day, lingering in bed, and not having anyone to take care of me. Only this silly little Tao was by my side. The doctor said several times that I might not make it, but fortunately, the mistress took good care of me, and the old lady pitied me, so I managed to save my life."

  Yu's mother's face turned pale and red, clutching the handkerchief tightly in her hand, murmuring a few perfunctory words, which even she felt were weak and insincere.

  Minglan put down the lid of the bowl and smiled: "Now it's all right, these few big girls in my house are all taught by old ladies and ladies, they are very understanding and capable. Now with mom added, this small courtyard is secure."

  Yu's mother was startled, and she couldn't help but look up at Minglan's elegant and beautiful eyes, her soft and subtle jawline eerily similar to that of the young aunt who had passed away many years ago. However, her expression was completely different. No matter what she said or heard, her long eyelashes didn't flutter in the slightest, like the still wings of a butterfly. Only her lovely face smiled serenely, as calm as water.

  In front of her, this elegant girl exuded a calmness, an ease that came with being in a high position. Yu's mother felt a little dazed, thinking that the impression didn't match the timid and cowardly girl who used to follow behind her. A nameless awe slowly crept up her spine.

  Minglan stared at You's mother: If she were smart enough, she wouldn't have gotten herself into trouble. She should just take her salary, enjoy the full benefits, be content with what she has, and do her job well, so everyone can get along peacefully.

  ——————————————————————————

  ————————————————————————————

  The author has something to say:

  You know, Wednesday and Thursday are rest days——

  The system of princes in the Ming and Qing dynasties was slightly different. The founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, favored his own family members and stipulated that all sons of the emperor would be made kings, with subsequent generations becoming lesser princes. In general, all legitimate sons would receive a princely title, and were entitled to high-level privileges, including annual allowances of silver and silk, as well as a specified number of servants and guards for their households, with all expenses paid by the imperial court, setting a bad precedent from the start.

  Zhu Yuanzhang had 26 sons, and later during the Jingnan Campaign and the Ming-Mong War against the Mongols, many of them died. However, over the next two hundred years or so, the Zhu imperial family continued to multiply, forming a huge locust-like group. By the Jiajing era, the country was still extremely poor, with one-third of its annual revenue going towards supporting the imperial family. Many historians have said that if Zhang Juzheng had been able to successfully reduce the power of the princes or at least lower the imperial family's expenditures, the Ming dynasty might not have fallen.

  Here is the translation:

  "The following is a quote from the TV series 'Da Ming Wang Chao 1566'. I personally think this TV series is quite reliable.

  'From the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present, princes, dukes and royal relatives are all over the country. According to regulations, each prince receives an annual allowance of 50,000 dan of rice, 25,000 guan of silver, 40 pieces of brocade, 300 pieces of silk, 500 pieces of gauze, 1,000 pieces of thin silk and 1,000 pieces of winter cloth. And the summer cloth is also 1,000 pieces. Other expenses are too numerous to mention. Have you calculated? The annual allowance for one prince is already so enormous, how much more would be spent on all these royal relatives?! These royal relatives, eunuchs in the palace and officials at various levels have occupied half of the country's land without paying taxes, while common people who only occupy a small piece of land have to pay taxes. This is something everyone knows but nobody talks about! Take Zhejiang province for example, every year there are 629,000 dan of leftover grain, but the royal relatives and officials need 1,230,000 dan of rice as their annual allowance. The leftover grain from two years cannot even cover one year's worth of allowance for the royal relatives and officials. The northern barbarians invade every year, the eastern pirates wreak havoc every year, threatening the entire country, yet the soldiers' military rations and fodder have to be scraped together from all sides!'"

  The Qing dynasty learned from this lesson, so the princes of the Aixinjueluo family were not all granted kingships. Instead, they were ranked according to their maternal clan's nobility and then by their own performance to earn a title. The typical progression was: Beizi → Beile → Junwang → Qīnwáng. Most of them inherited titles with reduced ranks. This greatly reduced the cost of supporting the imperial household and freed up a large amount of silver for the national treasury.

  However, recently, the author looked up some materials and found that some historians disagree with this view. Although the Qing imperial household saved money, the Eight Banners' male members did not. According to the regulations set by Dorgon when he entered the pass, Manchu Eight Banners males could receive a stipend from adulthood, although it was not much, but enough to guarantee that they would not starve in case of unemployment. With this guarantee of food and clothing, many Eight Banners youths later appeared in the late Qing dynasty.

  In a certain novel about time-traveling and competing for hegemony, I saw some data that mentioned that after two hundred years of prosperity, the number of Eight Banners males was also considerable. Therefore, if we calculate this, the cost of supporting the imperial household or banner people during the Ming and Qing dynasties is actually similar? Unfortunately, I couldn't find precise data, so I didn't say anything.

  The Han Dynasty also treated the imperial family very well, but it was too thick to treat them so well that these vassal states had the power to call the central government, so they were beaten several times and many were reduced, and the cost actually decreased.

  I once saw a post on Tianya Forum, written by some historical strongman. He/She thinks that the best imperial clan system should be like in the Tang and Song dynasties, where titles were passed down in order until they reached commoners, allowing the emperor's sons to freely pursue their interests, whether it was reading books, doing business, or wielding swords and traveling the world.

  It seems so, but I'm not sure either.

  I'm not studying history, I just like it.