female concubine

The Empress Dowager is critically ill, Deoksugung Palace is full of wives kneeling outside the courtyard, Xiao Youqing in the dormitory is holding the Empress Dowager's hand, "Does your mother have any instructions?"

Empress Dowager Li wriggled her lips, and Xiao Youqing leaned down to listen, "I... don't want...to be buried with Wu Zong...so you will...buy me...in...Xianming Queen's Mausoleum."

Xiao Youqing covered her mouth and nodded again and again. After a gust of wind blew past the window, snow fell again before the snow had melted. The inner servant walked out of the palace crying, "The empress dowager... collapsed!"

In the winter of December of the fifth year of Xuanhua, Empress Dowager Li collapsed and died in Deoksugung Palace. She was posthumously named Empress Mu Yi and was buried in the mausoleum of Empress Xianming.

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At the beginning of the fifth year of Xuanhua, Xiao Youqing said that after five years of the system, all the people who should be replaced in the east and west of the imperial court were exchanged, so the emperor issued an imperial decree to change the female department from the three-year system to the one-year system. The Sanya, the Privy Council and the Ministry of War expanded their equipment, rectified military discipline, and trained soldiers.

In early autumn, a military parade was held in Jinmingchi, the western suburb of Tokyo, with 60 elite soldiers, including infantry, horsemen, god-arm bows, tiger-wing water troops, and god-machine battalion, accompanied by hundreds of officials.

Hundreds of thousands of imperial troops were stationed outside the city, and until the drums sounded in the early morning, they all wore a complete set of armor. The Shenji Battalion will assemble and set up the artillery that has been tried and tested. Coupled with the improvement and perfection of firearms development, the military has strengthened a lot compared with the Xianzong period.

The Yiluan Division drove out the guard of honor of the Empress Dowager, Da'an chariot and the emperor's guard of honor, and the guards were all waiting in the Daqing Hall.

Wanquan Workshop was ordered to make two sets of golden armor for the imperial parade, for the empress dowager and the emperor to parade on horseback.

After several palace servants put on the royal reading clothes for Xiao Youqing, they looked at each other blankly for a while, then bowed their heads and raised their hands to step back, and the servant brought a bronze mirror.

Xiao Youqing looked at himself wearing armor in the bronze mirror, "After all, I still lost to the years, I am old."

"I see that the empress dowager doesn't look old at all. This golden armor is more suitable for the empress dowager than the dress of a married woman." These new batches of palace servants knew about their master's background and other details before they were ordered to serve. Some taboo things.

"Emperor Xianzong also said the same thing."

It was a few compliments from the heart, but after hearing Xiao Youqing's reply, several palace people knelt down and kowtowed tremblingly in fright, "You have nothing to say, please forgive me, the Empress Dowager."

Xiao Youqing put on Jinjia's boots, then stepped forward to help him up, "Get up, I just said something casually, you don't have to be afraid."

"Let the empress dowager think of sad things, I am guilty."

Xiao Youqing patted her hand, "I still have to thank you."

The palace servant looked up in confusion, Xiao Youqing turned around, took the little emperor's hand and walked out of the palace, and ordered to the servant next to him: "Let the servant Xu Chongju of the Hanlin Academy of Painting come to the Daqing Hall to wait."

"Yes." Afterwards, a servant hurried out from the inner east gate with his hands in hand, and trotted all the way to the Hanlin Academy of Painting.

Xiao Youqing and the emperor went to the Daqing Palace in separate rides, and saw nearly ten thousand people's guard of honor, dharma chariots and chariots lined up in the palace.

"Remove the chariot and lead the horse out."

"Yes."

Xiao Youqing lowered his head and asked his grandson, "Can the official family ride a horse by themselves?"

The little emperor bowed his hands to his grandmother and said, "Grandmother taught my grandson how to ride and shoot, and my grandson can do it himself."

Xiao Youqing and the emperor changed from riding chariots to riding horses. The only thing that remained unchanged was the ceremonial guards and stew book guarding the holy chariot. They walked south along the Royal Street, and the people facing the streets on both sides opened their windows one after another.

"Brother Sheng." A four or five-year-old girl with a horn pierced her head stood on the carriage and waved towards the guard of honor.

Hearing the familiar call from the crowd, the emperor looked sideways on the horse, saw the little girl's bright smile, and smiled accordingly, then took the rein and continued to drive forward.

"Nian'er." The woman called out softly while hugging a two-year-old boy.

"mother."

"If you want to address your Majesty outside, you can't shout like that, you know?"

"Oh." The girl muttered, "But my brother said he didn't like calling Nian'er like that..."

The woman hugged the boy on her lap and patted the girl's head, "No joke is the most unbelievable."

There were two women standing at the aisle on the side of the street, one elder and one younger. The young woman saw the elder sister next to her looking dazed and asked, "Sister's filial piety period has long passed, why are you returning to the public and becoming an official?" Seeing that no one answered, she smiled and said, "She is no longer the naive little princess under Xianzong's knee. She is a veritable minister of power when the Empress Dowager is in power."

"Are you thinking too much?"

"Really? Maybe she will be the chief examiner of Chunwei this year, so sister can still be her student."

In the private room on the second floor of the teahouse facing the street, there were also two reading girls in t-shirts, about the same age, one of them walked to the window with a bowl of tea ordered by his companions, with Jin Huanghuang from the guard of honor in his eyes, "Qi is the most precious in the world, and it is only one person; that's why he lives around the arches, and moves when he prepares things. The literature is called the instrument, and the martial arts is called the guard."

The companions also sat up and stood side by side in front of the window, "I see that saint can have the majesty of an emperor without this guard of honor."

The person who spoke first nodded, squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "It is rumored that Emperor Xianzong is elegant and easy-going, and he must have something to do with this empress dowager. There is a determination in his bones that is different from ordinary people."

"Oh?" The companion said with a smile: "The lingering love will eventually dissipate one day, it is hard to beat the years."

"Maybe," the squinted eyes gradually opened, "the lone wild goose is alone, only love is endless, unclear, unclear, just a word of love." Can't help lamenting: "How many people have been trapped for a lifetime."

The companion shook his head and said: "You, don't listen to the storyteller's nonsense, who knows how many interests are mixed in the emotions of the superiors, true and false, false and true."

"Whether it's true or not, I only trust my own eyes."

Listening to the frank words on the side, she looked at the long guard of honor and couldn't help sighing: "Warning Peng leaves Hansai, and returning geese enters Hutian."

The woman who served the tea responded after taking a sip of tea: "Xiao Guan rides every time, and protects Yan Ran." Then he was stunned again, "Is there going to be a war?"

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All the soldiers lined up near the Jinming Pond in the southern suburbs, and there were many onlookers around. Xu Chongju climbed to the high platform of the Linshui Hall to the north of Jinming Pond to set up a canvas.

Many of the generals in the ranks were new officers who had been promoted by martial arts over the years, and a few young generals lined up among them were discussing the people who were going on the military parade.

"Brother Xiao's aunt is worthy of being a heroine of a generation." Xiao Yangui and several colleagues of Ke Dengdi talked to each other. Lieutenant Yunqi beside him, his father was the general in charge of the three armies, and his aunt was the empress dowager in power. The empress dowager, the eldest sister of the compatriot who married his wife, is also the aunt of the current emperor, so she is a veritable dignitary.

Xiao Yangui understood the meaning and ignored it, and said coldly: "Let's say less about flattery, someone Xiao thinks it's better to keep this loyalty on the battlefield in the future."

With the sound of horseshoes, the shouts of the sergeants, and the last firearm, after more than ten years of improvement, the accuracy and range of the artillery have made breakthroughs. The artillery is aimed at the artificially piled hills used in the drill. Xiao Youqing ordered the imperial army to go and check first. After exploring the top of the mountain and confirming that there is no one there, they ordered the commanders of the Shenji Battalion to wave their flags.

The sound of several huge cannons made the earth shake, and the mountains that had been piled up several feet high were razed to the ground in an instant. The prosperity of the country aroused the patriotism of some literati and rejoiced for the prosperity of the country.

A group of civil servants who were frightened by the shaking of the mountain shook their hands and feet, and touched the cold sweat on their foreheads with a sigh of relief, "If this bomb hits the city, how many people will die."

Among the onlookers, there were many foreign businessmen and foreign people who settled in the Central Plains, and they were all shocked by this military parade. The power and lethality of firearms are irresistible to armor, no matter how strong it is.

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——Changing Arch Hall——

"The Empress Dowager, Xu Chongju, the attendant of the Imperial Academy of Painting, asked to see her."

"Xuan."

Xu Chongju took the painting from his disciple, and immediately walked into the hall with the painting in his arms, "My minister Xu Chongju kowtowed to the Empress Dowager, wishing the Empress Dowager good luck and peace."

Xiao Youqing, who was beside Xiao Youqing, who was writing notes for her, retreated to the side, and Xu Chongju said again: "I have seen the eldest princess of Wei."

Xu Chongju presented the painting and said: "The picture of the military parade has been prepared according to the order of the Empress Dowager."

Ruhua walked down the palace steps, "Give it to me."

"Yes."

"Niang Niang." Then he worked with the servants to unfold it.

Xiao Youqing stared at it for a long time, the painting was centered on the man in gold armor, with gold and iron horses, six armies lined up, and millions of soldiers parading.

"Kui Guang."

Zhao Ping stepped forward, "The villain is here."

"Send the picture of the military parade to Yongxing Mausoleum for burning and Xianzong."

"Yes."

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At the beginning of the sixth year of Xuanhua, Wei Ruhua, the prefect of Kaifeng, concurrently served as Zhigong Ju, and this list was won by a woman.

In the spring of the seventh year of Xuanhua, the Wei Song Dynasty sent troops to Xizhou. Huo Qing and Xiao Yunze, the Duke of Huaiyang County, jointly took charge of the commander-in-chief of the soldiers and horses, and sent troops to the west. His eldest son Xiao Yan returned to follow. When his father went out to fight, Xiao Youqing presided over the situation in the rear to make suggestions, and prepared several thousand-mile horses as the national horses for the court to communicate with the front line.

In the autumn of the ninth year of Xuanhua, the army conquered the capital and destroyed Xizhou in the west, and then was ordered to detour south to destroy Huihe. After calculating the treasury reserves, the imperial court ordered the army to continue westward again.

In the [-]th year of Xuanhua, in the winter of the Khan Dynasty, the monarch sent an envoy to submit a letter of surrender, "The uncle of the Han family is a senior official, and the ministers and officials bow their heads...Only admiring the prosperity of the country, there is no one who dares to have a second heart. De, I beg my uncle and high officials to forgive my people, and kowtow three times."

"Since you surrender the book to offer the city, let's stop fighting and let the Ministry of Industry vacate some houses in Tokyo."

"The empress dowager is benevolent."

——Ningshou Palace——

The territory map of the Wei and Song Dynasties has undergone major changes every ten years since the Wuzong Dynasty. The largest one is the Xianzong Dynasty and the current Xuanhua Dynasty. The total expansion is more than six times that of the founding of the country. Xianzong's long-cherished wish was gradually realized during the Xuanhua Dynasty.

Over the past few years, Xiao Youqing has been busy with military affairs. The trivial matters of the border and the Protectorate, local conflicts, and court affairs have kept her busy. The little emperor was taught by the empress dowager since he was a child, "Deliberately keep yourself busy, thinking that you can Reduce the pain caused by longing." Xiao Youqing sat on a top chair and stared straight at the past events in the painting, "But once you stop and think about it, which time is it not heart-wrenching?"

"There is no heart, but it still hurts." Xiao Youqing took a long breath, staring at a young and handsome portrait full of resentment, "Ten years, you know, I think all the time, as expected, You are the most annoying one, you said you want to give me everything, and now you are lonely for half your life?"

Xiao Youqing bent down and covered his face with his hands, trembling physically and mentally, he said, "What's the use of crying dry?"

"Ten years of life and death are boundless, don't think about it, you will never forget it; there is a lonely grave for thousands of miles, there is no place to talk about desolation." Then he raised his wet red eyes, which seemed to have been smoothed by loneliness, and there was no joy but only sadness. , it is the family affection of children and grandchildren that will never be recovered."

There was a small stove on Xiao Youqing's lap all the time, "I know you have always regretted that you have no successor, you haven't seen Sheng'er grow up, he is better than his father, and now he is in court," he turned his head and looked through the window Looking at the autumn sky, "Did you see it?"

The sky will not respond, only the autumn wind blowing from the north is whistling, and the merchant ships on the long river in the setting sun are constantly coming and going, carrying the livelihood of the family and the dream of the boatman.

In the 11th year of Xuanhua, the Kerahan dynasty to the west of Xizhou surrendered. This battle became famous. After Xiao Huaide, another god of war who had never failed and made the Western Regions fearful appeared. Xiao Yunze entered into the title of Duke Zhong and the envoy of Jiedu, bestowed two envoys with banners and festivals, and chose a day to cast the envoys of Jiedu and three seals to bestow them together. Father and son were granted the same title, which shocked the courtiers. Paying tribute every year, the Taihuang Taihuang then ordered to stop fighting and become a military force, reduce and exempt military households from labor and taxes, and recuperate.

After the 13th year of Xuanhua, courtiers and veterans resigned one after another, and each recommended capable people to take over. Among the prime ministers, women accounted for [-]% of the officials. Most of the female officials were from Liu Miaoyi and Cao Peiru. generals.

After Xuanhua 16th year, the courtiers asked to stand up, the young man inside the curtain with white ears and fine eyebrows stood up and bowed to the old woman beside him: "Grandmother is the master."

In the spring of the 16th year of Xuanhua, the Empress Dowager ordered that the emperor's middle palace had not yet been built, and that the family of the ministers had been selected, and that the granddaughter of Xiao Yunze, the Duke of Zhong and Qingyuan Army Jiedu, should be the queen.

In addition, Shangshu Zuopushe, the servant Liu Miaoyishe Taiwei served as the envoy, and the eldest princess of Wei State and Wei Ruhuashe Situ, a member of the Privy Council, served as deputy bows.

In the autumn of the 16th year of Xuanhua, the emperor got married, and the Xiao family was named as the queen. Before entering the palace, Xiao Yan, the deputy commander of the capital, was classified as Liang Guogong, and his wife was named Mrs. Huiguo.