"Yin'er, I haven't seen you enter the harem recently, must be very tired?" Zhang Meiniang asked with concern.
Xiang Nan smiled, "It's okay, I'm not tired."
He has been busy promoting education reform these days.
Books such as "Mathematics", "Physics", "Chemistry", "Legal System", "Nature", "Punctuation Marks", "Simplified Chinese Characters" and other books have to be edited by him, and the workload is naturally not small.
What's more, he has to review the memorials every day, and discuss the state with the ministers in the court... To be honest, he can keep an eye on it because of his martial arts.
Change to another emperor, I'm afraid he'd be exhausted long ago.
"No matter how busy you are, you have to go back to the harem for more time." Zhang Meiniang persuaded, "The emperor is just a prince now, and he is really a little thin. You should spread out more."
Xiang Nan was taken aback, then nodded.
There is only one child, it is indeed not safe.
Not to mention the poor medical technology in ancient times, it might be possible to get rid of some disease. Even if he can live a long life, if his talents are not high, he can easily ruin his country.
Just like how wise and powerful Qin Shihuang was, in the end Qin II Hu Hai was brutal and incompetent, sparking a civil uprising, and ruining the country within a few years.
"I also know that there are only two concubines in the harem, which is indeed a bit monotonous." Zhang Meiniang said again, "The emperor should find more concubines."
In terms of the harem, after Gao Ruyi was demoted, there were only two concubines around Xiang Nan, one was Qu Xiaofeng and the other was Zhao Sesel.
According to the ancestral system of the Rich Dynasty, the emperor had a huge lineup of concubines, including the queen, four concubines, nine concubines, twenty-seven wives, and eighty-one wives. If it is full, there will be one hundred and twenty two people.
"No need?" Xiang Nan said quickly when he heard it.
At first, I thought it would be a very cool thing to be the emperor and the seventy-two concubines of the Sangong Six Courtyard. But in fact, after becoming the emperor, I realized how cheating it was.
One person has to deal with more than a hundred people, how can he have so much energy. Even if Xiang Nan was strong in martial arts and full of energy, he couldn't stand being ravaged like this.
Furthermore, if one person handles more than a hundred people, it is calculated on the basis of equal exposure to rain and dew, one per day, and one round will have to wait for three months. It takes three months to see each other, so what kind of emotional foundation can there be? But without an emotional foundation, it's just like prostitution, so there's no fun at all.
What's more, he had only three concubines before, and they were already fighting each other, which made him physically and mentally exhausted. Add more than a hundred more, and it will be fatal.
Just balancing the contradictions in the harem every day has already exhausted him physically and mentally, and he still expects to do great things.
"Why don't you use it. You are the emperor of the rich dynasty. How can the harem be so shabby? It doesn't make sense for those foreigners to look at it." Zhang Meiniang persuaded, "Enriching the harem is the only way to have more children and grandchildren, and it will also help you win over courtier."
Xiang Nan saw what she said, thought about it, and thought it made sense.
"Okay then, leave this matter to the queen mother." Xiang Nan thought for a while and said, "But not too many, just limit to three, too many will not work."
Zhang Meiniang nodded.
…
Subsequently, Zhang Meiniang issued a decree, requesting officials of rank five and above in the Feng Dynasty to select marriageable girls from their families and send them to the capital for draft.
As soon as the news came out, the whole country was shocked.
All officials above the fifth rank took active actions.
Those who have daughters and sisters are naturally happy;
After all, once Quexing is selected, they are the emperor's women. And when the wind blows beside the pillow, prosperity and wealth can be obtained at your fingertips, so naturally everyone is brave.
Therefore, for a while, the post roads and canals leading to Shangjing were filled with the beauties of the Shangjing draft, Yingyingyanyan, very lively.
He just wanted to choose a few beauties to enrich the harem, but he didn't expect to cause such a big mess.
It was really a feudal society, where the monarchy was supreme, and the whole country was shaken by an order. He had a deep understanding of it.
"Made, I was pushing 'Tan Ding Ren Mu' before, why weren't you so active?" He couldn't help complaining again.
When he pushes for "scaling the household into the mu", "officials and gentry pay food for one person, and do errands for one person", and "education reform", those officials are very uncooperative.
Right now, when choosing concubines, they are so active. They really go for it when they are cheap, and hide when they see difficulties. I have to beat them hard.
…
The beauties sent to Beijing have to go through layers of screening.
Those who are too tall, too short, too fat and too thin are not allowed; check the facial features, hair, limbs, neck and back, and those who are unqualified will also be eliminated; those with weak and muddy voices will also be eliminated; Habits, those who fail to pass will be eliminated...
Finally, the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress will be tested together to see her speech and behavior, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, knitting female red, etc., and finally choose the best from the best, and select the last ten people.
Then Xiang Nan will choose the three most promising people.
There were more than 3,000 officials of the fifth rank and above in the rich dynasty, plus princes and nobles, so nearly 4,000 beauties were sent to Beijing this time. Selecting three out of four thousand people can be called one in a thousand.
The beauties selected are undoubtedly good in terms of appearance, figure, temperament, conversation, and talent.
Xiang Nan was almost dazzled when he saw it, wishing he could accept everything.
However, he restrained his greed in the end and only chose three.
In this case, there are a total of five concubines, which can still be handled.
Besides, choosing a concubine is not a one-time event.
According to the ancestral system, concubines should be selected once every three years. But most emperors don't do it that often. Like the last time Li Yu chose a concubine, it was ten years ago.
In addition, in addition to the concubines selected by the emperor, there are also women from neighboring countries who have paid tribute to make peace.
People came here with good intentions, and it would not be appropriate not to accept them, so we have to reserve some places for those foreign women.
Therefore, adding three concubines is not bad.
…
In the next few years, Xiang Nan did not raise Luo Xuanfei again, but was busy promoting reforms.
For example, the national land census and population census are in full swing.
A large number of refugees were resettled, and the unowned fields were redistributed, so as to ensure that the tillers have their fields and the residents have their houses.
Such as promoting the popularization of science and the application of advanced tools.
In the past, salt households produced salt by boiling, which was a waste of firewood and manpower. Xiang Nan taught them how to make salt by sun-drying plates and sun-drying tanks, which greatly improved production efficiency, saved costs, and greatly reduced the price of salt.
For example, the duckbill pliers used in obstetrics and gynecology has been launched, which can effectively increase the chance of a baby's natural delivery. You must know that the ancients got married relatively early, and there were many people who had children at the age of fifteen or sixteen.
And this age group has not yet fully developed, so the chances of dystocia during childbirth are extremely high. Using duckbill pliers can effectively reduce the chance of dystocia.
For example, the method of promoting vaccinia has effectively curbed the spread of smallpox...
For example, the introduction of the sextant and the production method of ocean-going sailing boats have greatly improved navigation skills...
Xiang Nan also laid the first railway in the capital, using steam engines to transport grain from the pier to the city. The railway is only ten miles long, but the construction cost is as high as five hundred thousand taels of silver, which is quite extravagant.
But when they saw the steam train roaring, pulling thousands of tons of goods, and running on the railway, the people in the whole capital were still too shocked to speak.