Save the Bachelor of Heaven

"Yin'er, I haven't seen you enter the harem recently. You must be very tired, right?" Zhang Meiniang asked with concern.

Xiang Nan smiled and said, "It's okay, not too tired."

He has been busy these days promoting education reform.

Books such as "Arithmetic", "Physics", "Chemistry", "Legal System", "Nature", "Punctuation Marks", "Simplified Chinese Characters", etc. have to be compiled by him, so the workload is naturally not small.

What's more, he has to review memorials every day and discuss state affairs with the ministers in court... To be honest, it's because of his martial arts that he can keep an eye on them.

If it were another emperor, he would probably be exhausted.

"No matter how busy you are, you should go back to the harem and walk around more." Zhang Meiniang advised, "The emperor is just a prince now, so he is really weak. He should spread his wings more."

Xiang Nan was stunned and nodded.

Having only one child is not really safe.

Not to mention the poor medical technology in ancient times, some diseases may be cured. Even if he can live a long life, if his talent is not high, he can easily ruin his country.

Just like Qin Shihuang was so wise and powerful, but the second Qin Hu Hai was cruel and incompetent, provoked a civil uprising, and ruined the country in a few years.

"I also know that there are only two concubines in the harem, which is indeed a bit monotonous." Zhang Meiniang added, "The emperor should find more concubines."

In terms of the harem, after Gao Ruyi was deposed, Xiang Nan only had two concubines around him, one was Qu Xiaofeng and the other was Zhao Sese.

According to the ancestral system of the Toyo dynasty, the emperor's concubine lineup was very large, including the queen, the fourth concubine, the ninth concubine, the twenty-seventh concubine, and the eighty-one imperial concubine. If it is full, there will be one hundred and twenty-two people.

"No need, right?" Xiang Nan said quickly after hearing this.

I originally thought that being an emperor, with seventy-two concubines in three palaces and six courtyards, would be a very satisfying thing. But in fact, after becoming the emperor, I realized how deceptive it was.

One person has to deal with more than a hundred people, so how can he have so much energy? Even if Xiang Nan had great martial arts skills and plenty of energy, he wouldn't be able to withstand such ravages.

Furthermore, if one person has to deal with more than a hundred people, one person per day will have to wait three months for each turn. How can we have any emotional foundation if we only meet each other in three months? But without an emotional foundation, it's just like prostitution, there's no fun at all.

What's more, he only had three concubines before, and they were already scheming among themselves, which made him exhausted physically and mentally. Add more than a hundred, and it would be really fatal.

Just balancing the conflicts in the harem every day made him physically and mentally exhausted, and he still expected to be able to do something big.

"How can you not use it? You are the emperor of the Toyo Dynasty after all, how can the harem be so shabby? It would be shameful for those foreigners to see it." Zhang Meiniang advised, "Enriching the harem can lead to more children and grandchildren, and it will also help you win over courtier."

Xiang Nan saw her saying that, thought about it, and felt it made sense.

"Okay then, I'll leave this matter to my mother." Xiang Nan thought for a while and said, "But don't go too many, just limit it to three. It won't work if you have too many."

Zhang Meiniang nodded.

…

Then Zhang Meiniang issued an edict, requiring officials of the fifth rank and above in the Feng Dynasty to select the marriageable girls in their families and send them to the capital for a draft.

As soon as the news came out, the whole country was shocked.

All officials of rank five and above took active action.

Those who have daughters or sisters are naturally happy; those who don't have cousins ​​are given as gifts; some even buy beautiful women to act as adopted daughters and offer them as gifts.

After all, once the queen is selected, they will be the emperor's women. And when the wind blows beside your pillow, glory and wealth will be at your fingertips, and naturally everyone will be brave.

Therefore, for a time, the post roads and canals leading to Beijing were filled with beauties who came to Beijing for the talent show, and it was very lively.

When Xiang Nan learned about this situation, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He just wanted to choose a few beauties to enrich his harem, but he didn't expect it would cause such a big mess.

It was really a feudal society, where the monarch's power was supreme. With an order, the whole country was shocked. He had a deep understanding of it.

"Made, I used to promote 'dividing a small family into an entire family', why weren't you so active?" He couldn't help complaining.

He pushed for "dividing people into acres", pushing for "officials and gentry to pay for food and work together as errands", and pushed for "education reform". Those officials were trying to get in the way and were very uncooperative.

Now, when choosing concubines, you are so active. You really go for them when they see advantages and avoid them when you see difficulties. You have to beat them hard.

…

The beauties sent to Beijing must go through layers of screening.

Those who are too tall, too short, too fat, or too thin will not be accepted; then check her facial features, hair, limbs, and nape of the neck, and those who fail will also be eliminated; those with weak and muddy voices will also be eliminated; and then check her temperament, virtuousness, and style. Hobby, those who fail will be eliminated...

Finally, the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress tested her on her speech and behavior, playing music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, knitting needlework, etc., and finally selected the best among the best to select the final ten.

Xiang Nan then selects the three most promising people.

There are more than 3,000 officials of the fifth rank and above in the Toyo Dynasty, plus princes and nobles, so there are nearly 4,000 beauties sent to Beijing this time. Selecting three people out of four thousand people can be called one out of a thousand.

The selected beauties are undoubtedly good in terms of appearance, figure, temperament, conversation, and talents.

When Xiang Nan saw it, he was almost dazzled and wished he could just accept them all.

But in the end he restrained his greed and only chose three.

In this case, a total of five concubines can be managed.

Besides, choosing a concubine is not a one-time thing.

According to the ancestral system, concubines were selected once every three years. But most emperors don't do it that often. For example, the last time Li Hao chose a concubine was ten years ago.

In addition, in addition to the emperor's selection of concubines, there were also women from surrounding countries who paid tribute and came to marry him.

They all came with good intentions, and it would be inappropriate not to accept them, so they had to leave some space for those foreign girls.

Therefore, adding three concubines is not bad.

…

In the following years, Xiang Nan did not make any further efforts to select a concubine, but was busy promoting reforms.

For example, the national land census and census work are in full swing.

A large number of refugees have been resettled, and ownerless fields have been redistributed to ensure that farmers have land and residents have homes.

For example, promoting the popularization of science and the application of advanced tools.

In the past, salt households relied on boiling to produce salt, which was a waste of firewood and manpower. Xiang Nan taught them how to make salt by drying on plates and drying in tanks, which greatly improved production efficiency, saved costs, and significantly reduced the price of salt.

For example, the duckbill forceps used in obstetrics and gynecology have been introduced, which can effectively increase the chance of natural delivery of babies. You must know that ancient people got married relatively early, and many people had children at the age of fifteen or sixteen.

The baby is not fully developed at this age, so the chance of dystocia during childbirth is extremely high. Using duckbill forceps can effectively reduce the chance of dystocia.

For example, the promotion of cowpox vaccination effectively curbed the spread of smallpox...

For example, the introduction of the sextant and the production method of ocean-going sailboats greatly improved navigation technology...

Xiang Nan also laid the first railway in the capital and used steam engines to transport grain from the dock to the city. The railway is only ten miles long, but the cost is as high as five hundred thousand taels of silver, which is quite luxurious.

But when they saw the steam train roaring, pulling thousands of tons of cargo, running on the railway, people all over the capital were still shocked and speechless.