Chapter 106: Changes in Liao
"The officials can handle these things themselves. What worries me is that Fu'er is already fourteen years old, but he is not smart at all. The palace maids in the East Palace have been replaced one after another, and I even asked people to select some beautiful ones, but he didn't favor any of them." Queen Cao frowned.
In ancient times, girls reached the age of 15 and boys reached the age of 20, which meant they could marry and have children.
But in fact, it is very common for ordinary people's boys and girls to get married at the age of twelve or thirteen.
Girls from wealthy families would get married after they reached the age of 15, but boys would get married at the age of 17 or 18.
However, getting married at the age of seventeen or eighteen does not mean that men will only do that at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Many of them will favor the maids in their rooms when they are thirteen or fourteen.
It is normal for some families with only one child to have a concubine's son at the age of twelve or thirteen.
Otherwise, if something unexpected happens before they get married at the age of 17 or 18, how can the bloodline be continued?
Zhao Xing was the crown prince and the only child. He was already fourteen years old, but seemed to have no interest in women at all, which made Empress Cao very worried.
The emperor frowned slightly when he heard this. Although Zhao Xing was in good health, he also wanted Zhao Xing to leave behind a bloodline as soon as possible so that he could feel at ease.
"After all, Fu'er has never tasted the feeling, so it's normal that she doesn't understand it. You can ask the maids in the palace to train a few palace maids and send them over to have a look." said the emperor.
In order to prevent the palace maids in the Eastern Palace from seducing Zhao Xing and hurting themselves, they were all strictly trained.
She usually dressed simply and was not allowed to dress up, let alone pose in front of Zhao Xing.
The emperor thought that sending a few palace maids to take the initiative would definitely help Zhao Xing to come to his senses.
"I've tried it. The people I sent were dressed up beautifully, but they were punished by Fu'er to do rough work." Queen Cao said.
Official: “…”
He should have been happy that Zhao Xing was not obsessed with women, but Zhao Xing showed no interest in women at all, and he became anxious again.
"It will take a few years for Fu'er to get married. What if he is like this after he gets married, what should we do?" Queen Cao said worriedly.
"Could it be that Fu'er likes those who are a little older? Why don't you arrange a few older ones to try?" said the official.
"I will have someone select a few and send them over for trial tomorrow." Queen Cao thought about it but there was nothing she could do, so she had to do this.
The official didn't sleep well that night because of this incident.
The next day, when I went to Longtu Pavilion to handle government affairs, I kept thinking about this matter in my mind and couldn't calm down at all.
After thinking about it, he ordered someone to call Gu Yankai over.
Gu Yankai was summoned by the emperor, and all the way he was still thinking about the purpose of the emperor summoning him.
Who would have thought that after meeting the official, the official kept talking irrelevantly and incoherently, leaving him completely confused.
After a long time, he finally understood what the official meant. When he left Longtu Pavilion, his face still looked a little strange.
…………
After school was over at noon, Zhao Xing returned to the palace for lunch and found a few unfamiliar palace maids who were about eighteen or nineteen years old.
"Madam Kong, was this sent by my mother?" Zhao Xing knew what was going on after taking a look.
These palace maids were beautiful and dressed up carefully.
Empress Cao sent a few of them over last month. Zhao Xing didn't react at first, but when those palace maids kept coming close to him and wanted to sleep with him at night, he knew what was going on.
Including his previous life, he is already over 30 years old. Now he has the body of a teenager. He has been practicing martial arts for many years and is full of energy.
Confucius said that food and sex are human nature! If you say that you have never thought about that in the dead of night, it is pure nonsense.
But this body is only fourteen years old, and he still wants to live a few more years.
So he sent the few palace maids sent by Empress Cao to do the rough work.
There was no way. These women were carefully selected and dressed up. He could only turn a blind eye to them.
Now, a few older ones were sent here. Do they think he likes older ones?
Zhao Xing admitted that this time was more tempting than the last time. At this age, it would not be illegal in later generations, which did make him tempted.
"Let them take care of the garden." Zhao Xing suppressed his impulse and said. Kong Ma opened her mouth. She knew the purpose of Empress Cao sending these maids here, but seeing Zhao Xing's unquestionable expression, she did not dare to persuade him anymore and asked people to take these maids away.
"Madame Kong, you will be leaving the palace and returning home in a few days, right?" Zhao Xing asked.
Grandma Kong is now in her early sixties and applied to leave the palace and return home last year.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid I'll have to stay in Bian Jing for a few more days. The old lady of the Sheng family and I have an old acquaintance. When she learned that I was leaving the palace, she insisted on inviting me to stay at the Sheng family for a few days to reminisce about the past." Madam Kong said with a smile.
"Madam, you have worked hard over the years. I have asked someone to prepare some silver for you to take with you when you leave. You can use it to buy some land and shops when you return to your hometown so that you can enjoy your old age." Zhao Xing said.
Over the years, the internal affairs of the Eastern Palace have been managed by Nanny Kong and Nanny Feng. The two of them have managed the Eastern Palace in an orderly manner, and their hard work can be regarded as great contributions.
Palace maids like Madam Kong are actually very pitiful. They stay in the palace all their lives, never get married and have no children. When they get old, they can only rely on their brothers' children.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Nanny Kong said gratefully.
"Madam, please go down and get busy." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
"I'll take my leave!" Nanny Kong bowed and retreated.
Zhao Xing had lunch and was just about to take a nap when a eunuch came to report that Sheng Wei wanted to see him.
"Go and invite the person over quickly." Zhao Xing ordered.
Over the years, Sheng Wei has produced soap and perfume one after another according to the methods provided by Zhao Xing.
These two things earned Zhao Xing a lot of money, especially perfume, which was very popular among noble ladies and young ladies from wealthy families.
Although there were no fixatives in ancient times and the fragrance was not long-lasting and a bottle would not last long, it still did not affect the love of noble ladies and wealthy daughters.
After a while, Sheng Wei walked in, looking exhausted.
After he had greeted him, Zhao Xing asked him to sit down and asked, "What did Li Ge say when he asked you to go to the north to meet him in person?"
When Sheng Wei went to the Song-Liao trade for the first time, he got in touch with Li Ge, who claimed to be a subordinate of the King of Qin.
Not long after Sheng Wei returned, the Liao emperor passed away.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, King Qin, Yelu Chongyuan, was named the Emperor's Grand Uncle and Grand Marshal of the Army, and was allowed to meet the emperor without bowing.
The Grand Marshal of the Army of the Liao Dynasty was somewhat similar to the Prefect of Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty. Except for those from other clans, only the crown prince could hold the position.
After learning the news, Zhao Xing remembered a rumor.
There are rumors that Yelu Chongyuan had reported Empress Xiao, and the Liao emperor at that time, grateful for their brotherly friendship, named him the crown prince and promised to pass the throne to Yelu Chongyuan in the future.
Now that the new emperor of Liao has ascended the throne, he has conferred upon Yelu Chongyuan the title of Grand Uncle and the Grand Marshal of the Army, apparently in an attempt to appease Yelu Chongyuan.
It no longer matters whether the rumor is true or not. The current Yelu Chongyuan must have ambitions and be able to threaten the new emperor, otherwise the new emperor of Liao would not have appointed him as the Grand Marshal of the Army and allowed him to meet the emperor without bowing.
The two sides have been trading continuously over the years. In five years, they have exchanged tens of thousands of war horses, including thousands of stallions, and established a horse farm in the north.
Tens of thousands of horses may seem like a lot, but normal cavalrymen ride two or even three horses each.
Moreover, war horses will also suffer losses during training and normal use.
With tens of thousands of war horses, it would be great if we could train ten thousand cavalrymen.
It’s not that Zhao Xing didn’t want to exchange more, but Yelu Chongyuan wasn’t stupid either. He had always been stuck on the transaction quantity and was only willing to trade a few thousand war horses every year. If there were more, he would only use other payments. If they didn’t agree, he would rather cut off the transaction.
Although Zhao Xing could look for other people, the war horses that other merchants could provide were limited. Also, considering Yelu Chongyuan's status, Zhao Xing had always traded only with his family.
Except for the first few times, Sheng Wei personally led people to trade, and he sent other people to go afterwards.
However, before the New Year, Li Ge sent a message asking for a meeting with Sheng Wei, so Sheng Wei led the team there after the New Year.
"Your Highness, Li Ge asked to buy some weapons and armor." Sheng Wei said seriously.
(End of this chapter)