The First Year of Jianwen! Investing the Empress!

Was a tax of one in thirty really that high?

Commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty had not been set too high, but far too low!

And excessively low commercial taxes did nothing to help Great Ming develop.

Zhu Yuanzhang had kept labor levies and taxes light, but he had never read Capital or practiced a market economy. Instead, through sheer force of will, he had molded a relatively rigid Great Ming Dynasty.

Once he had built the framework and laid down the rules his descendants had to follow, he had gone off to reunite with Empress Ma.

What he had not understood was that society developed, that it was dynamic rather than static. Flowing water never rotted, and a moving door hinge never became worm-eaten-Zhu Yuanzhang had not grasped that principle. The laws he had imagined would last ten thousand years were merely a joke before the laws of history.

Zhu Yunwen did not continue discussing commercial taxes with Ma Enhui. Though she was an almost perfect wife, she lacked a commercial outlook. Continuing would only mean talking to himself.

Still, he would certainly convince her. Otherwise, how could he convince those mule-headed civil officials?

It was New Year's Eve, in Kunning Palace.

Ma Enhui personally straightened Zhu Yunwen's robes and headdress. Whenever she was present, she never left such things to the palace maids.

Looking at Zhu Yunwen, who was both spirited and refined, Ma Enhui smiled warmly. "Once today is over, tomorrow will be the new year. The whole country will adopt the new era name, and even the common people will enshrine longevity tablets for you."

Zhu Yunwen drew Ma Enhui down to sit beside him. "Starting tomorrow, everyone will have to address you as Empress. The rear palace may be small, but managing it is no easy task. With you overseeing it, do not overwork yourself. Leave some matters to the servants."

"I understand, Your Majesty. But there is something I would like to discuss with you."

Ma Enhui looked at Zhu Yunwen, her eyes bright.

"What is it?"

Zhu Yunwen lifted his teacup.

Ma Enhui looked at him and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, as the new year begins, all things take on a new face. I intend to select a group of Selected Ladies to fill out the rear palace."

"Pfft!"

Zhu Yunwen looked at Ma Enhui and set aside his spilled tea. "Why are you bringing this up again?"

Ma Enhui sounded a little aggrieved. "Your Majesty has only one son, Wenkui. How can such a thin imperial bloodline suffice? Besides, you favor me far too much. You cannot always spend the night in Kunning Palace, or people in the rear palace will gossip."

"Huh?"

Zhu Yunwen felt thoroughly put out. Was it wrong to spend time with my own wife now?

Then he reconsidered. It seemed he did not have just one wife. Ma Enhui was his first wife, but the other consorts filling the rear palace were nominally his wives as well.

Accursed feudal society, accursed imperial family. Was taking so many wives really appropriate?

Zhu Yunwen still could not break free of the idea of monogamy. "Let us dispense with selecting ladies. There will be no selection for three years. We can discuss it again after that."

"Your Majesty!"

Ma Enhui grew anxious.

The imperial family placed the greatest importance on continuing its bloodline. Even common households had three or four sons, yet Zhu Yunwen had only one child. It was simply too few.

"I am still young, and so are you. We have many years ahead of us. Let us leave it at that."

Zhu Yunwen had made up his mind.

Ma Enhui sighed, then changed tack. "Then surely it would not be unreasonable to select a few consorts from the Inner Palace to serve Your Majesty? At present, apart from Consort Ning and Consort Xian, there is no one else in the rear palace. Leaving it empty forever is no solution."

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand, sounding somewhat impatient. "Arrange it as you see fit."

Ma Enhui smiled and agreed.

Shuangxi led the eunuchs in kneeling before Zhu Yunwen and Ma Enhui. Together, they cried, "May His Majesty and Her Majesty enjoy blessings for ten thousand years and everlasting health. Long live the Emperor! May the Empress live a thousand years!"

Looking at the kneeling attendants, Zhu Yunwen swept his sleeve. "Rise, all of you. Serving at my side inevitably means more hard work. Shuangxi, have the Imperial Treasury give everyone some extra New Year's money."

"Thank you for your gracious favor, Your Majesty."

They all cried out together.

After everyone dispersed, Shuangxi entered the hall to report, "Your Majesty, the Grand Secretariat and the Rites Ministry have sent word that the New Year's edict, the Investiture Edict, the Golden Investiture Book, and the Golden Seal are all ready. They have now been brought to the Hall of Heavenly Mandate. Early tomorrow morning, the investiture envoys Fang Xiaoru and Xie Jin will collect the edict, book, and seal and present them to the Empress."

"My thanks to the two investiture envoys for their efforts." Zhu Yunwen nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Ma Enhui. "Come, let us pay our respects to the Empress Dowager. Afterward, you still need to return home. Speaking of which, I have not seen my father-in-law in quite some time."

Ma Enhui was the daughter of Ma Quan, the Junior Minister of Court Provisioning.

Though Ma Quan held a Subordinate Fourth Rank post, he rarely attended court. This was mainly because Ma Enhui feared that her father would draw too much attention and invite needless trouble. She never allowed members of her family to seek shortcuts through the Inner Palace, and she rejected every request and petition from her relatives.

Tomorrow, Ma Enhui would become Empress of the Ming Empire, yet the Ma family remained so inconspicuous that they might as well not have existed.

"If Your Majesty wishes to see them, I can arrange for them to enter the palace another day."

Ma Enhui replied with anticipation.

After paying their respects to the Empress Dowager, Zhu Yunwen and Ma Enhui dined with her. It was not until dusk that Zhu Yunwen escorted Ma Enhui to her carriage. Looking at her as she prepared to leave the palace, he said reluctantly, "On New Year's Eve, even ordinary families know to reunite and stay up together to see in the new year. Yet I shall have no one to keep me company."

According to court ritual, before her investiture, the Empress had to return home and wait for the investiture envoys to arrive.

Looking at the downcast Zhu Yunwen, Ma Enhui smiled gently. "Your Majesty, it is only this once. From now on, I will always stay with you, and we shall never part again."

Zhu Yunwen patted the carriage and watched it slowly roll away.

"Your Majesty, where shall we go?"

Seeing Zhu Yunwen turn around, Shuangxi asked.

Zhu Yunwen blinked, his melancholy slowly fading. He took a deep breath. "Back to the Hall of Martial Valor. Tell the Directorate of Imperial Meals that I would like some dumplings."

The first day of the first lunar month-New Year's Day.

On this day, the history of Great Ming officially entered the First Year of Jianwen!

Just after the hour of the tiger, Shuangxi woke Zhu Yunwen. Then came the ceremonial robes. Still groggy, Zhu Yunwen was wrestled fully awake by the elaborate, cumbersome outfit.

"Has the investiture delegation left the palace?"

Zhu Yunwen asked.

Shuangxi promptly replied, "They have collected the Investiture Edict, the Golden Investiture Book, and the Golden Seal and left the palace. By my reckoning, they should have reached the Ma Residence."

A smile touched Zhu Yunwen's lips. "A new beginning. Good. This empire ought to have a fresh face."

At the Ma Residence.

Ma Quan knelt in salute with his entire household and all his servants.

In a full, resonant voice, Fang Xiaoru read the Investiture Edict: "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: I have heard that when Heaven and Earth take their appointed places, they fulfill their powers of sheltering and sustaining all things. When the sun and moon find their places in the heavens, they unfold the signs of rising and constancy. The ordering of the inner household is the foundation of human relations, and virtuous renown is the bedrock of kingly transformation."

"Ma, daughter of Ma Quan, Junior Minister of Court Provisioning: gentle and respectful, you are versed in the precepts of illustrated histories; reverent and obedient, your conduct accords with the measured grace of jade pendants. As my principal consort, you have spared me concern for the inner household since I ascended to rule all under Heaven. This is all owing to your service. At the beginning of this new era, in obedience to Heaven's mandate and in recognition of your aid in bringing harmony to the household, the rites establishing your rightful position must be exalted."

"Now, in obedience to the Empress Dowager's benevolent command, I send envoys bearing the Golden Investiture Book and the Golden Seal to establish you as Empress. Reverently receive these virtuous instructions and set the proper example of the Empress's Conduct. Honor the springtime radiance of Eternal Joy, diligently observing the duty of providing coolness in summer and warmth in winter. Spread the refined influence of Kunning Palace and assist my diligence in donning robes before dawn and dining after dusk. Lead the six palaces through reverence and frugality. Now take your rightful place in the central palace and jointly uphold the Ancestral Temple. Let this be proclaimed throughout the four seas, that Heaven's blessings may endure forever. Respect this!"

Fang Xiaoru truly lived up to his reputation as a great scholar, his voice rising and falling with feeling and expression.

Ma Enhui received the edict and accepted the Golden Investiture Book and the Golden Seal.

Fang Xiaoru and Xie Jin led the investiture delegation in kneeling before Ma Enhui, crying, "May the Empress live a thousand years!"

After the salute, they escorted Ma Enhui onto the Son of Heaven's Carriage. Guarded by the Imperial Guard Directorate, eunuchs, and Li Guan, she entered the Hall of Heavenly Mandate. Her graceful steps and the majestic bearing of her phoenix crown utterly captivated Zhu Yunwen.

After Ma Enhui saluted Zhu Yunwen, the two ascended the dais hand in hand.

Zhu Yunwen settled onto the imperial throne, while Ma Enhui sat upright on the Phoenix Throne. The civil and military officials knelt to offer their congratulations.

Afterward, Zhu Yunwen and Ma Enhui still had to enter the Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. From this point onward, Ma Enhui truly moved from Chang'an Palace to Kunning Palace.

By the time the elaborate sequence of rites was finished, more than four hours had passed.

In the Hall of Heavenly Mandate.

With an empty stomach, Zhu Yunwen listened as a eunuch read the New Year Era-Change Edict.

The edict's contents amounted to little more than declaring that the new emperor had ascended the throne, exhausted his heart and mind for the Ming Empire, and made tremendous contributions.

Of course, those contributions were not entirely the emperor's alone. The Grand Secretariat deserved credit, the Six Ministries merited praise, and the contributions of the officials could not be overlooked either.

In short, you were good, I was good, everyone was good.

The Jianwen era had begun. Everyone should roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Normally, an event as momentous as a new emperor adopting an era name called for a general amnesty throughout the realm. But Zhu Yunwen disagreed and had informed the Grand Secretariat in advance.

A general amnesty throughout the realm?

What damned fool had thought that up? Had they never considered how much effort and time those at the bottom had spent catching those villains and putting them behind bars? They had not even finished reforming them, yet a change of era name meant letting them out?

Even absurdity ought to have its limits.

Though Xie Jin repeatedly explained that those released would not be archvillains, but merely thieves, robbers, abductors, and swindlers, freeing them would demonstrate the emperor's benevolence-the so-called bestowal of grace upon the realm.

Zhu Yunwen rejected Xie Jin's proposal. Those fellows could continue enjoying their self-guided tours of prison. Free room and board were not available just anywhere.

After the era-change edict had been read, Zhu Yunwen rose. "Every capital official, regardless of rank, shall receive three additional months of salary. Apart from those required to remain on duty, all shall receive ten days of Official Leave. Morning court will resume on the eleventh day of the first month. My ministers, you may withdraw."

The officials beamed with delight, bowing in thanks and raising thunderous cries of acclamation.

After Zhu Yunwen left the Hall of Heavenly Mandate, the three Grand Secretariat ministers, Yu Xin, Zhang Zhen, and Xie Jin, conferred to decide who would remain on duty in the Grand Secretariat for those ten days.

Yu Xin wanted more time with his wife and children. He insisted that if he did not spend time with them soon, his children failing to recognize him would be a small matter; his wife failing to recognize him would be a serious one.

Zhang Zhen slapped his leg and said his old rheumatism was acting up. Whatever happened, he needed to lie down at home and recuperate for a while.

Xie Jin spread his hands and said his elderly father was unwell. He needed to take him to a physician to have his pulse checked and get a few prescriptions, then stay by his side throughout, not even taking off his clothes to rest.

The three senior ministers glared at one another. None was willing to remain on duty.

Xie Jin gritted his teeth and hid his fist inside his sleeve.

Seeing this, Yu Xin and Zhang Zhen grew solemn and hid their hands inside their sleeves as well.

The atmosphere froze.

Seeing this, Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and the other officials of the Six Ministries gathered around to watch the fun.

Xie Jin sneered. "If that is how it is, do not blame me for showing no mercy. Once you lose, no going back on your word."

"Bring it on!" Yu Xin shouted.

Zhang Zhen nodded slightly and said solemnly, "Then let us begin! Hands out-rock, paper, scissors!"

The watching officials of the Six Ministries nearly fainted en masse...