At the end of August, Chongzhen got two pieces of good news in a row from the imperial doctor, that is, Zhou Hou and Tian Guifei were both pregnant. These two pieces of news made him both excited and worried, if he couldn't change his fate, then his children would have to suffer the most tragic fate in the world.

Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen to reward some valuable medicinal materials to the queen and Tian Guifei, and also rewarded the three concubines of Zhou, Tian and Yuan with a blue fox shawl and a sable cloak. Although the latter is valuable, there is no shortage in the palace, only this blue fox shawl, even some old people in the palace are amazed, claiming that they have never seen this thing.

This blue fox shawl is as white as snow in the sun, but in the dark it is faintly light blue, and the fur is softer and warmer than mink. The three concubines were quite satisfied with the gift, and according to Wang Chengen, who sent the gift, these fox skins came from the island north of Fusang Island, and they were brought back from overseas by the East China Sea Patrol Office this year.

The total number of these precious furs was only a few dozen, and the final product was only three shawls and a few knick-knacks. Therefore, when Chongzhen divided the three shawls to the three maidens, there was no fourth finished product in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhou Hou and Concubine Yuan are relatively quiet, after receiving the gift, in addition to joy, they collected it. But Tian Guifei was obviously not willing to appreciate this treasure for herself, she held several gatherings of the ladies of the capital in a row, and intentionally or unintentionally took out this shawl to show off.

The family members of these lords and nobles had nothing to do at home, and it was very difficult for them to go out in the past, after all, it was not in line with the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. But after Chongzhen ascended the throne, in addition to vigorously suppressing Xungui, he let several concubines in the harem participate in social assistance and education.

Whether it is a Huimin pharmacy in the capital, a relief home, or a primary school, there are often three concubines. And the noble family members who were able to be invited by the three concubines to participate in these public welfare undertakings not only gained fame among the people, but also got closer to several concubines in the harem.

Therefore, although at the beginning, such actions aroused the criticism of many civil officials and scholars. But with the support of the people and the Daming Times, two years after Chongzhen, this kind of criticism has become less and less.

Gradually, the public welfare activities organized by several concubines in the palace have become a social place for the families of the nobles in the capital and the families of officials in the DPRK and China to communicate. Through such a social place, those dignitaries and officials not only obtained a new source of information, but also had another channel to do things.

Regular social gatherings not only served as an occasion for these ladies to display their outfits and jewelry, but also gave them the opportunity to participate in social and political activities. In the past, the perfect female character recognized by the Ming society was a woman who respected the three virtues and the four virtues and the husband and children. But now, a housewife with cultural literacy and basic political ability can obviously make her husband more able to attract the attention of the emperor and the important ministers of the court.

With Chongzhen successively promoting several officials, Madame has performed well in social activities. In the capital, a certain independence began to appear in the social status of women, and they were no longer seen as the wives of such and such officials, but as an independent personality. Under the consideration of practical interests, officials also seem to have more respect for their wives, and are no longer regarded as ignorant women and children.

Such social gatherings also had another consequence, as new costumes and jewelry began to become popular at parties based on the nature of women. Although the ladies of the Ming Dynasty were not short of clothes and jewelry, there were not many social occasions to show off.

According to the social values of marrying a wife and marrying virtue, and taking concubines, scholars should focus on running a family and raising children, rather than dressing up and showing off their talents. Therefore, clothing is generally in a stable and traditional style, and jewelry is also valued by family heirlooms.

Of course, in recent times, the social atmosphere has become increasingly decadent, and many young women and young ladies who have not yet left the cabinet have begun to pursue the popular clothing and jewelry styles among famous prostitutes in Jiangnan, of course, this kind of clothing is mainly to cater to the aesthetics of men.

In the current social activities in the capital, the old-fashioned and frivolous costumes will naturally not become the pursuit of these ladies, and all kinds of costumes from the palace will naturally become the new pursuit of these ladies. No one wants to be ridiculed by others by wearing repetitive attire at this kind of social event.

Whether it is all kinds of furs from the north or all kinds of silk from the south, they have become a popular commodity in the capital for a while. And all kinds of gems shipped from overseas have also become a new pursuit of the upper class people in Beijing. Behind this craze, it also greatly aroused the interest of the noble bureaucrats in overseas specialties.

For example, gold from Taiwan, ruby sapphires from Siam, diamonds from India, and various colors of fur from the regions north of Japan. The furs and wealth brought back from overseas by the Tokai Patrol House and the Four Seas Trading Firm began to attract the attention of these noble bureaucrats.

As their families spent their wealth on clothes and jewels that never saw an end in sight, the way of obtaining wealth from the land was less and less appreciated by these dignitaries. The rapid increase of one's wealth through industry and commerce, or the windfall profits obtained through overseas trade, has begun to form a trend among the upper classes in the capital.

The wealth possessed by the noble bureaucrats in the capital was actually no less than that of the salt merchants of Lianghuai. These big families who have lived in the capital for more than 100 years, and the wealth they have gathered can really be said to be a rival country. When this wealth was released from the cellars and flowed into the productive spheres, it undoubtedly provided much-needed liquidity to the emerging industries and commerce of the North.

The prosperity of the capital and Tianjin began to slowly become no less than the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River. After entering September, Zheng Zhihu finally arrived in Tianjin with the fleet, which took nearly a year to cross the Pacific Ocean and bring back many animals and plants that were not found in the Ming Dynasty. In Chongzhen's eyes, this voyage can be said to be very successful.

Although Zheng Zhihu did not complete the circumnavigation of the world, Zhu Youzhen still gave him and two assistants the titles of viscount and baron. The rubber seeds and seedlings brought back by this voyage were cultivated in Taiwan, Hainan, Guangxi and the Leizhou Peninsula, and the 35 tons of raw rubber brought back with the ship were all purchased by the government at a price of 015 yuan per catty.

The price of 300 yuan a ton is already similar to the price of cotton cloth of the same weight. But on the opposite continent, these raw rubber are basically regarded as a toy material for recreational use, and the price is very low. Zheng Zhihu's cost of buying these raw rubber is less than one-tenth of the transportation cost from the production area to Tianjin.

For a long time, the crew members who felt that the opposite continent had no other output except silver and gold suddenly realized that the next time they returned to the sea, they could give priority to purchasing what special products.

For Chongzhen, these raw rubbers just solved one of his problems. After the design of the hand-pressurized water well was completed last year, the construction of such mechanical wells using the vacuum principle to pump groundwater began in various parts of Gyeonggi.

However, the sealing gasket of the well made of animal leather is not only easy to deteriorate and damaged, but also very expensive. The raw hides of animals also cost 2 taels of silver, which is equivalent to about 06 yuan a catty. When raw rubber is processed into mature rubber, you can also add filler material accounting for about 40-50% when making finished products, which can undoubtedly greatly save costs.

The most important thing is that after sulfur maturation, the aging rate of rubber is greatly delayed, and the sealing material made of rubber is obviously much more durable than leather.

After the rubber vulcanized finished products proved their superiority in sealing and aging performance, Zhu Youzhen allocated a batch of processed rubber materials and went to the rice fat and Yulin areas of Shaanxi Province to prepare to carry out a 100-day and 1,000-well plan in these areas to solve the problem of drinking water for the local people.

Although this spring and last winter, it rained and snowed in Shaanxi. However, after entering June, some parts of Shaanxi still encountered drought problems again. Although the situation this year is stronger than last year, and there will not be a major drought that will spread to the whole of Shaanxi, these affected areas are affected for the third time this year.

The Yulin area is okay, because it is a border army station, so there is still some military food to eat. However, the people of Mizhi were in great difficulty, and the governor of Yansui had to apply to the imperial court again for disaster relief.

Mizhi County is the throat of Yansui, bordering Yulin in the north, Hengshan in the west, and Sichuan and Shaanxi in the south.

According to the suggestions of the governor of Yansui and the governors of the three sides, and the discussions with the cabinet ministers, the imperial court finally agreed to the disaster relief proposal of the governor of Yansui, and relocated some victims from the Mizhi area to the Ningxia area to open up the wasteland. Chongzhen also decided to spend 100,000 taels of silver to dig 1,000 wells in Mizhi and Yulin to alleviate the water problem of the local people.

The arrival of this rubber undoubtedly made up for the last technical defect in this well drilling plan.

When Zheng Zhihu arrived, the second Beijing Games was held. After last year's experiments, this year's competition is finally much more exciting and expanded.

And the number of people who went to the north to watch the competition venue was several times that of last year. And the number of people who participated was not only soldiers, students and street idlers. Many ordinary people in the capital or other places also signed up to participate, wanting to have fun together.

The staff of the British East India Company, the Portuguese and several Spaniards in the capital also eagerly signed up for the competition. They praised the format of the games, some of them were knowledgeable, and compared the advantages and disadvantages of the Oriental games with the Olympic sports competition held between the ancient Greek city-states in front of the emperor, to show that Europe is not a barbaric place in the eyes of the Chinese.

In this sporting competition, the Spaniards won a javelin throw, while the British won gold medals in the shot put and the 100-meter run, and the Portuguese won nothing.