The emperor and the many princes, princesses, and concubines were served by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs served in the palace, went in and out of the palace, and publicized and issued orders. There were the Yeting Bureau, the Palace Wei Bureau, the Xiguan Bureau, the Internal Servants Bureau, and
The inner palace bureau; the inner palace bureau is the bureau for food, medicine, clothing, housing, and monks and chariots.
These two provinces are managed by internal officials, who are either chamberlains or female officials, and there are very few foreign ministers in charge.
However, there is also a general manager in these two provinces. The current general manager is Master Luo. He is in charge of the royal family, or the private property of the emperor alone.
However, he only took his own subordinates to take care of external affairs, such as the management of Huangzhuang and Emperor's shops, mines, etc. They were very busy. Basically, the two provinces were autonomous.
The officials who served as the Grand Controller were very self-aware and did not dare to get too involved in the affairs of the two provinces. After all, they were all the emperor's family affairs.
Moreover, the chief steward was not only the emperor's minister, but also the queen's subordinate.
Yes, in addition to taking orders from the emperor, Mr. Luo also takes orders from the queen. The queen also has the power to appoint and remove the chief manager of the inner treasury and handle inner treasury matters.
Therefore, Lord Luo has been working hard to take care of the emperor's properties since he took office. Occasionally, he will bring some things back home. His communication with the two provinces is nothing more than asking for money and things. He will give money and things if there is no problem with the approval.
Of course, he didn't have to do such things himself, and left most of the chores to Xin Chun.
The emperor and his children often visited the imperial palaces near the capital, so Mr. Luo handed over the two imperial palaces in the capital to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
I didn't expect that things that were convenient for you, me and him would end up like this.
Lord Luo is still kneeling in the palace.
Gu Zhong came in with a cup of tea, carefully placed it in the emperor's hand, and whispered: "Your Majesty, how would you like to try today's tea?"
The emperor picked it up and took a sip. After taking a sip of tea, the breath in his chest became much smoother. Then he looked at Mr. Luo who was still kneeling beside him. He snorted coldly and said: "Get up."
Mr. Luo breathed a sigh of relief, got up from the ground and stood with his head down.
The emperor said: "I have always trusted you, so I am entrusting all the matters to you. The Ministry of Revenue is shouting about a deficit, and the inner treasury is also complaining about a deficit. In the end, it is not me who is in deficit? It is you!"
The emperor got angry when he mentioned this? He couldn't help but put the tea cup heavily on the table.
Mr. Luo knelt down again and quickly confessed.
The emperor sneered and said: "Liu Hui is ordinary in other matters, but he is a good hand in accounting. You go and hand over all the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Palace to him, and your internal treasury's quick accountant and the household department will work together.
I want to see how my inner treasury is getting poorer day by day."
Mr. Luo responded respectfully, then got up and slowly retreated.
The emperor looked at Gu Zhong and said, "Are you going with me? If the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Palace Affairs are disobedient, you can beat them."
Gu Zhong smiled and responded, bowing and retreating.
Mr. Luo stood outside waiting for him. The two of them walked out together. Only when they were far away did Mr. Luo let out the breath in his chest.
Different from foreign ministers like Wei Zhi? Mr. Luo often dealt with Gu Zhong, and they were very familiar with each other. So he glanced over and said coldly: "I heard that only Gu's internal servant was by his side before His Majesty got angry?"
Gu Zhong sighed and said, "Master Luo, this matter is indeed mine, isn't it? I didn't expect His Majesty to be so angry."
Master Luo frowned, "What did you really say to His Majesty?"
Gu Zhong said quickly: "Master Luo, please let us explain first? I am not complaining. Oh, it's too late to say this now. I am also very panicked and guilty."
Mr. Luo just listened to this. Who knows whether he is really guilty or not?
The lives of these servants are not uncommon, how much conscience can they have?
Now Mr. Luo just wants to know why the emperor is so angry.
Gu Zhong said softly: "I am too talkative. Your Majesty is in a good mood this morning. He has arranged the discounts early. He has nothing to do, so your Majesty just wants to go out for a walk."
"It's just that Mr. Luo also knows that Mr. Wei has impeached the Precious Animal Garden, so your Majesty doesn't dare to go there. But it's windy outside. When the cold spring wind blows, it's stronger than the cold wind in winter. Your Majesty is in front of you.
He has only been feeling cold for two days, how can I dare to let him go out?"
Mr. Luo: "Tell me the important point."
Gu Zhong said with a guilty look on his face: "In order to prevent Your Majesty from going out to enjoy the breeze, I will tell Your Majesty some interesting things outside. Doesn't this involve Dr. Zhou Xiao?"
Master Luo: "Master Zhou Manzhou?"
"Exactly."
Master Luo: "What does this have to do with her?"
"It doesn't matter," Gu Zhong said with a depressed look: "It's just that Your Majesty likes Master Zhou, so I just found some interesting stories about Master Zhou and told them to Your Majesty. I remember Master Zhou mentioned before that she knew how to run a business since she was a child, so Xiao
When she was young, the Zhou family and the Bai family set aside a small farm for her and the Prince Consort of Bai County to take care of together. In that village, they not only grew wheat and rice, but also raised many chickens and ducks."
"The chickens laid so many eggs that the price of two eggs in the county was reduced to one penny per egg, and later it was three eggs for two pence. I heard that the price of eggs in their county has now dropped to one penny for two eggs.
Eggs are gone." Gu Zhong sighed: "Who knew it was such a coincidence that Xiao Yuan of Taiyuan Hospital had a letter requesting funding on His Majesty's desk at that time. I heard that the Ministry of Revenue and the Internal Treasury allocated the first sum to them.
The money is spent very quickly, and many people will enter the Imperial Mansion later, and the expenses will be even greater, so..."
Gu Zhong raised his head and looked at Mr. Luo sympathetically, "Sir, you should have known why Your Majesty is angry, right? Not only the prices of the things purchased by the Imperial Palace for the Imperial Medical Office are much too high, but also the things purchased for the palace..."
Master Luo moved his mouth, and then said after a long while: "Of course I know that the hands and feet of the people under my hands are not very clean, but if the water is clear, there will be no fish. Everything in the palace must be the best, and it is normal for the price to be higher than outside.
"
Mr. Luo said with a headache: "Just these chickens, ducks, eggs, meat and vegetables, even if the price is doubled, how much more will it cost?"
Gu Zhong laughed and said: "This is not just twice the price, it is three times as high. I heard that the eggs on the market outside only cost two cents each, but the eggs bought by the purchasing manager cost six cents each.
How many eggs does the entire palace consume every day? There is a lot of money accumulated every day."
He said: "If they hadn't gone too far, His Majesty wouldn't have been so violent."
Mr. Luo frowned, "I can't get involved in palace procurement matters. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has always been responsible for it, and the inner treasury only allocates money..."
Gu Zhong said calmly: "But Mr. Xin, who works under Mr. Luo, has been doing this. I heard that Mr. Xin has been in charge of procurement since Tong Nai was sick."
When Mr. Luo heard this, he immediately stopped talking. It was taboo to interfere in the affairs of the palace. Even he, the official manager of the inner treasury, had to avoid it. Where did Xin Chun get the courage to interfere?