Chapter 41 Family Affairs State Affairs World Affairs
Chapter 41 Family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs
Author: Silent outside the string
Chapter 41 Family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs
[The stupid bird flies first, this will also be of great benefit to your points.]
"Then I'll choose agriculture and government."
Anyway, the recent issues in the imperial court have closely revolved around these two themes. Today's excerpt also mentioned that the officials were about to have their year-end assessments, so it was always useful for her to catch up on them temporarily.
But when she thought about tomorrow's class schedule, Sheng Shaoqing looked at the big chicken drumsticks in front of her and couldn't work up her appetite at all.
Although Yuan Che didn't have to get up early to go to court tomorrow, he was also given a bunch of lessons by his master. The mother and son shared the same fate and sat together sighing at the delicious delicacies brought to them by Aning.
Early the next morning, Sheng Shaoqing only slept an hour longer than usual when Cui Yun called him.
"The Queen Mother, the two ministers and several concubines are already waiting outside the palace to see you."
Sheng Shaoqing:?
Can it still allow people to have a full sleep?
Cui Yun helped Sheng Shaoqing change his clothes while accusing him, "It's because I was negligent. I should have told the Queen Mother in advance last night that today is the day when two ministers from the inner court and several concubines of the late emperor will have an audience."
After Sheng Shaoqing took his seat in the main hall, a few people outside the hall slowly walked in to salute and say hello.
"Who are they?"
Sheng Shaoqing didn't forget to take the time to ask the system who these people were.
[Two people in the back row, the older one is Li Shanggong, and the plump one is Wang Shanggong; in the front row from left to right, they are the ladies Li and Xu, the beauty Dong, and the talented Lin.]
"The late emperor only had so many concubines? No wonder he only had a son like Yuan Che."
The two ladies were obviously old, and they seemed to be the only ones suitable for childbearing, as were the two low-ranking concubines.
[Including you and the deceased emperor’s biological mother, Mrs. Liu, there are only six concubines of the late emperor. 】
"I thought all the emperors had seventy-two concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards."
The system helped me, [This harem belongs to other people, and the emperor can naturally have as much as he wants, but this is okay, but not necessary. The late emperor was a workaholic, and he couldn't remember his concubines if they had too many faces, so he was famous and famous.
There are only so many points.]
After several people stood up, Sheng Shaoqing asked them to sit down, and then carefully looked at these Feng Qing's former "love rivals".
Li and Xu are middle-aged beauties, their charm is still there, and they can still see the elegance of their youth. The beauty Dong is worthy of her status, and she is indeed a beauty, with eyebrows like distant mountains and skin like peach blossoms; she is talented.
Among these people, Lin's appearance is considered mediocre, but she is much prettier than Feng Qing.
Sheng Shaoqing is not inferior to her current appearance, but to be honest, what did the late emperor see in her that he chose her to be the queen mother?
She doesn't seem to be able to charm the Lord either.
Several people looked at each other, and Mrs. Li was the first to speak, "Empress Dowager, since the beginning of winter, all the palaces and government offices have been adding fire money. For the two major events of the late Emperor Bintian and the new emperor's ascension to the throne, there have been many people in the palace.
We have added a lot of slaves, so we will spend three hundred more money every month than at this time in previous years."
Mrs. Xu also continued, "It's not just about warming up by the fire. New clothes are always made in the winter. Several palaces in the southeast corner of the palace are in disrepair. They always need to be repaired one or two times in the spring."
Li Shanggong smiled and said nothing. Wang Shanggong said to Mrs. Xu, "There is no rush to repair those palaces. Now many female officials will be released from the palace next spring when they reach their age. Each palace should also carefully select some to save the old ones.
One batch is gone, and the new ones are still not available, so there is a shortage of products."
After they finished speaking, they all turned back and looked at Sheng Shaoqing, "The Queen Mother is busy with political affairs. The chores in the harem shouldn't disturb the Queen Mother too much. But there are some things that we can't make up our minds about, so we have to ask the Queen Mother to make a decision.
"
So, are they giving her a work report?
[Do you think that the concubines in the harem can only do two things: eating and sleeping? They have to be loyal to others for their food and salary. In the harem and the court, personnel changes, merits and demerits, rewards and punishments, and human relations all need to be handled by them, otherwise you are alone.
No one can take care of it.】
"Then what are you undecided about?"
Several people were silent after hearing this, leaving Monk Sheng Shaoqing scratching his head. Only then did Li Shanggong speak, "Now the expenses in the palace are really high, and the private treasury in the palace has been exhausted.
The lady couldn't come to an agreement after several discussions, so she came to ask the Queen Mother for instructions."
No wonder they all looked embarrassed, it turned out they were here to ask for money!
But where can she change money for them?
"Where does the money in the palace's private treasury come from?"
Li Shanggong replied, "Part of it is produced by Huangzhuang. Whenever it is harvested, it is sold at the market price and converted into cash and put into the treasury. The other part is tax revenue."
"The harvest in the Imperial Village has been poor in the past few years, and the late emperor has been exempted from taxes for three years, so the money in the treasury is getting less and less..."
The harvest depends on the sky, and the taxes depend on the people. The only way to make money is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Since you can't increase the source, then reduce expenditure.
The first step to reduce expenditure is to lay off employees.
"Then the expenses in the palace are so huge, why not lay off some people and leave the palace?"
Wang Shanggong answered, "Wei Chen thinks so too. If we release half of the people in the spring next year, we can save a lot of money."
Mrs. Li spoke in a trembling voice, "How can this be done? This is a major matter related to the dignity of the royal family. How can we let so many people out at once?!"
"Then Mrs. Li, do you have any good opinions?"
Mrs. Li didn't have a good opinion on this issue, but she just felt it was inappropriate. Being hungry was a small matter, but losing face was a big deal.
Seeing that she was silent, Sheng Shaoqing immediately decided to lay off employees next spring!
When several people left the Yongguang Hall, Mrs. Li's face suddenly fell. Mrs. Xu noticed something strange about Mrs. Li, but she didn't say anything.
In the past, when the late Emperor was here, Mrs. Li was very ostentatious, and the late Emperor was very frugal, so she couldn't openly go beyond the limits. She originally thought that Huncheng Taifei could talk about ostentation, but in the end, she was given a trick to drain the salary from the bottom of the pot - there was no money in the treasury.
Even if she wanted to talk about the pomp and circumstance, Mrs. Xu and the female historian were having fun behind the scenes.
After sending these people away, Sheng Shaoqing thought that letting them go was not a long-term solution. How could he enrich his library?
How many palaces are there?
On the tax side, they are still counting on Yunzhi, and the results will not be effective until one month at the earliest.
[Those royal houses have long been poorly managed and are nothing but empty shells.]
Sheng Shaoqing:…………
It is so difficult for the Queen Mother. She not only has to be responsible for the affairs of one family in the palace, but also for the affairs of thousands of families in the world.
However, the spirit of Bagua in Sheng Shaoqing's chest suddenly burned, "Tell me, they used to have a higher status than me, but now that I am the Queen Mother, will they be dissatisfied?"
【Then do you want to see what they are thinking?】
Sheng Shaoqing nodded wildly, she wanted to see! She wanted to see!
[Then go and finish the course I prepared for you, and I will show it to you.]
