Empress Dowager Guide

Chapter 41 Family affairs, state affairs and world affairs

[Stupid bird flies first, this will also be of great benefit to your points. 】

"Then I will choose agriculture and official administration."

Anyway, the recent subjects of the imperial court also closely revolved around these two themes. Today's book also mentioned that the officials are about to have their year-end assessment, so it is always useful for her to go and hug Buddha's feet temporarily.

But thinking about tomorrow's class schedule, Sheng Shaoqing looked at the big chicken leg in front of him, and couldn't whet his appetite at all.

And although Yuan Che didn't need to get up early to go to court tomorrow, he was also arranged by the Tai Tuo for a bunch of lessons. The mother and son were sick and sympathetic, sitting together and sighing at the delicious food that Aning brought.

Early the next morning, Sheng Shaoqing only slept an hour longer than usual before Cui Yun called him up.

"Empress Dowager, the two Shanggongs and several concubines are already waiting outside the hall to see you."

Sheng Shaoqing:?

Is it possible to get a good night's sleep?

While helping Sheng Shaoqing change clothes, Cui Yun confessed, "It's my negligence. Last night, I should have told the Queen Mother in advance. Today is the day when the two courtiers and the former emperor's concubines will meet."

After Sheng Shaoqing took his seat in the main hall, several people outside the hall walked in slowly to salute and greet him.

"Who are they?"

Sheng Shaoqing didn't forget to take the time to ask the system who these people were.

[There are two in the back row, the older one is Li Shanggong, and the plump one is Wang Shanggong; the front row from left to right is Mrs. Li and Xu, the beauty Dong, and the talented Lin. 】

"The first emperor's concubines are so few? No wonder there is only one son like Yuan Che."

The two wives are obviously old, and it seems that they are suitable for childbearing, as if there are only two low-ranking concubines.

[Including you and the dead emperor's biological mother Liu, the first emperor's concubines are six. 】

"I thought the emperors were all 72 concubines of the Sangong Sixth Court."

The system raised his forehead, 【This harem belongs to other people, so the emperor can naturally have as much as he wants, but this matter, it is possible but not necessary.The first emperor was a workaholic, and he couldn't remember the faces of so many concubines, so there were only a few famous ones. 】

After they got up, Sheng Shaoqing let them sit down, and then carefully looked at these former "rivals" of Feng Qing.

Li's and Xu's belong to the middle-aged mistresses, and their charm still exists, and they can still see the demeanor of their youth.The beauty Dong is worthy of her status, she is indeed a beauty, her eyebrows are like distant mountains, and her skin is like peach blossoms; among these few people, the talented Lin is average in appearance, but she is also much prettier than Feng Qing.

It's not that Sheng Shaoqing is inferior to her current appearance, but to be honest, what did the late emperor like in her, and chose her to be the empress dowager?
She doesn't look like she can seduce the Lord.

Several people looked at each other, and Mrs. Li spoke first, "Empress Dowager, since the beginning of winter, all the palaces and government offices have added money to burn fire. A lot of slaves have been added, so the monthly expenditure will be three hundred yuan more than this time in previous years."

Mrs. Xu also continued, "It's not just for warming up, new clothes are always made in winter, and several palaces in the southeast corner of the palace have been in disrepair for a long time, and they have to be repaired once or twice in spring, which is another big deal."

Li Shanggong smiled and said nothing, and Wang Shanggong said to Mrs. Xu, "There is no rush to repair those palaces. Now many female historians will be released from the palace next spring when they are old. The palaces should also be carefully selected. Save the old man." A batch is gone, and the new ones are still not available, and the green ones are not picked up."

After they finished speaking, they all turned their heads and looked at Sheng Shaoqing, "The empress dowager is busy with political affairs, and these chores in the harem shouldn't bother the empress too much, but there are some things that we can't make up our minds, and we have to ask the empress dowager to make a decision. "

So, are they reporting to her work?

[Do you think that the only thing a concubine in the harem is to eat and sleep?For their salary, they need to be loyal to others. In the inner court, personnel changes, rewards and punishments for merits and demerits, and human relations all need to be handled by them, otherwise you can't take care of it alone. 】

"Then what are you undecided about?"

Several people were silent when they heard the words, but the second monk Sheng Shaoqingzhang couldn't figure it out. Only then did Li Shanggong speak, "Nowadays, the expenditure in the palace is really high, and the private treasury in the palace is exhausted. After several discussions with the lady, she came to ask the Queen Mother for instructions."

No wonder they all showed embarrassment, they came 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 in Huangzhuang. Whenever it is harvested, it will be sold at the market price and converted into cash and put into the treasury. The other part is tax."

"The harvest in Huangzhuang has not been good 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 tax depends on the people. The only way to make money is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Since the source cannot be increased, then reduce expenditure.

The first thing to save money is layoffs.

"The expenses in the palace are so high, why don't we lay off some people from the palace?"

Wang Shanggong answered, "This minister also thinks the same way, release half of the people in the spring of next year, and the money will be reduced a lot."

At this moment, Madam Li opened her mouth tremblingly, "How can this be done? This is a matter of royal dignity, how can you let so many people out all at once?!"

"Then, Madam Li, do you have any good advice?"

Mrs. Li didn't have any good opinions on this issue, but she just felt that something was wrong. Being hungry was a minor issue, but losing face was a major issue.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Sheng Shaoqing directly made a decision to lay off staff in the spring of next year!
After several people left the Palace of Eternal Light, Mrs. Li's face suddenly collapsed. Mrs. Xu noticed Mrs. Li's abnormality, but she didn't speak.

In the past, when the late emperor was around, Mrs. Li was very ostentatious, and the late emperor was frugal, so it was not easy for her to go overboard.She thought that Concubine Huncheng could talk about ostentation, but in the end she was given a tactic to cut her salary from the bottom of the pot-Curry had no money, so she couldn't talk about the ostentation even if she wanted to. Mrs. Xu often had fun with Nv Shi behind her back.

After sending these people away, Sheng Shaoqing thought that letting them go out is not a long-term solution, how can Curry be enriched?
How many Huangzhuang?
On the tax side, they are still counting on Yunzhi, which will take effect in January at the earliest.

[Those Huangzhuangs have already been poorly managed, leaving only empty shells. 】

Sheng Shaoqing: ...

It's too difficult for the queen mother, not only to be the affairs of the family in the palace, but also the affairs of all the families in the world.

However, the soul of gossip in Sheng Shaoqing's chest suddenly ignited, "You said, they used to have a higher status than me, and now I am the queen mother, will they be unconvinced?"

[Then do you want to see what they are thinking? 】

Sheng Shaoqing nodded frantically, she wants to see it!She wants to see!
[Then go and finish the course I prepared for you first, and I will show it to you. 】

(End of this chapter)