The wives of the concubines are empresses

The ministers were shocked: "Is the emperor going to increase their salaries? But they haven't received any news at all. Now that the emperor is so angry, I'm afraid there is no hope."

Some officials looked angrily at the civil servant who was being questioned, and the civil servant trembled.

The eunuchs came over with charcoal and looked at the ministers kneeling on the ground. They looked at each other in confusion.

what's wrong?

The Minister of Revenue was stunned when he saw the charcoal fire: "Your Majesty, what is this charcoal fire?"

It can't be what he thinks, right?

Shangguan Wanjun glanced at him lightly and said coldly, "I see the weather is getting cold, so I'll add a few more charcoal fires for you, my dear ministers. What? You don't want it?"

How about I ask them to take it back?"

Concubine Lu - Liu Haiming raised his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration of us."

Lord Yan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, looked up with a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty is so considerate of me and others. I am deeply moved."

Shangguan Wanjun snorted coldly and arrogantly.

"You're quite good at flattering me. Why did you drink honey water this morning?"

Seeing the emperor joking, Lord Yan, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Works, replied with a smile.

"Your Majesty is joking. I speak from my heart."

After hearing his words, Shangguan Wanjun was no longer so angry.

With this step there, she naturally had to go down.

"Everyone, get up. It's so cold, and one or two of you will cause us a lot of trouble."

"I will thank you, Your Majesty."

Listening to the emperor's arrogant words, some older officials touched their noses uncomfortably. It sounded like a daughter nagging her father.

Someone came to his senses and thought, my God, he still wants to be the emperor's father. I'm afraid that even the nine generations of his clan will not be enough to kill him.

Seeing that the atmosphere had returned to normal, Liu Cheng nodded to the eunuchs.

With the charcoal fire, the atmosphere in the hall became more lively, and the ministers outside also received hand warmers, and they were all a little flattered.

Minglan arranged for people to place some bamboo leaves and grass seeds (the ancient name for green ivy) in the hall to purify the air in the hall.

Shangguan Wanjun was quite satisfied with her performance.

"It's almost the beginning of winter, and the days are getting colder. I can't not attend this grand court meeting, but it's cold standing outside. How can I solve this problem? My dear ministers."

Lord Wang Bo of the Imperial Guard of the Palace bowed and said, "Your Majesty, there doesn't seem to be any particularly good solution. Over a hundred officials is quite a lot."

Many ministers agreed.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

……

Fortunately, the emperor did not continue to dwell on the previous topic. They should say a few more words to calm the emperor's anger, and maybe there will be hope for a salary increase.

Shangguan Wanjun glanced around the entire room and frowned.

"Those of you in the front row, stand in the front. Let me see."

We must think of a good solution quickly, so as not to let the ministers freeze to death. More than half of them are civil servants, all of them weak literati.

Taifu Yun, the Right Prime Minister, General Xuanwei and others stepped forward.

Shangguan Wanjun took a look and continued to give instructions to the officials behind her.

"The rows behind continue."

Liu Cheng glanced at the emperor, then at the ministers, and seemed to understand what the emperor meant.

"Xiao Liuzi, go and ask the ministers outside to come in so I can take a look."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Liu Cheng went down quickly to convey the emperor's oral instructions.

"My Lords, please enter the hall from the first three rows on both sides."

The ministers were shocked: Is this true? They want to enter the palace?

After three rows of ministers entered the hall, Shangguan Wanjun looked at Liu Cheng.

Seeing that there was still space, Liu Cheng said, "Your Majesty, if we squeeze in on both sides, we can still stand in two more rows. Look..."

"Okay." Rules are dead, but people are alive.

……

The entrance outside the Golden Palace was empty, and the other ministers were all on the steps and on the ground below.

"My Lords, please take the first five rows on each side, and those behind will follow closely behind."

Liu Cheng counted carefully and then stepped forward to report.

"Your Majesty, fifty gentlemen are already inside the palace, fifty gentlemen are at the palace gate, and the rest are on the steps and on the ground."

"how many people?"

Liu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Two wheels and three rows outside the hall, two wheels and one row on the steps, and two wheels and five rows on the ground. It should be..."

Shangguan Wanjun said quickly: "Ninety people."

The civil officials were shocked. How could the emperor calculate so quickly?

Most of the military generals didn't think there was anything wrong, of course, except for General Xuanwei and Concubine Wu - propaganda style.

Shangguan Wanjun stood up and walked a few steps, looking down at the ministers.

"Two people from each row, come up here so I can see them."

The second row stepped forward with two people, the third row with six people, the fourth row with six people... Soon more people joined the hall... The first row of civil and military officials added two people each (a total of four people), the second row added six people each (a total of twenty people), and the third row added seven people each (a total of fourteen people)...

Originally, there were five rows of civil and military ministers in the hall, five rows each for a total of fifty people.

There were thirty people in two rounds and three rows at the outer hall door, ten people in two rounds and one row on the steps, and fifty people in two rounds and five rows on the ground. There were fifty people in two rounds and five rows entering the hall. Originally there were one hundred and forty people outside the hall, plus the fifty people inside the hall, a total of one hundred and ninety people.

Shangguan Wanjun quickly calculated in her mind and finally came to a conclusion.

"A total of 190 officials attended the court today?"

Taifu Yun bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, how did you calculate it?"

When Shangguan Wanjun told her algorithm, all the ministers were shocked.

Is the emperor also an arithmetic genius?

This made sense and made their heads buzz.

Concubine Xuan-Song Xuanyi excitedly said, "Your Majesty, I've never heard of this algorithm before. Did you create it yourself?"

Shangguan Wanjun's heart skipped a beat: Has her true identity been exposed?

She was very flustered inside, but she looked very calm and composed.

"Don't worry about it for now. The first two problems have not been solved yet. Let's put this one aside." Really, is she shooting herself in the foot?

How could she explain this?

Could it be that she comes from another world?

It would be strange if she wasn't regarded as a monster.

She complained in her heart: Oh, it’s so hard to be an emperor.

Imperial tutors such as Grand Tutor Yun suppressed their excitement and continued with the first two questions.

"Look, there are fifty people in the hall and one hundred and forty people outside. If any of my dear ministers gets frozen in this cold weather, I will be very sad." She felt sorry for herself because no one worked for her, and she had to support them for free.

The ministers were moved by the emperor. It turned out that women really understood how to care for others. The previous Emperor Taizu never cared about them so much. The late emperor himself was not reliable, let alone him.

Seeing the ministers looking so moved that they were about to cry, Shangguan Wanjun felt a little embarrassed to watch.

"Enough, grown men acting like little girls, isn't it shameful?" Tsk tsk tsk tsk, it's really unbearable to watch.

Taifu Yun wiped away her tears, and the Right Prime Minister's expression was even more exaggerated, as if an ancestor had died. She was really drunk.

The ministers were particularly moved. The emperor added charcoal to their fire and warmed their hands with hand warmers. He was afraid that they would feel cold, so he specially adjusted their positions which had remained unchanged for decades.

Shangguan Wanjun glanced at the ministers outside the palace and said, "What a pity! I used to think this throne room was quite large, but now it seems too small."