The wives of the concubines are empresses

The virtuous concubine, Lady Lin, felt dizzy looking at the densely packed words on the memorial.

Hui Fei-Feng Jinghan looked at him looking around and couldn't help frowning.

"Xianfei, you better be more serious. If the emperor returns and hasn't finished sorting, we're afraid we'll be criticized."

This virtuous concubine did nothing and was lazy before she got married. Why is she still like this after she got married?

Shu Fei - Gao Zihao glanced at Xian Fei and continued to review the classified memorials with his head down.

Taifu Yun, who was sitting next to the desk, looked at the three people quietly. When he heard what the virtuous concubine said, he frowned slightly.

"Xianfei Jijun, you are already an adult, it's time for you to share the worries of the emperor." He hoped that Xianfei Jijun could understand his earnest advice.

The virtuous concubine, Lady Lin, continued to review the memorials reluctantly and ordered them to be classified.

"I see. You're really too long-winded. Be careful that the emperor won't like you."

Hui Fei-Feng Jinghan gave him a cold look after hearing this.

"You talk as if the emperor likes you in his heart." Humph, this virtuous concubine was distracted during the important moment. Dayang lied.

The virtuous concubine who was criticized, Lin Gongyu, touched her nose with a wronged look.

Huan'er walked quickly into the front yard's accounting office: "County Master, County Master."

Seeing her rushing in, Mo'er was puzzled.

"What are you doing in such a hurry?"

"My dear, the emperor has left the palace again."

Gong Huifang was stunned: "Ah..."

After listening to Huan'er's explanation, Gong Huifang was confused and thoughtful, while Mo'er quickly poured a cup of tea for Huan'er.

"Come, have some tea."

Huan'er looked at her hometown lord and said, "Lord, why don't we go to Ming Mansion as well?"

Gong Huifang shook her head: "It's not appropriate. Let's wait and see when we can submit the invitation to the palace."

Her good life now was given by the emperor. The emperor must have important business to attend to when he left the palace today. She couldn't make the emperor unhappy because of some personal matters and delay his important business.

In a mansion courtyard, a maid dressed in coarse cloth cautiously entered the inner room.

"Madam, the eldest young master..."

A woman stood in front of the window with a sad expression, without a trace of light in her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Zhiqiu whispered in her master's ear: "The emperor has left the palace and is now in Ming Mansion."

Hearing this, the woman's face lit up.

"Really?"

Zhiqiu nodded.

"Madam, what should we do now?" Ever since the eldest young master disappeared and died mysteriously, Madam's life has been very hard.

The Yuan family is simply inhuman. They ignored the eldest young lady's unborn child and forced her to hand over the power of the family. Later, they cheated her of a lot of dowry. Poor eldest young lady, she doesn't even have anyone to make decisions for her.

"Zhiqiu, do we really have to do this?" She really didn't want to go that far.

Zhiqiu slumped to her knees. "Madam, if you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about the young master. This is the only child you and the young master have. Can you bear to see him waste his years growing up in this mansion?"

She understood that what her eldest young lady cared about most was the baby in her womb.

The eldest young master's wife's surname is Leng and her maiden name is Shuxiang. She reached out and touched her belly, feeling extremely sad.

明府

The people from the Ministry of Works had already built a brick bed, and the servants even put some firewood to heat the bed.

The craftsmen continued to build the next earthen kang, but unlike the first ordinary earthen kang, this one had doors on both sides, and on the upper inside, there was a layer of mud one and a half feet high and one foot thick.

Shangguan Wanjun would go over to take a look from time to time, and saw that there was already firewood burning in the first kang, so she checked it over.

Meifei-Hu Siyang touched the earthen kang and felt it was hot.

"Your Majesty, it's so hot, can you really sleep?" Will he be scalded to death?

"I didn't say the firewood should keep burning." That's too much, what a fool.

Upon hearing this, the beautiful concubine Hu Siyang gave a rare simple smile.

"That was a misunderstanding on the part of the minister."

Ranpin - Wang Ran looked around the rooms on both sides and didn't understand what the extra pile of mud, one and a half feet high, was for.

"Does Ranpin have any questions?"

Ranpin - Wang Ran pursed her lips and said, "I just don't quite understand the difference between the two earthen kangs."

Shangguan Wanjun stood outside the door, watching the people inside busying around.

"If it is well decorated, people can lean on it, and it is suitable for reading, embroidering, mending shoes, socks, clothes, etc." But this kind of thing is naturally more expensive.

Zhu Wu, the silent concubine, asked, "What if some people still can't afford it?"

Although the imperial court got the advantage, some families were still poor.

If he had never left the capital and seen many poor families, he would not have had these realizations.

People are having trouble getting enough food and clothing, so who would care about whether they are cold or not?

Ranpin-Wang Ran looked at him deeply.

Meifei-Hu Siyang was shocked by his question. How could he think so far?

After hearing what he said, Shangguan Wanjun also fell silent.

"You have a point."

She needs to think carefully about how to make the people willing to burn earthen kangs.

The problem of people having no money is a difficult one.

Minister of Works Lin Chenghao looked at the emperor walking towards him with a puzzled look on his face. Did the emperor have something to tell him again?

"Minister of Works, Minister of Revenue, what do you think we should do if the people have no money? We have a life-saving earthen kang, but we can't let them freeze to death."

The two looked at each other when they heard this. They really hadn't thought about this question.

The atmosphere suddenly became gloomy again, and Shangguan Wanjun, who was sitting upright, suddenly had an idea.

"Princess Wu."

"My husband is here."

"I'm afraid you'll have to go along with us as we try to heat the earthen kang this time. I've come up with a good idea that will allow all the people to sleep on warm earthen kangs."

First, save the lives of the people. Everything else is irrelevant. Only with a larger population can production keep up and the economy flow more smoothly.

"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."

"We can get a loan and use the work to offset the cost of the earthen kang, or we can get a replacement loan and use something more valuable to replace the earthen kang."

The beautiful concubines Hu Siyang, Ranpin Wang Ran, Wupin Zhu Wu, Minister of Works Lin Chenghao, Minister of Revenue Mu Qinghai and others were all delighted.

"Your Majesty, this is a good idea." Lord Yan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty good too."

After everyone discussed it together, Shangguan Wanjun finally decided to put the loan in her own name and donate 20% of the profit revenue to the court every year.

Concubine Wu - Zhu Wu, as the person in charge of management, has no monthly salary, but accounts for 10% of the profit and revenue. If there is no profit, he will subsidize her with 10 taels of silver per month. The remaining 70% is his own profit and revenue.

If there are many people taking out replacement loans, those items will need to be managed individually.

"Princess Ran, from now on, you will be in charge of the items that are exchanged. You can sell them or auction them off. We will discuss the details when we return to the palace."

Wang Ran, the Concubine Ran, nodded slightly: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Mei Fei-Hu Siyang was anxious when he saw that there was nothing else to do: "Your Majesty, where is my husband?"

Shangguan Wanjun looked a little embarrassed. Concubine Wu and Concubine Ran both had things to do, but she had not made any arrangements for Concubine Mei yet.

"How about I give you the entire auction house? You can also buy some good stuff with the replacement loan."

When Meifei Hu Siyang heard this, she readily agreed.