The wives of the concubines are empresses

The announcement of the rewards for the family of Minister of Revenue Mu Qinghai has been completed, and now it is the turn to announce the rewards for Minister of Works Lin Chenghao.

"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims that Minister of Works Lin Chenghao and his wife, along with their families, have contributed financially, laborfully, and in kind to alleviate the burden on the court. I am deeply gratified by this and hereby reward the Lin family with three hundred taels of gold; confer upon his wife the title of Second Rank Imperial Consort; and reward all the servants in the palace who participated in this, with a total of one hundred taels of silver. This is my decree."

Minister of Works Lin Chenghao accepted the imperial edict and expressed his gratitude.

Minister of Rites Gao Xinghua knelt down to listen to the order.

"… Minister of Rites Lin Chenghao and his wife, along with their families, have contributed financially, laboriously, and in kind to alleviate some of the burden on the court. I am deeply gratified by this and am hereby rewarding the Gao family with three hundred taels of gold. I am also hereby appointing his wife as a second-rank imperial consort. The servants in the palace who participated in this are also rewarded with a total of one hundred taels of silver. I decree this."

The rewards for the Gao family and the Lin family were exactly the same, and the Minister of War Hu Moying was listening to the order.

"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims that Minister of War Hu Moying and his wife, along with their families, have contributed financially, laboriously, and in kind to alleviate the burden on the court. I am deeply gratified by this and hereby reward the Hu family with three hundred taels of gold; confer upon his wife the title of Second Rank Imperial Consort; and reward all the servants in the palace who participated in this, with a total of one hundred taels of silver. This is my decree."

The Minister of Personnel Feng Mowen and the Minister of Justice Liu Huaitao each received an imperial edict, and their wives were conferred the title of second-rank imperial consort.

The five departments, including the Chief Justice Song Yunshuo, the Chief Minister of the Ministry of Rites Su Hangli, the Chief Minister of the Ministry of Rites Jiang Shiji, the Chief Minister of the Ministry of the Imperial Household Tang Hejin, the Chief Minister of the Ministry of Rites Zhao Renwei, and the four departments, including the Chief of the Capital Guard Zheng Shuyong, the Chief of the Guard Li Keping, the Chief of the Royal Guard Wang Bo, and the Chief of the Palace Guard Zhu Qiang, were rewarded with 300 taels of gold each; they were granted five days' leave; and the female members of each palace were given 20 golden hairpins.

Liu Cheng felt like his throat was smoking and his mouth was dry.

"Xiao Dezi, you read it. Let Xiao Liuzi go downstairs and have some tea and rest for a while."

Su Yude stepped forward respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Liu Cheng was moved by what he heard: "Your Majesty, I thank you."

Shangguan Wanjun waved her hand gently, signaling him to leave. Liu Cheng turned and left. He had read nearly twenty imperial edicts and was truly exhausted.

"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims that Minglan, having diligently served her duty and loyalty, and having contributed money, manpower, and materials to the refugees, has been promoted to an eighth-rank female official and awarded five hundred taels of silver. Her maids, Yan'er and Xinling, have also diligently served her duty and loyalty, and have made considerable contributions to the cause, and are hereby promoted to ninth-rank female officials and awarded one hundred taels of silver each. They are to report immediately. This is decreed!"

Because Minglan was ordered to go out of the capital on business and was not in the imperial palace at the time, Su Yude picked up another imperial edict and placed it on a tray aside.

"... Censor Fang Wenhua has actively participated in disaster relief efforts during this refugee crisis, contributing both money and manpower to alleviate the burden on the imperial court. I am deeply gratified by this and am promoting him to the rank of Sixth-Rank Censor. I decree this!"

……

"... Censor Yan Jin has actively provided disaster relief for this refugee crisis. I commend him and hereby promote him to the rank of Sixth Rank Censor. I decree this!"

Liu Suyude glanced at the imperial edict and said, "Lord Wang, the commander-in-chief, please accept the edict."

Lord Wang, the commander-in-chief, knelt down immediately.

"...Master Wang, the Commander-in-Chief, has actively provided disaster relief and donated money and materials to this refugee crisis. I, in appreciation, grant you a golden medal of immunity from death. This is my decree!"

Lord Wang, the commander-in-chief, was shocked: A golden medal of immunity from death?

"I thank my lord for his grace." The golden medal of immunity from death is more precious than gold, silver and jewelry.

The next person to receive the imperial edict was Zuo Zongze, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. The forty-six-year-old man lifted up his official robe and knelt down.

"...Zuo Zongze, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, has been diligent and conscientious in his duties. His family has actively participated in disaster relief efforts and helped refugees. I am deeply pleased and pleased with this. I am hereby conferring upon my wife the title of Third Rank Consort. His wife has donated a dowry of 50,000 taels of silver and other supplies to help refugees. She has also donated her dowry to actively help with disaster relief. I hereby confer her title of Third Rank Consort. I decree this!"

Zuo Zongze, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was shocked. Both his mother and his wife were Third Rank Imperial Consorts? This was a great favor from the Emperor. He had never seen any other family with such an honor.

"I am accepting the imperial edict on behalf of his mother and wife, and thank the Lord for his grace." Their family has two ladies of the imperial family, both of whom are third-rank ladies of the imperial family. This is an unprecedented honor.

Su Yude was stunned when he saw Yang Zirong's name: "Yang Zirong accepts the order."

Yang Zirong, who was standing outside the hall, was stunned when he heard his name, and then hurriedly walked into the main hall respectfully to receive the order.

"I accept your order."

"...Yang Zirong has actively participated in disaster relief efforts, toiling away physically and mentally for a month. He is a diligent and hardworking person, diligent in his duties, and loyal. He is hereby appointed the sixth-rank official of the Maritime Customs Office. This is my decree!"

After hearing this, Shangguan Wanjun felt a little satisfied. She would slowly start to place her own people in the country and give them enough power so that she could better manage the country.

Yang Zirong was shocked: He didn't expect that the emperor would promote him to several levels, which was to directly transfer him from the dark to the light.

"I obey your order and thank you for your grace." The emperor has entrusted him with such an important task, and he will definitely not let the emperor down.

Lord Yan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, knelt down to receive the imperial edict, and Su Yude continued to read the imperial edict aloud.

"...Lord Yan, the Left Vice Minister of Works, has actively provided disaster relief for the refugee crisis. I am very pleased with him and am hereby rewarded with a gold medal exempting him from death. His wife and daughter have also actively provided disaster relief, contributing money, materials, and personnel. I hereby grant his wife 500 taels of silver and exempt her from the ritual of kneeling and worshipping. I hereby confer upon his daughter the title of Sixth Rank Xiangjun. I decree this!"

Lord Yan, the Left Vice Minister of Works, never thought that he, his wife and his legitimate daughter would all be rewarded separately, and he was very happy.

"I thank you Lord for your kindness!"

……

"...Mr. An and Mrs. An have actively encouraged their children to participate in disaster relief efforts. They are truly exemplary. You should all emulate their qualities. I have specially granted them each a set of the Four Treasures of the Study: a set of top-quality writing brushes, inkstones, paper, and inkstones. Each of the four members of their first wife's family will receive one hundred taels of silver; each of the five members of their second wife's family will receive one hundred taels of silver. This is my order!"

Lord An was not very satisfied with his reward. He thought that he could at least get some official position, but unfortunately the emperor did not take their maternal family seriously at all.

"Master An, please accept the order." A voice came from above his head. No matter how dissatisfied Master An was, he could not show it too obviously.

"I thank you Lord for your kindness."

The ministers were very surprised at the reward for their family. The emperor was really fair and just, and not biased at all.

Ministers including Grand Tutor Yun and General Xuanwei were very satisfied with the emperor's move.

The Right Prime Minister sneered in his heart: Lord An, right? He can't help the emperor with anything much, so naturally he won't be reused. To put it bluntly, he is not of much value, so he can only be a mascot, which can be regarded as the emperor's mercy.

Shangguan Wanjun noticed everyone's behavior, and she treated her maternal grandparents as just ordinary relatives and officials.

Those with value will naturally be reused, while those without value will be fine. It's not like she has too much money to spend. After a year of recuperation and partial economic recovery, the country has been thrown back to square one by a refugee crisis, making it even more difficult than when she ascended the throne. She is still anxious, and those unimportant things are not within her consideration.