The wives of the concubines are empresses

Seeing that the person next to her had not yet woken up, Concubine Wen sat up and leaned over to call out.

"Your Majesty, the morning court is almost here."

Shangguan Wanjun pouted and slowly opened her eyes.

When Concubine Wen saw the emperor like this, her heart softened.

He smiled gently and said, "If Your Majesty is sleepy, please sleep a little longer during your nap."

The two were served and cared for by their respective people. As a man, Concubine Wen was the first to be cleaned up.

He came to the emperor in court robes, and saw the little person closing his eyes and letting everyone toss him around, and he chuckled softly.

It turns out that the emperor is so cute and real.

Shangguan Wanjun leaned back, scaring everyone.

"emperor."

Concubine Wen was quick to use her body to block and support the girl, thus saving her from danger.

Shangguan Wanjun opened her eyes: "Not well yet?"

Hearing her little complaint, Concubine Wen's heart softened.

"Your Majesty, how about your subject hold you in his arms so you can sleep a little longer."

Seeing that the emperor had no objection, Concubine Wen gave instructions to her attendant Chen Lie.

"Get me a stool."

Ou He looked at this scene and couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips slightly.

Such an emperor is truly lovable and real.

It was not until Shangguan Wanjun arrived at the side hall that she woke up completely in response to Eunuch Lin's call.

"Let's go."

Another day of work.

When the court officials saw the emperor sit down, they knelt down respectfully and bowed.

"See your Majesty, long live my Emperor."

"My dear ministers, please stand up. The ministers in the first and second rows are allowed to take their seats!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After some fuss, the old ministers in the first and second rows sat down respectfully.

Shangguan Wanjun looked up and saw Concubine Wu in the corner, and was stunned.

Why is he here?

Suddenly he thought of the decree he had issued, which required all court officials below the ninth rank to attend court on the 15th day of their term.

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

"What is the current population of our Yuan Dynasty?"

The Minister of Revenue bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the current population of our dynasty is approximately 30 million."

Shangguan Wanjun frowned. The population of modern society is at least over one billion, but the Yuan Dynasty only had 30 million?

Isn’t that a bit too little?

The ministers were all puzzled when they saw the emperor frowning.

To solve the population problem, we need to consider the marriage rate of the people.

"Is there a set age limit for women and men to get married?"

The Minister of Revenue was stunned. "Your Majesty, there are no specific regulations for men. It's just that during the time of the previous emperor, women were required to marry at the age of fourteen."

The ministers saw the young emperor frown again and were all confused.

"She's still a little young. Once a woman gets married, she'll have to face the problem of having children. Her body isn't fully developed yet, so even if she gets married and has children, the child's survival rate is low. The mother might even die, or worse, there could be two deaths. This is extremely unfriendly to the people and population of our dynasty."

Thus, women in our dynasty can marry at the age of fifteen or eighteen. Women who give birth to a daughter will be rewarded with one hundred coins, two daughters with two hundred and fifty coins, and three daughters with five hundred coins.

In addition, if the first child is a daughter, the reward is 50 coins, which adds up to 150 coins.

As for women who gave birth, they could receive 100 coins as hard work money. If the miscarriage was unexpected and not caused by their own mistakes, they would receive a subsidy of 50 coins.

"The entire maternity allowance must be used for the mother's health. Anyone who violates this order must serve in the military for one year. If the mother dies tragically during childbirth, they will be executed."

The ministers' heads were buzzing as they heard this.

The Minister of Revenue smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, your action to fight for women's rights is not wrong, but the national treasury is empty..."

Shangguan Wanjun looked up and interrupted him: "This is not an excuse. If you don't have money, try to earn it instead of crying poor.

The Minister of Revenue and the entire Ministry of Revenue are here to solve the problem, not to allow it to continue to develop."

The smooth-talking Right Prime Minister bowed and stepped forward: "Your Majesty is absolutely right. Are you not capable of the position of Minister of Revenue? If not, let someone more capable take the position."

The Minister of Revenue glanced at the Right Prime Minister angrily and said, "Your Majesty, I will do my job well."

Shangguan Wanjun nodded calmly and continued, "This is not enough."

Everyone was shocked. What did the emperor mean?

The Minister of Rites expressed doubts: "What other decisions does the Emperor have?"

"If we want to increase the population, we have to let the people get married and have children. But as the imperial court, we have to make preparations for the women, such as nutrition."

Taifu Yun stepped out and said, "Didn't the Emperor say that mothers would receive financial subsidies? Isn't this enough?"

Shangguan Wanjun shook her head: "I think it's not enough. So, pass the order down. Every prefecture and county government office must set aside a piece of land to raise chickens, with a minimum of fifty chickens. The amount will vary depending on the population of each state and county.

When a woman gives birth, each village will issue a certificate and her family will be required to collect 30 eggs, which must be put into the woman's mouth and cannot be sold privately. Those who violate the order will be required to serve in the military for one year.

If a woman has a miscarriage due to an accident not caused by human factors, she can receive 15 eggs to supplement her body's nutrition.

If prefectures and counties don't have this amount of eggs, they should find ways to make up for it themselves, but they must not force the people to give them."

Concubine Wu publicized Feng Ting's surprise. He felt that the girl on the dragon throne was as dazzling as a sparkling galaxy with every movement of her mouth.

After the court session, the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Personnel were left behind.

In the council hall, two old ministers sat below Shangguan Wanjun.

"Minister of Revenue, how much silver and grain are there in the treasury?"

The Minister of Revenue stood up and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, we currently have 100,000 taels of silver, which includes the city entrance fee, the extra fee of one cent for setting up stalls, the fees for oxcarts, mule carts, and horse carriages on official and village roads, as well as the student tuition, room and board. The rest is the various fees collected previously."

Thinking of the hot weather, Shangguan Wanjun frowned, and suddenly an idea came to her mind.

"There is."

The two ministers were stunned: "Your Majesty, what is it?"

"From now on, a tea stall will be set up every five kilometers on every official road."

The Minister of Revenue exclaimed in surprise, "Your Majesty, do you want to set up a tea stall to increase the treasury revenue?"

"Yes, this tea stall charges one cent for basic tea, two cents for mung bean soup and two cents for sour plum soup. There should be a wooden sign with words about preventing heatstroke and summer heatstroke written on it.

Tea, mung bean soup, and sour plum soup must be cooled. If a customer insists on drinking them open, that's fine. I'll see what to change in autumn and winter."

The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Personnel were delighted to hear this.

"Your Majesty, this is a very good move."

“By the way, for government services, the expenses incurred at the tea stall can be reimbursed, but a proof of reimbursement is required.

You can design an object to prove it.

Oh, and there's a literacy contest at the end of this month, and a writing contest on the 10th of next month. There will be first, second, third, and fourth place winners. The first-place winner will receive an embroidered handkerchief for women, and a tissue box for men.

The second-place woman will be rewarded with a beautiful pearl flower, and the second-place man will be rewarded with a piece of coarse cloth.

The third-place woman will be rewarded with a beautiful hairband, and the third-place man will be rewarded with a fish."

As for why we give out tissue boxes as rewards, it is to promote the event.

The Minister of Personnel was stunned when he heard this: "Your Majesty, fish is not meat. Isn't this third place reward too good?"

"Send someone to fish in the river. That won't cost any money. Also, dry a thousand large fish for me. I'll need them."

The two were shocked when they heard this, but the emperor was right, it would cost no money to salvage the fish.