I studied in modern times

Chapter 884: Zhao Xu Eyes the Empress Dowager's Private Money

Zhao Xie looked at the Bianjing City in front of him with mixed feelings.

Beside him, Xiang Zonghui, who was riding on a horse, raised his head slightly and asked, "Husband, what's wrong?"

Zhao Xie smiled and said, "Nothing much... I just remembered when I first arrived in Bianjing..."

"The city of Bianjing at that time was just like it is now..."

"Majestic, solemn, magnificent..."

"In a blink of an eye, my hair has turned grey!"

Xiang Zonghui listened and roughly understood what Zhao Xie was thinking.

This time when he returns to Beijing, the governor who holds great power in Xihe and commands both the inside and the outside will most likely never be an official in a local area and have real power again.

The rest of his time was spent either in the West Palace or in the Three Yamen.

His role will be similar to that of the black-faced husband Wang Deyong back then, a pure mascot-like character.

It's part of the rules of the game.

Even he, the Queen Mother's younger brother, was bound by this rule.

In fact, it is precisely because he is the Queen Mother's younger brother.

Therefore, the restrictions on him are even greater!

Of course, in exchange, wealth and glory are certain.

This is - giving up military power over a cup of wine!

Xiang Zonghui also sighed, and then said: "My lord, you have worked hard for the country for decades, and it is time for you to enjoy your life!"

"And sir, you have made outstanding contributions to the country. Your descendants should live with the country!"

Zhao Xie smiled and said repeatedly: "As a minister, it is your duty to be loyal to the emperor and serve him! I have never thought of using this to seek personal gain for my descendants!"

But in my heart, I couldn't help but fantasize about it.

This is the good thing about working for Emperor Zhao.

Loyalty will be rewarded!

The Zhao officials will never forget those ministers who served them diligently and loyally.

It is common to bless descendants with blessings.

There are many people who have been wealthy for three or four generations.

Throughout the dynasties, there has never been a greater reward than working for Emperor Zhao.

Xiang Zonghui just smiled and didn't say anything else.

Gao Gongji on the side interrupted at this time and said, "In the future, all matters concerning Xihe will still depend on your good words in the court! Especially the crows in Wutai, you need to take care of them more!"

Zhao Xie nodded and stroked his beard: "I will save it!"

"But the welfare of the people of Xihe depends on the care of the two royal relatives!"

"Please rest assured, sir. As long as my brother is in Xihe, the overall situation in Xihe will not be shaken!"

In the past two years, Zhao Xie, Xiang Zonghui and Gao Gongji have worked closely together in Xihe.

With the joint efforts of these three people, Xihe's cotton field industry has continued to grow bigger and stronger.

Everyone has a cotton farm in each state of Xihe.

Each cotton farm employed several hundred or even dozens of workers.

Last year alone, these cotton farms brought them an income of over 100,000 strings of cash.

This year, production has increased with the increase in cotton fields and advances in planting technology.

The income must at least double!
Such horrific benefits not only made the people of Xihe, regardless of Han or Tibetan, civil or military, become as close as one family.

It also made the Xiang, Gao and Zhao families become extremely close.

They are already related by marriage.

Of course, they didn't dare to get married directly.

They can only play by the rules and arrange marriages among close relatives.

This way they are still considered relatives, but they will not violate the court's taboos.

Not only that, the three of them also formed in-laws with other local tyrants in Xihe Road.

For example, Xiang Zonghui had a niece who was engaged to the youngest son of Zhao Chunzhong in Qinzhou.

For example, under the arrangement of Gao Gongji, Gao Zunyu's son Gao Shichong will remarry Zhonggu's daughter next year.

A powerful and combative interest group has formed on Xihe Road.

This group included both Han and Tibetan people, and neither civil nor military officials.

The members of the group came together for a common goal.

The goal is to grow cotton!
They will kill anyone who stops them from growing cotton!
While the three were talking, the huge team had already arrived at the imperial guards camp outside the Xinzheng Gate.

In front of the military camp, the envoys sent by the court to welcome them were already waiting.

From a distance, the three of them saw the figure of a eunuch wearing purple official uniform and holding an imperial edict.

Behind the eunuch was a row of carriages loaded with treasures.

The tradition since the late Tang Dynasty has been that rewards must be given regardless of whether the army is setting out or returning in triumph.

If rewards are not given, morale will collapse!

There might even be a mutiny - if the court doesn't reward the army, the army will use knives to take the reward themselves!

This is still the case today.

For example, in the eighth year of Yuanfeng, when the new emperor ascended the throne, he rewarded all the troops in the world. As a result, the local officials in Dezhou, for some reason, withheld the rewards given to the soldiers by the court.

then……

Then there was a mutiny!

Hundreds of soldiers who were rioting for pay broke directly into the provincial government.

You won't give it to me, right?
Grandpa, I’ll come and get it myself!

Everyone in the Dezhou government office was terrified when they saw the soldiers coming in full force. The prefect even ran away. Fortunately, the Dezhou Tongpan was a capable person. After hearing about the mutiny, he remained calm, sat in the lobby, and faced the soldiers who were clamoring for pay, which directly intimidated them.

Then he ordered people to open the treasury and distribute the rewards that had been withheld. Only then did the soldiers leave satisfied.

Given the social trends, it was natural that the Xihe generals would return to the court to report on their work/pay homage to the emperor.

The imperial court also invested a huge amount of money!
The Ministry of Revenue directly took out the treasures at the bottom of the box, and the two palaces also issued imperial decrees to take out a large amount of treasures from the treasury as rewards.

On this point, the ruling class of the Song Dynasty was very clear about it.

No matter how poor we are, we must not be poor in the military!
No matter how frugal you are, you cannot save on rewards!
Because, in history, the Song Dynasty suffered a great loss in terms of rewards - the Yongxi Northern Expedition.

Sure enough, the Xihe soldiers returning to the capital, whether Han or Tibetan, shouted "Long live the emperor" collectively after seeing the Taiping carts filled with treasures. The physical and mental fatigue brought by the long journey disappeared completely in the face of the rewards.

Zhao Xie looked at the situation, smiled bitterly and shook his head.

But, this is the Song army!
To be precise, they were the soldiers from the Central Plains after the mid-Tang Dynasty.

If the rewards are generous, the morale will be high; if the rewards are timely, the army will be excited; if the rewards are insufficient, the morale will be low; if no rewards are given, the knife will be turned inward... and even the general/emperor will be directly brought down!
For hundreds of years, this military culture has never changed.

……

"Imperial edict to Zhao Xie: Your Excellency Han Ping, wearing Western clothes, has shown great respect to the Qiang people, has strictly guarded the army in the middle of autumn, and has captured the ugly bandits. I am sending you to show my appreciation to you!"

"Imperial edict to Duke Gao: You have resisted the invasion of the border, and have been sent to the Wei Palace. You have offered birthday tributes on the auspicious day, and have presented precious gifts. You have been loyal and diligent, and you deserve praise and encouragement!"

"The Emperor ordered the Emperor to return to the clan..."

The eunuch who read the imperial edict recited the names of the civil and military ministers one by one, and read to them the imperial edict of consolation issued by the emperor.

For a moment, the entire military camp was filled with the sound of imperial edicts.

Everyone has a share!

Even though he was the son of Aligu, Bang Biaozhu also received a letter of consolation.

The person whose name was called would kneel down with great fear and trepidation to listen to the imperial edict of consolation and encouragement.

After listening to it, you can also receive a consolation gift from the palace.

They were all very simple things, a cake of tea and a piece of silver.

Although the gift is small, it is of great significance.

Especially the foreign officials and generals of Xihe, after hearing the imperial edict, they all burst into tears and kept bowing their heads towards the direction of the imperial city.

Without him!

This time, the consolation decree did not distinguish between Han and Tibetan people.

In the choice of words, there was no emphasis on the fact that they were foreign officials or generals. Instead, they were addressed by their names and treated equally, just like Han officials.

The silverware and tea cakes given were also given according to their due.

This is not easy!

Since Wang Shao opened up the frontier, no... it should be since the founding of the Song Dynasty, this is the first time that foreign officials and generals have not been treated differently. What does this indicate?
Emperor Zhao treated them as his own people!

They also had the opportunity, like Han military officials, to come to the city of Bianjing to drink tea and enjoy life after having made sufficient contributions.

Even, descendants can marry into the royal family!

Even, send a daughter into the palace!
Just thinking of this, Zhao Chunzhong, Bao Shun and others became so excited that they could hardly control themselves.

They dream of becoming relatives with their uncle from the Han family.

Thereby giving their family bloodline a layer of gold!

In other parts of the military camp, these generals did not pay attention to the camp.

Liu Weijian led the soldiers of the First Dragon Commander and the officials from various departments to supervise the distribution of rewards from the court.

Send it directly to the big soldiers!
Send one and tick a name.

And when distributing rewards, tell the soldiers directly that this is the reward from the government’s own treasury!

The method of salary and reward was the same as that of the First General of Yulong.

The reason why they attach so much importance to it is naturally because most of the soldiers brought back by Zhao Xie and others are six commanders of the imperial guards who were selected from the imperial guards in Beijing by the former emperor to guard the border in Xihe.

In the eighth year of Yuanfeng, three of the commanders returned to the capital, and the current emperor regarded them as the core of the Dragon Controlling Generals.

Those who returned to Beijing this time were the remaining three commanders guarding the border in Lanzhou.

Like the First Dragon Commander, they will stay in the capital and become the backbone and core of the second First Dragon Commander.

Therefore, Zhao Xu personally sent Liu Weijian over.

……

Qingshou Palace.

In two days, it will be Kuncheng Festival.

Therefore, the Qingshou Palace also became lively.

The ladies of the Gao and Xiang families came to the palace early this morning and stayed here to talk with the Grand Empress Dowager.

Everyone is just flattering, saying it for free.

Naturally, the court officials also presented their congratulatory messages early on, praising Gao Gongji and Xiang Zonghui highly.

They were compared to models of external relatives and examples of court officials.

At the same time, he greatly praised the virtues of the two palaces in educating their children, nephews/brothers, and traced back the good traditions of the Gao and Xiang families.

Thus, the praise that the Empress Dowager had not heard for a long time, "Female Yao and Shun", appeared before her again.

This made the Empress Dowager very happy, and the unhappiness that had been lingering in her heart and chest for the past two months was swept away.

When the old lady is happy, she naturally spends money lavishly.

Every lady who entered the palace had a share and was rewarded generously.

Even the concubines of the previous emperor and the dowager concubines in the Ren Temple in the palace benefited equally and received generous rewards of money and silk.

In just half a day, more than 500,000 strings of cash were spent.

Really don’t treat money as money!

After Zhao Xu heard this, he was also surprised: "How could the Grandmother have so many close friends?"

Empress Dowager Xiang chuckled: "Your Majesty, you have quite a few close friends!"

"What's more, when Empress Cixi passed away, her will stated that all her wealth and property should be given to you..."

"Two generations of Merciful Saints, naturally they have a lot of savings!"

Zhao Xu nodded, his eyes rolling, and he couldn't help asking, "Mother, so, after a hundred years, Grandmother will also leave me to you, Queen Mother?"

The Queen Mother nodded and said, "It should be done according to the rules!"

Although she said that, she actually had no idea at all!
Because now, although on the surface, she and Qingshou Palace are on good terms with each other, as a daughter-in-law, she tries her best to take care of Qingshou Palace's face and respects its authority in almost all occasions.

However, after all, an obvious rift had appeared between her and Qingshou Palace.

However, this crack was repaired after Feng left Yaohua Palace.

But, as the ancients said: A broken mirror cannot be mended, and spilled water cannot be collected.

A hundred years later, will Qingshou Palace's will follow the example of Cixi Guangxian's will and leave the inheritance to her as his daughter-in-law?
To be honest, Empress Dowager Xiang was unsure.

Because there have been examples before -

In the third year of Jingyou, Empress Zhang Hui passed away, but her will did not leave all her wealth to Cisi Guangxian, but "to the sons of Yang".

Zhao Xu blinked his eyes, thoughts coming to his mind.

The Qingshou Palace contains the savings of two generations of empress dowagers!
Undoubtedly, this is a huge fortune!
You must know that Cisheng Guangxian is a well-known expert in saving money.

Over the past few decades, these two generations of empress dowagers must have accumulated at least several million strings of cash, right?
If this money could be inherited by Empress Dowager Xiang...

Doesn’t that mean that the future will be his?
We have to think of a way to get this money!

In particular, when Zhao Xu recalled that in his previous life, during the Yuanyou era, the more than 60 million strings of savings left by his father in the Fengzhuang Treasury were taken out by the Empress Dowager under the deception of the court officials to fill various deficits and holes.

So after he took power, he sealed the warehouse and made sure that no one could escape.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xu became more determined.

So how can we make the old lady willingly leave this money to Empress Dowager Xiang?
Zhao Xu rubbed his little hands subconsciously, and then he had an idea.

Then he said to the Queen Mother: "Mother, Uncle Zong Hui and Duke Gao have made great contributions to the country and the country by being appointed as governors of Xihe this time!"

"I was thinking, can I reward you with a high position or a fine title?"

"This..." Empress Dowager Xiang hesitated: "This is not good!"

"I am Xiang Zonghui's biological sister, and the Empress Dowager is Gao Gongji's biological aunt..."

"If I give a generous reward casually, people in the world will probably gossip about me..."

"Especially, Sixth Brother has not yet taken power..." She looked at Zhao Xu and said, "Besides, the rewards given by the court to Xiang Zonghui and Gao Gongji are already enough!"

This is a fact!

When Zhao Xu first ascended the throne, Xiang Zonghui and Gao Gongji were both idle relatives with no official positions.

One had only been a judge in the Herdsmen's Office, and the other had only been a gatekeeper.

Their original official rank was ambassador!
In just two years, he jumped from an ambassador to Yao County, and from Yao County to Hengban.

Now, Xiang Zonghui has been appointed as the Envoy of Sifangguan and the Defense Envoy of Xiangzhou.

Gao Gongji was the Eastern Shanggemen Envoy and Ningzhou Defense Envoy.

As long as you get rid of the titles of chief and deputy chief of various departments, you will be a full-time official.

And for them, it couldn't be simpler.

When they return to Beijing from Xihe next time, they will definitely be appointed to the position.

There are many relatives and royal family members who hold official positions in the imperial court.

However, there have been few people who hold real power since the founding of the country.

Both of these people are very young, and in the future they will definitely become military governors during their lifetime, and be granted the title of prince or even the king's relatives after their death.

So, they don’t actually need any rewards.

Any more rewards would be too much!
Zhao Xu hummed, and said with some regret: "What the Queen Mother said does make sense..."

"But I still want to reward you something..."

She had to find a reason to remind Qingshou Palace that after she passed away, the Gao family would have to rely on the Xiang family.

"It's better than this..."

Zhao Xu looked at Empress Dowager Xiang and said, "Let's posthumously confer titles on Uncle Zong Hui and Duke Gao for three generations!"

The Gao family does not need posthumous honors!
Because it has been banned several times.

But the Xiang family definitely needs it!
Especially Empress Dowager Xiang’s biological father, Xiang Jing, the father of the Empress Dowager, was still only a governor of Dingguo Army.

The specifications are too low!
At least he starts as a prince!

Therefore, Zhao Xu was promoting the Xiang family under the guise of rewarding Xiang Zonghui and Gao Gongji.

At the same time, it is also sending a signal to everyone inside and outside the palace - I am a filial son to my mother, so of course I will support the Xiang family!
In this way, Qingshou Palace should know how to choose.

Zhao Xu was very greedy for the savings of two generations of empress dowagers and decades of savings. He would do anything to put the money into his own pocket!
Empress Dowager Xiang was shaken by Zhao Xu's words.

She is naturally a filial daughter!
Naturally, I want to get treatment for my deceased father!

No matter what, a prince is always more prestigious than a military governor!
But she was still concerned about her reputation, so she said, "Let me discuss this matter with the queen and the ministers first!"

Zhao Xu smiled and nodded.

Negotiate?

Once this kind of thing is brought up, who would object?
It’s too late for everyone to agree!

(End of this chapter)