Jingtai Fenghua

Chapter 17 Dilemma
Concubine Hang was a little unhappy when she heard what Zhu Qiyu said. If the empress is in charge of the harem alone, wouldn't it be more difficult for her in the future?So he forced a smile and said: "What your Majesty said is true, but the situation is so tense now. Tomorrow, when your Majesty goes to Kangshou Palace to say hello, I'm afraid he will be reprimanded by the Queen Mother!"

Zhu Qiyu nodded slightly and said nothing.

Concubine Hang felt a little strange when she saw that Zhu Qiyu was still so calm, even indifferent. During this period, why did Zhu Qiyu trust Queen Wang so much?What kind of ecstasy did Queen Wang give Zhu Qiyu?

"His Majesty!"

"Okay, I want to read quietly for a while. I came here to find a place of peace and quiet!" Zhu Qiyu interrupted before Concubine Hang could continue speaking. He really didn't want to hear her say bad things about the queen.

The queen is very kind to me, she is married to her, and she shares the same mind and heart with her. What else can I ask for?

"It's my concubine's fault, I'll make you a pot of tea!" Concubine Hang Guifei endured the anger in her heart, stood up with a forced smile, went to make tea for Zhu Qiyu, and handed Zhu Jianji to the maid next to her.

Before Concubine Hang's tea was brewed, a young eunuch came over, raised his hands to Zhu Qiyu and said: "Your Majesty, many ministers gathered in Qianqing Palace, hoping to meet Your Majesty!"

"Well, a lot?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiyu frowned and looked at the little eunuch.

"About 50 people, including many second-rank ministers of the dynasty!" The young eunuch reported again in detail.

"Well, you go to Qianqing Palace immediately and tell the ministers that I have a headache today. I just took medicine. If there is any urgent matter, leave it to the cabinet. I will listen to the cabinet summary tomorrow morning. If there is no urgent matter, , please ministers, start the report early tomorrow morning!" Zhu Qiyu said to the young eunuch.

But he was very dissatisfied in his heart. Those ministers were still facing the Empress Dowager Sun and the Supreme Emperor, but now that he was the emperor, they actually dared to unite and put pressure on him.

I remember this!
Soon, the young eunuch went out and relayed Zhu Qiyu's words to the waiting ministers in Qianqing Palace.

At first, the ministers were still dissatisfied. However, after hearing that the performance could start tomorrow morning, they did not force it. They thought that early tomorrow morning, they must give an explanation from Your Majesty as to why the Holy Empress Dowager should be placed under house arrest.

In the evening, Queen Wang began to announce the layoff of the second batch of personnel. These people were still loyal to Queen Mother Sun or Zhu Qizhen. In addition, there were also some people who had not come to express their loyalty, so these people were all laid off.

At the same time, Kangshou Palace and the palace where the Supreme Queen was located also began to read out the layoff list.

Empress Dowager Sun learned that the people she had laid off were all her confidants who had been using them for many years. She was so angry that she left Kangshou Palace and went straight to Kunning Palace with a cane.

However, when she left, Eunuch Ge seized the opportunity and directly ordered the Jin Yiwei to go in and arrest the person. After they were captured, they found a place and beat him to death.

Queen Mother Sun, who went to Kunning Palace alone, did not know all this. Of course, she was not allowed to walk alone at night. Eunuch Ge also sent more than ten father-in-laws to escort Queen Mother Sun there.

Queen Mother Sun arrived at Kunning Palace with great momentum. As soon as she stepped into the gate of Kunning Palace, she saw Wang Meilin kneeling on the ground to greet her.

"I, my concubine, come to see the Holy Empress Dowager!" Wang Meilin knelt down and kowtowed.

"I don't dare to accept your gift. How majestic you are. You surrounded me in Kangshou Palace and even took away people I know well!" Empress Dowager Sun stared at Wang Meilin sarcastically and said.

"The Holy Queen Mother, it's cold, please come to the house and say it! I just want to catch the treasonous criminals, and I specifically ordered them not to disturb the Holy Queen Mother. I don't know how they do things. Don't worry, Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I will send them over right now so that you can teach them a lesson yourself, okay?" Wang Meilin stood up with a smile, laughing wildly in his heart. Now Wang Meilin is very confident.

With that said, Wang Meilin came to the Queen Mother Sun and wanted to help the Queen Mother Sun.

Queen Mother Sun shook off Wang Meilin and walked straight to the main hall of Kunning Palace. Wang Meilin quickly followed behind.

At this moment, Queen Mother Sun was extremely confused. She was very angry just now, but now, did she have a good reason to refute Wang Meilin's reduction of palace employees? After all, everyone knew that the internal treasury was empty.

Cutting down on employment is also a last resort.

But if he was asked to hand over those businesses, he would not be willing to do so.

If you don't hand over your business, your people will be gone. If you hand over your business, your money will be gone. If you have no money, who will follow you after a long time? People in the palace are either after money or power. In fact, power is also the same. Empress Dowager Sun is very clear about this.

So she is now in a dilemma.

After entering the main hall of Kunning Palace, Wang Meilin quickly summoned the maids to serve tea, and he stood respectfully next to the Queen Mother Sun.

"The people in Kangshou Palace have been with me for at least twenty years. Can we keep some?" Queen Mother Sun suddenly lowered her posture and looked at Wang Meilin and said.

"This, too, is because I didn't think carefully, and I asked the Holy Empress Dowager to punish me. I only considered saving money and did not take into account the emotions of the Holy Empress Dowager!" Wang Meilin immediately saluted and said to the Queen Mother Sun with an apologetic look. .

"Hmm!~" Empress Dowager Sun was a little unsure. Was Wang Meilin's move really due to lack of money to cut the number of employees? She also said that she wanted to replace the servants in the palace with her Wang Meilin's people?
"In this case, I will let someone announce that the people in Kangshou Palace are not included in the layoffs, okay?" Wang Meilin looked at Queen Mother Sun and said.Queen Mother Sun did not dare to answer this question.

The reason why she didn't dare to answer the call was because the royal business was originally in her hands. Now the queen is laying off people because she has no money. Many father-in-laws and maids have criticized her. Now, all the palaces are laying off their employees. Why should she? The palace cannot reduce its employment.

If we do this, won't it make other father-in-laws and maids even more dissatisfied with Kangshou Palace? How will we direct them to do things at that time?
"The Holy Empress Dowager?" Seeing that the Empress Dowager Sun didn't reply, Wang Meilin bent down and asked.

Queen Mother Sun sat upright for a while, looked at Wang Meilin and said: "I have reminded you not to act too hastily. Why are you so anxious? The royal family also controls some businesses. For these businesses, money and food will come in at the end of the month, and they will be able to support them by then. , this year is a troubled year, wouldn’t it be better for everyone to understand each other and get through the difficulties? "

After Wang Meilin heard this, he quickly said: "What the Holy Empress Dowager taught me is that the royal business has suffered a lot of losses and may be difficult to support. Moreover, the royal expenses all come from the allocation of the Ministry of Household Affairs. This year, wars have continued, and the rebellion in the south has also begun." Constantly, I'm afraid it will be difficult to collect taxes this year and next. The royal expenses will not be too much, and it will be difficult to support so many employees! Therefore, cutting employees is a last resort!
I have never managed so many people before. The only one I manage is Prince Xin's Mansion. There are not many people, so I am barely competent. However, now that I manage a huge palace with tens of thousands of people, I am also a little unable to do it. Every day , but the 24th Yamen and the Sixth Bureau and the First Division came to ask for money. Where did I get the money from?Please also ask the Holy Queen Mother to forgive me for my limited ability! "

After saying that, she bowed to Empress Dowager Sun again, but she was filled with hatred in her heart. She wanted to poison herself. Although she failed, she must remember this hatred.

Faced with a person who wanted to poison him but could not kill him, Wang Meilin could already bear it.

At this moment, Eunuch Ge walked in quickly and saw Queen Mother Sun there, so he stood beside her.

"Huh!" Queen Mother Sun snorted coldly when she saw Eunuch Ge.

Wang Meilin also glanced at him, and Eunuch Ge nodded slightly to Wang Meilin.

"Hey, I also know that it's not easy for you. It's really difficult for you to suddenly take over the harem. However, you can't be too hasty!" Empress Dowager Sun still emphasized this point.

Wang Meilin also nodded quickly and said yes.

Empress Dowager Sun didn't know what to say. Managing the harem was originally the queen's responsibility. It would be unreasonable for her to ask too many questions. Whoever holds power in the harem depends on who controls the money and people.

Now that the money is in her hands, although the people have changed a bit, if the queen has no money, those father-in-laws and maids will still stay away from Wang Meilin sooner or later.

And the big thing now is to go to the outside of the Great Wall to pick up the Emperor. When the Emperor comes back, other things are small things.

Empress Dowager Sun had to swallow this breath at this moment, stood up and said: "I am reminding you of this. In addition, there have been a lot of killings in the past few days. The Queen's mother-in-law should show kindness and kindness to the world!"

"Yes!" Wang Meilin answered honestly, thinking to himself, you are not a soft-hearted person.

"I'm going back first. In short, you need to be careful when reducing your employment!" Empress Dowager Sun said to Wang Meilin.

Wang Meilin still respectfully said yes, laughing wildly in her heart. She knew clearly that Queen Mother Sun had nothing to do with her at this moment.

After seeing off Queen Mother Sun, Eunuch Ge came to Wang Meilin and whispered: "All the old people in Kangshou Palace have been captured. At this time, they are all probably beheaded!"

"Okay!" Wang Meilin gritted his teeth and said, but most of the resentment in his heart had subsided.

Then he ordered Eunuch Ge: "Immediately select your father-in-law and the palace maids, send them to Kangshou Palace, add the same number of people as before, and tell them to do their jobs well, I will not treat them badly!"

"Yes, my dear, let's do it now!" Eunuch Ge was extremely happy when he heard this.

"Wait a minute, which yamen do you want to go to?" Wang Meilin called to Eunuch Ge.

Eunuch Ge was very excited, but he didn't dare to show it. He quickly knelt down and said to Wang Meilin: "Empress, I don't want to go to any government office. I just want to serve you!"

Wang Meilin smiled and waved his hands and said: "That won't work. You have made a meritorious service. Let's go to the Imperial Prison. The eunuch in charge of the Royal Prison was killed with a stick today. You go and take his place!"

The Imperial Supervisor is a fat job. He is in charge of purchasing items for the imperial palace. He has great power and a lot of money.

When Eunuch Ge heard this, he quickly kowtowed and said, "Queen, I still want to serve you at my side!"

Wang Meilin chuckled and said: "When you go to the Imperial Prison, you are also running errands for me. You must know how to do things!"

Eunuch Ge raised his head and said with a confused look on his face: "Your Majesty, if you don't know how to manage the imperial prison, you just know that you can do whatever your Majesty asks you to do!"

(End of this chapter)