spend time

Half an hour later, Jiang Shaohua came out of the emperor's bedroom.

Eunuch Ge, who had been waiting outside the bedroom for a long time, hurriedly brought the medicine in and served Emperor Taihe to drink it.

Emperor Taihe drank the medicine absentmindedly, then lay flat on the dragon couch, his eyes unconsciously falling on the layers of curtains.

Eunuch Ge was an old man by his side, who had been by his side since he was six years old, taking care of his daily life. To be honest, Eunuch Ge was the person he trusted the most.

"In your eyes, what kind of person is cousin Shaohua?" Emperor Taihe suddenly asked.

Eunuch Ge hesitated for a moment, then replied in a low voice: "I dare to say that the princess is the most powerful girl I have ever seen in my life."

none of them.

When Empress Dowager Zheng was young, she definitely did not have the cunning and means of Jiang Shaohua.

Emperor Taihe pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled: "If you have anything else, just say it. There is no one else here, and I don't blame you for speaking in a profound way."

Eunuch Ge was very familiar with Emperor Taihe's temper, so he boldly continued: "The princess's strength lies in her ability to judge the situation, to guess people's hearts, and to strike the right balance."

"When the previous emperor passed away, the princess came to the capital to mourn. She was particularly tough with Prime Minister Wang, and was particularly filial to the Empress Dowager, and was even more considerate and caring to the emperor. That was because Nanyang County was not stable enough and lacked strength. She had to rely on the Empress Dowager and the emperor to gain a foothold in the court. She had to use Prime Minister Wang to establish her authority."

"Just this one point alone shows how cunning the princess is."

"Nowadays, Nanyang County is rich and has abundant food. The princess is very famous. Nanyang County is known as the pearl of the north. The princess has enough power to do whatever she wants. But this time when she came to the capital, the princess' attitude towards Prime Minister Wang was much gentler. She took the initiative to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to lobby. At the court meeting today, the princess showed her edge again and suppressed all the ministers. Several arrogant secretaries had to bow their heads and obey her orders."

"The balance is exquisite. I really admire it."

Emperor Taihe hummed, and after a long silence, he said, "She took the initiative to speak up and share my worries, and I have already agreed to her request. I hope I didn't make a mistake in choosing her."

Eunuch Ge was shocked, but he didn't show it on his face. He responded, "The princess will return to Nanyang County sooner or later. When the time comes, she will live in Nanyang County and serve as the Earl of Changning. After all, her influence on the court is limited."

Emperor Taihe closed his eyes and said no more.

Eunuch Ge quietly wiped his forehead and stepped forward to tuck in the quilt for the emperor.

……

Jiang Shaohua has returned to Jingyang Palace.

Empress Dowager Zheng had been keeping an eye on the Zhaohe Palace, so she could not hide what happened in the Zhaohe Palace today. Jiang Shaohua took the initiative to speak without waiting for Empress Dowager Zheng to ask.

Empress Dowager Zheng's response was much more direct: "The emperor needs to recuperate and can't worry about him. Since you are here, you can share his worries. Watch the court meetings every day."

In the eyes of Empress Dowager Zheng, Jiang Shaohua is her own man. Under the circumstances that Duke Anguo cannot attend the court and should not show up, the only one who can suppress Prime Minister Wang is Jiang Shaohua.

Jiang Shaohua had already anticipated Empress Dowager Zheng's reaction.

Jiang Shaohua smiled and replied, "Don't worry, great aunt, I will do my best to help my cousin."

Empress Dowager Zheng's eyes flashed with cruelty, and she whispered, "The court is unstable now, and we still have to rely on Prime Minister Wang to handle government affairs. Let's spare him for now. When the court is stable, we can find a fault with him and cut his face."

Jiang Shaohua nodded in agreement.

Empress Dowager Zheng was relieved and happily took Jiang Shaohua's hand: "Fortunately you came in time, otherwise, we don't know what to do in this mess now." "It's a pity that you have to go back to Nanyang County. It would be great if you could stay in the capital and stay with me."

If she really stayed in the capital for a long time, would Emperor Taihe be willing to give her power? How could Empress Dowager Zheng not be afraid?

Jiang Shaohua sneered in his heart but said a lot of nice things to make Empress Dowager Zheng smile.

……

The next morning, all the ministers gathered in the Showa Hall again.

This time, Jiang Shaohua said even less, and only asked someone to move all the piled-up government documents over. There weren't too many, and the memorials and documents together were only half a person's height!

A cursory glance shows that there are at least fifty or sixty memorials.

Minister Dong thought that if it were a normal day, the quarrel would last for eight or nine days... No, it might not even take half a month to deal with it.

"We will finish dealing with these memorials today." Jiang Shaohua said calmly, "This princess is here to be the eyes and ears of the emperor, so I won't say much. You just need to discuss the matter. However, there is no need to talk nonsense."

"Mr. Zheng, please keep good records."

Zheng Chenjun's face was expressionless and he agreed.

Minister Zhang could no longer bear it and said, "How can we handle so many political affairs in just one day?"

Jiang Shaohua glanced over and said, "In the Nanyang Palace, Chen Changshi and Feng Changshi can handle all the affairs. The government affairs in the court are complicated, ten times or even more than those in Nanyang County. But there are more than 20 people standing here, all of whom are the backbone of the Daliang court. If you can't do this well, what are you doing as Shangshu or Shilang? Wouldn't it be better to just retire and go home?"

Minister Zhang was choked and looked grim.

Jiang Shaohua was polite to Prime Minister Wang: "I don't know much about government affairs, please ask the Prime Minister to preside over the court meeting."

Prime Minister Wang responded and winked at Shangshu Zhang, who then fell silent.

There are long and short memorials, and there are big and small government affairs. In fact, none of them are particularly important. After all, how important can something be if it can be piled up and put aside?
In the past, the ministers would argue for a long time over a single government matter, but when there were too many government matters to deal with, they would just cut the Gordian knot and deal with them perfunctorily.

Now, with Princess Nanyang watching from the side, the secretary wrote quickly, and every word he said was recorded and presented to the emperor. The ministers could not argue, and the discussion was very fast.

"Wait!" Jiang Shaohua would occasionally interrupt a minister and say, "This year's military pay has already been allocated to the Ministry of War. Why is the Ministry of War still asking for military expenses?"

The minister who spoke was none other than Minister Wang, who had stabbed the Duke of Anguo in the back.

As the Minister of War, Duke Anguo has been in self-reflection behind closed doors because of the high-priced sale of official posts, and has not appeared in public since then. Someone has to take charge of the Ministry of War, and Wang, the Left Vice Minister, stepped forward without hesitation.

Minister Wang sincerely disapproved of the Princess of Nanyang who interfered in the government affairs. He looked up and looked directly at Jiang Shaohua as he spoke: "The military pay has been allocated to the Ministry of War, but it is not enough. The military expenditure has been reduced again and again in the past two years. The military pay of several armies in the capital is sufficient, and the border troops are also sufficient. The garrisons in various places are now only paid half of the military pay. If any of the garrisons make trouble, it will be another rebellion in Pingzhou."

"This is the part of the military expenditure that the Ministry of War requested in its memorial."

This reason sounds plausible and very convincing.

After Wang Shilang finished speaking, he said, "If the garrisons in various places were like the Nanyang Army, there would be a big mess." (End of this chapter)