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Jiang Shaohua looked at Emperor Taihe deeply and said, "My cousin is the emperor of Daliang. All the civil and military officials are his subjects. They are loyal to Daliang, which means they are loyal to my cousin."

Emperor Taihe heard the hidden meaning of Jiang Shaohua's words and was a little disappointed: "I understand what you mean. Zuo Feng is Prime Minister Wang's man. It is unlikely that I can recruit him under my command."

Of course. Twenty years ago, Zuo Shi joined Prime Minister Wang and became his loyal dog. At that time, Emperor Taihe was not even born yet!

Over the years, Prime Minister Wang has strongly recommended General Zuo and relied on him as his right-hand man. At least half of the blood of the soldiers that General Zuo drank was paid as tribute to Prime Minister Wang. The entanglement between them was too deep, and it was impossible to split them in two.

Not to mention, General Zuo was dismissed by the court, so he must be resentful. Even if the court wanted to reinstate him, it was to appease Prime Minister Wang. After all, it was only because of Prime Minister Wang that he could stand in the court again. Such a favor would make anyone willing to sacrifice their lives.

The truth cannot be told too directly, so as not to hurt the emperor's self-esteem.

Jiang Shaohua said softly, "Things have their priorities. Now we need to stabilize people's hearts and get the six ministries of the court running. The most important thing for my cousin is to take good care of his health. When you go to court to govern in the future, you can slowly win people's hearts."

Winning people's hearts is easier said than done.

Emperor Taihe has been sitting on the throne for more than two years. Even the few servants around him have their own little calculations, and the ministers in the court have different thoughts.

Emperor Taihe laughed bitterly at himself: "I am just a mediocre person and cannot be a wise ruler. Unfortunately, my brother is an ignorant and naughty boy. If you were a man, my brother, I would pass the throne to you."

"Don't make such a joke." Jiang Shaohua said angrily, "I am a woman, and I am already content with the rich Nanyang County. If such a joke gets to the ears of someone with ulterior motives and some unpleasant rumors are spread, how can I bear it?"

Emperor Taihe just said it casually. Seeing Jiang Shaohua was annoyed, he laughed and said, "I was just talking nonsense. Don't worry, there is no one else here, so it won't spread out."

While the brother and sister were talking, only Eunuch Ge was left to serve. Eunuch Ge was loyal to Emperor Taihe and kept his mouth shut, and would never pass on messages casually.

This is another sad, ridiculous and lamentable fact. Empress Dowager Zheng has been managing the harem for decades, and she has spies everywhere and is well-informed. Even the eunuchs in the Zhaohe Palace are spies of Empress Dowager Zheng. The only person that the emperor can truly trust is Eunuch Ge.

Jiang Shaohua felt a sigh in his heart.

Emperor Taihe's voice sounded again: "Can the government assessment form you designed really be used? What should we do if they cheat?"

Jiang Shaohua came back to his senses and said with a smile: "It's not if, but there will definitely be people who cheat. In the officialdom, everyone wants to save face, and no one wants to be the last one to be laughed at, and have to write a letter of apology. Some people will work diligently, while some people who are quick-witted, thick-skinned and black-hearted will inevitably resort to trickery."

Emperor Taihe frowned: "Then the assessment form is useless?"

"That won't happen." Jiang Shaohua's eyes flashed, "This is just a whip to urge them to work hard. It is useful for most officials. As for those who use tricks, as long as they don't go too far, don't worry about them. If they are too obvious and excessive, just catch one or two and punish them."

"In short, we should focus on the big ones and let the small ones go. This is how I manage the officials in the Nanyang Palace. I just give orders and they do whatever they want. I don't interfere. I just look at the results."

"After a while, you will be able to tell who is doing their job carefully and who is just doing it half-heartedly."

When talking about Nanyang Palace, Jiang Shaohua was confident and calm, with a smile in his eyes.

Emperor Taihe couldn't help but feel envious and jealous: "You spend half of your time every year inspecting the fourteen counties, and all the affairs of the palace are handed over to your subordinates. Chen Changshi and Feng Changshi are in charge of external affairs and internal affairs respectively, and you manage the palace very well. I heard that the other subordinates are also loyal to you, the princess. You are three years younger than me, and your methods and abilities are much better than mine."

Jiang Shaohua laughed: "How can this be compared? Nanyang County is just a small place. My cousin is the emperor and has to manage the vast territory of Daliang and countless ministers. The difficulty between the two is a world of difference." But Jiang Shaohua came to the capital, and within a few days, he suppressed the ministers, made the court meeting go smoothly, and dealt with the accumulated government affairs. He showed goodwill to Prime Minister Wang, appeased Duke Anguo, and by the way, he won over General Zuo...

If he had a thicker skin, it would be entirely his own fault. Without his trust and full support, Jiang Shaohua would not have been able to do this.

Unfortunately, he had not yet cultivated enough, nor was he thick-skinned enough to do this. He knew very well that even if he recovered from his illness and went to court in person, he would not be able to do this.

Fortunately, Jiang Shaohua is a girl. If someone with such talent in governing the country was Jiang Yi, he, the emperor, would be trembling with fear as if treading on thin ice.

These thoughts flashed through Emperor Taihe's mind.

Jiang Shaohua seemed not to notice the disappointment and sadness in Emperor Taihe's eyes. He chatted with Emperor Taihe for a while and then took his leave.

Only after leaving Showa Hall did Jiang Shaohua secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Every day she had to deal with important officials in the court who were more cunning than a sieve, coax the Empress Dowager Zheng from doing anything naughty, and encourage and comfort the sensitive and fragile emperor who was sick. Even though she was energetic and strong-willed, she felt a little tired.

……

After a night, Jiang Shaohua stood in front of the ministers again in high spirits.

As usual, there was a small court meeting first.

Perhaps it was because the government affairs assessment form from yesterday had an effect, today's small court meeting went exceptionally smoothly. It was over in just two hours.

It was not yet noon, so the ministers did not stay for lunch and went back to their respective offices.

"Minister Zhou, please stay." Jiang Shaohua called the Minister of Works with a smile.

Minister Zhou's heart trembled, and he suddenly had a bad premonition: "I wonder what the princess wants to do?"

The other ministers were also a little surprised and looked over. The court meeting was over, why did the princess call Minister Zhou alone?
Princess Nanyang walked up to Minister Zhou with a smile and said kindly, "I have nothing to do in the palace, so I want to go to the Ministry of Works with Minister Zhou."

Minister Zhou: “…”

Ministers: "..."

This is not just a visit, this is an inspection at the Ministry of Industry.

Why did they choose the Ministry of Works first? The reason is not hard to guess. The Ministry of Revenue allocated a large sum of money to the Ministry of Works to be used for building river embankments. This is also the most important political event in the court recently.

The emperor could not easily leave the palace, but the Princess of Nanyang did not have this problem. She could leave the palace if she wanted to, and she could go to the Ministry of Works just by asking. (End of this chapter)