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Chapter 788: Hot (I)

The important officials were all feeling uneasy.

Jiang Shaohua pretended not to see her, and after discussing the business, he dismissed the small court meeting. Then, he went to Ning'an Palace to have lunch with Empress Dowager Li.

Power is the best medicine for rejuvenation. In the past two months, Empress Dowager Zheng has been confined to her palace to recuperate, and the harem and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have all fallen into the hands of Empress Dowager Li, who also has a naughty and willful Prince Ping to take care of. Empress Dowager Li is busy every day and has no time to feel sad about the passing of time. Her complexion is much rosier than before.

As soon as Jiang Shaohua arrived, before he could even open his mouth, Empress Dowager Li said, "Repairing the river embankment is a top priority for the country, and I will definitely support it with all my strength. There is still some money saved in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so take it all out. I also have some private money here, so take it all out as well."

Jiang Shaohua's brows relaxed: "I do have to take out the money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, you don't have to take out your aunt's private money."

Queen Mother Li was very firm in her attitude: "I have no children or grandchildren, and now I only have the ignorant Prince Ping. No matter how much private money I have saved, I have nowhere to spend it. Now that I can take it out and put it to good use, I am very relieved."

Compared with the overbearing and stingy Empress Dowager Zheng, Empress Dowager Li was much more sensible. She did not embarrass the emperor and took the initiative to share his worries.

Jiang Shaohua was very grateful: "Auntie, you always think of me. Thank you very much."

Empress Dowager Li smiled and said, "If you feel bad about it, please spread the good name of my generosity and love for the people."

Jiang Shaohua laughed: "Okay, I will talk about it at the grand court meeting tomorrow."

Queen Mother Li also laughed.

Empress Dowager Li had indeed thought it through thoroughly.

Money is only a thing outside of one's body. For her, a noble queen mother, it doesn't make much difference whether she has a private house of 100,000 or 1 million, they are just numbers. Food, drink and expenses are all provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and whatever she wants can be obtained by just giving an order. If the Daliang court is stable, Jiang Shaohua's throne is stable, and she, the queen mother, is as stable as a mountain.

Therefore, she would fully support Jiang Shaohua. This move was also to show Jiang Shaohua that she was in charge of the harem differently from the Grand Empress Dowager, and would only be an aid to Jiang Shaohua and would never hold the emperor back.

Jiang Shaohua reached out and supported Empress Dowager Li, and went to the dining hall affectionately.

King Ping was brought over quickly.

King Ping has grown a lot taller recently, but he still has that naughty and troublesome temper.

Queen Mother Li was very tolerant of Prince Ping. She asked Eunuch Ge to serve Prince Ping well and smiled at Jiang Shaohua, "I have always been worried about educating Prince Ping. After spending these days with him, I found that he has his merits. Since Prince Ping came, Ning'an Palace has never been deserted."

As for life, it is always better to have a lively and bustling life than a lonely and deserted one.

In the past few years, Queen Mother Li had gone through the pain of losing her husband, son, and father. It can be said that she had endured the worst grief in a woman's life. Her heart seemed to be hollowed out and always empty. When King Ping came, she had no time to feel sad. Her ears were filled with sadness.

Jiang Shaohua knew everything about the Ning'an Palace, and laughed when she heard it: "Aunt is also very careful, bringing Prince Ping with her every day."

When Empress Dowager Zheng was raising Prince Ping, she only saw him once a day, and the rest of the time he was served by palace servants. Empress Dowager Li really took care of the child, and after she finished her palace affairs, she would let Prince Ping come to her side.

Even dogs and cats can develop feelings for each other, let alone such a fat and naughty boy. There is nothing wrong with King Ping's words and deeds, but his brain is always stuck at the age of three or four. Just treat him as a little child.

Prince Ping was also close to Queen Mother Li. When eating, he sat beside her and pulled her sleeves from time to time, asking for this and that. He liked to eat fish even though he could not spit out the bones. Queen Mother Li patiently picked up a piece of fish, removed the bones, and put it in Prince Ping's bowl.

Prince Ping enjoyed the meal and even took a piece of meat for Queen Mother Li: "Eat it, mother."

The words "mother queen" were also learned after arriving at Ning'an Palace. Eunuch Ge spent a lot of effort to teach King Ping to call her mother queen. When Queen Mother Li heard these two words, her son Jiang Song's face flashed in her mind. She felt a little sad, and a loving smile appeared on her face. She responded and ate the meat slowly.

Jiang Shaohua saw it and nodded secretly in his heart.

As it is now, that's fine.

The harem was finally peaceful and stable.

After lunch, Empress Dowager Li had tea served and said with concern: "The palace is now stable. Let's bring Baoer back! It's not right for a princess of Daliang to always live in the Nanyang Palace."

Jiang Shaohua said, "Wait a little longer. I will pick Bao'er up after I finish repairing the river bank."

Listen and listen.

The main thing about repairing the river bank is to raise money and food, and the rest is the work of the Ministry of Works. What does Jiang Shaohua have to do? Who is she going to take advantage of this incident to attack?

Empress Dowager Li's heart suddenly jumped, and she quickly glanced at Jiang Shaohua. Unfortunately, Jiang Shaohua looked calm, and there was no trace of his true thoughts on his face.

Empress Dowager Li swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and said, "Whatever you want to do, I will support you. But you should be careful. The cleansing and reshuffling of the court forces must be done slowly. Don't push too hard."

A desperate dog will jump over the wall. When people are pushed into a corner, they can do more.

The Empress Dowager and the Zheng family have been cut by the soft knife. It is obvious that Jiang Shaohua will take action against Prime Minister Wang in the next step to weaken the power of the Wang family. Prime Minister Wang has been in the court for decades and his power is huge, even greater than that of the Zheng family. If you are not careful, there will be a big mess.

Jiang Shaohua smiled slightly: "Thank you for your reminder, aunt. Don't worry, I know what to do."

……

There was a grand court meeting the next day.

The emperor, sitting on the dragon throne, told all the officials about how Empress Dowager Li used all her own private money to repair the river embankment.

The well-informed ministers got the news one step ahead of time. They immediately opened their mouths to praise Empress Dowager Li. Some flatterers also suggested that a stone tablet be built by the river bank to record the merits of Empress Dowager Li.

Loyal ministers such as Minister Dong, Minister Yang, and Minister Ding were already silently calculating how much money and grain to offer as tribute.

His thoughts were just like those of Minister Zhang, who was secretly angry.

Being an official is for power and wealth, fame and fortune. Now, not only is the job very busy, but you also have to pay money?

Jiang Shaohua, sitting on the dragon throne, took in everyone's complicated expressions with cold eyes.

After the court was dismissed, Jiang Shaohua sent several of the emperor's servants out of the palace to visit the Lu and Cui families respectively.

The heads of the Lu and Cui families are not in the capital, but they both have residences in the capital and have capable family members in the capital.

The emperor's servants briefly mentioned the merits of Empress Dowager Li and said nothing else.

Large families like the Lu and Cui families reacted very quickly. Two days later, the Lu and Cui families jointly submitted a memorial, expressing their willingness to donate money and grain to repair 50 miles of river embankment each.