Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1508: Pork dominates the plate!

As the prefect of Yijing, Liu Ning still had some deterrent power. So seeing that Prefect Liu was not moved by any persuasion and had a very tough attitude, those merchants who wanted to monopolize the pork market had to give up and sell off the pork they had already stockpiled. Liu Ning only gave these people a verbal warning and did not hold them accountable.

This incident happened some time ago, and the Coordination Office reported this matter to Ye Mingsheng about five days ago!

Although Ye Mingsheng was very happy that Liu Ning stuck to his bottom line and did not go along with those people, he was relieved that he did not misjudge him!

But Ye Mingsheng was not very satisfied with Liu Ning's handling of the matter!
Ever since Ye Mingsheng raised his army, he has attached great importance to prices, especially the price and supply of basic living materials. Ye Mingsheng believes that this is the cornerstone of whether the people can live and work in peace and contentment!

Behaviors like this of monopolizing the market, hoarding goods and manipulating prices have always been the main targets of Ye Mingsheng's crackdown!

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng believed that Liu Ning’s way of handling the matter, which was just to warn these people without any subsequent punishment measures, was too weak!

In cases like this, if you don't punish them severely and let them pay a painful lesson, they will never learn their lesson!
This will greatly encourage the arrogance of these people and make them dare to think about dominating the market next time. When other people see that the cost of dominating the market is so low, they will also dare to do it, which is bound to disrupt the normal market order!

Of course, Ye Mingsheng also understood that the reason why Liu Ning behaved so restrained was probably because the other party had a strong backer and Liu Ning did not want to offend the other party. Ye Mingsheng was also very curious about who this backer was...

For this reason, Ye Mingsheng also asked Ji Xian to investigate. Although Yi Jing's pork monopoly failed this time due to Liu Ning's intimidation, Ye Mingsheng believed that the court had not punished anyone for a long time and some people were already ready to make a move. So this time Ye Mingsheng intended to use this incident to make an example of someone and warn those who were ready to make a move.

Through field investigations and visits, Ye Mingsheng confirmed that most of the rice on the market currently costs nine cents of silver per stone, pork costs three cents of silver per catty, chicken costs two cents of silver per catty, and so on. Compared with previous prices, the prices of these things have generally increased!

Ye Mingsheng could understand this. After all, the New Year is coming soon, and it is normal for things to increase in price slightly!
As for the issue of supply, there is no problem in the major markets. Pork, rice, chicken, cloth, salt, tofu and all kinds of daily necessities, food and agricultural products are in sufficient supply, ensuring that as long as you have silver, you can buy what you want in the market.

Ye Mingsheng was generally very satisfied with this and felt that Liu Ning did a very good job as the prefect. The reason why he wanted to promote him to be the Minister of Justice was mainly because he felt that Liu Ning was a capable person who managed Yijing very well and allowed the vast majority of the people to live and work in peace and contentment.

The only shortcoming is that he is a little weak, and there are still some disharmonious aspects in his personal emotions.

When Ye Mingsheng talked to Liu Ning before, Ye Mingsheng had tried to probe Liu Ning about the Western Region Hu Ji. However, in the imperial study at that time, facing Ye Mingsheng's probing, Liu Ning did not remain honest, but tried to fool around with the matter...

Ye Mingsheng was a little disappointed about this. In fact, in Ye Mingsheng's view, although that Western Hu girl was known as the most beautiful woman in the Western Regions and said she would give her to him, and in the end Liu Ning succeeded by accident, but in Ye Mingsheng's eyes this was not a big deal!

Ye Mingsheng himself didn't know how many women he had in his harem. To be honest, he was too busy to handle all of them, so one Western Hu girl wouldn't make a difference. If Ye Mingsheng really liked Western Hu girls, let alone one, even if it was ten or a hundred, wouldn't that be a piece of cake?
In addition, although the affair between Liu Ning and that Western Hu girl was a transaction of power for sex, it was illegal!
But Ye Mingsheng knew very well that although the Daqian court he led had made some progress in clean government, no matter how it was done, it was still a feudal JQ organizational structure. With such an organizational structure, it was almost impossible for you to remain untainted by the mud and to be pure and innocent without any stain on your body!

As far as what Ye Mingsheng knew about Liu Ning at present, it was nothing in the imperial court. There were many people with more serious problems than his, but he could not even be ranked!

Although Ye Mingsheng was helpless about this, there was nothing he could do. After all, this was a fundamental problem, a problem of organizational structure, and a problem of concept. It was not a problem that could be solved by killing and punishing!
Speaking of killing, did Lao Zhu kill many people?
Thousands or tens of thousands of people were killed without even blinking an eye!
In terms of cruelty, is skinning and stuffing with grass cruel?

Even so, isn't the T still a T?

Under the current organizational structure, this is a nearly unsolvable problem.

Although Ye Mingsheng is the emperor and seems to be supreme, he is still a human being after all, not a god! His abilities are also limited!

So Ye Mingsheng could only turn a blind eye. After all, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Being an emperor sometimes requires a bit of confusion!

What really disappointed Ye Mingsheng was that Liu Ning was not honest enough in front of him and tried to get away with it. At that time, Ye Mingsheng had already made up his mind and had basically decided on Liu Ning, but this conversation made Ye Mingsheng very disappointed. In addition, there was also an imperial censor who impeached Liu Ning for having an affair with that Western Hu girl.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng did not directly appoint Liu Ning as the Minister of Justice as expected, but instead thought about examining other candidates.

For this reason, Ye Mingsheng also re-examined Shen Changhong and Ye Hao who were recommended by Gu Sansi, but in the end, Ye Mingsheng still felt that although Shen Changhong and Ye Hao were both rising stars in the Daqian court, they were not as suitable as Liu Ning!
So Ye Mingsheng has been quite conflicted in the past few days, but Ye Mingsheng still thinks that Liu Ning is the most suitable candidate!
And there was also good news these days. It seemed that the Western Region Hu Ji died of a sudden heart attack. Although Ye Mingsheng was a little confused about how this Western Region Hu Ji died so coincidentally, he felt that this was a good thing for Liu Ning. After all, that woman was too eye-catching. So in this case, Ye Mingsheng decided to choose Liu Ning and let Liu Ning take up the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice...
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While Ye Mingsheng was on a secret visit outside, An Miaoyi was also sitting in the warm room, listening to the report from her subordinate, Nanny Huang.

"Your Majesty, the Moon Palace has distributed a total of 27,000 taels of silver in rewards, and there is still 158,700 taels of silver on the treasury account!"

Upon hearing this number, An Miaoyi couldn't help but nod slightly. Ever since the incident with Madam Cao, even though Ye Mingsheng let her off the hook and didn't investigate her responsibility, An Miaoyi was still embarrassed by Murong Qingwu in this matter!
And because Murong Qingwu obtained the power to assist in managing the harem, which also meant that she had the right to supervise the accounts of the treasury, the Queen Daqian, who was being watched by Murong Qingwu, had a very uncomfortable time recently. The expenses that she could record at will in the past, now under Murong Qingwu's supervision, An Miaoyi had to stop.

In order to make up for some holes in the treasury in the past, An Miaoyi even had to use her own private money to fill them. This was quite depressing for her. In order to make herself feel better, An Miaoyi could only comfort herself that after all, she was the one who was in charge of the money in the treasury, and the money was just transferred from left hand to right hand.

After An Miaoyi took positive measures, the accounts of the treasury naturally began to become healthier, and more than 100,000 taels of silver were accumulated on the books again...

Just as An Miaoyi was thinking about how to tell Ye Mingsheng the good news and take credit from Ye Mingsheng, the voice of Nanny Huang came to her ears again.

"Empress, Imperial Concubine Murong started asking me for my account book yesterday. I made an excuse that I hadn't finished the accounting, but I think she will ask me for it again in the next few days. What do you think I should do?"

An Miaoyi couldn't help but sneer when she heard this. She knew that if Murong Qingwu knew that there was so much money in the treasury, she would definitely go to Ye Mingsheng to show off her achievements and say that this was the result of her supervision.
Although it was true that he had to be thrifty and not spend money recklessly under her supervision, An Miaoyi certainly couldn't accept it!

Thinking of this, she asked Huang Ma beside her:
"Is all this silver in the vault?"

Nanny Huang nodded without hesitation and said:
"Yes! All the silver is in the vault. I checked it yesterday. There are a total of 158,761 taels of silver. All of them are in the vault and can be checked at any time!"

Seeing that Madam Huang spoke so decisively, An Miaoyi nodded with satisfaction. There were so many maids in the Attendant's Office, but the reason why she promoted Madam Huang was because she was smart and capable.

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Thinking of this, An Miaoyi also instructed Huang Mama;
"I will find time to report the situation to His Majesty soon. You can just stall for a few days and make up any excuse you want as long as you can get away with it..."

Hearing what An Miaoyi said, Huang Ma couldn't help but look embarrassed, but under An Miaoyi's gaze, she could only bite the bullet and agree to it.
After the report, Nanny Huang left, and An Miaoyi was alone thinking about it!

At present, the expansion plan of the imperial palace has basically been completed halfway. Compared with the previous Ye Mansion, the current Daqian Palace is more luxurious, but this still cannot satisfy An Miaoyi!
As a former noble of the Great Zhou Dynasty, An Miaoyi had also seen the world. When she was seven or eight years old, she followed her family into the Great Zhou Palace. In her impression, the queen and the imperial concubine all had their own separate palaces!

Therefore, every time she thought of this, An Miaoyi felt unbalanced in her heart. Sometimes she couldn't sleep at night and kept thinking, the imperial concubine of Da Zhou lives in a separate palace, while she is now the queen of Da Qian and still lives in this courtyard every day. How does this look like a queen?

The most infuriating thing is that the Chinese New Year is approaching, and some wives and daughters of royal family members have come to the palace to pay their respects to Ye Cui, as a way of wishing the old lady a happy new year. Among them, some of them also visited An Miaoyi and greeted her!
This is a very normal thing, and there is nothing to say about the normal welcoming and seeing off. But the problem is that these women like to say all kinds of nonsense, saying, "Queen, why are you still living in this courtyard? You see, queens in every dynasty have their own separate palaces," and so on.

Faced with these remarks, An Miaoyi still spoke those high-sounding words on the surface, using frugality as an excuse, but deep down she still felt very uncomfortable. She felt that she was very wronged, and felt that she, the queen, was the shabbyest queen in history...

In fact, when the construction was expanded before, An Miaoyi wanted to build a palace for herself. She even thought of the name of the palace. She named it Fengluan Palace herself.

When An Miaoyi asked the Ministry of Works to draw up a blueprint, Ye Mingsheng drastically cut the budget for her palace expansion plan. In the end, the remaining budget was only enough to build one palace. Although An Miaoyi wanted her own Fengluan Palace, she rationally gave the budget to Ye Cui's Furen Palace.

Although she gave in, it has always been a knot in An Miaoyi's heart. She cannot tell others about it. After all, filial piety is the most important virtue. As a daughter-in-law, it is natural for her to give the budget for building the palace to her mother-in-law. Besides, Ye Cui is her backer!

She could only comfort herself that her husband was the emperor, she was the empress, and her son was the crown prince. As long as she worked hard, she would be able to use the Fu Ren Palace in the future.

But for An Miaoyi, Fengluan Palace has always been a dream of hers. She wanted to own a palace of her own. Now living in this courtyard, she does not feel like a queen. She thinks only a palace can match her majesty!
The palace has become an obsession in An Miaoyi's heart. Sometimes when An Miaoyi goes to bed at night, she dreams that she is in a luxurious and grand palace.

An Miaoyi also talked to Ye Mingsheng about the palace, and Ye Mingsheng said that he would consider this matter after the court had more financial resources. By then, he, as the emperor, would not live in the palace first, but would build a palace for you, the queen, to fulfill your wish of having a Fengluan Palace...

(End of this chapter)