Biography of Concubine Shujia

Chapter 68

"The emperor is in a good mood?" The queen joked, "Miss Jia didn't drive you out? Xin Changzai is pregnant, so it's a slap in the face of sister Jia."

"Empress!" The emperor was a little embarrassed, he stopped by the court to see the empress, and discussed some things by the way.The face of being teased by the queen was dull, although he was annoyed, he couldn't help thinking deeply about the queen's words.

Xin Chang was in the Chang family, a woman he had almost forgotten, suddenly became a woman who everyone in the harem envied but ridiculed. If there was no problem, he would not believe it.

What a coincidence that day, passing by her palace, she was there, as if waiting for him.Later, he got drunk without knowing it, and took her for...

He never thought that the women in the harem were innocent, even Shi Niang sometimes plotted against others, let alone a woman with plots.

Speaking of which, the few he cares about in the harem are all from aristocratic families, and they are all taught by the family to be smart, but they can't forget the family all the time, and they put the family's interests first, so they are always unlikable.The reason why she is willing to spoil Shi Niang more is because she has never sought benefits for the family in front of him.

"Your majesty, you have annoyed me, so I still have to ask." The queen said slowly, "Xin Chang is in the Chang family, what are you going to do?"

"Does the queen want to?" The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, showing a sense of danger and oppression.

"Come on, I don't have that much time to spare. Among the heirs in your harem, which one is the birth mother?" Facing the emperor's suspicion, the empress took it for granted and waved her hand nonchalantly, "I live a comfortable and nourishing life , I’m not willing to raise a child for you, and your concubine will murder you if you raise a child, this deal is not worth it.”

"I'm just asking, look at what you said, which of the women in the harem has not been tamed by you, the empress." The emperor held the empress's hand, "What do you think, cousin?"

"The emperor will say these kind words to coax me. The only one in the palace who really listens to me is the second girl. Because of the second girl, she has suffered a lot these years."

"Ms. Zhao? I remember that she was also lively in the early years, but now her temper has become much quieter. These years, she doesn't come to my side anymore, but she is very courteous around her cousin."

"The emperor also said, how long has it been since you turned over the signboard of sister Miao. There are so many people around you, but my sister wants to go. Is there a chance? And my sister once told me that you can appease those people in the palace. Women are already busy enough, she won't make trouble for you. It's hard for me to say anything about her. I just think that the second girl is growing up day by day, and she has an unfavorable mother and concubine. After all, she is always gossip , the people in our palace may not know how to gossip in private."

"My cousin is still considerate. Mrs. Zhao, it is true that I have ignored her. She is not bad. She has served you wholeheartedly and taken care of the second girl carefully all these years. Find a day to promote her status, which can be regarded as a reward for her. "

"It should be, her qualifications are enough, not to mention she gave birth to a second girl."

"That's it, let's go beyond Chang Zai and become a talented person."

"Xin is often pregnant, so it is reasonable to be promoted. Now from the fifth rank of the six beauties, only the remaining nobles and talented people are still vacant. If sister Miao is promoted to talented, sister Xin is the nobleman at the top of the six beauties. Yes. Your Majesty, do you see?"

"The Bai family, who is now a beauty, has always been afraid of being able to hold down Ping and Shun. This Chang's own character is not good, and his qualifications are not good enough. How about it, let the second girl and her mother be promoted to nobles, no matter what In terms of qualifications and temperament, she is enough, plus she has you to take care of her, so Li Ping, Shun and their sisters don't dare to do anything blatantly. As for Mrs. Chang, it is enough to be promoted to a talented person. It's not that she has a son, so there's nothing she can do in this position."

"Understood. As for Mrs. Chang, the child cannot be handed over to her to raise herself. Do you have any arrangements?" The queen asked after thinking for a while.

"Hold it to Mrs. Shu. The concubines of the fourth grade all have children, and she is the only one who has no children. After all, she lacks confidence and will be despised. She has been safe for so many years, and the child will be given to her first." Keep it up."

"The concubine will first thank the emperor for his kindness on behalf of sister Shu."

"You can just let her know quietly. I also want to see what kind of wishful thinking this Xincai person has with the people behind her."

"Success, it won't be too late to inform Shu Shi when the time comes, so tell her early, lest she lose her composure."

"Cousin, you've worked hard, take care of yourself. I'm going back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to review papers, and I'll come to your place for dinner in the evening."

"Congratulations to the emperor."

"Your Majesty, Lady Jiashunhua is asking to see you outside the palace, do you see?" Yang Zhong asked with a serious face.

"Let her come in. It will be the same as before. When she comes, let her come in directly." The emperor thought for a while, and said, "This Hall of Mental Cultivation, if she comes during the day, there is no need to stop her."

Yang Zhong went to invite Mrs. Shunhua Du outside the hall, and Xiao Luzi watched his leaving back, and typed his small report to the emperor.

"Look, the servant just said Master Jia is coming, just let him go. The old guy Yang Zhong insisted on stopping her to prevent Empress Shunhua from coming in. In this winter, Master Jia is freezing, so it's not us who feel distressed." emperor."

"Since you think that your good master will be frozen, why don't you cook a bowl of ginger soup to drive her away from the cold." The emperor ordered.

"Master, don't worry, the servant just asked someone to cook it, and it will be served after a while."

As soon as the words fell, a clear female voice was heard, "What kind of delicious food did the emperor cook here? If I had known that you had delicious food here, my concubine would not have brought you food."

"You, you are thinking about the food in the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

"Food is the most important thing for the people."

"Smart girl! You look unique today, like a little peacock." The emperor looked up and saw Ten Niang wearing a peacock feather cloak, "Why don't you wear the fox fur that I rewarded you last time around your neck?"

"This cloak is small and exquisite, and it doesn't match the elegance and luxury of the fox fur, so it's not covered." He said, lifting the food box in his hand,

"Guess what I brought you to eat?"

"Did you cook by yourself today?" The emperor saw a few small red dots on the back of her slightly raised hand, and when he put down his pen, he was about to stretch out his hand to pull her.

Ten Niang hurriedly put the food box in her hand on the table, "Don't worry, be careful to spill it on the booklet."

The emperor flirted with Xiaoluzi, Xiaoluzi hurriedly packed up the booklet, and put the food in the food box in the middle of the desk.It was originally a small bowl of sour noodle soup, a meat pie, and several dishes of seasonal side dishes.

"The little ones are not eating well again?" The emperor looked at the dishes, there were small dishes in the shape of flowers, and there were various animals carved from radishes beside the small dishes.Even the complexion of the sour soup noodles is colorful, which makes people dazzled.

"Yao'er doesn't like green vegetables, and Han doesn't like carrots. The concubine thought of this idea when she followed into the painting. She ground these vegetables into juice, mixed them with noodles, and put some honey to taste, rolled them into noodles, served with Sour soup, sour and sweet, children love to eat it. Because of this clever method, the food is fresh, and I will make a copy for you, you can try it.”

"Come on, let me have a look." Ten Niang hurriedly brought the bowl, "There is no hurry to eat, give me your hand."

Shiniang handed her hand to the emperor, "It's okay, the noodle soup was accidentally scalded when it was cooked. It has already been medicated."

"There are so many people in the small kitchen, if you insist on serving the hot pot yourself, let them tell you next time. Otherwise, what's the use of raising them? If you can't do a little bit of work well, it will hurt the master. Let me tell you, Everyone should be punished."

"Your majesty, it is the concubine who wants to cook for the children herself, and has nothing to do with others. They can't persuade the concubine, so they can only follow behind the concubine. It is the concubine who is self-willed, and will be more careful next time. You Don't worry. Come and taste whether the concubine's cooking is delicious, and has the craftsmanship improved?"

"Don't be so busy looking after me, I'm not two children, you drink the bowl of ginger syrup on the table to drive away the cold."

"Ah? Is it okay if the concubine doesn't drink?" Shi Niang said with a bitter face, "The concubine is wearing thick clothes, so I don't get cold."

"Drink, good boy. After drinking, I'll bring you some fruit to eat." The emperor tempted. He has tribute fruits from all over the place, and she can eat a lot of them every time she comes.

Shi Niang closed her eyes, drank the small bowl of ginger syrup in one gulp, quickly picked up the emperor's tea bowl on the table, and took two sips to get rid of the ginger taste in her mouth.He picked up the fruit on the table and gnawed it.

"You sit down first. I'll find some books for you. Let's look through them first." The emperor handed Shi Niang a copy of the county annals of Yikao County, picked up the noodle soup bowl, picked up a noodle and put it in his mouth. Dan, did you forget to put in the salt?"

"No, the salt in the small kitchen of the concubine's palace has run out, and the new salt in the imperial dining room has not yet arrived. They are also responsible for the diet of most people in the palace every day, so it is not easy to distribute the salt to the palaces."

"Salt!" said the emperor, "what do you think of salt?"

The emperor took a sip of light soup and waited for Shi Niang to answer.

"Salt is crucial to the empire's income. The third uncle, my concubine, has stayed in Nanluo for many years. The family is worried about his safety, and they are more or less concerned about the salt administration."

"Then our female Zhuge is talking about the salt politics?"

"The third uncle once said that the previous dynasty has always paid "tribute" instead of tax, and paid "salt" as a tribute to ensure the circulation of salt in the empire. The imperial court monopolizes production, transportation, and sales. Because the imperial court Excessive monopoly, lack of salt for the people, and the tyranny of the previous emperor led to uprisings everywhere, and the people rose up."

"That's right, Taizu relied on the power of the people's uprising to raise an army and slowly take down the country of Daliang."

"After Daliang was established as the capital, the ban on salt was lifted in order to recuperate, and the common people could "freely" mine, transport and sell. The salt officials were no longer responsible for the production, transportation and sales of salt, but were only responsible for collecting salt taxes."

"Your third uncle is very clear, and he is right. His job is actually very simple, which is to pluck hair from the mouths of local dignitaries, tycoons, and wealthy businessmen for money."

"So it's normal for him to be hated or even assassinated. After all, he blocked people's financial resources." Shi Niang worried, "Daliang has been in power for so many years, except for Emperor Taizong who tried to control the salt. It’s easy to control without making adjustments, shouldn’t it be time to move?”

"Movement cannot be solved overnight." The emperor mused.

"Doing nothing will never solve the problem. Should we give up Nanluo because it is difficult to cross, and not cross the sea from there, and not go down to the sea to collect salt?"

(End of this chapter)