The most dissolute couple in the capital

The Empress sat upright on a carved rosewood couch, an account book open beside her, and was talking in hushed tones with Li Zhao, who sat opposite her.

"...With this money in the account, the orphanage will be much better off." The Empress turned a page of the account book, a smile appearing in her eyes. "This Chenxiang Pavilion has only been open for a short time, yet the silver notes it sent to the orphanage are more than your uncles send in a whole year. That troublemaker Chengjing is usually unreliable, but marrying this girl from the Cui family is quite a stroke of luck for him."

Li Zhao's voice was clear and cold: "With the financial support of my royal uncle and aunt, the orphanage's predicament has been largely resolved. However, when I checked the roster these past few days, I discovered a new hidden danger."

"Oh?" The Queen leaned forward slightly. "Tell me about it."

"The orphanage now houses more than fifty abandoned infants and orphans. Those under ten are relatively easy to care for, as they are simply given a full meal. But there are dozens of girls who are already fourteen years old."

Li Zhao analyzed clearly, "Following the Empress Dowager's teachings, they have all learned some weaving, embroidery, and even arithmetic and basic pharmacology. The intention was to give them a skill so they wouldn't end up on the streets. But this skill has brought trouble."

Li Zhao sneered: "Some people with wicked intentions see that these girls are literate and well-mannered, so they want to spend a few tolls to take them back as concubines, or sell them to brothels. There are also some so-called 'good people' who, under the guise of recruiting workers, are actually looking for free menial laborers."

"Your Majesty has already ordered people to drive out these groups of people with ulterior motives, but if this continues, it will be impossible to guard against them all. Without the court's official recognition, these capable women are nothing more than a piece of fat meat without an owner in the eyes of the world."

Upon hearing this, the Empress remained unmoved: "Throw them away? Times are tough. It's common for daughters from ordinary families to become concubines or maids in wealthy households at this age. Since someone is willing to take them in, at least they'll have food to eat and won't starve. Why are you stopping them?"

"Because their skills extend beyond the inner quarters." Li Zhao looked directly into his mother's eyes. "I have examined the records of the Ministry of Works. Every year, the Great Ning Dynasty spends a huge sum of money to recruit embroiderers and skilled herbal medicine processors, and the quality varies greatly. These orphaned girls have already learned mathematics and pharmacology; they are valuable talents. Why should we let them waste their time in brothels and theaters?"

"Then what do you think we should do?" The Empress's words were increasingly probing, pressing her relentlessly.

"It's simple. Break the rules and establish new laws." Li Zhao's eyes were sharp. "Affiliate the orphanage to the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of Revenue, and set up government-run 'weaving workshops' and 'pharmacy bureaus.' Select outstanding students to join, and have the government issue them good citizen status and 'artisan' certificates. As Guanzi said, 'When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame.' Once they have a legitimate livelihood and the protection of the court, who would dare to harbor any crooked thoughts?"

"Dream on! To ally with the imperial court? Those old misers in the Ministry of Revenue are so stingy, they'd rather split the national treasury in half to spend. Do you really think they'd agree to you using national treasury money to support dozens of orphaned girls who haven't even started working yet?"

The Empress's tone was stern. "Those arrogant old craftsmen in the Ministry of Works have always passed on their skills only to sons. Do you really think they'll tolerate dozens of young girls competing with them for their jobs? If you want to enact new laws, where will the land come from? Where will the capital come from? If the Censorate of the previous dynasty were to impeach you, how would you respond?"

Faced with the Empress's furious barrage of attacks, Li Zhao remained completely calm. Having proposed this idea, she had already considered the realities of the Great Ning Dynasty in her mind.

"Mother, I do not want a single penny from the national treasury," Li Zhao said calmly, his pace unhurried. "My aunt's 'Agarwood Pavilion' is doing very well now, but she once complained to me that the cosmetic raw materials and flowers purchased on the market have too many impurities, requiring a lot of manpower to re-select and process them."

"Your Majesty, I have already discussed this with you. When the 'Pharmacology Bureau' is first established, it will take over the initial screening and processing of all the flowers and herbs from the Agarwood Pavilion. The Agarwood Pavilion will pay the wages, and this will be their first source of income to support themselves."

The Empress raised an eyebrow slightly, but remained tight-lipped: "Can your aunt's shop support dozens of people? What if Chenxiang Pavilion's business suffers one day?"

"So, the Agarwood Pavilion is just a stepping stone." Li Zhao displayed a shrewdness beyond his years. "The border of Da Ning needs a large amount of wound medicine and hemostatic gauze every year. The male physicians of the Imperial Hospital find these rough tasks time-consuming and laborious, so they often delegate them to their apprentices, who often do a perfunctory job."

"Your Majesty, I intend to have the orphaned daughter of the Pharmacy Bureau specifically responsible for processing the most basic mugwort and Panax notoginseng, and for sewing clean gauze that has been washed and boiled. The price will be 10% lower than the market price, but we guarantee that there will be absolutely no mold or impurities. Once the Ministry of War has used good products even once, for the sake of the lives of the soldiers on the front lines, they will naturally allocate this portion of their annual procurement quota to the Pharmacy Bureau."

"As for the weaving workshops," Li Zhao continued, "the fabrics for the palace servants' everyday clothes purchased by the palace each year are directly handed over to them for weaving. The quality is overseen by the Imperial Household Department. They don't want exorbitant profits, just enough to make a living. In this way, not only is it free from the national treasury's money, but it also saves money for the Ministry of War and the Imperial Household Department."

As her daughter articulated the interests of the merchants, the Ministry of War, and the Imperial Household Department in a clear and logical manner, a hint of undisguised admiration finally flashed in the Empress's eyes.

But she still posed the most fatal question: "Even if you can enable them to be self-sufficient, and even save the court money, what about their status? If you issue a craftsman's certificate, and those powerful and wealthy people insist on abusing their power to force them to buy, can you, as a princess, guard against the greed of the entire world?"

"Your subject cannot prevent it, but the law and military secrets can!"

Li Zhao's voice was firm and resonant: "Once they take over the Ministry of War's military procurement and the Imperial Household Department's imperial textile production, they will no longer be ordinary women, but official artisans serving the court! Anyone who dares to force them to buy supplies is sabotaging military supplies and showing contempt for the imperial household!"

Li Zhao smiled slightly, "By then, without my intervention, the Ministry of War and the Imperial Household Department will have chopped down those who dared to interfere! I will bind their fates entirely to the interests of the Great Ning Dynasty; that is true protection!"

Inside the empty hall, the girl's clear, decisive voice still echoed.

Looking at her daughter, who stood tall and spoke with a resounding voice, the stern ice in the Empress's eyes shattered completely, turning into deep pride.

Her daughter, instead of naively shouting for salvation, understood how to utilize the rules and create value—this is the true art of rulership.

"Excellent! What a brilliant move to tie one's fate to the interests of the imperial court!"

A deep, authoritative male voice, yet filled with barely suppressed excitement, suddenly came from outside the hall.

Li Zhao and the Empress were both startled and turned to look. The palace doors were pushed open, and the Emperor strode in, his gaze fixed intently on Li Zhao, his chest heaving with excitement. Behind him, Eunuch Zhao was frantically trying to signal to them; clearly, the Emperor had overheard the entire exchange between mother and daughter outside the door.

"Your subject (or concubine) greets Your Majesty."

"No need." The emperor waved his hand casually, walked straight to the main seat and sat down, his eyes fixed intently on Li Zhao. "Zhao'er, those words just now, did the Grand Tutor teach you, or did you come up with them yourself?"

Li Zhao stood ramrod straight, meeting the emperor's scrutiny with neither arrogance nor servility: "Your Majesty, these mundane matters are things I learned step by step on my own while in the orphanage and in the countryside. Does Your Majesty think I am spouting nonsense, like a hen crowing at dawn?"

The emperor remained silent.

He gazed quietly at his only legitimate daughter.

Li Zhao's speech just now, from identifying the drawbacks to analyzing human nature, and then proposing an effective administrative reform plan, although still a bit immature, still made him secretly applaud.

Then think about his sons—the second son, Li Han, appears gentle on the surface but is actually vicious. If it weren't for the Prince of Liang's accidental intervention, this autumn hunt would have caused a huge mess; the third son, Li Ye, aside from practicing martial arts, is completely silent; and the fifth son, Li Yu, coughs like he has tuberculosis all day long and can't even participate in the autumn hunt.

"Not bad." The emperor's eyes were extremely complicated. "Zhao'er, you may go out now. I have a few private words to say to your mother alone."