The money is easy to come by and easy to spend. Without the money from the auction, how could Huang Qiong be so generous? To those who, in his eyes, could not only serve others as slaves, but could not fight on the battlefield for the country, farm the land, do business, or generate tax revenue for the court. Even if you can't continue the descendants and add more penises to the court, how can a useless eunuch be given so many?
The two palaces in Xijing, plus the imperial gardens outside the city, the ancestral temples in the city, and the eunuchs guarding Taizu's mausoleum, totaled five to six hundred people, large and small. There are also more than 500 palace maids. Each of these 1,000 people is given three months' salary, which is not a small sum. But Huang Qiong also knew that these so-called graces were rules, and at least he couldn't change them for the time being.
Eunuchs are domestic slaves, personal servants who serve their masters. The masters in the palace are more at ease with these domestic slaves than with foreigners. In order to allow these eunuchs to serve their masters with peace of mind, usually at the end of the year, not only will they be given some additional money and food, but as an additional reward, the heads of each palace will also be given some additional rewards. Some confidant eunuchs even had double rewards.
Just like in his previous life, no matter how poor his work unit was, he still had to give some money during the Chinese New Year. The boss of a company, as long as the funds can enable it to start a business, will provide some year-end benefits during the Chinese New Year. Even now they are the slaves of various families, the workers in the shops, and the craftsmen in the workshops. During the Chinese New Year, the owner or boss will also give these people some holiday money based on their income this year.
Although those eunuchs were of no great use, they were the emperor's servants after all. At the end of the year, I will give you a year's work in Tianjia. It is unjustifiable not to give you at all. After the garden was auctioned, Huang Qiong calculated it for three days and finally made the decision to award Da Qi Chao's year-end bonus. It's not that he doesn't want to make up for the officials more, and puts the status of eunuchs and palace maids above all levels of civil servants and military ministers.
The problem is that according to the current official administration, for those officials who work outside, let alone the imperial court only owes them part of their salary. Even if you don't make a big fortune, I'm afraid there won't be many poor people. Even the so-called poor officials in Beijing are just those who sit on the bench and live in Qingshui Yamen. Everything else is not bad at all. Moreover, the salaries of officials are much higher than those of eunuchs.
A low-level eunuch's monthly salary is only five guanqian. Even if a few higher-ranking eunuchs are in charge of eunuchs, the monthly rate is only ninety, which is not as good as the lowest-ranking ninth-grade official among official positions. The monthly salary of a ninth-grade official is ninety-five guan of money plus two shi of grain. For all the eunuchs in Xijing put together, even if they were given an additional three months' monthly payment, the total would not be much.
If those officials were to pay eunuchs three months' salary, he really wouldn't be able to afford it. Therefore, after much deliberation, we decided on this standard. In fact, those officials themselves also made up for the arrears of their salaries, plus part of the gifts, and the total was still much more than what was given to the eunuchs. No matter how poor the government officials are, they can still find relief this year.
In fact, Huang Qiong only found out after leaving the palace that ancient people actually had year-end bonuses. Of course, the year-end bonuses issued in previous dynasties are naturally different. For example, in the later Han Dynasty, money was given directly, while in the early Tang Dynasty, the state treasury allocated money to various yamen, and the local government made usury loans, and the dividends were divided equally according to the official grades as year-end bonuses for each yamen. As for this dynasty, one to two months of salary increase is generally given.
Generally, high-ranking officials also receive additional rewards. A first-grade official is usually given five sheep, two stones each of rice and flour, and two jars of wine. The eunuchs, maids in the palace, and the masters of each palace must also give additional rewards. Even if the servants of each prince's palace usually end the year, they will be given an additional two months' monthly salary. Of course, this depends on the generosity of the masters of each palace. Last year, He Yao took the initiative in the British Prince's Palace and gave a monthly schedule of two months.
This is considered to be on the upper side among the princes' palaces. King Yong was the most generous, and each person was directly rewarded with a monthly reward for half a year. A few personal eunuchs around him even directly rewarded him with monthly bonuses for a year. It was so generous that Huang Qiong smacked his tongue, sighing that this guy was really a colander, and no amount of money was enough for him. As for the stingiest King Teng, he heard that no one would give out money even if they only gave out twenty eldest sons.
Although the income of the imperial court is currently difficult, Huang Qiong spends this money really painfully. But Huang Qiong also knows that there is a common problem in Chinese dynasties, that is, the salary has gone up, but it is difficult to come down. No matter how difficult it is for the imperial court to make income, this treatment cannot be cancelled. When we arrived at the old man's place, the court was almost too poor to take the blame, but it still had to give him the money.
Huang Qiong didn't know what the old man's mentality was. Perhaps they think that being in arrears with official salaries is embarrassing enough. Perhaps it is believed that the additional two months' salary at the end of the year can be considered as some compensation to civil servants. So I would rather default on part of my civil service salary, but this year-end bonus is at the end of the year and I still have to pay it every year. And the quantity has never dropped, let alone been in arrears for a year.
The same is true for eunuchs at the end of the year. At the end of the year, the old man asks the Ministry of Household Affairs to spend a sum of money every year to give additional annual gifts to the eunuchs and maids in the two capitals. He also calls them gifts. When it came to Huang Qiong's place, the amount of money itself was not large, and it had been passed down for hundreds of years. Even if he didn't want to give it anymore, he still had to find a way to raise some money and distribute it to the officials on the second line and the eunuchs in the palace.
The emperor is away from Xijing to celebrate the New Year all year round, and the Ministry of Household Affairs in Xijing has always disliked these eunuchs, so all the eunuchs in Xijing are used to being poor. Huang Qiong paid such a year-end bonus, which was not actually a large amount, but it was still a lot. For the eunuchs whose salary was half that of Jingzhao except when the emperor was in Xijing, it was already It's extremely rich.
When Huang Qiong finished the ceremony, the eunuch in charge did not expect that this year's gift would be so high. Not only did he give out three months of gifts, he also asked the imperial kitchen to serve the servants in the palace, and also prepared a New Year's Eve dinner, which was something that had never happened before. I couldn't help but feel ecstatic, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed several times: "On behalf of the other slaves, I thank the master for the great reward and kowtow to the master."
Seeing the eunuch's ecstatic expression, Huang Qiong didn't say much. He just asked him to go down and hurry up and let everyone have a good New Year. When the eunuch heard what Huang Qiong said, he didn't dare to say anything. After kowtowing a few more times, he turned around and went down to make arrangements. When Huang Qiong returned to Wanchun Hall, he found that Liu Chang had already arrived and was looking through official documents there.
Stopping Liu Chang who was about to salute, Huang Qiong waved to him and said, "Have your family members settled down? It's New Year's Eve soon, so there will be no government affairs today. You and I should relax a little. I'm calling on your family today. When I enter the palace, you are not asked to help me with my official duties. If you want to take a vacation, you should act like you are on vacation. Don't you always say that you are good at Go? Come and accompany me to play two games."
In response to Huang Qiong's inquiry, Liu Chang hurriedly bowed and said: "When I return to the Crown Prince, Xiaguan's family has already gone to Caizhiyuan. Xiaguan's two children were taken care of by Mrs. Cai when they were in the palace a few days ago. . So after entering the palace, Zhuo Jing took the two of them to Mrs. Cai and Mrs. Dong. As for the chess game, if the prince is really interested, I will accompany the prince for a few rounds. "
Hearing Liu Chang mentioning Zhang Qiaoer, Huang Qiong couldn't help but think of the beauty's liveliness and the lingering love every day in the past few days, and bursts of heat arose in her heart. Huang Qiong, who just looked at Liu Chang in front of him and then calmed down, couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Although the beauty is good, she does not belong to him after all. It would be great if it weren't for Liu Chang.
Thinking of the beauty, Huang Qiong was slightly distracted. He didn't react until Liu Chang, who had already set up the chessboard, called softly several times. He picked up a chess piece in his hand and started playing chess with Liu Chang. But thinking of Zhang Qiaoer, he was somewhat absent-minded. Until the eunuch came to report that the banquet was ready. Huang Qiong, who was thinking about the beauty in his heart, continued unintentionally and threw the chess piece away.
With Liu Chang still unfinished, he returned to Caizhiyuan. When they stepped into the courtyard where the banquet was prepared, they saw Zhang Qiaoer, who was blushing and full of emotions after seeing her among the girls who came to greet her, and Huang, who had not seen the beauty for many days. Joan, almost couldn't control herself on the spot. Fortunately, Liu Chang appeared behind him in time and prevented Huang Qiong from losing his composure on the spot.
Because there is Liu Chang's family, and there are differences in hierarchy, naturally we cannot sit at a round table. So according to Huang Qiong's instructions, identical dishes were specially prepared for the two tables. Liu Chang and his wife sat at the same table with their two children, and Huang Qiong and his daughters sat at the same table. Originally, according to the etiquette system, as Huang Qiong was the prince of the dynasty, the girls were not even considered concubines, not to mention not having titles.
Even with the title, as long as he is not the crown prince or concubine, he cannot sit at the same table with Huang Qiong. According to etiquette, Huang Qiong can only sit alone. However, Huang Qiong doesn't like false etiquette, and it's the first year for the girls to celebrate the New Year with him, so Huang Qiong doesn't want to wrong them. Liu Chang was his closest confidant and not an outsider. Zhang Qiaoer, who has that kind of close relationship himself, is naturally not an outsider.
After everyone arrived, he directly ordered the banquet to begin. But at the banquet, Huang Qiong didn't know how to persuade Mrs. Wu when she saw her face was still a little pale. In fact, Huang Qiong did not tell the truth to her that day. Master Cai's mansion has been thoroughly searched. Several of his concubines, except for the two who ran away, were taken to Chang'an City together with their children. After finding out that these people knew nothing, Huang Qiong arranged for them to be sent back to Master Cai's hometown with their children.
It is true that the family was destroyed, but it was not in Yan'an Mansion. But on the first night after leaving Chang'an City, I was in a post station in a suburban county. Along with several concubines of the Yan'an magistrate, they were also silenced. Even the thirty guards he selected to escort them back home were all slaughtered to ashes. Huang Qiong was worried that telling the truth to her would cause her more grief and misunderstanding of herself.
Therefore, Huang Qiong made some concealments. But he didn't expect that until now, Wu still couldn't come out without talking, and her body was becoming increasingly haggard. Huang Qiong also knew that she just missed her children, not the master, but Huang Qiong was also helpless. Heart diseases still need heart medicine to heal, and the wounds in the heart can only wait for time to heal.
Wu, who had not recovered from her sorrow, faced the fact that she could not eat a sumptuous banquet on weekdays, and she did not take a few bites at all. Although he didn't dare to leave openly, he still felt a little distracted sitting there. Until I got pregnant, the reaction was not big, but it was still a little bit. At this time, Ms. Cai obviously had no appetite, and she could see something was wrong with her.
Some time ago, she had always taken care of Zhang Qiaoer when she entered the palace and had private meetings with Huang Qiong. Liu Chang's two children, who had a deep relationship with her and were already full at this time. Leaving the banquet with her in advance relieved the vague depression in the banquet.
