Listening to Situ Huanshuang's words, Huang Qiong was silent for a long time. Cai Dao said: "I will take more care of Ji'er in the future. Shuang'er also needs to help consider who is more suitable for Ji'er to be raised by. As for some people in the palace, it seems that they are targeting Shuang'er, but in fact they are They were dissatisfied with me. Because I had never agreed to elect their natal family into the palace. They took advantage of this matter and used it as an excuse. I originally thought that they were all concubines left by their father and had served them with merit over the years. .”
"Before the old man moved to Yongfu Palace, he also told me to take good care of them. In the past few years since I succeeded to the throne, in order to save money, my beloved wives have been living a tight life. I have not treated any of them badly. A person does not deprive himself of more than half of his basic necessities, food, clothing, housing and transportation. But looking at it now, some people are still a little dissatisfied and uneasy in their homes when I am not around. When Concubine De died, I thought of replacing her. Since some people have had enough of leisurely life, Then I don’t mind sorting it out.”
Situ Huanshuang was not interested in how Huang Qiong dealt with the concubines. Leaning on Huang Qiong's chest, he said for a long time: "Your Majesty, did you deal with Dong Qianhong too much? Although Dong Qianhong did this kind of thing, she was only used by Queen Song's mother and son. I have questioned her again and again, All the palace staff around Concubine De were also locked up and tortured. She had no personal relationship with the King of Song, she just wanted to support her son to ascend to the throne, and wanted to force His Majesty to appoint Ji'er as the crown prince."
"She knows that Your Majesty, among all the princes today, values the eldest son and the second son the most. Sister He is very strict with the eldest son and is assisting me in taking charge of the affairs of the Sixth Palace. She couldn't find a chance to take action at the moment. So. I thought about taking advantage of the fact that His Majesty and Sister Duan were not in the palace to attack Feng'er. I thought about getting rid of one by one to pave the way for Ji'er to ascend to the throne. But although the intention was a bit vicious, it didn't really come true after all. Besides, , She has served His Majesty for so many years, and she has some hard work even if she has no merit."
Listening to Situ Huanshuang's words, Huang Qiong knew that his wife seemed cold and cold on the surface, but in fact she was the most kind and soft-hearted. When she had secretly ordered her to kill Dong Qianhong, she delayed the execution until she was about to return to Beijing. Although Dong Qianhong actually targeted her as the queen first, she still kept secret letters with her and interceded for Dong Qianhong many times. It wasn't until he insisted again and again that he finally carried out his secret decree. And after that, he even thought about taking Ji'er to his side to raise him.
In the end, it was Cai who persuaded her. As a queen, her status was too special. If that child is taken to be raised by his side, it will cause some chaos. I'm afraid it will also leave bad thoughts for that child and breed undesirable ambitions. As the adopted son of the queen, he is also considered half a legitimate son. When the time comes, it will actually harm Ji'er. Since His Majesty has already asked Li to take care of her, we should first follow His Majesty's wishes. As the Lord of the Sixth Palace, she just needs to take more care of her secretly.
It was precisely because he knew Situ Huanshuang's temperament that Huang Qiong sighed softly in his heart. He gently kissed Situ Huanshuang's small mouth and said: "It's not that I'm cruel, nor that I don't miss our past friendship. To be honest, I feel more sad about Dong Qianhong than any of you. But I can't help but Do this. To be honest, it is normal for her to have ambitions. She considers herself to be of the most noble birth among the women in the palace. But now she is just a concubine, not even a concubine."
"Shuang'er was born as the adopted daughter of the pseudo-emperor, but she has taken the position of queen. Sister Jin and Sister Yao are also noble concubines. She has been following me since Longyou. Over the years, she thinks she has made some achievements, but she can only be with Wan. Qing and the others are inferior to the three of you. In addition, she gave birth to a son, which naturally gave birth to undue ambitions. But if she really wants to be promoted to the imperial concubine, she may even want to be the empress dowager in the future. , it’s not that I can’t understand all this. If you want to make progress, you must also take the right path, not by hook or by crook.”
"Not to mention colluding with outsiders to persecute other princes, even the princes I raised outside the palace, in order to pave the way for the prince she gave birth to in the future. If King Song hadn't been stubborn and had too high vision, something would have happened to Qiao'er and her son long ago. If It's not that she didn't know about Nangong Mei's affairs, which almost caused a catastrophe. What's more, she was not just targeting Feng'er. The things she did seemed to be aimed at Feng'er on the surface, but in fact they were more aimed at you. Queen. I am not in the palace, Shuang'er is in charge of state affairs for me."
"If something really happens to Feng'er, Shuang'er is really to blame. Moreover, Sister Jin may not agree when the time comes. She wants to achieve the goal of killing two birds with one stone by getting rid of Feng'er. This kind of person should not be left behind. Even if she is imprisoned in the palace, she doesn't know how much trouble she will cause. And if she is left behind, what will other people think? Especially those who have also given birth to princes, what will they think? After having a son, you will naturally have enough confidence. Very good. How many mothers of princes don’t want their sons to ascend to the throne in the future?”
"Giving the death of Dong Qianhong can save more people. I don't want the scene of the kings fighting for the legitimate rights to appear again. In fact, she never knew that when I succeeded to the throne, I did think about promoting her as the queen. Concubine. She is below Sister Yao and Sister Jin, and above the other girls. But it was her unscrupulous approach to please me when she was in Xijing, which made me somewhat taboo. And she went behind my back in Xijing. , do you really think that I don’t know anything about my contacts with the women who stayed behind in Xijing?”
"Her ambition is too great. Not to mention Sister Yao, even Sister Shuang'er and Sister Jin are not noticed by her. Especially after Ji'er was born. She thought she had given birth to a prince, but not only did she not know how to restrain herself, but she even became more expansion. She also unscrupulously wants to pave the way for her son. I'm afraid in her eyes, only the Ji'er she gave birth to is my prince. As for my other princes, they are just stumbling blocks for Ji'er to inherit my throne in the future. That’s all. If this kind of person stays, he might lead a group of people to bad things.”
"Even if I don't want to, I have to do this in order to save more people and save more princes. No matter how reluctant I am, I have to do this for the stability of the harem. What's more, what I am most worried about is Yes, she will teach another deposed prince, a prince who acts even more unscrupulously like the King of Shu. Does Shuang'er know that among the princes who died young in the harems of past dynasties, how many of them were really seriously ill and hopeless? For the sake of the great I really don’t dare to bet on Qi’s empire.”
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, she looked at the pain that disappeared in Huang Qiong's eyes when Dong Qianhong was mentioned. He also knew that Huang Qiong, who looked bohemian, but was actually very affectionate in his heart, and Situ Huanshuang, who was probably more sad than anyone else about Dong Qianhong's incident. All he could do was sigh. Nestling in Huang Qiong's arms, feeling the man's strong heartbeat, Situ Huanshuang, who didn't know how to comfort her husband for a moment, finally raised his head and kissed Huang Qiong.
Although there was some hesitation, she finally imitated the behavior of the other girls when they were sleeping, suppressed her shyness, and took the initiative to sit on Huang Qiong's body. Seeing Situ Huanshuang's extremely rare initiative, Huang Qiong, who knew his wife's intention, did not refuse. Another cloud and rain came down, and he looked at Situ Huanshuang, who was exhausted and fell asleep nestled in his arms. Huang Qiong felt extremely distressed and tightened her hands holding Situ Huanshuang, but it was extremely rare for her to suffer from insomnia.
In the early morning of the next day, Huang Qiong got up early because there were government affairs to deal with. He held down Situ Huanshuang, who was also about to get up after seeing him getting up. After changing his clothes, Huang Qiong turned around and went to Wende Hall. When they arrived at Wende Hall, Fu Yuanshan, Lu Duan, and Yu Mingyuan were already waiting outside the hall. After waving his hands to stop a few people from making grand gestures, Huang Qiong stepped into the Wende Hall. Seeing that Huang Qiong was in a bad mood, the three of them looked at each other without knowing why.
Without saying anything else, he followed Huang Qiong into the Wende Hall. After entering the palace, the three of them did not speak. Huang Qiong took the lead and said: "Now the rebellion caused by the false emperor has been completely put down. The generals who marched south and north should be rewarded and punished. I want to be punished. Yu Aiqing and the Ministry of War must first get a list. I have decided that Cao Rui and Yu Aiqing will be promoted to Duke of Jin, and Zhao Wuye, Guo Chen, and Zhou Zhiyuan will be promoted to Marquis. Later he was demoted to the rank of noble."
"Ouyang Shan officially ascended the throne, received a double salary, and was transferred to Shanxi Roadside Army Defense Ambassador. Guo Chen was transferred to the Commander-in-Chief of the Front Division of Xijing Palace, and Zhao Wuhe was appointed Guangnan West Road Festival Envoy and Border Army Defense Ambassador. As for Cao Cao I will consider the appointment of Rui for a while. As for Yang Jiyuan, I will wait until the final clearing of the rebels in the Second Mansion of Zhangquan is completed before canonizing him. When it comes to military awards, the Privy Council and the Ministry of War must consider it more comprehensively. We must not let the meritorious soldiers feel cold."
"Didn't Liu Jinli pay such a large amount of money this time to redeem the coffin of the false emperor? In addition to the money needed for river construction and aftermath, an extra sum of money should be spent to provide adequate pensions to the families of the fallen soldiers. . The imperial court must care for the disabled soldiers. No one can become a starved and frozen corpse. The Yushitai must be involved in the whole process. Once an official is found to be embezzling pension and support money, he must be severely punished. Those meritorious soldiers must not be allowed to die , shed tears after bleeding for the imperial court.”
"If anyone reaches out in this regard and takes money that shouldn't be taken, then don't blame me for being merciless. Soldiers fought bloody battles for the country. If the soldiers are chilled and their families are left unattended when they die in battle, , no one cares about his disability, who will serve the imperial court in the future? This matter must be implemented as soon as possible, especially the matter of caring for disabled soldiers, which must not be delayed. After you go down, come up with a statement and ask for it. We must seize the time to implement it. We must ensure that they are fed, clothed, and their children have books to read.”
Hearing Huang Qiong's request, Fu Yuanshan and Lu Duan looked at each other and fell silent. Liu Jinli's atonement money had just been escorted to Beijing, and the two serious people were thinking that this year would be a relaxing year. At least part of the official salary arrears should be repaid. Part of the money and grain owed by the river workers can also be allocated to repay part of the debt owed in the past few years. In the past three years, God has opened his eyes and there have been no major floods in the Huang and Huai rivers.
The imperial court spent most of its money and food on countering the rebellion. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Finance are extremely tight on money. Over the past three years, a lot of debts have been owed in river engineering and water transportation. Now that the war has been largely extinguished, not only military expenditures can be saved, but also part of it can be saved. And now I have received such a large amount of compensation, which can just pay off the debts owed to river engineering and water transportation in the past three years. But after the Lord made such a decision, he had to spend a large amount of money and food, and now he had to plan carefully.
After three years of suppressing the rebellion, and last year's full-scale fight against Bei Liao, we fought on two fronts: the north and the south. Although the crisis was finally over, the price paid by the officers and soldiers was also huge. Last year alone, 50,000 to 60,000 officers and soldiers were killed in action and reported to the Ministry of War. There are also more than 30,000 disabled officers and soldiers who need the support of the imperial court. Whether it is pension or support money, it is a large amount. Once these two sums of money are released, I am afraid that spending all the money that has been sent to the capital may not be enough.
