The Song Dynasty was very wealthy.

But its wealth is mainly concentrated in the scholar-official class and the military class.

The people will remain poor and destitute.

The literati were not only officials but also businessmen. While receiving salaries from the court, they also expanded their business empire.

For example, Lü Yijian, Song Shou, Xia Song, Chen Zhizhong and others, which one of them was not a descendant of aristocratic family, and whose ancestors were all from wealthy and powerful families?

These people have accumulated family wealth for generations. We cannot say that they are rich as a country, but they are still wealthy.

But compared with the generals, it is far inferior.

Because the Song Dynasty gave the generals extremely generous treatment, after they were given the power to release the generals with a cup of wine, in addition to the nominal high positions and generous salaries, they also received a large number of rewards.

For example, the History of Song Dynasty records that Shi Shouxin's family "had accumulated a huge amount of wealth and was very wealthy at home." They also lent money at high interest rates and were involved in all walks of life.

There is also the Wang Shenqi family, known as the "Nine Courtyard Wangs", who own nine luxurious mansions in the land-scarce city of Bianliang.

Gao Huaide's family owned countless fields and shops in Bianliang, and seven of their five generations were crowned kings.

Dozens of other founding generals of the Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi eras, including Cao Bin, Li Chongju, Guo Shouwen, Zhang Lingduo, etc., were also very wealthy.

The rewards they received every year alone were countless, not to mention the fact that they relied on the power in their hands to do business in Bianliang. For example, many of Bianliang's famous restaurants, tea houses, gambling houses, and brothels were controlled by the military.

Therefore, the high-ranking officials and senior generals in Bianliang were really rich.

June 30th.

As night fell, inside Kunning Hall, a young woman sat calmly waiting.

She only put on light makeup, her face was not beautiful, and even revealed a cold and stern look, like an iceberg.

Not long ago, Wang Shouzhong, the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, came to report to Empress Cao that the emperor planned to stay overnight in Kunning Palace today, and asked the empress to be ready to welcome him.

Empress Cao was quite surprised. Although she had been married to the emperor for two years, they did not have much affection for each other. The emperor had come to her only a few times in the past two years. How come he had time to come to Kunning Palace today?

However, despite the accident, Empress Cao still followed the procedure, bathed and changed her clothes, put on some light makeup, and waited quietly in the palace.

By the beginning of the hour of Hai, the official sedan chair had already arrived outside the Kunning Palace.

Zhao Zhen got off the sedan chair, and the palace maids and eunuchs outside the hall bowed to him. After entering the palace, he saw Queen Cao sitting on the chair. His steps paused slightly, and his expression was quite complicated.

Empress Cao stood up and bowed to Zhao Zhen: "Your Majesty, I greet you. May your Majesty be blessed."

"Stand up."

Zhao Zhen said lightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Queen Cao's tone was also very flat, and she did not seem very happy about Zhao Zhen's arrival.

There are dozens of beauties in the harem, but the favor belongs to Concubine Zhang and Imperial Attendant Miao, and it seems that they have nothing to do with Empress Cao.

For the two of them, their conversations and daily lives do not seem like those of a couple at all. Instead, they are more like strangers who have only met a few times.

When Zhao Zhen saw Empress Cao's appearance, he felt disgusted for no reason. He really hated Empress Cao's attitude towards him.

But thinking that he still had something to ask of the generals, and remembering Zhao Jun's evaluation of Empress Cao as a virtuous queen, he finally went up. After a little hesitation, he took Empress Cao's hand and said, "I have been busy with state affairs recently, and I have neglected the queen."

Empress Cao bowed again and said, "Your Majesty is busy with countless affairs every day, and it is only natural for you to work hard for state affairs. I will do my best to fulfill my duty and share your worries without any complaints."

Zhao Zhen said, "It's late, Queen, please go to bed with me."

"yes."

Empress Cao followed Zhao Zhen to the rear palace.

The palace maids in the bedroom helped them take off their outer clothes, then blew out the candles, and the two of them lay down on the bed as if it were a routine.

No one moved.

Zhao Zhen reluctantly hugged Empress Cao, feeling the calm breathing beside him. He didn't have many thoughts, but just said: "The imperial physician said that my health is not very good and asked me to be less filial. These days I have been living in the wooden house in the back garden and have rarely come to the harem."

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health."

"I have ordered people not to enter the back garden these days. I hope the Queen is not unhappy."

"I don't like to move around, but that's fine. It was Lady Zhang and Master Yu who wanted to go to the back garden but were stopped, and they came to me to complain."

"Um.....let's not talk about them. Is there anything uncomfortable about the Queen living in this palace?"

"I think it's okay."

"Oh, some people say that the materials used in the palace are not of good quality and will make people sick easily."

"Your Majesty, are you planning to renovate the palace?"

"There's not much money in the national treasury or the imperial treasury, so where would we get the money to repair it? The border is unstable, and we need military support."

"oh."

The two of them chatted casually, like two unfamiliar neighbors chatting in the corridor.

After a long while, Zhao Zhen suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Does the Queen know that Bianliang has now opened a Jiaozi service. After depositing money, you will receive Jiaozi notes, and you can withdraw money anywhere in the Song Dynasty?"

"I heard it from the eunuchs who went out to buy things."

Empress Cao responded.

Seeing that she wasn't very understanding, Zhao Zhen tried to test her, "I remember that the Cao family is involved in many businesses. Wouldn't it be much more convenient to deposit the money in a Jiaozi shop?"

“…”

Queen Cao fell silent.

The house became quiet.

Time passed minute by minute, Zhao Zhen didn't say anything, his brows were furrowed, and he looked slightly dissatisfied.

Isn’t what I said clear enough?

But after a while, Zhao Zhen suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

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