Chapter 31 Disaster Relief Funds Arrived

The emperor nodded after hearing this. "The eldest brother's indecisive nature is exactly like Concubine De. The third brother is even worse. It can be said that he has no opinion of his own at all."

Li Yueyao frowned after hearing this: "This De Fei's father, Master Liu, is not extremely talented, but he is also very talented.

Why don't you teach Concubine De a lesson? Are you not going to care about the two princes?"

The emperor laughed and said, “You don’t understand this. Both the Liu and Su families came from the Hanlin Academy, but the Su family can be the Taifu.

Except for Defei's father, the other members of the Liu family did not hold high official positions.

Because the Su family emphasizes applying what they have learned and believes that true knowledge comes from practice.

The Liu family studied for the sake of studying.

This is the difference between the two families, and also the difference between the virtuous concubine and the virtuous concubine."

Li Yueyao sighed and said, "The second son is quite straightforward and his instructions are clear and concise. But he can't see things far ahead, which is a drawback."

The emperor sighed and said, "Second brother, your appearance and personality are similar to the Duke of Zhenguo in every way. This is not surprising."

Li Yueyao said, "The Crown Prince is the youngest, but he has his own opinions. Although his views are not as accurate and comprehensive as the Fourth Prince's, they are still pretty good."

"Well, the prince is more stable than the second brother, more opinionated than the third brother, and more decisive than the eldest brother.

Apart from the fourth brother, there is the prince.

The remaining ones are still too small to be seen for the time being."

Li Yueyao said, "The virtuous concubine has been secluded in the palace for many years, and the fourth prince has rarely seen her. It is rare for her to grow up like this."

The emperor shook his head and said, "Fourth Brother, you have been able to draw inferences from one instance since you were young. I knew it from the beginning, but the virtuous concubine has always taught you to hide your shortcomings.

According to Concubine Xian, the prince is older and smarter than the crown prince, which makes him a thorn in the queen's side.

The virtuous concubine has not come out in these years, but the right prime minister and the grand tutor have been teaching the fourth prince in secret.

It is only natural that the Fourth Brother has grown up like this, and it is also what I expected."

Li Yueyao laughed and said, "Your Majesty, you must have kept this in your heart for many years."

"Yes. Over the years, the virtuous concubine has not left the palace, and I have rarely asked about the fourth prince. I may have wanted to protect him.

I am not that foolish. The inheritance of this country is more important than anything else."

Li Yueyao asked with a smile: "What if the imperial concubine has a child?"

The emperor smiled and replied, "It depends on the child's condition."

Li Yueyao sighed and said nothing.

The emperor waited a moment and said, "It seems to be almost noon, and Zhaoqing hasn't arrived yet?"

"Well, Gan Qing has already gone to keep an eye on it personally."

Li Yueyao took a sip of tea.

After a while, the emperor hesitated and asked, "How is the investigation going in the harem of Concubine Xian?"

Li Yueyao looked up at the emperor and said with a half-smile, "Why don't you go ask Concubine Xian yourself?"

The emperor lowered his head in embarrassment and touched his nose.

"You didn't manage it yesterday?"

Li Yueyao looked the emperor up and down, marveling at him.

"What? People don't buy your story?"

The emperor lowered his eyes to the ground and said nothing.

"Your Majesty, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you're getting worse and worse. You can't even coax a woman."

The emperor looked up at Li Yueyao and said, "Weiyang is different from ordinary women."

"What's the difference? Delicious food, delicious drinks, fun things, clothes, jewelry, ancient books, can't I just cater to their tastes?"

Li Yueyao said unhappily.

The emperor heard this and said, "This trick didn't work on her before, how could it work now? I'm afraid she won't accept it."

Li Yueyao stared at the emperor blankly: "Are you stupid? Your gift only represents half of the story. The other half represents your attitude.

And she has opened the palace gate and come out, which means she wants to reconcile with you.

She's a woman and she's embarrassed to speak up, so why don't you take the initiative?"

The emperor nodded and said, "How about some ancient books?"

Li Yueyao glared at the emperor again: "Didn't you see the clothes she wore yesterday? They were made of material from a long time ago.

There was only one jade hairpin on her head, plain as could be."

The emperor nodded and said, "Yes, I understand. I will do it right away."

After saying this, the emperor walked away.

Li Yueyao was stunned for a moment: "Your Majesty, are you not waiting for Zhaoqing?"

"Just deal with it as you see fit."

The emperor said this as he walked out.

At three quarters past four in the morning, Zhaoqing entered the palace, followed by a group of people carrying several large boxes.

Li Yueyao asked them to put the box in the meeting room next door, where the Minister of Revenue Jiang Xun was already sitting and drinking a cup of tea.

"Minister Jiang, please count it. One million and one hundred thousand taels seems to be a lot less."

Jiang Xun looked at the large boxes in front of him, walked forward and opened them one by one, and the white silver was dazzling.

Li Yueyao was afraid that Zhao Qing was fooling her, so she waved her hand and the eunuchs around her came forward to check every box of silver and every layer.

After confirming that everything was correct, Jiang Xun showed a look of joy and thanked Li Yueyao repeatedly.

After the two sat down, Li Yueyao looked at Jiang Xun and said, "Minister Jiang, our treasury is empty. Do you have any strategy to fill it?"

After hearing this, Jiang Xun's mood instantly became low and his face became sad.

"Your Highness, this is exactly what worries me. I wonder if Your Highness has any good suggestions?"

Li Yueyao thought for a moment and said, "To replenish the national treasury, generally speaking, there are two directions: increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.

In these two directions, cost saving is important, but opening up sources of revenue is more important.

I have been very busy lately, so you should go back first and organize your colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue to discuss together, pool your wisdom, and come up with some strategies.

I have recently taken the time to write a detailed open source plan.

Let’s find time to meet up some other day.”

Jiang Xun nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said, "I obey your order."

After Jiang Xun left, Li Yueyao came to the side hall and looked at Zhaoqing, who was sitting on a chair with his head down.

His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and he looked very tired.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you sleep all night?" Li Yueyao asked.

When Zhaoqing heard Li Yueyao's question, it was like he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Aunt, please save me, save me."

After hearing this, Li Yueyao stopped and looked at Zhaoqing, who was like a frightened bird, very puzzled.

"Aunt, I had a dream all night last night. My father, the emperor, and my mother kept appearing in my dream, and I was about to be beaten to death by them.

Aunt, I really know I was wrong. Please think of a way to save me... Aunt..."

Li Yueyao laughed after hearing this. The emperor's brother and sister-in-law were so supportive.

Then he pretended to be surprised and said, "Your brother's decree has been drafted. He is going to take back your fiefdom and the title of the eldest princess as well.

Do you know you are wrong now?"

Zhao Qing was horrified when he heard this. "No, no, it's impossible. My brother would never do this to me. No."

After saying that, he ran out of the side hall in panic and went to the door of the main hall.

Sun Fu stopped Zhao Qing from entering, but Zhao Qing found the strength from nowhere and pushed Sun Fu away.

Push open the temple door and go in.

Li Yueyao slowly caught up from behind with a ruler in hand.

He waved to Sun Fu, Wu Le and the others, and they stopped and watched Zhao Qing enter the Taiji Palace.

The emperor had just arranged for someone to send a bunch of things to Concubine Xian, but then he remembered that Concubine Xian loved orchids, so he prepared to personally draw a set of orchid headwear for her.

Just as I started writing, I heard a commotion at the door.

Then the palace gate was pushed open and Zhaoqing ran in in panic.

Seeing his sister, the emperor immediately became angry. He put down his pen and angrily shouted, "How shameless!"

"Royal brother, Royal brother, you can't take back my fiefdom, you can't..." Zhao Qing shouted at the top of his voice.

When Li Yueyao stepped over the threshold of Taiji Palace, she saw Zhaoqing pulling the emperor's sleeve and swinging back and forth, crying and begging.

"Stand up and speak properly."

The emperor pulled his sleeve away, then turned around and sat on the throne in the hall, looking down at Zhaoqing.