Chapter 105 Puji Poor Nun, Her Layman Name: Zhou Pei
After falsely claiming the land as his own, Su Chasang, the Minister of Revenue, submitted a memorial requesting to retire due to serious illness and inability to care for himself.
Xun Shutai, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
When Xun Shutai took office, he was handed over a mountain of messy accounts from the Ministry of Revenue and the Department of Agriculture and Sericulture. The task of inventorying land taxes was extremely difficult. After deliberation by the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Censorate, Qiu Renshan, who had previously assisted in managing agriculture and sericulture, was transferred to be the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Qiu Renshan's transfer back to the Ministry of Revenue was proposed by Xun Shutai. The Ministry of Personnel rejected the proposal once on the grounds that Qiu's family had a bad reputation and that he had been demoted before. It was only after the Censor-in-Chief Jiang Xiantang made the final decision that Qiu was nominated to Xie Yuan.
Qiu Renshan was someone Xie Wenjun had used. Xie Yuan was initially unwilling to appoint him, but at that time, the Ministry of Revenue's accounts had less than a million taels of silver. The military expenses required for the southern border and the western ridge were quite large, and solving the immediate problem was more important. Therefore, he issued the appointment edict.
When the military report from the southern border was delivered to Xie Yuan's desk once again, all the civil and military officials in the hall dared not even breathe loudly.
Xie Yuan slammed his fist on the imperial desk and roared, "The war has turned out like this, and Heng Miao still has the nerve to ask me for money! Guards, draft an edict to tell Heng Miao that if he fails to capture Nanzhou, I will kill him!"
The Ministry of Revenue's accounts are tight, and it can't allocate much money to build more warships for the Southern Border. Xun Shutai asked, "Your Majesty, what should be done about the supply of provisions for the Southern Border?"
"What is the purpose of your Ministry of Revenue?!"
Xun Shutai listened to the reprimand with his head down.
Xie Yuan pointed a finger at his face, "What are you standing there for? Go and raise the funds. Are you suggesting we abandon the battle halfway through?"
After the morning court session ended, the officials returned to their respective offices.
Xun Shutai and Cheng Lingdian were left alone in Chongzheng Hall.
Xie Yuan propped his forehead up and asked, "Has Jiangning really stopped paying attention to grain taxes?"
Cheng Lingdian said, "Your Majesty, after the Princess returned to her residence from the Taihuang Temple, she entrusted all the annual accounts of the National Agriculture and Sericulture Bureau and the fish-scale map stored in the Lantai to the Zhongshu, and never inquired about them again."
Xie Yuan sighed. He never expected that Jiang Ning would truly stop interfering in agriculture and sericulture, and he never anticipated that in just three months, all that would remain for him was a series of chaotic accounts.
Xie Yuan summoned Yan Feng and asked him, "What has the Princess been doing lately?"
The Prosecutor's Office is now in charge of public opinion.
"Princess, are you farming?"
Xie Yuan couldn't believe his ears for a moment. "Farming? Can she even lift a hoe? She's been weak since childhood, barely surviving. I've never shortchanged the Princess's family on her salary and rewards, so what is she farming?"
Yan Feng said, "The Princess summoned a group of disciples from Lingjiu Academy to ponder how to make each ear of grain produce more seeds on the fertile land granted to her residence. The residence was filled with wood shavings all day long, and many water conservancy tools such as waterwheels, buckets, scoops, and well pulleys were made. The flowers and weeds in the back garden of the Princess's residence were also cleared away, and I heard that vegetable seeds were sown."
Xie Yuan frowned. "She hasn't been involved in court affairs anymore?"
Yan Feng said, "I haven't inquired about it. But the people in the Princess's residence said that the weather is crucial for farming, and since they can't be sure about wind and rain, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau has to send a weather report to the Princess's residence every day."
Xie Yuan said, "Let her be."
Yan Feng said, "Your Majesty, the Eldest Princess brought Princess Roujia from the Imperial Garden to her residence and had those eunuchs and old women in the Imperial Garden beaten to death."
A hint of guilt flashed in Xie Yuan's eyes.
He truly felt guilty towards Roujia. Xie Wenjun had beaten the servant who served Roujia in the imperial garden to death; he could guess the reason without asking further. Since Roujia was leaving the palace, it was better for her to go to the Princess's residence; the Empress would be more at ease. They would make further plans after the Empress gave birth to the imperial heir.
"You may leave."
Upon hearing this, Yan Feng took his leave.
Xun Shutai and Cheng Lingdian exchanged glances and said, "We take our leave."
"Come back." Xie Yuan beckoned.
Xun Shuheng and Cheng Lingdian turned around and waited in the main hall, awaiting instructions.
"Come closer."
The two of them walked forward four or five steps in unison.
Xie Yuan inwardly scolded the two for being stupid and incompetent, his face showing disdain as he mumbled something indistinctly.
Separated by an imperial desk, neither Xun Shutai nor Cheng Lingdian could hear what Xie Yuan had just mumbled.
They exchanged a glance. "Huh?"
Xie Yuan was even more disgusted.
Those words seemed to have made him extremely embarrassed. Xie Yuan covered his mouth and nose with his hand and repeated them in a daze, "I said, if Jiang Ning doesn't care, can't you go to the Princess's residence to ask for advice?" He was practically grinding his teeth to powder.
Xun Shutai said, "Your humble servant will also go."
Xie Yuan waved his hand, dismissing the two men. He had been unable to sleep or eat properly these past few days, and his stomach was now empty. There were only two plates of soft white cakes on his desk. He glanced at them and ordered them to be removed.
Zheng Hechuan ran all the way here as if he had some great news to report. As soon as he entered the palace, he called out, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
Xie Yuan was overjoyed and took two quick steps out from behind the imperial desk. "Has the Empress come to express her gratitude?"
Since Xun Shutai was promoted to Minister of Revenue, it was only right and proper for the Empress to come to Chongzheng Hall to express her gratitude.
"Her Majesty the Empress did not come."
Xie Yuan's expression darkened instantly, as if he had been struck by frost.
Zheng Hechuan presented an item: "Your Majesty, an urgent military report from Xiling: the Grand General has achieved a great victory in the first battle!"
Xie Yuan hurriedly opened the military report, and upon reading it, a hint of joy finally appeared on his face. "Go to Fengyi Palace and tell the Empress about Roujia being taken to Jiangning Prefecture and the great victory at Xiling. Perhaps she will feel better after hearing it."
"Yes, this servant will go right away."
"Don't go. Prepare the carriage; I will go myself."
"yes."
This was the sixth year of the Zhenyuan era, in early summer.
That year, many female students from Lingjiu Academy graduated and were sent to various places for further study by Gu Xie. Yan Nian took a group to Zhudong to develop water conservancy; another group stayed at the Princess's residence to study agriculture and sericulture; and the rest also took their skills and went to various places to practice what they had learned.
Starting from this year, the imperial court issued a proclamation to the world, promoting a policy of mutual trade.
Shen Yan rushed back from the Northern Border Shuofang trade route day and night, recruiting all the students from Lingjiu Academy who were learning the ways of business, fearing that if she was too slow, they would be gone.
The ensuing trouble was that after the Emperor ordered the abolition of the women's examinations, Lingjiu Academy had not accepted any new students. The remaining students were few in number, and now they had all left, leaving the academy empty. News of Lingjiu Academy's recruitment of new students spread quickly, and more and more people came to study there. Gu Xie had no choice but to add an entrance examination.
After thinking it over and over, I realized it wouldn't work.
So he had no choice but to drive over to Xie Wenjun for advice.
High ridges were built across hundreds of acres of land, each planted with different crops. Xie Wenjun ordered the imperial inspectors from various regions to bring back grain and vegetable seeds, which were then planted separately. Some seeds had already sprouted, while others remained barren.
Gu Xie gathered the long hem of his coat into a ball, held it on his knees, and squatted unceremoniously on a ridge of a field.
Xie Wenjun was picking a few golden wheat ears for Roujia.
Roujia leaned in and sniffed, and when the wheat awn poked her nostril, she opened her mouth wide and sneezed.
Xie Wenjun laughed, looking up as she led Roujia across a row of wheat. She said to Gu Xie, "You insist on wearing this outfit, so you're just standing there talking. From a distance, it looks like you're visiting my grave."
On the day of Daiqing's marriage, Gu Xie took off his mourning clothes, but only for one day before he put them back on when he returned to Lingjiu Academy.
"Others wear mourning clothes and stay at home, but you walk around the streets all day, showing your face in public. What are you doing wearing this hemp cloth?"
The mourning clothes worn during the mourning period are left unstitched, with uneven hems, giving off a ostentatious air as if they want outsiders to know that someone in their family has died.
Fortunately, Gu Xie had some reservations and didn't wear a hemp mourning band around his head when he came out to meet people. Gu Xie said, "I am merely expressing my remembrance of my deceased husband; is this not even allowed?"
"Let's get down to business."
Gu Xie then said, "Your Highness, in your opinion, is it better for skills to be passed down from top to bottom or from bottom to top? My initial intention was simply to let the girls learn a skill so they could have a means to make a living. Unexpectedly, the number of people coming to study this year is so large that the academy has had to add an examination. Most of those who pass the examination are children from wealthy families. These people are already well-off and do not lack skills to make a living; they are mostly here to enhance their social standing. My concern is that if the skills that people rely on for survival fall into the hands of the wealthy first, how will the girls from poor families have the opportunity to learn them in the future?"
"On the other hand, wealthy families inevitably have to pay more tuition fees for their children's education, and the academy cannot continue to rely on His Highness's private funds for subsidies."
Xie Wenjun said, "Now that you've thought it through, can't you come up with a solution that satisfies both sides?"
Gu Xie said, “Yesterday, a woman came to the academy to see me. She was a nun from Jingci Nunnery. Your Highness may have heard of the Puji Hall of Jingci Nunnery, which was set up by this nun. She said that she hoped I could select some intelligent abandoned children from the Puji Hall to enroll in the academy. They are all very clever girls. If I do not accept them here, these children will be driven down the mountain when they are a little older, and they may fall into the hands of human traffickers and be sold somewhere.”
Yuan Rong, holding an umbrella, led Rou Jia to a shady spot under a tree to escape the heat, and also brought a wooden stool for Gu Xie.
Xie Wenjun sat in the shade of the tree canopy and said, "Go ahead and choose. As usual, I will make up for their repair costs."
Gu Xie said, "My idea is to divide Lingjiu Academy into an upper and a middle academy. The repair fees paid by the wealthy households in the upper academy can cover the expenses of the middle academy, so Your Highness will not need to make any additional subsidies. This way, both can be achieved."
The sound of galloping hooves came from behind.
Rong Jun rode his horse back at breakneck speed, his robes tucked with trinkets he had bought at the nearby market, and he held in his hand several strings of glistening, red candied hawthorns.
The toys were laid out on a table.
Xie Wenjun immediately wanted to send Rong Jun to the Imperial Stud to feed horses.
Tangram puzzles, nine-linked rings, Luban locks… the only things that caught Roujia's attention were a beautifully cut paper windmill and an edible candied hawthorn. Roujia didn't even glance at the others.
Rong Jun started pulling his hair again.
"Your Highness loved playing with these things when you were young, why doesn't Your Highness like them as much?"
Gu Xie glanced at the pile of things, then at Rong Jun, wanting to say something. After careful consideration, he said, "Lord Rong, with your brain, why don't you come to this academy and study with the girls for two years?"
What's wrong with me?
Gu Xie shook his head and sighed.
Rong Jun rummaged through the pile of things on the table but couldn't find anything wrong with them.
Until Xie Wenjun said, "She doesn't understand."
It was like a sudden enlightenment.
Rong Jun scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, and said, "I'll make some kites for His Highness to play with another day." He divided the candied hawthorns he had bought, giving one to Roujia first, and Xie Wenjun, Yuan Rong, and Gu Xie each received a skewer.
Xie Wenjun only took a bite of half a hawthorn before putting the candied hawthorn skewer on the table. "Sour," she muttered, gazing into the distance.
The wheat is ripe.
It's a harvest season.
Roujia chewed lightly, sugar crumbs falling onto her clothes. Xie Wenjun flicked them away swiftly and decisively.
Gu Xie shook his head again, his sigh growing louder.
Princess Roujia's fate was sealed as she fell into the hands of these two. It's hard to imagine what kind of character Xie Wenjun, who is so inept at raising children, could possibly raise.
Xie Wenjun said, "Bring the nun who established the Puji Hall to see me."
Gu Xie agreed.
Not long after, they brought the person to the Princess's residence.
At that time, Xie Wenjun was discussing with the craftsmen how to improve the water pumping wheel, and they made many model wheels, with wood chips flying everywhere. Gu Xie waited until noon before Xie Wenjun returned to his palace to wash up.
Xie Wenjun took a bath and changed into a moon-white gauze dress before going to see her guests.
Standing in the front hall was a nun dressed in a light blue robe and cloth shoes. She was not tall, had a slender figure, but her posture was unusually straight.
"This humble nun pays her respects to the Princess."
Xie Wenjun approached her, and in a daze, she recalled a long-forgotten event. It happened quite some years ago, so long ago that Xie Wenjun couldn't be sure if the nun in front of her had anything to do with it.
After Ci Gu Xie and the nun were seated, Xie Wenjun asked, "May I ask what your name was before you became a nun?"
The nun was stunned.
Monks renounce their secular names and take Dharma names to signify their renunciation of worldly life; therefore, it is not common for people to ask about a monk's original name. After a moment's thought, she answered this presumptuous question.
"Your Highness, my secular name is Zhou Pei."
Author's note: Jiang Ning: You're unhappy if I interfere, but you're also unhappy if I don't interfere.
So much time has passed, I wonder if anyone still remembers Zhou Pei.
I love this chapter; a brief moment of peace and tranquility amidst the scheming and intrigue.
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