Xie Yuan was unaware of the Empress Dowager and her daughter's plans; she was very busy, extremely busy.
After the first month of the lunar calendar and the funeral of Empress Ashina, there was still a lot of follow-up work to be done.
Those palace maids and eunuchs involved were all sent to Chang'an to do hard labor.
Furthermore, the numerous spies planted by the Turks in the capital were all uncovered by the combined efforts of the Imperial Guards and Embroidered Uniform Envoys.
These people, except those who had taken lives and were sentenced to death according to the law, were all taken to Chang'an.
Ahem, the new city of Chang'an is already under construction, and tens of thousands of troops have been sent there, which is just enough.
This is a huge construction site, and without large equipment, manpower is the only means to make up for the shortfall.
Therefore, Helian Jue and Xie Yuanquan sent all the people who needed to be exiled to Chang'an.
If possible, Xie Yuan would prefer to personally oversee the construction.
That's Chang'an, the future new capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
From the relocation of the capital to the new city, Xie Yuan devoted himself to the project.
Xie Yuan admitted that she was indeed a construction fanatic at heart.
While in Lingnan, the construction of the two new cities of Hexian and Yueya gave her a profound experience of the joy of infrastructure development.
However, those two new cities are nothing compared to Chang'an, a massive city that can accommodate a million people.
Xie Yuan referenced the historical Chang'an, and in this planning, he also set up Zhuque Avenue, East and West Markets, and 108 wards.
In addition to professional underground drainage facilities and numerous urban construction projects, Xie Yuan also incorporated some modern design elements.
It can be said that the new city of Chang'an embodies Xie Yuan's hard work, dreams, and aspirations.
Besides these matters, Xie Yuan also had to help Helian Jue prepare for the expedition.
The most important thing is food supplies.
"Fortunately, during the years I was in Lingnan, I had people cultivate the Champa rice variety."
After several years of repeated selection and hybridization techniques, the old farmers Xie Yuan found have indeed produced high-yield, drought-resistant, and short-maturity varieties.
"It may not taste as good as the original rice variety, but it's enough to fill our stomachs."
In this era, a wise and benevolent ruler is one who can ensure that the people have enough to eat.
It's important to understand that in this time and space, rice wasn't even a high-quality grain that ordinary people could afford to eat.
Ordinary people mostly still eat bean rice or wheat rice.
Xie Yuan had tried it a few times, and it was really hard to swallow and digest.
She had to be thankful that the body she had transmigrated into came from a good family and that she had married Helian Jue.
Otherwise, if it were ordinary people, or even slaves—
Hehe, Xie Yuan thought it would be better if she died again and saw if she could travel back in time!
In ancient times, without status or special advantages, life was incredibly difficult.
Xie Yuan was fortunate to possess both a prestigious status and countless historical skills that transcended time and space; she instinctively wanted to do something.
Perhaps, with her own strength, she is simply unable to change the world, nor can she improve the quality of the national economy and people's livelihood in the short term.
However, by doing it little by little, slowly and steadily, Xie Yuan believed that as long as he did it, it was no worse than not doing it at all!
Improving grain varieties was one of the things Xie Yuan had to do.
"Your Majesty, I would like to try planting this superior seed in a few prefectures and counties."
Xie Yuan knew that every new type of seed needed a process to be widely promoted.
Even potatoes and corn, which are well-known must-haves for time travelers, underwent a long process of promotion throughout history.
Over the decades, and with the arrival of the terrible Little Ice Age, the people finally got used to this crop.
Xie Yuan was the Empress, holding a high position, and she had a great influence on Helian Jue.
She could issue orders to various prefectures and counties through Helian Jue, thereby promoting the rice variety.
But Xie Yuan didn't want to do that!
Forcing a showdown is a poor strategy. Only when officials and ordinary people truly see the benefits of rice will they be willing to plant it.
"Very well! You choose a few locations, and I'll send people to arrange them!"
Helian Jue had complete trust in Xie Yuan.
He also complied with her requests to the fullest extent.
Therefore, Helian Jue agreed without even asking.
Xie Yuan was naturally happy that her husband was so supportive.
However, she still felt overwhelmed.
Upon returning to the capital and becoming Empress, Xie Yuan also dealt with the wicked mother-in-law who was always holding him back in the palace. However, he then faced the same predicament he had encountered when he first went to Lingnan—nobody was around!
She promoted and gave important positions to many talented people in Lingnan.
However, we need to arrange for people to stay in Lingnan, and the scale of the capital is larger than that of Yuezhou, so it requires more talent.
Putting aside everything else, the number of female officials around Xie Yuan alone was not enough.
Zheng Yurong, Zhao Jinxiu, Zhao Jinse, and even former maids Ruyi and Jinzhi were all promoted to female officials by Xie Yuan.
Luo Peiyu and several palace servants then took charge of the Embroidered Robe Envoy.
Xie Yuan also assigned important tasks to some orphaned girls he had adopted, as well as orphans of soldiers.
As Xie Yuan's work progressed, his need for talent became increasingly urgent.
"It seems we have to think of another way!"
"A female official is not a palace maid. It's not enough to just be loyal; she must at least be literate!"
Xie Yuan sighed inwardly amidst his busy schedule.
She wasn't the original owner of this body, and she didn't have any trusted confidantes in either the capital or her hometown of Jiankang.
Moreover, Helian Jue was a young new emperor, and in the vast palace, there was only one empress, Xie Yuan.
If Xie Yuan rashly summons some noble ladies into the palace, it will easily become the subject of gossip.
No one believed that Xie Yuan intended to make good use of women. Many people only used their sordid thoughts to speculate about Xie Yuan—was Empress Xie making so many "female officials" for her own benefit, or to collect beauties for the emperor?
"Are there any widowed officials' wives or noble ladies who have become nuns because of marriage in the capital?"
Xie Yuan summoned Luo Peiyu and asked her to investigate and gather information carefully, and then submit a list of findings.
Perhaps if a marriage goes wrong or she becomes a widow, people will have fewer doubts.
In addition, some of the disgraced women from noble families who were punished and sent to the palace as slaves could also be selected from among them.
The historical Shangguan Wan'er was a palace slave discovered and promoted by the Empress.
Just as Xie Yuan was busy recruiting talented people, a palace maid from the Empress Dowager's palace came to invite him.
Xie Yuan had a fairly good impression of this Empress Dowager.
The late emperor's birth mother and Helian Jue's maternal grandmother, she was older and of higher generation, but she never caused trouble like Empress Dowager Ashina.
They would quietly stay in their palaces, watching the maids and eunuchs play shuttlecock, jump rope, or eat and drink.
When Helian Jue ascended the throne and Xie Yuan returned to the palace, the Empress Dowager was the first to respond positively to the couple's many actions.
She also restrained the willful and domineering Princess Yongchang.
With her in charge, the imperial clan members were generally respectful and obedient to the emperor and empress, and no trouble was caused.
However, this was the first time they had taken the initiative to send someone to invite Xie Yuan.
For some inexplicable reason, Xie Yuan had a bad feeling...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
