Saving money? What a load of rubbish!
Hua Zisheng remained silent. The palace expenses reported by the Ministry of the Palace Attendants had increased tenfold since October.
He didn't even dare to report the expenses to His Majesty.
The Minister of Revenue, still fearless, continued, "Your Majesty, a report has arrived from Yongxing Prefecture in the Northwest, stating that a severe blizzard and ice storm have struck, causing countless deaths and injuries to people and livestock, and collapsing tens of thousands of houses. At least one million shi of relief grain is needed..."
The entire court was deathly silent; a terrifying thought was swirling in Emperor Hui's mind—
The Xie family was even more terrifying than the Wei family.
Xie Zhaozhao, that little girl who always had excellent manners and etiquette, seemed quiet and unassuming, but she was far more terrifying than Xie Chunxi!
She opened overseas shipping routes, bringing in a steady stream of supplies from abroad. She exchanged clay-fired porcelain for high-quality, abundant, and inexpensive grain, salt, iron, spices, horses, and other goods.
The price seemed very low, several times lower than the previous high-priced price, squeezing the Wei family out of the market. The imperial court was overjoyed, as if it had gained a huge advantage.
She not only amassed a fortune beyond measure, but also, like a frog slowly being boiled in water, gradually lured the entire enterprise into a trap in less than three years, eventually seizing control of it all.
Now that they are in the warm urn, they are no longer used to going outside.
When Xie was punished, she didn't make a fuss; instead, she cut off the economic lifeline of Dagan and stopped all supplies.
It's easy for all the big workers to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. The big workers are no longer used to eating salt that is bitter, astringent, and twenty times more expensive!
Having grown accustomed to buying a pound of meat for fifteen coins, which commoner wouldn't curse if they had to buy cured meat for one hundred and fifty coins a pound?
Emperor Hui panicked. The Crown Prince, who had been sitting quietly and studying, looked at Emperor Hui with fear as his mouth opened and closed: "Quickly use my sedan chair to bring Jingchen into the palace."
I gave him ten lashes, and it's been over two months, and he's still recovering?
Is his butt made of paper? I was so anxious I was about to burn down my house, while he was lying at home playing with the kids!
However, the imperial guards and eunuchs who went to fetch Zhou Shaoyu returned empty-handed.
Zhou Shaoyu didn't answer.
"Where's Jing Chen? Is he still faking illness?"
"Your Majesty, the old lady Hou fell into the latrine last night and froze to death. His Highness said that there is no greater virtue than filial piety, and a foster mother is also a mother. He will observe three years of mourning for his foster mother!"
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