And me too?
Su Wan suddenly felt that if Xie Pei were a MLM master in modern times, he would be very powerful!
First, he took her to the inner palace to see the true face of Lady Qiang, and then he showed her two documents step by step.
This made her realize more and more that the foreign tribes in the northwest had bad intentions and wanted to disrupt the Tianxiang Kingdom.
Not to mention the order of heaven or the order of Hua and Yi, Su Wan felt uncomfortable just thinking that the Shiyi clan, which had annexed the Luandu clan, wanted to use the dispute over the position of the crown prince to plunge the Tianxiang Kingdom into civil strife.
Anyone who maliciously provokes a war should be cut into pieces.
Su Wan seldom said such words in her heart, but being cut into pieces was the least of her worries.
When she had this thought, Xie Pei added that Tianxiang Country still had her. Wasn't this obviously wanting her to give more advice?
As to whether she is a princeling or not, it doesn’t really matter.
But she really didn't want to say much on weekdays. After all, whether it was Xie Pei or not, five of the six grand secretaries already had a good relationship with Xie Pei, and the other one originally supported the second prince, but now he basically didn't speak, and he would probably retire by the end of the year. The person who took over must be Xie Pei's man.
The six ministers basically all sided with Xie Pei. Even the two neutral ones had never had any conflicts with Xie Pei.
With such a huge think tank, do we still need her?
But after all this trouble, and just to make her promise to say whatever she wants in the future, isn't this a bit too much?
Could it be that Xie Pei is the male protagonist of Qidian who is trying to win over his younger followers?
Wow, this looks quite interesting.
Su Wan said, "I am indeed here. I will try my best to do everything I can."
"You are the prince. Normally, we are all your subjects."
The first sentence was fine, but the second sentence made Xie Pei's mouth, which was about to rise, bend down, so he had to emphasize: "You and I are different, and we are different from many people."
Su Wan nodded, obviously not taking it to heart.
I just think that the male protagonist of Qidian is awesome. He said this as if she is very special.
In fact, they are all his think tank.
After the chat, Su Wan asked again: "Then what are you going to do? If she wants to sow discord between you and the eldest prince, she shouldn't have a chance, right?"
At that time, the Saint, the eldest prince, the second prince, and their mothers joined forces, but they were unable to shake Xie Pei's position.
So what should we do now?
Su Wan just said it, and then said in surprise: "The body of the saint."
"Beauty Qiang slandered you for poisoning the Saint. Is she using this to bring you down?"
It is possible.
The saint is certain that it was Xie Pei who poisoned him, and he must hate Xie Pei very much now. He hated him before, but the person he hated was Xie Pei's biological mother, Queen Ding. Now that he has been provoked like this, the person he hates has become him.
People who tend to think too deeply will become very sensitive, suspicious, and like to be jealous.
These saints have it all.
It’s not that he is easily deceived, but he and Xie Pei already have a grudge. Even if it is not Xie Pei’s fault now, he will still accuse him of a crime.
When you don't like someone, everything that person does is wrong.
Not to mention, the investigation into the poisoning incident revealed that it was Xie Pei who did it.
But from this point of view, there is probably more than one beautiful lady around the saint.
"No matter what they want to do, his thoughts are not important. What's important is the spies of the Shiyi clan." Xie Pei said, "During this period of time, we will eradicate them first."
Xie Pei obviously had a plan in place.
It doesn't matter that she is just a beautiful lady. There must be an organization behind her that she is connected to. What is important is to unravel the mystery and find the network that transmits all the messages.
Su Wan suddenly thought of something: "Porcelain Warehouse."
“The porcelain warehouse where the craftsmen worked.”
The two craftsmen fled to the northwest pass and tried to contact their families in the Luandu tribe, but unexpectedly they contacted the Shiyi tribe that destroyed the Luandu tribe.
Since they have explained everything that happened in the palace, they must have also told about what happened in the porcelain warehouse.
The beautiful lady Qiang might even be able to enter based on her relationship with the porcelain storehouse.
If I remember correctly, there were some outsiders in the porcelain warehouse. I'm not sure if they were from the Luandu tribe, but after all, it was normal to have a few close friends over the past decade.
Xie Pei was reminded by Su Wan and had another direction to explore.
The late emperor was really bold and was not afraid of having foreigners around him at all.
But if you think about it carefully, this is normal. After all, the two craftsmen who escaped didn't even want to go back to the outside of the Great Wall. Even if they made a big mistake, they still wanted to stay in Tianxiang Kingdom. This shows the difference.
Those clans who have been eyeing the territory of Tianxiang Kingdom must also be jealous of the stable life here.
But what if they were jealous? Since they were originally a vassal state, they had already been given enough preferential treatment. The national treasury was so poor at the beginning of the year, but they were not allowed to go back empty-handed. They almost exchanged one hundred for one.
It's like having a poor relative who not only takes advantage of you normally, but also gets to eat and take things when he finally comes.
Is this normal? It's not normal at all.
What an ungrateful person.
Let’s not talk about the Shiyi clan for now. Next, Xie Pei will start investigating the Shiyi clan and the Luandu clan.
Su Wan was fine. Apart from coming over to look after government affairs with Xie Pei when she had nothing to do, she focused on her work at the Shangshenjian.
Now all the departments in the palace are going out to open shops. Except for some chaos before, by mid-October, all departments have found their own ways.
In addition, the Ministry of Revenue set up a special subordinate to manage these government-run factories and stores.
One is constraint, the other is supervision.
Constraints must not compete with the people for profits, and supervision must not falsify accounts to deceive the court.
It can be said that everything has become regular.
Many people have not forgotten that this was the suggestion of Kongzhang Sheren, and the person responsible for carrying it out was Su Wan, the young palace maid in charge of the Imperial Kitchen.
Even though time has passed, their names will still be closely linked to these events.
Speaking of which, Kongzhang Sheren's name now seems very mysterious in the court.
Many people are guessing who this person is, and some even wonder if he is a secret aide that the Ding family specially left for their grandson.
Otherwise, how could he be so insightful and forward-looking in so many matters?
Any guess is fine, but there is a unanimous idea that if this person is willing to be an official, he will at least be a Shangshu level.
Someone else asked the prince that since the court was in a state of disrepair, could he ask Kongzhang Sheren to come out of retirement so that they could do their work?
Whenever he talked about this matter, the prince would just smile mysteriously and say that it was not the right time yet.
When the time is right, they will naturally meet.
These words were only spread in the court, and Su Wan did not hear them. She found that she had returned to her previous leisurely days.
The main thing is that the court and the palace have been revived, so there is nothing to worry about for the time being.
The Shangshi Restaurant where she worked was not affected either, and there were naturally people specifically assigned to handle the spy matters.
How come I suddenly have free time!
Now that she had some free time, Su Wan went to the fried stinky tofu shop a few times. Now this fried food shop has added several more kinds of food. Although her aunt was busy, she felt happy.
By late October, the weather had turned cooler, and the malatang and fried food shops were doing even better business.
Everyone in Kyoto knows that the food in their store is cheap and of high quality and delicious.
Except that Sister Wei, who was originally helping in the store, was sent to school by Wei Jun, everything else was normal.
At the Su family, Mr. Su learned how to make egg tarts and made a lot of them at home. Su Wan also tried one and it was not bad. Except for dessert shops in Kyoto, the taste was quite good.
So Qingfeng Tower also gave me some silver as a reward.
That’s true. After all, this craft has been passed down for generations. Even if Mr. Su relies on his ancestors’ experience, his work won’t be particularly bad.
Speaking of egg tarts, the price of egg tarts in Beijing has now dropped from 500 wen each at a small window to 50 wen each at dessert shops.
Wait until after the teaching on September 15th to 18th.
In late September, cheap egg tarts began to be sold in Beijing.
After all, it is just made of flour, a small amount of eggs, a small amount of milk, sugar, etc. An egg tart does not require much, and the cost of materials is not expensive.
So the price dropped to thirty or twenty cents.
If this is the price limit, you are wrong. Later on, there were egg tarts that cost ten cents or even five cents each.
The latter also directly stated that the ingredients they used were not very good and the egg tarts were small.
These don’t really matter, just choose the price you can accept.
So the whole month of October is the month of egg tarts.
Xie Pei also brought a few modified egg tarts for Su Wan. The puff pastry was the size of a thumb, with a little bit of egg tart liquid inside, and the size was about half the size of a thumb.
The price is naturally cheaper, only one cent each, and although the taste is not as good, it is indeed an egg tart.
Most of them are sold on the outskirts of the city, to farmers who don't have much spare money. Anyway, everyone enjoys eating them.
This is probably the meaning of food communication.
If it is only sold in dessert shops, it may take ten or twenty years before such a dessert that can adapt to the all-round market is available.
But if the recipes are brought out, the wise people will carry forward the recipes and adapt them to various occasions.
In fact, when people first started modifying the egg tart recipe, they went to the dessert shop to ask if this was okay.
After all, many people mind this and pursue the most authentic quality in everything.
Su Wan’s answer was that it didn’t matter, as long as it was edible and didn’t use inferior ingredients to make people sick, then it was acceptable.
After this sentence, a variety of egg tarts appeared. Some people even bake the egg tarts only to eat the inside, which is quite enjoyable.
Now that winter has arrived, hot egg tarts have become a must-have for afternoon tea in many families.
Not to mention the dessert shops, now everyone only praises them when they talk about them. I heard that the method of making egg tarts has spread to various places with traveling merchants. It is estimated that this food will appear wherever you go to Tianxiang Country next year.
The success of the Dessert Department naturally stimulated all departments to work together.
The lacquerware factory that made money following the dessert company has also officially opened up new business. Their craftsmanship is indeed very good. Now it is the end of October, and they have to send out New Year gifts one after another in the next two months. Naturally, they choose the stores opened by the lacquerware factory. I heard that the income is not bad.
After all, the lacquerware is made with exquisite craftsmanship and is time-consuming and labor-intensive. However, when it was supplied to the dessert department, it was always provided at a low price, obviously still remembering the friendship.
Later, the porcelain factory wanted to repeat the same trick and sell bowls and plates to the dessert department.
Unfortunately, the Dessert Department does not allow dine-in, and people are not allowed to eat in the store. Everything is taken out. The only things that are needed are lacquerware or bamboo containers, or even oil paper bags, to pack the food. This is the business of the Treasure Bank Department.
There is no need for a porcelain factory at all.
Not being able to follow the Dessert Department is not a big deal. Any factory or store that is government-run will basically not have to worry about business.
I would also like to specifically mention the Baochaosi.
Baochaosi sounds like a good name, but it originally made toilet paper, the kind used in toilets.
After that, we worked with the Palace Paper Department to research several different types of paper, which could be used in toilets, studies, or cookbooks. So we had to split the store into two, and the distance between them was very far, just so that people would not associate too much with it.
One of them is named Baochaosi and the other is named Zhifangsi.
The main Paper Room Department had few staff and insufficient supplies, while the Treasure Banknote Department had many staff and a large space, so they naturally worked together.
Originally they only supplied paper to the royal family, but now that they were selling it, the two companies were almost completely priced out.
There are the Hat and Scarf Bureau, the Needlework Bureau, and even the Western Flower House that grows flowers. There is also the Gunpowder Bureau that usually studies gunpowder, but studies fireworks to join in the fun, and so on.
By November, when each family was preparing for sacrifice, it was the Gunpowder Bureau that had the highest income.
Many families have also started to pre-order fireworks for the New Year.
Who can blame the gunpowder bureau for being so powerful? The fireworks they make are better looking than those on the market.
The bigwigs in the Gunpowder Bureau had never imagined that the more destructive gunpowder they usually researched could be made into beautiful fireworks at any time, and even firecrackers would be sought after.
The main thing is that making firecrackers also requires skills, such as which firecrackers make the loudest noises and which firecrackers will not misfire. After all, it would be very disappointing if a whole string of firecrackers suddenly went out halfway through.
This is basically nothing to the people in the gunpowder bureau.
No wonder the people from the Ministry of Revenue no longer looked embarrassed when they saw the people from the Gunpowder Bureau, and they even stopped hiding. It was because the people from the Gunpowder Bureau used to ask for money when they saw them.
Now, he comes to me with a smile on his face, saying that they have made a lot of money recently and need to work harder.
The bosses of the gunpowder bureau were annoyed, so they simply released some of the technologies on how to make fireworks more brilliant, which was enough to excite other workshops that had obtained government permission to make fireworks.
They learned this from the dessert shop.
It’s not a particularly important technology that needs to be kept secret, and they don’t care whether it is released or not.
Earning so much money is not good for other workshops.
The main reason is that they are too lazy to do it and it is too tiring to rush orders every day.
Sure enough, once some of the technology was released, the pressure suddenly eased.
People from the sweet shop and the gunpowder bureau took the lead.
The Hat and Scarf Bureau and the Needlework Bureau also gradually released their own technologies, but they were all outdated in the palace and not understood by the outside world.
It unexpectedly promoted the development of many crafts.
The boss of the Gunpowder Bureau wants to reduce pressure, but people like Fangyingfang want to have pressure.
The elephants are okay, but training eagles is not that interesting. The eagle room is usually lazy and can't do anything special. It would be laughed at if it were put in a theater.
That is to say, it depends on whether they come from the palace or not, so they get some reward money.
But if you want to make money, you have to keep working hard.
If they don't work harder, they will be a disgrace to the palace.
Although there is no need to compare these government-run factories and stores, people in the Ministry of Revenue always intentionally or unintentionally say who ranks the lowest.
Isn't this a slap in the face?
It made everyone very nervous.
If I don't work hard, I'll be at the bottom. Could this be another case of Kong Zhang Sheren's doing?
Su Wan moved between the Shangshenjian, the Ministry of Rites, and Chonghua Palace, so she was quite familiar with these things. She would usually talk a few more words to people from the Ministry of Revenue when she met them.
But this time I will meet the chief and deputy chief stewards of the Imperial Household Department, and there will be more to talk about.
The chief and deputy general managers were all old acquaintances, so they had fewer concerns when chatting.
The chief eunuch Tong Xihong is usually serious. Although he is young, he manages the palace fairly well after taking over the Imperial Household Department. The biggest change for him is that there are fewer people in the palace.
When the palace servants were recounted before, there were 20,000 in the outer palace and 11,000 in the inner palace.
When the saint returned to the palace, he brought back another 5,000 people. In this way, the total number of people in the inner and outer palaces was nearly 36,000.
This is still a lot of people.
This is probably the number in August and September.
After September and October, all companies were keen on opening shops. At least thirty or forty people went to each place. A quick count of more than a thousand people from more than a dozen government-run factories showed that they went out.
But thirty or forty people are probably not enough. It is estimated that by the end of the year, more than two thousand people will be able to leave.
Although they are all people from the outer palace, this is already quite good. When they are allowed to leave the palace in May next year, if nothing unexpected happens, many people will be willing to go out.
I never left the palace before because it was safe there and I didn’t know much about the outside world.
Except for those people in the Imperial Household who have a way out, many other people are mostly unwilling to leave. But the situation is different this year.
Even the eunuchs were wondering if they could find a job outside, as many shop owners wanted them.
Su Wan calculated that in fact, it would be enough to reduce the number of outer palaces to around 16,000.
Although the number of people still seems large, the outer palace has two large places, the Baochaosi and the Ciqiku. They are not just palace servants who serve people. In her opinion, those are real factories, just opened in the palace.
The place where human resources are abused is actually mostly the inner palace.
There were no departments or factories in the inner palace, and the departments that went out to find a living this time were all from the outer palace, without exception.
There are only more than 10,000 people in the inner palace, all of whom are used to serve the saint, concubines, princes and princesses.
These official "masters" number no more than thirteen in total.
But it took thirteen thousand people to serve.
Yes, there were two to three thousand people in the imperial kitchen alone, and there were even more palace servants.
It’s a pity that the number of cuts cannot be reduced for the time being.
The outer palace, on the other hand, is full of vitality.
After all, who wants to be trapped in this world when you can go out and make a living?
The number of people in the outer palace gradually decreased, and the first to feel it was the Imperial Food Department, because the Imperial Food Department had to cook less. With thousands of fewer people to cook, the workload of each kitchen was greatly reduced. In addition, with the addition of new palace maids at the beginning of the year, the previous overload operation finally stopped.
Moreover, as a palace maid in the Imperial Kitchen, she enjoyed preferential treatment in many places.
It was the dessert department of their Shangshi Department who took the lead and set a good example for everyone.
Wherever Su Wan went, many people sincerely called her Sister Su Wan.
The title of "sister" has nothing to do with age, it is just a respectful title.
Su Wan agreed with a smile, appearing very graceful.
She just felt that she finally had some free time in the past few months. She actually rested from the end of September to the end of October, and nothing happened!
It's because there are so many things to do this year, with things rushing to one after another.
But November is almost here, and there is another thing to worry about.
That is Xie Pei’s birthday.
Thanks to Xie Pei's administration and the appointment of the crown prince, Su Wan only remembered two birthdays in this world, one her own and one Xie Pei's.
November 6th was Xie Pei’s sixteenth birthday.
Sixteen is a relatively important day according to the customs of Tianxiang Kingdom.
At this age, people are young and have their hair tied up, which is considered as minor adulthood. Although one cannot truly become an adult until the age of 20, 16 means one can get engaged and married. How can it not be important?
This birthday celebration was different from the previous ones. It was his first birthday as the crown prince and he was also sixteen years old. The Guanglu Temple had been busy for a long time, so there had to be a small banquet.
If the relationship with the saint was not bad, it should not be a small banquet, but a big banquet.
Therefore, the birthday gift on this day is very important.
On her birthday, she received a seal made of red jade.
Red jade is the finest grade of jade, not to mention it is exceptionally smooth to hold, and it is also carved by famous craftsmen.
Some people believe that she is the descendant of a famous person because the patterns on her seal are well engraved, which shows how precious it is.
So it was difficult to give Xie Pei a return gift.
It's really difficult to decide what to give as a gift.
It would definitely not be a good idea to give her expensive gifts. Not to mention that she didn't have much money, there were also very few people in the world who were richer than Xie Pei. Who could have so many farms, fields, and houses and shops?
Since it is not possible to make it expensive, the only option is to work on making it exquisite.
When giving a gift, it has to be on point. Su Wan originally wanted to make a cake, but she had already given it to Xie Pei on his birthday two years ago.
I even thought about making instant noodles or compressed biscuits.
But things like compressed biscuits actually had similar methods of making in ancient times. Without modern technology, it would be almost the same if Su Wan made it again.
As for instant noodles, it’s even a bit ridiculous, at least it’s not something we can make now.
The advantage of instant noodles is that they are convenient, light and easy to carry.
But in ancient times, there were no plastic bags or paper boxes on the outside, so it seemed even more useless. Paper packaging would easily break, and even oil paper would not work. Moreover, the dough was fluffy and took up a large area, making it unsuitable for long-distance transportation.
The most important thing is that instant noodles have to be fried, and the amount of oil consumed is enough to make the Minister of Revenue cry.
Unless we produce more oil in the future, we can think about instant noodles.
Su Wan was too lazy to do it anymore, no matter how much effort she put into it.
Finally, it was decided to make longevity noodles for Xie Pei! Also known as one-yi noodle.
One stick of noodle can make a bowl of noodles, and it can last for three to five meters.
This way of eating is not common, and the noodles can be three to five meters long, which is really exaggerated.
Making noodles also has its benefits. If Xie Pei attends a banquet during the day, she can have someone deliver the bowl of noodles to her in the evening, so she doesn’t have to make the trip herself, and it can be considered a gift.
This is a really good idea, and Su Wan even wants to praise herself.
Since she had already decided what to do, Su Wan stopped worrying about it and continued to live her leisurely life.
Every day, when I see the Guanglu Temple across the street busying around preparing for Xie Pei’s sixteenth birthday banquet, I feel more relaxed.
Several officials in the Guanglu Temple who were on good terms with each other wanted to get Su Wan involved.
Finally, it was November and the weather was getting colder. I heard that supplies were sent from the border several times, which emptied the national treasury that had just been filled.
The treasury had just a little bit left, and now it’s gone again!
The Minister of Revenue was so worried that he couldn't sleep, but he knew in his heart that the war in the northwest was not an ordinary war, but a premeditated and planned attack.
So I have to bear this loss.
According to the prince, can silver kept in the warehouse produce gold? If you don't send it out now to replenish supplies, do you want to use it as compensation for defeat in the war later?
Oh, this is what Kong Zhang Sheren said. I have to say, once this statement came out, everyone who should shut up shut up.
On the evening of the fifth day of November, Su Wan was ready to go to bed. The charcoal fire in the room was so warm that she went to bed early and even read a few pages of a book.
But just after reading a few lines, someone turned the candlelight next to him to make it brighter.
There's no need to look, it must be Xie Pei.
What is he doing here?
Su Wan didn't ask, but her expression was very clear. Xie Pei said, "I'm here to give you an invitation."
When the prince holds a banquet, there is no need for invitations. The eunuchs will invite the ministers to the banquet, which is already very respectful.
The Director of the Imperial Kitchen was invited in this way, and Su Wan was right beside him at the time, so what about this invitation?
Su Wan had already sat up and took the invitation with confusion. She saw that the invitation was extremely delicate, with a gold-plated surface and intersecting red and black lines. It felt heavy when she picked it up.
When she opened it, she saw Xie Pei's handwriting inside. It made her feel like she had the only copy of the book and it was even personally delivered to her.
Su Wan was a little dazed. Outside, the cold wind was blowing heavy snow, and inside the house, there were shadows of people and lights.
For a moment, the words on the invitation seemed a little frivolous.
Su Wan rarely had such thoughts, and subconsciously said, "Get me a glass of water."
Prince Xie Pei was very handy and didn't mind doing the work of a palace servant. He poured water from the table and Su Wan drank it in one gulp. The water was warm in the room with a strong charcoal fire, but it was not refreshing enough, so she simply chewed the few tea leaves left in it.
"Well, maybe I won't go tomorrow?" Su Wan stroked the teacup and said seriously, "I have something else to do tomorrow."
"What's the matter?" Xie Pei sat on the stool beside Su Wan's bed.
The stool was very close to the semi-compartment bed, which had a roof and windproof curtains on both sides. It was originally designed to be half-caged in order to gather heat. At this moment, Xie Pei was sitting on the bed, and it seemed as if Su Wan could not get out as soon as he sat there.
If she stayed on the couch, she would feel uncomfortable all over. If she wanted to get off, she would take the initiative to get closer to Xie Pei.
Just as Su Wan frowned, Xie Pei took the initiative to distance himself from her and poured her another glass of water. This time, there was not a single tea leaf in it. "Go about your business first. There's no rush."
"No matter what, you come first."
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