After the Lantern Festival.
Emperor Wende issued the first decree of the new year.
She was granted the title of Princess Huyang.
Everyone's jaw dropped.
Back when Empress Dowager Xiao was alive, she had repeatedly requested to restore Huyang's princess title, but Emperor Wende refused all requests, not even giving Empress Dowager Xiao face.
As a result, one year after Empress Dowager Xiao passed away, Emperor Wende unexpectedly changed his mind and restored Huyang's title of Princess.
It’s true, things in this world are unpredictable!
The saddest person was Liu Yi.
Everyone saw Hu Yang's attitude at the palace banquet on New Year's Eve.
Hu Yang spoke so harshly, but was not punished. Instead, she was awarded the title of princess.
He was crying and sobbing, so sad that even he was moved, but in the end, nothing happened.
How can a prince not feel sad when he is in such a miserable state?
Xiao Qin'er was in a hurry to save money to buy a house, so she kept pressing Liu Yi.
If you want to live in a new house without paying, you’re dreaming.
Liu Yi was furious and said, "You help me with the payment first, and I will return it to you when I have more money in the future."
"What year and month?"
Xiao Qin'er questioned rudely, "I'm just asking you when will you pay me? You don't even know the answer yourself, and you still have the nerve to ask me to use the money to buy a house and support your concubines. Do you think I, Xiao Qin, am stupid?"
"Don't say such harsh words."
Xiao Qin'er rolled her eyes. "Go find your concubines. They're nicer to talk to. Go ahead! See if they're willing to spend a penny on you. If they don't empty your pockets, I, Xiao Qin'er, will take your last name."
"You are being unreasonable!" Liu Yi was angry and left in anger.
Xiao Qin'er picked up the teacup and was about to smash it.
"Madam, you can't smash it. This set of celadon teacups is worth two hundred taels. If you smash one cup, the set will be incomplete."
The maid yelled, stopping Xiao Qin'er from smashing the teacup.
She took a deep breath and gently placed the teacup back on the table.
"I'm not angry, absolutely not. Anyway, from the beginning, I didn't expect him to come up with the money."
But, this life is unbearable.
Before the end of the first month of the year, the fifth house had a new illegitimate son and a new illegitimate daughter.
The sixth room also had a new girl.
Wet nurse, maid, servant girl...
Adding one person is equivalent to adding seven or eight people.
With three children, there were suddenly more than twenty people in the palace.
The huge palace was becoming more and more crowded with more and more people.
In fact, the palace is very big.
Many yards are empty.
However, the princes and their families are not qualified to live in these courtyards.
For example, Shouchun Hall is larger than the East Courtyard where Gu Jiu and his friends live.
However, no one dared to live in it.
Because this is the main hall of the palace.
Another example is Chunhetang.
No one is qualified to live in the largest courtyard in the backyard of the palace.
Because that was where Queen Pei used to live.
Bixi Pavilion, the courtyard where Emperor Wende used to live, who dares to live in it?
Everyone can only live in their own courtyards.
No room for accommodation?
If we squeeze in a little, more people can fit in.
Some people can tolerate such days, while others cannot.
Xiao Qin'er couldn't bear it.
She was looking for a house everywhere.
And try to find ways to raise money.
Gu Jiu sent someone to bring her a piece of information about a property for sale in Beijing.
She felt like she had found a treasure.
Every day, she would take her maids and old women with her to personally visit the houses.
It was busy and fulfilling. Although I was tired, I felt much better.
When the second and third wives learned that Xiao Qin'er was looking for real estate, they also became interested.
I sent people to inquire about the housing prices, but they all came back shocked.
"How come the housing prices in Beijing are rising so fast? Two years ago, a house of the same size in the same location could be bought for 30,000 or 40,000 taels. Now they're asking exorbitant prices, refusing to sell for less than 60,000 taels. It's really infuriating."
The third wife, Cui, complained to the second wife, Ouyang Fu.
Ouyang Fu was very upset and regretted not buying a house earlier.
"I heard about rising housing prices in Beijing two years ago. I was short of money at the time, so I thought even if prices did rise, they wouldn't rise much. I never imagined that, just a short time later, housing prices would have almost doubled. With my money, I used to be able to buy a house near the imperial city. Now, I can't even afford half of one."
Ouyang Fu sighed frequently, regretting missing out on a market trend.
Sure enough, I should follow my sister-in-law's pace and hoard real estate early to make some money.
The third wife, Cui, said, "My eldest sister-in-law has good vision. All the real estate in Xinmin County belongs to her. With so many houses, she can just sell a few and make money."
Ouyang Fu sighed, "I'll go to the mountain tomorrow to talk to my sister-in-law. When it comes to houses, my sister-in-law knows more."
"Count me in. I've only been to Xiaozhu, where my sister-in-law lives, twice. The environment there is really nice." Cui was very interested.
Ouyang Fu asked her, "Does your third sister-in-law also want to buy a house?"
Cui said, "While I still have the money, I want to buy a house. Even if I don't live in it myself, I can leave it to my children."
Ouyang Fu nodded repeatedly; she had the same idea.
Don't think that descendants of the royal family don't have to worry about dowries and betrothal gifts.
Given Emperor Wende's stinginess, no one else can be relied upon, so he can only rely on himself.
Just when everyone was worried about their houses, Emperor Wende, who was known to be stingy, showed generosity for once.
He planned to buy real estate for each of the six princes who had already started families, from the eldest to the sixth, with a sum of 100,000 taels of silver.
What he meant was that he would not grant them mansions, but would only help the princes buy their own houses.
Emperor Wende's bold move shocked everyone.
The first to oppose it was the Ministry of Revenue.
Reason: No money.
It is actually Zongzheng Temple.
Reason: It's against the rules.
The Shaofu also objected, again on the grounds that it was against the rules.
The Ministry of Rites also expressed opposition, saying it was also against the rules.
Only the Ministry of Industry was happy.
The princes paid for the houses themselves, so the Ministry of Works didn't have to endure the humiliation while repairing the princes' mansions.
Everyone was happy with the emperor's move.
Opponents always oppose.
Since ancient times, when a prince established a mansion, it was usually a reward from the palace.
There has never been a case of giving money to the princes to solve their housing problems themselves.
Playing the piano randomly.
Emperor Wende acted on his own whim.
In order to solve the housing problem of the princes, in order to save money, and in order not to grant the princes titles or establish palaces for them, the emperor actually gave the princes money and let them buy their own houses.
It's ridiculous.
If you really do this, this matter will definitely be passed down to future generations and become a laughing stock.
People in later generations have speculated how poor the Wende Dynasty was!
Wende Dynasty is really not poor, okay!
At least it is richer than when the previous emperor was in power.
During the Kaiyao period, the Ministry of Revenue suffered deficits every year.
Officials’ salaries could not be paid and were in arrears year after year.
The money and food for the soldiers at the border were delayed year after year.
There is no money for infrastructure, water conservancy construction, educational development, and charity organizations.
It is already very difficult for the Ministry of Revenue to maintain the normal operation of the court with the little tax revenue it collects every year.
The local government is still counting on funding from the imperial court. It’s just dreaming.
When natural disasters or man-made disasters occur, it will only add fuel to the fire.
There was no large-scale rebellion in the Kaiyao Dynasty. We can only say that it was God's blessing and the previous emperor's bloodthirsty nature that really scared off a group of ambitious people.
Let’s look at the Wende Dynasty.
The Ministry of Revenue not only achieved a balance between revenue and expenditure.
It also filled the deficit of the past few years and paid out the overdue salaries and grain.
The troops also changed their uniforms and replaced some of their swords and weapons.
The fiscal revenue of the Wende Dynasty was 10 million taels more a year than that of the previous emperor in his later years.
Definitely rich.
However, even though he was rich, Emperor Wende's outrageous actions always reflected the true meaning of the word "stingy".
Give the prince 100,000 taels and let him solve his housing problem himself?
MMP.
The Wende Dynasty will surely become a laughing stock in future generations.
"Your Majesty, you can't do this!"
"This is a disgrace to the court."
"Your Majesty, this action is against the rules and does not conform to the laws of our ancestors. Please revoke your order."
"The court will become a laughing stock for the whole world."
Civil and military officials spoke earnestly and tried to persuade Emperor Wende to change his decision.
My dear princes...
It's a rare occasion that the Emperor is so generous as to give me 100,000 taels to buy a house. What are you ministers complaining about?
What if the emperor changes his mind and refuses to pay, will you compensate His Highness one hundred thousand taels?
It is obvious that my father is unwilling to give me the title.
I'll just bear with it if I don't have a title. It won't be too late to complain after we get the 100,000 taels first.
If in the end there is no title and even no money, who will be responsible?
Let me ask you, who is responsible?
He was originally the most miserable prince in history.
Now that I finally have some money, I still complain...
If you keep yelling, I'll roll up my sleeves and beat you.
The six princes were filled with righteous indignation and glared at the ministers.
Some ministers advised the six princes, "Your Highnesses, please take a long-term view."
roll!
Damn it, a full man doesn’t know the hunger of a hungry man, what a long-term loss.
The princes were angry.
They all said, "Father, your sons are willing to accept 100,000 taels of silver and find their own housing."
"I am willing too."
"So do I, your son!"
"Give my son 100,000 taels, just enough to decorate the house." As soon as Liu Zhao opened his mouth, the other princes were furious.
You want to show off that your wife is rich, right?
It's just spending 180,000 taels to buy a house, why are you showing off?
He is a wealthy businessman from Jiangnan. His house is worth millions, but he never shows off.
Liu Zhao grinned and swept his eyes over everyone's face: I'm just showing off, what can you do to me?
All the princes turned their heads away, refusing to see Liu Zhao's face.
Because that face was truly hideous, devoid of beauty, and utterly ugly.
I have never seen such an ugly face.
Liu Zhao sneered, you are obviously jealous that my prince has a wife who can earn money.
You can be jealous as much as you want, but even if you stare your eyes out, you won’t get a share.
"Okay, stop arguing."
Emperor Wende spoke, and the hall finally quieted down.
Emperor Wende deliberately glanced at Liu Zhao, and found him to be indeed a bit repulsive.
Because Emperor Wende hated people showing off their wealth in front of him the most.
Liu Zhao’s flaunting of wealth is really intolerable.
Emperor Wende coughed twice. "I have made up my mind on this matter. My dear ministers, please do not raise it again. Ministers of the Imperial Household and the Ministry of Revenue, please discuss together how to resolve the money issue. Report to me in three days. Gather the funds as soon as possible so that the princes can buy the houses they desire and move out of the palace as soon as possible."
The ministers were unwilling to accept this.
Emperor Wende was well prepared.
As soon as he finished speaking, he ran away in a hurry without waiting for the ministers to react.
The emperor ran away?
The emperor actually ran away!
The ministers were shocked again.
"Withdraw from the court!"
Chang En shouted hurriedly, then hurriedly caught up with Emperor Wende.
This, this, this...
The ministers looked at the newly appointed Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lord Lu.
Lord Lu, as His Majesty's confidant, shouldn't you try your best to persuade His Majesty to revoke his order?
Lord Lu bowed and said, "Everyone, I need to go to see the emperor. We will discuss the details later."
"Lord Lu, you must persuade His Majesty to stay."
The ministers watched Lord Lu leave with eager eyes.
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