Duke Wei's affairs were thus settled, and he followed him to the capital. Along the way, he frequently gazed southward, his eyes filled with reluctance to leave the fields and estates he had worked so hard to cultivate.
Even so, there were still many things in the house that needed to be packed up. Moving from Nanjing to the capital, the family's property had shrunk significantly, and the original house and land were gone.
Duke Wei felt so much pain in his body that his heart and liver were trembling. He was in so much pain that he couldn't eat for several days.
These were not so bad. Zhu Youxiao exchanged some real estate in the capital for Duke Wei, but a lot of floating assets had to be handed over.
Duke Wei's shops in Nanjing were sold at low prices, and most of them fell into the hands of the Imperial Household Department.
In a short time, the Imperial Household Department's property in the south expanded rapidly. This time, a lot of property was confiscated and given to the Imperial Household Department.
It is impossible for all the money to be given to the Imperial Household Department. Most of it should be given to the Ministry of Revenue. This is the tacit understanding between the emperor and his ministers.
We all work together to do things and we all share the spoils. It has always been like this.
The emperor cannot eat alone, otherwise, his ministers will not play with him next time and will not do such a thing.
The civil servants had put in a lot of effort this time, so they also had a share of the money. After entering the Ministry of Revenue, the money would be quickly distributed. At that time, it would spread to various parts of the Ming Dynasty, wherever Zhu Youxiao needed it.
Looking at Empress Zhang approaching, Zhu Youxiao pulled her into his arms and said, "What are we having for dinner? I just took a long bath and I'm a little hungry."
"I've already asked someone to prepare it." Empress Zhang sat on Zhu Youxiao's lap and said, "We're already an old married couple. How embarrassing it would be if someone saw us like this?"
As she spoke, Empress Zhang tried to struggle to stand up.
But how could Zhu Youxiao possibly do as she wished?
He took Empress Zhang back into his arms, and then Zhu Youxiao said, "Come, who's going to take a look? Look, is there anyone watching?"
Hearing the emperor say this, everyone below hurriedly lowered their heads.
My eyes asked my nose, my nose asked my mouth, and my mouth asked my heart. I looked like I saw nothing and heard nothing, and I was complaining in my heart.
The emperor and the queen are joking, why involve us?
We are just wooden stakes.
Empress Zhang looked at Zhu Youxiao helplessly and could only say, "Alright, don't embarrass them anymore. You might as well scare them. I'll also go and make some preparations. I'll have dinner with Your Majesty tonight."
"By the way, I have already informed the Dowager Consort, as well as Consort Tian and Consort Yuan. They will be coming over with their people shortly."
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Alright, you can take charge of this matter. Over the years, you have managed the affairs of the harem very well, and I am relieved."
This is not nonsense from Zhu Youxiao, it is a fact.
He rarely interfered in the affairs of the harem. All he did was to establish the authority of Empress Zhang. He didn't care about anything else and left everything to Empress Zhang.
For this purpose, Zhu Youxiao also trained Wang An and sent him to Empress Zhang.
After these few years, Empress Zhang can be said to have become very familiar with the job, and her performance this time was also remarkable.
The emperor is back and can't stay with her all the time. That would seem a little too overbearing.
As the mistress of the harem, queen, you cannot monopolize everything by yourself. You must learn to share.
The dinner for the emperor's return this time was naturally more grand. The imperial concubine was invited as a filial piety; as for the other two concubines, it was naturally to show Empress Zhang's magnanimity; and their children also wanted to be seen by the emperor.
This arrangement was a good one. Of course, the Emperor definitely couldn't leave tonight and would stay with Empress Zhang. Firstly, it would demonstrate the Emperor and Empress's affection for each other, and secondly, after such a long absence, he certainly missed her. A couple had much to say and do.
If possible, Zhu Youxiao would stay tomorrow. Of course, three times is not enough. He could not stay on the third day and had to go to the other concubines.
Over the past few days, Zhu Youxiao felt that he needed to replenish his body. At present, there were only a few women, and if there were more, life would probably become even more unbearable.
If you ignore them, anything might happen when the women in the harem start fighting, and their resentment is very deep. It's hard to say what the harem will be like then.
So Zhu Youxiao was very cautious and followed Empress Zhang's arrangement. He had dinner at Empress Zhang's house that night and stayed overnight.
The next day, he was still at Empress Zhang's place, but on the third day, he could no longer stay here.
After running for four or five days, Zhu Youxiao finally completed the process and returned directly to his residence.
Now that it was the sage time, Zhu Youxiao wanted to have a good rest and didn't want to do anything.
Zhu Youxiao did not summon any ministers and just relaxed in the palace.
Soon, Zhu Youxiao thought of what to do next.
Many of the Ming Dynasty’s problems have been solved, but many problems remain unresolved.
First of all, there is the issue of Liaodong and Mongolia. This requires a war, which is definitely not possible in a short period of time.
Apart from that, there are two major domestic issues: tax reform and military reform.
Needless to say, the current tax system in the Ming Dynasty is a joke. Both the land tax and the commercial tax are basically useless. They need to be revised to make them effective.
Zhu Youxiao thought that commercial tax reform was not difficult. After several purges, most of the big merchants in the Ming Dynasty stood on his side, and the disobedient ones were almost all cleared out, mostly around the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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