In the main hall of the back garden.
"Oh, child, why are you crying? Mother won't make things difficult for you and won't force you to live here." The eldest princess thought she had scared Zhao Hao, so she quickly changed her words.
"I'm not embarrassed, the child is happy..." Zhao Hao's pair of big black and white eyes were filled with tears. Coupled with his red lips and white teeth, he was so adorable.
Then he choked up and said, "I lost my mother when I was young, and I don't even remember what she looked like. Now I finally know what it feels like to be loved by her."
This made the eldest princess very distressed, and she quickly took a handkerchief to wipe his tears.
"Didn't mother tell you long ago? From now on, I will be your real mother, and this is your home."
Not to mention the eldest princess, even Lady Liu and Ji Sizheng also shed tears.
In such a touching scene, if you don’t cry, you will be considered unkind.
~~
Zhao Hao imitated Uncle Liu this time, firstly to cling to the eldest princess more tightly; secondly to prevent what he said later from making the eldest princess unhappy. If the princess got angry and didn't want to play with him, he wouldn't be able to handle it alone.
Feeling that the relationship was heating up, he whispered:
"Today I went to the home of Mr. Wu in Shuntian Prefecture to pay New Year's greetings and heard something that was quite upsetting. I think I should let you know as soon as possible."
After that, he timidly said, "If you want to have some peace and quiet on the first day of the new year, I will tell you in a few days."
"Son, tell me what's going on." The princess couldn't wait a few more days, so she urged with great enthusiasm, "Mother wants to hear who is so blind that he dares to upset my son on the first day of the new year. I'll skin him alive!"
"Oh, mother..." Zhao Hao told the eldest princess in a soft voice everything he had heard from Wu Shilai.
"Ah..." Upon hearing this, the princess loosened her grip on Zhao Hao's hand and sat quietly for a long while with a solemn expression before asking Ji Sizheng:
"Have you heard of this?"
"Your Highness, I heard something." Ji Sizheng was the eldest princess' representative outside. Any happenings in the imperial stores and estates, or any news heard, had to be reported to him first.
"Then why don't you report it?" The eldest princess's face darkened and her phoenix eyes were cold and bright.
Ji Sizheng was so frightened that his legs went limp. He quickly knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I am stupid and did not connect this matter to anything... You and the two ladies provided porridge to the disaster victims, which was a great thing for all the people. Who would be so crazy as to connect these two things?"
"It will be too late if someone makes the contact." The princess gritted her teeth and said, "This time, I am working with the emperor's sister-in-law and the imperial concubine, and there must not be any mistakes. If in the end, those censors put the blame on us, the two ladies will blame me for being nosy even if they don't say it..."
Zhao Hao watched the eldest princess showing her strong female demeanor from the side, and couldn't help but be secretly surprised. He thought to himself, no wonder my mother can manage so many imperial farms and stores, it turns out that as long as it doesn't involve my father, she is so smart and capable!
Of course, he didn't know that before he came, the eldest princess was worried about the possibility that the imperial concubine might get her hands on the imperial estate. She was so worried that she couldn't sleep and was rolling around in bed.
After hearing the news he brought, how could the princess not worry that the imperial concubine would take the opportunity to cause trouble and put her in a bad light in front of her brother?
Although the emperor's brother would most likely not listen to her, he was always a smooth-talker by nature, and would most likely ask the imperial concubine to give up part of his property and let her brothers from her natal family manage it.
That's completely different from giving it up voluntarily, okay?
~~
"No, we must find a way to remedy the situation..." The eldest princess was secretly anxious and began to think of a solution on her own.
But what good solution is there at the moment?
Just as the princess was frowning, she heard Zhao Hao timidly say:
"Mom, I have a solution..."
"You?" The princess was about to say, what do you know as a kid? But she realized that although Zhao Hao was young, he had a lot of ideas - he ran the most prosperous restaurant in Jinling and could train a genius like Jie Yuanlang!
The princess waved her hand and dismissed all the palace maids, leaving only Liu Shanggong and Ji Sizheng to serve.
"Then tell me, do you have any good ideas?" The eldest princess looked at Zhao Hao expectantly.
Liu Shanggong and Ji Sizheng also looked at Zhao Hao curiously, wanting to know if he was as amazing as the eldest princess said.
"It's very simple. Since these refugees are restless because they have lost their livelihoods, just give them new jobs." Zhao Hao said softly.
"Uh..." The princess laughed dryly and said, "That's a solution."
Then he looked at her and said to Ji Sizheng: "Old Ji, what do you think?"
Ji Sizheng's mouth twitched twice, knowing that the princess wanted him to play the villain for her...
He and Lady Yoo have a clear division of labor, one is responsible for external affairs and the other is responsible for internal affairs. This is also the case when they are asked to take the blame.
Ji Sizheng had no choice but to shoulder his own responsibility, and then said respectfully: "Mr. Zhao's idea is good, but the number of refugees is too large. If we want to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of people, we need to recruit tens of thousands of workers at least."
As he said this, he looked at Zhao Hao apologetically and said, "If the court has a major project like dredging the canal or repairing the imperial mausoleum, Your Highness can try to talk to His Majesty and see if refugees can be used instead of civilian laborers..."
After a pause, Ji Sizheng shook his head in self-denial and said, "I'm afraid that even if your majesty is willing and the court approves, those refugees will not be willing to be civilians."
The common people performed corvée labor, which meant that the court hired them to work for free, and in many cases they even had to bring their own food.
If the refugees were willing to work for free, why would they leave their homes? They could just stay at home, prepare themselves, and wait for the officials to come.
"Besides, the court has no money. I heard that there is no place to pay for the expenses after the summer next year." Ji Sizheng spread his hands and completely rejected Zhao Hao's idea, saying: "So this method is good, but the timing is not right."
The princess couldn't let Zhao Hao feel hurt like this, so she frowned and scolded, "I'm asking how many workers our imperial farm and store can recruit?"
Ji Sizheng silently took the blame, pretending to think hard, and said, "It's not easy, Your Highness. The store and the farm are full of slaves who have been farming and looking after the store for the royal family for generations. They are already overcrowded, and we can't drive them away.
"I don't care what method you come up with, even if it's just short-term work, you have to arrange two thousand people for me!" The eldest princess gritted her teeth and gave Zhao Hao enough face.
"Mother, I have my own arrangements for these people," Zhao Hao shook his head and laughed, "There's no need to force Eunuch Ji."
"Oh, so you are here?" The eldest princess was confused by Zhao Hao.
"In addition to reporting this matter, I also want to ask you to exchange all the farms and shops you gave me for the coal mines in Mentougou."
"My son." The princess couldn't help but laugh and said, "Do you know how much those farms and shops are worth? How much is the coal mine in Mentougou worth? You will lose a lot if you exchange them like this."
"These are all gifts from mother, so what's wrong with that?" Zhao Hao said with a sweet smile, "If you feel bad, just lend me your name. Otherwise, there are too many gods in Beijing, and I'm afraid I can't handle it."
"Why do you need to borrow money? Isn't mother here to support you?" The eldest princess waved her hand, showing her true power and said, "Just go ahead and do whatever you want. As long as you don't make a big fuss, mother will cover it for you!"
Upon hearing this, Lady Liu was so angry that she thought to herself, "Your Highness, why do you act so stupidly when you meet these two?"
Aren't you worried that Empress Li will find a way to put down your will?
ps. The first update is here, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~~
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