Chapter 395 Jiang Xiaomei Enters the Forbidden City
Jiang Xiaomei stood in the flower hall of the palace, looking at such a magnificent and luxurious house and admiring it in her heart. It’s good to have power and money.
But a closer look reveals this is Prince Gong's mansion, with its flower hall layout completely mimicking the layout of the Forbidden City's Ningshou Palace. The interior partitions are made of golden nanmu wood, appearing to be divided into two levels, but that's just the partition. This, however, is already exceeding regulations.
There is also an electric lamp that Zhao Xiaofei brought from modern society, which can emit soft light, making the room very bright.
"Of course! You live so comfortably here." Jiang Xiaomei said enviously.
"I spent a lot of money to build this. Look, these are all artworks tributed from Europe. Putting them here makes me look much more prestigious!" Zhao Xiaofei said with a smile.
"Oh! When I build a mansion like this, I will live like a god!" said Jiang Xiaomei.
"Who are you? You want to live in such a house? Dream on!" Princess Zhaoren came in with two palace maids.
Seeing that the person was a pregnant woman in her teens, Jiang Xiaomei knew that it was Zhao Ren who had arrived. So she bowed and said, "Greetings, Princess!"
After Princess Zhaoren sat down, she looked Jiang Xiaomei up and down carefully and said, "My husband said that you have extraordinary talent. I wonder if it's true?"
"No, I just know how to make money and manage finances! I can only ensure that the Ming Dynasty will have more and more silver." Jiang Xiaomei said.
"Oh! Then tell me, how can we make Ming Dynasty richer?" Zhaoren asked.
"Trade, war, colonization! The Ming Dynasty is now at its most powerful military power. We should try our best to conquer the nearby countries. For those that are difficult to conquer, we can use cultural invasion. We should fully open up education so that the people in their countries can write Chinese characters and speak Chinese. They should identify with our Chinese culture, and then when we invade them again, they may even welcome us with food and drink. We should trade with European countries, sell our products to them, and obtain gold and silver from them." Jiang Xiaomei talked a lot, but Zhaoren didn't understand.
Although Zhaoren didn't understand what he was saying, he felt it made sense. Furthermore, the woman in front of him looked ordinary. He figured that even if she married into the palace, she wouldn't be much favored by her husband.
"Well, that's good! You can go to the palace tomorrow to help my sister handle government affairs! I'm tired too, husband, please treat Miss Jiang well!" Princess Zhaoren left after she said that. Zhao Xiaofei helped her out the door before coming back.
"Oh! You, my little wife, are looking at me so closely! You look so cute, just like a child who never grows up." Jiang Xiaomei said.
"Yes! Actually, she is just a child in my eyes!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"That's why you are even worse than a beast. You can even lay your hands on such a young girl. This is simply a child giving birth, a tragedy on earth!" Jiang Xiaomei rolled her eyes at Zhao Xiaofei.
Zhao Xiaofei said with a frown, "She drugged me and pushed me down, okay? How can I be a beast?"
"Someone pushed you down? Did you use some tricks to force them to do this?" Jiang Xiaomei said.
"I can't explain it clearly!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"What's there to explain? The more you explain, the more suspicious it gets! And there's no need for you to explain to me!" Jiang Xiaomei said.
Zhao Xiaofei's face was full of black lines. He knew that Jiang Xiaomei was deliberately teasing him, but he didn't get angry.
The next day, inside the Forbidden City, Jiang Xiaomei stood in front of the construction site of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and asked, "Are the three main halls destroyed?"
"It's ruined, but it's being rebuilt! It's almost finished! Then we won't have to go to Kunning Palace!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"I feel that this palace is a circle bigger than the one in the Qing Dynasty!" said Jiang Xiaomei.
"Originally, the three main halls of the Ming Dynasty were larger than those of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was too petty!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
In Kunning Palace, Jiang Xiaomei saluted Empress Dowager Lu Ling and Princess Kunxing.
"Have we seen this girl somewhere before?" asked Princess Kunxing.
"Yes! We met once in the yamen when you were on a long-distance patrol. My brother was drunk and locked up at that time, and we met when I went to bail him out!" Jiang Xiaomei said.
"Oh, sister, where did you meet?" Lu Ling asked puzzledly.
"When my husband was defeated in Xi'an, I was looking for him everywhere. I met Miss Jiang on the way!" said Princess Kunxing.
"So it's an old friend. That's great! My Ming Dynasty will open its doors to capable people, and will not be stingy with the titles of marquis or king." Lu Ling said.
"Empress Dowager, I know that Qin Liang, the King of Yuchuan, obtained the title of king through military merit!" Jiang Xiaomei said.
"That's good to know! I wonder what Miss Jiang is good at? Is it literature or martial arts?" Princess Kunxing asked.
"Both civil and martial!" said Jiang Xiaomei.
"Oh! It seems that Miss Jiang is also a heroine! I wonder how much she knows about our Ming Dynasty and what plans she has?" Lu Ling asked.
"Replying to the Queen Mother! In the eyes of neighboring countries and Europe, our Ming Dynasty is the invincible Celestial Empire. Despite the Jiashen Incident, we have basically switched from a defensive position to an offensive one. Everything is developing in a direction that is beneficial to our Ming Dynasty.
The biggest enemy now is no longer the Jianlu, but the warlords. Zheng Zhilong is the first to bear the brunt of the attack. They have obstructed sea transport, becoming a maritime empire. With Zheng Zhilong in power, the imperial court receives a fair amount of tax revenue from trade with other countries. Without silver, we have no money to train more troops, and without silver, we can't build larger ships, and we can't deal with Zheng Zhilong!
Secondly, although the warlords in various regions were funded by the imperial court, this was a hidden danger. The royal palace was not the imperial court, and they could not always use the royal palace's money to support the imperial court. Moreover, after the domestic situation stabilized, the imperial court would take back the military power of the whole country, and the troops of the whole country would be under the imperial court's command!
In short, the prerequisite for all this is to capture Zheng Zhilong first before we can proceed to the next step." Jiang Xiaomei said.
Princess Kunxing and the Queen Mother nodded in agreement. Jiang Xiaomei then proposed policies such as the "reform of the land system" and the "tax-tax system" for each acre of land. Princess Kunxing and Lu Ling were astonished. This woman was truly talented! She then asked some specific questions about government affairs, and Jiang Xiaomei answered them all fluently.
"With the help of your great talent, there is hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty!" Lu Ling said with a smile.
"Yes, is Miss Jiang married?" asked Princess Kunxing.
"I'm still unmarried! Princess and Queen Mother, I've given up on worldly affairs and just want to be a heroine. I hope you can help me!" Jiang Xiaomei said as she stood up after completing her ceremony.
"Since Miss Jiang has no intention of getting married in Ming Dynasty, we shouldn't force her. If you find a man you like in the future, you can tell me anytime!" Lu Ling said.
"Thank you, Queen Mother, for your concern!" Jiang Xiaomei said.
"Okay! Today, Miss Jiang and Mr. Liu will first familiarize themselves with government affairs!" said Princess Kunxing.
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