Lu Xingjian did not explain anything.
When Meng Yue arrived, Lu Xingjian wrapped her tightly in a blanket and carried her straight out the door.
"It will be a bit bumpy in a while, so let me know if you feel uncomfortable."
Two sedan chairs were parked at the entrance.
Su Wanwan: ? ? ?
Lu Xingjian put her in a sedan chair, then sat in another sedan chair himself, and they set off in a swaying, leisurely manner.
The palace eunuchs were quite skilled at carrying sedan chairs, and Su Wanwan didn't feel any bumps.
However, she was still very weak and felt a little dizzy in the sedan chair, so she could only close her eyes to rest.
The sedan chair traveled north out of the Shenwu Gate.
Then head west, cross the Jade River Bridge over Taiye Pond, and arrive at Xiaoyuan Garden in Xiyuan.
Su Wanwan was still taken aback when she was carried out of the sedan chair.
The Xiaoyuan at this time was no longer the Xiaoyuan where she had temporarily stayed last year.
The area has doubled in size, and several exquisite courtyards, pavilions and towers have been added.
It seems a lot of effort was put into its construction.
She recalled that on the way back to Beijing after being kidnapped, Lu Xingjian said that they would live in Xiaoyuan from then on.
I never expected to actually get a place to live there.
Xiaoyuan's security and defenses are in no way inferior to those surrounding Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace.
The main hall is like a maze, with many rooms.
There weren't many servants, but many of them were people of mixed features with high noses and deep-set eyes.
Su Wanwan was very surprised.
He really had a special fondness for people of Central Asian descent.
It would be perfectly normal to treat Maggie differently.
Lu Xingjian placed her on the bed, gave her a deep look, and asked with a slightly cold gaze, "What nonsense are you thinking about now?"
"Why do we live here?" She didn't want to bring up Maggie again, lest they start another argument.
Lu Xingjian's expression turned even colder as he sat down on the edge of the bed and tucked her in.
"If they dare to poison someone once, they dare to poison them a second time."
"It's safer here. It won't be easy for Renshou Palace and Cikang Palace to plant people here."
As he spoke, he pointed to the two Semu (Central Asian) eunuchs who were carrying in tea.
“Those who are purchased from overseas don’t speak the language and have no connections. It’s not easy to bribe them or cause trouble.”
The young eunuch lowered his eyes, poured out half of the tea, drank it himself to test for poison, and then served the other half.
Su Wanwan's eyes flickered.
This is already the most cautious possible approach.
This is no emperor on high, but a prisoner of power.
They're even this cautious about the tea they serve.
If you can't fully extricate yourself from the situation, even the most meticulous plans will have a flaw, and you'll eventually be finished.
She felt her mouth was dry.
She tugged at his sleeve and asked, "What I said, have you thought about it?"
Lu Xingjian's eyes darkened slightly as he grasped her hand in return, his tone gentle:
"I'll spend more time with you from now on."
This means they intend to relinquish power and retreat behind the scenes.
Su Wanwan's lips curved slightly, and she breathed a sigh of relief:
"It's good that you know what's going on."
For the next few days, Lu Xingjian did not leave Xiaoyuan, and even skipped the morning court session.
Instead, they promoted and ennobled the parents of Liu Jin, a eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Liu Jin's father was appointed as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Rear Army Commandery, and his mother was granted the title of First-Rank Lady.
At this time, grain prices in the capital were also soaring.
The government troops in the capital were quite calm because they had already received their full amount of grain before the Spring Festival. They only discussed the high grain prices briefly over tea.
The soldiers from Jizhou were the most panicked.
Jizhou was one of the nine important border towns, the closest border town to the capital, guarding various passes on the outskirts of the capital.
The key transportation passes leading to the capital, such as Shanhaiguan, Juyongguan, and Zijingguan, were all guarded by the Jizhou border troops.
Lu Xingjian ignored the high grain prices in the capital and instead increased the monthly rations of the soldiers in Jizhou from eight dou to one shi, and the rations were paid in full.
This move immediately calmed the anxious people in the capital.
At this critical juncture, the imperial court is still able to increase the monthly rations for the border troops in Jizhou, which shows that the imperial court still has grain reserves.
This also helped Lu Xingjian win over the hearts and minds of the troops in the Jizhou border region.
After the troops in the capital and Jizhou were stabilized, the matter of checking and reforming the border reserves was put back on the agenda.
Liu Jin did not disappoint Lu Xingjian's expectations. He immediately submitted a memorial, which, like water dripping into a frying pan, caused a sensation both inside and outside the court.
The memorial stated that the lack of provisions and exhausted horses on the borders was due to the lack of capable officials. As a result, the government had to continuously provide financial assistance through the central government's commercial tax, which allowed powerful and wealthy individuals to embezzle funds without restraint, while the provisions were left to rot and decay.
From now on, merchants will only be allowed to make payments if the family is well-off.
Those who have committed serious crimes will be held liable for the full amount, and will also be severely punished in shackles, with the criminals also implicated.
Those who surrendered to the state and county authorities, like those who solicited bribes, were exiled to the far frontier.
As for horses, they must not be indiscriminately acquired to the point of being weak and damaged.
Town inspectors regularly patrolled the towns, and at the end of the year, they collected taxes, compiled lists, and submitted them to the Ministry for verification.
Every year after spring, officials from the Ministry of Justice are dispatched to inspect and assess the situation.
If they tolerate each other, they can be treated together.
They still sent people to investigate and issued a public notice prohibiting the agreement.
This memorial echoed Lu Xingjian's previous refusal of funding for the Nine Garrisons, serving as a powerful blow against corruption within the garrisons.
Lu Xingjian asked the Ministry of War to provide their opinion on this memorial.
Liu Yu, the Minister of War, also rose through the ranks from the border army and was well aware of its shortcomings.
It is said that the urgent task of border defense cannot be delayed, but the checklists for each border area have not yet arrived, so there is nothing that can be done now.
It would be best to wait until the end of the year, in September, to jointly submit a memorial with the Ministry of Revenue and other relevant officials, so that all matters can be handled in a unified manner, making it easier for people to keep their reports and implement them in a timely manner.
Lu Xingjian didn't say anything, but he didn't show up or make any further statements.
Liu Jin is quite decisive and resourceful.
Despite protests from all sides, the ban on corruption in the nine border regions was forcibly issued.
Of course, the most important thing is that Lu Xingjian secretly supports him, and the Beijing army is backing him up.
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