Chronicles of the Modern Empress Dowager

"This dynasty has gone through a century. From the impoverishment and weakness at the beginning of the dynasty, after the determined development of several monarchs, the lives of the people of Daqi gradually became happier. There was also a period of nearly five years from the Qiande Year to Yongding. Ten years of prosperity. Even in the previous years of Xikang, everyone's life was pretty good. Why have the lives of the people in the past few years gone back and forth?"

Li Wei asked Lu Caiping who stood by for these questions.

Lu Caiping used to be ignorant of world affairs. The woman raised in her boudoir occasionally wrote a few verses about groaning without illness to talk about ***, but after a few years in the countryside, she truly experienced the suffering of the people and the helplessness of the people.

"Queen dowager, don't you know that what drags down this dynasty is the wars in recent years, the successive famines, and the taxes on the people. The people just want to live a stable life, but now stability has become one. Kind of luxury."

Li Wei said: "I didn't know that the people were poor, but the court didn't have any money. Starting from the tenth year of Xikang, the instability of the frontier and several foreign wars have almost consumed the wealth accumulated in those decades. The time has come for this country to make changes."

Lu Caiping smiled and said: "It is rare that the Queen Mother has such a mind and mind. It is said that the Queen Mother has built a medical department and built a medical museum. These are good things for the country and the people."

"However, these are far from enough. We must vigorously develop agriculture and commerce, develop handicrafts, and engage in science and technology, and this dynasty can be saved. Now we should also imitate the Second Emperor Wenjing in the early Han Dynasty. The people need to cultivate their health, and develop production is the right way. , We should also introduce corresponding policies."

Li Wei valued Lu Caiping’s knowledge and asked her to stay with her to draft various documents for her, act as an adviser to her, and act as a female historian next to Li Wei. Li Wei also gave an upright title to Mrs. Chongwen of the first product, and appreciate the purple. Embroidered goose robe, free to enter and exit the inner court.

When this decree was first issued, it was met with fierce opposition from cabinet veterans.

"Queen dowager, that Lu family's wife is violent and perverted. If you can't stand the task, please consider it again and again."

Isn’t it just looking down on Caiping’s original behavior of Hugh? Li Wei wanted to applaud Caiping’s original behavior. She calmly responded, “This is what I meant. It’s already settled, so don’t oppose it anymore. ."

"Queen Dowager, Lu's character is depraved, and the impact is far-reaching. If you reuse her, I'm afraid it will cause dissatisfaction with the ruling and the public, so I ask you to take it back." Several old ministers led by Zheng Guangliang have already kowtowed to Li Wei.

Li Wei looked indifferent and said: "I reused Mrs. Chongwen to appreciate her talents. No matter how she has her character, she is not as unbearable as the legend. You are not allowed to talk about this matter. No one is allowed to discuss this matter!" Li Wei was angry. Rarely get angry in front of ministers.

Seeing that persuasion was ineffective, several people turned to beg Du Yu.

"Master Shoufu, why would the queen dowager reuse an unscrupulous lady? What the Lu family did is not glorious."

Du Yu saw that they were all humiliated and unwilling, and said: "Perhaps the queen mother valued Lu's talents. I heard that the woman wrote a good article, so it just so happens that the queen mother would like it."

"It is not a woman's duty to write a good article. The Queen Mother's move is really hard to guess."

Du Yu smiled slightly: "Is there anything I can't guess, that Lu's woman was only famous a few years ago, and everyone has heard of it. The Queen Mother wants to win over such a talent by her side to make suggestions for her."

Du Yu's words shocked everyone present. Liao Qi said, "Does the queen mother want to seize power?"

Someone said: "It's a taboo for women to mess with the dynasty. The dynasty has been established for more than 100 years, but there has never been such a thing. It is really inappropriate."

Du Yu said: "I can't say whether it is appropriate or not. The queen mother is young, and she is afraid of other uneasy duties. It is normal. In the early years, we still borrowed from the Li family to attack, but here the Li family is also a shelter from the limelight. I can’t find anything else. It’s not that easy for her to take power in a movie about her little girl.”

It was not something that Li Wei wanted to reuse Lu Caiping. She let Lu Caiping enter the Chongwen Hall and browse the books freely. She even asked her to teach the princesses to read and to help her draft some will.

Some time passed, and no one could see how much Li Wei relied on Lu Caiping.

Li Wei hasn't reached out to the previous government affairs for the time being, and the cabinet veterans dare not do anything. Everyone is fine.

At the beginning of October, a fierce letter came out from Shangshufu, and Li Yi's lingering illness for several months finally passed away.

Li Wei had the sad news and had to go home to mourn.

Li Wei, Li Xing and other brothers and sisters changed into filial obedience and mourned in front of the coffin together, all of them looked sad, but Li Xing cried most sadly.

Upon seeing this, Li Shao praised Li Xing for his filial piety, and Li Wei would comfort him when he came down.

However, Li Xing only knew in his heart that her pain was for that. Now that his father is filial piety, in another three years, I am afraid that the regent will not wait for her anymore.

Funeral ceremony has its own rules and regulations, and her sixth brother who traveled far is afraid that she won't be able to come back to send the last ride for her father. As the queen mother, there were rules and regulations on her body that pressed her down. She had no chance of funeral, but Li Wei regarded these rules and regulations as nonsense. She participated in the whole process from the small funeral, the grand funeral to the funeral. The officer persuaded him a few words, and Li Wei snapped a sharp mouth, so that the officer would never say anything.

Nowadays, Li Wei is a filial piety. She wears only plain clothes and eats a plain diet in Chongqing Palace every day. In mid-October, she received the second letter from Zhao Qian, with an autograph of him in the middle. The content was the Bailudong Academy in Lushan.

There is no lack of lovesickness towards Li Wei about Zhao Qian's journey as described in the letter. Li Wei was frightened and burned the letter on the spot, but only left the painting, which was quietly received in the study, and he often took it out to observe.

Bailudong Academy is the place where Sixth Brother used to study and study. It was also the place where she had participated in flood relief reports and the place where she and Zhao Qian met. In Lushan, he extended a helping hand to himself to save her from being buried by sudden mudslides.

Lan Hui came in with a cup of tea. Seeing Li Wei looking at the painting in awe, Lan Hui asked curiously: "Queen Dowager, where is the landscape in this painting? It's so beautiful."

"Bailudong." For Li Wei, there are too many memories for her.

Lan Hui turned his head and looked at it for a while, only to think that the painting was good, but seeing the appreciation of the mother-in-law, he couldn't help asking: "Which one of you did this painting come from?"

Li Wei didn't answer, just reached out for tea.