Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

Sheng Hong's sudden death brought some changes to Zhao Zongquan's original plan: as a rare civil servant in his faction, Sheng Changbai had to observe a three-year mourning period, and the job that was originally intended for him had to be filled by other candidates.

But Minglan's job was still fixed - to continue managing the Feige Channel.

Zhao Zongquan believed that the pigeon channel under the cover of the Cao Gang should not be abolished. This channel could help him collect a lot of intelligence. Giving it to Minglan to manage could allow this channel to avoid the court and sneak into the dark. Moreover, the Cao Gang was also a force that Zhao Zongquan did not want to let go. After all, the Cao Gang was the lifeline of the Song Dynasty. The bulk of materials needed in the capital and even the northern front depended on the Cao Gang, and the officials in charge of the Cao Gang... were not on his side.

As a married daughter of the Sheng family, Minglan had to observe a year of mourning for Sheng Hong, but this did not prevent her from continuing to manage the pigeon channel. After all, she had previously laid out this channel covering the canal in the Sheng residence in Youyang. Now, she only had to continue to maintain it and submit intelligence in a timely manner, and other things would naturally be implemented by others.

Time flies, day and night, while Gu Tingye is fighting for the emperor's imperial seal and contradicting the empress dowager in the court, Minglan is also gradually improving the information network based on the canal transportation. In order to ensure information security, Minglan and Gu Tingye found an excuse to move out of the Marquis' Mansion and live in Chengyuan, which is separated from the Marquis' Mansion by a courtyard wall.

The construction of the channel was not that difficult to understand. There were many people working on the dock, and with so many eyes, they could see and hear everything. The office manager mingled with the laborers every day, so he was naturally well-informed. The news was collected like snowflakes in Chengyuan, and then compiled by Minglan and sent to the emperor's desk.

Because it was gossip, not as dry and boring as official documents, the emperor read it with great interest every day, just like reading a storybook. After reading it, he was deeply impressed and could even use it to discuss with court officials, often finding out some of the officials' mistakes.

In the eyes of Prime Minister Han Qi, these behaviors proved that Zhao Zongquan was a wise ruler. Therefore, he and Ouyang Xiu and others stood more firmly on the side of the emperor and moved closer to Zhao Zongquan in state affairs.

However, this was not good news in the eyes of the Queen Mother.

"Tell me, how can the emperor know so many things? Hasn't he been hiding in Yuzhou all the time?" The empress dowager asked Zhu, the internal official beside her.

"I also find it strange. When the emperor first ascended the throne, he knew nothing. How come he has become a completely different person in just one year?"

"A different person?" The Queen Mother shook her head. "I think he grew eyes and ears."

"What do you mean, empress?"

"Let someone check and see where the emperor's new ears have been sticking out from all this time."

Soon, a young eunuch who served Zhao Zongquan found Minglan's "storybook" on his desk.

The Queen Mother held the thin booklet in her hand and flipped through it, saying with disdain, "Why are the characters so ugly?"

Zhu Neiguan: "Maybe the person in charge is not good at writing."

The Queen Mother shook her head. "The writing is fluent and the ideas are clear. It's not that he is not good at writing. But the handwriting is really ugly. I guess he is not one of the ones who were selected in the imperial examination."

Zhu Neiguan: "Then check with the Yinfeng official?"

The Queen Mother shook her head again: "From the reign of the previous emperor to the present, there have been so many officials who have been granted titles through favoritism. Now, there are three or four vacancies for each position. If we check them all, we will never be able to finish."

Zhu Neiguan was in a dilemma for a long time, but suddenly an idea came to his mind: "Since it has been delivered to the official desk, then I will take it out from the official desk!"

Zhu Neiguan's godson received the order and from then on stayed by the emperor's side, eagerly waiting to see who would pass the "script" to the imperial desk.

However, what was strange was that since that time, the young eunuch never saw the "storybook" again.

Not only that, but within five days, the emperor suddenly proposed to continue the frugal style of the previous emperor, further reduce the expenses in the palace, and release a group of people from the palace, and the name of the young eunuch was among them.

Not only him, but also several of Zhu Neiguan's godsons were on the list, as well as a group of male and female eunuchs placed by the Empress Dowager in the emperor, empress, and the Eastern Palace, all of whom were cleared out.

The Queen Mother was so angry that she went to the Emperor's palace and scolded him, "It's fine to release those palace maids. At least they can get married and have children. But you also released those eunuchs. They are incapable of doing things and have no foundation. If you let them go, aren't you sending them to die?"

The emperor said respectfully, "Madam, I have thought about it for them. There is a manor outside the capital called Guyan Manor. I originally gave it to that kid Gu Tingye. But he said that he had contradicted you about the imperial seal that day, and he felt guilty. So I decided to give Guyan Manor to these eunuchs in the name of the Madam to provide for their retirement."

The Queen Mother: "Guyan Manor? That was the imperial manor, right?"

The Emperor said: "Your Highness is wise. Guyan Manor was indeed an imperial manor, and it was managed by relatives of Zhu Neiguan. But the manor has been mismanaged for many years. The managers not only exploited the tenants, but also persecuted women. The tenants and their families were living together, and they had no food to eat. It was really miserable."

The Queen Mother turned her head to look at Zhu Neiguan: "Is this true?"

Zhu Neiguan knelt on the ground in fear and said, "I don't know! I stay by your side every day, I don't know anything about what's going on outside."

The Queen Mother looked at the Emperor and said, "Indeed, this old fellow has been with me for so many years and has no ability at all. It is really impossible to ask him to do something that is against the will of heaven and earth."

The emperor said hurriedly, "Of course. How could the eunuchs around the Empress do these things on their own? It must be someone from outside who is using the Empress's name to do evil and harm the dignity of the royal family."

Queen Mother: "That's right. But since Guyan Manor is in such a mess, why do you still send these dismissed palace servants there? They don't have any ability to begin with, and if you send them to such a place, won't it be the end of their lives?"

The Emperor: "Don't worry, Madam. After Gu Tingye took over the farm, he has already settled all the injustices in the accounts. Now the accounts are clear and the tenants can live and work in peace. If you live there again, you will enjoy the beautiful scenery."

The Queen Mother suddenly became unhappy: "Did Gu Tingye put all those people in jail? If this matter gets out, will our royal family still have any face left?"

The Emperor: "No, he knew that this matter concerned the dignity of the royal family, so he did not make a fuss."

The Queen Mother: "No quarrel? How can the accounts be balanced? Is the manager willing to pay out his own money?"

Emperor: "Of course not. Gu Tingye used his own money to settle all the accounts, saying that he would return them to the palace cleanly."

"He used his own money to fill in the account?" The Queen Mother was really shocked this time. "The farm has thousands of acres. He put so much money in it and then handed it back to the palace?"

"Exactly."

"What does he want?"

"He said he was making amends to the Madam."

"Oh!" the Queen Mother said sarcastically, "If you want to apologize to me, why not just give me all the money? Why go through so much trouble?"

Zhao Zongquan lowered his head and said, "Gu Erlang said that he knew that the Empress Dowager was not interested in vulgar things, but she had a moment of sympathy for the people under her, just like the late emperor, and was concerned about whether the palace maids could live a stable life. So when he heard that I wanted to lay off the palace maids, he proposed to return Guyan Manor to provide for the palace maids' retirement."

The Queen Mother was completely blocked from speaking, and the compliment of favoritism was placed on her head, so she couldn't say a word.

"Then I would like to thank Lord Gu for his righteousness on behalf of these dismissed palace servants!"

After saying this, the Queen Mother stood up and left.

"Congratulations to the Queen Mother!"

Zhao Zongquan didn't raise his head until he could no longer hear the empress dowager's footsteps. He laughed and sat down on the ground.

Earlier, Gu Tingye reminded him that the Queen Mother had worked in the palace for decades, and most of the eunuchs had received favors from the Queen Mother and the late emperor. Now that the two palaces were fighting for power, these eunuchs would definitely come in handy. Gu Tingye recommended Qingyun, the young eunuch who helped Sheng Changdong escape from the palace, to the imperial study, and indeed found that Zhu's godson secretly took away and took back the "storybook" on the emperor's desk.

On the one hand, the emperor was saddened by the empress dowager's love of power, and on the other hand, he made up his mind to replace the inner court, so the idea of ​​"reducing palace expenses" came into being.

After all, between pomp and circumstance and safety, he would rather choose the latter.