Mrs. Pin, one of the Red House

Although the Empress Dowager passed away in the first lunar month, the funeral was held in a grand manner.

After the first seven days, the snow in the capital cleared up, the weather gradually warmed up, and the folk white silk mourning clothes were removed, and some meritorious families and clan families still wore mourning, but the enforcement was not particularly strict.

Especially in families with young children, three months of solanine, no matter how hard life is.

For example, the Xue family said they were guarding the house, but Aunt Xue was soft-hearted and Xia Jingui had just given birth to a daughter, so she asked the servants to change the food to mostly meat dishes.

Xia Jingui picked up a steamed bun and fed it to her daughter, "Be careful, don't burn it."

Her daughter smiled and nodded, grabbed a snack obediently, and said vaguely: "Cold, eat."

Aunt Xue couldn't hold her hand, and said with a smile: "This child is really caring to her mother." She said and gouged out Xue Pan's eyes.

Xia Jingui looked at her husband with a bit of disdain, who can be said to be blocked by mud and unable to support the wall, and said to Aunt Xue: "Who says it is not? Hou Dan's husband and son-in-law are not up to the mark, if it's the former, it's fine, but it's the latter's turn, if the child doesn't live up to expectations, then there is no hope."

Aunt Xue was dumbfounded.

Xue Pan was a bit temperamental at first, but after coming and going, Xia Jingui scolded him hard, and he kept his head down and didn't speak.

Xia Jingui saw that Xue Pan's momentum had weakened, and said, "There is also the last one, do you know what it is?"

Baoqin raised her eyes and glanced at Baochai, Baochai held her chopsticks in mid-air, put them down gently after a long while, and said, "Who is picking up sister-in-law today?"

Even Baoqin could tell that Xia Jingui was secretly satirizing Xue Pan's previous unspeakable things.

Xue Pan's virtue is really... Everyone knows it.

"In this family, with your elder brother here, who can give me a wink?" Xia Jingui said with a smile, "Sister, you are too careless."

She was really unhappy when she got up today.

Baochai could only smile and said, "That's good."

Who knew that Xia Jingui was not forgiving, and said to Xue Pan: "You say yes? Even if you are just a worthless person, the servant will still call you a master."

She must quarrel with Xue Pan and get angry, and this matter will be over.

Xue Pan had a firecracker temper. He dropped the bowl and stood up abruptly, "Can you speak well?"

"That's the score."

Xue Pan was really trembling with anger, "You...too much..."

"You slept with my maid, and I carried her into the room. Tell me, are you going too far, or am I going too far?" Xia Jingui said, tears streaming down her face, and she cried to Aunt Xue: "Mother, you're here to judge. Isn't he slandering me with red mouth and white teeth? Where did I go too far?"

Aunt Xue, one head and two older, "I don't get involved in the matter of your young couple."

"You guys also comment..." Xia Jingui turned to Baoqin and Baochai.

Baoqin didn't bother to say anything, and went back to her room with a drawer of steamed stuffed buns, a plate of snacks, and a plate of side dishes.

Out of sight out of mind.

Baochai was silent and didn't speak, because the quarrel ended anyway, and the two of them got back together the next day, and the entire Xue family was used to such conflicts.

"I never went out to mess around." Xia Jingui sat down and turned away from looking at Xue Pan.

"You, a hen that doesn't lay eggs, why are you arguing with me? Be careful, I will retire you after three years." Xue Pan's sore feet were ignorant when he was young, and he was involved in a lawsuit. He grew up and became a father again, wishing to bury all the things of his youth, but Xia Jingui liked to mention them.

"I'm not a hen, what kind of eggs should I lay?" Xia Jingui choked back.

"..." Xue Pan pointed at his daughter, "If you don't come out, you don't have a son. What does it have to do with a hen? Don't make excuses, you woman."

"If you can't give birth to a son, it's because you are incompetent. What does it matter to me?" Xia Jingui always spoke bluntly.

Xue Pan couldn't bear it anymore and walked away.

"Who provoked her today? So angry?" Baochai shook her head and asked Ying'er.

Ying'er also knew what was going on today, so she took advantage of Bucai's opportunity and said to Baochai, "Grandma got upset from her natal family today."

"what happened?"

Only then did Ying'er come together, "Isn't Grandma going to be the master to tell the second master about the marriage? She wanted to tell the second master about her natal cousin, but was preempted by Mrs. Xing of Jia's mansion, and then The in-laws were scolded." She smiled, "No, I'm still angry."

"I see." Baochai nodded.

She had heard about it.

She glanced at Xia Jingui, it was not easy for everyone, and it was hard to say anything.

"By the way, I'm going to enter the palace in a while, mother, so you don't need to worry about this matter." Baochai told Aunt Xue the whole story, "Otherwise I can go and tell my sister-in-law, but it's really a pity. Don't leave."

She is now a commune girl, she has a lot of things to do, and there are many people she comes and go with, so she will hand over everything to Aunt Xue, such as family affairs.

Aunt Xue said: "Don't worry, I have everything."

Baochai smiled and said, "It's a good thing I have a mother." After tidying up, the palace is full of mourning clothes, so she found a white chiffon yarn woven gold dress, and a silver, gold and silver double-thread embroidered jacket with a stand-up collar. She wears a Liuxian bun, but she doesn't wear too much jewelry. Because she doesn't have a command and dare not use jade, she adorns some silver hairpins here and there.

Baochai was born dignified and graceful, with a silver basin face and apricot eyes, which made her look even more extraordinary.

Ying'er couldn't help but said, "The girl is so beautiful."

"The one in the palace wearing the yellow robe is really beautiful." Baochai smiled wryly.

She also dreamed of being a concubine, and imagined that one day she would be the mother of the world and be admired by all people.

In fact, even Jia Yingchun, who has always been known as the second wood in Jia's mansion, has been named Concubine Ning, but she leads the Xue family, the business world is ups and downs, there are intrigues in the palace, and she is tired, but she has no mother's life.

However, being a concubine under Wei Ruozhu's hands, it is scary every step of the way.

Baochai thought of the woman on the phoenix chair, sitting on the phoenix chair, wearing a phoenix robe, talking and laughing about the affairs of the world, her slender hands full, but holding the power of the world, making decisive decisions, winning or losing without blinking an eye, asking herself if she really can't do it to this point.

There is a bit of resentment in my heart.

Concubine Yang Gui also has a good brother, but she has a worthless Xue Pan.

But she didn't regret it, since she didn't choose to abandon Xue's family at that time, marrying and picking herself out, but chose to be the girl guarding the society. One day, there would be Xue's family. Assuming the responsibility of the Xue family's parents, no matter the way ahead is clear or dark, even if there is no way, she will come out of it.

##

"See empress empress, empress empress is blessed and safe." Baochai stepped forward and bowed her knees and bowed to her.

Wei Ruozhu was also dressed in white, just like the day the late emperor passed away, but the eyebrows were a little more sharp than they were on that day, and a little less feminine.

"Get up, give me your seat." When she saw the foreign minister, she spoke in a very soft tone, but she could feel the aura of the superior.

Baochai bowed again when she heard the sound.

"I'm looking for you today, just to talk about family affairs." Wei Hou smiled, "After all, you and my two families can be regarded as relatives, and we know everything without saying anything, and it's not more than polite."

Empress Wei's mother's surname is Xue, and she may have been somewhat related to Baochai and the Xue family in Jinling hundreds of years ago.

When the queen came to marry her, Baochai naturally would not refuse, but smiled warmly and gently, and said, "It's better to obey orders than to be respectful."

"Speaking of which, your Xue family is an imperial merchant, and your business is not small. The distance is from Nanyang to Taixi, and the nearest is from Sakhalin Island to Xiangjun. Even if it is in the hands of your father, it is just a cooperation with the late emperor. The arms business of compradors and Fusang prefecture, who knew that it came to you—I remember the joke that there are still people in the household department wanting to see you, but it is getting bigger and bigger. It's all over." Wei Ruozhu said in a manly voice.

"I don't dare to be a woman of the people." Baochai knew the meaning behind Wei Ruozhu's words, so she stood up quickly, naturally she didn't dare to take credit for it.

"I've said it's just a casual chat," Wei Ruozhu shook his head, "You're still like this."

Then Baochai sat down.

"Then tell me, compared with the previous dynasties, Thailand and the West, and France, what are the advantages, weaknesses, and hidden dangers of the business of our Jin Dynasty?" Queen Wei said leisurely, holding tea.

As soon as she said this, Baochai broke out in sweat, and subconsciously clenched the handkerchief tightly.

Empress Wei's expression has also changed, she was kind and cordial just now, but now she is swept away by Ling Ran's Qi, which is daunting.

Maybe this is the royal people.

Baochai calmed down, thought about it and said: "Our country is naturally booming, but if there is worry or not, this girl really can't think of a coincident answer."

When Wei Hou said this, he naturally didn't want to hear any nonsense about our country for generations to come.

But if the words go too far and touch the back of the guard, she and the entire Xue family will be ruined.

Baochai was thinking about her words here, but she thought of Ning Yun and Daiyu, and had to admit that she was the daughter of an official's family after all, and she had seen it a lot, so she naturally had a sense of proportion in her speech.

Her words really aroused the interest of Queen Wei, who rested his chin on his hand and looked at her with a smile in his eyes, "Then tell me, where is your worry?"

Baochai thought for a while, and said: "If we talk about our own country, of course we don't have any. There are only so many silver coins. Every year, the imperial court mints and circulates those. When Emperor Gaozong was happy to go to war, the treasury was empty. Kowloon, Guangzhou, Huachang, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Songjiang and other fourteen ports, the money is naturally continuous, so the hidden dangers of business in this country, the embroidery industry, for example, is nothing more than the money of the embroiderer and the boss Disputes, even if the conflicts intensify, to the greatest extent, the Ministry of Household Affairs intervened to protect some silver taels, but if we talk about Fusang and Nanyang, there are still internal troubles.”

Wei Hou raised his chin, motioning for her to continue talking.

"Nanyang is nominally our vassal country, and we enshrine some special products every year, but their royal families can't compete with Taixi, and some can't even suppress the local rebels. I remember that during the civil strife in Siam a few years ago, the king of Siam asked Our country asked for help, and the Ministry of Households allocated millions of silver and gold, and sent troops to help them. At the same time, it was only for the stability of southern Xinjiang. The money earned was transferred to Nanyang, and the country did not keep a penny, which is a bit of a pity."

Queen Wei smiled, "Even if it's a pity, what can we do? The ancestor's rules are gentle and far-reaching. I have been criticized as the empress of the palace, and I can't fight again." She said with a smile.

"If your empress does not dislike it, I will recommend myself, and I am willing to relieve this worry for the empress." Baochai guessed what Wei Ruozhu meant.

There are frequent accidents in Nanyang, and when an accident occurs, most of the money comes from the Jin Dynasty. Even though the Jin Dynasty is rich in resources and has no worries about money, it still has some slight words about it. The Bay of Bengal repelled Taixi. In order to seek peace, Taixi paid the Jin Dynasty 2100 million taels of silver, or [-] million pounds, and made concessions in trade. Merchants in the Jin Dynasty did not have to pay taxes, but they fought seven or eighty-eight. The cost of [-] million taels is a decimal after all, and it is not the case to use force to rule the Nanyang vassal countries.

What's more, now that Fusang is proclaiming a minister, Lin Yuzhen, the governor, needs money to take office, and Meng Jiachen needs a lot of money to take the throne. If the emperor's funeral is added, I am afraid that the treasury will be ruined.

The only way is to do business, and use the most profitable business to fill the treasury in the shortest time.

The easiest way is to use the port or ticket number through the channels of the imperial merchants to earn back the money that has been taken out over the years.

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