When a passerby becomes a princess

The weather is getting warmer day by day, and in the blink of an eye, almost a month has passed since the prince's wedding.

Lin Qiu went to the queen's house every day to help her settle accounts, and then took a leisurely walk back to Jingliu Palace.Su Hongyi didn't come into the palace again, but only sent three peach blossoms every few days.Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Mei came here once by sending things. Seeing that Lin Qiu's health has indeed improved a lot, Mrs. Sun was so happy that she wiped her tears, but Mrs. Mei said bitterly, "I am waiting for the second sister-in-law to help you." Revenge", Lin Qiu didn't understand what she was talking about, and felt that it probably had nothing to do with him, so he didn't answer.

At the end of this morning's prostration, Empress Chu dispersed all her concubines as usual, leaving only Lin Qiu behind.

Several female officials came in with account books and reported the situation of various internal treasury industries to Empress Chu one by one.

A female official said: "There is not enough rain this year. The manager of the farm came to report yesterday, saying that the seedlings in several farms are not growing satisfactorily."

Empress Chu frowned slightly and said, "Why don't you dig more wells?"

The female official said: "My lord, these farms are all near Yangui Mountain, west of the capital, where there are huge rocks below the soil layer, and it is really impossible to dig a well. Because there are two small rivers next to it, there is no shortage of water on weekdays." , it’s just that there hasn’t been a few rains since the beginning of spring this year, and the river has dried up.”

At the beginning, Empress Chu bought a lot of wasteland at a low price for people to reclaim it. Over the years, the business has grown to a certain scale, but most of this kind of land still depends on the weather, and there are often droughts and floods. Sometimes there is no harvest.

Empress Chu pondered for a moment, then asked: "Where is the nearest water source? Can we dig a canal to divert water there?"

The female officer shook her head and said, "Qingshui River is the closest to the farm, but the terrain of these farms is much higher than Qingshui River, so there is no way to dig canals to divert water."

"Isn't there no way?" Empress Chu sighed. These farms add up to nearly a thousand acres of land. Although it doesn't look like much, I know it from a small perspective. Because the rain is not abundant, other farms will not be able to harvest this year. It will be better.There is no harvest, but there are still people working in the farm. Between this increase and decrease, this year's internal money income can be imagined.

Lin Qiu sat aside and didn't speak. He knew the solution, but since no one asked him, then it wasn't his business, and he got used to being in a daze.

At this time, another female official said: "Madam, I am happy to report that the business of several restaurants has not been good recently, especially Wangjiang Tower. The business these few days has been less than half of what it used to be."

"What?! What's going on? Why didn't you hear about it before?" Empress Chu's eyes widened.

This Wangjiang Tower is the largest restaurant in the capital. On weekdays, guests who come from south to north come to the capital. They always come to Wangjiang Tower to eat a roasted duck with the most famous sauce in the capital, and then drink a pot of peach spring wine. , otherwise it is not considered to have come to the capital.As for the local ones in the capital, whether it is a birthday banquet, red or white banquet, the dishes and snacks of Wangjiang Tower are indispensable.

It doesn't matter that the farm's harvest is not good, this Wangjiang Tower is one of the largest sources of income in the country, so there must be no problems.

The female officer quickly said: "Returning to my mother, someone opened a restaurant near Wangjiang Tower half a year ago, called Xifulou. The Xifulou was not very eye-catching at the beginning. There are many, so Shunxi didn't take it seriously. But a month ago, Xifulou changed its cook, and the roasted duck with sauce turned out to be exactly the same as Wangjianglou's, but the price was only half of Wangjianglou's. Greed for cheap..."

Empress Chu lowered her eyes. A month ago, it happened to be the prince's big wedding. At that time, the cook was suddenly changed, and the price was deliberately lowered. Could it be for internal money?

The female officer continued: "Shunxi also lowered the price at the beginning, but within two days, Xifulou lowered the price again. The price of some dishes is even cheaper than the purchase, Shunxi really has no choice..."

Shunxi is a relative of Empress Chu's natal family, he is honest and reliable, and he has been diligent in managing the business of the restaurant these years.It's just that the ability is really lacking. He couldn't detect the crisis beforehand and couldn't deal with the problem afterwards. If it wasn't for his loyalty, he would have been replaced long ago.

Empress Chu took the account book, flipped through it, and asked, "Are the other restaurants the same as Wangjianglou?"

The female officer said: "Yes, there were restaurants opened nearby more than a year ago, and they began to lower prices a month ago." Seeing that Queen Chu's face was ugly, she said, "Shunxi has sent people to investigate the background of these restaurants. Yes, we will find out in a few days."

Empress Chu didn't say a word, she was able to set up so many properties in the capital without anyone noticing, and there were only a few aristocratic families in Daliang.She can be sure that this is definitely for internal money, and it won't be long before other industries will be suppressed one after another.

Although the internal money is only the emperor's private money, the imperial court's disaster relief, distribution of rewards, raising soldiers and fighting wars... These places often use the money from the internal treasury.There is not much rain this year. If there is no rain in the summer, the crops will not be harvested and we will have to open warehouses for disaster relief. However, due to the flood in the south last year, several counties were flooded, and the food stored in the warehouse has just been used up. Food is needed You must buy it from the merchant, if Curry has no more money at this time...

Thinking of this, Empress Chu couldn't help breaking out in a layer of cold sweat, and hurriedly said to the eunuch beside her, "Go and see if the emperor has gone to court. If he has, please come to the emperor."

The eunuch agreed to leave, Empress Chu took a sip of the tea served by the maid, and then remembered Lin Qiu, who had been silent by the side all this time, looking at his leisurely (fa) idle (dazed) face, for some reason There was some resentment in my heart.He took a few account books from the case and put them in front of Lin Qiu, saying: "The Crown Princess has also studied with me for more than a month, and the Crown Princess will be responsible for these farms."

In fact, Empress Chu felt a little regretful just after she finished speaking. What happened to me? She actually vented her anger on a child. Lin Qiu has just turned 11 years old. Although he is good at spells, running a farm is different. The children in the house probably can't even tell the difference between wheat and rice.And after a closer look, the farms handed to Lin Qiu turned out to be the ones near Yangui Mountain. Because of the lack of water, these farms must have no harvest this year.

Unexpectedly, Lin Qiu nodded, and took the account book without any hesitation, and the words that made Queen Chu regret it were directly held in her throat.

After thinking about it, Queen Chu finally did not take back the farm, but sent Lin Qiu an eunuch who was good at managing the farm, named Zhang De'er, to assist Lin Qiu.

After a while, the eunuch came to report that the emperor had just descended and was heading towards Kunning Palace. Although Lin Qiu was a man, he was a "daughter-in-law" after all, so he was not suitable to be here, so he took Zhang De'er and the nuns to leave.

As soon as he returned to Jingliu Palace, he saw Liang Xi also just entered the door, wearing a golden jade crown and a rolling dragon robe, he should have just returned from court.