Sending the queen mother back to the palace, Man Bao performed two sets of acupuncture for the queen mother, and Xiao Yuanzheng also watched and changed the medicine. After the queen mother had eaten, drank the medicine and fell asleep, the two of them withdrew.
Xiao Yuanzheng let out a long breath and said, "Fortunately, there is no surprise or danger."
Man Bao: "... It's only a short distance from the palace to Xuandu Temple, and I haven't left the city yet."
What's the matter with either being carried or riding in a carriage all the way.
Xiao Yuanzheng glanced at her and said: "What do you know, the queen mother has not moved for a long time, she has been up and down so many times, if she is frightened or accidentally falls, the hats on our heads will not only be taken off , I am afraid that even the head will be taken off."
Before Man Bao had time to speak, a servant waiting outside had already trotted up and whispered, "Master Zhou, Your Majesty announces you."
Xiao Yuanzheng closed his mouth and stopped discussing this matter. He nodded to Zhou Man and said, "Go."
Man Bao went to see the emperor with his servant.
The emperor went out for a trip, and when he came back, he had to work or had to work. He was burying his head in reviewing papers at the moment, when he heard Zhou Man's voice saluting, he raised his head to look at her, and said, "Here you are? Sit down."
Man Bao found a seat on the right side and sat down, but she felt a little uneasy, it was the first time she entered the emperor's study, and she was granted a seat without saying a word.
The emperor put down his pen, took the bill from the side and handed it to Gu Zhong, who took it down and showed it to Zhou Man.
Zhou Man held the bill at a loss, and suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart. The emperor wouldn't let her pay the money, would he
While raising his heart, the emperor asked, "Which three wishes did the Queen Mother make?"
Man Bao breathed a sigh of relief, and said all three wishes of the Queen Mother without any hesitation.
The emperor was also stunned for a moment, but soon understood, he thought about it, and said to Gu Zhong: "Let the manager of the internal treasury go and pay the money."
It is impossible to use the money from the national treasury. A few days ago, there was an argument in the court because of Buddhism and Taoism.
Gu Zhong hesitated for a moment, but still took the bill and went down, Man Bao took the opportunity to leave.
The emperor said quietly: "Zhou Man, since you don't agree with spending large sums of money on Buddhism and Taoism, why don't you stop the Queen Mother today?"
Man Bao was stunned for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, I do not agree, but if the Empress Dowager is using her own private house, how can I advise you? Besides, the Empress Dowager is not in good health, so it is better to follow her at this time. "
Man Bao paused, and she also felt that the century-old sesame oil was a bit expensive, mainly because after a hundred years, the masters of the Xuandu Temple would not know how many to change, so it was completely unnecessary.
She had the same idea as the emperor before, "Your Majesty can pay for one or two years first, and after two years, if you still want to continue the Queen Mother's wish, then you can pay again."
The emperor righteously said: "This is the queen mother's last wish, how dare you fool the queen mother?"
Man Bao said: "Isn't this minister afraid that you will spend money?"
"But the Queen Mother's wishes are all beautiful."
"Yeah, whose wish can be evil?" Man Bao said speechlessly: "But Jiangshan Sheji first looks at the character and talent of the ruler; Needless to say, a wish is very beautiful, but whether it is realized or not depends not on the gods, but on the person involved. So I think there is no need to waste that money."
The emperor remained silent.
A few years ago, no, even last year, he had the idea of donating money to buy the Queen’s life, but now, not only Wei Zhi and others told him that gods and Buddhas are not trustworthy, even Zhou Man, who believes in faith No, but what she believes in is not gods and Buddhas, but the classics left by the sages.
And the emperor looked back on this half of his life, and he had to believe what Zhou Man said, that gods and Buddhas are just human comfort.
The emperor rubbed his forehead, waved and said, "Go down."
He decided to do his filial piety, although the money for sesame oil is quite a lot, but he can't afford it, so let's just make the Queen Mother happy.
Man Bao withdrew, and after only a few steps, he saw the manager of the internal warehouse rushing over. Seeing Zhou Man, he just nodded slightly, and Zhou Man saluted and stepped aside, waiting for him to walk past before leaving again.
But she couldn't help but glanced back at the hasty manager, and lowered her head to hold back her laughter, feeling that the emperor couldn't get the money out.
The emperor really couldn't come up with the money, the head of the inner treasury lowered his head and reported: "...the funds from the imperial medical office have been allocated this year, plus the expenses for the marriage of the fifth prince, now there is only 768,600 money in the inner treasury Hundred… "
The emperor had a slight bulge of blue veins on his forehead, "Just tell me that you still have seven hundred and sixty-eight taels, and you don't need to change it into copper coins to tell me."
The head of the internal treasury lowered his head firmly and said: "But those are not silver, but copper coins..."
In other words, the emperor didn't even have any silver.
He looked sad.
"However," the manager of the internal treasury raised his head and said, "Now the summer wheat is being harvested, and it won't be long before it will be dried and stored in the warehouse. By then, it will be profitable to sell a batch."
Only then did the emperor remember that the summer and autumn harvests were coming soon, and that Huangzhuang should have a lot of income, so he felt better.
The eyes of the emperor and the chief treasury fell on the bill together.
The emperor sighed and said, "Let's go and pay for last year's sesame oil first, next year, next year."
In fact, what Zhou Man said was correct. Whether the country is stable or not depends on the rulers and officials, gods and Buddhas... that can only be for psychological comfort.
The Queen Mother naturally didn't know about these things, she was getting worse and worse now, the emperor turned around and told her that the three long-burning lamps had been lit, and that the Taoist temple had already started performing rituals for her, so she nodded happily, "Okay, okay , I have one more thing to worry about."
The emperor held her hand and asked, "Speak, Queen Mother."
The queen mother said: "The Ai family knows that Yunfeng is disobedient and not sensible enough, and always makes the emperor and empress angry."
The emperor smiled generously: "She is still a child, the queen will not care about her, Mingda and Changyu are also very friendly sisters."
"Of course Aijia knows, Mingda is a very reasonable child."
The emperor nodded approvingly.
"So the Ai family thought that the sisters should take good care of each other in the future. You found a good marriage for Changyu, and she will stay in the capital from now on, so she can meet her sisters from time to time, but Yunfeng married far away from the land of Lu. , I am very worried."
The emperor listened carefully to her next sentence.
"So the Ai family thought, anyway, the county horse is also studying in Beijing, so it's better to keep Yunfeng in the capital, and the sisters will take care of them in the future."
The emperor laughed and said, "Queen, isn't Yunfeng staying in the capital now?"
The queen mother understood what he meant, and nodded with a smile: "I also ask the emperor to take care of her more in the future."
The emperor complied.
The queen mother said: "Xiao Wu's good days are only a few days away?"
The emperor smiled and nodded, "Yes, it will be the real day in three days."
"No wonder the palace is so lively recently," the Queen Mother said softly, "Ai's family has become more and more unable to sleep recently, and can't eat much food. I will endure it again. I think Mingda has grown up. She has grown some on her face in the past six months. The meat has been poured out a lot."
The emperor held the queen mother's hand without speaking.
The Queen Mother continued: "Find her a son-in-law while I'm still awake, otherwise, after a year or two, good men will be ordered to leave."
The emperor suddenly felt sad, held the queen mother's hand and said: "The queen mother must live a long life, and my son wants you to hug Xiaowu's great-grandson."