Chapter 79: The outer general enters the capital overnight, and the inner concubine accompanies the king

Zhao Jin returned to the inner palace. Maybe it was because he drank tea, or maybe he was confused and still couldn't sleep for a while. He put the imperial case on the terrace and sat and thought.

Zhaoyi Han Yunning, Shuyi Shangguan Mengyue, Zhaoyuan Qian Chan'e, Shuyuan Jiang Fengdi stood by the side. They are the heads of female officials in the palace, and their official names are called concubines. Generally, in the Central Plains Dynasty, there were nine concubines who chose people by color; but Zhao Jin's first choice for concubines was talent, and all four of them were quite talented and able to assist the king to take care of thousands of machines, not for companionship. As for the beauty, anyway, the hundreds of court ladies left in the palace after the uprising are selected, and the worst appearance is not much worse, ensuring that the king will not get tired of looking at it every day.

These four female officials are responsible for copywriting, summarizing materials, drafting writing, making suggestions, etc., which is equivalent to confidential secretaries and personal staff officers. They deal with big things with the king, and deal with small things by themselves. This kind of work can be described as hard work, which is different from other maids.

Zhao Jin respects them very much. He usually does not call them by name, but "surname + official name". He is called Han Zhaoyi, Shangguan Shuyi, Qian Zhaoyuan and Jiang Shuyuan, which is very polite. Even in **, you can hang out with concubines and maids, but you are still very cautious and polite to them, just like performing sacred rituals. The king, the beauties in the harem are like clouds, and there is no need to satisfy their lust at all. The reason why they are lucky once or twice a year is purely a kind of fetter.

"My concubines, are you tired? You don't have to stay with me." Zhao Yu said with a smile.

The four concubines look at each other. Shangguan Shuyi said, "The Lord is fair and has a big deal. How can we take care of ourselves to sleep?"

"It is." Han Zhaoyi said, "Lord, don't be polite. If you have any instructions, just let me do it later."

"hehe." Zhao Jin said, "I'm not polite to you. You really can't help with this matter. You are already very proficient in governing the country. But the women living in the palace don't understand the military affairs.

"The Lord's words are reasonable." Jiang Shuyuan said, "However, although we can't help, it's good to accompany the Lord and worry about the Lord."

Qian Zhaoyuan said, "Lord, take good care of yourself and don't have to worry about me."

Zhao Jing smiled and said, "That's good. So... you can help me burn a stove of incense."

The four answered, "Yes."

There is no need for four concubines to burn incense. In the middle of the night, I didn't want to disturb others anymore, so the four concubines nodded for Zhao.

Zhao Jin thought about it for a moment and suddenly asked, "How much is the grain left in Anhan Mansion?"

Han Zhaoyi answered immediately without thinking, "160,000 stones."

Zhao Jin asked again, "Where is Liancheng Mansion?" What about Zanzhou? What about Cangzhou?

Han Zhaoyi said: "45 million stones in Lianchengfu. 180,000 stones in Zanzhou. 200,000 stones in Cangzhou are amazing.

"It has been consumed to this extent." Zhao Jin calculated and sighed, "We must capture Rostov this year. Next year, we will try our best to store the fields so that this grain can be supplied, otherwise it will be cut off.

Shangguan Shuyi said, "Lord, don't worry. Rostov has a lot of grain reserves. Although it is unknown, there are at least millions of stones. Once it is knocked down, isn't it enough for military food for several years?

Jiang Shuyuan said to Shangguan Shuyi: "Even if there are millions of stone grain, it will be empty immediately."

Zhao Yu shook his head and smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, yes, to beat Rostov, you have to share food with the people and convince people. The existing people in our country have a grain gap of nearly 2 million stones every year! The national army must consume 400,000 stones of grain and 600,000 stones of horse grain every year. In order to maintain combat effectiveness, this million stones must be spent anyway!"

Qian Zhaoyuan said: "China consumes no more than 500,000 stones of grain every year, which is also an expense. The lower official has already suggested to the lord to issue a prohibition on alcohol. The lord doesn't follow.

Jiang Shuyuan said, "The lord is afraid that the soldiers will not have wine and their fighting spirit will not be high. The subordinate suggested that from now on, alcohol is only for military use, and soldiers can drink alcohol, but the people are not allowed. How about it?"

Han Zhaoyi said, "In this way, I'm afraid that the craftsman will not be happy and the work will be incompetent."

Jiang Shuyuan said, "So, soldiers and craftsmen are OK, and the rest can't wait, how about it?"

Han Zhaoyi said, "How about farmers? How about fishermen? How about the shepherd?

Jiang Shuyuan had to take a step back and said, "Farmer, fishermen and shepherds are also allowed, but not idle people. How about it?" For example, local officials have reported that those old men in East Slavs can't do anything and drink alcohol all day long.

Qian Zhaoyuan echoed, "Yes. The old woman is fine. Although she is not as diligent as my Chinese woman, after all, she is willing to do some textiles, and there are not many people who are addicted to alcohol.

Zhao Jin waved his hand and said, "Okay, you don't discuss it. Except for the old men who drink alcohol, there are not many idle people in our country. Besides, I will issue an order for the old men to help grow vegetables and do more or less work. Prohibition is easy to think about, but difficult to operate. If you want to ban it, you can't help it. When it comes to the time of food shortage, there must be a complete prohibition of alcohol. To tell all the soldiers and civilians, they have to put up with it for the overall situation, and even I have to take the lead not to drink! I hope there won't be such a time."

As he spoke, Zhao Jin suddenly remembered a joke and smiled, "Speaking of prohibition, I happen to think of a story to tell you."

The concubines smiled and said, "It's rare for the Lord to be elegant. I'll listen to it."

Zhao Yu said, "I saw it before when I watched Romance of the Three Kingdoms with Concubine Huai. An interesting story is recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Bei, the predecessor of the Han Dynasty, ordered a ban on alcohol because of the drought in the country and the lack of food. This order is very strict. Anyone found brewed will be arrested and executed. One day, Minister Jian Yong accompanied the lord on a tour to check the implementation of alcohol prohibition. The official reported to Liu Bei and found that there was a wine-making utensils hidden in a man's house. Everyone who accompanied Liu Bei said that since there were brewing utensils, they must be secretly brewing and should be executed. Only Jian Yong didn't say a word. After a while, Jian Yong suddenly pointed to a man and a woman coming on the road and shouted to Liu Bei, 'Lord, Lord! Those two are going to commit adultery! Hurry up and arrest them!' Liu Bei was surprised and said, 'How do you know they are going to commit adultery?' Jian Yong said, "They have adultery utensils hidden in their bodies!"

The concubines listened and laughed back and forth. Qian Zhaoyuan said, "Then how did Liu Bei judge?" Shangguan Shuyi squeezed her lips and said, "It's rare for the Lord's guild to tell such a joke with us."

Zhao Jin thought that it was a little inappropriate to tell them such a joke. He quickly concluded: "Liu Bei is a Mingjun. After listening to Jian Yong's words, he laughed and understood the truth that he can't catch the wind and shadows. It is not appropriate to treat the hidden utensils as a crime, so Liu Bei released the people with brewing utensils hidden at home. Ha ha." After saying that, Zhao Jin immediately changed the topic: "Just now, Shangguan Shuyi said that millions of stone grain should be obtained by capturing Rostov. This is indeed possible. However, we make military plans and can't count the unknown! In that case, what if they all expect to attack Rostov to seize the grain, what if they can't get it? Aren't we going to fall into a desperate situation?"

Shangguan Shuyi saluted: "What the lord said is very true, the subordinate has been taught."

General palace maids are usually called Zhao Jin's "king" and call themselves "servant". The status of the four concubines is equivalent to that of court officials, so they are called Zhao Jin's "Lord" and call themselves "lower officials". Thanks to their assistance, Zhao Jin has special respect, just like a minister, and does not dare to joke and talk nonsense. The four concubines know the book and etiquette, and also respect the king very much. They respect each other and have a unique harmony. Although they are not as intimate as the concubine and the king, in a sense, they have another intimate relationship that is not even as concubines.

(To be continued 79: chaos in the battle of rise and fall, the virtuous concubine's six strategies to solve the crisis)