Chapter 430 Touching Concubine Yi

The manager was taken aback, "All these have to be saved? But how much money can these save?"

The manager couldn't help muttering in his heart, this princess is really stingy, is she thinking of grabbing chicken feathers as an arrow, and then doing meritorious service in front of the prince and empress dowager?

Zi'an said, "I'll show you the calculation."

She took a pen and calculated the total based on the monthly tung oil candle money, then subtracted one-third, and passed it to the manager, "Actually, I shouldn't subtract one-third, because there are more fences in the imperial garden and the gardens of the palaces, and the loss is greater , but even subtracting one-third would save that amount every month.”

The steward took it over and looked at it, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Minus a few lamps and candles, it can save more than two thousand taels of silver in one month, and more than twenty thousand taels a year.

"Candles are expensive to buy. Use tung oil lamps instead of candles as much as possible, especially in public places. There is no need to light candles. It is not suitable for a strong wind. If the wind blows out, just throw it away and don't light new ones. My number is rough. Statistics, if you really want to calculate it, it is not the number. Also, the repair of the palace, if you can’t move it, don’t move it. If you really want to move it, go directly to the Ministry of Industry. I will tell the prince about this situation. It is calculated by the Ministry of Industry and then handed over to the Ministry of Households for appropriation, without going through the inner government.”

"Yes!" The manager's face turned pale.

"Also, you are the head of the inner palace, and you receive the royal salary. You have to keep a close eye on the source and control the price. I just checked the price of pots and pans, and it is more than double the market price. Poultry, meat, vegetables, melons If it is higher than the market price, what happened in the middle, everyone understands that I will not pursue the previous things, but in the future, the accounts must be clear, and it can only be lower than the market price and not higher than the market price, understand?"

The manager wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Yes, the servant knows."

"I don't intend to hinder some people's financial opportunities, but the country's finances are difficult. As a person in charge, it is always right to restrain yourself. Don't lose your life because of a small loss and harm your family." Zi An said indifferently. typical.

The manager's legs are weak, and he is almost about to kneel down,

"This, the slave understands, and the slave will give orders."

Zian put away the ledger, "Take it all away, and from today onwards, every transaction must be entered into the account."

"Yes!" Only then did the manager realize that she was not just making trouble, but really wanted to reform.

After Zian dismissed the manager, he went to Concubine Mei's palace.

Concubine Yi happened to be there too, the two were discussing matters in the palace, seeing Zi'an coming, Concubine Mei seemed warm, Concubine Yi looked very cold.

"They're all there!" Zi'an entered with a smile, but he didn't smile.

"Princess Wang is in a good mood today!" Concubine Yi said indifferently, "I am entering the palace to look for Sister Mei Concubine, what's the matter?"

Zi'an said: "It's not that I entered the palace to look for Concubine Mei, but I just went to the inner palace to ask about the account."

"Account? Oh, yes, I almost forgot that the empress dowager let the concubine take care of the account, but in fact, everyone knows that this is the intention of the regent, to give the concubine such a fat vacancy, and the palace will have no worries about eating and drinking in the future." Concubine Yi's voice Soft and waxy, but with sharp bones.

Zi'an smiled lightly, "Is the Yilan Palace worrying about food and clothing? The palace doesn't worry about it. It didn't worry about it before, and it doesn't worry about it now. It doesn't matter who it is. This is indeed a fat vacancy, which can save the country a lot of money. .”

Concubine Yi's eyebrows twitched, "Yo, it's as expected, this princess doesn't live in the palace, and the life and death of the people in the palace is naturally ignored, but I don't know what to cut this time? Three meals are changed to two meals a day."

"Sister Yifei." Concubine Mei gave her a reproachful look, "They are all sisters-in-law, joking and joking are fine, but attacking others is not allowed."

"It's just a joke," Concubine Yi shrugged and looked at Zi'an, "Isn't it, Princess? Sitting together between my sisters-in-law, I'm just joking. I'm a bit outspoken. If there is something that offends, Princess don't let it go." In my heart."

After finishing speaking, she smiled and slapped her hands again, "I'm too worried, the princess is generous, so naturally she won't be stingy, is she?"

Zian looked at her with a half-smile, "I'm not generous at all, I'm petty."

Concubine Mei saw that the atmosphere was tense, so she quickly smoothed things over, "Look at you, you're joking and joking, and you're acting serious. Come, try the wine glutinous rice balls made by Ben Gong."

Concubine Yi stood up, "Farewell, I'm still a bit more knowledgeable, it won't prevent you from discussing serious matters, come back another day."

After finishing speaking, he walked away with a very arrogant attitude.

Zian looked at her back and smiled coldly.

This way of pretending to be crazy and expressing her dissatisfaction from the bottom of her heart shows that Concubine Yi is really a black rose with thorns.

Concubine Mei smiled awkwardly, "Zi'an, don't argue with her, she is... outspoken!"

Zian raised his head and looked at Concubine Mei, "Speak out?" It was hard for Concubine Mei to speak out, but everyone knew that it wasn't being outspoken.

Concubine Mei smiled and ordered the maid to install a bowl of wine rice balls, "Don't worry about it, try what I made myself."

Zian was not too polite, he ate a few and said, "Did you put the goji berry?"

"Yes, I put goji berries to nourish my body," Concubine Mei said.

"Concubine Mei knows how to keep in good health." Zi'an smiled, and stopped eating. The wine tasted not strong, sweet and greasy, and she didn't like it very much.

"In the past, when the palace was lonely, I thought about this way." Concubine Mei said insincerely, she did not study because of loneliness, but for the sake of favor, and hoped that the emperor would come, so it is good to remember her.

Zi'an naturally understands, but people are hard to break, so why bother? Concubine Mei's natal family is weak, so to stand firm, she must work harder than others.

Zi'an was unambiguous, and directly stated the purpose of coming, "I just told the inner government about saving expenses in the palace, and you can also ask the general manager to talk about your ideas later. The expenses in the palace must be controlled. Next year's budget should be released as soon as possible. Concubine Mei and Concubine Yi are discussing how to handle this, and I'll have a look at it, or participate in and give some advice, do you think it's okay?"

Concubine Mei nodded, "Okay, this is a good thing. The palace has spent a lot of money in the past two years. The emperor also said before that only the empress is in charge of the general account, and he also said that various expenses cannot be reduced, for fear of affecting the majesty of the royal family. "

"Prestige is not built with money. The censor may be dissatisfied with such extravagance and waste. We have to do things well first, so that no one can find fault. If we have made meritorious service, we will not talk about it." Zi'an said.

"Yes, what the princess said is reasonable. In fact, some ministers have said that the expenditures of the palace in recent years have been higher than those of the former emperor's dynasty and Emperor Hui. Well, it's not good anyway."

Seeing that she really cooperated with this throttling measure, Zian couldn't help but feel relieved. It seems that Murong Jie chose the right person. Although Concubine Mei used to be a bit utilitarian, she is considered positive among the concubines in the harem.

"Where's the third prince?" Zi'an glanced at it, it was already evening, and he hadn't seen the third prince yet.

"In the study, I've been punished by the teacher recently." Concubine Mei shook her head, very worried.