In a corner of the palace and in the yard, many palace maids lined up in a row to listen to the female officials' lectures.

"Four years passed in the blink of an eye. When everyone first came four years ago, they were still confused. Now, they all have a bright future. After returning home, they will marry a good family and manage their families well."

"Don't say much about the things in the palace. This is the system, I hope everyone will remember it in my heart."

The female official said in a calm tone, looking at the familiar faces in front of her, she sighed: welcoming the new people every year and seeing the old people off every year.

It is now spring, and a new group of palace maids have arrived and will start a four-year "custom work". The "old palace maids" who have finished their work will also leave the palace and return to their hometown.

What the female official should say briefly, the last step is to distribute souvenirs, which can be regarded as a small cost to show off after these palace maids return to their hometowns.

The souvenir is a bronze mirror, and its style is unique to Shaofu Temple, and no one dares to imitate it on the surface.

The bronze mirror is installed in a beautifully crafted mirror box. The mirror box itself is a mirror platform, and the style also has the "Shaofu Temple characteristics". It will be the most glorious dowry when the owner of the mirror gets married.

The palace maids lined up to receive their souvenirs in turn. Many people were feeling a little depressed, both because of "separation" and because of hope.

Four years ago, they left their hometown and came to Kaifeng to work in the palace with full of longing.

I met many friends, had many good friends, learned many rules, and learned to read, write, and arithmetic.

Most importantly, they had a coveted opportunity: approach the emperor and the prince.

If they can be noticed by the emperor or prince, it means that the chicken turns into a phoenix. Not only will their own life change drastically, but their family will also benefit.

What can you do, what can you do...

Four years passed quickly, and they did not have any adventures. Most of them performed mediocrely and had not received the opportunity to "renew the contract" and had to leave the palace after the expiration of the period.

However, many people, in their spare time, found a wishful husband through various "sexual associations" organized by the palace, through official media and their parents' approval.

Many of the best men are guards, imperial guards, or soldiers who have made meritorious service in the palace. Most of them live in the capital, so the palace maids who have been married will stay in Kaifeng after leaving office.

As for the palace maids who have not settled for marriage, they don’t have to worry about marrying after returning home, because the women who have done things in the palace know the rules and have knowledge, and don’t have to worry about not having matchmakers come to the door to make a move.

But after all, it was the moment of separation, and the atmosphere on the scene was a bit low, but this somewhat depressing atmosphere was soon broken by the sound of the Yanming.

Spring is here, and the swallows returning from the south are hovering in the sky and wandering under the eaves, chirping constantly, which is both a little noisy and bringing a joyful spring atmosphere.

Next to the yard, Li Li, who was walking under the veranda, listened to the sound of swallows coming from the nearby eaves and asked Zhao Mengniang who was following him: "What is the swallow's nest in the palace?"

Zhao Mengniang replied: "Do, now the swallow is back, and it's arguing."

After saying that, he added: "The children like Swallows so much that they are trying to build a new wooden house to give Swallows a new home."

Li Li nodded: "It is a good thing to have swallows build nests at home. You should know that swallows like to build nests in peaceful and peaceful places the most. There are many swallow nests in the palace, what does it mean? It means that the palace is safe and safe!"

Zhao Mengniang nodded with a smile, and saw Li Li looking at the direction of the next yard, and said, "The palace maid who has finished her work will be returning home."

The relevant matters were in charge of Zhao Mengniang. She had not made any mistakes in recent years. Li Li said: "It's better to go home, get married, and live with a good man than to stay in the palace for decades?"

"Before, the old palace maids in palaces in various countries were really pitiful. The family had long disappeared, or they had broken contact. They had been alone in the palace for decades, and went out without relying on them, and they didn't know what to do."

"In my spare time, I reminisce about the past with a few elderly partners, and talk about the past many years ago. The more I talk about it, the more I feel sad."

"It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be. The palace shouldn't be a cage. A young woman enters the palace to be a palace maid. If there is no progress in four or five years, she should go home and get married. At least she has a support for the rest of her life."

Li Li always sympathizes with the common people. Zhao Mengniang thinks this is probably the reason for her origin: she and Li Li both have a slightly cold background, and Li Li has suffered a lot of hardships, so it is humane.

Now, the employment system in the palace is the employment system (except for palace maids and eunuchs), which usually lasts for four to five years.

After the work period expires, a small number of palace maids who perform well will be promoted to "female officials" or become personal maids of concubines, and most palace maids will leave the palace.

This employment system not only breaks the "convention" of employing people in the palace, but also is different from the existing slave system.

When he arrived at the warehouse, Li Li looked at the many wooden boxes that were about to be put into the warehouse, ordered a few at will, and asked someone to open them and inspect the goods.

This is the rule. Although the internal affairs in the palace are the responsibility of the Empress, and the Second (Inner) Concubine, as long as there are valuables in the warehouse, Li Li will be invited to inspect the goods.

This is the meaning of the two internal leaders in the housework "having a clear conscience and not afraid of checking accounts."

Although it was a bit troublesome, Li Li also abides by this system. He governed the country and the army, and said that he had clear accounts and would never tolerate concealment and false reporting. The same is true at home.

There were several long ivory pieces in an open wooden box, but these ivory had obvious wear and cracks, and you could tell at a glance that they were defective.

And it is a low-quality product that cannot be sold at a good price on the market.

The ivory used by the royal family is actually an obviously inferior product. What's going on?

Zhao Mengniang wanted to explain, but Li Li waved his hand: "I know, don't be anxious."

"The newly established Nanyang Division organized the owners of the ship to send troops to capture Linyi Capital and bombard many war elephants with artillery. These are the ivory of war elephants and souvenirs. It doesn't matter whether the quality is good or not."

It turns out that Li Li remembers the reason, so Zhao Mengniang didn't talk much.

Li Li picked up an ivory, looked at the damage on it, and gently stroked it: "It is the glory of the warriors. If the ivory of the warrior is smooth and flawless, it will lose its memorial significance."

"It seems that I'm very concerned about the souvenirs I specially asked for."

Zhao Mengniang expressed her opinion: "In the future, I will pay attention to checking and collect more top-quality ivory."

"It's okay, we don't need this thing to decorate the storefront." Li Li put the ivory back into the box, "What is the emperor's storefront? It's a strong army and a prosperous country and a strong people."

"As long as the official army is brave and good at fighting and invincible, then even if I live a shabby life, no one dares to underestimate me."

"On the contrary, if the official army is weak, even if I live in a magnificent place, I will be regarded as waiting to be slaughtered... What's this thing?"

Li Li pointed to the golden statue taken out of another wooden box, Zhao Mengniang looked at it and replied: "This is a Buddha statue worshipped in the Linyi Palace. It is said to be... made by a craftsman in the Indian country."

Li Li looked at the Buddha statue full of "Indian style" and felt a little uncomfortable: I felt strange in my eyes, was it not a "evil statue"?

Or is it the "Nanyang Head Reduction Technique"?

In an instant, various Southeast Asian ghost clips flashed through my mind.

He did not believe in Buddhism and did not want to worship "Southern Asian Buddha statues" in the palace, even if they were kept there.

"It's melted, it's melted into a gold tin, and it's boring to keep it."

"Yes, I understand."

Li Li pulled another box, and after opening it, he found that there were various gems.

Zhao Mengniang explained: "It is a gem from the Lion Kingdom, red, blue, big, full, flawless, but a rare top quality."

The Lion Kingdom is east of India, and is a huge island country in the sea.

Li Li thought that the Lion Kingdom should be called "Sri Lanka" as later generations, so he picked up a ruby ​​the size of a pigeon egg: "To carve this thing, you have to use diamonds, right?"

"Well, the gem is too hard, so you have to use diamonds to carve it. If Saburo likes one, I will ask someone to do it immediately."

"No, the gems are the same, it has a unique charm." Li Li put the ruby ​​back, looked at the box of gems, and sighed: "This time, the ship owners made a fortune in Nanyang."

Zhao Mengniang remembered the "requests" of several large ship owners and quickly added: "This time, the Nanyang Division used troops to fight, most of the treasures seized were handed over to the national treasury and the inner treasury..."

Li Li was a man of two lives. When he heard this, he knew that the owners of the ship must have taken some way. He asked the concubine to say a few good words in his ear.

It will avoid slandering people, saying that the ship owners took the spoils themselves and then used some defective products to fool the emperor.

He didn't say it out loud, and reached into the "gem box" for a while, took out a few gems from the bottom of the box, confirmed that the bottom of the box was not an ordinary stone, and then clapped his hands:

"Okay, no problem, install it and put it in the warehouse."

Li Li liked to please someone to please "Concubine Zhao". After all, if there is no one to please the concubine, the queen, and the concubine, he will lose his face, right?

Zhao Mengniang felt that Li Li was in a good mood and did not have any "adverse reactions" to her words, so she felt relieved.

If she hadn't made more "good relationships" for her son, she wouldn't have "made a convenience" and said good things to the emperor for the big ship owners who had a job as a official in Shaofu Temple.

In this world, money is not omnipotent, but it is absolutely impossible to have money. Zhao Mengniang knew that Li Li had the talent to make money. Since she cared about Haimao so much, it means that Haimao had a great future.

Therefore, after Li Li asked the prince to take charge of the sea trade affairs, Zhao Mengniang also became interested in trying to get his son for the sea trade.

The throne is the crown prince or the legitimate prince in the future. Zhao Mengniang doesn’t want to fight and will not fight, but wants to fight for a "money future" for her son.

Even if the sons become noble and powerless sect kings in the future, they will have much money and life will be much easier.

Thinking of another request from the ship owners, Zhao Mengniang planned it for a while. Seeing that Li Li was in a good mood, she asked: "The Nanyang Division has captured the capital of Linyi, and Linyi, are there still there?"

"Save it, keep it." Li Li sat aside, took the tea brought by Zhao Mengniang, and took a few sips: "You have to eat the rice in one bite, so you can't hurry."

"The Linyi Kingdom occupied the former land of Rinan County, so the court of law must of course recover it, but it must pay attention to strategies."

Zhao Mengniang, who never cared about politics, when asked about this, Li Li knew that he must have been asked to find out about his words.

However, he didn't mind revealing his tone, so he simply used Zhao Mengniang as a "channel" to spread it.

"During the Song Dynasty, the Song army fought with Lin Yi and even attacked his country, seized countless gold, silver and jewelry, but so what?"

"The people in that place have no sense of belonging to the Central Plains. Unless they immigrate to more than 100,000 people at once, or have stationed large troops for a long time, this place will still be lost."

"Also, if the imperial court takes over Linyi and stations a large army, other small countries will have a great impact on maritime trade."

"So, we want to send it to you."

"As the original plan, let the Nanyang Division, which is both an official and a businessman, come forward to support the obedient people in the royal family and become puppet kings."

"Then, the Nanyang Division's trading company established fortresses, set up trade bases, and resettled expatriates, to facilitate business and to support the puppet king."

"The nobles of Linyi Kingdom must hate this puppet king, but no matter how they make trouble, only those recognized by the Nanyang Division can be the king of Linyi Kingdom."

"In other words, treat Linyi as a shell and the court will benefit."

"Just like this, just one or two generations of people, the Central Plains expatriates continued to settle there by doing business and living in houses, changing the local population structure. When the time is right, they will naturally be able to change the country into a state."
To be continued...