Chapter 109: Not Following the Rules Means Losing Your Head

Yan Ning frantically winked at her father; there was no need for the hour of the snake, it could be pushed back further, even changed to an evening court session.

However, Yan Ze had already spoken.

The ministers also agreed.

There were one or two who disagreed, but they were tugged by those beside them, and so the time for the morning court was changed.

Yan Ning sighed in her heart; in truth, there was no need for her father to appoint a Crown Princess so early.

It was happier when the three of them were just slackers in the past.

Seeing that there were no objections, Yan Ze said, "Since everyone has no opinions, from now on, the morning court shall be postponed to the hour of the snake."

Yan Ze continued, "Also, from now on, I will not read all the memorials, only the important matters; there is no need for memorials of praise."

It was said that in the past, the memorials reviewed by the Emperor contained many long-winded words of praise, which was very time-consuming to read.

Seeing that they agreed, Yan Ze had nothing more to say.

He then asked, "Is there anything else?"

At this moment, the Grand Tutor stepped forward, bowed his waist, and said, "May Your Majesty release all those innocent people in Tianlao, as well as those who were exiled."

Yan Ze was surprised: "It has been three days, they haven't been released yet?"

The Grand Tutor said, "At that time, Your Majesty had not yet ascended the throne, so..."

Yan Ze was crisp and decisive: "Enough, now those who should be released from prison should be, and those who were exiled should have runners sent to bring them back."

At this time, another person came out and asked, "Your Majesty, can taxes be reduced or exempted?"

Yan Ze agreed.

"Taxes cannot be too high; the common people are already unable to eat their fill or dress warmly, and with high taxes, they will all starve to death."

The Vice Minister of Revenue stood out: "Your Majesty is benevolent, but... Your Majesty, our national treasury is in deficit, and many things cannot be done."

Yan Ze thought for a moment, not having decided how to tell them that the national treasury had returned.

Yan Ning stepped forward, her eyes darting, and said directly, "My father and I went to the treasury yesterday, and it is quite a coincidence, but the things inside have actually returned."

The ministers were somewhat stunned.

"What?!"

"The national treasury has money?"

"Calculating it this way, His Majesty was exiled to Lingnan, the treasury disappeared, and as soon as he returned, it was filled again; this, this, this, truly this Emperor should be the one His Majesty is."

This was absolutely a miracle!

Don't mention anything about a one-year probationary period again.

At this moment, the civil and military officials in the court all knelt down, "May Your Majesty live for ten thousand years!"

Yan Ning was stunned for a moment; she hadn't reacted before the other officials had all knelt down.

By the time she reacted, she was the only one left standing alone, appearing very out of place.

Yan Ze hurriedly said, "All officials, please rise."

Sigh, he didn't understand the habit these ancient people had of kneeling at every turn.

At this time, Yan Ning said, "The national treasury also has times when it runs out; we can do the Glazed Glass business, open an official Glazed Glass Factory, and make Glazed Glass to sell to all regions."

An old fogey came out and said, "This must not be done; Glazed Glass is something only the royal family can use, how can it be sold to those wealthy merchants?"

Yan Ning said directly, "That's fine, we won't sell Glazed Glass, you pay for this money; let me calculate how much can be earned by selling Glazed Glass in a month..."

"At the very least fifty thousand taels; if you don't agree, you can give us fifty thousand taels of silver every month from now on."

The minister wanted to speak but hesitated, then gritted his teeth: "This official considered it poorly."

Yan Ning said, "Leave the matter of the Glazed Glass to Lady Xie to manage."

Yan Ze, sitting on the Dragon Throne, nodded, considering it a promise.

Speaking of Lady Xie, Yan Ze just remembered that he hadn't given rewards to those who rebelled with him.

Zhuo Heng was the captain of the Junjun, and General Xie and Grand Tutor Chen and the others had their official positions restored, and the fief of the Prince of Nanyang was changed to Jizhou, which was closer to the imperial city and also more prosperous.

There was also General Wu, who fought the Japanese pirates with Yan Ze, and Yan Ze also promoted him.

Even Er Gouzi got a small official position.

Yan Ning remembered something and stepped forward, "Almost forgot, there is also high-yield grain; it will be planted in the Imperial Farm in a few days, and after three months of maturity, these high-yield Seeds will be distributed to the people in all regions."

Yan Ze thought for a moment and pointed to the Vice Minister of Revenue: "This matter is left to the Ministry of Revenue; you all should speak with the Minister of Revenue."

Several ministers looked at each other, and all saw a look of relief in each other's eyes.

Fortunately, they all agreed to Yan Ze's request, otherwise there wouldn't be such a good Emperor.

And there was Yan Ning; although she was a woman, the suggestions she put forward were much better than the former Crown Prince, so there was nothing wrong with her becoming Empress Regnant.

In this short while, Yan Ning was no longer sleepy.

She asked the ministers, "What is the current situation of our Daxia dynasty?"

The Grand Tutor was puzzled: "Which aspect is Your Highness referring to?"

Yan Ning: "Economy, military."

The Grand Tutor said, "The rear supply of grain and grass is insufficient, and the soldiers on the front line are also struggling to resist."

Yan Ning pondered for a moment: "Then let's prepare some explosives and send them over in a few days."

The ministers' eyes lit up; they had long heard of the power of explosives, and the late Emperor had thrown quite a temper tantrum back then just for these explosives.

Fortunately, Yan Ze was now the Emperor, otherwise, seeing the explosives in someone else's hands, one wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully at night.

The first court session passed just like that.

It was only six-thirty, and Yan Ning and Yan Ze ate something and went to take a nap.

By the time they woke up, it was already noon.

Ji Lan was sitting by the table waiting for them.

Seeing Ji Lan, Yan Ze slapped his forehead, "I knew I had forgotten something..."

Ji Lan asked, "Forgotten what?"

Yan Ze scratched his head, "I forgot to name you Empress; I will definitely make it up to you tomorrow."

Ji Lan asked with some interest, "How did the first morning court session feel?"

The father and daughter said in unison, "Sleepy!"

Yan Ning said to her mother, "But I also realized that the Daxia dynasty is not as strong as we imagined; the common people cannot eat well or dress warmly, and the supplies for the front lines are almost gone—how can we fight a war like this?"

Ji Lan frowned, "This is a major problem, and I don't know if the border can be held."

Yan Ning said, "We will start making Explosive Packages together this afternoon, and in a few days, we will have Zhuo Heng take some men to deliver them."

So, for the whole afternoon, the mother and daughter began making Explosive Packages.

There were still quite a few memorials piled up in the palace.

Yan Ze drove Yan Qing and Yan Ning over to help him look through the memorials.

Yan Ze, "You two should help me read these memorials; I need to go make Explosive Packages. You don't have the experience, and the ones you make won't be powerful enough."

After Yan Ning and Yan Qing left, Ji Lan smiled and said, "Is your habit of getting dizzy at the sight of words acting up again?"

Yan Ze shook his head, "No, I just want to make Explosive Packages, and I'm afraid the two children won't do it well."

On the other side, in the Imperial Study.

Yan Ning and Yan Qing rummaged through the memorials together, making the eunuch nearby terrified.

Eunuch Li hurriedly said, "His Highness, these memorials cannot be touched; this, this, this... it is against the rules, and it will cost us our heads."

The Emperor is still here, and the Crown Princess and the Prince have come to flip through the memorials—isn't that just courting death?

Yan Ning then said, "My father told us to come; he doesn't want to read them."

Eunuch Li:...