"Compared to the profits from other goods, Chu Chen, you are my greatest treasure! With you, my private treasury grows richer by the day, and my worries disappear."
"Tell me, what reward do you desire?"
After roughly calculating the income, even if this was just a single profit before the merchants joined, a single implementation in each region would yield a massive 3.9 million annually.
The Empress had never been so wealthy. The millions of taels earned last year, even after subsidizing the Ministry of Revenue and forming the Imperial Guard, with their salaries now paid from the private treasury, and all expenses covered by it.
Even so, with an annual income of six to seven million taels, there were still over three million taels unspent.
This would bring in another sum, and this year's income might reach a staggering ten million taels. With such wealth, what couldn't be accomplished?
This was also why the Empress agreed to postpone the morning court, changing it from daily to once every three days.
The reason was that the Empress felt the Ministry of Revenue, or rather the entire court, was useless in her eyes. Since the Ministry of Revenue couldn't produce money even with hard work, why waste so much time?
With this free time, it was better to handle internal royal matters and supervise the planting of new crops on the imperial farms, which was more important.
"This is all I should do, and besides, I have shares in it. Your Majesty need not reward me."
Chu Chen politely declined.
The Empress was not pleased and said, "Share income is share income. This profit is entirely earned through your merit, invention, and brilliant strategy, which is separate from my reward."
After speaking, the Empress pondered, "However, you are already at the peak of officialdom. You have only been Vice-Chancellor for less than a year, so it is not appropriate to promote you further. As for a noble title, that requires the completion of your land reform plan to provide sufficient justification."
"How about this: I see all the civil and military officials are listless today, likely exhausted from their domestic duties last night. Yet you are full of energy, suggesting you were not attended by any concubines."
"Xinyue's marriage to you still requires you to complete a series of plans. Therefore, I will select ten beautiful women from the harem for you as a reward!"
"Uh~ Your Majesty, are you sure this reward won't get me torn to pieces later?"
Chu Chen was utterly stunned. The future mother-in-law personally arranging a harem for her son-in-law? What kind of operation was this?
However, such an arrangement was not uncommon in ancient settings. The emphasis was on the position of the main wife; many took concubines before marrying, though Chu Chen was unfamiliar with the cultural nuances.
"Why would you be torn to pieces? Even if Xinyue is a princess, it is common for a man with ability to have one wife and multiple concubines."
The Empress smiled and waved her hand, continuing, "Although the Qingzhou Continent has many empresses, and thus women hold a high status, no country has ever explicitly prohibited or implicitly discouraged men from having one wife and multiple concubines."
"Therefore, you need not worry. As for Xinyue, I will speak with her myself, and I guarantee she will not dare to object. Of course, if you have a concubine you favor, you may inform me, and I will grant you a marriage!"
"How about it?"
"Ah, this..."
Chu Chen was completely flustered. The future mother-in-law not only arranged for a harem for her son-in-law but also allowed him to choose his own beauties? This left Chu Chen utterly bewildered.
"Could it be that you, Chu Chen, have some unspeakable difficulty?"
The Empress narrowed her eyes and asked suspiciously.
She was inwardly guessing whether Chu Chen, when he was a eunuch in the palace, had not been completely castrated, but perhaps partially? If so, should she still marry Xinyue to him? Should she still arrange the engagement?
Seeing the Empress's somewhat unfavorable gaze, Chu Chen paused, realized her suspicion, and said with embarrassment, "How could I have any unspeakable difficulty? Since Your Majesty's grace is so profound, I shall accept it without refusal!"
"I, thank Your Majesty for the reward!"
"That's good then."
The Empress finally smiled, but inwardly she planned to have the beauties tested after they were sent over to see if they met her expectations.
On the surface, however, she continued to smile, "This time, I know of your great contribution, but I lack a legitimate public reason to grant you higher office. However, I promise that after the imperial examinations are completed, and the new officials have familiarized themselves with governance for one or two months, and the promotion of commercial taxes yields results, I will bestow upon you the title of Count!"
"Upon the successful completion of the land reform plan, I will promote you to Chancellor!"
"The following year, I will further grant you the title of Marquis!"
"Your Majesty's kindness to me is so great, I would die without regret, dedicating my all to serve Your Majesty!"
Chu Chen feigned excitement and bowed deeply.
The Empress nodded with satisfaction, then dismissed Chu Chen.
After Chu Chen left, she summoned a嬷嬷 (mómó - elderly female servant) and instructed her to select beautiful women from the palace for Chu Chen.
The harem of the Empress of Yunyue Kingdom naturally had consorts and concubines like a male emperor. However, these consorts were not women but handsome men, also known as male favorites.
It was just that since the Empress ascended the throne, she had been busy with court affairs and vying for power with the former Chancellor Chen Yuanliang, leaving her no time to attend to these matters.
Therefore, apart from the beginning of her reign, when she married one handsome man as Prince Consort and three handsome men as male favorites at the request of the officials, there were no others.
And these men had all passed away from illness over a decade ago.
The five princesses now were all offspring of the Prince Consort and the Empress, born of the legitimate union.
The other three male favorites had not produced any offspring with the Empress.
The harem beauties the Empress was selecting for Chu Chen this time were palace maids or female officials in the palace, aged between sixteen and twenty.
This action, besides seeing Chu Chen's hardship in not having any concubines and wanting to test for any hidden difficulties, was also intended to have reliable women by Chu Chen's side to assist him in managing the Royal Chamber of Commerce.
Currently, the Royal Chamber of Commerce sold many items used by women, making it inconvenient for Chu Chen, a man. Although he had temporarily enlisted the help of two of Princess Xinyue's best friends, it was not a long-term solution.
Therefore, the Empress acted in this manner.
Of course, whether there was an intention to monitor or investigate, only the Empress knew for sure.
Emerging from the imperial city, Chu Chen felt somewhat dazed.
Even with the Empress's help in persuading Princess Xinyue, the matter of taking concubines before marriage still made Chu Chen a little nervous.
"This is truly outrageous. What kind of future mother-in-law arranges a harem for her son-in-law? Or is this a special culture in this world? I wonder if the Empress can appease and persuade Xinyue. She used to be very willful; I don't know if she will be persuaded by the Empress."
"If she can't be persuaded and comes looking for me, what will I do? This is troublesome!"
Chu Chen felt worried.
Who wouldn't like to have a harem? As long as one's kidneys could handle it, one would certainly be delighted.
Suddenly, Chu Chen thought of what the Empress had said earlier: if he had someone he favored, he could inform her, and she would personally grant him a marriage to be his concubine.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen thought of Shao Lili and Chen Shengnan, who might be busy at the Royal Chamber of Commerce at this moment.
As Princess Xinyue's best friends, these two women were naturally beautiful.
"Cough, cough, what am I thinking? I've been led astray by His Majesty! Damn it!"
Chu Chen shook his head vigorously, casting away the thoughts in his mind.