The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem

Chapter 416

"emperor, this..."

in the imperial study, a middle-aged man dressed in crimson court robes presented four or five memorials: "emperor, these are the memorials reviewed by the empress. please take a look... here, and also here..."

he pointed out the details: "the empress is exceptionally brilliant. she deliberately left these flaws to avoid appearing too intelligent in front of your majesty. if she didn’t consider your majesty’s feelings, she could have handled everything flawlessly on her own."

the emperor chuckled softly: "i knew it. every time she stirs up my frustration, it’s just to divert my attention."

but after all, he was the emperor. how could he be so easily fooled?

it was simply that he adored yue'er and was willing to play along, pretending to be oblivious.

"emperor, the empress is truly a prodigy. look at her proposed governance philosophy: 'to enrich the people is the foundation; the key to enriching the people lies in frugality.' such political insight is not uncommon among men, but for the empress, who was raised in the inner chambers and only learned the arts of the boudoir, to have such profound understanding is truly remarkable."

"and here, see... 'the way to govern a nation must begin with enriching the people. when the people are wealthy, they are easy to govern; when they are poor, they are difficult to govern. how do we know this is so? when the people are wealthy, they cherish their homes and value their livelihoods. when they cherish their homes and value their livelihoods, they respect authority and fear punishment. when they respect authority and fear punishment, they are easy to govern. when the people are poor, they become restless and neglect their homes. when they are restless and neglect their homes, they dare to defy authority and break the law. when they defy authority and break the law, they are difficult to govern. therefore, a well-governed nation is always prosperous, while a chaotic nation is always impoverished. thus, those who excel at governing a nation must first enrich the people, and then rule them.'"

in other words, to govern a nation, one must first ensure the prosperity of the people.

prosperous people are easier to rule, while impoverished people are harder to rule.

prosperous people will live peacefully in their hometowns and value their livelihoods. when they value their livelihoods, they will respect authority and fear punishment, making them easier to govern.

impoverished people will become restless and neglect their homes, daring to defy authority and break the law, making them harder to govern.

thus, in peaceful times, the people remain prosperous, while in turbulent times, the people remain poor.

therefore, the people must first be enriched to make governance easier.

this was not the kind of insight one would expect from a woman raised in the inner chambers. even many officials in the court might not possess such understanding.

otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many corrupt officials in the great yan dynasty.

those who only seek to enrich themselves are the root cause of the court losing its authority and the people’s trust.

since indulging anyone was inevitable, why not indulge the woman he loved?

scholar xie sighed: "but human desires are endless. can your majesty guarantee that the empress will never harbor ambitions to replace you?"

the emperor’s wise eyes sparkled like stars: "that is my concern, minister xie. there’s no need for you to say more."

this was a clear indication that he would follow this path to the end, heedless of anyone’s advice.

*creak—*

the door of the imperial study opened. as scholar xie stepped out, several ministers gathered around him: "well? what did the emperor say? will he take back the empress’s authority?"

"isn’t it obvious? of course, he will. the emperor isn’t foolish. how can he allow a woman to dominate him? that would destabilize the court."

jiang yankun snorted coldly: "i’ve never heard of anyone, with the emperor present, daring to rise above him. no matter how much authority the empress has, it’s granted by the emperor. have you ever heard of the empress presiding over court affairs from behind a curtain?"

as soon as he spoke, all the officials who had aligned themselves with the jiang family began arguing with the others at the entrance of the imperial study.

though they didn’t necessarily support the empress’s authority, they were eyeing positions as advisors to the crown prince, hoping to secure influential roles in the future.

*bang!*

*crash!*

the door of the imperial study was struck by something heavy, and the sound of shattering porcelain pierced the air. the ministers, who had been loudly quarreling moments ago, fell silent.

realizing that their argument had been overheard by the emperor, they froze.

the door opened again, and wang dequan flicked his horsetail whisk: "the emperor has decreed that those who insulted the empress will be fined three months’ salary and receive fifteen lashes. if this happens again, the punishment will be severe. as for those who recklessly implicated the crown prince, the investigative bureau will investigate, and they will be dismissed and prosecuted."

another wave of lamentations followed.

now, there was no need to test the emperor’s stance. those who offended the empress and the crown prince had no way out.