“Her Majesty the Empress issued an order this morning. To reduce expenses, all consorts in the palace are no longer to use the costly fabrics sent as tribute from Jiangnan. Expensive jewelry is prohibited, cosmetics and face powders will be distributed at only half the usual amount, winter charcoal allocations will also be cut in half, and the servants attending the princes and princesses in Xiefang Hall will be reduced by half as well.”
As Fuga poured tea for the Empress Dowager, she relayed the latest news she had heard.
At first, Zhen Huan still had the leisure to continue reading the book in her hands.
The more she listened, however, the deeper her frown became.
“Were those the Empress’s exact words?”
“Yes. The Chief Steward of the Imperial Household Department told this servant personally. Not a single word differs.”
Zhen Huan couldn’t help sighing.
Up until now, the Empress had handled affairs of the harem quite competently.
Then again, there had also been that incident involving meat dishes during the mourning period.
Zhen Huan couldn’t tell whether this latest policy was the result of careful deliberation—or a sudden bout of madness.
“The Fuca clan has followed our ancestors since before we entered the Pass and conquered the realm. Many members of the family have served in the Ministry of Revenue. No one understands better than they do how much silver a war costs or how much remains in the national treasury.
Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the Empress wanting to begin reducing expenditures from within the harem.
But isn’t it a bit too hasty to start with charcoal and Xiefang Hall?”
Every consort’s charcoal allowance included the fuel used by all of her attendants.
Even though Zhen Huan had not actually been born and raised in Qing Dynasty society, she still knew that lower-ranking consorts did not receive particularly generous charcoal allocations to begin with.
If those allowances were cut in half, how much would remain for the servants beneath them?
And if the Empress wanted to reduce personnel, why start with the children?
The princes and princesses were still young and lacked their mothers’ constant supervision.
Problems were already easy enough to overlook.
Hongli’s harem was hardly a peaceful place.
What if someone took advantage of reduced supervision?
And where would the dismissed servants go?
Palace maids were one thing.
At twenty-five, they would eventually leave the palace anyway.
They could return home, marry, and start families.
At least they had somewhere to go.
But what about the eunuchs?
If they were expelled from the palace, where could they possibly survive?
And if they weren’t being dismissed altogether, then what exactly was the point of reducing staff numbers?
The situation reminded Zhen Huan of Shen Meizhuang in the past.
When Shen Meizhuang first gained authority over palace affairs, she lacked experience and immediately attempted to convert the servants’ mung bean soup allowances into silver payments.
By harming the interests of maids and eunuchs alike, she had quickly made herself unpopular.
Yet Fuca Langhua’s background was far more distinguished than Shen Meizhuang’s.
She came from one of the empire’s great aristocratic families and had managed a princely household for many years.
So why, upon taking charge, was she immediately choosing to tamper with charcoal allocations?
All Zhen Huan could do was hope that Fuca Langhua had carefully considered and calculated these matters before issuing the order.
Truthfully, Zhen Huan rather liked this Empress.
She had no desire to publicly overturn the order immediately after it was announced and embarrass her.
After all, the Empress genuinely was thinking of the greater good.
Yet winter was already at its coldest.
Charcoal was most needed now.
And the staff reductions at Xiefang Hall would likely begin within days.
Unless she understood the reasoning more clearly, Zhen Huan couldn’t put her mind at ease.
“Go invite the Empress here.”
The order had barely been issued before the Empress Dowager summoned her.
Naturally, Fuca Langhua felt somewhat uneasy.
After paying her respects, however, she found the Empress Dowager calm and pleasant, which eased her worries somewhat.
“I heard that the Empress ordered reductions to the charcoal allocations this morning.”
“Yes. This servant discovered that the palace consumed more than two hundred and seventy thousand jin of charcoal last year. The expense was truly enormous.”
Zhen Huan waited.
The Empress said nothing further.
With a sigh, she was forced to continue the questioning herself.
“Other matters aside, charcoal is a necessity during winter.
If you haven’t calculated whether half the previous allocation will still be sufficient, then perhaps you shouldn’t make such a drastic change immediately.
Or at least don’t reduce it by half all at once. The adjustment is too extreme.”
Fuca Langhua paused.
Only now did she realize that she couldn’t actually guarantee that half the amount would be enough.
And upon reflection, a fifty-percent reduction really did seem excessive.
After thinking it over, she nodded.
“Your Majesty is correct.”
Zhen Huan then spent some time explaining her concerns regarding the reduction of staff at Xiefang Hall.
Fortunately, Fuca Langhua was not the sort of person who refused to listen to reason.
Normally she simply lacked someone trustworthy with whom to discuss such matters.
Now that the Empress Dowager pointed out the flaws, she found herself agreeing.
After returning to her palace, the Empress reflected further.
Finally, she summoned Sulian.
“Go to the Imperial Household Department and inform them that, considering the severe cold weather recently, the charcoal reduction is changed from one-half to thirty percent.
As for Xiefang Hall, staff reductions are to be suspended for the time being.”
Sulian cared little whether the charcoal reduction was fifty percent, thirty percent, or not implemented at all.
But when she heard that Xiefang Hall would no longer lose staff, she couldn’t help objecting.
“Why has Your Majesty suddenly changed her mind? This servant fears that changing orders so quickly will encourage the servants below to become lax in the future.”
“The Empress Dowager just pointed out many hidden dangers to me.
I truly had not considered everything thoroughly.
Changing an order is preferable to causing a disaster.”
Sulian still wanted to argue.
But she had barely spoken two words before the Empress interrupted her.
“There is no ‘but.’
This is also the Empress Dowager’s wish.
Go.”
Left with no choice, Sulian reluctantly obeyed.
Privately, she was extremely dissatisfied.
She had hoped to use the staff reductions as an opportunity to place her own people inside Xiefang Hall.
And even if that failed, fewer attendants would mean fewer witnesses and fewer obstacles whenever action needed to be taken in the future.
Yet with only a few words, the Empress Dowager had persuaded the Empress to reverse her decision.
Madam had been right all along.
The Empress was simply too soft-hearted.
Some things, it seemed, would have to be done by Sulian herself.