Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Emperor Jian was rendered utterly speechless.
He could see it now. Xie Chengze genuinely hated reviewing memorials and genuinely wanted nothing to do with the affairs of court.
He even began to suspect that the old Xie Chengze had deliberately pretended to be mediocre and incompetent so Emperor Jian would give all the hard work to the Crown Prince, leaving him free to laze about with perfect justification…
The little schemer had played his hand with perfect clarity.
Yet the more Xie Chengze acted this way, the more Emperor Jian wanted to make him work.
“Zhao Quan, grind ink for him. He must review memorials today, or he is not allowed to leave.” Emperor Jian tapped the surface of the desk. His index finger pointed directly toward the powdered cinnabar.
Eunuch Zhao froze and glanced at Emperor Jian again. Yet the emperor’s expression did not change, as though he had no idea he was pointing at the wrong substance.
Only emperors throughout history could use precious vermilion ink when writing imperial comments upon memorials, a mark of sovereign authority. Even Xie Jinyu, exalted Crown Prince though he was, had been permitted only black ink while assisting Emperor Jian with memorials over the past six months. He was forbidden to challenge the emperor’s authority.
Yet His Majesty was now allowing the Second Prince to review memorials in vermilion. His doting indulgence had plainly reached an outrageous degree.
Eunuch Zhao marveled inwardly, then began grinding the ink for Xie Chengze with meticulous care.
Seeing Emperor Jian’s unyielding attitude, Xie Chengze had no choice but to pull out a random memorial and pretend to admire it.
Memorials came not only from the civil and military officials at court. Prefects and local officials throughout the country also submitted reports on schedule – or whenever they pleased. To centralize power as much as possible, every memorial was delivered directly to Emperor Jian.
The officials might be a mixture of good and bad, but all had been selected through the spring imperial examination and palace examination. Their prose was legible, their calligraphy individually elegant, and the pages a pleasure to behold… if only they did not write mountains of nonsense in vertical columns.
Xie Chengze strained his eyes through two pages and discovered nothing of substance. He began scanning ten lines at a glance and flipped straight to the last page, where he finally found one sentence: Such-and-such region enjoys peace and prosperity; Your Majesty need not worry and should cherish the imperial person.
Xie Chengze: …
What was wrong with this lunatic? He had read all that and not found a single useful point!
If nothing had happened, why not write one sentence and be done? Why waste both their precious time?
Now he understood why Emperor Jian had died young. If Xie Chengze sacrificed sleep every day just to read this drivel, the sheer frustration would kill him too, and he would want nothing more than to fling the memorials into the officials’ faces.
At that exact moment, Emperor Jian gloated and patted the thick stack of memorials. “Ze’er, whenever you are on court leave, spend two hours each day helping Father review memorials.”
“Father, do not commit such inhuman deeds!” Xie Chengze roared.
“We will summon Vice Minister Shen to discuss state affairs with us.”
“You are a dragon, so naturally you perform dragon deeds rather than human ones.”
Xie Chengze changed his tune instantly. He picked up the fine brush, dipped it into the freshly ground vermilion ink, and left several viciously scrawled characters in the memorial’s blank space:
Keep rambling and I’ll behead – *crossed out* – dismiss you from office!
Mm~ That felt much better~
Xie Chengze set the memorial aside and drew out another.
This time, his expression grew slightly grave, then more serious the farther he read. At last, he picked up the brush with a deep frown and struggled to control the soft tip, making his characters as small as possible so he could fit more comments into the empty space.
From time to time, he looked up with knitted brows, apparently lost in careful thought. Then he lowered his head again until his eyes were almost pressed to the page, all to make his writing smaller still and squeeze in a few more words.
It seemed he had encountered a difficult problem.
But judging by his manner, he had already found a solution. Emperor Jian decided to wait until he finished before looking. Then he picked up another fine brush and used a paperweight to hold the sheet flat as he copied Xie Chengze’s drawing of the large Northeastern-style heated brick bed.
Time slipped silently past. Father and son labored conscientiously at work that belonged to neither of them. Then an imperial guard entered and announced, “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and Vice Minister Shen request an audience.”
Emperor Jian waved a hand. “Let them enter.”
After speaking, he glanced at Xie Chengze. The young man was still responding to the same memorial, his expression increasingly solemn. Every few words, he would stop and think for a long time.
It must be an exceptionally difficult problem.
So Emperor Jian thought. He set down his brush and looked toward the Crown Prince and Shen Yuan as they entered.
Shen Yuan had not expected Xie Chengze to be there. His gaze rested on the young man’s face for a moment before shifting to Emperor Jian. He bowed. “Your Majesty.”
Xie Jinyu’s eyes brightened slightly. “Second Brother is here too.”
Hearing him, Xie Chengze looked up and offered him a friendly smile. “Mm.”
Then he lowered his head and resumed his life-and-death struggle with the memorial.
Only then did Xie Jinyu notice that Xie Chengze was reviewing a memorial beside the imperial desk. Not only that, he was using Emperor Jian’s imperial brush.
Father truly indulged Second Brother beyond all measure.
But what did it matter? The throne would ultimately be his. Once Father died, both the throne and that person would fall into Xie Jinyu’s hands as his inheritance.
They were the only things of true value Father could leave to his closest blood relative in this life.
“Father.” Xie Jinyu stepped forward, his gaze clearing. “This son wishes to discuss the long-range merchant expedition proposed by the Vice Minister of Rites.”
Eavesdropping, Xie Chengze’s ears immediately pricked up.
Sheng Yiren had persuaded the Vice Minister of Rites after a single night?
“The long-range merchant expedition…” Emperor Jian glanced at Xie Chengze. Two days ago at court, Xie Chengze had thrown all Six Ministries into chaos. Every official reacted to him like a mouse spotting a feral cat, terrified he would propose another idea beyond their wildest imagination and demand they make it real.
Even so, his ideas had sparked considerable discussion among the court officials. The long-range merchant expedition had become the hottest topic of the past two days because it appeared the most practical. It would be difficult, but not impossible, and success would clearly bring great benefits to the Jian’an Dynasty.
“This subject also believes the proposal is feasible,” Shen Yuan said in agreement. “The Jian’an Dynasty may possess vast lands and abundant resources, but many of the people’s needs remain unmet, and their lives have much room for improvement. If we dispatch an elite merchant expedition to distant foreign lands in search of things that benefit the people, we can prevent foreign states from monopolizing trade through control of rare goods while also resolving many domestic hardships. It would accomplish two goals at once.”
“Precisely,” Xie Jinyu said gravely. “Now that our dynasty possesses the secret of blasting powder, foreign states present little threat. Yet most of our own people still live in poverty. Starting wars and expanding our borders merely to obtain useful goods would be unwise. Better to send a merchant expedition, project our national power through peaceful means, and seek methods that benefit both people and state.”
Xie Chengze could not help nodding along.
Emperor Jian shot him a sidelong look. “Review your memorial.”
Xie Chengze: …
Xie Chengze: #￥%…*#￥%￥
After cursing Emperor Jian bloody in his heart, Xie Chengze had no choice but to lower his head and resume his passionate battle with the memorial.
Emperor Jian smiled soundlessly, then turned back to the other two. “In that case, who do you believe should be given the authority to organize this expedition?”
“Perhaps it could be entrusted to merchant companies throughout the realm…”