The next day.

Guan Zhiyue opened her eyes and looked at Li Qiji, only to see that this scoundrel was still fast asleep beside her. She raised her foot and kicked him.

With a start, he rolled over and trapped her leg between his legs. Opening his eyes, he saw Guan Zhiyue with her hair all over the place.

He chuckled indulgently, "Yue'er, you're being naughty. How can you use something and then throw it away?"

"I've been working hard all night, and you're trying to kick me first thing in the morning?"

"It breaks my heart so much." Li Qiji looked pitiful as he released Guan Zhiyue's feet and sat up.

Thinking of something, he immediately said, "I've come up with names for the third and fourth children. What do you think?"

Guan Zhiyue yawned, then raised an eyebrow and said, "Tell me about it!"

"The third son is Jingcheng, and the fourth son is Jingming."

"Which two characters? Don't use characters that aren't good-looking!"

Guan Zhiyue turned over and sat up as well, raising an eyebrow at Li Qiji.

Li Qiji smiled, took the clothes from the side, and draped them over her shoulders before saying, "Cheng means still and clear water, and Ming means self-name."

Guan Zhiyue went through it in her mind, then said, "That's more like it."

Now that the two little brats have names, the third and fourth kids are starting to cause trouble.

"Think about it, time really flies. I've been married to you for eight years, and now we have four children."

Guan Zhiyue suddenly seemed to remember something and sighed, then turned to Li Qiji and said...

Li Qiji also laughed and said, "Yes! It's been eight years since you married me. We've wasted so much time in these eight years!"

"Back then, you ignored me and abandoned me in this desolate place. Now that I think about it, it's truly a wonderful fate that we can raise children together!"

Guan Zhiyue inexplicably recalled the days when she first transmigrated.

Hearing this, Li Qiji felt quite helpless, since it was indeed his fault.

If it weren't for him, perhaps he and she wouldn't have wasted so much time!

In eight years, they must have had more than four children by now.

He was now a full twenty-nine years old. Thinking back to when his father was twenty-nine...

He's already about to become a grandfather; his oldest child is only four years old, and his youngest is just over a month old.

"Yue'er, it wasn't that I didn't want to care about you back then, but rather that I wanted to protect you too much."

You know that back then, my uncle planted many people in the palace. I was afraid he would harm you, so..."

Guan Zhiyue waved her hand and shook her head. "Alright, let's leave this topic at that."

I won't bring it up again. It's all in the past anyway, let bygones be bygones. Please cheer us on for the future!

-----

When Li Qiji emerged from the Cold Palace to attend court, he was in a gloomy state.

For no other reason than that Guan Zhiyue said that the past is all gone with the wind.

His past actions may have really been wrong, and terribly wrong at that.

Hua Quan followed behind him, feeling a slight chill in the sweltering heat!

He actually felt cold! Good heavens!

Why is the Emperor using air conditioning again? What's going on this time?

Can you give me a hint? His thought process is completely stuck!

I'm waiting online, it's urgent!!!

Li Qiji arrived at the Golden Palace and presented the names he had chosen for his third and fourth sons.

After all the regulations were issued, another major issue arose: the treaty ports.

With full opening and a focus on agriculture and commerce, we will vigorously support the development of commerce from now on, mobilizing all merchants and driving the economic development of the entire South Dinh Khoon.

These words drew strong opposition from the conservative ministers!

They believed that among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants had always been the lowest social class and should not be so highly regarded.

They even wanted to suppress it, but their emperor actually proposed to begin favoring merchants and farmers.

Doesn't this directly elevate the status of merchants?

"Your Majesty, please reconsider! Since ancient times, the social hierarchy has been scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants; merchants have always been ranked last."

Many policies are even designed to regulate merchants; your current aggressive push for merchants will only make them more lax in their management!

"Yes, Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

"Your Majesty, we implore you to reconsider!"

At first, the ministers were all talking at once, but in the end they all agreed that they disagreed with Li Qiji's plan to vigorously promote the development of commerce.

This caused Li Qiji's nameless anger to rise even higher!

It was simply too much for him to bear any longer!

"My dear ministers, it seems you truly do not understand the current situation!"

"Prime Minister Su, what's your opinion?" Li Qiji directly posed this question to Su Xu.

He had just seen that Su Xu did not object, but the others were like wild horses, all swarming around him and spewing their opinions.

Su Xu knew that this blame had been thrown at him again; he was here to take the fall for the Emperor.

He sighed silently to himself.

He flicked his sleeves, walked to the center of the hall, clasped his hands, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I agree with your proposal."

The ministers began to speak up in twos and threes, "Prime Minister Su, how could you agree to this?"

"Yes, he's a businessman!"

"Merchants are driven by profit. If everyone were a merchant, how could this country be controlled?"

"That's right, Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

"Prime Minister, please reconsider!"

The ministers had different thoughts, and one after another they burst into tears and began to launch a relentless attack!

Li Qiji sat on the dragon throne, looking at the ministers below the stage, who were now divided into three factions.

One person agreed, one disagreed, and one remained neutral, neither taking sides nor offering support.

And so they began a frenzied brawl, the scene resembling a scene from a market where elderly people were fighting.

Neither of them would give in, both wanting to prove themselves superior; otherwise, neither of them would want to leave this Golden Palace today.

It's a pity Guan Zhiyue isn't here. If she were, she would definitely have someone prepare sunflower seeds, peanuts, and braised chicken feet for her.

She really wanted to see a truly unique and spectacular show!

"Ahem! Alright, my dear ministers, we've been discussing this until the sun is high in the sky. Have we reached a satisfactory conclusion yet?"

Li Qiji raised an eyebrow and looked at the ministers, who kept their heads down and refused to look up at him. After all, anyone can pretend to be a quail!

Why don't we all pretend together? Who's afraid of who!

"I have my reasons for wanting to open the ports for trade. Although our Southern Kingdom is currently peaceful and prosperous..."

Every household has surplus grain and their bellies are full, but the economy still can't pick up!

"Therefore, my desire to develop commerce and build a commercial empire is to ensure that every household has money to save."

To drive the entire economy, one needs not only basic necessities like food and clothing, but also economic strength!

Li Qiji patiently and meticulously explained the situation to his ministers, hoping they would understand.

What he did was to ensure that everyone had enough to eat and wear and even had some savings.

The ministers understood, and they all began to flatter each other again.

They all shouted in unison, "Long live the Emperor! The Emperor is wise! The Emperor is a blessing to all the people!"