"I have interfered in the affairs of the Eastern Palace Guard. Are you really not angry?" the emperor asked tentatively.
If he had known that the late emperor had planted people in his Eastern Palace Guard when he was the crown prince, even if he didn't show anger on the surface, he would definitely have secretly reorganized the Eastern Palace Guard.
After all, the Crown Prince only has the Eastern Palace Guard as his personal guard. If there are disloyal members among them, how can his safety be guaranteed?
He will probably be unable to eat or sleep properly.
"Father did all this for my safety. I'm so grateful to Father, why should I be angry?" Ye Jingchen asked with a puzzled look.
"Besides, I'm still so young, how would I know how to manage the Eastern Palace Guard? I still need to trouble Father Emperor."
It seems that's the case?
On the one hand, the emperor felt that Ye Jingchen's words made a lot of sense, but on the other hand, he felt that something seemed amiss.
He looked at Ye Jingchen, who was clinging to his arm and acting coquettishly, and after thinking hard for a long time, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
He knew something was wrong.
age!
When he was Ye Jingchen's age, besides studying diligently in the Wenhua Hall every day, he dared not do anything else.
They won't make any special contact with Donggong Wei!
When he was eight years old, he didn't seem to understand the importance of the Eastern Palace Guards to him; he just regarded them as ordinary guards in the palace!
but--
When he was eight years old, it was impossible for him to cling to the late emperor's arm and act spoiled, let alone hug his leg and pretend to cry!
He would never do such childish things, let alone at eight years old, even after six!
So, should we say his crown prince is mature, or immature?
"Father, although it was the Imperial Guards and the Feathered Forest Guards who saved us, when they learned that we were in trouble, Prince Xie, alone on horseback, found us before anyone else. Doesn't his behavior deserve praise?" Seeing that the emperor was no longer angry, Ye Jingchen steered the conversation back on track.
"Don't flatter yourself. He went to save their only son, not you. You were just incidental!" The emperor scoffed and said disdainfully.
As for the report from the Eastern Palace Guard that Xie Shaoling ignored Xie Chang'an after entering the thatched hut and instead bowed to the Crown Prince first, the Emperor did not believe it at all. He was certain that Xie Shaoling was deliberately doing it for Chen'er and the little brats to see.
Isn't Chen'er now bewitched by him?
“Even if it was just incidental, he was the first to find us, so Father should still reward him, even if it’s just a verbal reward. Otherwise, wouldn’t we be seen as ungrateful? What will others think of us?” Ye Jingchen hugged the emperor’s arm and shook it.
"Father, today is my birthday!"
emperor:.......
Verbal praise is out of the question!
He couldn't possibly praise Xie Shaoling!
"For the sake of your birthday today—Zhang Shunde, send one hundred taels of silver to Xie Shaoling, saying it's a reward for his meritorious service in saving the princes and princesses!" The emperor, having been pestered so much, said to Zhang Shunde with some helplessness.
One hundred taels of silver...
The emperor really has no shame.
But whatever the reward is, it doesn't matter; what matters is the emperor's attitude.
If the emperor rewards Xie Shaoling, there will be fewer voices in the court impeaching him.
Moreover, even if the emperor doesn't acknowledge Xie Shaoling's merit in saving him, as long as he rewards Xie Shaoling, it doesn't matter if he doesn't recognize Xie Shaoling's merit; others will!
"Father is wise!" Ye Jingchen stopped hugging the emperor's arm and started massaging his shoulders and back.
"Father, you handle state affairs every day, and your shoulders must be a little sore after a long time. Let me give you a massage, I guarantee it will feel good!" he said solicitously as he massaged the emperor.
At first, the emperor was a little uncomfortable, after all, the neck is the most vulnerable part of the human body, how could he let people get close so easily?
The emperor's first reaction was to push Ye Jingchen away or make him step down, but he immediately realized that Ye Jingchen was none other than his child.
Moreover, to be fair, Ye Jingchen's massage was quite comfortable, and the position of his little fist hanging down was just right.
"You do have a filial heart!" The emperor enjoyed Ye Jingchen's service with some satisfaction, and his displeasure disappeared.
"Father, does this large expanse of rice paddies at the foot of West Mountain belong to someone? Why do the people of Maple Forest Village have to rent other people's land when they don't own any?" Ye Jingchen asked curiously after massaging his shoulders for a while.
"How could that be? There has always been a village at the foot of the Western Hills. They didn't migrate from elsewhere. They must all have their own land!" The emperor didn't realize the meaning behind Ye Jingchen's question at first and just answered casually.
“But today when we went to the village, we heard from the old people that the land they farm is now rented from landlords. Every year they have to pay the landlords 50% of the land rent, 10% of the household tax, and 10% of the corvée labor. There are also other taxes levied by the government. Every year, they can only save about 30% of their income from farming. Are the people of Dayuan really living such a hard life?”
"Did he really say that?" The emperor, no longer pleased, asked with a frown.
“Yes, everyone heard it. If Father doesn’t believe me, he can ask others. They are really poor. They live in thatched huts. We just randomly went into one of the thatched huts to hide. There wasn’t a single valuable thing in the hut. It was extremely shabby,” Ye Jingchen said earnestly.
"Father, we study the Four Books and Five Classics every day in class, but it seems we haven't started learning about current affairs yet. How are taxes collected in Dayuan? What is corvée labor? There are large rice paddies at the foot of Xishan Mountain. Are they all owned? Why don't the common people have their own land? Even if they rent land from landlords, are they charged such high rents?"
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