Chapter 260 Counterattack: The Old Emperor's Reward: Seamless Steel Pipe...
"Yes... I'll go back and ask her." Zhang Ting hesitated for a long time before honestly agreeing.
Why think so much? Just listen to the new ruler.
Xiao Dezi politely saw Zhang Ting off and then welcomed Brother Huang Lan. This man had come to ask Qi Chengming for help in changing his name.
The Huang family is large and prosperous, and people of the same generation all use the character "水" (water) as their generational name and "韵" (rhyme) as their generational name. If Brother Huang Lan wants a different name, he can't avoid the family genealogy—but if the emperor bestows a name upon him, it's too simple.
Qi Chengming was unusually stunned: "...Let me take it?"
Is it true or false?
He even used his birth order as a basis for choosing his pseudonym.
Brother Huang Lan cast a trusting and resolute look into his eyes, his tone filled with respect: "I humbly request Your Majesty..."
The most shocking day of his life was during that big exam, when he was thrilled to learn that Prince Rui was the very brother he used to hang out with, running all over the mountains and fields with his arm around his shoulder...
Heaven knows how difficult it was for Brother Huang Lan to process this fact.
But! Since learning this, all the mysterious or incongruous things about Brother Qi in the past have become clear. Thinking about it, Brother Qi was different from them from the very beginning! It's normal that he can't even recite poetry! A prince's mind and studies are focused on governance; how could he have time for romance and poetry?
After the day of the major exam, His Majesty's image grew infinitely taller in his mind.
Therefore... Brother Huang Lan thinks that His Majesty may not be good at naming things, but he can't be too bad! Whatever it is, it's a great honor for him!
"Wait a minute..." Qi Chengming sorted out his thoughts, picked up his pen, and hurriedly opened the library that had been accumulating in the infrastructure system, searching for useful words and phrases.
Words related to water, but cannot include the character for water or its radical.
After searching for a while, Qi Chengming finally settled on one word.
The character '永' (yǒng) implies the continuous flow of a river and is also an essential element to learn in calligraphy...
Qi Chengming wrote the two characters "Huang Yong" on the paper, and it looked like he was about to add the character "Yun" after it, but he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, stopped abruptly, and looked up to ask: "Do you still like landscape freehand painting so much now?"
Brother Huang Lan paused for a moment, his expression changed, and his gaze softened: "...I am deeply fond of the Mountain Mist Painting."
This is what makes him different from his cousin, who prefers to paint craggy rocks. That's why their friends call them "Brother Huang Shi" and "Brother Huang Lan," respectively.
"...Huang Yonglan."
Qi Chengming's eyes lit up, and he made up his mind completely. He wrote down the name, "This is your new name, what do you think?"
He had called Huang Lan's name a thousand times in his heart. Since he still loved Lan so much, this character was a fitting name for him.
"Lan" refers to the misty clouds in the mountains, light and ethereal, just like the lively and graceful paintings of Brother Huang Lan, and also like Qi Chengming's first impression of Brother Huang Lan—he is more like a free and unrestrained scholar. So let us bless him with "Yonglan".
May he never forget his original aspirations, and may he become a gentleman of noble character. May his temperament be as steadfast as mountains and rivers, and as open and spiritual as clouds and mist.
Brother Huang Lan—no, Huang Yonglan—muttered to himself, his face flushed with excitement as he said his new name, "Thank you so much, Your Majesty, for bestowing this name upon me!!!"
He held the name written in the emperor's hand, overjoyed and delighted with his new name, and left happily.
Qi Chengming got up from the couch and walked around a couple of times. Just as he stretched his shoulders and back, Liu, the wet nurse he had invited, arrived.
"Your Majesty?" Liu, the wet nurse, had been doing very well lately, her face glowing. As the new emperor's only wet nurse, and having shared a bond with him when they were enfeoffed together, she was practically pampered by Wu Qingdao while staying at the Second Prince's residence.
She waited and waited, and finally the Emperor ascended the throne and met with her. She had a good idea of what to say today.
Qi Chengming didn't need to exchange pleasantries with his wet nurse, and went straight to the point: "Wet nurse, I intend to bestow upon you the title of county princess, but the fiefdom I give you will not be extended to your husband and children. If they cause trouble outside in the future using your name, I will punish them severely, and no pleas for leniency will be allowed. What do you say?"
This final change in self-reference made Liu the wet nurse understand. She paused for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "What about Ya'er? Can we tell others she's my daughter?"
The wet nurse explained, "Ya'er is getting older. If it weren't for the New Year, I would still be taking her to see potential partners..."
Nanny Liu genuinely loved the brother and sister. They doted on her and were extremely filial. If she became a county princess, Ya'er's marriage prospects would improve significantly. This was a change that Nanny Liu couldn't ignore.
Qi Chengming paused, his initial worry that the wet nurse couldn't let go of her family vanished, and he was somewhat surprised: "Tian Ya can resume her original name now, and it doesn't matter about Xian'er... I thought you would be worried about the family, wet nurse?"
"This old woman is getting on in years; she's often too soft-hearted," Nanny Liu admitted somewhat embarrassedly, her eyebrows twitching. "But didn't His Majesty make the decision for me?"
If she had to say, Nanny Liu couldn't forget the years of torment, beatings, and her children's disobedience; the wounds may heal, but the pain remained. But everyone went through that, and she only rose to prominence because of the young prince, so that her husband and children dared not offend her... What else could she do? The bravest thing she did was to change her surname to her original one and have everyone call her Aunt Liu.
But now that His Majesty has made the decision for her, she no longer needs to struggle with it.
"The Zhang siblings will follow your lead. They said they would take care of you in your old age and see you off when you die. They truly treat you like their own mother." Qi Chengming was just unwilling to extend the kindness he had shown to Liu the wet nurse to her husband's family and children who had treated her badly. As for others, Liu the wet nurse could be kind to whomever she wanted.
"That's wonderful." The wrinkles on Nanny Liu's face smoothed out, and she went out happily, clutching her heart, waiting for the imperial decree that would arrive soon. She didn't ask any unnecessary questions.
As the current Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Household, Eunuch De had been so busy these past few days that he had undergone a complete transformation, his demeanor becoming much more mature and less impulsive. He noticed His Majesty frantically flipping through memorials, seemingly pondering who to summon next—
Xiao Dezi disrespectfully reached out and massaged his prince's stiff shoulders, interrupting him with a worried look, "Your Majesty, after becoming emperor... is every day like this?"
Qi Chengming glanced around and saw that there were only the three of them in the side hall. He then relaxed and leaned against the soft pillows, gesturing for him to sit down and stop working. He asked with concern, "Are you a little tired? You and Xiao Chengzi shouldn't do everything yourself. Our relationship isn't something we can just rely on at will. I'm just... busier these past few days since I ascended the throne."
Xiao Dezi pulled Xiao Chengzi to sit down at the lower seat, just like they used to do at the Prince Rui's mansion.
He realized that His Majesty had misunderstood him, and changed his tune, saying, "Your Majesty is talking about us? His Majesty is the one who does everything personally, and who knows how long he'll be busy..."
Xiao Dezi felt that his prince was good in every way, except that he was too considerate of others. Before, when he had few trusted ministers, he could appease them one by one. Now that he was the ruler of a country, it was exhausting!
Qi Chengming went through all the trivial things he had done that day in his mind, and smiled knowingly: "You mean this! You know... it's very simple to get the country running, but it's very difficult to make the entire country follow my will as I see fit. From now on, things like this will be necessary."
"Xiao Dezi, I have something I want to achieve, and I won't give up until then." Qi Chengming patted Xiao Dezi and Xiao Chengzi on the shoulders solemnly to reassure them.
However, he also reflected on himself.
These past two days, people around him have been subtly and overtly advising him, wondering if his complexion really is that bad. Even if he's engrossed in the game, he needs to take a break.
Thinking of this, Qi Chengming listened to the advice and cleared his mind, no longer thinking about that messy political affairs. He simply closed his eyes as if to pretend, and a clear "infrastructure system" panel appeared before his eyes.
Since his ascension to the throne, the infrastructure system has been comprehensively upgraded.
The taskbar, which had been stuck for a long time, suddenly started spewing things out as if it were having a seizure.
Qi Chengming silently claimed the rewards for the completed task:
[Crown Prince's Daily Task: Counterattack Against the Old Emperor (Completed/Reward Awaiting Claim)]
[Emperor's Daily Task: Promote Trusted Officials (Completed/Reward Awaiting Claim)]
He received [100 seamless industrial structural steel pipes, 160mm each] from the task of bringing down Emperor Hongren, and [20 packets of tremella fuciformis], [a packet of tomato seasoning], [delicious crispy cashew biscuits], [a box of creamy spaghetti with toppings] and a bunch of other miscellaneous snacks from the task of promoting his confidants.
original--
After Qi Chengming became the crown prince, the system gained a new function: it could automatically collect the task rewards into his space. He didn't need to do anything; he could just check the system space when he had time.
But Qi Chengming quickly realized the problem—was this a reward or a punishment?
Without the step of claiming rewards, doing tasks just doesn't feel as exciting.
Qi Chengming knew this was due to a lack of sufficient real-time positive feedback, so he quickly turned off the function.
But now, the surprise still caught him off guard and startled him.
Qi Chengming's breathing quickened as he saw the rewards: "...!!"
Seamless steel pipe!
His mind immediately raced with ideas: processing plants, water pumps, boiler pipes, steam pipes, hydraulic cylinders, drive shafts, shock absorbers—all modern and convenient technologies that were currently beyond his capabilities. No wonder it was the reward for overthrowing the old emperor—one hundred steel pipes! Qi Chengming could already imagine how many useful things he could make with them!
Build it! Immediately appoint Bishu as an official and let her carry forward the new laboratory that was secretly built in the suburbs of Beijing!
But after the initial euphoria, a bucket of cold water was quickly poured over Qi Chengming, bringing him back to reality.
"Sigh..." He couldn't help but sigh, opened his eyes, and frowned deeply.
Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. In ancient times, even if they had seamless steel pipes that were ahead of their time, they didn't have the corresponding stamping and forging technology. How could they possibly roll and flatten these steel pipes to use them?
Is it really only meant to be wielded like an ordinary steel pipe—a weapon of elite soldiers?
That's such a waste!
Qi Chengming was somewhat frustrated and remained silent, pursing his lips.
"Your Majesty?" Xiao Chengzi, who was staying in the palace to watch over him, heard the noise and turned his head to look. The young man was lying on the couch, tossing and turning, his eyes empty but not sleepy, looking extremely worried.
He understood.
His Majesty must be having trouble sleeping because of his troubled mind, so Xiao Chengzi suggested hesitantly, "How about... how about summoning General Yang to the palace again tomorrow?"
Alas! His Majesty still has no beauty by his side. Normally, these times when it's the empresses' turn to advise the emperor to sleep well!
Xiao Chengzi racked his brains, but it wouldn't be right to ask Nanny Liu to come. He could only think of His Majesty's cousin—at least His Majesty slept soundly after he came today.
"Cousin?" Qi Chengming was taken aback, then suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. "...Yes!"
He murmured, his eyes growing brighter and brighter: "It can be used on my cousin's side!"
Qi Chengming has figured out the best use for this batch of seamless steel pipes!
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Author's note: This is a dimensional reduction attack, hahaha.
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