Chapter 348 Simple and Honest Style
"Now that you're here, my son, please take a look at this memorial for your father." Hongjun glared at the mountain of memorials piled up on the table. Why did these damned things keep piling up on his desk every day?
The contents inside are also absurd. He understands each word individually, but he can't understand them when put together. What's the use of asking him if there's no food? He can't just conjure food out of thin air.
They're such grown-ups, can't they find a way to get food themselves?
Chang Hao clenched his fist, afraid that he might not be able to resist punching that old but still pretty face. His father, the king, just sits there all day and does nothing of importance.
He picked out the bamboo slips with several urgent red stamps, and upon opening them and reading their contents, he was completely dumbfounded. "Father, these memorials have been piling up for days, why haven't you dealt with them?"
"They have no food, what am I supposed to do? They have hands and feet, they can figure it out themselves. That land doesn't grow crops, we can just move to another place," Hongjun said without thinking.
Chang Hao swayed and almost fainted, wondering if the person in front of him was not Emperor Yi, who had been on the throne for decades, but some otherworldly deity who had wandered into the wrong place.
Chang Hao quickly looked around. Fortunately, Emperor Yi didn't like being surrounded by inner court officials, so he sent them all outside the palace.
It was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune; the father and son almost went down in history.
"Father, you're asking me to look at the memorials, are you perhaps testing me?" Chang Hao looked at Hongjun suspiciously. No, he had to test whether Emperor Yi really had a problem with his head.
“My son is exceptionally intelligent and grasps everything instantly. There’s no need for further examination. You take a look first, then get a draft, and your father will write it down.” Hongjun had already picked up his pen and was ready to do exactly what his son said.
“Why go through all this trouble, Father? Why not get up? I’ll just write it down after I’ve read it,” Chang Hao said with a forced smile. “Father, why don’t you just place the royal seal on the table and I’ll stamp it? After the memorial is finished, I’ll accompany you to the outskirts of Chaoge to relax and enjoy the scenery outside the city. It’s quite rustic.”
"Father is worried that his son will be too tired..." Hongjun was clearly tempted but still declined. Writing once in a while was fine, but writing every day would annoy even the Dao Ancestor.
"Your subject is also tired from standing here waiting for Father to write," Chang Hao said deliberately.
"Then why don't you come and sit down?" Hongjun beckoned Chang Hao to come up.
"There's no other chair for Father..." Would Chang Hao dare to sit? Did his father think that he always preferred to stand and listen to him speak?
"Stop talking nonsense," Hongjun said, pressing Chang Hao down onto the throne. "The throne is big enough to accommodate both of us."
Chang Hao fell silent.
"Didn't you say you'd accompany me for a stroll after you finished dealing with the memorials? Hurry up and get started," Hongjun urged. He was thoroughly annoyed by the memorials, but he was quite interested in Chang Hao accompanying him for a leisurely stroll.
Chang Hao picked up a brush and tried to write down a plan for dealing with the drought at the border with Mengfang. Then he placed his hand on the royal seal and dipped it in cinnabar, keeping a close eye on his father's reaction.
Even after he affixed the seal, 'Father' still looked at him with gentle eyes, not feeling at all that he had overstepped his authority.
"Father, this bamboo slip contains urgent information that must be issued immediately. It concerns the distribution of grain for disaster relief and the suppression of rebellion. I need your decree to order the Grand Tutor to personally oversee the grain distribution, suppress the rebellion, and provide disaster relief on the spot." Chang Hao put the bamboo slip into a specially made box.
"Quan Chang, what are you standing there for? Didn't you hear what the Crown Prince was saying? Aren't you going?" Hongjun glared at the clueless so-called Grand Palace official standing to the side.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Quan Chang was desperate. Your Majesty, even the Crown Prince is reviewing memorials on your behalf. If you continue to be so muddleheaded, your throne will be in jeopardy.
Quan Chang laid out the imperial silk fabric, and Hongjun picked up a brush. "My son, what do you want to write?"
"How about I write it for Father?" Chang Hao joked.
"Alright, you can write now." Hongjun shoved the pen into Chang Hao's hand and made room for him.
In a moment of impulsiveness, Chang Hao actually picked up a pen and wrote an appointment letter in a long and flowing style. He then casually stamped the seal on the letter, and for a moment, he was somewhat dazed.
"Quan Chang, hurry up and read it out. Rescue is urgent. The people bordering Mengfang are suffering terribly. The sooner you act, the sooner they will be saved. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Quan Chang, in a moment of madness, forgot to look at what Hongjun meant and hurriedly ran down to gather the ceremonial guards and head to the Grand Tutor's residence to deliver the imperial decree.
It wasn't until a cold wind blew him halfway that Quan Chang's feverish mind finally returned to normal. In an instant, he broke out in a cold sweat. Oh no, would he be punished later?
“Father…” Chang Hao glanced at Hongjun and finally realized that his father probably had something wrong with his head.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and deal with the things that are in the way of the table. Father is waiting for you to accompany me on a spring outing." Hongjun was now thinking about the spring outing that Changhao had promised him.
Chang Hao hesitated, as if to say something but then stopped. So, the throne isn't as important as a spring outing? Emperor Yi, you tyrant…
……………………
After several years of getting to know Hongjun, Chang Hao both loved and hated him. His foolish father, with his simple and honest ways, was not suitable to be a king, but rather to cultivate immortality. His only good point was that he only listened to his loyal ministers and obeyed his every word.
Taking advantage of the slaves he had gathered, Chang Hao inspected the area several times and "discovered" many ways to prepare food. He reformed agricultural tools, increased grain production, and the number of people starving to death decreased year by year. The grain allocated to the army was no longer shortchanged.
They also invented various food storage methods, even managing to preserve easily perishable meats, resulting in several new types of military rations.
He innovated the method of bronze casting, proposed methods for iron smelting, and improved the weaving methods for silk, hemp, and other silk fabrics.
Recently, they've even gone so far as to boldly improve the bow and arrow...
With the soldiers well-fed and clothed, and their weapons gradually being replaced, they naturally had the strength to fight, winning battle after battle with unstoppable momentum, sweeping away the previous decline of the dynasty.
Chang Hao blinked, testing his 'father's' bottom line step by step, and finally discovered that his 'father' had no bottom line at all.
Both inside and outside the court, among the common people and the military, everyone praised His Highness the Crown Prince for his unparalleled virtue and morality.
The soldiers at the lowest ranks of the army were all grateful to His Highness the Crown Prince, not to mention the generals appointed by Chang Hao in various places, especially those dozens of loyal generals of the Shang Dynasty. Chang Hao also put a lot of effort into finding them and appointing them appropriately.
Even now, 'Father' looks smug. Get this straight, he's already eyeing your throne! Father, you should at least be a little wary!
Whenever Chang Hao faced Hongjun with a speechless expression, Hongjun would look back at him, puzzled, and say, "My son, is it someone you don't like or someone who has disrespected you? Tell your father, and I will make him get out immediately."
"No, everything is fine." Chang Hao was secretly hurt. His father was so obedient that he couldn't be violent. Anyway, everything was going according to his plan, and he didn't necessarily have to take the throne.
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