Even the youngest, Heng'er, could tell that the emperor was troubled.
As they parted, Heng'er took the emperor's hand and asked, "Uncle Emperor, why are you unhappy?"
The emperor's eyes were unfocused, and he looked somewhat dazed. He waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, I just haven't had the Prince's cuisine in a long time, and I was happy to hear that my sister-in-law is pregnant, so I drank a few more cups. I'm not unhappy at all."
“Uncle Emperor is lying. Even I can see through it. Uncle Emperor, if you have anything to say, you can tell me. Mother said that sharing your unhappy things can ease your pain.”
The confusion in the emperor's eyes seemed to dissipate somewhat in the cold night wind.
Gu Jiangli, the prince, and Jingyu all stood behind Heng'er, waiting for the emperor to reveal his innermost thoughts.
After waiting a while, the emperor perhaps came to a decision and said frankly:
"Perhaps we really need to ask the prince for help in finding a solution."
Upon hearing this, the prince knew it was about political matters, so he led the emperor into the room to discuss it properly. Heng'er pulled Jingyu in with him.
After taking a sip of tea, the emperor's smell of alcohol dissipated considerably.
"Your Highness, to be honest, I have indeed been troubled by something lately."
"It's about practicing medicine. Some people say that medicinal herbs are not as easy to buy as in previous years. In the past, some barefoot doctors would go up the mountain to collect herbs and then sell them in the market."
"Now all medicines are sold to pharmacies, and all sick people who want to buy medicine must go to large pharmacies."
"But the medicine in the pharmacy is much more expensive. Many poor people cannot afford the medicine. Even if they have a minor illness, they may die because they cannot afford the medicine."
"Some time ago, a number of villagers came to the palace gate with their sick children, crying and making a scene, saying that the emperor did not care about the people's livelihood and that many people were dying of illness and no one cared."
“In the process of driving them away, the officers and soldiers may not have paid attention to the force used, which resulted in some civilians being injured. As a result, the people’s resentment increased.”
He sighed deeply, “The officials and ministers submit memorials every day, but they can’t come up with any concrete solutions. They just keep asking me to make a decision… I, I don’t know what to do either.”
“I wanted to set aside a sum of money specifically for the treatment of seriously ill patients, but some ministers said that if the money were given to them, they would not use it for treatment, but instead let the sick die and then use the money to enjoy themselves.
"I feel that it is not impossible, so I have been very troubled."
"They keep urging me to make a decision, but my methods are said to be easy for others to exploit. I really have no other choice."
Both Gu Jiangli and the prince had serious expressions.
Simply put, the medicines were monopolized by large pharmacies, and the poor couldn't afford them, so they died of illness.
Just as she was wondering what method the prince would use to resolve this, Heng'er suddenly spoke up:
"That's simple, the royal family can just set up a pharmacy, right?"
The emperor was taken aback, but the prince's brow relaxed, and he nodded and smiled.
"Heng'er, continue."
Heng'er said with great confidence:
"Uncle Emperor, it's not difficult at all. The big pharmacies outside are just thinking that they are the only ones who have the medicinal herbs, so the people have no choice but to buy medicine from them. That's why they set the prices of the herbs so high. At this time, if only one pharmacy comes out and lowers the price of the herbs, everything will be easy."
"The royal family doesn't need to show their faces openly. They just need to take out a sum of money, secretly buy a large amount of medicinal herbs from those pharmacies, and then set up their own pharmacy to sell them at low prices, so that the people can afford to buy medicinal herbs to treat their illnesses. Of course, the royal family has to bear the losses first."
"With low-priced medicinal herbs suppressing the market, it will be difficult for those same herbs to sell at high prices. In order to make money, those pharmacies will gradually lower their prices."
"If the royal family wants to develop in the long term and squeeze out those pharmacies, they can create another official position and have that official find the source of medicinal materials for those large pharmacies, cut them off, buy the medicinal materials directly at a low price, and sell them at a normal price. In this way, the royal family can also make some money."
"In short, the Emperor originally intended to use money to help the people, so taking out a sum of money to help people in this way does not go against the Emperor's original intention."
The prince listened and nodded with a faint smile.
The emperor looked astonished, seemingly unable to believe his ears.
In that instant, he sobered up completely!
"Heng'er... is really amazing... much more amazing than me."
Heng'er scratched her head shyly, "Hehe, I just read it in a book, it's nothing."
The emperor showed a hint of envy, "If I were half as smart as Heng'er, I wouldn't have gotten drunk and embarrassed myself at the Prince's mansion today."
Heng'er immediately sensed the sadness in the emperor's words. Too young to know how to comfort him, he simply said:
"It's alright, Uncle Emperor. Your future child will definitely be smarter than me!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor's smile became even more bitter. "Heng'er, I will not have children."
Heng'er looked thoughtful. "Hmm? No way! I've done the divination. Uncle Emperor will have three children in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Huang Ding's bitter smile turned into fear. He looked at Gu Jiangli and the prince with a pale face, his lips trembling.
"Brother, sister-in-law... I... Heng'er must have miscalculated, right? You're so young, how could you even do divination?"
Heng'er was eager to refute, but Jingyu noticed that the atmosphere among them was strange, so she squatted down and said, "Heng'er, come out and tell me about the fortune you told. I'm quite interested."
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