Forbidden City.

Although the eldest princess was somewhat reluctant, after leaving Queen Chen, she still went to the Yiku Palace where the woman lived.

Concubine Li was very happy that the princess came to see her. She was even more delighted to see the rich gifts she brought from Jiangnan. She took Ning An's hand, sat on the edge of the couch with her, and chattered about personal matters.

"Aunt, now that I think about it, I shouldn't have asked you to give up the imperial store and the imperial farm. Alas, you said that I couldn't go out of the palace, so I could only ask my father and brother to help look after them, but they are really not cut out for business. The imperial farm is okay, as crops will always yield a harvest, but those imperial stores are really losing money..." Concubine Li was finally convinced, although she still habitually distanced herself from the matter.

Ning An was both relieved and angry when she heard this. Of course, she was relieved. The two idiots from the Li family insisted on taking over the Royal Manor and the Royal Store. Now they messed it up, right? This just highlights how capable and difficult this palace is.

What makes me angry is that these royal stores are the most profitable businesses, and no one dares to trip them up. Even if you tie a dog there, you won't lose money. Li Wei and his son can actually waste my hard work like this, which really makes me angry.

But Ning An knew that Concubine Li was very protective of her shortcomings, and if he followed suit and scolded his father and brothers, he would definitely bear a grudge against her. So he said some clichés that everyone has to pay the tuition and everything will get better slowly.

"It's easier said than done. At the end of the year, they lost 80,000 taels." Concubine Li said gloomily, "If we hadn't sold some Xishan Company stocks, we wouldn't have made it through the New Year."

When Xishan Company was first established, Zhao Hao asked the princess to sell 500 original shares to Empress Chen and Concubine Li respectively. At that time, Concubine Li was reluctant to pay the 5,000 taels of silver. As a result, within a year, 500 shares became 5,000 shares, and the share price exceeded 50 taels. 5,000 taels became 250,000 taels!

In order to fill the hole in her family and cope with the expenses of the palace, and because she felt that the stock price had risen too much, Concubine Li hung half of her shares in the lobby of Xishan Company in Dazhalan and cashed in a full 130,000 taels. When the eunuch handed her the bill for 130,000 taels, Concubine Li felt like she was dreaming.

Before, she had only heard that the stocks of Xishan Company were valuable, and she always felt that it was a bit mysterious. Now she had real money in her hands, and she couldn't help but believe it. Unexpectedly, the eldest princess had just withdrawn from the Royal Store and turned around to create a family business that was ten times or a hundred times more. It seemed that what Dad and Big Brother said was not right. Princess Ning An was really capable, and she didn't make so much money by relying on the Royal Store.

Now, Empress Li regretted that she bought too few stocks, but fortunately, the princess gave a share to the royal family, so it would be hers sooner or later. Secondly, she regretted that she should not have listened to her parents' instigation and offended the real Goddess of Wealth in order to seize the royal store.

Now that the princess has given up the imperial store and farm, there is no conflict of interest between the two sides. Only by having a good relationship with her can you make money. So Empress Li started to win over the princess again.

Ning An knew exactly what the village girl was thinking, but who could blame her for holding the trump card? After all, the future of the world would belong to her son. Although he was unhappy, he had to coax the village girl for the sake of his children. He comforted Concubine Li and promised to give her a share of the money if there was another profitable business.

This was exactly what Concubine Li was waiting for. She felt more and more that Ning An was a kind person with a cold exterior but a warm heart, so she started to open her heart to her.

Concubine Li looked worried and asked, "Aunt, have you seen the furnishings in His Majesty's room?"

"Oh?" Ning An was confused. "What's the problem?"

"Didn't you see the paintings of naked buttocks on those porcelains?" Li Guifei said in a voice as soft as a mosquito.

Ning An understood instantly. She knew her brother's hobbies, so she shook her head and said, "I didn't see it."

"He must have known you were coming back, so he ordered someone to take him back." Concubine Li sighed, "Your Majesty has been seduced by three killers, Teng Xiang, Chen Hong, and Meng Chong, and he has no other thoughts in his mind all day. As if there are not enough women in the palace, he issued an imperial decree the day before yesterday to select 300 beauties from the capital to enter the palace."

Needless to say, all these things were heard from the prince's Feng Daban.

"Really?" Ning An frowned slightly. No wonder she felt that her brother had lost a lot of weight when she saw him after returning. She didn't expect that it was a sign of excessive indulgence.

She suddenly thought of someone who was in the same situation, and couldn't help but feel distressed. She thought to herself that she had to give Zhao Lang some more nutrition money.

"I advised him but he didn't listen. He even thought I was annoying and told me to take good care of the child and talk less." Concubine Li said angrily, "Isn't it because you are worried that he will indulge himself and hurt the dragon's body?"

Ning An nodded. She was naturally worried about her elder brother as well.

"And I heard that those murderers also gave His Majesty all kinds of folk remedies and pills. He dared to take them no matter where they came from, and he was not afraid of getting sick." Concubine Li held Ning An's hand worriedly and said, "His Majesty doesn't listen to us. He thinks we are competing for favor as soon as we open our mouths. Aunt, he only listens to what you say. You have to persuade him more."

"Yes." Ning An nodded. She naturally hoped that her brother would be healthy and live a long life. Of course, she had to persuade him, but he had to listen...

~~

Over there is the eastern warm room of the Qianqing Palace.

After Emperor Longqing had finished being intimate with the younger generations, he handed the fat boy to Feng Bao and asked Feng Daban to take him and Li Mingyue and his sister to pay their respects to the Queen first.

Empress Chen didn't know Zhao Hao, so he didn't need to join in the fun. Of course, the main reason was that the emperor had something to say to him.

After the younger generations left, even the servant Meng Chong closed the door and went out, leaving only Longqing and Zhao Hao in the warm room.

Longqing still had a kind smile on his face and asked Zhao Hao, "How is it, isn't the prince cute?"

"Uh..." Zhao Hao thought to himself, as expected, in the eyes of their parents, children are perfect, even the emperor is no exception.

He quickly presented what he knew, such as "outstanding and talented", "natural and beautiful", and other flattering words to praise the prince.

Although it was a cliché, Emperor Longqing was very pleased with it and said with great joy: "Yes, I think so too. My ancestors blessed me and gave me such a good heir."

As he spoke, he started to talk and boast about the same old things.

"This child is much smarter than me. He can read quite a few words at the age of four. He's only four years old! I'm ten years old and still can't read."

Zhao Hao thought to himself, this doesn’t mean your son is smart, it only means your father is too negligent and made you a dropout.

"He is also very sensible. Last year, I was riding a horse in the palace, and after seeing it, he actually advised me, 'Your Majesty is the ruler of the world, riding alone, wouldn't you rather have no worries?' He was only six years old at that time. Don't you think he was amazing?" Longqing's nose was so proud that it almost touched the beam.

Mr. Zhao felt a chill. Such nerdy words were not something that the naughty little fat boy could say. Feng Bao was probably the one who said that. Only Longqing would take it seriously, right?

Of course, Mr. Zhao continued to flatter. This made Emperor Longqing very happy. He became even more excited and said:

"As the saying goes, 'You can tell a person's future from the age of three, and his character from the age of seven.' If the prince is well educated, he will definitely be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of reviving the country!"

Zhao Hao thought to himself, bullshit, if he doesn’t destroy your Zhu family’s empire, it would be a blessing from heaven.

Of course, I dare not say this...

"I didn't say that, but it's the consensus of all the Grand Secretaries." Longqing said excitedly, "So the prince is a piece of unpolished jade of excellent quality. I want to carve him well and train a wise ruler for the Ming Dynasty! Li Xianggong and Master Chen have also long submitted petitions, hoping that the prince can leave the palace to study immediately after his birthday."

Zhao Hao thought, if there was something missing in childhood, he wanted to make up for it in his children. It seems that the little fat boy will have to carry a small schoolbag early.

But Longqing was not as simple as he thought. The emperor changed the subject and said, "But I rejected it."

"Uh..." Young Master Zhao almost choked. It seemed like all the excitement he had just had wasted.

"My meaning is that the prince is still young. At this age, it is enough for him to learn to read and write. Feng Bao can do this little thing well. There is no need to trouble the scholars." Long Qing said calmly: "So my meaning is that we can discuss it after the prince is ten years old and let him go out to study."

Zhao Hao nodded slightly. He knew this history. The cabinet ministers all hoped that the prince would go out to study earlier, but Longqing, who had always been very accommodating to the court officials, was very tough on the issue of his son's education. Under the repeated requests of the ministers, it was not until April of the sixth year of Longqing that he reluctantly agreed.

At that time, it was only two months before his death.

Longqing naturally would not explain the reason to Zhao Hao. But Master Zhao knew that this was essentially a struggle for the dominance of the prince's education, and it was about whether the prince would become the good emperor that Longqing hoped for, or the good emperor that the civil service group hoped for.

What kind of successor did Longqing want? Of course, he should be wise and brave, decisive, diligent, and well-versed in military affairs.

What kind of emperor do the civil service groups want? Naturally, a holy emperor who is close to virtuous officials and far away from villains, and who rules the country with ease.

The emperor wanted an independent heir who would not be deceived by anyone and would hold all the power. The civil servant group wanted an obedient heir who would only listen to the civil servants, not the eunuchs, military commanders, and relatives, and would be content to be a "homebody" in the palace.

To put it bluntly, it is to use Emperor Longqing as a template to create a weakened version of Longqing. Longqing himself suffered greatly from it, so how could he want his son to repeat the same mistakes in the future?

Therefore, he wanted to educate the prince himself for a few years, and then hand him over to the ministers for training after his three views were basically formed. He even secretly decided to wait until the prince was ten years old, and then delay it for a few more years, so that when Zhu Yijun was a teenager, he would not be easily brainwashed.

However, Longqing knew that if he and the eunuchs were to rely on themselves, the prince would waste the next few years. He still had to broaden his horizons and make his son more knowledgeable, so he thought of the science that had left a deep impression on him.

But he was also worried that his son would be brainwashed by science. Zhu Yijun was so smart that he would definitely learn it quickly and master it in a short time. If he became a scientist obsessed with science, how could he be an emperor?

ps. This is the first of three consecutive updates. Please give me your monthly votes!