The old man and uncle also took the sea route and entered Beijing before Zhao Hao.

They only took one boat and entered Dagukou quietly without anyone noticing.

That night, the old man lived in the main courtyard, Zhao Xian and his son lived in the east wing, Zhao Hao and his disciples lived in the west wing, and the side courtyards on both sides were for the guards and attendants. The people in charge of the mansion were all old people from Chunsong Hutong. They arranged everything properly without much explanation, which was very worry-free.

The next morning, the disciples rushed to empty the chamber pot for their master, but the eldest brother got there first.

"I can finally serve Master again." Wang Wuyang held Zhao Hao's chamber pot, tears welling up in his eyes. "I have been waiting for one day, and it has been three hundred and thirty-one days."

Qiaoqiao was extremely relieved when she saw this. Fortunately, Sister Ma came to call her early, otherwise she would have been blocked by these reckless disciples.

Don't let your imagination run wild! In this era, the thousand-work bed that the rich families slept in was like a suite. The inner room was where the master slept, separated by a green gauze cabinet, and there was also a small bed outside, which was the bed for the maid to help the master sleep at night. That's why there is the saying of "tongfang yatou".

Zhao Hao had nightmares at night and would often get up in the middle of the night to ask for water. Qiaoqiao and Ma Xianglan had long been accustomed to taking turns to watch over the night and help him sleep.

The two knew that he would have nightmares if he changed places after coming to the capital, so Qiaoqiao slept with him in the outer room as usual last night. But before dawn, she was woken up by the attentive Sister Ma. Just as she packed up her bedding and went out, she saw Wang Wuyang rushing into Zhao Hao's bedroom...

~~

Young Master Zhao rubbed his sleepy eyes, washed and brushed his teeth with the help of his disciples, and dressed neatly. Then he went to the main courtyard to have breakfast with the old man.

"Why don't you sleep a little longer?" Zhao Liben was reading the official newspaper with his reading glasses on. He was not used to seeing Zhao Hao getting up so early.

"Time is running out for me." Young Master Zhao said something sloppy, and said depressedly, "How can I sleep in when I have a few wicked apprentices who are scrambling to empty the chamber pot?"

"Ahem..." Zhao Shouye almost choked on a mouthful of tea and said with a wry smile, "Three Hanlins are scrambling to empty the chamber pot. This is a treatment that the emperor doesn't have."

"Uncle wants it, let them pour it for you tomorrow." Zhao Hao said jokingly, and asked, "Where's my brother?"

"He went to work," Zhao Shouye said happily and distressedly, "He was busy at Xishan Company during the day, and went to Weijixian at night. This child has really changed a lot."

"Brother Wu is now the head of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department. It's not a big deal for him to be in the restaurant all day to greet guests." Zhao Hao took the spoon from the maid, ate the tofu pudding slowly, and said to Zhao Shouye:

"Don't worry, uncle. I won't delay your lifelong event. At the latest by the end of the month, I will transfer someone from Jinling to replace him, so that your brother can concentrate on getting married."

Zhao Hao's choice was Si Ya, not because he didn't trust the current shopkeeper, but because he couldn't let the young couple live apart for a long time. Wu Yu was doing well in Xishan Company, and there was no way to transfer him back, so he had to transfer Si Ya to Beijing.

"Hey, uncle, how can you be so ignorant?" Zhao Shouye waved his hands and said, "Young people need to take on more responsibilities in order to make progress." He said with satisfaction, "Zhao Xian has become a different person in the past year. It shows that he needs more trials and tribulations."

"Yeah." Zhao Yun, who was eating with her head down, nodded in agreement. The little girl finally got out of the shadow of her parents' divorce and was no longer like a stubborn person.

After the family finished breakfast, Zhao Shouye took his daughter shopping. His son was getting married, so he asked the government for a half-year leave... In fact, no one would care if he didn't go back for a year.

Uncle Zhao felt happy, but also a little sad.

After Zhao Shouye left, Zhao Liben dropped the court report and asked Zhao Hao what he had talked about with the emperor yesterday.

Zhao Hao then told him everything in detail.

When Zhao Liben heard Zhao Hao say that Longqing had high hopes for the crown prince and hoped to train a leader to revive the country, he could not help but sneer. Although he did not comment, his disdain was evident in his words.

In fact, the old man originally wanted to say, I originally wanted to train a top scholar!

But when the words were on the tip of his tongue he realized that his good-for-nothing second son had indeed won the top spot in the imperial examination.

Only then did he swallow the words, as he couldn't say what Longqing was thinking.

"I'm not saying anything, but the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty has problems at the root." The old man changed his attack angle and said, "In order to prevent the interference of foreign relatives in politics, they went too far and specifically found girls from small families to breed with their sons. Do you think this village girl can teach a good prince? She can only teach him to be a bricklayer..."

Zhao Hao couldn't help but smile bitterly. The old man looked down on the Ming Dynasty royal family. But it seemed that he couldn't say that it was completely unreasonable. The mother is the first teacher of the child. The children raised by an excellent mother are extraordinary.

But the Ming Dynasty had many such foolish systems. He was powerless.

However, after the old man's talk, he still reminded Zhao Hao to pay attention to the opportunity to interact with the prince. People will infinitely magnify the feelings of childhood, which is very important to him and the Zhao family, and they must use their brains more.

Zhao Hao thought the same thing, so he nodded in agreement. Speaking of the Xu Jie case, Zhao Liben said in a deep voice:

"I heard that Xu Jie sent someone called Lu Guang to work with the Xu family's manager in the capital, and it looked like they were about to stir up some trouble. But as soon as the news of Lin Run's awakening came, those people immediately quieted down."

"Of course. Who wouldn't worry that Lin Zhongcheng has solid evidence of the Xu family's illegal activities? Before he makes a move, who would dare to jump out and become a target?" Zhao Hao said with a smile.

In fact, all the evidence was destroyed in the fire. But no one dared to gamble their career and reputation on whether Lin Run had hidden a killer trick.

"Anyway, despite all the trouble Hai Gangfeng has gone through, he is still able to secure the position of Yingtian Governor. He is truly blessed." Zhao Liben glanced at Zhao Hao meaningfully and said, "I don't know why you treat him and Lin Run better than your father?"

"Grandpa, who can compare to you?" Young Master Zhao shamelessly poured tea for Zhao Liben and rubbed his back, swearing to heaven that Grandpa was the first. Only then did he calm the arrogant old man down.

~~

The father and son finally talked about the real business of this trip to Beijing.

After listening to Zhao Hao's story, Zhao Liben frowned and sighed, "You are right. This matter will take a while to resolve, and it may even end in a fight."

"I've already lowered my attitude so low," Zhao Hao muttered unhappily, "I'm just supplementing the canal transportation, do you still want to fight me to the death?"

"For some people, the word 'sea transportation' is unacceptable." Zhao Liben said with a wry smile, "I have asked the former director of the grain transport department about his opinion. He said that there is a consensus among the grain transport department that sea transportation should not be allowed. Otherwise, a thousand-mile dam will collapse due to an ant hole."

"So serious?" Master Zhao frowned.

"Ryukyu and other countries in Southeast Asia come to pay tribute by ship every year. It's been like this year after year, and we haven't seen their ships capsize many times. Not to mention the Portuguese who came from the West tens of thousands of miles away, didn't they also take a ship? Now Fujian has also opened up to the sea, and there are so many civilian ships sailing abroad every year. Anyone who is not blind knows that the sea is not that dangerous." Zhao Liben raised his eyebrows and said proudly, "When Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, the red-haired devils were still playing with mud at home with urine mixed in!"

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded slightly. Through his interactions with the princess and the emperor, he found that they didn't think going to sea was a big deal. Obviously, in a country that had conquered the ocean, no one would really fear the ocean.

"But the more this happens, the more guilty those people who make a living from the canal feel. They wish they could shut everyone up and make sure no one in the court mentions those two scary words. Only then can they feel at ease." Zhao Liben put down his teacup and said sarcastically, "This clumsy trick of covering one's ears and stealing the bell can actually continue. It shows that the Ming Dynasty is going to fall!"

Young Master Zhao felt helpless. Although the old man was convinced by him, his prejudice against the Ming Dynasty was still deeply rooted.

"Then let's find a few more people to talk to. They can't shut them up." Zhao Hao hurriedly encouraged the old man, "I will convene a shareholders' meeting of Xishan Company and propose a joint shipping with Jiangnan Company. I don't believe that those people can shut up all my shareholders!"

"Yeah." This was all part of the plan. Zhao Liben had known about it for a long time. He nodded proudly and said, "Those guys didn't run into us, otherwise they would have knelt before me long ago."

"Good, good! Grandpa is so imposing!" Young Master Zhao flattered him and encouraged his grandfather to connect with more families.

~~

When Zhao Hao returned to the west wing, Tang Youde, Sun Dawu and Guo Da had been waiting there for a long time.

The former brought a thick stack of accounts of Xishan Company, and the latter brought the accounts of Lugouqiao Coal Yard, and asked the young master to check the accounts personally.

Although they sent the general ledger to Jiangnan as soon as possible after the end-of-year settlement, it was important to let the young master see their correct attitude.

"Stop, just leave it here, I'll look at it later." Little did he know that Master Zhao had been spoiled by Jiang Xueying and was too lazy to even look at the accounts. However, among the entourage he brought with him, there were four professional accountants, so he would let them review it slowly later.

Zhao Hao saw that the yard had already been set up with lounge chairs and fruit plates. He couldn't help but wink and smile at Qiaoqiao. Sister Qiaoqiao is so considerate. She hasn't forgotten this hobby of mine.

He lay comfortably on the recliner and asked a few people to sit on the stool next to him. "You did a good job last year, and you completed half of the original plan. I am very satisfied."

"Hehe..." The three of them felt relieved, and Fatty Tang said, "It is our mission to satisfy you, sir."

"Everything is planned by the young master. We are just following his orders. As long as we don't ruin his plans, it's good." The little black fat man Guo Da also offered pure flattery.

"But compared with what the young master has done in Jiangnan, Xishan Company can only be regarded as a small business." Sun Dawu is still the same as before, he can do things but not talk.

"Hahaha, don't worry." Zhao Hao sat up, patted his round belly and said, "I came back this time to take you to play a big game! After you succeed, I guarantee that you will be famous in history."

"Oh?" The three men's eyes lit up immediately. The young master finally remembered that he still had a group of loyal and capable subordinates in Beijing.

"What do you want us to do? Tell us quickly, sir!"

"When you go back, notify everyone immediately. Xishan Company will hold an extraordinary board meeting tomorrow morning. We will know then." Zhao Hao was too lazy to repeat his words.

ps. Third update, please give me a monthly ticket! No more today, I'm with my kids...