After returning to the Tongzhi Yamen, Zhao Hao took a shower before having dinner. After dinner, he exercised with Qiaoqiao and Sister Ma.

Walk a hundred steps after a meal, and you will live to be ninety-nine.

I sweated as soon as I moved in this damn weather. After finishing, I was sweating again and had to take a shower again.

The guards felt guilty for letting the young master take a shower with a bucket last night. This morning, they went to the "One Blood" docked at the official ship dock, dismantled the young master's shower equipment, and reassembled it in the patio.

As for why it was not installed in the house, it was because the master instructed that they should pretend to be ready to leave at any time and not intend to settle down. The guards who obeyed his orders decided to tie the shower head under the big papaya tree in the northwest corner of the courtyard.

At least they had a circle of reed mats around it to prevent the young master from revealing the secrets. Zhao Hao was very satisfied with this and gave it a nice name, the Stargazing Shower Room.

However, Qiaoqiao and Sister Ma declined the offer of a shower room where they could look up at the stars and enjoy the breeze from all directions. The two sisters, with their faces flushed with sweat, went back to the room to dry themselves.

Zhao Hao, however, was very interested and asked someone to adjust the water temperature in the water tank. Then he took off all his clothes and stood under the shower, but couldn't find the switch.

"Xiao Hu, what's going on?" asked Master Zhao.

"My lord, the brothers have broken the switch and haven't fixed it yet." Huang Xiaohu, deputy chief of the security department, said outside, "But it doesn't affect the use. Whether you want to turn it on or off, or let the water flow higher or lower, just give the order."

"Oh, voice-activated sprinkler? High-tech." Zhao Hao didn't need to blame them for such a thing, so he smiled and said, "Turn it on."

Soon, the shower head connected to the hollow bamboo tube began to twitch and then sprayed out water.

"Not bad, not bad." Zhao Hao couldn't help but become interested and said, "Stop."

The water flow soon stopped, leaving only strings of dripping water.

"Make the water bigger."

Sure enough, the next moment, the splashes of water became much denser and more rapid.

"This is really good. I think we don't need to repair it." Young Master Zhao was having a great time when he heard Huang Xiaohu respectfully call out, "Master."

"The young master is alone in there?" Zhao Shouzheng's voice was heard next.

"yes."

"Dad, what are you doing?" Zhao Hao was washing his hair with Poria cocos and saponin powder. Hearing this, he rubbed his head and asked.

Suddenly I felt a cool breeze, and it turned out that the shower door was opened.

When Zhao Hao wiped his face with a handkerchief, he saw Mr. Zhao coming in naked.

"Damn, what are you doing?" Zhao Hao was startled and subconsciously covered his chicken.

"This kid, your father has been bathing you since you were young, so why are you embarrassed when you have a few more hairs?" Zhao Shouzheng glanced at him and said nonchalantly, "Not bad."

"What do you mean it's okay?" Young Master Zhao's face turned red with embarrassment. There were many guards outside. Would it be appropriate if they heard it?

After holding it in for a long time, he squeezed out a few words from his throat and said, "I will grow taller..."

"Come on, let's take a shower together." Zhao Shouzheng said as he pushed him aside.

"Relay isn't possible?" Zhao Hao said helplessly, holding his sticky hair.

"Help each other, help each other." Zhao Shouzheng started washing his hair with one hand. "Show your filial piety and rub Dad's back. It's inconvenient to use one hand."

"..." The filial son Zhao Hao was speechless now. It turned out that old men who act like spoiled children have the best life.

Young Master Zhao had no choice but to rinse his head first, then wrap a bath towel around his private parts, then pick up a soap and apply it all over his father's back, then rub it with a loofah.

"Oh, it feels good..." Mr. Zhao put one hand on his chest and supported the papaya tree with the other hand, closing his eyes in enjoyment. "I haven't had my back rubbed for more than half a year. No one can rub my back as comfortably as my son."

"Don't we have Xiaoqing and Xiaohong? Let them rub you?" Zhao Hao said with a grunt.

"A little higher, yes, yes... I'm scared... they will rub my skin off..." Zhao Shouzheng answered tremblingly.

"That's impossible. They are professionals." Mr. Zhao tried his best to shirk the responsibility.

"Yeah, she's also a professional at killing people." Zhao Shouzheng said with lingering fear: "For example, Xiaoqing, she can crush walnuts with one hand."

"That's not difficult, I can do it too." Zhao Hao said nonchalantly: "The key is to use the groove of one walnut to squeeze the belly of another."

"I have one in my hand." Zhao Shouzheng said.

"Well, that's quite sad..." Zhao Hao smacked his lips and felt a chill on his chest.

It turned out that the bath towel was washed away by the water.

"Xiao Hong is even more powerful. She can break rocks with her chest." Mr. Zhao said, "Go down a little."

"You're just talking nonsense." Zhao Hao said in disbelief: "They can do it, can they show you? Can service staff earn money part-time?"

"It wasn't a show for me." Zhao Shouzheng said faintly, "It was when we were guarding the city that day, she came to the top of the city wall to bring me food. It happened that a corner of the city gate collapsed, and a piece of the door lintel fell down, knocking her directly to the ground. At that time, everyone thought that she was going to be a meat pie. But who would have thought that she would take a while to lift up the broken stone, pat her chest, stand up intact, and say, I will go cook for the master again..."

"Puchi..." Zhao Hao was finally amused by Mr. Zhao's vivid narration. "Father is getting better at talking nonsense."

"Really? If you don't believe me, ask Xiaohu. Xiaohu..." Zhao Shouzheng raised his voice.

"Alright, alright, she's a grown-up girl after all, give her some face." Zhao Hao rubbed his father hard, causing him so much pain that he swallowed his words back.

"Oh, okay..."

"By the way, how is the preparation for that matter going?" Zhao Hao rubbed Zhao Shouzheng's armpit again.

"Are you talking about what happened this morning? It's so itchy..." Zhao Shouzheng twisted his body involuntarily and quickly diverted his attention: "I've been thinking about it for a whole day, but I still can't figure out what the prefect's perspective is? How is it different from the county magistrate's?"

"Actually, speaking of it, the county magistrate, prefect, governor, and even the prime minister, even... let's talk about the prime minister, they are all in charge of a region, there is no essential difference. Although these regions are big and small, no matter how big the ship is, it needs someone to steer the ship. Father, what qualifications do you think one should have to become the helmsman?" Young Master Zhao said in a coaxing manner.

"Then you have to learn how to swim first, so that you won't drown if the boat sinks, and you can save two people..." Master Zhao answered after thinking seriously.

"It's right to be prepared for danger in times of peace." Zhao Hao's mouth twitched as he said, "But can we think of something auspicious?"

"Okay..." Zhao Shouzheng had to think more seriously: "I should understand the structure of the ship, know how deep the ship drafts, and how deep the ship drafts when fully loaded, to prevent it from running aground..."

"Okay..." Zhao Hao nodded helplessly. There's nothing wrong in being cautious.

"Then you have to understand your sailors and know how to make them obey your orders." Mr. Zhao finally said slowly, "There is also the weather and wind direction, the differences in sailing on rivers, lakes and seas, and even how to deal with checkpoints... In short, being a ship captain is not that easy. There are so many things you need to know and be good at."

"Yeah." Young Master Zhao was very pleased and nodded vigorously. What is growth? This is growth!

"In this case, being a ship captain is much more difficult than being a county magistrate..." Mr. Zhao sighed seriously.

"Uh..." Zhao Hao wanted to stuff the fragrant soap in his hand into Mr. Zhao's mouth.

"My father is incapable of anything except being an official." Master Zhao sighed again.

"Pah..." The soap fell to the ground. According to the rules of a certain place, you can't bend down to pick it up.

~~

After taking a shower, the father and son put on thin white silk pajamas and sat on the bamboo chairs in the patio, continuing to enjoy the cool air and talk.

"Of course there are differences between prefects and county magistrates. The biggest difference is that county magistrates are pragmatic, while prefects are idealistic." Zhao Hao was like an experienced elder, patiently teaching: "County magistrates are close to the people. In addition to sitting in the court to judge cases, they also have to tour the countryside. They have to personally take care of the people, collect taxes, hear lawsuits, and encourage farmers. In addition, the imperial court and the edicts and orders of the superiors must ultimately be implemented by the prefectures and counties."

"It's so complicated..." Mr. Zhao said as he fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan. If you didn't know him, you would think he had never been a county magistrate.

"Father, please stop saying such things. You are a county magistrate who has been ranked first in performance for three consecutive years." Young Master Zhao criticized him, "People will think you are showing off, which will make people hate you."

"Oh, really? Then I won't say anything more from now on." Mr. Zhao quickly covered his mouth, sat cross-legged on a bamboo chair and asked, "Then tell me, what's the matter with the prefect's empty talk?"

"All that I just said, except for sitting in the court to judge cases, the prefect does not need to do anything. Even the court hearings are only held for major cases that only happen once a year. Most of the time, the prefect is the one who gives tasks to the county magistrate." Zhao Hao said in a deep voice:

"The prefect said he was in charge of the entire prefecture, but could he manage all the eleven counties? In fact, he was only in charge of the eleven county magistrates, as well as the few people in his own government office. Moreover, the prefects of our Ming Dynasty would not go to the counties unless necessary. They could only understand the situation of the counties through official documents, issue tasks, supervise the completion of tasks, and inquire about the results and impacts. To put it bluntly, the prefect indirectly controlled the county magistrates through official documents, so that they could complete their plans."

"It sounds like a puppeteer playing with marionettes." Zhao Shouzheng said, stroking his neatly trimmed beard.

"Almost, but much more difficult." Zhao Hao slowly turned his head and looked at Master Zhao, and said in a creepy tone: "But your puppets... are all living people..."

"Ah!" Mr. Zhao was so frightened that he dropped his fan and almost fell down with his chair.

After calming down, he said with a smile: "You kid, you are so scared!"

"Hmph." The revenged Master Zhao said in a good mood, "So father must learn to think from others' perspective. You must whip the top with a small whip so that they cannot slow down even for a moment. You must also take care of their feelings and make them suffer and get nothing in return. No one will work with you. But you can't take on everything yourself just because you have strong abilities and a team. Even if you do well, the people below will complain that you are monopolizing power, and the people above will think that you are too narrow-minded."

He sighed and said, "So father needs to quickly change his mindset and complete the transition from managing things to managing people."