kvmb Chapter 143 Crown Prince: Father, can I squeeze in with you tonight?
Chapter 143 Crown Prince: Father, can I squeeze in with you tonight?
On the third day of the fourth month, Dinghai day, the emperor sat behind a screen and eavesdropped on the crown prince angrily rebuking him.
The prince's cursing stopped abruptly.
He wasn't cursing his father at all; he was clearly cursing these eunuchs for insisting on dragging him to take a bath.
Shen Zhiyi, this is slander, pure and simple slander!
The old emperor's lips twitched violently.
What eavesdropping? He's clearly standing here openly and honestly.
Shen Zhiyi, this is slander, pure and simple slander.
"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and take the Crown Prince to take a bath. He's covered in stench, and I don't know how long it's been since he last washed."
【I know, I know, I haven't washed since the day I went there. Oh my god, I can smell the odor from way over there.】
The old emperor's vision blurred; he shouldn't have sent the crown prince to that place called Jiangnan. Now, all the local officials there know that the crown prince doesn't like to bathe.
"Pull him down immediately."
An hour later, the prince finished his bath.
[My goodness, this bath took a full two hours. Now, if the prince goes to weigh himself, he might have even lost a few pounds.]
Seeing his son, who was sparkling clean, the old emperor's expression finally relaxed considerably.
"That looks more like it."
"Father, what do you think of Tibet? I'll conquer it and then go there to help build it up."
The old emperor's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected his son to be so ambitious.
He said with satisfaction, "It seems you've had a very fruitful trip to Jiangnan."
"That's true."
The next second, a chorus of flattery from the ministers rang out.
Nonsense, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the next emperor is practically a foregone conclusion.
It is essential to cultivate a good relationship with the crown prince.
[Could the prince be referring to the fact that people in Tibet only bathe twice a year—once at birth and once at death—and that's why he wants to go there?]
The old emperor's satisfied expression vanished instantly, and he wanted to slap the crown prince in annoyance.
But when he thought about all the other people around, even if his son didn't care about saving face, he, as the father, had to.
So he forcefully suppressed his anger.
"We will set aside Tibet for now. I have called you back to discuss the matter of Goguryeo."
"Goguryeo?"
The crown prince was puzzled: "Isn't that our vassal state? What's wrong? Why are you acting so strangely lately?"
The old emperor recounted to the crown prince what Goguryeo had done.
The prince immediately understood.
“Father, why beat around the bush? You just want to fight, so just do it.”
The Minister of Revenue immediately jumped out and said, "This is not appropriate. Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, Da Ye has just finished a battle with the Turks, which has consumed a lot of silver from the national treasury."
Although the Crown Prince has been in Jiangnan for the past few months, he is very familiar with the war situation on the Turkic side.
"But our army was greatly victorious in the battle against the Turks, and our morale is at its peak. I think we can take advantage of this momentum to attack Goguryeo in one fell swoop."
The Minister of War also expressed his concern, saying, "The army that is most aggressive is that of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. We can't possibly send it to the northeast to attack Goguryeo, can we? What if the Turks recover and move south? Wouldn't we be picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon? I agree with the Minister of Revenue that we cannot fight this war."
"What's there to be afraid of, Your Majesty? Just let this old minister go! A mere Goguryeo dares to harbor such rebellious intentions! This old minister can swear an oath right now to take down Goguryeo within a month!"
Wow, this General of the Cavalry is still so imposing despite his age!
Upon hearing this, the Minister of Revenue...
"If you want to fight, raise the money yourself. Anyway, the national treasury has no money."
"Hey, why does your Ministry of Revenue keep complaining about having no money? What's the point of having the Ministry of Revenue then? Are you just here to eat and do nothing?"
The General of the Cavalry's words ignited the Minister of Revenue's anger.
The two began to curse loudly, oblivious to everyone else around them.
How could a rough man like the General of the Cavalry possibly out-argue a scholar like the Minister of Revenue?
If you can't win an argument, you start to get the urge to use your hands.
Seeing the General of the Cavalry raise his arm, Shen Zhiyi ran faster than a rabbit and hid behind a pillar.
Good heavens! It feels like the General of the Cavalry's elbow could kill several Ministers of Revenue in one blow.
Shen Zhiyi glanced at it cautiously while taking out paper and pen to start writing.
[On the third day, the day of Bingzi, inside the Yan Ying Hall, the General of the Cavalry and the Minister of Revenue were engaged in a fierce fight, causing great chaos!]
Seeing that the crowd was about to get red-faced, the crown prince immediately stepped forward to break up the fight.
"Humph."
The Minister of Revenue and the General of the Cavalry exchanged a glance and both looked away in disgust.
The Crown Prince looked at the Minister of Revenue and asked, "Is it really true that you can't raise the money?"
"Your Highness, the war with the Turks has already depleted a significant portion of the national treasury. Moreover, the Crown Prince has reached the age of twenty this year and should be getting married, which will be another expense."
"Alright, use the money meant for the Crown Prince's wedding to attack Goguryeo."
The Minister of Revenue stared wide-eyed.
"Your Highness, the marriage of the Crown Prince is a matter of great importance to the reputation of the royal family."
"face?"
The prince pondered for a moment, and finally asked a question that struck at the very core of his being.
Do we have that thing?
"puff."
"Cough cough cough cough."
[Hahahaha, wow, Your Highness, you're a genius! Hahahaha.]
The old emperor almost choked on his own cup of tea.
This silly guy, although it's the truth, it's too much of a truth.
The Crown Prince's words silenced the officials of the Six Ministries.
The Minister of Personnel glanced at the old emperor and finally understood why His Majesty insisted on waiting for the Crown Prince to come and discuss this matter.
They already knew that the six ministries would not agree.
First, the Ministry of Works spent a lot of money on shipbuilding, and then the war with the Turks also cost a lot of money.
The Ministry of Revenue is definitely unwilling to release this silver.
The old emperor was also unwilling to show it too directly. If he were to punish or demote a loyal minister on some random pretext, who knows how the history books would record it?
Shen Zhiyi certainly won't have any good words written into the daily records.
Therefore, the old emperor thought of arranging a marriage for his crown prince.
But as a grandfather, some things are not appropriate to come out of his mouth; they must come out of the mouth of the emperor's grandson's father, that is, his son.
The Crown Prince truly understands his father.
The two of them worked together to sell the Crown Prince's marriage.
[Ha! I get it now. The old emperor and the crown prince have secretly joined forces. The father and son are truly in sync.]
The old emperor and the crown prince froze.
No, Shen Zhiyi, how come your brain works so well at this time?
It's just a pity for the Crown Prince; he has to postpone marrying the girl he likes.
The crown prince was stunned.
What?
His foolish son actually has a girl he likes?
He thought his son was heartless and thought it wouldn't hurt to postpone the wedding for a few years.
The crown prince felt guilty.
He turned around and looked at his father, the emperor.
"Dad, can I squeeze in with you tonight?"