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Chapter 840: Extra: Grinding Mill

The tenth year of Zhaoping.

In the hot summer, many ice basins were set up in the Showa Hall to bring a little coolness.

In such hot weather, wearing a heavy dragon robe was really a chore. After the small court meeting, Jiang Shaohua immediately went to bathe and change clothes, and changed into a light and thin casual clothes.

The three emperor's servants, Lu Zhen, Wang Shu and Li Fangfei, came over each holding a pile of memorials.

Jiang Shaohua was dignified in front of his subjects, but he was easy-going in private. He sighed, "There are so many memorials every day, day after day, year after year. It's not fun for me to be the emperor."

Lu Zhen smiled and continued, "This has already been screened by Prime Minister Chen. The Emperor will be able to finish reading it in two hours at most."

Jiang Shaohua still didn't want to watch: "Go and ask the prince to come over."

Well, this means that the young Crown Prince will have to "learn" how to review memorials again.

Wang Shu responded and went to convey the oral order.

After a while, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived.

The nine-year-old Baoer is much taller than other girls of the same age, and her face is full of vigor and vitality, just like a newly grown green bamboo, which makes people happy just by looking at it.

After Bao Er was appointed as the Crown Prince last year, he began to attend court and often learned to read memorials. What Jiang Shaohua saw as a tough job was fresh and interesting to Bao Er.

Jiang Shaohua smiled and waved to her daughter: "Bao'er, come and sit down. Today, mother will teach you how to review memorials."

Baoer's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked excitedly, "Can I review the memorials, too?"

"Of course." Jiang Shaohua replied with a serious face: "You are the crown prince of Daliang, the future emperor of Daliang. Sooner or later, this world will be handed over to you. You should learn to review memorials and handle government affairs as soon as possible, and be an excellent prince. Let all the ministers see the ability of our Daliang Crown Prince."

Baoer was coaxed into smiling by his mother, and he straightened his little body and responded crisply.

Lu Zhen and the other three all lowered their heads and smiled secretly.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still too young and naive. He was tricked by the Emperor into doing errands. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is only nine years old!
As expected, the emperor employed people regardless of age, from the nearly 70-year-old Prime Minister Chen to the nine-year-old crown prince.

Baoer took a copy of the memorial and read it.

This is a memorial submitted by the Ministry of Works.

Eight years ago, the Yellow River overflowed, and the flood broke the river bank and submerged six counties. The court spent a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources to rebuild the river bank. During this period, several officials who were corrupt and derelict in their duties were caught and beheaded. There was also Prime Minister Wang who was in charge of supervising the construction and watching the Ministry of Works, so the river bank was built very solidly.

In the past eight years, there have been several floods, and the riverbank has barely stabilized. However, it still needs to be repaired from time to time every year.

Minister Zhou submitted a memorial to the emperor, firstly to ask the court to approve the budget, and secondly, he himself had developed a cold leg problem while repairing the river bank. Now he could hardly walk, and was not fit to work as a millstone any longer, so he asked to resign.

"Send this memorial to the Ministry of Revenue and have Minister Feng review the budget." Jiang Shaohua said calmly, "I have also approved Minister Zhou's retirement."

Baoer nodded in agreement, picked up the red pen and marked on the memorial.

Baoer is naturally intelligent and has been practicing calligraphy since he was five years old. After several years of practice, he has mastered good handwriting. The most amazing thing is that his handwriting is very similar to Jiang Shaohua's.

This brings us to Prime Minister Chen's foresight. When Bao'er was learning calligraphy, Prime Minister Chen suggested that Jiang Shaohua write a copybook for Bao'er to practice. Isn't it coming in handy now?
Jiang Shaohua signaled with his eyes, and Baoer picked up the second book.

The mother and daughter worked together perfectly, one reading the memorials and writing, the other listening and speaking. It took two hours to finish reviewing all the memorials. Baoer's throat was almost smoking, and her right wrist was also very tired.

Jiang Shaohua was very considerate. He personally poured his daughter a cup of throat-soothing pear soup, rubbed her wrists, and asked her, "Are you tired today? If you feel tired, don't come tomorrow."

Baoer immediately said: "I'm not tired, I'll come again tomorrow."

Jiang Shaohua smiled happily and touched Baoer's head.

That’s right, only someone this smart and capable is worthy of being the Crown Prince of Daliang.

Prime Minister Chen knew that the young crown prince was busy in the Zhaohe Palace every day, and he couldn't help but smile to Minister Feng and said, "Look at our emperor, he even sends the young crown prince around like this."

Minister Feng smiled indifferently: "This is also a good thing for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. After a few years of training like this, he will be able to hone his skills."

Isn't this much better than the Emperor and the Crown Prince being wary and suspicious of each other?

Prime Minister Chen stroked his beard and sighed softly, "You haven't understood what I mean. The emperor has begun to train the prince now, which shows that the emperor has already made up his mind to inspect the prefectures and counties of Daliang."

Minister Feng was stunned. "That's impossible! In the past, when we were in Nanyang County, you and I were in charge of the palace, and the princess was gone for half a year. That was fine. But now the princess is the emperor of Daliang, and has been sitting on the throne for ten years. Can she just abandon the palace and run away like this?"

Prime Minister Chen glanced at Minister Feng and said, "Why not! The Emperor had this idea a few years ago. However, the court was not stable at that time, and the prince was too young. Now that the court in Daliang is stable, His Royal Highness the Prince can attend court and learn to review memorials. What do you think the Emperor will plan?"

Minister Feng was speechless for a long while before he whispered, "You know the emperor's temper. No one can stop her from doing what she has decided to do."

"In that case, we must train His Royal Highness the Crown Prince well. Also, both Jin Yu and his wife have completed their five-year terms. Recall them both!"

"If the emperor wants to go on tour, he must be accompanied by loyal and reliable people."

"Oh, right, I have to go back to the Ministry of Revenue to check the accounts. A poor family is rich on the road. If the emperor wants to go on a tour, he must bring enough people and money and food with him."

Who spoils the emperor the most?

It’s Minister Feng.

The emperor wanted to raise troops, and Feng Shangshu searched the warehouse to squeeze out money. When the emperor wanted to go on a tour, Feng Shangshu immediately planned to prepare money and food.

Prime Minister Chen smiled and scolded Minister Feng for a few words, then turned around and began to calculate the list of people that the emperor would inspect.

Two months later, Chen Jinyu and Ma Yaozong returned to Beijing together to report on their work.

After not seeing each other for five years, Jiang Shaohua and Chen Jinyu's eyes were red when they met again.

Chen Jinyu wanted to bow, but Jiang Shaohua came over quickly and held Chen Jinyu's hand tightly: "Sister Jinyu, you are finally back."

Chen Jinyu's tears immediately came down. She reached out to hug Jiang Shaohua and started crying.

Ma Yaozong was automatically ignored and quietly stepped aside.

Jiang Shaohua held back his tears and patted Chen Jinyu on the back: "After five years of separation, how come you have become a tearful person? Hurry up and wipe your tears and tell me how you have done as the county governor in the past five years."

Chen Jinyu burst into laughter, wiped her tears, and began to talk incessantly.