Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 419 Initial results
"Life is getting better and better. We never knew we could earn so much money before. What do you think about sending our two children to school to learn to read and write once we've saved enough money?"

Su Xiu had always been a woman of her own mind. She was currently calculating the family's finances and had already decided what to do next, but she still needed to discuss it with her husband. However, she knew he wouldn't refuse. Sure enough, the next moment she heard Wang Dashi's voice of agreement.

"I was just about to tell you, our village chief has sent all three of his granddaughters to school. He's all smiles now. A year ago, you wouldn't have seen anything like this. For so many years, the village chief's family was terribly worried about not having a grandson. Every time I saw him, he was always frowning, and the village chief's job was meaningless. But now, he's all smiles. He doesn't say that granddaughters are useless and can't carry on the family line anymore. Look at the emperor, he has four sons, but none of them are any good. Now our Prince Chen has appeared out of nowhere, his civil and military achievements are top-notch. Isn't such a daughter worth four sons?"

“Our Xiaohua has to go too. Xiaohua is smart and quick-witted, and I think she’s much better than Gou Dan’er. Maybe she can become a female official in the future, so her parents can also enjoy a good life.”

"How can you talk about your own children like that? Of course, you hope both of your children will excel!"

Su Xiu always treated her two children equally. She had indeed suffered a lot during her pregnancy with them, being twins. However, it wasn't intentional on the children's part, so she remained loving towards them. Now that the family could afford it, she naturally wanted to send both children to school. She had previously worried that Xiao Hua's constitution wouldn't be as strong as her brother's. Putting aside everything else, getting married and having children would be a major challenge. But now that women could also become officials, it couldn't be better. Who said women had to marry and have children? The high-ranking official Chunyu in the court was now quite famous, and she wasn't married, yet was her achievement any less than that of married women?

The couple had already decided to send all their children to school, since the tuition fees weren't high these days. Besides, they were earning more now, and the price of writing materials like pens, ink, paper, and inkstones was less than half of what it used to be. Although they didn't know why the imperial court was being so merciful, they were sincerely grateful.

In the past, poor people like them would never have had the opportunity to send their children to school. Even children as young as seven or eight were already considered part of the family's workforce and had to do chores for the family.

Although the two children were young, they were very clever. Hearing this from their parents, they were overjoyed. Just a few days ago, they had seen the village chief's three older sisters going to school and had been envious. Now, their parents were planning to send them too. As for whether it would be cold in winter, that was no concern at all. Even their own home had enough coal briquettes for heating, and the school had coal briquettes and stoves provided free of charge by the government. The children who went to school were willing to go even just to stay warm in the winter.

The family of four gathered happily to discuss the future of their small family. However, in the end, they couldn't help but focus their conversation on their Prince Chen.

"I heard that this coal was discovered by His Highness Prince Chen. I don't know how His Highness is so amazing. Everyone says that His Highness is a blessing from heaven to the Great Jing. It is because of her that we were able to defeat the grasslands and now our lives are getting better and better. However, we still have advantages living at the foot of the capital. I heard that these coal stoves will only be distributed for free on a pilot basis. It is said that if we use them well, they will be made available throughout the country."

Everyone was very happy to be living near the capital and enjoying the first batch of benefits. Of course, they were even happier that because they were not far from the capital, they could occasionally catch a glimpse of His Highness the Prince.

That prince was indeed very casual and natural. Although he held a high position and was now second only to the emperor, he did not have the arrogance that people in power usually have. Instead, he was very approachable and down-to-earth.

At this point, Wang Dashi was no longer sleepy. He once went to the city to do some work and happened to meet a prince riding a horse. He still talks about it to this day, and he might even tell his descendants about it when he is seventy or eighty years old. It's a great honor!
There are many similar small families near the capital. They have given strong positive feedback after using the coal briquette stove and are very willing to pay for it, since they can find work and earn a good income this winter.

After carefully reviewing the report, Jiu Que smiled with satisfaction. No matter the time, people need money to be willing to buy things; with buying comes selling, and only through this virtuous cycle can the economy grow rapidly.

The Great Jing Kingdom has been established for nearly fourteen years now. Although most people no longer suffer from the ravages of war, their lives remain impoverished. The main reason is that they have no money. Indeed, how could ordinary people who honestly work hard in the fields to make ends meet have much money? The vast majority of them have never even seen gold in their lives, and they rarely even possess silver.

Therefore, they have little, if any, desire to buy non-essential items. Even necessities are only purchased when they are absolutely unusable. As long as they are well-fed and clothed, they are already quite content.

But when will such a booming economy recover, or even reach a higher level?

This winter, Jiu Que and the students and teachers of Chao Yan's academy, Chunyu and other willing officials, and even talents recruited from the common people, had expended considerable effort to barely achieve some results. Now, looking at this fruitful report, how could Jiu Que not be happy?
Not only her, but all the civil and military officials suffered a series of blows at the first court session after the new year. They had initially thought that Prince Chenrui wouldn't be able to make any waves without their help, but they hadn't expected him to quietly accomplish such a great feat. In just one winter, he had managed to produce something so useful. Although it was showing initial success, how long had it taken? Didn't this prove that their previous methods were completely ineffective?

"Do you gentlemen believe that Prince Chenrui's actions have any merit?"

If there's nothing commendable about this, what were they doing all this time? Was it all for nothing? Now everyone has come to their senses: His Majesty doesn't need their approval at all; he only wants to hear their praise for Prince Chenrui.