The prince is more stable

Chapter 950: Understanding Reason
Zhao Xiaoqian did not return to the Prince's Mansion today to pay his respects to his father; he had important business to attend to.

That's right, he had already set his sights on his father's study.

To be precise, they had their eyes on the secret room in the study.

Zhao Xiaoqian had been curious about Zhao Hao's study more than once before and had explored it many times. However, Zhao Hao was too shrewd, like a squirrel storing pine cones. Zhao Xiaoqian had explored it many times, but he could never find where the valuable things were hidden.

This time, luckily, as the saying goes, "Heaven rewards those who persevere," and Zhao Xiaoqian unexpectedly discovered the mechanism in the study.

As expected, Zhao Xiaoqian's guess was confirmed; the Prince's mansion's assets were definitely more than what was in the storeroom.

The secret room in the study is the real treasure. I don’t know why my father is keeping it from me. He only has one son, and the whole mansion will be his in the future. What’s the point of keeping it from me?
The secret chamber was a room several meters in diameter, without doors or windows, and where the sun never shone. Several lamps hung on the walls, making the room dimly lit, but they shimmered with golden light.

Zhao Xiaoqian was utterly stunned when he entered the secret room.

The "gold mountain" in the literal sense refers to all kinds of gold nuggets, pearls and corals, and antique paintings and calligraphy. Silver is not even qualified to stay in this secret room.

Zhao Xiaoqian gasped. After being the heir apparent of the Chu King for so many years, he finally saw the true strength of the Chu King's mansion today.

What we see is enough to sustain half of the war.

"All of it should be deposited into the national treasury!"

This was Zhao Xiaoqian's first thought; after all, he had become emperor and had a broader perspective.

Zhao Xiaoqian immediately denied it, saying, "No way, my living father would really hang himself in front of Yanfu Palace."

Zhao Xiaoqian considered himself a very filial son and couldn't bear to drive Zhao Hao to the brink of despair.

After much hesitation, Zhao Xiaoqian decided to leave his living father a way out.

However, Zhao Xiaoqian did have other important business to attend to today's search for the secret room.

He searched the secret room for a long time and finally found an old sandalwood box under a mountain of gold. The box was covered in dust. When he opened the box, he found a thick stack of land deeds inside.

Zhao Xiaoqian gasped again.

The land deeds were so numerous they were countless, and most of the land on them was in the capital region, but some was in Jiangnan and Hebei.

Zhao Xiaoqian roughly calculated that all the land under Zhao Hao's name totaled more than 20,000 hectares, and all of it was top-quality land.

This is roughly the foundation of the Chu King's Palace.

However, from the emperor's perspective, the Chu Prince's estate owned far too much land.

He seized the 120,000 hectares of land under the names of Empress Dowager Xiang and her maternal relatives. What about the land under the name of the Prince of Chu?
If this matter is not dealt with, no one will be convinced, and the newly promulgated Fangtian Equal Tax Law is simply untenable.

You've granted land grants to others who own too much land, but what about your own land?
How can the imperial decrees be implemented if the emperor's father leads the way in breaking the law and defying the law?

In the secluded study, Zhao Xiaoqian counted the thick stack of land deeds, shaking his head and sighing.

“Living father, your name is greed…” Zhao Xiaoqian murmured to himself.

Hurried footsteps came from outside the secret room, followed by Zhao Hao's furious voice.

"Stop, you unfilial son!"

Zhao Xiaoqian turned his head, and Zhao Hao stumbled in, his face ashen.

"You finally found it!" Zhao Hao said with a look of despair, "My life savings!"

Zhao Xiaoqian clicked his tongue and said, "Father's savings will eventually be left to me, whether it's sooner or later, it's all the same."

"It's different!" Zhao Hao retorted angrily, "The vast treasury of the Song Dynasty belongs to you, why would you want to take my meager savings?"

“It’s different!” Zhao Xiaoqian replied, “The national treasury belongs to the entire country, and I can’t touch it, but Father’s savings are definitely mine, and it’s only right that I take them.”

Zhao Hao was taken aback. Damn, that makes so much sense!

After a long silence, Zhao Hao stamped his foot angrily: "You spendthrift! You spendthrift! What do you want to do? Are you going to take all this stuff away?"

Zhao Xiaoqian said solemnly, "How could I be so unfilial? This is all the money Father has worked hard to accumulate throughout his life. As the Son of Heaven, I am not a person who is greedy for money. Father, please rest assured."

Zhao Hao had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhao Xiaoqian pat the sandalwood box in front of him and say with an embarrassed look, "This is enough for me. I'll leave the rest to you. Father, you're not being stingy, are you?"

Zhao Hao stared intently, and was immediately terrified: "This, this... this is my manhood!"

Zhao Xiaoqian retorted angrily, "Father, what nonsense are you talking about? Your manhood is in your crotch, not in this box."

Zhao Hao angrily retorted, "These are all land deeds under my name, more important than my lifeblood! ...I won't give them to you! You're not allowed to take them either!"

Zhao Xiaoqian said helplessly, "Father, one shouldn't be too greedy. Our family has a salt business and a tea business, which are enough for generations to come. As for these fields, we can't keep them." Zhao Hao said angrily, "I bought these fields honestly and uprightly. I didn't cheat or swindle them, and I didn't seize them by trickery or force. Why can't I keep them?"

Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at him indifferently.

There were good people among the powerful and influential in the Song Dynasty, but to be honest, there weren't many.

Everyone knows the truth about where the land under the name of the Chu King's Mansion came from.

Perhaps they were indeed bought by Zhao Hao, but the process of how much money was spent and how much money was spent was somewhat shady.

In any case, in Zhao Xiaoqian's impression, Zhao Hao was not as kind as he appeared on the surface. Not all fat people are honest and kind, at least not Zhao Hao.

After a dynasty has been established for a century, the land in the country has shown a trend of concentration in the hands of the powerful and wealthy. This has resulted in the powerful and wealthy owning more and more land, while the number of farmers who have lost their land has also increased.

Zhao Hao was also one of the powerful and influential figures. Zhao Xiaoqian knew very well that his father was no pushover. Since others were accumulating large amounts of land, Zhao Hao was certainly no exception.

“Father, I have already issued an edict to implement the Fangtian Equal Tax Law. You are aware of this, aren’t you?” Zhao Xiaoqian asked.

Zhao Hao paused, finally understanding why Zhao Xiaoqian had set his sights on his family's land.

To support his son, Zhao Hao personally confronted Empress Dowager Xiang, revealing his despicable nature without any restraint. He nearly killed her on the spot, which frightened her into hastily handing over the land.

He was initially pleased that he had done something important for his son, but as soon as he finished dealing with the Empress Dowager's family, that scoundrel turned his attention to his own family.

"Qian'er, our family's farmland is really not much, only a mere 20,000 hectares..."

"Twenty thousand hectares, which is more than two million mu, is enough to feed hundreds of thousands of farmers."

Zhao Hao angrily said, "I have also provided for them. Farmers have helped us cultivate more than 20,000 hectares of land. I have not let them starve to death."

“Father, I’m talking about ‘farmers,’ not ‘tenants’ or ‘serfs.’ They don’t ‘help’ you cultivate the land; they are ‘enslaved’ by you. To put it bluntly, they are just being kept alive by you.”

"I am implementing new policies to liberate productive forces. Tenant farmers and serfs cannot create much productivity. If the Song Dynasty wants to achieve a prosperous era, the first thing to do is to let the farmers have their own land and let them have a surplus every year."

"In years of famine, the government's 'Green Sprouts Law' provides a safety net for them. In times of good weather, the Equal Taxation Law ensures their land ownership and prevents landlords from seizing it. Next, I will open up the sea, encourage private workshops, and introduce high-yield grain varieties from overseas, etc."

"I have many things to do in my life, and the Fangtian Equal Tax Law is only the first one, but it has been extremely difficult to implement."

"Now that the decree has finally been issued to the whole country, what will the people think if they find out that our Chu King's Mansion still owns more than 20,000 hectares of land? What will those officials, powerful landlords, and other wealthy landowners who are already full of resentment think?"

"Let me tell you another truth. As the Censorate becomes more and more complete, in the future, the land owned by officials, nobles, and landlords will be restricted by the laws of the court. The Censorate will continue to monitor and inspect, and those who own too much land will be punished by the court."

"Instead of having the land under Father's name exposed by the officials of the Censorate and impeached in the future, which would also bring shame upon me as the emperor, it would be better to hand over the land now, set an example for the world, and earn a good reputation."

Despite Zhao Xiaoqian's earnest and heartfelt persuasion, Zhao Hao remained ashen-faced.

"This is all the wealth I've accumulated in my entire life..." Zhao Hao's fat face twitched incessantly, as if he wanted to cry.

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed: "No matter how much land one owns, it's never as real as gold and silver. Let me reveal another secret: along the eastern coast of Japan, I have ordered my general Zhang Rong to begin constructing harbors and building ships..."

Zhao Hao was stunned: "What do you mean?"

"As I just said, I want to open up the seas, Father. This world is vast. Far to the east of the distant ocean, there are undiscovered new continents with high-yield crops, unheard-of new species, and countless gold, silver, and gemstone mines..."

Zhao Hao's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really? Really?"

“Your son has never lied to you, Father. Therefore, you should broaden your horizons and set your sights on a higher level. Don’t just focus on your own little plot of land. Only the poor are always fixated on the small harvest from their fields.”

"Our sights should be set on the distant stars and the sea. We will conquer new continents and search for all kinds of rare treasures and new species."

“We can seize land in the New World and use the local natives as serfs. At that time, let alone a mere 20,000 hectares of land, even if Father wants to seize 2 million hectares, I guarantee to fully support you. The court will also give you various tax reduction and exemption policies.”

Zhao Hao gradually became excited, and the corners of his lips turned up, which Zhao Xiaoqian had coaxed into a pouty smile.

"How do you know there's a new continent to the east of the ocean?" Zhao Hao asked, still uneasy.

"When I was three years old, I dreamed of an old lady with a white beard. In the dream, she told me..." Zhao Xiaoqian said with a straight face, spouting nonsense.

Zhao Hao's expression froze. He was all too familiar with his son's nonsense. Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Hao rudely waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Alright, alright! You can shut up now. Over the years, I've known this white-bearded old lady you're talking about better than you have."

“She taught you how to make the flintlock musket, she formulated the gunpowder, and she also taught you how to make the red-coated cannon…” Zhao Hao said coldly, “What sins did the old lady commit that she is still so concerned about you even though she has become a goddess.”

Zhao Xiaoqian thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Could I be her illegitimate child? So, Father, you should reflect on what sins you committed back then. Seducing so many widows wasn't enough; you even went after the gods. You're truly a scoundrel among horses, a teddy bear among men..."

(End of this chapter)