The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 159: Useless at everything, but a master at stealing credit.

As the summer heat gradually dissipates, fruits and vegetables are becoming more abundant in Beijing.

Bright red apples, golden yellow pears, and purple grapes that make your mouth water just looking at them...

However, at this time, the nobles and royalty were only concerned with two things.

One was that the crown prince married a concubine.

Another event was the marriage of the eighth prince, who was a duke, to the granddaughter of Prince An.

Although the Crown Prince married a concubine, not his principal wife, she was still the Crown Princess. The marriage of the Eighth Prince to the granddaughter of Prince An also attracted considerable attention.

Although Prince An has passed away, his family still has two princes, and such power should not be underestimated.

More importantly, Prince An was a skilled and courageous general, and many of today's generals were his subordinates back then.

Therefore, by marrying Prince An's granddaughter, the Eighth Prince essentially gained a powerful in-law family.

As for the Cao family, the Crown Prince's concubine, although they were the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Jiangning, they did not have much power and were not highly regarded.

For ordinary people in Beijing, however, the things they care about most are the ever-increasing prices of Wanfuyuan Garden and the stone-paved road that is almost finished.

Although there was a toll for the stone-paved road, when it was completed, some people still couldn't resist taking a horse-drawn carriage to Tongzhou.

Because the road was smooth, the horses ran easily, so the forty-mile journey was completed in an hour.

This situation is quite astonishing.

However, with the completion of the stone-paved road, an even bigger issue began to rest on the desk of the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture: how to charge a toll for the stone-paved road.

When the stone-paved road was being built, it was promised that whoever held the most shares would be in charge of operating the road. However, now, the person who owns the most shares in the stone-paved road only has a few dozen shares.

After registering the shares held by most of the shareholders on the market, Yu Chenglong discovered that all the shares held by these shareholders combined amounted to less than 500 shares.

In other words, there are still major shareholders who have not yet appeared.

Under these circumstances, Yu Chenglong went to Yuqing Palace to personally visit Shen Ye, the person who had driven this matter.

Shen Ye was preparing to become a groom. Although marrying the Crown Prince's concubine was different from marrying the Crown Prince's wife, there were still some rules to follow.

So he's been quite busy lately.

However, Shen Ye had no interest in these trivial matters, so he was very happy to welcome Yu Chenglong's arrival.

"Greetings, Your Highness." Yu Chenglong bowed respectfully to Shen Ye.

Shen Ye was observing the government affairs in Daxing County and was naturally familiar with Yu Chenglong. He smiled and waved to Yu Chenglong, saying, "Lord Yu, there's no need for formalities. Please sit down."

"What brings you here?" Shen Ye asked casually.

Yu Chenglong respectfully said, "Your Highness, the stone-paved road has been fully completed. Yesterday, I personally sent someone to drive to Tongzhou."

"Not only is it fast, but it is also very flat. It only took me two hours to make a round trip from Tongzhou to Daxing."

Looking at Yu Chenglong's gaunt face, Shen Ye thought to herself, "Lord Yu, what brings you here?"
Why not just have someone from below make the trip?

However, although he thought this way, he wouldn't say it out loud. It was Yu Chenglong's business to do things personally, so why should he worry about it?

"Your Highness, if these stone-paved roads could be built all over Zhili, it would be of great benefit to our dynasty!" Yu Chenglong exclaimed sincerely.

Shen Ye smiled and said, "The benefits are great, but it's also too expensive."

Looking at Shen Ye's smiling face, Yu Chenglong nodded and said, "This humble subject came to see the Crown Prince this time because of the matter of the stone-paved road."

“The stone-paved road is now basically completed, and the entire capital is eagerly awaiting its opening. However, after registering the shareholders holding shares in the stone-paved road, I discovered that the dozens of shareholders holding shares total less than five hundred shares.” “According to Your Highness’s estimate of one thousand shares, we are still short more than five hundred shares!”

"Your Highness, where are the remaining five hundred-odd shares?"

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Of the remaining five hundred-odd shares, four hundred are in His Majesty's hands."

"As for the others, they are in my hands."

Looking at Shen Ye's smiling face, Yu Chenglong thought of the cost of building the stone road and completely understood.

The remaining 500 shares are basically all "dry shares" (shares without actual ownership).

Emperor Qianxi and the Crown Prince earned so much silver without doing anything; it's truly enviable.

But as much as he envied him, he naturally dared not say anything to Emperor Qianxi.

Yu Chenglong felt it was only natural for the Crown Prince to earn this money.

The Crown Prince not only saved the disaster victims, but also created a road that closely connects Tongzhou and the capital. His merits are immeasurable.

What's wrong with making some money?
With the majority of the shares held by His Majesty, Yu Chenglong felt reassured. In this way, the Yingtian Prefecture could manage the road and distribute dividends to the shareholders.

"Your Highness, this road was built under your guidance. We would appreciate your instruction on how to use it now."

Yu Chenglong adopted a very humble posture, as if he were seeking advice.

He didn't understand the road when it was being built, but as it was completed, he realized how ingenious its design was.

Especially the railway tracks, where two horses pulling several thousand kilograms of goods galloped across them with remarkable ease.

The grain that would normally require a great deal of financial and material resources to transport to the capital can now be delivered very easily.

Moreover, with a horse station every ten miles, horses can be changed every ten miles, so there is no need to worry about the consumption of horses.

This made him admire the Crown Prince immensely.

Shen Ye was also filled with emotion for the path he had designed.

After all, this was a creation of his own that he had brought into this world, and now that it was built, he naturally hoped to manage it well.

At that moment, he told Yu Shilong a lot about highway management in later generations.

Although Yu Chenglong was a capable minister, his vision was limited by the times. Listening to Shen Ye's management methods was like a sudden awakening, as if he had just woken up from a dream.

If possible, he would like the Crown Prince to say it so that he would remember it, but unfortunately, doing so would be somewhat disrespectful in front of the emperor.

After carefully memorizing what Shen Ye said, Yu Chenglong respectfully said, "Your Highness, this road is one of the important passages for our dynasty's future. If any problems arise during its operation, please give us your guidance."

Shen Ye waved his hand and readily agreed, "If you have any questions in the future, please feel free to come to me."

"I will certainly not keep any answers to Lord Yu's questions to myself."

Yu Chenglong left Yuqing Palace with great joy. Just as he was thinking of going to see Emperor Qianxi, he ran into Tuoheqi, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

Upon seeing Yu Chenglong, Tuoheqi immediately greeted him with a broad smile, saying, "Lord Yu, I was just looking for you! What a coincidence!"

Upon seeing Tuoheqi, Yu Chenglong felt a strange sense of unease.

The people in the Imperial Household Department are good for nothing but stealing credit. It was no coincidence that I encountered Tuoheqi!

　The second update for today is here! Please support me, everyone! If you have any votes, please give me a couple more!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)