Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

He looked up at the sky, which was a deep blue. Several pigeons flew over the palace wall, their wings flapping loudly.

When he was nine, his father told him that "Confucianism is a tool," which made him feel like the world had turned upside down. Today, his father told him about a dead loop in a parallel world and gave him a list of job rotations. However, he no longer felt the panic he had felt before. Instead, he felt a little... eager to try.

He wanted to see how the real empire actually operated.

That evening, Lizheng Hall was established.

Cai Yan was sitting by the window copying a book, her pen moving steadily and gracefully, her handwriting as elegant as an orchid.

On the table was a plate of pastries, Liu Chen's favorite, still steaming hot.

The warm yellow candlelight flickered, illuminating her gentle features and the hairpin at her temple glowing with a warm light.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw her son walk in. He looked travel-worn, with ink stains on his cuffs. His expression was a mix of seriousness and barely concealed excitement, as if he had a lot to say.

"What's wrong? What new job has your dad assigned you?" Cai Yan put down his pen, asked with a smile, and pushed Gao Gao towards him.

She knew the father and son too well. Every time Liu Ce called his son to the Imperial Study, he would always come out with something "new" that would either shatter his worldview or refresh his understanding.

Liu Chen walked over, took out the rotation list from his sleeve, handed it to his mother, and told her everything that had happened that day, from the endless cycle of parallel worlds to the rotation of the eight ministries, from Chief Clerk Chen of the Ministry of Revenue to his grandfather's concerns.

He spoke earnestly, and Cai Yan listened intently, her fingertips gently tracing the edge of the Xuan paper, nodding occasionally, and sometimes interjecting, "Did your father really say that?"

After her son finished speaking, Cai Yan was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, gently placing the teacup on the table with a crisp sound.

"Your dad... he's always been this hard on you since you were little." She shook her head with a smile, but her eyes were full of tenderness.

"When you were six, he made you memorize the Analects, and then he turned around and told you that Confucianism is a tool, which made you copy books as punishment by your maternal grandfather, and your hands swelled up for three days. When you were nine, he took you to see a world map, and you came back and told me that you had nightmares for three days, dreaming that foreigners from overseas were attacking, and you woke up crying in the middle of the night. When you were twelve, he made you go to the Ministry of Industry Research Institute to tighten screws, and your maternal grandfather was so angry that he didn't go to the palace for three days, saying that he was 'neglecting his duties and corrupting the crown prince'."

Liu Chen scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "Grandpa... is he really angry?"

"It's real anger," Cai Yan said with a smile, picking up a piece of jujube paste cake and handing it to him.

"It was infuriating, but on the fourth day he secretly changed into civilian clothes and went to the Ministry of Works Research Institute to look at the steam engine. He argued with Song Yingxing all afternoon about whether 'investigating things' counts as 'investigating things to attain knowledge.' After the argument, he came back and told me, 'Your Majesty's approach is not entirely without reason. If it can truly make the people rich and the country strong and the army powerful, then it is another kind of holy path.'"

Liu Chen's eyes widened, and he almost dropped the jujube paste cake in his hand:

"Did Grandpa really say that?"

He had always thought that his maternal grandfather was firmly opposed to his father's "strange skills and ingenuity," but he never expected that his maternal grandfather had already secretly gone to investigate and even argued with Song Yingxing for an entire afternoon.

"Your maternal grandfather was stubborn, but he also believed in reason." Cai Yan picked up her tea, took a sip, and said slowly, "He taught you the classics so that you would care about the people; your father taught you these things so that you would have the ability to protect the people. In the end, it was all for the same purpose."

She paused, looked at her son, her tone becoming more serious, and her smile faded:

"Rotating through the Ministry of Revenue, starting as a clerk, is even tougher than tightening screws in the Ministry of Works. The veteran clerks in the Ministry of Revenue are all shrewd and calculating; you could be sick of copying accounts for three months, and you still have to be constantly wary of them setting traps for you. Can you handle it?"

Liu Chen picked up a piece of jujube paste cake, took a bite, and the sweet taste spread in his mouth, both glutinous and fragrant.

He thought for a moment and said, "When I was tightening screws until my fingertips were calloused, I also thought about quitting. But then Minister Song said to me, 'Your Highness, what you are tightening is not screws, but whether our Han Dynasty's first steam engine can turn on, whether we can use machines to weave cloth and pump water in the future, so that the people can suffer less.' So I... kept tightening."

He put down the pastries, his eyes shining brightly, as if a lamp had been lit. "This time, the Emperor asked me to observe how much of a 10,000 or 20,000 coin actually reaches the people. This task is more mentally taxing than tightening a screw, but... it should be more interesting. I want to see how the money in this world actually flows."

Cai Yan looked at her son with eyes full of satisfaction.

The little baby who used to follow behind her and recite the Book of Songs in a childish voice has grown up so much without her even realizing it.

Calm, opinionated, with a global perspective, yet not pedantic.

He possessed his father's decisiveness, as well as some of her composure.

She gave a soft "Mmm," gently straightening her son's collar. "Go ahead. I'll talk to your grandfather; I guarantee he won't cause you any trouble. As for your father..."

She mimicked Liu Ce's usual mischievous grin, a slight smirk playing on her lips. "Let him treat me to a good meal; that will atone for the crime of secretly bringing the Crown Prince along and 'neglecting his duties'."

Looking at his mother's expression, Liu Chen silently complained to himself: Sure enough, two kinds of people can't sleep in the same bed. His mother has also learned his father's mischievousness perfectly, even the angle of her raised eyebrows is the same.

The mother and son chatted for a while longer. Cai Yan reminded him to take care of his health when he went to the Ministry of Revenue, not to stay up late looking at accounts, to eat on time, and to wear more clothes when it was cold.

Liu Chen agreed to all of them before returning to his study.

Back in his study, he placed the rotation list under the inkstone, spread out another sheet of paper, picked up his pen to write something, and after thinking for a long time, only wrote four words: "Enter the game wholeheartedly."

After writing it, I stared at those four characters for a long time, letting the ink dry and dry, before finally blowing out the candle and going to sleep.

That night, he had a dream.

I dreamt that I was standing in front of a huge map. The map wasn't filled with endless loops, but with crisscrossing railways, factories emitting white smoke, merchant ships coming and going, and smiles on the faces of ordinary people.

...... ...... ......

The news reached the ears of the Third Prince Liu Yao early the next morning.

The sixteen-year-old third prince was squatting in the imperial horse garden, brushing the mane of his precious chestnut horse carefully, even wiping the back of the horse's ears clean.

This horse was a tribute from the border region last year. It has a fiery temper, and only Liu Yao can tame it. He spends every day in the Imperial Horse Garden, spending more time with the horse than in his own palace. He even has his meals brought to him.

The eunuch beside him cautiously reported: "Your Highness, I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince will be rotating through the Ministry of Revenue in a week, starting as a clerk, beginning with copying account books, and learning from the senior clerks."

"Pfft..." Liu Yao sprayed a mouthful of cold water all over the horse's back.

The chestnut horse flicked its tail in dissatisfaction, snorted, and took two steps to the side with a look of disgust.

"Copying the account book?! Brother?!" Liu Yao jumped up, dropping the horse brush in his hand, nearly hitting the young eunuch feeding the horses nearby.

"He's the Crown Prince! The Heir Apparent! Going to the Ministry of Revenue to grind ink and copy accounts for the old clerk? What new job is Father... giving us now? With my brother's temperament, can he sit still and copy accounts for three months? He'd go crazy!"