jdhmnovel Chapter 586 Your Highness, have you ever heard of the standards for a prosperous era?
Chapter 586 Your Highness, have you ever heard of the standards for a prosperous era?
"What Miss Liu?"
Zhu Biao looked at Yang Shaofeng with a puzzled expression. "Brother-in-law, why are you suddenly asking about this Miss Liu? Is there something wrong?"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled, "Isn't this what people say? They say that when His Majesty was still a prince in seclusion, he was once infatuated with Miss Liu, the fourth daughter of the wealthy Liu family..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhu Biao got up from the recliner and walked straight to the door, saying as he went, "I just remembered, the big yellow dog in the palace is about to give birth. I have to go and see, mainly because there's still some porridge in the pot that needs to be looked after."
Zhu Biao was filled with regret.
I am bad, but not stupid.
It's fine to make up stories about my dad stealing chickens and cows, and it's also fine to make up stories about him eating pearl, jade, and white jade soup.
But what did you say about him liking Miss Liu Si?
I shouldn't have come to the Prince Consort's residence today!
Yang Shaofeng chuckled coldly, watching Zhu Biao's retreating figure, and said, "Anyway, His Highness came today."
Zhu Biao stopped abruptly, turned around, sighed dejectedly, and returned to the recliner, sitting down in a more comfortable position.
"Brother-in-law, good brother-in-law."
Zhu Biao carefully looked around and whispered, "This really won't do. I can't afford to take on such a big problem."
Yang Shaofeng also lowered his voice: "Who said His Highness had to cover for us? This kind of nonsense was obviously fabricated by a small group of scheming gentry from Jiangnan. His Highness just happened to hear the rumors and issued a clarification in the official gazette."
Zhu Biao was slightly startled.
This trick is called creating something from nothing, right?
You've even resorted to the Thirty-Six Stratagems just to screw over my dad?
Zhu Biao shook his head again: "That's definitely not going to work. There are no rumors right now, yet my brother has someone come out to deny them. The Embroidered Uniform Guard can easily find out the truth with a little investigation."
At this point, Zhu Biao looked at Yang Shaofeng with a strange expression and asked, "Do you think we still have a good image with my father?"
“Whenever something like this happens, my dad will suspect the two of us first.”
"And brother-in-law, aren't you the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a commander of a thousand?"
"Don't you know what methods the Embroidered Uniform Guard uses?"
How could I not know?
Many of the interrogation and even torture techniques used by the Embroidered Uniform Guard were learned from that shameless Xia Yu in Dengzhou, and after learning them, he didn't even bother to pay any copyright fees.
While inwardly complaining, Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "Your Highness, didn't you notice anything amiss?"
Zhu Biao was slightly taken aback. Yang Shaofeng pointed to the direction of the main gate of the Prince Consort's Mansion: "Princess Fu Ning has just entered the palace. She will accidentally mention Miss Liu Si in front of her mother-in-law, and she will also ask about the marriage of the Second Prince and the Third Prince."
"And Princess Fuyang has also visited the Duke of E's house. She might accidentally complain to the Chang family girl that Mao Ge'er and Sheng Ge'er have been corrupted by the Duke of E and Vice Commissioner Lan, and that they even thought of taking me to the pleasure boat for drinks."
"The situation is slightly better on the Duke of Wei's side. Princess Funing only wrote a letter to Xu's sister, asking her to keep an eye on the Duke of Wei and not let him have a chance to steal roast goose. In addition, she asked the Duke of Wei to go to Dengzhou Medical College when he goes north and have Physician Yang take his pulse."
"..."
Zhu Biao was completely bewildered.
"I'm stupid, really."
Zhu Biao raised his lifeless eyes and continued, "I only knew that you, brother-in-law, would cause trouble for my father and the entire court, but I didn't know you wouldn't even spare the Duke of Wei and the Duke of E... I was so stupid that I just walked right into your trap..."
Yang Shaofeng stretched out his right hand and raised one finger, "My father-in-law stole more than two jin of Xiaolongtuan from me when we were in Dengzhou."
Zhu Biao was extremely annoyed and muttered under his breath, "If he stole it, go ahead and steal it from him! Why did you have to trick me!"
Yang Shaofeng ignored Zhu Biao's rambling and simply raised a second finger, "I just returned to the capital and was arrested by the Duke of Han, the Earl of Chengyi, the Duke of Wei, and the Duke of E. I was mocked by them several times in a sarcastic manner."
"Of course, being ridiculed is nothing. It's just that some people accidentally drank too much, and I overheard that before I returned to the capital to report on my duties, someone called a meeting with a lot of people to discuss how to dump all the official business on my father-in-law and me."
Zhu Biao shrank back slightly, feeling a little guilty. Yang Shaofeng then raised his third finger, "The ministers of the Six Ministries, the chief ministers and directors of various temples and bureaus, all take turns coming to the Prince Consort's mansion for tea, and they all insist on saying that they have long heard of the Little Dragon Group's great name."
This time, Zhu Biao wasn't ashamed at all. Instead, he confidently declared, "I support you, brother-in-law, going to find them and drink them back! Many of them have Xiaolongtuan (a type of rice dumpling) at home!"
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Zhu Biao with a half-smile.
Drink it back?
If you go to these people's houses for tea, how can you get away without them grabbing you and talking about official business for ages?
Besides, how much does Xiaolongtuan produce in a year? Even if they have some at home, they would rather put it on the altar and worship it. Why would I go and drink their Xiaolongtuan?
Yang Shaofeng chuckled, then raised his fourth finger: "Someone gave me two catties of small dragon dumplings, but threw four major problems at me. Your Highness, do you think those four major problems can be solved with just two catties of small dragon dumplings?"
This time, it was finally Zhu Biao's turn to break through.
Two jin?
My father only had one jin left in his inner pocket, and the remaining jin was something I scavenged from somewhere else!
Zhu Biao looked utterly devastated.
So, just because of those two jin of small dragon balls and those few issues, you've held a grudge until now and are determined to find ways to drag me down with you.
What kind of fate is this?!
How did I end up with a brother-in-law like this!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Suddenly, Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, and he said in a low voice, "I can have someone take care of Miss Liu's matter."
"I can also lend a hand to Chang's sister."
“Even with the Xu family’s daughter, my younger brother can get the fourth brother to intervene.”
"But my father's future depends entirely on you, brother-in-law."
Upon hearing Zhu Biao mention Lao Deng, Yang Shaofeng immediately perked up.
Zhu Biao said in a low voice, "Some people say that the current Ming Dynasty deserves the title of the Hongwu Golden Age."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback.
WTF?
Prosperity?
There seems to be no problem.
The standard for a prosperous era in ancient times was simply that no one starved to death. If there were also more scholars, then it would be a prosperous era within a prosperous era.
The problem is, if this can be considered a prosperous era, then what am I, an official?
Are these giant babies raised by a truly prosperous nation?
That seems to make sense.
I really am like a spoiled giant baby. Before being pushed to the brink, my ability to survive on my own is basically zero, and I am full of idealism.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was secretly complaining, Zhu Biao continued, "However, my father said that no one is allowed to mention the Hongwu Prosperity anymore. He said that unless everyone in the Ming Dynasty can eat their fill and stay warm, and can eat meat every month and wear new clothes every year, it is not worthy of being called a prosperous era."
Yang Shaofeng unconsciously pursed his lips.
Will I be able to eat meat every month?
The real golden age was when people had to starve themselves to lose weight because they ate too much meat!
How can we still wear new clothes every year?
A true golden age is when you have so many clothes in your mother's closet that you can't wear them all.
Of course, Old Deng never witnessed a truly prosperous era, so you can't blame him for that.
Zhu Biao continued, "As long as my brother-in-law can help my father get the reform done and allow our Ming Dynasty to truly enter a golden age, I will take all the blame myself."
Yang Shaofeng immediately lost his composure.
No, what the hell is with that face of yours, all that looks like you're ready to sacrifice yourself for your cause?
You black sesame glutinous rice ball, after all that going around in circles, you've just been making empty promises to me!
Moreover, you not only make empty promises to me, but you also treat me like a donkey, thinking that you can make me turn the millstone by hanging a carrot on my head!
Yang Shaofeng grew increasingly displeased, and simply snorted coldly, "Your Highness, have you ever heard of the standards for a prosperous era?"
Under Zhu Biao's expectant gaze, Yang Shaofeng gave a cold smile, "This humble subject does not know either."
This time, it was Zhu Biao's turn to lose his composure.
You don’t know either?
You don't know anything, so what are you talking about?
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Zhu Biao and saw Zhu Biao's frustrated yet helpless expression, which immediately made him feel much better.