Red Mansion Rebirth: Ghost Phoenix

The next day, the rain hadn't stopped.

When attending court, Emperor Shengping solemnly called out the Ministry of Revenue to inquire about the grain storage situation in the various Changping warehouses and Pingzheng warehouses, and also asked the Ministry of Works about the post-disaster repair of summer flood dams in various places.

After listening to this, his expression eased a little, and he praised the prince again: "You are more diligent than me. As soon as the rain started to fall yesterday, you knew to call everyone to work. I remember you passed on three parts yesterday. Who else did you pass on?"

The prince bowed and replied: "I know that the emperor has always been most concerned about the people's livelihood. So I thought that even if I could do a little bit in advance, if I could slightly reduce the advantage of the emperor and father, it would be the filial piety of the son and the loyalty of the ministers.

“As for the third department, it is the military department.

"Every year when the harvest is poor after autumn, the people who cannot afford to eat will become bandits, and the locals will have no choice but to ask the Ministry of War to suppress them. Now I order the Ministry of War to make preparations to avoid the chaos of recruiting troops and sending generals."

Emperor Shengping nodded with satisfaction, and his expression became more amiable: "So my dynasty governs the world with filial piety. A little filial piety, plus a little compassion, as a monarch, if you have these two, you will be a blessing for all the people!"

"Your son has only learned the basics from you, father. I am not very similar. Please don't laugh at me, father." The prince blushed and bowed.

Emperor Shengping laughed.

The old ministers below also laughed.

Prince Nan'an, who had just returned from the south to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Shengping, rubbed his belly and laughed: "It's only natural for a son to learn from his father, to be filial! Well done, Prince!"

Emperor Shengping also laughed, and pointed at him from a distance, saying, "How dare you! Who allowed you to joke with the Crown Prince like this? Shut up! Don't leave for a while, and drink two cups with me!"

The Prince of Nan'an clasped his fists and said in a careless manner: "Okay - uh, I obey your order!"

The crowd roared with laughter.

The Minister of Rites looked at him with deep eyes: "The young Prince of Nan'an is also very filial. He has not changed his father's ways in twenty years! He has exactly the same temperament as the old Prince of Nan!"

The old King of Nan refers to the previous and first-time King of Nan'an.

Since the Four Kings and Eight Dukes were all old subordinates who had followed the late emperor to conquer the world, quite a few of them were careless and only discussed with the late emperor the comradeship between commanders, generals and soldiers, and intentionally or unintentionally ignored the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects.

Old King Nan is the best among them.

He even thought about the fact that he was repeatedly impeached by the Censorate for misbehaving in front of the emperor, but he never changed until his death.

Emperor Shengping was still young at that time, and although he also caught up with the end of the war, his military achievements were not as good as those of the old ministers. Therefore, in front of the four kings and eight dukes of the first generation, he treated them like a son and nephew for several years.

Even when he ascended the throne, he was very humble towards that group of people.

However, those who had made outstanding military achievements were all suffering from injuries. The old Prince of Beijing died on the battlefield and had the highest merit. The late emperor had promised his family the title of the third generation and the Duke of the Kingdom forever.

Among the remaining people, the two Lords Rong and Ning of the Jia family also arrived early, followed by a few old guys from the eighth kilometer.

Then came the old King Nan, who died of illness twenty years ago.

Among the four kings, he died the earliest.

Emperor Shengping personally attended the funeral and announced in the mourning hall that Prince Xiaonan would inherit the title of king without any reduction in rank. He even extended this to announce that the sons of the other three kings would also inherit the title of king.

Everyone was jubilant and thanked the emperor sincerely.

Among the descendants of these veterans, the King of Xiaonan is the most successful, and he still guards Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. Several island countries further south of the Celestial Empire, and even Java, are all in the hands of the King of Xiaonan.

Therefore, now in the court, even if he was a little rude in his words and deeds, the emperor would only laugh and criticize him, but would not punish him; and most of the court officials came to join in the fun, and those who dared to make a sarcastic remark were already considered warriors!

The current Minister of Rites was actually the favorite student of the former Grand Tutor. When the former deposed Crown Prince was alive, he was somewhat estranged from him because he was dissatisfied with the domineering behavior of the old nobles and the absurd and rude behavior of the former deposed Crown Prince.

On the contrary, he had great respect for King Cheng, who was devoted to learning and studying hard at the time. He helped answer many of his questions in private and even secretly sent him many valuable annotations.

After such an upright and polite person was promoted to the Minister of Rites, he naturally performed his duties conscientiously and refused to slack off in the slightest.

Emperor Shengping was very satisfied with the Ministry of Rites. Seeing this, he pretended not to notice it, changed the subject, and asked if there was anything else. He left the Crown Prince, Prince Xiaonan and the Imperial Observatory, and then dismissed the court.

While Emperor Shengping was questioning the Imperial Observatory about the weather in the next half month, the Little Southern Prince sincerely apologized to the Crown Prince: "I am used to the nonsense of the southern barbarians, and I have not changed for the time being. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

It’s good to have this attitude.

The prince gently supported his arm and said, "It's a small matter, King Nan, don't worry about it."

Emperor Shengping saw what the two were doing, smiled with relief, and waved to the crown prince, "Come and listen, the Imperial Observatory said there shouldn't be any major problems."

The prince stepped forward and bowed to Emperor Shengping before asking the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, "Last year and the year before last, I remember the rain fell before August 15th. So the moonlight was excellent in both years."

The director of the Imperial Observatory bowed and said, "Your Highness, I remember it correctly."

"Did the Imperial Observatory predict yesterday's rain?" the prince asked calmly.

But the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was sweating profusely, and he stammered, "This, this, I have never..."

"In three days, the Emperor's birthday celebrations will begin; in ten days, it will be the Emperor's birthday.

“Pick a few people who can read the celestial phenomena to be on duty, and don’t make any more mistakes.

"Otherwise, you can't afford to be offended." The prince even smiled slightly.

Emperor Shengping nodded repeatedly, "Your Highness is right. I remember that your deputy supervisor was quite good.

"Don't be so precious and unwilling to tire him out. How can that be possible?"

The Imperial Observatory retreated tremblingly.

Emperor Shengping smiled at Prince Xiaonan again and said, "You come back less often, and you have less dealings with my son. I will introduce him to you personally--"

Just as Prince Xiaonan was about to speak, Emperor Shengping stopped him with a look, "Look at his appearance, does he look like me?

"To tell you the truth, I, the dragon gave birth to 19 sons, and this one is the one that looks most like me! Hahahaha!

“They look alike, and their personalities are similar too!

"You don't know, but your father and the others know it very well - I treat my own people with kindness and tolerance.

"However, when I face the enemy, my insidious and vicious methods are no less than those used by the old East King and your father!

"My son is serious about life, serious about learning, and even more serious about handling state affairs. He is the one who best demonstrates the seriousness and decisiveness in my character!"

Having said this, he looked at the prince with an appreciative and loving smile, patted his shoulder, and then turned back to look at King Xiaonan.

"It won't be long before you realize how serious he really is."

Looking at the prince again, he glared at him with a smile as if in amusement, "Isn't this a compliment to you?

"You are too tense. This won't work! You will break!

“It’s good to be serious, but you also need to learn to relax!

"When you are serious, you should be serious. But when you are relaxed, you should also be able to relax!"

The prince bowed his head and crossed his hands in agreement.

"Every time I say this, you just won't listen!" The emperor sighed and waved his hand to send him away, "Okay, go see your mother!"

The prince bowed and withdrew.

King Xiaonan turned around with a smile on his face and bowed to his back. When he stood up again, a cold light flashed in his eyes.