Suddenly, a request for an imperial decree popped up, leaving everyone utterly confused.

Including Emperor Wei himself.

[Father, please, don’t put on a three-man act with Lord Pei and Lord Qi anymore. Your son’s eyes aren’t blind; I can clearly see it, and your acting isn’t any good either.]

Emperor Wei’s eyes opened slightly, glaring at his unfilial son’s head — he was honestly just a breath away from being laughed into anger by him.

Since he already knew, yet still pulled this stunt, clearly aiming to act first and report later, forcing him into a situation where he couldn’t easily reject such a beneficial proposal for the country and the people in front of the ministers, right?

Really, it was hard for him just now, because he hadn’t thought of anything at all.

Deliberately not letting him know beforehand, huh?!

[Of course, please don’t scold me yet! Your son understands — the national treasury is poor, and you want me to earn more money for it. That’s perfectly reasonable, I get it. Who else but me, your son, who was born under the Purple Star and is a personally acknowledged disciple of the God of Wealth, could take on such a task? Right?]

Emperor Wei’s chest rose and fell slightly.

This little rascal was too sly, too full of little schemes… and had no shame!

[Your son knows exactly what you are thinking. It’s not that I’m unwilling to earn money for the treasury, nor that I’m unwilling to work for Great Wei and its people, but at the very least you should be reasonable and give your son a chance to do it willingly! Being forced is never as good as doing it of one’s own free will, right?]

Emperor Wei’s gaze stalled slightly, his eyes shifting subtly.

[Your son is requesting permission to go to Jiaozhou with my own purpose in mind. Please don’t ask too much now — I’ll explain it to you afterward. For now, wouldn’t you say a few words?]

Only Emperor Wei could hear Wei Yu’s heartfelt words.

This was a conversation shared solely between father and son, in front of all the ministers.

—

Agree, or not?

The senior ministers were all waiting for Emperor Wei’s attitude.

Meanwhile, the Eighth Prince’s eyes darted around, sometimes looking at Emperor Wei, sometimes at Wei Yu, sometimes glancing at his brothers on either side.

None of them made a move, and the Eighth Prince was getting anxious.

He didn’t understand why Ninth Brother, who had been speaking just fine, suddenly said he wanted to request a decree to go to Jiaozhou — and hadn’t even stated his reason!

The ministers weren’t asking, and his Royal Father wasn’t asking either!

Did everyone somehow already understand how to create new sources of revenue?

Was he the only fool who didn’t understand?

If so, why hadn’t anyone mentioned opening new sources of revenue before?!

Fine.

Actually, no one else understood it either. It was just that Ninth Prince had suddenly requested to go to Jiaozhou, catching everyone off guard.

Since His Majesty hadn’t expressed an attitude yet, the ministers didn’t dare speak.

And now that Ninth Prince had named Jiaozhou as his destination, the smarter ones had already begun pondering what special features Jiaozhou might have that could enable new sources of income…

Waiting, pondering, or feeling it didn’t concern them — all these factors somehow created today’s awkward silence in the court.

After a moment of silence, Emperor Wei summoned Wei Yu to stand.

“This matter — the Wise King should not be hasty. It will be discussed again after court.”

Hearing this, Wei Yu felt a small pang of regret.

He had thought his father would agree.

Tch.

—

At Wei Yu’s first court meeting, the matter of reforging the military was ultimately left unsettled.

After all, it was national business — it was normal that a few rounds of discussion wouldn’t yield an agreement, and ministers often needed multiple debates before reaching a conclusion.

After court, Wei Yu was summoned by his father to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

“Come,” said Emperor Wei, “explain properly: what method of creating new revenue requires you to personally go to Jiaozhou? What good stuff is there that makes it worth the trip? Why won’t Danzhou do?”

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Wei Yu stood obediently.

After listening to his father’s interrogation, Wei Yu smiled cleverly and started arguing back.

“Ah, Father, Danzhou is too close! All the capital officials and nobility are right here — if your son so much as made a peep, wouldn’t everyone know at once?”

Emperor Wei stared at him for a while. “What exactly do you want to do?”

Afraid people would find out? If it were just regular business, would a grand prince need to hide it?

His hand on the table unconsciously started tapping, and Emperor Wei’s look at his unfilial son grew increasingly unfriendly.

Wei Yu blinked at his father, then suddenly grinned widely.

“So, Father, have you ever heard of the fastest way to become rich?”

Hmm?

Emperor Wei suddenly fell silent.

As an emperor, he wasn’t stupid — especially knowing the current situation in Jiaozhou. It wasn’t hard for him to guess what method of wealth-gathering Wei Yu was hinting at.

“You see, Father, Jiaozhou’s corruption is obvious — the officials are rotten, bandits are rampant. They’ve surely embezzled tons of money. Maybe confiscating just one or two houses would yield enough to fund the Imperial Guards’ equipment.”

Wei Yu clapped his hand in his palm, his expression serious. “Of course, confiscating property is a minor trick and not a long-term solution. Great Wei doesn’t have endless corrupt officials to confiscate from, so this method is just for emergencies — making a quick fortune overnight. Besides, that’s the people’s hard-earned money, so we must return part of it to them, right?”

Hmm, the rascal was making sense and considering things thoroughly.

Emperor Wei nodded in agreement.

“When corrupt officials greedily amass wealth, behave lawlessly, and act without restraint, a corrupt bureaucracy breeds a chaotic marketplace. A chaotic market causes price fluctuations, which leads to economic depression, and then the people living in those regions suffer.”

Hearing this, Emperor Wei couldn’t help but frown and open his mouth, “That market…” — what does it mean?

“Market and economy stuff, I know you don’t understand, Father, but please don’t ask yet. It’s complicated to explain.”

Wei Yu raised his hand to stop his father’s questioning and continued with what he hadn’t yet said, “You did indeed send Second Brother to Jiaozhou, and maybe he could clean up the officialdom, and maybe he could even lower the sugar prices. But can you be sure he could make Jiaozhou’s economy run?”

Wei Yu looked straight at his father.

Emperor Wei stared back at his unfilial son expressionlessly.

Wei Yu: “…Oh, let me explain to you what market economy is.”

After a thorough explanation, Emperor Wei’s expression finally softened.

He mused, “What you said makes a lot of sense. Your Second Brother… can manage governance, but getting Jiaozhou’s economy running might indeed be a bit beyond him.”

“Exactly!”

Wei Yu clenched his fist, looking at his father expectantly. “Look at me, your son — born under the Purple Star — isn’t it perfect to send me to Jiaozhou to help you revive the economy there? And I’ll probably even bring you back a big profit. Once there’s money, would we still worry about military supplies, huh?”

Emperor Wei: “…I could also send Fourth Brother.”

Wei Yu looked at his father with a “you don’t understand” expression. “Listen to yourself. What about the glass factory? What about the 60% profit share?”

Then Wei Yu suddenly paused.

Oh right, he had forgotten something.

Wei Yu grinned brightly.

“I almost forgot to tell you — glass has other uses too. Telescopes and spectacles! If you send Fourth Brother, there’ll be no one to help you keep an eye on those anymore.”