Xiao the Smooth Talker
On the contrary, carefully nurturing all the princes would encourage the crown prince to improve, because the crown prince would be more outstanding than all the other princes; if the crown prince was immoral or died young, the emperor could quickly find a suitable prince among the princes to take the throne.
The royal family had such a rule, and Xiao Ge followed it. Every prince received education from tutors in the palace before the age of sixteen; after the age of sixteen, he could voluntarily request to go to the government office to perform duties.
But every emperor has his own selfish motives. Xiao Ge also had his own ideas about the succession to the throne.
He had established a crown prince and placed high hopes on him. However, since the empress's death, the crown prince had been instigated by others and drifted further and further away from him. His talent and character gradually revealed their shortcomings. Xiao Ge was disappointed with the crown prince and began to consider establishing another crown prince.
If he had to choose from the remaining princes, Xiao Ge hoped that the successor would be the son of his favorite Consort Jin, namely the Third Prince Xiao Lingheng.
Therefore, he could not allow Noble Consort Cen's two sons to be too capable, at least not to surpass Xiao Lingheng.
Xiao Lingpu was particularly interested in warfare. When he turned sixteen, he wanted to join the Ministry of War, but Xiao Ge flatly refused. In the end, under pressure from the Cen Family, everyone compromised, and he had no choice but to let Xiao Lingpu join the Ministry of Revenue.
Now it was Xiao Lingyan to the yamen to do his job again. Xiao Ge was determined not to let him enter important yamen such as the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War.
Xiao Lingyan came alone today; that old fellow, Grand Tutor Cen, didn't come, which secretly pleased Xiao Ge.
"Father, I want to go to the Ministry of Personnel," Xiao Lingyan said, his clear eyes wide open, his expression innocent and bewildered.
The royal family has been refined generation after generation, and the princes and princesses are all exceptionally beautiful. The original owner of this body was only sixteen years old, extremely handsome, and Xiao Lingyan looked in the mirror and made this expression, finding it completely natural. He only needed to suppress his aura a little.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ge was very displeased. "You can't go to the Ministry of Personnel. Your third brother is already there. If both of you brothers stay there, it will easily cause trouble for the officials. Choose one of the government offices that your brothers haven't been to."
He quickly added, "The Ministry of War is also off-limits. That place is important; we can't give orders haphazardly. I didn't even let your second brother go back then."
The Crown Prince is the heir apparent and a key figure in the government's development program, so he spent time studying and familiarizing himself with various departments starting when he turned sixteen.
The others were: the Second Prince, Xiao Lingpu, went to the Ministry of Revenue; the Third Prince, Xiao Lingheng, went to the Ministry of Personnel; Fourth Prince, Xiao Lingzhan, went to the Ministry of Rites. Since the Ministry of War was not an option, that left only the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Works.
The six ministries of the Department of State Affairs, ranked by importance, were the Ministry of Revenue of Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Works. This left Xiao Lingyan with only the last two.
To comfort him, Xiao Ge said, "After you've made your choice, your sixth brother won't have a choice anymore; he'll have to go with the one you left behind. There's nothing we can do; the younger brother always has to suffer some injustice."
Xiao Lingyan sneered inwardly.
From the moment he, the fifth prince, was born, Consort Jin began to consolidate her favor, and Emperor Xiao Ge rarely summoned other concubines. The sixth prince, who was born unexpectedly, is only two years old now. By the time he turns sixteen and is able to perform official duties, the throne will no longer be occupied by Xiao Ge.
"But I only want to go to the Ministry of Personnel, or the Ministry of War would be fine too. I don't want to go anywhere else," he said.
After thinking for a moment, he added, "If Father really won't let me go to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, I'll stay with my second brother. I like doing business and I'm very interested in accounting."
Xiao Ge felt both troubled and pleased by Xiao Lingyan.
He was pleased that it was precisely because of Xiao Lingyan's naiveté that he did not tell Grand Tutor Cen his thoughts, thus preventing the old man from putting pressure on him.
It's better to fool the kid than to outsmart that old man.
He said, "Actually, the Ministry of Justice is quite fun. There are many cases to investigate every day. Xiao Yan, you're smart, you're definitely better than those seasoned detectives. The Ministry of Works is also good. You can have craftsmen make all sorts of things for you. You like doing business, so if they make something new, as long as it's not classified, you can have outside craftsmen make it and sell it."
Xiao Lingyan his head. "No, I don't want to."
He was too lazy to listen to Xiao Ge's attempts to coax the child, so he raised his own banner, lowered his head, and said aggrievedly, "Fine, I'll go back and discuss it with my brother." With that, he bowed and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Xiao Ge exclaimed anxiously upon hearing this.
"You can choose a department in the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Works, and Father will also give you a shop. How about that? Don't you like doing business? With a shop, you can do business." He smiled very kindly at Xiao Lingyan.
Xiao Lingyan hesitated for a moment, seemingly quite tempted.
He immediately shook his head. "Forget it. It's just a shop; making small things won't make much money. Besides, making things requires capital, and I don't have any."
He turned around and pleaded with Xiao Ge, "Father, please let me go to the Ministry of Revenue. Doing Ministry of Revenue doesn't require capital, and I don't need to hire people to manage it; I just need to guide them."
Xiao Ge's lips twitched.
He thought for a moment and said, "How about I give you another two hundred taels of gold?"
Xiao Lingyan hesitated again, this time for even longer than before.
"Forget it," he said. "Two hundred taels of gold is only two thousand taels of silver. What can that do? It's not even enough to hire craftsmen, let alone a manager, employees, or to decorate and furnish the shop."
Xiao Ge was now in a bit of a headache.
Even the landlord's family Youyu.
Although he was the emperor and had a private treasury, it wasn't easy for him to accumulate wealth. Whether he made money through trade or other means, he was constantly impeached by censors, who accused him of competing with the people for profit. He was actually quite poor, you know.
Just a few days ago, I gave a shop to the Zhao Family's daughter to appease that old scholar Kang Shilin; today I gave her another shop. This kid isn't satisfied yet; he still wants to take more from me. What an unfilial son!
But compared to dealing with the Cen Family, he was more willing to give them something more.
"How about I add another hundred taels of gold for you?" he said, then began to plead poverty to Xiao Lingyan, "Son, your father really doesn't have much money."
"Then forget it." Xiao Lingyan didn't hesitate at all this time. "You can put me in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, or the Ministry of Revenue without costing you a penny. You can keep the shop yourself, isn't that better? Why do you insist on sending me to the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Works? I don't want to go to either of those places."
As he spoke, he pouted.
As long as he conceals his aura, a sixteen-year-old boy making this gesture is actually quite cute.
"Those two places really can't be visited. Alright, alright, I'll give you five hundred taels of gold, is that enough?" Xiao Ge was guzzling money.
Xiao Lingyan hesitated for a moment, then quickly nodded. "Alright then. Since Father is in a difficult position, I will go to the Ministry of Works."