Chapter 1162: Experience (1)

The other ministers also felt that there was something wrong with the minister who made this suggestion. Now, the tariffs on the sea trade accounted for one-fifth of the tax revenue every year, which was comparable to the salt tax. If they were to ban the sea trade again, how much revenue would be lost?

Everyone looked at the official in disdain. Qi Haoran also said solemnly, “Whether it’s the Westerners, the West Xia people, the Great Yuan people, or the Goryeoers, the Tran Dynasty people, we should be vigilant against them. At the same time, we should try our best to be friendly in order to bring about mutually beneficial cooperation. How can we cut ties with others and give up all gains just because of potential danger?”

Seeing everyone nod in agreement, Qi Haoran heaved a sigh of relief, relieved that he had finally diverted everyone’s attention.

The ministers only felt that something was wrong when they left the Imperial Study. They looked at each other and said, “Aren’t we here to ask about the poisoning?”

Another official gritted his teeth and said, “To think we left without even properly discussing the ‘poisoning incident’ with King Rong.”

However, with the Emperor still watching, it was impossible for everyone to turn around and settle scores with Qi Haoran.

Unfortunately for the ministers, this matter had to be kept a secret. At the very least, they could not let the English envoy find out about this. Otherwise, if the English were guarded against them, who knew what they would do next?

When everyone thought of this, they almost vomited blood. They could only suffer this secret loss in silence!

However, most people still looked at Lord Xia hatefully and mocked, “As the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Lord Xia actually believes the words of three young children without enquiring more. It seems that Lord Xia trusts your grandson very much.”

Unfortunately, he was screwed over by his grandson.

Lord Xia was vomiting blood in his heart, but on the surface, he said calmly, “Well, well. I didn’t think too much about it because Little Fu is my grandson. I didn’t expect this child to be so brilliant at such a young age, to be able to convince you guys on his first visit. He’s quite smart.”

The ministers who had been cheated of their box of cigars by Little Fu instantly became collateral damage.

The three children’s expressions were too serious and they were sweating anxiously. Thus, when they brought up King Rong and Queen Consort Rong’s names, they really believed it immediately.

Then again, when did they become so trusting?

Furthermore, those three children had an average age of less than four years old!

Everyone’s faces turned red, and they could only swallow this loss in silence.

At this moment, a group of children were competing to see who had gotten the most boxes.

Little Bear and Tiger Head were in a team, Little An and Little Lion were in a team, and Little Fu was in a team with the boy-girl twins. In the end, Little Fu’s team won despite them being the youngest on average.

Little Bear sighed. “No wonder no matter how Father King tried to refute the rumors, it was useless, and he even had to enter the palace to let Royal Uncle help him. It turns out that the three of you were playing tricks.”

Unconvinced, Baozhu shouted, “We didn’t play any tricks. Big Brother is a sore loser! Shame, shame!”

Little Leopard and Xiaofu also looked at him with wide eyes.

Little Bear and Little An felt that they had a long way to go. As older brothers, they had to wait for a long time before these brats grew up.

The two of them had completely forgotten that they were once brats, too. Even now, they were still regarded as bratty youths by the adults.

After collecting so many cigars, Qi Haoran naturally couldn’t study them himself. Thus, he gave half to the Imperial Institute of Medicine and asked them to study if there was anything wrong with them.

The rest was handed over to Imperial Physician Wang to study in King Rong’s Residence.

When Mu Yangling found out, she didn’t know what to say. She really wanted to tell Qi Haoran that there was really no problem with the cigar, but seeing how enthusiastic he was, she swallowed her words in the end.

She decided to just let them study it. After all, she’d accidentally revealed her opinion on how bad she felt this thing was previously, and now there was no way to explain it.

After signing some tax exemption agreements with Great Qi, the envoys of the Western countries wanted to return to their countries to tell their Emperor the good news, so they bade farewell and left. For a moment, only the Japanese envoys were unwilling to leave the posthouse.

However, because of the pirates on the southeast coast, the people of Great Qi were a little unfriendly to them. They stayed for half a month longer and realized that there was no progress at all, so they could only leave regretfully.

At this moment, spring had arrived, flowers were in full bloom, and the land was bursting with life. Qi Haoran sent Little Bear to the military camp to train.

Unexpectedly, he was sent back in less than a month.

Seeing that Little Bear had lost a lot of weight In just 20 days, Mu Yangling’s heart ached terribly. Only after checking him thoroughly to make sure that he did not suffer any serious injuries, did she have the time to ask him, “Why were you sent back despite the fact that you have battlefield experience?”

Little Bear scratched his head and said in confusion, “I don’t know. I get along well with them.”

Mu Yangling looked at her son in disbelief and stared into his eyes for a long time before confirming that he wasn’t lying. “Then why did you get sent back?”

At this moment, in the front hall of the King’s Residence, Little Bear’s immediate superior, the third-grade Assistant Commander Wei, knelt on the ground and hugged Qi Haoran’s leg, begging, “King Rong, please take His Highness away. If he stays in the military camp, one of these two things will happen—either the Ministry of Revenue kills us, or the military camp will mutiny.”

Qi Haoran glared at him. “Speak clearly. What’s wrong with my son?”

Assistant Commander Wei wailed, “His Highness is brave and good at war. Aside from being well-versed in war strategy, he trains hard. Also, he can also share joy and sorrow with the soldiers…”

“Then what are you dissatisfied with?” Qi Haoran was furious.

“But, but His Highness is too capable. Every day, he brings the soldiers to train at five in the morning. Other than resting for two hours at noon, he trains them the rest of the time. Moreover, he also requests the entire camp to do a small-scale drill every five days, a medium-scale drill in the middle of every month, and a large-scale drill every three months. The soldiers are practically undergoing training all day, everyday.” Assistant Commander Wei looked at Qi Haoran with tears in his eyes and cried. “In just 25 days, those brats have finished three months’ worth of military rations. At this rate, either the Ministry of Revenue kills us, or the soldiers will starve. When that happens, even if the soldiers don’t mutiny, the situation would still be quite disastrous.”

Assistant Commander Wei sniffed and looked at Qi Haoran carefully. “Your Highness, why don’t you place His Highness in the Forbidden Troops? They drill once every two days there, unlike us who drill once every five days. It should be able to satisfy His Highness.”

Qi Haoran looked at Assistant Commander Wei’s tear-stained face and waved his hand to chase him away. “Alright, you can go back.”

When Assistant Commander Wei saw King Rong sigh, he knew that he did not blame them. He immediately heaved a sigh of relief, glad that his shamelessly crying in front of King Rong had paid off.

Qi Haoran returned to the backyard filled with worry and saw his son stuffing all the food on the table into his mouth like how wind swept away fallen leaves. In less than half an hour, he had finished up all the food on the table.

Mu Yangling sat at the side with her mouth wide open. Her heart ached as she asked, “How long has it been since you ate your fill?”

Little Bear buried his head in the plate and picked up the remaining pieces to eat. “It’s been more than 20 days. Mother, you have no idea how hungry I was in the military camp. I woke up every night due to hunger.”

Qi Haoran’s heart also ached when he heard that. He stood at the door and pondered for a while. In the end, he went in and stroked his son’s head. “Forget it, you don’t have to go back to the military camp.”

Little Bear widened his eyes and almost jumped up. “How can that be? How can I give up halfway?”

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