My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 42 The Clever Prince

Xu Qin was a little surprised by Empress Xu's words. He did not expect Empress Xu to say that.

"Bao'er, if you continue to expand, your aunt may not be able to protect you. Just do as your aunt says. The money you earn is yours. It will not have much impact on the livelihood of the weavers. You can still make your money. No one can forcibly seize your workshop, not even Your Majesty. Do you hear me?" Empress Xu said to Xu Qin with a smile.

"Thank you, aunt. Of course this is good, but I'm worried that His Majesty will not agree. Aunt, His Majesty wants me to help him earn 10 million taels! That's why he thought of merging our family's workshop into the Weaving Bureau. Now I've only made this little bit! Aunt, I'm afraid His Majesty will be unhappy when he knows about this, and he may even blame you!" Xu Qin was a little moved when he heard what Empress Xu said. Indeed, if he just made so many machines, his aunt would protect herself, and Zhu Di might not take any action.

However, the current situation is that Zhu Di wants more money and also wants to solve the livelihood problems of those weavers!
"Don't worry about him. If you want money, go and earn it yourself. When my nephew was short of money, he didn't ask him for help. He relied on his own ability. Why should he ask my nephew for money if he is short of money? It's settled. Just make so many machines. I'll take care of the rest!" Empress Xu said with a smile.

"Okay, aunt, I'll do this then. However, what if His Majesty blames you later?" Xu Qin nodded with a smile. If that's the case, that's fine. At the end of the year, there would be about three million taels of profit, and his family could get a lot of it.

Princess Baoqing, who was standing by, heard this and became suspicious. She knew that her fourth brother had gone to see Xu Qin and that he wanted to get money to help his nephew Zhu Gaochi, so she said, "Sister-in-law, it seems that my fourth brother is doing this for the crown prince. He said that the crown prince is too tired, especially managing the Ministry of Revenue. Money is needed everywhere, and the court is still in deficit!"

After hearing this, Empress Xu turned and looked at Princess Baoqing.

Princess Baoqing quickly explained, "My fourth brother came to me that day and told me about this matter!"

"Why does your fourth brother want to see you?" Empress Xu sat there and turned to look at Princess Baoqing.

"Fourth brother asked me to borrow money!" Princess Baoqing lied immediately.

Xu Qin knew that Princess Baoqing was a wealthy woman, so he smiled and asked Princess Baoqing, "Did you borrow it?"

"No, Fourth Brother needs too much, I can't lend it to him!" Princess Baoqing shook her head and said, then looked at Empress Xu and said, "Sister-in-law, Fourth Brother said that the Crown Prince is too tired and needs a helper who can make money, so that the Crown Prince can relax a little more!"

Zhang, who was standing next to him, heard it and nodded secretly. This old man knew that her husband was tired. It was good that he knew that!

"What does that have to do with Bao'er? Merging him into the Weaving Bureau and letting Bao'er be an official there, isn't that an insult to the Xu family? My Bao'er has been practicing martial arts since he was young. I dare not say that he is both civil and military, but at least he has superb martial arts and is proficient in the art of war. It's a pity he would think of sending him to the Weaving Bureau!" Empress Xu said unhappily with a dark face. She was dissatisfied when she heard the news.

"Aunt, I don't want to be an official. I just want to lie down and travel around every day!" Xu Qin immediately emphasized.

After hearing this, Empress Xu took Xu Qin's hand and said, "That won't do. How can a man from the Xu family lie down every day? He needs to fight on the battlefield!"

When Xu Qin heard this, he felt a headache. Who would want to go to the battlefield? Besides, considering his family's situation, Zhu Di would be willing to let his family members go to the battlefield. He was not afraid that he would lead his army to turn around and attack Nanjing City!
"Okay, it's settled. This is why your aunt asked you to come here today. You don't have to worry about His Majesty. Just do your own thing." Empress Xu made the final decision and said to Xu Qin.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, aunt!" Xu Qin nodded immediately.

"Well, come and have some snacks. When aunt learned that you have done such a big business outside, she was so happy that she couldn't sleep. After things are done and the workshop is stable, come to see aunt when you have nothing to do! You should not fight all the time. Fighting is always dangerous! A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. You must learn to protect yourself!" Queen Xu began to teach Xu Qin. She just hoped that Xu Qin would be safe.

Empress Xu had no expectation of having the Xu family's title of duke restored under Zhu Di. However, he had already told Zhu Gaochi that if there was a chance, he would restore the Xu family's title of duke, and Zhu Di agreed to this.

Therefore, what Empress Xu wants now is for Xu Qin to be safe!

As they were talking, they came to talk about Xu Qin's marriage.

"My mother asked him to help me look for one. Aunt, our family is an ordinary family. Although we were very glorious in the past, it is different now. My mother and father mean that we should just find a girl from an ordinary family to marry!" Xu Qin said while looking at Queen Xu with a smile.

"That won't do. A girl from an ordinary family is not worthy of my Bao'er. Don't worry, I will send someone to talk to your parents. Your aunt will take care of your marriage. I will personally choose a good match for my Bao'er. Don't let my Bao'er suffer any grievances!" Empress Xu interrupted with a smile. She didn't believe that she couldn't marry a good girl if she stepped forward herself.

"Okay, you can discuss this with my parents. It's useless for me to say anything!" Xu Qin smiled and nodded. This is how it is in this era. It's not easy to have a free love relationship under the orders of parents. Now, unmarried women basically don't go out on the street. Those who go shopping are either married women or young children.

Soon, it was time for lunch. Empress Xu took Xu Qin and Xu Jingchang to the dining room. Empress Xu personally picked up food for them. Even though Xu Jingchang was still naughty and playful, he was still Empress Xu's nephew. Compared with Xu Qin, Xu Jingchang was not as favored. But he was still a nephew, and not everyone could compare to him.

After dinner, Xu Qin and Xu Jingchang chatted with Empress Xu for a while. Seeing that the time was almost up, Xu Qin and Xu Jingchang said goodbye and let Empress Xu rest.

In the Eastern Palace, the Crown Princess who had just returned saw that the Crown Prince had just woken up from a nap and was reviewing memorials in his study. Several Eastern Palace ministers were also assisting him.

"Well, everyone please go out for a moment. I have something to say to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" The Crown Princess came in and spoke before they even greeted her.

"Yes, Your Highness the Crown Princess!" Several ministers of the Eastern Palace immediately stood up and saluted Zhang.

Although what Zhang said just now was a bit rude, they had been in the Eastern Palace for several years and there were only a few such things. It was conceivable that it must be an important matter.

"What's wrong? Have Sakyabao and the others gone back?" Zhu Gaochi put down the memorial and the brush, looked at Zhang and said with a smile.

"Well, I've gone back. Mother attaches great importance to Sakyabao. However, today I heard a piece of news from Princess Baoqing, saying that father wanted to merge Sakyabao's workshop into the weaving bureau because he was worried that you would be tired. Do you know about this?" Zhang sat down and asked Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi smiled, stood up, walked behind Zhang, pressed her shoulders and said with a smile: "You believe what my father said? Let me tell you, when I was fifteen, I didn't really believe what my father said. My father thought one thing, said another, and did another. Before things were implemented, most people didn't know my father's purpose!

You, stop worrying about these things, don't believe everything my dad says? My dad lied to my grandfather since he was young, and lied to my mother when he grew up, but he lied to my mother the least, but he still lied!
Now he just plays tricks on his three sons whenever he has nothing to do. He is unhappy if he doesn’t do something to us three brothers every day.”

"Your aunt Baoqing said so!" Zhang turned her head and looked at Zhu Gaochi and said.

"That can't be true! Don't listen to his nonsense!" Zhu Gaochi still smiled and waved his hands.

After hearing this, Zhang was furious and said to Zhu Gaochi: "If your father hears you say this, he will punish you!"

"Hehe, if he heard it, then he heard it. Anyway, I don't believe it. He has his purpose, and I know his purpose very well! It's just that doing this can indeed help the court solve the money problem, otherwise, I would not go to Sakya Bao to tell this matter! I can't do such a thing as robbing my cousin's property, but my father can do it!" Zhu Gaochi said with a smile. He knew Zhu Di's purpose very well, and he still wanted to find Zhu Yunwen.

"Well, today my mother said that Shakyabao should expand to 2,000 spinning machines and 1,500 looms!" Zhang continued as she sat there.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaochi immediately walked up to Zhang, stared at her and said, "Did my mother say that?"

"Well! Queen mother definitely doesn't want Sakyabao to be wronged. Besides, the Xu family is in this state now. Queen mother can't allow others to bully the Xu family, right?" Zhang said while looking at Zhu Gaochi!

"Hehe, my dad will be back tonight!" Zhu Gaochi smiled and sat next to Zhang!
"Persuade mother?" Zhang asked tentatively.

"That's for sure, he didn't expect that my mother would intervene! My father kept testing him, but my mother would not tolerate his temper. If he wanted to test him, he should find someone else, not Sakya Bao. Just wait and see, tonight, in Kunning Palace, either my father will convince my mother, or my mother will beat my father out!" Zhu Gaochi was smiling proudly at this moment!

"Mother, you dare to hit father?" Zhang asked in surprise.

"You underestimate my mother. My mother is not afraid of my father. On the contrary, my father is afraid of my mother. Okay, this matter has nothing to do with us anymore!" Zhu Gaochi said happily. If his mother intervened, he would have nothing to do with it. At most, he would have to run errands!
"Well, but it is true. What your father is doing is against both reason and law. How can he do this?" Zhang nodded and said!
Zhu Gaochi smiled. His father would also care about this when doing things. If he cared about this, how could there be the Jingnan Campaign?

When Zhu Di, who was in Jiming Temple, learned the news about Kunning Palace, he immediately packed up his things and returned to the palace.

(End of this chapter)