lcionline Chapter 743 Departure, To the Stars and the Sea 2
Chapter 743 Departure, To the Stars and the Sea 2
"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. I have been following His Highness the Crown Prince for several years."
"Several years? How many years is several years?"
“Um—well, it was the second year His Highness was ‘sick’…”
Qiu Cheng recounted in detail how he joined the Crown Prince's and former Second Prince's factions, since he couldn't lie.
The crime of deceiving the emperor can be serious or minor, depending on how you look at it. The lives of hundreds of people in his family depend on him, so he cannot and dare not take the risk.
Fortunately, his honesty pleased the emperor.
"It's alright, everything is alright."
Qiu Cheng didn't know whether it was because he had served the Second Prince early on or something else, and he didn't dare to chime in.
"Qiu Cheng, you and your son are very good, you have great vision. Back then, you actually thought of using the resources of a disgraced prince."
"To be honest, Your Majesty, I am not a person of great vision. I am simply limited in my abilities. I am grateful to the Second Prince and the current Crown Prince for not abandoning me, which is why I have been able to take shelter under your great tree."
"Alright, cough cough, it's good to have a big tree to shelter under. Then Lord Qiu should take good care of this big tree and not let it grow crooked and twisted. It must stand tall and reach the sky."
"Your Majesty, I will certainly live up to your trust and spare no effort, even unto death!"
His Majesty the Emperor summoned Qiu Cheng alone at the Tongzhou Wharf. During the half-hour meeting, no one knew what the emperor and his subject discussed.
It's likely they were talking about the eleven ships at the dock. After all, Lord Qiu was in charge, so what else could they be talking about?
Surely the Emperor couldn't personally visit the Tongzhou dock, ignore the seagoing vessel, and just chat with Lord Qiu?
Logically, since the Emperor was coming, His Highness the Crown Prince, as the true owner of the ship, should not have missed it. However, for some unknown reason, the Crown Prince did not come.
Not only did the Crown Prince himself not come, but Jiang Xiaoqi, the behind-the-scenes financier of the fleet, also did not come, which left Lord Qiu to perform a one-man show.
Lord Qiu was suffering in his heart, but he didn't say anything.
In addition, Dong Jin and other subordinate officials, as well as Jiang Wenqing, the magistrate of Tongxian County, were waiting at Tongzhou Wharf. After all, he was the local official, and his highest superior had arrived. How could Jiang Wenqing not respectfully welcome the emperor?
Moreover, he is currently a "trainee" in the Tongzhou Wharf seagoing fleet, and is about to graduate.
There were many other students in his cohort, all of whom were carefully selected by Jiang Xiaoqi for various reasons.
Not limited to officials, Jiang Xiaoqi gathered anyone suitable for going to sea.
What's most surprising is that there are quite a few female students among them, and they're not exactly young.
Aunt Pan was one of them.
Jiang Wenqing had initially strongly opposed it, but another letter from Jiang Xiaoqi persuaded him. The specifics of the letter were unknown, but the people at the dock were always very curious about it.
Jiang Wenqing kept her mouth shut this time, refusing to say why she agreed to let her aunt participate in the training course, no matter who asked.
His Majesty visited Tongzhou Wharf in person, but his visit was brief and his departure was equally hurried. Many people did not understand why he was in such a rush.
His Majesty did not even set foot in his temporary palace in Tongzhou. He only met Qiu Cheng at the dock, looked at eleven ships, and then returned to the palace.
"My lord, do you think His Majesty is satisfied or dissatisfied?"
After the emperor returned to the palace, Qiu Cheng's subordinates surrounded the city.
"His Majesty...of course he's satisfied. Otherwise, would we still be able to stay here peacefully?"
"Huh!? This..."
"Alright, alright, stop with the nonsense. We're short-handed at the docks, so you all shouldn't be crowding around here!"
Get back to your work! The resupply of the eleven-ship fleet cannot be compromised in any way!
If anything goes wrong after we set sail, it won't just be a matter of punishment; it will be a matter of whether we can keep our heads!"
Since the matter of going to sea has caught His Majesty's attention, it can no longer be a small-scale undertaking.
At least... His Majesty will provide some support in terms of military supplies this time.
In this way, they can arm their fleet much more efficiently, without having to piece things together from various sources.
They were more confident in succeeding in seizing silver mines by crossing oceans.
So although His Majesty did not make a clear statement during this visit, he genuinely provided assistance.
His Majesty values His Highness the Crown Prince highly, and this move is undoubtedly a show of support for His Highness the Crown Prince.
He made his stance clear to the entire court: "I have high hopes for my son's affairs, so don't try anything funny!"
Yes! That's exactly what I mean.
After Qiu Cheng dismissed all his subordinates, he felt much better.
He was now glad that he had wisely chosen the second prince, who was in a weaker position.
The reason for taking sides in that way was partly due to the Empress, and partly because they felt there might be a chance for the Second Prince's illness to improve.
Therefore, he sought out famous doctors everywhere, but to no avail, so he gave up and accepted his fate.
Little did she know that the Second Prince secretly contacted her when he was fifteen. Only then did she realize that the Second Prince had been secretly investigating her background for the past three years.
They only contacted me secretly because they knew I was trustworthy.
He felt he wouldn't be the only one, but in recent years, no colleagues from the same camp had come into contact with him.
For so many years, I've been fighting this battle all by myself.
However, times have changed, and things are different now. I have friends now.
Hehe~ There's more than one~