lcionline Chapter 29 Is this the dignified, courteous, and gentlemanly Crown Prince?
Chapter 29 Is this the dignified, courteous, and gentlemanly Crown Prince?
Lin Shiming was about to bring up the excuse he had just used, but he was interrupted by Emperor Longyun.
"Don't say you came here...just to fulfill your filial duty, I don't believe it."
"Uh..."
"to be honest."
Lu Yuxi, standing beside him, pinched her brow helplessly and pressed Lin Shiming's arm, signaling him to be quiet.
"Father, we just came in for a meal and to report to you about the imperial examination."
"Really?"
Lu Yuxi was almost laughing in anger. When did his credibility become so bad?
"...real."
"I see!" Emperor Longyun finally realized that he had indeed been a bit paranoid. He leaned back awkwardly and picked up his teacup to hide his unease.
Lu Yuxi certainly wouldn't take his father's misunderstanding too seriously, but Lin Shiming, now free from Lu Yuxi's restraint, had a sudden urge to cause trouble.
"Father, you don't think I'm here to cause trouble, do you?"
"Nonsense! How could I possibly think that!"
Lin Shiming glanced around meaningfully, "Then why can't I find a single vase in this side room? And why is the Xuanzheng Hall so heavily guarded?"
You brat, you figured it out, so why did you have to ask? Don't I have any dignity?
"It must have been arranged by Li An; I had no idea."
Li An, the professional scapegoat, stepped forward without batting an eye, as if it were commonplace. "Your Highness," he reported, "the side hall was cleaned and maintained as usual today. As for security..."
Li An racked his brains, then suddenly a brilliant idea struck him, "A royal physician will be coming to check His Majesty's pulse in a little while. This is confidential, so we've used someone more discreet." Oh my god! My back is drenched in sweat!
Lin Shiming had no idea of Li An's torment. He was constantly marveling in his heart at how adaptable this chief steward was. No wonder he was able to reach this position!
Emperor Longyun looked at his chief steward with approval. He truly deserved to be the most capable person by his side. He was fearless in the face of danger!
Only Lu Yuxi let out a barely perceptible sigh.
Look how troubled they've become, even with Chief Steward Li who's seen it all. Father and Shi Ming, really... sigh, never mind.
Lu Yuxi is cleaning up other people's messes again.
He first squeezed Lin Shiming's hand, signaling him to know when to stop and not to push his father too far.
Then, Lu Yuxi turned to Emperor Longyun and said, "Father, Shiming does have an important matter to report about the imperial examination today. Let's talk about it while we eat."
"Alright, alright!" Emperor Longyun didn't want to continue this dangerous topic, so he quickly took the opportunity to back down. "The food will get cold if we don't eat soon, so let's start eating. This is a family feast for the three of us, father and sons, so eat as much as you like!"
Li An, who was standing next to him, finally breathed a sigh of relief, moved his stiff legs, and came forward to serve food to Emperor Longyun.
*
The atmosphere in the side room finally returned to normal, and after the three of them started eating, they didn't have many other thoughts.
Lin Shiming took a bite of twice-cooked pork and finally got down to business.
“Father, this morning before I returned home, I suddenly received news that someone was selling exam questions at the Yuandao Bookstore in Qingyunfang.”
"What?" Emperor Longyun put down his chopsticks. "Tell me more."
"That's right. After receiving the imperial decree to be in charge of the examination room order for this year's imperial examination, I temporarily transferred five hundred men from the Tingyun Army."
Emperor Longyun nodded; he knew about it.
"Then I thought that since we've already brought these people out, we might as well take this opportunity to train them more. So these days I've arranged for them to conduct reconnaissance in disguise in the capital."
"Undercover investigation?"
"It means having the Tingyun Army disguise themselves as various people, break into smaller groups, and infiltrate the civilian population to gather the information we need through various means." This is a very common reconnaissance method in the modern military field.
When Lin Shiming was seven or eight years old, he trained two hundred men in the military camp using the same training methods he had used when he was a special forces soldier in his previous life. However, his father took all the credit for those two hundred men, leaving none for himself. It wasn't until two years later that he learned his father had used those two hundred men to train five thousand more.
The group brought out this time consists of a portion of these 5,000 "special forces" soldiers.
Lin Shiming continued to explain, "Then, five days ago, one of the teams discovered that some students had been frequently seen at the Yuandao Bookstore in Qingyunfang. This was normal enough, but they noticed that these students all seemed a bit nervous, and they could only get to the private rooms on the second floor with an introduction. Moreover, each of them only came two or three times, which was not normal. So, I asked them to find a way to go in and investigate."
Two days later, on the night before my wedding with His Highness the Crown Prince, I received news that someone was selling exam questions.
Emperor Longyun tapped the table lightly with his hand. “It’s impossible for anyone to get the exam questions. The person who set the questions was sent to the Imperial Estate after I selected him. I specifically asked your father for people to guard the estate. Apart from Li An, who is responsible for delivering messages, everyone else is only allowed to enter and not leave.”
Li An immediately stepped forward and said, “I personally witnessed all the secret documents being sealed with wax and stamped with seals by you gentlemen. The documents never left my sight throughout the entire process.”
Lin Shiming nodded, then took another bite of the bok choy before taking a bite.
"Your Majesty, I know perfectly well that this bookstore is clearly a place where someone is using fake exam questions to commit fraud." At this point, Lin Shiming suddenly revealed a sly look. "Originally, we should have arrested them directly, but I thought it would be better to let them sell more and then send someone to arrest them the day before the exam. At that time, we can not only get more stolen money to fill the national treasury, but also lure out those students of bad character and use them to select talent for Your Majesty."
That's a brilliant idea.
Lu Yuxi suddenly interjected, "Shiming, tell me the truth, have you ever considered selling fake exam questions and then handing the proceeds over to the Emperor to lure out certain people?"
Emperor Longyun's eyes were all wrong.
"...I haven't done it."
Lu Yuxi pressed him, "Have you ever considered this?"
"Fine!" Lin Shiming said, "I do have this plan."
Emperor Longyun was about to slam his fist on the table when Lin Shiming quickly explained, "Father, please let me finish!"
Very well, I'd like to see what kind of nonsense you can come up with.
"Your Majesty, I plan to collaborate with you to sell fake exam questions. We'll split the profits 19/10..."
Emperor Longyun's eyes widened.
"...They all went into the national treasury, and the list of candidates who bought the exam questions is also a way to screen out those with bad intentions for the Emperor in advance. Moreover, we are selling fake exam questions, so it will not affect the exam. Those who know that they have bought fake questions will definitely not dare to speak out for the sake of their future."
"In this way, we can make a move every time we take the imperial examination! Such a long-lasting industry can also help the court eliminate corrupt officials in advance. Isn't that a brilliant plan?"
I like this flower!
Emperor Longyun shamefully fell for him.
"Since someone will always make money through the imperial examinations, why not let His Majesty make that money! Besides, those who use underhanded tactics over the past thousands of years can never be completely eradicated. Why don't we take action ourselves, seize the initiative, and then we will surely be able to control those restless elements in our own hands?" If you can't beat them, join them.
That makes perfect sense!
"I had already finished writing my memorial, but I didn't expect my elder brother to intercept it halfway through and I even got a scolding from him."
"Oh, poor thing!" Emperor Longyun beckoned Lin Shiming to sit down next to him.
"Where is that commemorative document? Is it still there?"
"Father!"
Lu Yuxi finally reached his breaking point and slammed his fist on the table.
"Father, the imperial examination is a major political event. No matter how eloquently you speak of it, you cannot show even the slightest intention to profit from it. Otherwise, if even the ruler of a country acts this way, how arrogant will the people below become? Moreover, if even a little bit of information is leaked in the future, how will the people view Father?"
This shows Lin Shiming's immaturity in this matter. His idea was good, and it stemmed from the perspective of controlling cheating in the imperial examinations, seemingly only benefiting the court. However, he overlooked the most important point: the common people often cannot understand such complex reasoning.
This is not the modern era when Lin Shiming once said "nine years of compulsory education for everyone." Most of the people here are ignorant. If they know some basic principles and can do arithmetic, they can be called "wise."
So even if their actions were indeed reasonable and beneficial, once it became known, it would be "rounded down" in the mouths of the common people to only the label of "the royal family leading the way in selling exam questions." The common people couldn't understand the intricacies behind it all.
After being thoroughly lectured by Lu Yuxi, Emperor Longyun finally broke free from the illusions Lin Shiming had painted for him. He was, after all, an excellent emperor; while he may have been attracted by Lin Shiming's methods, he quickly recognized their shortcomings.
Emperor Longyun realized he had acted foolishly today, and gave an embarrassed smile.
"I was just curious and wanted to see what he could write, nothing more."
It still hurts a little! It's all money! I was just trying to save money, which is why Lin Yunyue called me stingy.
Having managed to subdue Emperor Longyun, Lu Yuxi then turned her attention to Lin Shiming.
"Sit back down."
Seeing that he couldn't cause any more trouble this time, Lin Shiming dejectedly returned to Lu Yuxi's side.
"I don't have time to lecture you right now, so you better eat in peace."
Lin Shiming said "Oh" and shoveled the food into his mouth with a wronged expression.
Emperor Longyun watched from the sidelines, thoroughly amused. He couldn't believe his son had managed to subdue the Lin family brat so completely that he dared not utter a word in reply. Such courage! Truly worthy of being his son, the Crown Prince of Changping!
I must write to Lin Yunyue and let him "share the joy"!
But before Emperor Longyun could be smug for long, Lu Yuxi, who had just finished teaching Lin Shiming a lesson, spoke to Emperor Longyun again.
"If Father Emperor truly believes Shi Ming's method is good, then the only solution is to arrange for people to investigate before each imperial examination. If they are selling genuine exam questions, then arrest them immediately and take measures to restore fairness to the examination."
“If the exam questions are fake, then there’s no rush. We can make a surprise arrest the day before the exam, which will achieve the same effect. And even if people find out, the money will still be legitimately confiscated, and the court is trying to eliminate injustice.”
"The key is the time difference in our preparation to take action. If we act a little later, we can catch more people of bad character."
In this way, even when it reaches the mouths of ordinary people, it will be described as "the imperial court is cracking down on the sale of exam questions."
**!** Lin Shiming, who was eating with his head down, was also shocked and couldn't pick up the food from his plate.
Is this the dignified, polite, and gentlemanly prince?
It should be at least one black sesame glutinous rice ball!