My Emperor Father Can Read Minds
Chapter 28

Wei Yu never expected that after all the time his father spent thinking, the only thing he could come up with was this one sentence!

What a waste of all his heartfelt effort.

However, Emperor Wei thought that what he said was quite weighty.

After all, he was talking to his own son, not a subject. He couldn’t say things like “if you ever do this again, I’ll have you executed” or “I’ll punish your entire family”…

The Emperor sighed inwardly, feeling that his temper, which had finally flared up, had once again become gentle.

As expected, he was suited to being a benevolent ruler.

But what was the truth?

In fact, Emperor Wei was indeed the most gentle-tempered ruler in the history of the Wei Dynasty!

The founding emperor of Great Wei was a salt merchant who rose to power, a typical warlord with an ambition to dominate the world.

The emperors after him were either mighty military rulers who expanded the empire’s borders or wise and capable rulers focused on civil reforms. Thanks to these previous emperors, Great Wei was passed down from generation to generation, until it reached Emperor Wei.

Emperor Wei knew he wasn’t suited for military rule, so when he took the throne, he chose to rule with benevolence and civil governance.

But what was the result of his benevolent and trusting approach?

Forget it. Some painful matters were better left unsaid.

If the Emperor hadn’t been so gentle, how could the people around him—those he trusted—be the type to say one thing to his face and something entirely different behind his back?

Although the Emperor did later tighten up, he only punished those who truly deserved it, because if he didn’t, it would threaten his throne and even the stability of the dynasty.

However, there were still many people, such as the Prime Minister, the Ministers, and even the Empress and Consorts, that the Emperor didn’t take action against.

He was truly angry, but he also couldn’t bring himself to be too harsh.

Between rulers and ministers, and between husband and wife, even without great merits, there was still shared toil, and they did have real achievements to their names.

Even when lying, there had to be a reason, and when punishing someone, it was all the more necessary to find one.

Without a good reason, if you were to demote or dismiss someone, the censors would verbally attack you until you were utterly humiliated.

—

After warning Wei Yu, Emperor Wei asked him about the sugar issue.

“What method do you have to refine white sugar?”

In response, Wei Yu asked his father, “Father, do you know what white sugar is extracted from?”

Of course, Emperor Wei knew.

“Zhe.”

He thought for a moment and then continued, “This is something that came from Great Liang. Only Yizhou and Jiaozhou, which are adjacent to it, can cultivate it. When the founding Emperor sent people to plant it in other states, the yield was rather disappointing.”

Zhe refers to the jujube tree, which is related to sugarcane.

Wei Yu nodded and then asked his father about the white sugar yield in Yizhou.

The Emperor furrowed his brow. “I don’t know the specifics. I’ll call the Minister of Revenue.”

So, the Emperor sent Li Cheng to fetch the Minister of Revenue, not bothering to check if it was getting dark outside.

At that moment, the Minister of Revenue was at home, drinking a little wine. When he suddenly heard that Director Li had come, saying the Emperor needed him in the palace for something, he quickly threw down his cup, dressed himself, and went to the palace.

“I, Qi Tishou, present myself before Your Majesty. Greetings to the Ninth Prince.”

Qi Tishou was a middle-aged man with a bit of a belly, looking quite prosperous. When Wei Yu saw him, he immediately thought this man must be living a truly happy life.

[Look at that belly, so round, it’s the kind of “happy fat” people envy.]

Originally, Wei Yu was going to say something, but upon hearing Wei Yu’s thoughts, Emperor Wei instinctively looked at Qi Tishou’s belly.

Emperor Wei: …

He had to admit, it was quite round.

The Emperor gestured for him to rise and asked him about the white sugar yield.

As a minister, even if Qi Tishou was puzzled by the question, he answered honestly.

“Your Majesty, Yizhou produces a lot of zhe. In a good year, each mu yields about 3,500 to 4,000 jin, and it takes 15 jin of zhe to make 1 jin of white sugar. So, each mu would produce…”

Qi Tishou started calculating in his mind.

Wei Yu immediately chimed in: “233 to 267 jin.”

This number made Qi Tishou, who had already worked it out, surprised. He couldn’t help but raise a hand to Wei Yu in admiration, saying, “Your Highness is truly skilled. I’m not as good at calculations as you.”

Heh!

What’s the big deal?

Ever heard of a calculator?

Wei Yu smiled and said nothing.

“Only 200+ jin of sugar per mu? The common folk can get more than 300 jin of millet per mu. If Yizhou faces a bad year, wouldn’t the people who grow zhe be starving to death?”

The Emperor furrowed his brow, deeply concerned about the extremely low yield of white sugar, and then looked at Wei Yu. “What method do you have to increase the yield of white sugar?”

Wei Yu gave his father a “you’ve hit the jackpot” look, then explained to him the process of industrial sugar production.

First, it’s the machine to extract sugar water, followed by the lime method to make raw sugar, then evaporating to produce syrup, and then washing, separating, filtering, and decolorizing.

Qi Tishou, who was listening on the side, was stunned.

[What is the Ninth Prince talking about? What is this separating, filtering, and decolorizing? Making white sugar is so complicated? Wait, the Ninth Prince actually knows how to make sugar!!]

The Emperor’s ears were almost exploding from the noise.

Glancing at the excited Qi Tishou, Emperor Wei snorted inwardly.

Minister Qi really isn’t very steady—it’s just sugar! His son even knows how to fire glass and smelt steel!

Great Wei is about to rise up and get filthy rich, alright?

Wei Yu had no idea what his father was thinking. Once he had said more or less everything he needed to, he stopped talking.

After all, it was already past mealtime. He was seriously starving, and if he didn’t get back to eat soon, he’d practically starve to death.

Wei Yu said, “Royal Father, how about I write everything down instead? Once I’ve finished, I can present it to you—what do you think?”

Having just gotten two excellent methods for saving and making money for the national treasury, the Emperor was in an exceptionally good mood and couldn’t help but say to Wei Yu, “You’ve rendered merit by offering these methods. If what you’ve said can truly be done, then I shall grant you one promise.”

As soon as he said this, before Wei Yu even reacted, the first person to respond was Qi Tishou—internally, at least:

[The court’s going to be in chaos again.]

Among the nine princes, the Eldest and Second Princes had previously been the ones most favored by the Emperor, so many court officials had placed their bets on one of the two becoming Crown Prince.

But the recent crackdown by the Emperor had made it very clear to everyone: His Majesty wasn’t old yet, and if they acted too aggressively, he would become furious!

[Looks like His Majesty intends to support the Ninth Prince now. Making a promise like that in front of me—does he want me to side with the Ninth Prince? Tsk… But I’ve already pledged loyalty to the Eldest Prince…]

Qi Tishou was feeling anxious inside, though his face still wore a look of unwavering loyalty.

As for these princes getting tangled up with court officials, forming cliques and factions—Emperor Wei had heard plenty of that lately.

He even knew who was aligned with whom, whether in the open or behind closed doors, and what each of them had done for the princes in the past. He’d already had the commander of the Gray Guards, Huo Tingyu, investigate it all thoroughly.

Having heard so much, he had grown numb to it.

Still, the Emperor was rather interested in what Qi Tishou was thinking.