Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 784: Chapter 384 How is the Character "汉"?_2

"Your Highness, isn’t the imperial examination about writing essays and poetry?" Tong Xi had some understanding of the imperial exams, "For other subjects, Your Highness will surely excel."

"You really have too high an opinion of me," Zhao Yao waved his hand and said, "I can’t excel."

"Your Highness, you’re being modest. Have you forgotten that you once wrote questions for the imperial exams?" In the last provincial and metropolitan exams, including this year’s, his highness had set the questions.

Zhao Yao glared fiercely at Tong Xi.

"You’re too talkative."

Tong Xi raised his hand and slapped himself twice, "This servant speaks too much."

Very few people knew about Zhao Yao writing questions.

After finishing his tea and listening to books, Zhao Yao took Tong Xi to find He Lianfang.

Seeing many large and small boxes in the courtyard, Tong Xi curiously asked: "Your Highness, is General He moving houses?"

"Aren’t you speaking the obvious? In a few months, my uncle and I will move to Lingnan together, of course, he needs to pack and move."

"Oh, I forgot about that."

"In a few days, uncle will send household items to Lingnan."

"So, Your Highness, should our belongings also be sent to Lingnan?"

"Are you afraid people don’t know I’m going to Lingnan?" Zhao Yao glanced at Tong Xi, annoyed, and said, "I haven’t been ennobled yet; I can’t let others know my fief is in Lingnan."

"Your Highness, Lingnan isn’t a favorable place. Even if the ministers knew early that you’re going there, it wouldn’t matter." His highness was always thoughtful to the point of making simple matters overly complex and dangerous.

"What do you know?"

"Your Highness, isn’t Lingnan a place of exile, where nobody wants to go besides you?"

"Have you forgotten that there are other countries near Lingnan?"

"I know, but what’s that got to do with you?"

Seeing Tong Xi’s confused look, Zhao Yao didn’t bother explaining further.

"Your Highness, why do you shake your head?" Tong Xi hurriedly followed.

Zhao Yao went directly to the study to find He Lianfang, seeing his uncle organizing books, he hurried over to help.

"Uncle, are all these books to be sent to Lingnan too?"

"These books are all useful."

"Uncle, you go rest, I’ll help you pack."

Upon hearing this, He Lianfang stepped aside, letting Zhao Yao help pack the books.

"Uncle, I saw the servants moving boxes earlier, are your things all packed?"

"More or less."

"Uncle, you don’t have many things, do you?"

"How much can a prisoner have?"

Zhao Yao put the books from the bookshelf into a box at his feet, "Uncle, Lingnan has always been a place of exile, there’s never been a prince’s mansion there, so where should I set up my prince mansion?"

Hearing this, He Lianfang raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "Didn’t your father arrange a prince mansion for you?"

"Father mentioned that there’s a mansion of a great general from the previous dynasty in Lingnan, which could serve as my mansion, but I don’t like it."

"A mansion from a great general of the previous dynasty?" He Lianfang thought for a moment and said, "Is it the mansion of General Fan from the previous dynasty?"

"Yes, it is the very famous General Fan, who was wrongfully exiled to Lingnan and then executed along with his entire family." This General Fan was from the previous Xia Heng Emperor’s time. According to historical records, he was a beggar in his youth, but through exceptional military skill, rose to become a great general. He had achieved numerous military successes, to the extent of drawing the emperor’s suspicion, and was then envied and ostracized by the court ministers, which led to his exile to Lingnan. Upon reaching Lingnan, he was wrongfully accused of colluding with foreign tribes and eventually was executed along with his family.

"You disdain his mansion?"

"I’m not disdaining General Fan’s mansion itself, but rather its location."

"The location is bad?" He Lianfang showed a puzzled expression, "I remember General Fan’s mansion is in Taichuan Prefecture. Taichuan is located in the Upper Ridge, which is the wealthiest of the twelve states of Lingnan. How could the location be bad?"

"It’s precisely because it’s in Taichuan Prefecture that I disdain its location."

"You don’t want to stay in the Upper Ridge?"

"Yes, I want to go to the Central Ridge," Zhao Yao said, "The Upper Ridge is indeed the best place in Lingnan, but I don’t want to stay in the best place."

He Lianfang asked, "Which state in the Central Ridge do you want to go to?"

"Swamp Prefecture," Zhao Yao said, "Swamp Prefecture is situated by the sea. Establishing my prince mansion there is more convenient."

"Swamp Prefecture?" He Lianfang didn’t expect Zhao Yao to choose this place, looking shocked, "Do you know what kind of situation Swamp Prefecture is in?"

"Of course, Swamp Prefecture is called so because it has many swamps. Moreover, it has a lot of miasma." Among the twelve states of Lingnan, Swamp Prefecture has the worst geographical environment and is also the poorest.

"You know that Swamp Prefecture is so poor that even pirates don’t want to go there?"

"I know, but it’s by the sea, and that’s enough."

"There are many coastal states in Lingnan, many more convenient than Swamp Prefecture. Why did you specifically choose Swamp Prefecture?"

"Uncle, you don’t know?"

"Should I know?"

"Since you don’t know, Uncle, I won’t say." Zhao Yao smiled mysteriously, "When you get to Swamp Prefecture, you’ll understand why I chose it."

"What’s special about Swamp Prefecture?"

"Hehehe, I’m not telling you," Zhao Yao said with a smug smile, "It’s rare to find something Uncle doesn’t know."

He Lianfang seriously pondered the situation of Swamp Prefecture but found nothing special about it.

"What are you hiding in that gourd?"

"You’ll find out when you get there."

Seeing Zhao Yao’s mysterious demeanor, He Lianfang’s curiosity grew.

"Did your father agree to let your mansion be set up in Swamp Prefecture?"

"Initially, he didn’t agree, but he consented after I pestered him enough." Zhao Yao paused, turning to look at He Lianfang, "Uncle, Swamp Prefecture doesn’t have a decent mansion for my prince’s residence, so we’ll have to have one built."

"Won’t your father send people to build it for you?"

"I asked Father to give me the funds, and I’d build it myself," Zhao Yao said, "It’s best to hire craftsmen from Lingnan since they understand the local conditions."

"Alright, I’ll arrange for people to build it for you," He Lianfang asked, "What kind of prince mansion do you want?"

"Uncle, you decide," Zhao Yao said indifferently, "As long as it’s comfortable to live in, I don’t care about the rest."

"Alright."

"Oh, by the way, there must be a training ground."

"No need for you to instruct."

"Then I’ll leave it all to you, Uncle. I won’t interfere further." Zhao Yao was too lazy to worry about it. "And the pier, one of the largest piers should be built at Swamp Prefecture."

"Are you choosing Swamp Prefecture because of the pier?"

"That’s just one of the reasons, but not the main one." Zhao Yao deliberately held back from saying more.

"Uncle, you must quickly arrange for people to go to Swamp Prefecture."

"I’ll arrange it in the next couple of days."

Zhao Yao didn’t mention anything else about Swamp Prefecture because He Lianfang would handle everything without him saying more.

"By the way, Uncle, help me think of a title for my ennoblement."

"You want me to think of it? Didn’t your father decide on one for you?"

"Father gave me a few titles, like King Qin, King Qi, King Zhao, and such," Zhao Yao said with a disgusted face, "I don’t like them, can you think of one for me?"

"Qin, Qi, Zhao - all three names are quite good, especially Zhao," He Lianfang said with a deep meaning, "Your royal family name is Zhao, using your surname as your title, isn’t that excellent?"

"Using Zhao as the title is blatantly telling everyone that I’m my father’s favorite, isn’t it?" Zhao Yao’s face showed exaggerated horror, "Wouldn’t that make me a target?"

"If you don’t like King of Zhao, King of Qin is also good."

"Both King of Qin and King of Qi carry too much weight." Zhao Yao suddenly thought of a title and hurriedly asked He Lianfang, "Uncle, what do you think of the word ’Han’?" In the dreams of Zhao Yao’s otherworldly history, there was a Han Dynasty that was exceedingly remarkable.