Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 787: Chapter 386: Demanding Things

In the study room of the Prince Chu Mansion, Prince Chu was furious when he heard Zhao Yao say the emperor had agreed to let him go to Lingnan. He almost lost his composure and cursed him openly.

"I’ll go to Father Emperor and make Father Emperor retract the order."

Prince Chu hurriedly rushed to the door, but Zhao Yao reached out to stop him: "Fourth Brother, it’s useless. Father Emperor won’t take back the order."

"I’ll beg Father Emperor. If he doesn’t agree, I’ll kneel indefinitely." Prince Chu could never let Zhao Yao go to Lingnan.

Upon hearing Prince Chu’s words, Zhao Yao was deeply moved. He spread out his arms to block Prince Chu, "Fourth Brother, I truly want to go to Lingnan. I’m not acting out of spite, I wouldn’t joke with my own life."

Although Prince Chu was extremely angry at Zhao Yao for acting first and reporting later, he restrained himself from yelling at him. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Going to Lingnan is playing with your life," he said, and started to walk out again.

Zhao Yao, seeing this, grabbed and hugged Prince Chu’s leg tightly, not letting him go.

"Fourth Brother, I’m genuinely not seeking death. I sincerely want to go to Lingnan."

Prince Chu didn’t expect Zhao Yao to sit on the ground and hold onto his leg, refusing to let him leave. The action was so ungraceful, so persistent.

"Get up first."

"I won’t get up." Zhao Yao held onto Prince Chu’s leg tightly, "Fourth Brother, keep calm."

Prince Chu looked down at Zhao Yao, annoyed, "I’m calm, it’s you who’s not."

"Fourth Brother, I’m not a child anymore. I’m about to come of age and be conferred as a prince. I know what I’m doing. I’m truly not acting out of spite with Father Emperor." Zhao Yao guessed how Prince Chu and the others thought, "Would I be a fool to gamble my life and future with Father Emperor out of spite?"

Prince Chu said angrily, "I think you’re quite foolish."

"Fourth Brother, I’m not foolish, I truly am not." Zhao Yao raised his head and said to Prince Chu, "Fourth Brother, you only see the dangers of Lingnan, but you don’t see the abundant resources of Lingnan."

"Abundant resources?" Prince Chu had already learned from Zhao Yao what "resources" meant, "What resources?"

"Fourth Brother, Lingnan is adjacent to countries like Annan and Johor. Do you know what that means?"

Prince Chu asked with a confused expression, "Means what?"

"It means that what’s available in Annan is also available in Lingnan, like the rice over there, which yields two crops a year. I’ve heard now it’s three. Lingnan’s climate is very similar to Annan’s, which means Lingnan can also produce three crops of rice a year." A few years ago, Lingnan had already been planting rice from Annan, achieving two crops a year; otherwise, Great Zhou’s granaries wouldn’t have filled up so quickly in recent years.

"Three crops a year, really?" Prince Chu naturally understood the importance of rice yielding three crops a year.

Zhao Yao nodded repeatedly: "Really. Lingnan also has many fruits that are not available in the capital or Jiangnan. Fourth Brother, you’ve tasted the dried fruits from Lingnan." The dried fruits from Lingnan were made by Liang Run. Lingnan’s fruits are delicious, but because the distance to the capital is too far, by the time fresh fruits from Lingnan reach the capital, they’ve already spoiled, so Zhao Yao came up with the idea to turn them into dried fruits.

Lingnan’s fruits are unique, and neither people in the capital nor in Jiangnan, nor even in the Western Regions, have tasted them, so Lingnan’s dried fruits are very popular and sell very well.

Prince Chu had tasted them, but he wasn’t interested in dried fruits or preserves, so he hadn’t paid attention to this matter.

"Fourth Brother, not to mention anything else, just the dried fruit business, my second uncle made quite a lot of money." Zhao Yao was not lying or deceiving Prince Chu; Liang Run had made a fortune just from the dried fruit business in Lingnan. "When I go to Lingnan, I want the people there to grow fruits, then make dried fruits, turning them into tributes. This way, Lingnan’s people can earn more money."

This was something Prince Chu hadn’t expected. Hearing Zhao Yao say this, his previously furrowed brows relaxed.

"Fourth Brother, Lingnan also has many kinds of trees that are not available in the capital or Jiangnan."

"What do you want the trees for?"

Zhao Yao had been looking up, and was getting a bit tired. He gestured for Prince Chu to sit down.

"Fourth Brother, let’s sit and talk."

Prince Chu sat down as suggested, sitting on the ground without any care for appearance, just like Zhao Yao. Seeing Zhao Yao’s neck was a bit sore, he reached out to massage it for him.

"Fourth Brother, in Siam and Johor, there’s a kind of tree called the rubber tree, which can only be planted in hot climates. I plan to get some rubber trees from Siam to plant in Lingnan."

"Rubber tree? What kind of tree is that, and what’s it used for?" This was the first time Prince Chu had heard of such a tree.