The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 258 Meeting with the Emperor and His Son for Discussion

The Imperial Study in the Imperial Palace.

The emperor stopped writing with his vermilion brush and asked Xia Shouzhong a question.

"You mean Prince Su just went into the palace?"

"Back to Your Majesty, yes."

"Where did Prince Su go after returning to the palace?"

"According to the report from the eunuch, Prince Su went straight to the Eastern Palace."

Upon hearing that Tu Chengyu had gone to the East Palace, the Emperor fell silent for a moment before speaking.

Do you know why Prince Su has come to the palace?

"Your Majesty, this servant does not know, but Prince Su was carrying two large trunks with him, which seemed to be gifts for the Emperor Emeritus."

Upon hearing this, the emperor was taken aback again. After a long while, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his face.

He asked Xia Shouzhong, "Did the Imperial Horse Administration mention Prince Su in their reports these past two days?"

Xia Shouzhong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this servant happens to have a matter concerning Prince Su that I need to report."

"Oh!" Such a coincidence made the emperor's eyes light up. He asked, "What happened?"

Xia Shouzhong replied, "I just received a report from the Imperial Horse Administration that a fight broke out among the disaster victims at the resettlement site today, and a child went missing. This has greatly displeased His Highness Prince Su."

Upon hearing this, the emperor snorted coldly.

"It seems some people have already lost their temper. Do you know how Prince Su dealt with the brawl?"

"Your Majesty, Prince Su seems to have done nothing, only giving the person who started the trouble a beating."

Based on the emperor's understanding of his sons, his fifth son was not someone who would easily compromise.

When someone provokes you, you don't immediately retaliate.

There is only one possibility: that there is a bigger plan.

Thinking of this, the emperor said to Xia Shouzhong:

"In the next few days, send more people to secretly keep an eye on Prince Su and write down everything he has done, then report it to me."

"It's Your Majesty."

Just as the two were talking, the voice of the eunuch on duty came from the doorway.

"Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Su requests an audience."

Speak of the devil and he appears; the emperor glanced at Xia Shouzhong.

"Let Prince Su in."

Upon hearing this, Xia Shouzhong went out and led Tu Chengyu in, and then he himself consciously left the Imperial Study.

"I heard you went to see the Emperor Emeritus?" the Emperor asked first.

"Yes, Father."

"I have also heard that you have sent many things to the Emperor Emeritus."

Hearing the Emperor's sudden question, Tu Chengyu was momentarily taken aback, and only answered after a pause.

"Your Majesty, I only brought some food as a tribute to the Retired Emperor."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's admission, the Emperor remained stern, showing no sign of remorse.

He said calmly, "I am pleased that you are thinking of showing filial piety to the Emperor Emeritus outside the palace, but your filial piety is a bit stingy. There are more than just the Emperor Emeritus in the palace."

Tu Chengyu was initially confused. Was the Emperor reminding him not to forget the Empress Dowager?

But when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the emperor's stern face and displeased expression, he realized what was going on.

The Emperor is jealous of the Emperor Emeritus, complaining that Tu Chengyu only sends gifts to the Emperor Emeritus and not to him.

Having figured this out, Tu Chengyu quickly expressed his opinion.

"Father, please forgive me. It was my oversight. Next time I find something delicious, I will definitely offer it to you."

"Hmph, why would I need your filial piety?" The emperor seemed to have no intention of showing filial piety: "I am just reminding you that there are two empress dowagers in the palace, so don't neglect them either."

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu really wanted to complain. The emperor was clearly unhappy that Tu Chengyu hadn't shown him any respect, yet he pretended not to care.

Unfortunately, he could only think these words to himself; he dared not say them aloud.

After exchanging a few casual words, the emperor asked again:

"Since you came here to offer tribute to the Emperor Emeritus, why have you come to me?"

At this point, the emperor felt inexplicably displeased again.

Both sought an audience with the emperor, but the retired emperor received gifts, while they arrived empty-handed.

This fifth child is so insensible; he needs to be properly disciplined in the future.

Tu Chengyu had no idea that his careless actions today had made his father take notice of him.

He was still honestly answering the question: "Your Majesty, I have come to see you because I have something to report to you."

"What's going on?"

"Regarding the disaster victims, earlier today, some of them got into a fight after being instigated by others."

"Disaster victims fighting? How did you handle it?"

"Your Majesty, I have suppressed the matter and have not dealt with it for the time being."

"Why not deal with it?"

"Your Majesty, I have two considerations. Firstly, I feel that others are stirring up trouble in this matter, and it is not advisable to deal with it so quickly."
Secondly, I have uncovered some clues, and I fear this may be a trap set by someone, so I have not acted rashly.

Hearing Tu Chengyu's explanation, the emperor nodded to himself.

"Your thinking is reasonable. But what exactly do you mean by 'the whole set'?"

"Your Majesty, the clues I have obtained so easily seem as if they were deliberately left behind by someone, which worries me."
This is a trap set by someone else, trying to lure me into this trap..."

At this point, Tu Chengyu hesitated, unsure how to continue.

Because what he wanted to say was, 'I had a conflict with my second brother.'

It should be noted that although the struggle between the second prince and the crown prince was common knowledge in the court, no one dared to openly discuss it in front of the emperor.

While keeping such things a secret might seem like burying one's head in the sand, anyone who dares to publicly expose them will inevitably face dire consequences.

The emperor was an extremely intelligent man. When he saw Tu Chengyu suddenly stop talking and lower his head, he immediately thought of some possibilities.

So he took the initiative to say, "Are you worried that someone might try to sow discord between you and the second brother?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu did not speak, but simply nodded.

Upon seeing this, the emperor asked, "If that's the case, why have you come to see me? What do you want from me?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Firstly, I want to report on the situation of the disaster victims, and secondly, I want Father Emperor to bear witness for me. If what I do next does indeed harm people related to my second brother, please tell my second brother that I am dealing with the matter, not the person."

In truth, Tu Chengyu knew that asking his father to testify would be of no use whatsoever.

If it really embarrasses the second son, even if the emperor testifies on his behalf, the second son may not show it outwardly, but he will definitely care in his heart.

After all, he couldn't help but think about the relationship between Tu Chengyu and the Crown Prince.

Some might ask, if doing this is pointless, why did Tu Chengyu go to the emperor's place to specifically bring this up?

This brings us to Tu Chengyu's true purpose: he did this simply to let the emperor know his intentions.

Only if the emperor finds out will Tu Chengyu's actions not cause any problems.

As for whether the second son would hold a grudge against Tu Chengyu because of this, he didn't care much.

Hearing that Tu Chengyu was requesting a meeting with him because he wanted him to be his witness.

The emperor was also helpless. He smiled and said, "I can testify for you, but you can't be too presumptuous because of that."

"Father, rest assured, I will not do anything reckless."

"Very well, I grant your request."

"My dear father, thank you very much."

After finishing this matter, the emperor brought up another issue.

"The Crown Prince submitted a memorial a couple of days ago, proposing to implement a work-for-relief program, whereby disaster victims would work on some projects for the court in exchange for wages. Are you aware of this?"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince did indeed mention this to me."

Although Tu Chengyu handled the entire work-for-relief program, the official tasks were all pushed onto the Crown Prince.

The emperor must have known about the shady dealings, but he didn't expose it, and Tu Chengyu naturally wouldn't speak carelessly either.

"Since you are aware of this matter, I will ask you: what do you think are suitable for disaster victims to do?"

Tu Chengyu had indeed thought about this issue, and he even came up with several very suitable projects.

So he quickly replied:

"Your Majesty, I believe there are two projects that are very suitable for the disaster victims."

"What project?"

"One is to repair the roads in the capital, and the other is to demolish the abandoned old houses in the southern part of the city and build some new houses."

The two projects that Tu Chengyu mentioned seemed to be beyond the emperor's expectations. After listening, the emperor considered for a long time before speaking:

"Is there a reason why you arranged these two projects?"

"Your Majesty, this is what I think. The roads in the capital were repaired during the reign of Emperor Taizu. Over the years, apart from the Imperial Road which is still barely usable, the other roads have long been in ruins and have reached the point where they must be repaired."

Repairing all the roads in the capital would require a huge workforce, which wouldn't be available under normal circumstances. But with the disaster victims, there's a much better supply of manpower.

After Tu Chengyu's explanation, the emperor also felt that this was a very good opportunity.

The emperor actually wanted to repair the roads in the capital, after all, it wouldn't be right for the roads under the emperor's nose to be in such bad condition.

However, firstly, he had only been on the throne for a short time and did not want to do such a wasteful and extravagant thing; secondly, the wages of the people in the capital were too high and the court could not afford it.

Now that the disaster victims have arrived, these problems have been solved.

However, the emperor immediately thought of another question and asked:
"The manpower problem has been solved, but what are you going to use to repair the road?"

The emperor asked this question mainly because road construction is not something that can be accomplished simply by leveling the surface.

If you want a road to be built well, you need to lay something in the groundwork; otherwise, once you've finished leveling it, a heavy rain will turn it into a roadblock again.

Tu Chengyu has also considered this.

It could be said that Tu Chengyu came up with the idea of ​​building roads because he discovered the paving materials.

He said, “Father, rest assured, I have already found the materials for road construction. Father should know that there are mountains of coal ash piled up in the capital. I plan to use those to pave the roads.”

The coal slag that Tu Chengyu mentioned was the residue left behind by the people of Beijing after burning coal.

When the topic of burning coal came up, Tu Chengyu realized how ignorant he was.

He originally thought that in this ancient world, people were not used to using coal, and most people burned charcoal or wood.

But when he saw the several large piles of coal slag in the capital, he realized how ignorant he had been.

He even went out of his way to inquire about this matter, only to find out that the people in the capital had long been accustomed to burning coal.

Moreover, the habit of burning coal dates back to the previous dynasty.

Tu Chengyu saw those piles of coal slag that no one cared about and wondered how to deal with them. That's when he slowly came up with the idea of ​​building roads, which led to his current idea.

The emperor's eyes lit up at the mention of coal ash.

You should know that there are so many coal slag heaps in the capital that they're almost overflowing.

Not only do they take up space, but some of them, being close to the city walls, also significantly impact the defense of the capital.

If coal ash could really be used to build roads, it would be a win-win situation.

So the emperor quickly asked, "Are you sure coal ash can be used to build roads?"

Tu Chengyu nodded firmly: "Father, rest assured, I have already tested it and it is perfectly capable of being used to build roads. Moreover, roads built with coal ash are much more durable than those built with loess."

"Okay, as long as it's durable. When do you plan to start road construction?"

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and said, "Father, road construction is a complicated matter. I need to discuss it with the Crown Prince and make proper arrangements before we can start construction."

In these matters, Tu Chengyu had already made up his mind to give all the credit to the Crown Prince.

So even if he went to the emperor today to talk about road construction, in the end he still had to push the crown prince forward.

The emperor listened to Tu Chengyu's words but didn't say much, only urging him on:
"Then you should consult with the Crown Prince as soon as possible."

After saying this, the emperor inquired about another project.

"What are your plans regarding the renovation of the old house in the south of the city?"

When this was mentioned, Tu Chengyu immediately replied:

"Father must also know that those old houses in the southern city have been there for many years and have now become hiding places for city scoundrels and filth."
Such a fine place; rather than letting these people ruin it, it would be better to renovate it and rent it out to scholars and minor officials.

There was a reason why Tu Chengyu specifically mentioned scholars and minor officials.

The reason for this is that houses in the southern part of the capital were relatively cheap, which attracted many poor scholars and some minor officials with low salaries to rent houses there.

Some upright officials, wanting to project an image of poverty, would also rent accommodations here.

However, a problem arose: most of the residents in the southern part of the city were ordinary people, which meant that many of their houses could not meet the requirements of the officials.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu thought about creating some houses that were both cheap and practical, and could also meet the needs of scholars.

Then these houses can be rented to scholars and minor officials.

The most important point is that the old houses in the southern part of the city are now registered under the name of Shuntian Prefecture, and belong to the imperial court.

Tu Chengyu doesn't need to go through the trouble of demolition if he wants to renovate; he only needs to inform the emperor, and construction can begin.

This is one of the reasons why Tu Chengyu took a liking to this project.

(End of this chapter)