Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

As soon as he finished speaking, the emperor's expression, once brimming with rage, underwent a startling shift. The rage gradually faded, replaced by a deep sense of pity. This man, a man with a father and a family, was reduced to such poverty that he had to trade imperial gifts for silver to make ends meet. In contrast, while he himself had lost his father at a young age and had no one to truly care for him, at least as the ruler of a nation, he had not fallen to such a state. At this thought, the emperor's anger instantly dissipated.

The emperor slowly sat down, his eyes fixed on Zhao Liangchen. Zhao Liangchen, on the other hand, seemed extremely uneasy, fiddling with his fingers, not daring to meet the emperor's gaze. He would only occasionally glance up, then quickly lower his head. The entire scene suddenly became unusually quiet, as if even the air had frozen.

After a long while, the emperor ordered Li Quan: "Go find him a doctor."

Li Quan was a little surprised, but after looking around and seeing no other eunuchs around, he had no choice but to agree.

Zhao Liangchen hurriedly thanked him. After Li Quan left, the emperor looked at Zhao Liangchen and said, "Tell me, what happened?"

At first, he really believed what Zhao Liangchen said was true, and even felt sorry for him. But when Zhao Liangchen secretly looked at him just now, his eyes always glanced at Li Quan intentionally or unintentionally. The emperor was not a fool, and he quickly understood that he had something he didn't want Li Quan to hear.

Zhao Liangchen knelt a little too far away and tried to crawl closer. The emperor glanced at the bloodstains on his knees and said unhappily, "Get up."

After thanking him, Zhao Liangchen stood up, walked closer, and whispered, "Your Majesty, I did this because I'm poor and want to earn some money. But I don't just want to use the money you gave me to earn this little bit of money. I want to earn more."

The emperor got angry again when he heard this: "What's the matter? You think the rewards for selling me are not enough, and you want to ask me for more rewards to sell me?"

Zhao Liangchen hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, you misunderstood. I wanted to do this..."

He told the emperor everything Su Qin had told him and Qi Lusheng. Of course, he did not say that these were all Su Qin's ideas. He just said that he hired Su Qin to run errands for him.

The emperor thought for a moment and asked, "Is this really as profitable as you say?"

Zhao Lianchen nodded and said, "Your Majesty, you will make a profit. No one is making money now simply because the rich and powerful either look down on those who do business or cannot afford to lose money, while ordinary merchants cannot get good goods.

But I am different. I don't mind being embarrassed. I can also get in touch with some powerful people and understand their needs. I can also help them get what they want at a relatively cheap price. I just make a profit from the difference. "

The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke slowly, "Well, you are so brave! You dare to use the things I reward you to seek personal gain and make that money into your own pocket."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangchen knew the emperor's anger had largely dissipated. He quickly adopted a slightly more relaxed tone and responded, "Your Majesty is kind-hearted and magnanimous, always understanding the difficulties faced by humble officials. I was forced to resort to this desperate measure."

The Emperor snorted coldly and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it, forget it. I understand your desire to make money, but you should be more restrained and low-key. Those imperial gifts represent my favor to you, yet you dare to sell them openly? Aren't you afraid that the censors will find fault with you and severely criticize you?"

Zhao Liangchen, still smiling, replied nonchalantly, "Your Majesty, there have been quite a few people scolding me lately. What's the harm in adding a few more? As the saying goes, 'Too many lice don't itch, too many debts don't worry.'"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor couldn't help but laugh and scolded, "Humph, you're even thicker-skinned than the corner of a city wall!"

Zhao Liangchen quickly smiled and said, "If I wasn't thick-skinned enough, I would have been dead long ago, and there would be no chance for me to stand here and chat with Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor was slightly startled, his mind instantly reeling from all the hardships and difficulties Zhao Liangchen had endured in the past. Unconsciously, the suspicion and estrangement he had felt towards him in the past seemed to have vanished. Of course, the most crucial reason for this was that the Emperor had indeed not uncovered any substantive issues.

Zhao Liangchen cautiously approached the emperor and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, what do you think of this business? Are you interested in participating in it?"

Upon hearing this, the emperor's face was filled with astonishment. He stared at Zhao Liangchen in disbelief and asked, "You actually want me to go into business with you? This is simply ridiculous!"

Zhao Liangchen nodded hurriedly and explained seriously, "Your Majesty, you are completely mistaken! No matter how noble your position, you cannot do without money. I dare to guess that after distributing the relief funds to the victims this time, I'm afraid you won't have much private money left."

You have to remember, the emperor had only been on the throne for a mere five years, and the treasury was already depleted. How much real money could he possibly possess? If he wasn't so strapped for cash, why would he only allocate a few hundred thousand taels of silver for disaster relief, leaving the remaining gap to be filled by donations from his ministers?

Indeed, since inheriting the throne, the Emperor has acquired many precious items. The private vaults left by the late Emperor and Empress alone house countless rare treasures, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings, all priceless treasures. However, while these items are exquisite, they are ultimately intangible objects that cannot be directly converted into cash and cannot be exchanged for real money. The thought of this filled the Emperor with a sense of anguish. Just now, Zhao Liangchen had been lamenting his financial difficulties before him, and now it seemed his situation wasn't much better, perhaps even less so.

Zhao Liangchen then said, "Your Majesty, as the ruler of a nation, you appear to possess supreme power, but in reality, the resources you truly control are few and far between. Consider the current situation. If you wish to consolidate your position and realize your grand ambitions, you must have trusted individuals who are completely loyal to you! However, supporting these individuals is no easy task, as it requires a vast amount of money. As the saying goes, even a penny can make a hero fall. Without sufficient financial support, you simply cannot move forward!"

After hearing this, the emperor fell into deep thought. In fact, he had long wanted to cultivate a team of spies or a secret private army, but unfortunately, he could not find the right candidates and he was really short of funds. Thinking of this, the emperor turned his gaze to Zhao Liangchen and asked with a hint of doubt: "Then, in your opinion, how should I intervene in this matter? I can't do what you did and take the items in the palace to exchange with those foreigners? If I really acted like this, once the news spread, wouldn't I become a laughing stock of the world? Not to mention whether the censors in the court would write letters to impeach me, I am afraid that the regents such as the Grand Tutor and the Grand Preceptor would nag me endlessly, which would really annoy me to death."

Zhao Liangchen: "Your Majesty does not need to appear in person, nor does Your Majesty need to bestow the items directly. After receiving Your Majesty's last gift, I went to the Shangfu Bureau and saw a vast accumulation of items. I heard that the harem has few mistresses, so it would be difficult to use up all the items. However, according to regulations, they still need to prepare them annually. It would be a waste to let so many items sit until they are damaged. Those discarded items are coveted by foreigners. Your Majesty only needs to send a few reliable people to clean out the storehouse and find a pretext to send the defective and discarded items out of the palace. I will then send people to collect them. Your Majesty, please prepare a house outside the city. I will store the silver I earn in exchange there, and Your Majesty can go there whenever you need it. This way, you can earn money without damaging Your Majesty's reputation. After all, Your Majesty was not involved in the entire process; the palace was merely disposing of a batch of damaged tribute. If Your Majesty needs to employ others or make other arrangements in the future, doing so outside the city will also avoid the palace's eyes and ears."