An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

"Your Highness, if you don't come back, the Emperor will have to go to Qingshan Villa to arrest you personally."

Xu Zize returned to the city immediately after leaving the space, and was greeted by the chief eunuch Pu Gonggong who was waiting outside the palace gate.

The eunuch, who was about the same age as his father, was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead. As he led him to the Qinzheng Palace, he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty has asked about this three times in the past ten days. I am almost exhausted from trying to evade the question."

Xu Zize straightened his clothes and stepped into the palace. Before the smoke from the ambergris in the gilded incense burner had swirled three times, he heard his father's deep voice from behind the imperial desk: "Are you willing to come back?"

He immediately stepped forward, the hem of his robe drawing a smooth arc across the gold brick, and respectfully bowed, "I am late, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

When he looked up, he saw that the emperor had not stopped writing, and his face showed no sign of anger. Instead, he looked up at him carefully in between reviewing the memorials, then put down his pen and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Thanks to the great blessing of your Majesty, the two sons and one daughter, the mother and her two children are all safe." Before Xu Zize finished his words, there was a light "pop" sound, and the Hetian jade paperweight that the emperor was playing with between his fingers fell on the rosewood table.

The young eunuch who was grinding ink nearby trembled his hands, and the ink almost stained his bright yellow satin sleeves. He knelt down hurriedly to apologize.

The emperor seemed not to hear anything, and just stared at Xu Zize and repeated, "Three?" The two words echoed between the beams and pillars in the hall, and even Eunuch Pu, who was standing with his hands hanging down, held his breath.

Xu Zize just smiled without saying a word, letting his father's gaze sweep over his body like a ruler measuring.

After a long while, the emperor suddenly laughed out loud, his eyes moist with laughter lines: "No wonder you insisted on going to guard it with that girl yourself."

He picked up his brush and heavily wrote the word "Heaven Blessing" on the rice paper. The ink on the tip of the wolf hair brush was so thick that it seemed to penetrate the back of the paper. "God has eyes. This can be regarded as compensation for the pain of the bloodline of Prince Jing's mansion withering away."

"Eunuch Pu." The emperor suddenly turned to the side and the eunuch was startled and rushed forward: "Your servant is here."

The emperor's gaze remained fixed on the void, as if he were gazing at the vast mountains and rivers through the carved lattice window. "Has there ever been a precedent in our Daqing Dynasty for having three children from one birth?"

Eunuch Park bent even lower, the tips of his pearly shoes trembling slightly on the brick surface. "Your Majesty, in my lifetime, I have never seen such a thing, let alone heard of it. Twins are already an auspicious sign, and now three babies are coming at the same time..."

He quietly raised his eyes to check the emperor's expression before continuing, "It just so happens that your Majesty has spoken so eloquently. The tragic plight of Prince Jing's mansion must have moved Heaven."

Xu Zize lowered his eyes, hiding the turmoil in them. If it weren't for that mysterious dimension protecting her, if it weren't for her daring to wield the scalpel and open the gates of life and death, how could there be such auspicious signs as a third child? It would only be another tragic story of a beautiful woman dying young, ultimately reduced to a mere "died in childbirth" recorded in history books.

"If all women in the world could give birth to three sons..." The emperor suddenly stood up, and his dark sleeves swept across the pile of memorials on the desk. Those were documents submitted from various places regarding population decline.

He looked at the square sky outside the palace framed by the red walls. His gaze seemed to have passed through the palace walls and saw the tragic situation of Qiantang County and Pingjiang County where nine out of ten houses were empty, the desolate Jiujiang County and Jian'an County where thousands of households were deserted after the disaster, and the piles of bones left by years of war on the border. Finally, his gaze stopped on the majestic vermilion gate.

Eunuch Park was about to open his mouth to praise "peace and prosperity for the country" when the emperor raised his hand to stop him.

The vigorous finger turned to Xu Zize, "Your Highness, you've returned just in time. I've been unable to sleep or eat because of this matter lately." As he spoke, he walked towards the jade chessboard in the side hall, "Play a game with me and tell me your opinion."

Xu Zize lifted his robe and sat on the brocade cushion with coiled dragon patterns, but he did not take the chess pieces. Instead, he gently turned the white jade chess pot and said, "I think we should follow the example of the Crown Prince's wife in Prince Jing's mansion and promote the policy of having more children."

Seeing his father's hand holding the chess piece pause in mid-air, a subtle smile appeared on his lips. "Including Xi'er and Pu'er, she has given birth to three sons and two daughters. This pregnancy of three sons is a first in the hundred years since the founding of Daqing."

The emperor placed a black chess piece down, his laughter filled with a hint of knowingness: "You're quite good at asking for a reward for that girl." The chess piece clattered against the nanmu board, making a resounding sound. "Go on."

"How about giving her the title 'Heroic Mother' and giving her the same rank as a prince's concubine?"

Xu Zize's ears felt slightly hot as the white piece between his fingers lingered, "This will not only show the grace of the Heavenly Family, but also encourage the people to follow suit."

Before he finished speaking, a sigh-like and half-laughing exhalation came from the other side, and the golden nanmu chess pot was pushed across half of the mountain and river.

"For ordinary families who have a child, they can enjoy a 30% tax reduction or exemption for that year, or a reward of 10 dan of millet, depending on the number of children they have."

Xu Zize tapped the white chess piece lightly with his fingertips, making a crisp sound. "As for counties with a small population and vast land, if such families are willing to open up wasteland and expand their land, the tax exemption period can be extended from three years to ten years."

He saw the glint in his father's eyes flicker, and he added, "If any commoner is willing to move their family to the border areas, in addition to enjoying the same tax benefits, the government will also subsidize ten taels of silver for travel expenses and ten taels of silver for settling down."

"Calculated this way, the reduced taxes and increased expenditures are no small sum." The emperor's hand, holding the chess piece, hovered in mid-air, the black jade pieces gleaming faintly between his fingers. Inside the hall, only the ticking of the night watch could be heard, and the smoke of incense curled between father and son.

"Difficulties are just a temporary crossing. How can we not dare to set sail just because the waves are rough?" Before Xu Zize finished speaking, there was a "pop" sound, and the emperor's black piece had fallen heavily on the star position.

"Ten years from now, the taxes levied on the reclaimed land will be several times greater than what's been exempted today." Xu Zize's white piece followed closely behind, like silver stars in the dark night. "Sea transportation between Jian'an, Leizhou, and Qingzhou is booming. From this year onwards, customs duties will surely account for 20% to 30% of the national treasury's annual revenue. If the tea-horse trade in the northern border, the jade road in the western border, and the spice route in the southern border are reopened, customs duties will be even more substantial."

When the emperor mentioned that "India, Mengtai, Annan and other countries love gold very much", he suddenly looked up, with surprise in his eyes: "My son, you think the same as me!"

Xu Zize raised the corner of his lips slightly and said, "The Lingnan gold mine now produces hundreds of kilograms of gold sand every month. It would be better to exchange these yellow and white things for rice and iron tools."

Seeing the hesitation in his father's eyes, Xu Zize suddenly gave the chess pot a gentle spin. "Your Majesty, do you remember the gum I developed in Shibaao? It can now be made into waterproof straw raincoats, elastic wheels, and some very practical utensils."

"Although there are few rubber trees in Lingnan, we can first purchase raw rubber from those three countries, make it into fine products, and then sell it back to their countries. The profit difference from this import and export is not less than the tax."

"Excellent!" The emperor laughed heartily and suddenly pushed the chessboard aside. "Eunuch Pu, bring some Wuyi Dahongpao! And tell the empress, Ze'er and I will have lunch in Qingliang Palace."

After the old eunuch bowed and left, Xu Zize lowered his voice and said, "As for what is buried under Daqing Mountain, I dare to guess that it is probably all gold, silver and treasures."

His gaze swept across the towering palace walls outside the hall, as if he could see the dust raised by the convoy that once secretly transported the treasure chest to the Emperor. "Only valuables can retain their value through the ages. So, father, there's no need to worry about the treasury being empty. Just dig it up."