Chapter 36

"Mr. is joking..."

Su Qiao sneered.

"Your Highness, I am not joking."

Zhu Yunwen slowly raised his head, staring at Su Qiao and asking.

"Mr. Su, Great Ming is currently the Hongwu era of prosperity; do you mean to say that in today's Great Ming, there are still people who cannot fill their stomachs?"

Hearing this, Su Qiao could not help but smile.

"Does Your Highness truly believe that everyone under heaven can now fill their stomachs?"

Zhu Yunwen said with absolute certainty.

"If there are still people under heaven who go hungry, then what kind of prosperous age is this?"

Su Qiao slowly lifted the curtain of the carriage window and said calmly.

"Does Your Highness think these people outside the window also have full stomachs?"

Zhu Yunwen followed Su Qiao's words and quietly looked out the carriage window.

Just a single glance.

Zhu Yunwen froze where he stood.

Outside the carriage window, beggars in tattered rags were already packed tight.

Many of them were staring at Zhu Yunwen's carriage with green light in their eyes.

Su Qiao casually picked up a plate of pastries from the carriage, plate and all, and threw it out the window.

In an instant.

These beggars erupted like livestock fighting for food.

Zhu Yunwen stood frozen.

He remained silent for a long time.

"This, this..."

Su Qiao stared fiercely at Zhu Yunwen and said.

"This is the prosperous age praised by the entire court!"

"This is the prosperous age Your Highness longs for!"

Zhu Yunwen angrily slammed the table and cursed.

"Someone must be deceiving Grandfather Emperor! Why does Mr. Su not speak plainly before Grandfather Emperor about this?!"

Hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Su Qiao could not help but snicker twice.

"Does Your Highness perhaps think such matters can be hidden from Your Majesty?"

"Has Your Highness forgotten that Grandfather Emperor himself was one of them back then?"

Zhu Yunwen collapsed onto the carriage seat.

"Mr. Su, are you saying Grandfather Emperor knows all this?"

Su Qiao pointed at the porridge shelter in the distance and smiled.

"Your Majesty naturally knows; otherwise, does Your Highness think these porridge shelters were set up out of the benevolence of the great lords in the Secretariat?"

"Porridge is distributed once a day, merely to keep these beggars alive!"

Zhu Yunwen stared fiercely at Su Qiao and asked.

"Merely to keep them alive? Then what kind of prosperous age is this?"

Su Qiao helplessly shrugged and then said.

"Has Your Highness ever considered a question?"

"This is actually the prosperous age that everyone from ancient times to the present has longed for?"

Su Qiao's words were like a heavy hammer, striking Zhu Yunwen's chest hard.

And Su Qiao's voice had not yet stopped.

Speaking calmly from the side.

"Since ancient times, the so-called prosperous age is nothing more than ensuring the majority of people under heaven do not starve to death; that is all!"

Zhu Yunwen clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, saying.

"In recent years, Great Ming has still waged too many wars."

"Grandfather Emperor's greatest flaw is placing too much trust in military generals, leaving the world no time to recover..."

Hearing this, Su Qiao could not help but laugh even more.

"Your Highness, what nonsense are you speaking?"

"Do you think Great Ming fighting a few battles could exhaust the grain supplies of the common people?"

"Do you think the true parasites of Great Ming are the grasslands to the north?"

"Wrong!"

"The true parasites are not the Tartars on the grasslands."

"Rather, they are Mr. Huang and Mr. Qi, whom Your Highness longs for!"

"Which of their homes does not possess a thousand acres of fertile land?"

"Does Your Highness truly believe they are won over by Your Highness's benevolence?"

"Quite the opposite!"

"It is because they know Your Highness is weak!"

"Because they know that once Your Highness ascends the throne, you will be manipulated by them!"

"And if it were Prince Yan, not only would he not be manipulated by them, he would even manipulate them at will!"

"Does Your Highness understand the reasoning behind this?"

Su Qiao stared fixedly at Zhu Yunwen.

Outside the carriage, the two eunuchs driving the cart wished they could rush in and cover Su Qiao's mouth right now.

Please rest a while!

Is this something we are allowed to hear?!

35, Chongzhen Awakens!

Just as Su Qiao was showing Zhu Yunwen around the "slums" of Jin Ling.

In another parallel timeline.

Zhu Youjian in the Qianqing Palace was playing chess with his father-in-law, Zhou Kui.

Everyone around them had already been dismissed.

At that very moment.

Luo Yangxing, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, walked up to the hall on his own.

He whispered a few words into Zhu Youjian's ear.

The chess piece in Zhu Youjian's hand fell onto the board with a "clack."

When he looked again at this "father-in-law" before him.

Zhu Youjian's face held nothing but loathing.

"Father-in-law, Liaodong is short on pay..."

Zhu Youjian had barely opened his mouth.

When Zhou Kui's expression instantly changed.

He immediately stood up and bowed his hands to Zhu Youjian, saying,

"Your Majesty, rest assured. As the Son of Heaven's father-in-law, I naturally share the nation's fate. I am willing to donate my entire fortune of five thousand taels to fully support Liaodong's pay!"

"If that is not enough, I will immediately return and put the residence granted by Your Majesty up for sale!"

"And my carriage! For the sake of the war situation in Liaodong, what does it matter if I walk to court every single day!"

Zhu Youjian looked at Zhou Kui silently and asked,

"Is it true that what Father-in-law said about donating all your assets to aid Liaodong?"

Zhou Kui, made uneasy by Zhu Youjian's question, stammered and said,

"O-of course it is true!"

Zhu Youjian suddenly slammed the chessboard and shouted,

"Luo Yangxing, did you hear that! Father-in-law Zhou is donating five hundred thousand taels and one hundred thousand dan of grain!"