Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 854: Chapter 18: The Making of Firearms Must Be Kept Secret

After the morning court, Zhao Yao went straight back to the Prince Mansion. He had risen too early today and hadn’t had time for breakfast, so he hurried to the government for the court session. Fortunately, today’s court did not have any major issues and concluded after two hours.

Zhao Yao did not hold the court session at the Prince Mansion. Firstly, for the sake of separating public and private affairs. Secondly, because the mansion was too small to accommodate the numerous officials of his small court.

The number of officials in Prince Han’s small court was not few, totaling one to two hundred people when including all ranks. This does not count guards and soldiers. All together, there are tens of thousands.

Zhao Yao repurposed the government office of the previous Swamp Prefecture for his officials to work in, which could barely suffice for now. However, expansion will be necessary next year because many officials are cramped into one room, making it inconvenient to handle matters.

Chu Huan and the others followed Zhao Yao to the Prince Han Mansion after court to have breakfast there.

He Lianfang and Yan Huarong waited to eat breakfast together when Zhao Yao returned.

Upon seeing He Lianfang, Shen Sen and the other three greeted him politely. But seeing Yan Huarong, Chu Huan and the others became like quails.

Shen Sen and the other three did not know He Lianfang’s true identity and still regarded him as their second uncle as they did when they were children. But they recognized Yan Huarong, and they had been beaten and bullied by him. Seeing this uncle was like a mouse meeting a cat.

For breakfast today, they had seafood porridge, which was very delicious, making Shen Sen and the others very satisfied.

He Lianfang held a tea cup, sipping leisurely as he asked, "How was the morning court today?"

Mentioning the morning court, Zhao Yao’s face immediately soured, and he said with a tone full of helplessness, "Ah, don’t bring it up, there are so many things to do, it’s enough to give me a headache."

He Lianfang asked with concern, "Were there any major issues?"

"No major issues, just a lot of small ones." Zhao Yao sighed in frustration, "There’s so much to be done, it feels like it will take years to finish." Thinking back, since he arrived at Swamp Prefecture, he’s been as busy as a top. A few months have passed since he came here, and he hasn’t had a single day to rest. In the capital, although daily court sessions were annoying, once they were over, he had nothing to do. He could go wherever he wanted, have fun as he pleased. But since arriving at Swamp Prefecture, he barely even has time to sleep, let alone play.

Before coming to Swamp Prefecture, he eagerly awaited being ennobled as a prince. Yet after arriving, he really misses the leisurely days in the capital.

He Lianfang understood what Zhao Yao meant: "It’s the infrastructure you mentioned."

"Yes, the infrastructure." Zhao Yao put down his teacup and said with a slight frown, "Let’s not even talk about building roads or ships; just the construction of houses, a lot will need to be built next year."

"What houses are you going to build?" He Lianfang asked, perplexed, "Aren’t they already being built?" Since arriving at Swamp Prefecture, this young fellow has had people building houses. Over the past few months, quite a few have been built.

"It’s not enough. Next year, the government offices must be expanded. These offices are divided into several departments, each needing its own office." Zhao Yao said, "Oh, and we need to build a dining hall for the officials’ daily meals and dormitories for their rest."

Shen Sen hurriedly raised his hand and said, "Big brother, our military camp also needs to be expanded."

"I haven’t forgotten to expand your military camp."

Chu Ying said, "Boss, when expanding the military camp, we also need to enlarge the training grounds." The current training grounds are a bit small.

Song Jicai quickly stated, "Boss, and the horse farm needs to be expanded too. There aren’t enough horses; we need to buy more horses."

"Not enough horses?" Zhao Yao looked astonished, "Over the years, I’ve had my uncle buy back many horses from the Western Regions, which should total no less than a thousand, maybe even two or three thousand by now."

"Boss, our military camp surely doesn’t only have two or three thousand people, right?" Song Jicai decided to do the math with Zhao Yao, "The emperor assigned you six thousand guards and soldiers combined; each of them needs a horse, doesn’t he?"

"Haven’t any of the horses we’ve purchased over the years given birth?" Zhao Yao initially instructed Liang Run to buy more mares and sires. And he also arranged for horses from Great Zhou to mate with those from the Western Regions. Even though the offspring aren’t as good as Western horses, they’re still better than those from Great Zhou. "I may not oversee the horses, but don’t deceive me—there should be more than two or three thousand horses at the horse farm now."

Chu Huan remarked, "Boss, the camp currently has six thousand horses, but it’s still not enough."