Novel Full Chapter 942 - 57: Your Highness Is So Calculating (Part 2)
Chapter 942: Chapter 57: Your Highness Is So Calculating (Part 2)
"Your Highness, what you say makes sense, but you’ve executed too many at once. Couldn’t you have executed those officials one by one?"
"Keep them here to waste food?" Zhao Yao snorted coldly. "The grain for those corrupt officials would be better used to feed the people."
Tong Xi was left speechless by Zhao Yao’s words and could only reply, "Yes, yes, you’re right."
"Besides, it’s a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, and the effect is already half-achieved." Zhao Yao had no intention of executing all the officials of the twelve prefectures in Lingnan. If he killed them all, there would be no one to govern. "I’m just waiting for the remaining officials to come to me submissively to confess their sins. If they obediently come to me to surrender, I won’t drive them to extinction."
"They’ve committed so many crimes, all deserving death. Do they really dare to come to confess?"
"If they don’t come to confess, there’s only one road to death, but if they do, there may be a glimmer of hope." Zhao Yao propped his feet on the desk, hands behind his head, looking nonchalant. "The smart ones will come to me; the foolish ones can just die in their stupidity."
"I’m doubtful."
"There is still a lack of talent." Zhao Yao sighed deeply. "I asked the emperor to send some officials to Lingnan. He said no one wants to come here and told me to find a way to make them willing to serve here."
"Surely, no one would willingly come."
"When I return to the capital, I’ll try to coax some people to Lingnan." Zhao Yao narrowed his eyes slightly, a calculating gleam passing through them. "At that time, I could coax those exam candidates to serve here as officials, along with some scholars."
"Your Highness, perhaps you can convince scholars, but those with the rank of scholar-officials might not be swayed." Scholar-officials can hold office inland; they wouldn’t run to a remote place like this to serve.
"If they come, I’ll give them an official position." Zhao Yao thought his idea was quite good, "If they continue to stay inland to participate in the imperial exams, who knows when they’ll become an official, but if they come here, they can become officials immediately. If they perform well, I’ll reward them, and there’s a chance for them to return inland eventually." The more he talked, the more feasible it seemed.
"I’ll write to my fourth and eighth brothers now to help me coax some people over."
"Your Highness, isn’t the imperial examination ongoing inland now?"
"The initial exams are over; many failed and won’t participate in the next township exam." Zhao Yao chuckled slyly. "Offering them a chance to become officials now — wouldn’t they be tempted?"
Tong Xi: "Your Highness, your smile is so cunning."
"It’s called strategy."
"But Your Highness, not everyone can become an official."
"No problem, some may not become officials, but they can do other things, like teaching." Zhao Yao smiled slyly. "And besides, they can continue to take exams here. Few take the exams in Lingnan, making it easier for them to pass compared to inland. Do you think they’d be tempted?"
"It’s very tempting." The prince was indeed strategic.
"Also, they can take the metropolitan and palace exams here. Although the court may not recognize the top place, I recognize it. They can hold key positions if they become jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) under my authority." In the princely domain, princes could conduct their own exams to select talents for their small courts.
"Your Highness, if you do this, many will come to Lingnan."
"Quick, prepare the ink for me."
"I’ll do it right away."
Zhao Yao wrote letters to Prince Chu and Prince Wei. He believed in the capabilities of his brothers to coax many to Lingnan.
At this moment, the emperor in the distant capital received Zhao Yao’s memorial delivered by the Dragon Guards.
Zhao Yao’s memorial was about using cowpox to prevent smallpox.
After reading it, the emperor was so excited that he accidentally bumped into the desk, spilling ink everywhere, including on himself.
"Sun Kui."
Hearing the emperor’s call, Sun Kui hurried in, "At your service."
"Summon the Imperial Physician." The emperor instructed, "Call for Doctor Lu specifically."
Sun Kui, thinking the emperor was unwell, quickly went to the Imperial Hospital. Since Doctor Lu wasn’t on duty, he had Sun Doudou fetch him from outside the palace.
Doctor Lu, not yet asleep, rushed to the palace with Sun Doudou, fearing there was an urgent illness.
Upon meeting Doctor Lu, the emperor handed him Zhao Yao’s memorial and the detailed process of inoculating cowpox written by Doctor Tong.
After reading them, Doctor Lu was utterly shocked and stammered, "Your Majesty...is this...is this true?"
"Yes, my tenth son has already sent the doctors who practiced inoculating cowpox back to the capital. They will teach you how to inoculate cowpox."
"This is wonderful, truly wonderful..." Doctor Lu was so excited he couldn’t say more, only repeating "good."
The emperor, smiling broadly, said, "That rascal has done something great once again."
"Your Majesty, Prince Han has done..." Doctor Lu spoke, his eyes reddening, choking back tears, "Prince Han has saved the lives of people all over the world. He is... he is...the reincarnation of a living Bodhisattva... I thank Prince Han on behalf of people everywhere." Smallpox had always been a deadly disease, claiming countless lives every year. Doctors had exhausted every effort to find a way to prevent it. Now, Prince Han using cowpox to prevent smallpox...it’s like a living Buddha.
"He is my son, not some living Bodhisattva." The emperor chuckled, "In time, the doctors sent by Prince Han will arrive in the capital. Prepare well in the meantime at the Imperial Hospital."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Take Doctor Tong’s cowpox memorial back for thorough research."
Doctor Lu, full of gratitude, said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Alright, you can now leave."
"Your Majesty, I request to stay at the Imperial Hospital tonight." Doctor Lu had no mind for sleep, eager to study the cowpox memorial immediately.
"Then go ahead."
"I take my leave." As Doctor Lu reached the door, he suddenly thought about the children needed for inoculation and respectfully turned back, "Your Highness, the children needed for cowpox...?"
"There should be children aged six to fourteen in the Prison, right?"
Sun Kui interjected, "Your Majesty, the children in the Prison have long been released." During the amnesties granted by the former emperor and the current emperor upon taking the throne, those who had erred, along with their children, were freed.
"What about the death row cells?"
"Your Majesty, you previously ordered the release of innocent children."
The emperor: "..."
Thinking of his own children, Doctor Lu quickly offered, "Your Majesty, I can have my children inoculated first, as well as those of other doctors."
"Very well, then use your children first."
Doctor Lu took his leave and went to the Imperial Hospital. The emperor, pleased, no longer had the heart for paperwork and went to Kunde Hall to tell Lady Liang the news. She, too, was overjoyed and excited upon hearing it.
The next day, as soon as the emperor entered court, he had Sun Kui read Zhao Yao’s memorial aloud to the civil and military officials.
After listening to Sun Kui’s reading, the entire court wore expressions of disbelief.
Although the ministers weren’t physicians, they knew what smallpox meant. The mere mention of it turned faces pale, and many had lost relatives or children to the disease.
Prime Minister He: "Your Majesty, can inoculating cowpox really prevent smallpox?"
"It’s absolutely true; Prince Han has conducted experiments." The emperor couldn’t hide the pride on his face. "Prince Han has been experimenting, and now, provided the child is healthy, inoculating cowpox will succeed. Those who have undergone inoculation rarely get smallpox later."
The court of civil and military officials: "!!!!!!"