Chapter 20 (1/2)

Chapter 20: Trip to the Border

Qi Chen rushed to the palace without pause. His steps were hurried as he wished dearly to meet with the emperor now and alleviate some of his burdens. When he saw Nan Xun in the hallway, the look in his eyes grew deep.

“Your Highness, the emperor will see you now.” An official close to the emperor walked over to Qi Chen.

Qi Chen’s eyes snapped away as he nodded. When he entered the palace, he saw the emperor seated in front of a table with a deep frown, reports scattered all around him.

“This subject greets my royal father.” Qi Chen raised his cupped hands, respect radiating from every fiber of his being. It was only then that Qi Qiang finally raised his head and took note of his son, waving his hand to indicate that Qi Chen could dispense with the ceremony.

“Is something plaguing my royal father?” Qi Chen feigned ignorance and asked in confusion.

“A natural disaster is plaguing the borders and the people are in abject misery. Chaos threatens the region, and the officials only know to send me a mountain of reports. None of them offer any solutions. It’s indeed a tragedy that such a large nation as ours has no one who can offer up a good stratagem.” The emperor sighed and reached to try and smooth out the creases on his forehead. Many days worth of fretting had caused a tiredness to start to settle in his bones, but he still hadn’t come up a decent plan.

“Royal father, your son has an idea, but I’m not sure if I should speak of it.” Qi Chen smiled.

“Let’s hear it.”

“The best plan would be to send someone from court to the borders. No matter what, calming the people should be the priority, as well as helping them rebuild their homes.” Qi Chen recounted Jun Huang’s plan just as she’d told it to him.

“Although your plan sounds good, who would be willing to journey to that poor, remote region? The imperial treasury is also rather lean at the moment. From where would we obtain the gold and silver to help them rebuild?”

When Qi Chen saw how meticulous the emperor’s thoughts were and how he was already considering all aspects of the situation, he was deeply gratified that Jun Huang had foreseen the emperor’s concerns and prepared the appropriate responses. He offered up the following after a moment of thought, “The border citizens are also people of Northern Qi. How can we sit by and do nothing in their time of need? There are so many rich merchants in the capital who request our protection. Now that the country is in need, how can they not step forth and offer aid? I feel that we should increase the taxes levied on the richest merchants and request donations from the most senior officials. That would be the best plan.”

“Your words make sense, but who might you think would be the most suitable person for this?” Qi Qiang asked.

“If royal father trusts me, I am willing to go forth on your behalf.” Qi Chen’s gaze was resolute and his tone even more committed. Appreciation appeared for the first time in Qi Qiang’s eyes as he looked upon his son. He walked over to Qi Chen as he took a proper look at his son for the first time. They’d rarely met, but now Qi Chen had finally grown up and learned to take on some of the emperor’s burdens.

“You’ve indeed grown up and are capable of sharing some of my burdens.” A fatherly smile still on his face, Qi Qiang patted Qi Chen’s shoulder and sighed.