Chapter 65: Establishing the Heir
Qi Zheng was drinking alone in frustration when a hand suddenly reached over and picked up the wine cup across from him.
He frowned slightly. When he looked up and saw the other person’s face, his brows drew even tighter.
“The court almost turned upside down today, and here you are drinking alone. I used to think you were pretty ambitious. Why did your style suddenly change?”
Qi Zheng gave a cold snort through his nose. Did Chen Bai think that just because he had not attended court today, he knew nothing about what had happened there?
Chen Bai clicked his tongue and sighed twice. This Qi Zheng was truly strange enough. Was Mountain Lord not right here in front of him? If he wanted someone to drink with, he could just find him directly. Why insist on pouring a cup for an empty seat? Did he not find it eerie to look at?
“Anyone who didn’t know better would think Prince Zheng is some devoted lover, sick with longing.”
Chen Bai had just been about to bring the cup to his lips when a hand reached over and snatched it away.
“Nonsense.”
“And from now on, stop swaggering around under Mountain Lord’s name. Just be your Chen Zixu properly.”
He was practically sullying the refined friendship between him and Mountain Lord.
Chen Bai: “…”
Qi Zheng’s brain was definitely built differently from ordinary people’s.
If he would not let him drink, then forget it. He could drink by himself from now on. Chen Bai cursed inwardly.
He had not come here specifically to tease Qi Zheng either, so he said, “Empress Dowager Zhaosheng stepped forward to clean up the mess. Under her persuasion, the King will probably establish an heir very soon.”
Qi Zheng gave a sound of acknowledgment.
Chen Bai frowned slightly. “Before the King establishes the heir, the refined salt extracted from our salt lake must appear before the people. Along with the earlier promotion of lettuce, these two great contributions that improve the people’s livelihood will be achievements known throughout the world. At that time, if someone of high status and great authority takes the lead in advising the King to appoint you as heir, creating the sense that it is the general trend, then, moreover, Great Qian’s army is now pressing on Yan’s border. In the future, we may very likely be drawn into the disputes among the states. At a time like this, Great Qian’s heir absolutely cannot be someone weak. You also happen to have no small amount of military merit from before. With all these things added together, even for the sake of all Great Qian, the King will find it difficult to insist on his own way.”
“But the problem is, extracting refined salt from the salt lake requires building a saltworks. If we want it built as quickly as possible, it will cost even more.”
In Chen Bai’s eyes, Qi Zheng had already invested quite a lot into developing his fief. Although he had also earned some of it back, spending a large amount of money would probably not be that easy.
In the end, Qi Zheng replied, “Do as you see fit. The sooner refined salt appears, the better. As for money, that is not a problem.”
Chen Bai was stunned. Since when had Qi Zheng been so rich?
As if seeing Chen Bai’s confusion, Qi Zheng only said three words. “Lu Qingqi.”
Chen Bai’s mouth opened. “Lu Qingqi, one of the Three Dukes?”
Chen Bai had only dragged his own father onto Qi Zheng’s war chariot. In Chen Bai’s view, pulling in one of the Nine Ministers was already an incredible limit. Yet Lu Qingqi, one of Great Qian’s Three Dukes, was actually standing on their side too?
This was good news. In Chen Bai’s original plan, the Three Dukes were supposed to remain neutral.
If Lu Qingqi, who controlled financial authority, supported them, then money indeed would not be a problem.
Now that the King was seriously ill, the management of Great Qian’s finances would inevitably loosen considerably. It could be said that at such a time, as long as Lu Qingqi was willing, he could basically make the final decision when it came to allocating resources from the treasury.
Of course, getting Lu Qingqi to use the treasury to help Qi Zheng build a saltworks would not be that simple. But it was not impossible either. Lu Qingqi only needed to provide a barely reasonable justification, and whether the reason was reasonable or not would ultimately be judged by Lu Qingqi himself. It was like being both the judge and the defendant.
As for the reason, Chen Bai had already thought of one for Duke Lü.
Once their salt lake began producing refined salt, a large quantity of refined salt entering the market would inevitably impact the market. It would not be friendly to the other salt merchants. It could be said that in the face of this new refined-salt technique, and in the face of refined salt that was both good and cheap, the other salt merchants would only have bankruptcy waiting for them.
And who were the other salt merchants? They were Great Qian’s official salt trade.
Even if Lu Qingqi did not want official salt to go bankrupt, he would eventually have to cooperate with Qi Zheng and obtain the new method of refining salt.
So this reason was perfectly reasonable and legal. Even other officials would have no way to object.
Chen Bai nodded. “Since that’s the case, I’ll make refined salt appear on the market as quickly as possible.”
Providing the people with refined salt that was both cheap and good, along with promoting lettuce, would solve the most basic livelihood issues of the people. In such a short time, Great Qian would be given a completely new look. By then, Qi Zheng’s reputation would surely be at its peak.
Before leaving, Chen Bai glanced at Qi Zheng, who was holding a wine cup. As if possessed, he reached out and patted Qi Zheng on the shoulder.
“My condolences.”
Then he turned and ran.
Qi Zheng’s face instantly darkened like the bottom of a pot. “Impudent.”
If Chen Zixu had not run so quickly, he would definitely have been hung up and beaten. The difference between him and Mountain Lord was far too great. It was practically a sin.
The next day, Chen Bai went to work on his saltworks. He truly did not dare go look for Qi Zheng, so he found someone to send a message. As a result, the people Qi Zheng arranged arrived one after another.
Chen Bai only needed to direct them on how to build the saltworks. Other issues like manpower and materials were not things he had to worry about.
The saltworks site was chosen beside that lake, to be built around it.
Calling it a saltworks was not entirely accurate. Chen Bai intended to build this place into a very distinctive salt town.
Of course, the most urgent matter was still to build the saltworks first. The rest could be planned slowly.
Chen Bai brought a group of students with him. It was just right for him to build the saltworks while teaching them.
Now he had added one more course: chemistry.
A group of students were each holding beakers filled with some saltwater, right by the lake, heating them with alcohol lamps.
“This lake water contains many different substances. What we’re learning today is how to separate these substances.”
So the students recited the periodic table while learning how to separate salt from the lake water using different methods.
The extraction process for lake salt was actually very mature. They just had to follow the method. The reason Chen Bai did not directly tell these students the method, and instead let them slowly try it for themselves, was to cultivate their ability to think and use their hands.
But the saltworks could not be treated the same way. There was no time for research. They needed to directly use the mature extraction process he had found, so that they could extract salt as quickly as possible.
If it had been before, Chen Bai would not have needed to be this urgent. But the situation now was special.
Therefore, the saltworks was basically being built overtime. Fortunately, with Lu Qingqi’s financial support, otherwise it truly would have been troublesome.
Of course, Chen Bai first built a portion of it successfully, attempting to extract salt first, and then slowly expanded it afterward.
Compared to the busyness of building the saltworks, the students were much more cheerful.
“Ah, look at my beaker! Black stuff really separated out of the water.”
“This must be the toxic metal Bai-ge’er talked about. Tsk, tsk, I separated out one kind! Haha.”
Of course, the happiest time was mealtime. Because this place was rather desolate, the cooking was extremely rough.
How could these students stand it? Each one of them was a pampered young master raised by noble families.
For this, Chen Bai really did bring out some good things. He bought the students lots of self-heating hotpots.
“Gan Xin, do you want to taste my spicy self-heating hotpot?”
Gan Xin looked at his own clear-broth beef-roll self-heating hotpot, then looked at Chen Xiaobu’s spicy hotpot. “Then… maybe I’ll try one glass noodle?”
He was clearly the most afraid of spicy food, but every time, he could not help wanting to try someone else’s spicy dish. In the end, just one glass noodle turned his whole little face red from the heat.
Chen Xiaobu was still smug as could be, eating big mouthfuls. “How can you not eat something this delicious?”
Gan Xin looked miserable. Why could he not eat spicy food? But his clear-broth beef-roll hotpot was tasty too. He could even drink the soup.
Qi Zheng also came often to check on the progress.
The progress of the saltworks was extremely fast. It had to be. Chen Bai had already begun using the completed salt ponds to sun-dry and boil salt.
But faster than their progress was the news from the palace.
Chen Bai received a summons from the palace. “Summon the Grand Secretary of the Brush to the palace…”
Chen Bai’s eyes shrank. At this time, summoning him to the palace probably meant nothing other than having him draft an edict.
When Chen Bai arrived, sure enough, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers were all present. Even Empress Dowager Zhaosheng was there.
The King’s condition had also worsened. Compared to the last time Chen Bai had seen him, he looked noticeably more gravely ill.
The atmosphere was somewhat stifling.
Chen Bai stood to one side, waiting for orders.
“May the King establish the heir.”
No one knew who spoke first, and then the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers echoed the request.
Empress Dowager Zhaosheng sighed. She knew how difficult it had been for the King to ascend to his position back then. For a person who had grown used to standing at the peak of power, suddenly being forced to establish a final edict must have felt terrible.
But if this dragged on any longer, who would be responsible for Great Qian’s stability?
In Chen Bai’s eyes, or perhaps in everyone’s eyes, the person who was already terminally ill might not think of himself as having reached the point of no return. So the power he could still grasp would not be so easily released.
The King’s voice was somewhat hoarse. “Do you all think I’m about to die?”
Chen Bai finally understood. Even a person who had once been wise and clear-minded would have moments of muddled foolishness once they reached a certain point.
It was still Empress Dowager Zhaosheng who spoke. “What muddled words is the King saying? Establishing an heir is merely following ancestral law. Looking across the states, which country does not have its own heir?”
She even had someone read out Great Qian’s ritual system.
“Only following ancestral rites?” the King murmured.
To be honest, Chen Bai found this atmosphere hard to bear. Beauty growing old, a general entering his twilight years—because Chen Bai had not reached such an age, he could not properly comment on what kind of state of mind that was.
But the current King did indeed make people feel that uncontrollable desire for power.
In truth, whether it was the Three Dukes, the Nine Ministers, or Empress Dowager Zhaosheng, none of them showed the slightest intention of violating the King’s supreme authority.
After a long while, the King finally said, “Then let us follow the ancestral system.”
Only then did everyone let out a breath of relief.
Chen Bai quickly stepped forward and spread out the brush and paper that had already been prepared.
But the moment the King opened his mouth, the sleeping palace became quite spectacular. It could be said that no matter how well everyone had concealed themselves before, at this moment, they had to completely expose where they stood. After all, once Chen Bai’s brush fell, it would become an established fact.
