The Host is Clearly A Scumbag (Quick Travel)

In the past few years, the old father, had gone to great lengths to ensure his son could have an age-appropriate friend, sparing no effort to help Li Sheng keep his secret.

Li Sheng always worried that if his identity as the Crown Prince were exposed, Mingting would treat him with the deference due to a superior and gradually grow distant.

So, he adamantly refused to reveal his true status, only vaguely mentioning that he was from the Li Family.

In order to make Li Sheng's lie convincing, Emperor Li had cooperated fully.

There were several princes in the royal family with only one son, so borrowing one of their identities wasn't a big deal.

Now, seeing Mingting so calm and composed, Emperor Li couldn't quite figure out whether the young man had seen through the ruse or not.

When they entered the small two-courtyard house, the Emperor noticed that though the residence was modest, it was meticulously tidy.

He Gu was a simple and honest woman. While others planted flowers and decorative plants in their garden beds, she grew scallions, garlic sprouts, leeks, and cilantro.

Emperor Li had heard Li Sheng mention it more than once in the palace, saying that during hotpot meals, Sister Xiaoe would pluck a handful of cilantro from the garden to mix into dipping sauce or toss into the pot, making it incredibly fragrant.

And in spring, his foster mother's freshly sprouted pea shoots, picked and blanched in the hotpot, were absolutely delicious.

As someone who couldn't stand cilantro, Emperor Li had still tried the pea shoots.

He had to admit that even with the palace's abundance of ingredients, this rustic yet fresh way of eating was something that only the common folk truly excelled at.

When Emperor Li arrived, Mingting was the only one home.

The textile factory in the outskirts of the capital had opened, and Jiang Xiaoe, unwilling to stay idle, had immediately applied for a job there.

Because she was skilled and experienced, she not only became a proud textile worker but was also promoted to team leader.

As for He Gu, she had gone to the countryside, saying she wanted to pick out a good goose to cook her newly learned dish, iron pot stewed goose, for everyone to eat.

Wang Zhi, who had also passed the imperial exams, had taken Xiaosong to visit a teacher, while Daya had gone to the Su Family's Mansion. She now served as a little courier between Mingting and Su Lingyi.

It couldn't be helped. Su Hengzhong had impulsively betrothed his daughter and afterward found everything about Mingting irritating, so he forbid him from visiting the Su Family's Mansion.

Fortunately, Mrs. Su was clever and often invited Daya over.

While ostensibly teaching Daya calligraphy and painting, she was actually giving Mingting an opportunity… through Daya, he could send Su Lingyi little snacks, trinkets, interesting books, or pretty jewelry.

In turn, Su Lingyi would embroider sachets or make fan pouches for Mingting. Their letters were also delivered by Daya.

When Emperor Li arrived, Mingting invited him inside and served tea.

Li Sheng sat casually to the side, and Mingting, without any hesitation, addressed the Emperor as 'foster father' so naturally that Emperor Li almost felt brainwashed into thinking having such a foster son wouldn't be so bad.

Although they had never met, Mingting had a very good impression of Emperor Li.

As his immediate superior, the Emperor was truly an excellent leader.

Despite so much opposition to hiring female workers, he had steadfastly adhered to the management regulations Mingting had written for Li Sheng, implementing them meticulously.

Crucially, under pressure, he hadn't thrown Mingting under the bus, shouldering all the blame himself.

At the same time, the material rewards Emperor Li had quietly given Mingting were never lacking.

Working under such a leader was reassuring!

There was no need to worry about being sacrificed like Chao Cuo, who was thrown to the wolves by Emperor Jing of Han when trouble arose and even executed by waist-cutting.

Encountering a leader like Emperor Jing was nothing short of a curse, and no amount of bad luck could compare.

Therefore, Mingting was more than willing to put his mind to work and help Emperor Li solve problems.

As the saying goes, 'choice matters more than effort'. In the workplace, aligning with the right leader is crucial.

Emperor Li sipped his tea, observing Mingting.

'Excellent… what a vibrant young man! And so handsome, too. Just looking at him brought joy!'

Emperor Li chatted casually with Mingting, probing as they spoke.

He doesn't know whether Mingting's acting is too good, or this boy is really an engineering geek who doesn't care about other things at all. Anyway, Emperor Li couldn't quite pin him down.

'Did he know my true identity or not?'

This became a nagging question for Emperor Li.

Later, Emperor Li talked to Ming Ting about textile factories.

The factory's profits were impressive, and for now, it remained state-run, with private operations not yet permitted.

Many people, upon seeing the state-run factory's success, had begun eyeing the spinning machines, and private operations were inevitable.

When the time came, the court would naturally prioritize those with strong economic strength and more reliable people as the first batch of private factory directors.

The only thing troubling Emperor Li was that once production scaled up, domestic demand alone wouldn't be enough.

The spinning machines were simply too efficient, and the output from Dongnan Province alone could already supply the entire southern region with plenty to spare.

If private textile factories opened nationwide, supply would inevitably outstrip demand.

What should they do then?

"That's easy… revive the Silk Road!" Mingting took the map and unfolded it.

The ancient Silk Road still existed, but with Western Xia controlling the northwest, the western route had become far more dangerous, leaving only a handful of daring merchants willing to risk their lives for profit.

In his younger, more ambitious days, Emperor Li had sent troops to attack Western Xia.

In recent years, Western Xia had grown restless again, blocking key passages to the west and drastically reducing the number of merchants traveling that way.

"Don't worry, I've been tinkering with a little invention lately. If it succeeds, Western Xia won't be a threat."

Mingting then pointed to the coastline.

"Besides heading west, there's also the option of going south… we could establish a Maritime Silk Road."

'Lift the maritime trade ban?'

"No one has ever done this before…" Emperor Li frowned.

"Everything starts from nothing!" Mingting said, pointing to several island nations in the South Seas.

"I once read a travelogue mentioning that these regions produce abundant rice. The rice grains here are long, and can grow up to 2 cm when cooked. Moreover, they can be harvested three times a year."

"Just think about it, three harvests a year! If we secure this area, it could become our rice-producing hub, a granary!"

"And here… the climate is perfect for sugarcane, which is a key ingredient for sugar. If we open the maritime trade, we could sell our fabrics, silk, and porcelain at high prices while importing their rice, sugarcane, and fruits at low costs..."

Fengtian perched on Mingting's shoulder, watching its boss effortlessly fooling the nation's most powerful ruler.

"You might not know this, but sugarcane is incredibly useful!"

"The syrup squeezed from sugarcane can be used to make white sugar and rock sugar. The sugarcane in our southwestern provinces originally came from there. Moreover, the leftover bagasse and peel can be used to make paper, which is far cheaper than cutting down trees for papermaking."

"Lower paper costs, combined with movable-type printing, will make books more affordable, so more people can buy and read them."

"Reading leads to literacy, cultural enrichment, understanding of principles, and knowledge of etiquette. As the people's quality improves, more will take the imperial exams and serve the court. Knowledge will no longer be monopolized by the aristocracy, as all scholars will be disciples of the Son of Heaven, further stabilizing imperial authority..."