Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

When Kong Hongxu entered the hall, he expected to see a scene of the crown prince reading a book, with the air filled with the fragrance of books.

To everyone's surprise, the very foundation of the nation lay slumped over the desk.

He used an abacus in one hand and checked the account book in the other.

He was muttering some vulgar phrases about fire damage and price reductions.

Kong Hongxu's face, which was usually immersed in the Four Books and Five Classics, immediately turned bright red.

It was as if I had seen something filthy and uncivilized.

"Your humble servant, Kong Hongxu, a reader in the Hanlin Academy, pays his respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

Kong Hongxu knelt heavily on the ground, his voice filled with heartache and indignation.

"Your Highness, you are of noble birth and a model for all scholars. How can you indulge in such petty and calculating tasks of merchants? This is putting the cart before the horse and is an insult to His Majesty's ears!"

Zhu Qizhen was startled by the sudden shout.

With a flick of his wrist, a drop of ink fell onto the ledger.

He raised his head blankly, looking at the weeping civil official in the green robe before him, at a loss for what to do.

"Who...who are you?"

Zhu Qizhen asked timidly, subconsciously pulling the abacus closer to his chest.

He was afraid that this person was there to steal his abacus.

If the accounts aren't settled, the Grand Tutor will punish him by making him dig a pit.

Kong Hongxu stood up, pointing with deep sorrow at the ironwood abacus.

"Your Highness, I am here by imperial decree to instruct you in the classics of Mencius. Your Highness, as the ancient saying goes, a virtuous man rarely speaks of profit. Governing the country and bringing peace to the world relies on benevolence, righteousness, morality, and the teachings of a benevolent ruler!"

"If a ruler's eyes are filled only with gold and silver, the people will vie for profit, and the country will cease to exist!"

Zhu Qizhen blinked his big eyes.

The image of Gu Yannian's ambiguous smile appeared in my mind.

He swallowed hard and tentatively asked a question in return.

"Lord Kong, if we don't speak of profit, how will the court pay the soldiers on the nine borders? If the border troops are starving and the Oirats invade, are you going to use this copy of Mencius to preach benevolence and righteousness to them?"

Kong Hongxu was taken aback by the child's innocent remark, then puffed out his chest and said proudly:

"Your Highness is mistaken. As long as the ruler governs with benevolence and wins people over with virtue, the surrounding barbarians will naturally submit, and wars will cease. Furthermore, the Ministry of Revenue will take care of the national treasury's bounty."

"Your Highness is the future emperor; you should sit in the Hall of Brightness and rule by doing nothing. How can you personally handle such mundane affairs?"

Just as Kong Hongxu was preparing a long discourse, using the profound meaning of the sage's words to pull the young prince back from his "lost path".

"Clap clap clap".

Three crisp claps rang out from outside the hall.

Gu Yannian was dressed in a simple lake-blue robe and held a folding fan in his hand.

She stepped lightly across the threshold.

Behind him, Emperor Xuande, Zhu Zhanji, dressed in casual clothes, followed in with a smile and great interest.

The emperor and his minister had overheard Kong Hongxu's words clearly while they were outside the palace.

Upon seeing this, Kong Hongxu and Wang Zhen hurriedly knelt down to greet the emperor.

"Rise."

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand, walked to the dragon throne, sat down, looked at his son who was covered in sweat, and smiled.

"My son, what did you think of Attendant Kong's discourse on the way of the king?"

Zhu Qizhen secretly glanced at Gu Yannian, who was standing to the side with a calm expression.

The little body involuntarily straightened up, and the mind raced.

He had not forgotten the bloody lessons the Grand Tutor had taught him.

"Reporting to Father Emperor..."

Zhu Qizhen's childish voice rang out in the main hall.

It carries a touch of worldly wisdom and clarity honed through years of experience in the world of abacuses.

"Your subject thinks that Lord Kong's words sound nice, but they won't fill your stomach."

Kong Hongxu was greatly alarmed and hurriedly said:

"Your Highness! The way of the sage is an unchanging principle for all ages; how can it be measured by such vulgar terms as filling one's stomach!"

Gu Yannian gently waved his folding fan, offering no rebuttal.

She simply looked at Zhu Qizhen with her deep eyes, gesturing for him to continue.

With the Grand Tutor's tacit approval, Zhu Qizhen grew bolder.

He picked up the account book he had just finished calculating from the desk, walked up to Kong Hongxu, and spread his small hands.

"Lord Kong, you just said that benevolent governance can bring the submission of all barbarians. Then let me ask you, during the Former Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu raided the borders every year, and Emperor Wu of Han used all the power of the country to fight back, exhausting the wealth accumulated during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing."

"If Emperor Wu of Han had simply sat in Chang'an reading books, would the Xiongnu Chanyu have withdrawn his troops on his own?"

Kong Hongxu blushed and argued, "That...that's warmongering! If it's about benevolence and righteousness..."

"Even benevolence and righteousness cost money!"

Zhu Qizhen was so anxious he was jumping up and down.

He poured out everything he had seen and learned under Gu Yannian during this period.

"Lord Kong, go and take a look at the soup kitchens outside the capital! Each distribution of soup helps a thousand refugees, and it consumes twenty shi of fine rice and five hundred jin of firewood every day!"

"In years of famine, the Ministry of Revenue must allocate 100,000 taels of silver to appease the starving people of a prefecture!"

The young prince became more and more excited as he spoke.

He even picked up the heavy ironwood abacus and shook it vigorously in front of Kong Hongxu.

"The Grand Tutor taught me that every inch of peace in the Ming Dynasty was painstakingly earned, penny by penny, with an abacus! If the national treasury is empty and there is no money to pay the army or provide disaster relief, let alone the submission of the foreign tribes, even the starving people outside the capital could wear down the threshold of the Forbidden City!"

"You expect me to avoid worldly affairs? Are you suggesting I wait until the national treasury is emptied by corrupt officials before I take my Confucian classics and hang myself?!"

Inside the Wenhua Hall, there was complete silence.

Kong Hongxu stared wide-eyed at the seven-year-old prince before him, as if he had seen a ghost.

This...this is hardly the pampered crown prince living in the deep palace.

This is clearly a seasoned money-grubber who has been navigating the business world for decades!

That set of sage teachings was useless in front of this child whose mind was full of costs, firepower, and military pay.

It seemed so pale and powerless.

Zhu Zhanji sat on the dragon throne, first stunned, then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Good! So much for benevolence and righteousness—it costs money!"

Zhu Zhanji slapped his thigh, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down his face.

His gaze toward Gu Yannian was filled with undisguised admiration.

She was able to teach a spoiled young prince to be so pragmatic and clear-headed.

Every word and sentence directly addresses the crux of the nation's interests.

Such teaching achievements are unparalleled throughout history, except for those of Prime Minister Gu!

A relaxed smile appeared on Gu Yannian's lips as he gently closed the folding fan in his hand.

"Your Majesty, although Your Highness's words are somewhat crude, your reasoning is sound. To govern a country and bring peace to the world, the first priority is the food and clothing of the people, and the expenditure of military funds."

"If even these mundane matters cannot be resolved, how can one talk about the benevolent teachings of the king?"

Gu Yannian turned around and looked coldly at Kong Hongxu, whose face was ashen.

"Reader Kong, you are well-versed in poetry and literature. I ask you, where was the egret-patterned robe you wore today, which you came to Wenhua Hall from the Hanlin Academy, woven?"

"Where did the autumn grain transported from to pay your monthly salary come from? If you cannot answer that, then do not spout nonsense in this hall and mislead the students."

Kong Hongxu was sweating profusely, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, stammering for a long time.

He couldn't utter a single coherent sentence.

He studied diligently for ten years, learning the Four Books and Five Classics.

Little did they know the intricacies of the Imperial Textile Bureau and Taicang.