It is not illegal for me to be poor in the Ming Dynasty

Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

It is not illegal for me to be poor in the Ming Dynasty

Xu Shi also knew that he had become poor too quickly. Zhu Houzhao could only sigh: "Master, I have been very poor recently."

"As usual, should I ask you why you are poor?"

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, according to the custom, master, you have to ask this, but it doesn't matter even if you don't ask, I can tell you directly."

"Then can I cover my ears and stop listening?"

"cannot."

"Okay, I can only listen attentively."

Later, Zhu Houzhao explained the reasons for his poverty in a slightly sad tone.

This is a long story, and we have to go back more than two months. It was still the middle of the first lunar month, which was the first day of the new year.

That day Xia Yuan was summoned from Xiajiazhuang to the palace, and Zhu Houzhao also came out of the palace with joy.

As for Emperor Hongzhi, the Chinese New Year had just passed, and the winter stipends and the New Year's silver rewards were distributed to the palace people. Those who were poor in the money were disturbing the people and making noises.

The Ming Dynasty adopted a two-tax law, which levied taxes in summer and autumn. After the taxes were collected, the treasury would allocate part of the emperor's internal funds.

Including the large and small imperial estates of the royal family, they were also collected in summer and autumn, and then charged into the internal funds.

And it was just the beginning of the new year. Not to mention that time, even then it was only mid-spring.

So during that time, Zhu Youtang spent the whole day thinking hard, thinking about how the money in his internal funds could last until summer.

As a result, Zhu Houzhao climbed over the wall and left the palace, and was jointly sued by Yang Tinghe and Li Min.

So Emperor Hongzhi directly used this as a reason to stop Zhu Houzhao's monthly payment. Although the dignified prince's monthly payment was only a few hundred taels of silver. Compared with the huge expenses of the palace, this amount of money was just a drop in the bucket, but Zhu You

Zang doesn't mind it at all, it's worth saving.

As for when the monthly silver coins will be restored, according to him, it is best to stay in the East Palace to see the effects.

This move definitely hit Zhu Houzhao's seven inches. Monthly silver is very important to him, how important it is.

The people depend on food, but without money, their world will collapse.

Of course, this does not mean that a dignified Ming prince has to pay for meals in the palace.

But the palace diet, or imperial cuisine, really only pursues appearance and nutrition, and the taste can only be said to be average.

The problem is not that the imperial chefs at Shangtanjian are not skilled in their craftsmanship. The imperial cuisine has its own rules and menus passed down from the palace. For the sake of safety and security, they will never develop any new dishes, otherwise the emperor or the prince will be eaten out.

Who is responsible for the problem?

So there are dozens of dishes over and over again.

These dishes cannot be made too delicious, nor can they be made hard to swallow. They must be mediocre. There is also an unspoken rule here. We do not seek merit, but seek no faults.

In addition, from Shang Tanjian's cooking to serving the table, there is a tedious process in between, including passing the food and testing the poison. Although it is kept warm by charcoal fire, it will not become cold or cold, but the flavor will be lost.

Some.

So when you eat it, it has no taste. Let alone no taste, even if it has taste, Zhu Houzhao would have been tired of it long ago.

I usually have monthly money. Today, I will use the money to buy a lamb and roast it. Tomorrow, I will send someone to Diianfang to buy a roast duck to satisfy my craving.

Now this only source of income has been cut off, for the sake of my own livelihood and for the early recovery of my monthly income.

Zhu Houzhao was stunned and did not dare to sneak out of the palace again, so he stayed in the East Palace for more than two months.

He was also really poor and crazy. Among all the eunuchs in the East Palace, he never let go of anyone who had some money and borrowed all of them.

Of course, he said he borrowed it, but he still hadn't paid it back, and no one dared to ask him to collect it anyway.

After listening to Prince Xiao Zhu's sad past, Xia Yuan finally understood why he hadn't seen this guy since the beginning of the new year. He was just a fool.

There are no mobile phones these days, so keeping a naughty kid's pocket money under control is easier than any other trick.

Then he sighed with emotion: "What happened to His Highness is really sad."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah"

Zhu Houzhao nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking rice, and then looked at him expectantly. Xia Yuan also looked at him silently, and time seemed to have stopped.

The two stared at each other for a while, and Zhu Houzhao finally asked: "Master, don't you have anything else to say?"

Xia Yuan stretched his arms and moved his muscles, then walked towards the side hall, muttering to himself: "Every book in this library is a top priority. As a new official of Xima, I have to inspect them carefully when I take office."

Please make sure you don’t make any mistakes."

The clerk next to him heard this and quickly reminded in a low voice: "Sir, it's a horse wash, not a wash, it's a xian."

"Yeah?"

While he was talking, Zhu Houzhao followed him and said, "Master, just lend some money to your apprentice."

Xia Yuan couldn't help but be moved by this tone of voice, which was like a beggar's begging. He stopped in his tracks, reached into his arms and took out a few taels of trivial silver, and then handed it to him with a desperate expression.

"."

Zhu Houzhao took all the money, spread it in his palm and looked at it for a while, then said with a complex expression: "Master, I really didn't expect that our master-disciple relationship is only worth a few taels of silver."

Hearing this, Xia Yuan took out another ten-tael silver ingot and handed it over with pain, "Well, if I give you another ten taels, I'll treat it as helping you. There's no need to pay it back."

Zhu Houzhao accepted the order without ceremony, still looking at him with a complicated expression, and a little sadness in his eyes.

Xia Yuan felt uncomfortable with this little look, and could only say without conscience: "Your Highness, I am also very poor. These ten taels of silver are already half of my net worth."

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's eyes widened a little, as if he was shocked, "Your entire net worth is only more than 20 taels of silver?"

"Your Highness, it is not against the law to be poor in the Ming Dynasty."

After saying that, Xia Yuan lowered his head and glanced at the red unicorn suit on his body again, "Don't look at the fact that I have an official status now. I am a horse washer, and I also wear this unicorn suit given by the emperor. Looking at it, there are five people and six people.

, but I’m actually very poor, really.”

"No one gives you gifts, no one shows you filial piety?"

"No."

"."

Zhu Houzhao was silent. After a while, he slowly said: "On the day of Master's high school reunion, I sent Gu Banban to congratulate Master. Gu Banban came back and said that there were many servants moving boxes in Master's front hall. Master,

What's in those boxes of yours?"

Hearing this, Xia Yuan turned around and looked at Gu Dayong aside, "This dog eunuch, you are such a castrate!"

I thought I was here to congratulate you, but it turned out that Ta Ma was a spy spying on the enemy.

Gu Da dodges his eyes and smiles at him.

Turning his head back, Xia Yuan's face remained unchanged and he said seriously, "Oh, that box contains all the local products sent by relatives in my hometown. There are some worthless crops such as cabbage and soybeans in it."

Zhu Houzhao was startled, and then his expression gradually became serious.

Seeing that he was silent for a long time, Xia Yuan couldn't help but said: "What are you thinking about? Why don't you speak?"

Zhu Houzhao said seriously: "I am thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"Thinking about what I am like in the eyes of the master makes him think that I am stupid enough to believe such a thing."

Xia Yuan's cheek twitched. To be fair, he was not stupid, but mainly because of two.

He sighed and admitted: "Okay, to be honest with you, I am indeed relatively wealthy, but I can't lend you money."

"Why?"

Because if you lend it to you, riding the horse is like wasting money. I lent the money today. If you can pay it back in the future, I will write someone's name upside down!

This was Xia Yuan's inner monologue, but he said: "Because it is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish. The money I lend you will always be spent when it is spent. Why not find a way to make money and make money together."
Chapter completed!