When other people at the ferry heard Chen Xu calling His Highness Zhu Zhanchun, they started talking about it. His Highness is a title that only the royal family can have.
Not only did the general water transport troops come, there was also a royal relative.
At this time, a middle-aged man came out, Cao Yangfeng, Cao Yangshan's younger brother, and came to Chen Xuan: "Mr. Chen, it's very cold today, let's go into the house first, and this..."
"Master Zhu." Chen Xuan did not identify Zhu Zhanzhen, but Chen Xu's words about "Your Highness" just now aroused a lot of speculation.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Zhu, let's enter the mansion together."
Zhu Zhanxun smiled slightly at Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan wanted to take advantage of his influence. He was an official in the court, and it was not easy to interfere too much in the affairs of his sister's husband's family. He was just using his reputation to pressure others. First, he brought a
The one with a more powerful reputation.
Understanding Chen Xuan's selfishness, Zhu Zhanzhen smiled slightly and only relied on his reputation. This cautious approach made him trust Chen Xuan's character even more.
If he was a domineering person, he would definitely be able to prevent the rest of the Cao family from making any changes based on his ability to transport the general officers.
The huge courtyard of Cao Mansion covers an extremely large area and has nearly two hundred servants. Of course, the land in Huzhou Mansion is not as valuable as Yingtian Mansion. The land is cheap, so it doesn't matter if the house is bigger.
The decoration inside the mansion is also particularly sober and elegant. The pavilions, pavilions, gardens and courtyards are all very elegant. A stream of water flows from a mountain spring, with a clear sound and lively fish.
Cao Yangshan was an elegant man during his lifetime. Although he could not pass the exam for many years, he was a scholar and scholar who was elegant and learned a lot. When he met people who were coming to Beijing to take the exam and passed by here, they would stay for one night.
The Cao Mansion kept everything simple during the funeral and arranged housing for Zhu Zhanzhen and others, with five guards sharing a courtyard with them.
"Your Highness, there will be a funeral in Cao Yangshan early tomorrow morning. After tomorrow, I will take Your Highness to visit various prefectures."
"Nothing, just go about your business first."
"Also, Your Highness borrowed your..."
"Nothing, just a small matter."
Chen Xuan was afraid that Zhu Zhanyi would feel uncomfortable, but seeing that Zhu Zhanyi was busy teasing the fish in the yard at this time, he probably didn't take it to heart at all.
After Chen Xuan left, Zhu Zhanchen clapped his hands and said, "Let's go out and have a look."
"Your Highness, there is a funeral outside, so it's better not to go, for fear of bumping into you." Chu'er, who had been dizzy from vomiting today, advised with a pale face.
"It's not like I'm going to see the funeral, I'm going to see the outside of Cao's mansion."
Chen Xu has ordered Mr. Zhu to come and go freely in the Cao Mansion without any obstruction, and to give way to everyone he sees.
Zhu Zhanyi left Cao's Mansion and walked in the water town. In the evening, smoke curled up from every house. For this man, the smoke of human beings in the water town in the south of the Yangtze River was the most soothing.
"Your Highness, someone is following you." Yang Song, the young leader of the guard, noticed something strange on the bluestone bridge. Someone started following Zhu Zhanzhen when he left the Cao Mansion. However, his skills were poor, and he was discovered by Yang Song soon after.
.
"Can you see who it is?"
"A woman."
"A young woman?"
Yang Song was embarrassed for a while: "A little girl of about twelve or thirteen years old, I didn't see clearly."
Xiaosheng signaled to arrest her, if she dared to follow the emperor's grandson, it would be a life-threatening situation.
"No, let her follow you. Can you five be afraid of this little girl? If it's a pretty girl, I can handle it myself. If it's a bad guy, let her know what it means to be a big man."
Zhu Zhanzhen ignored the person following him.
When we arrived at the market, we saw that cotton, the best-selling product at the moment, was about to enter winter, and since autumn was cold this year, it was expected that winter would be even more difficult, so the demand for cotton was greatly increased.
Cotton was planted on a large scale during the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that farmers with five to ten acres of farmland must plant half an acres each of mulberry, hemp, and cotton. If the area exceeds ten acres, the planting area must be doubled.
, raising the cultivation of cotton to the legal level.
Cotton is cheap and has good thermal insulation effect, but because its economic value cannot be compared with silk and its technical difficulty is low, these big business houses look down on it.
However, the Jiangnan area has sufficient water vapor and is not very suitable for cotton growth.
In agricultural books, cotton is compared to silkworms. It requires no effort to raise and has the effect of harvesting. It not only saves the effort of weaving, but also has a better effect of keeping out the cold. Therefore, cotton was promoted and planted on a large scale in the Ming Dynasty, and it was even written
into the law.
The demand for cotton-padded clothes and quilts will be greater in the north. Farmers in the south prefer to raise silkworms and weave silk. The economic benefits of silk are higher.
Zhu Zhancheng believes that cotton is a crop that needs to be promoted on a large scale because it is cheap, easy to grow and practical.
Historically, European countries have been keen on growing cotton in various places. Now that I have returned to the Ming Dynasty, I will wait for the construction of steamships and navies to make the fertile land of Europe full of cotton.
"Where are these cottons sent by the shopkeeper?" Zhu Zhanzhen came to a merchant ship by the river and saw the cotton being loaded.
"Hey, this young master, I don't know which family he is from." The shopkeeper saw that Zhu Zhanchen was not wearing ordinary clothes and was accompanied by guards, so he did not refuse Zhu Zhanchen's conversation, but he did not reveal the information.
"I am a guest of the Cao family."
The shopkeeper's expression changed and he hurriedly ordered people to load the ship, shouting: "Sir, we are busy setting off, so we will leave first."
As the ship set sail, Yang Song said, "Your Highness, do you want to catch up and have a look?"
"It's almost night and we're still setting sail. I'm afraid I'm busy on my way. No need, I'm just looking for a job on a small merchant ship." Zhu Zhanyi sneered.
There were no lights on the canals in the Ming Dynasty at night, and there were no lights on the boats. It was not that easy to sail at night, and of course it was not that easy to catch ships that evaded taxes at night. At this time, the sky was getting dark, but the ferry was still busy.
Most of these merchant ships are small merchant ships. They set sail overnight and stop at small ferries overnight. You can save a lot of tax by visiting more often.
The fundamental solution to these problems cannot be solved by catching an escaping merchant ship.
When lanterns are lit on both sides of the river, under the dim light, there is still an evening market on the busy water system. The prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River is bustling with life, but it is not so easy in the north.
Sitting on the bank of the river, Zhu Zhanyi also saw someone reading a newspaper. The newspaper had flowed from Yingtian Mansion to Huzhou. There were also storytellers here. Zhu Zhanyi ordered a table of dishes in a small restaurant and asked the guards to sit down.
But they refused.
Afraid of looking too strange, I asked them to open another table and I had a table by myself.
The food in the small restaurant has the taste of a small restaurant, but the storyteller's Yang Family Mansion has a different flavor.
Halfway through the meal, Yang Song came over and whispered: "Your Highness, the girl you are following is at the second table behind you."
Zhu Zhanzhen smiled slightly, picked up a cup of tea, and walked straight over.
She was a pretty little girl, short in stature and childish in appearance, with an oval face and a pair of eyes that flickered in panic.