Gongsun Yi passed the imperial examination and suddenly became the target of all the forces in Prince Xing's palace who wanted to win over him.
He had only been back for a few days, and Yuan Zonggao had already asked him to talk to the palace several times. He would also ask for his opinion on any difficult problems he encountered...
But no one knew what level Gongsun Yi was, but Zhu Hao knew very well that the idea of letting him participate in the palace's decision-making was nonsense.
Zhu Hao secretly thought that Yuan Zonggao's purpose in doing this was not only to divide and disintegrate the alliance between Tang Yin and Gongsun Yi, but also to use Gongsun Yi's hand to suppress Tang Yin's reputation and status in the palace.
It's just that Tang Yin didn't feel defensive about it.
"...I'm talking about Mr. Tang, Mr. Gongsun ran to the Prince's Palace Chief Secretary many times, but you didn't feel in danger? Yuan Changshi has a big grudge with you now. Mr. Gongsun is both a local and relies on the Prince's Palace for his talents.
With today's momentum, in the eyes of the palace, he is a talent cultivated by himself, and you can't compare with him."
Zhu Hao likes to instill a sense of worry in Tang Yin's ears whenever he has nothing to do.
It was also because he couldn't stand Tang Yin's lazy character, who spent three days fishing and two days drying nets.
Some time ago, Tang Yin was very motivated to seize the land from Prince Xiang's Palace, but the fields were easily taken back, and the grain on the land was harvested smoothly. It was not a problem to return the land tax and other things to the warehouse. Now the Prince's Palace no longer cares about this matter.
He was so considerate that even Tang Yin relaxed.
He was leisurely and at ease every day, but he felt uncomfortable if he didn't drink for a day, and he couldn't cheer up for Zhu Si's class. Most of the time, Zhu Hao was the one to teach.
Zhu Hao, who was a teacher in his previous life, was completely qualified to give lectures, but the problem was that he was not a gentleman from the palace, and the palace did not pay him a teacher's training. Isn't this working in vain?
Tang Yin said: "It doesn't matter. I have a very good relationship with Fengyuan. It is not something that others can easily alienate...Besides, Fengyuan has no desire to compete for fame and profit. Even if he wants to compete...I will let him do it."
yes."
Tang Yin seemed very confident in his friendship with Gongsun Yi.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Sir, you have never seen his cheeky side. In the past, he had no power and no reputation. In a place like Prince Xing's Mansion, he could only keep a low profile... You can guarantee that he can still be calm now."
State of mind?"
"You kid, you worked so hard to cultivate him, and even secretly told him the problem, so that he can achieve what he has today. You can definitely recruit him and use him for your own use. Why do you come here to turn a deaf ear to me? You have nothing to do?
You know I don’t like to compete with others..."
Tang Yin looked a little impatient.
The foundation of my life, Mr. Tang, is to be free and uninhibited. Now you have given me a sense of crisis, but I am an old man who is half buried in the ground. I really can’t lift my spirits.
"Mr. Tang, to put it bluntly, you can't support the wall with mud... It's not easy to gain a foothold in the palace. Fortunately, you didn't become an official back then."
Zhu Hao said in a sarcastic tone.
"How to speak?"
Tang Yin blew his beard and stared.
But there was nothing he could do with Zhu Hao.
Gongsun Yi did not dare to claim to be Zhu Hao's husband, and Tang Yin did not dare to do so.
The two parties were considered friends, and he was used to Zhu Hao's venomous side. Sometimes it was Zhu Hao's almost sarcastic tone that gave him a sense of confrontation, and he was able to survive until today.
"Figure it out for yourself."
Zhu Hao hated him for not arguing.
But this is Tang Yin's temperament, and it's difficult to change it. It's good or bad, and it's not bad either. Tang Yin's free and easy personality is actually very suitable for being friends. When Zhu Hao got along with Tang Yin, he didn't feel that the other person had the airs of a celebrity, and was half-hearted.
The old man chatting with you all day long does not think of himself as a teacher, and his attitude is sincere...
Zhu Hao felt that this was the Tang Yin he wanted. If he wanted to cultivate Tang Yin into a "hero", it would be difficult to achieve, and Zhu Hao would probably regret it one day.
…
…
September has arrived in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Houzhao's birthday is September 24th. According to the usual practice, if Prince Xing's Mansion wants to send gifts to the emperor for the Qianqiu Festival, it will leave about twenty days in advance.
At present, because the relationship between the local magistrate Zhang Yezheng and Prince Xing's Mansion is not harmonious, the two parties have no plans to send gifts together. Prince Xing's Mansion can only prepare it on its own, and this matter is left to Zhang Zuo. Zhang Zuo naturally thought of asking Zhu Hao to provide the gifts.
"Zhang Fengzheng, this is a tribute to the emperor as a congratulatory gift. My workshop is only making a little glass now, so I'm afraid I won't be able to produce such a valuable thing."
Zhu Hao was very embarrassed.
He knew early on that Prince Xing's Mansion would make things difficult for him regarding the gifts, but he never took it to heart.
You can't get any credit for this thing, and it's easy to take the blame. Whoever wants to do it will do it!
Zhang Zuo was anxious: "Where can I find good things at once? Whether it's rare treasures, precious jade, or delicacies, what kind of things does the Ming Dynasty lack? Just take out something similar to the telescope before and let our family
If you do a good job, the palace will also give you a good reputation...I will definitely not treat you badly."
He said that he would not be treated unfairly, but he did not say how much he would pay for the purchase.
Jiang Lun, who came with Zhang Zuo, couldn't stand listening anymore and reminded him: "Zhang Fengzheng, you should tell Master Zhu what the value of this gift is? Get a telescope. It looks good, but the actual price is not high."
Only twenty taels of silver?"
Zhang Zuo glared at Jiang Lun, but immediately lowered his head. He did not dare to challenge Jiang Lun, but he was wondering in his heart, are you on my side or on this kid?
Although this boy is also a member of the palace, but when it comes to interests, he becomes a businessman who has financial ties with the palace. The palace's treasury is not the same as his family's treasury. If he gets fat in this matter, it will be a loss.
to the palace.
"The price doesn't have to be high, as long as you have your heart set on it."
Zhang Zuo said with a wry smile.
The meaning is obvious, I don't want to spend too much money.
Over the past year, the palace has fought a war and defended against a major flood. After the flood receded, it also helped local disaster relief and built river embankments. It gained a lot of popularity among the people, and the treasury was quickly depleted. After all, there was nothing from the war to the disaster relief.
Letting everyone in the palace suffer, regardless of the cost.
Now it's my turn to give gifts to the emperor, but I can't afford too much money, or I don't want to take too much money.
No matter how generous you are, it has nothing to do with whether Crown Prince Xing can successfully inherit the throne.
As long as the emperor is alive, you will never have a chance. Giving gifts to the emperor is just to silence others, not to make the emperor appreciate it more.
Zhu Hao said: "By the way, Zhang Fengzheng, when I make a glass mirror, there will be some scraps that can be made into dazzling glass beads... How about..."
Not to mention Zhang Zuo was surprised, Jiang Lun stared at him.
Glass beads?
When you send congratulatory gifts to the emperor, do you think you are sending them away as a beggar?
"No hurry, no hurry, just finish it in the next two days... Let's give Master Zhu time to think about it, and go back first to wait for good news!"
Zhang Zuo saw that Zhu Hao was not willing to let go of the hawk when he saw the rabbit. The palace did not intend to allocate huge sums of money to purchase it, and Zhu Hao did not intend to deal with the errand properly.
What he meant was, I brought my words to you and you think about it carefully. If it doesn't work, we have alternatives.
If our family continues to entangle with you, I guess you may directly propose to take a few glassware as tribute in the next step... You are not fooling the court or the emperor, but you are fooling Prince Xing's palace.
…
…
Zhu Hao really didn't think about providing any tribute.
Recently, he has been busy with the weaving workshop. Now that steam spinning machine and loom technology has gradually taken shape, the efficiency and quality of the cloth produced have been greatly improved. The next step is to train skilled female weavers.
, and then open a workshop that occupies a larger area.
Although the quality of the cloth woven by steam-powered looms was very good, it still fell short of the tribute products.
Besides, the loom invented by Zhu Hao was mainly made of cotton, which was widely used by the common people. Rich people still purchased silk, so it was naturally impossible to use cloth as a gift.
After Zhang Zuo informed him, Zhu Hao still didn't take it too seriously.
Two days later, Zhang Zuo took Tang Yin to visit him personally and found Zhu Hao who had just returned home, intending to negotiate with Zhu Niang.
In the hall, Zhu Niang looked confused: "Send tribute to the imperial court? I am a widow, how can I dare to accept such a thing?"
Zhang Zuo was a little anxious: "Mrs. Zhu San, you are doing a big business. You could provide such shocking things as telescopes before, so why can't you provide a few decent tributes?"
Tang Yin said peacefully from the side: "Things like tribute should be discussed as early as possible and make temporary preparations... I'm afraid it will be difficult."
"well!"
Zhang Zuo could see that neither Mother Zhu nor her son wanted to take on the task of sending gifts to the emperor, so he finally left with Tang Yin unhappy.
After they left, Zhu Niang looked at her son curiously: "Xiao Hao, do you promise to find any tribute for the palace?"
Zhu Hao shook his head: "I didn't promise anything. It's just that the batch of telescopes last year made Prince Xing's Mansion think that we have this ability. In fact, we are just ordinary businessmen. How can we have so many fancy things?"
"that's true."
Aunt Li had been hiding behind the curtain of the shop and eavesdropping. When she heard what was said, she came out and agreed.
Now the rice paper shop is doing business.
Aunt Li takes care of the front desk business, and occasionally asks Xiaobai to help take care of it, saying that she wants to hire a female accountant, but Aunt Li always feels that the business is too deserted, and she can handle it by herself, so she invites someone to come back and look after the front desk.
Things didn't work out.
"By the way, aunt, is Xiaoting doing well in her studies recently? A girls' school over there has been opened, and I want her to go there and study."
Zhu Hao came back this time and wanted to send his sister to school.
Zhu Ting's presence in the Zhu family is too low. Her daughter's parents always want to get married when they grow up. In addition, Aunt Li was originally a concubine. After her husband died, the Zhu family did not treat them as normal people.
Zhu Ting is almost eight years old now, and will be in second grade in future generations.
It’s time to go out of the house to broaden her horizons and let her go to a girls’ school. There are many seven- and eight-year-old girls in the class. If she goes there, she can make friends, systematically learn cultural knowledge, and learn production skills. In the future, she may be able to
Become the female head of the workshop, female accountant, etc.
Zhu Hao had mentioned this matter in the past, but was rejected by Zhu Niang. Now that the old matter was brought up again, Zhu Niang looked at Aunt Li and asked her to decide her daughter's future.
Aunt Li said: "Let her go? Can you rest assured?"
Zhu Hao said with a smile: "Auntie, please relax. There are three people at the women's school to ensure safety. After all, my workshop and laboratory are next to it, and security has always been a top priority. In addition, the school is taught by female teachers, and classmates
They are all girls, and no one usually bothers them. They are located in a private alley, so no one would dare to cause trouble."