Chapter 1257: The monthly ticket of the richest man in Beijing)
After watching Fengsheng and Akdan, everyone came to the greenhouse with great interest.
They had just arrived at the Tenth Prince's Mansion when they saw camellias blooming in bloom.
I heard that in addition to camellias, there are also many winter jasmine and wintersweet growing in the greenhouse. Although it is not in flowering season right now, it would be good to go and take a look.
This year there are no corn, potatoes or peanuts planted in the greenhouse, so there is a lot of free space, and one-third of the space is filled with flowers of various colors.
Shu Shu learned from the past and was afraid that people would want to pick vegetables by themselves and would think about how to remind them after staying in the greenhouse for a long time.
As a result, everyone entered the greenhouse, looked around at the flowers, and had no intention of picking vegetables.
Shu Shu realized later that it was inconvenient for everyone to wear them.
This morning I entered the palace to pay my respects. Everyone was wearing flag uniforms and flag shoes, so it was not convenient for them to stand in the greenhouse.
Everyone looked around and came out and went to the main room to have tea.
Shu Shu ordered Xiaotang to lead people to pick the vegetables that could be picked, and divided them into equal portions for everyone to take with them.
It's not a valuable thing, and no one is polite to Shu Shu.
Before midnight, the dishes were all delivered, and everyone was ready to leave.
Qi Fujin smiled and said: "We agreed to take turns treating guests, is it my turn next time? Then I can choose a day in the twelfth lunar month and we can get together again?"
Just before eating, Qi Fujin had already talked about the origin of this rotating treat, which was considered as explaining to his sisters-in-law the origin of Ten Fujin's treat.
Jiu Gege said: "Sister-in-law Qi will wait for next year. It will be my turn this time in the twelfth lunar month. I should have invited everyone to come and recognize the door."
She came in the order of princes, ranking herself between the tenth elder brother and the ninth elder brother.
Otherwise, others cannot respect her as a great aunt, and she will really have to take a back seat to San Fujin.
Qi Fujin nodded and said, "I'm looking forward to that. Have you tidied up the garden? Your young couple has such a big house, it's really enviable."
The master of the Princess Mansion is Jiu Gege, and Bu Xi is only half the master.
He can live in the princess's mansion, but his future concubines and concubines cannot live here.
The Princess Mansion is equivalent to only being able to live in Jiu Gege's couple and Jiu Gege's biological children.
When Jiugege dies, the Princess Mansion will be returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Jiu Gege said: "We have made a garden on the east road, planted some fruit trees, and planted peonies, peonies and other flowers. Now that I think about it, it is not as good as Jiu Sao's place. I will ask someone to build a greenhouse next year."
The Princess's Mansion was renovated from Tong Guowei's old palace. It is next to Orundai's palace, separated by an aisle.
Later, when the princess mansion was being rebuilt, Brother Jiu asked someone to send drawings to Jiu Gege.
Jiu Gege was afraid of getting into trouble if they were next to each other, so he followed the example of the Ninth Prince's Mansion and changed the east road directly into a garden to separate the Princess Mansion from the Duke's Mansion.
Although the sisters-in-law nearby were older, since this was a small gathering as promised, they all agreed to take turns.
With their status, they have no shortage of human connections and social interactions.
But whether they were princes or nobles, they used to follow the example of Prince Fujin and just deal with it.
Who wouldn't like a relaxing and comfortable gathering like today, when the sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law get together to eat and drink?
Sanfujin smiled and said, "Then we'll wait for my sister's post."
Si Fujin nodded beside her. She was her sister-in-law, so naturally she only supported her.
Wufujin also wanted to see the nine-gege dowry. In addition to what was on the dowry list, there were also ten boxes of books from the collection of Ningshou Palace.
Among the women's volumes, besides Shu Shu, there are the most books in Jiu Gege.
Everyone agreed and left first.
Shu Shuyuan followed Shi Fujin, and Si Fujin watched everyone's carriage leave.
After everyone left, she followed the ten Fujins to see off the Four Fortunes.
Si Fujin's house was less than a mile away from the Ninth Prince's Mansion, so Shu Shu directly asked someone to bring the chariot over and sent Si Fujin back.
It started from going to the palace to say hello in the morning, and now it's been more than half a day.
Shi Fujin yawned and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm going back to catch up on my sleep. I was just thinking about today's treat and I didn't even get a good rest yesterday."
"Well, go ahead, I also want to take a rest..." Shu Shu said.
The two sisters-in-law also separated.
When Shu Shu returned to the house, changed her clothes, washed her face, and was about to lie down, Brother Jiu came back.
"It's quite early to leave? Didn't you say we were going to play dominoes?"
Brother Jiu asked curiously.
Over the past year, the dominoes have also flowed out of the palace.
Especially since the beginning of winter, everyone is in the mood for winter and can’t wait to have a card game in every household.
Shu Shu thought of Shi Fujin's card skills and said with a smile: "The ten brothers and sisters feed three families one by one. After two rounds, they will lose completely. No one likes to play with her anymore."
Although Wufujin and Jiugege prefer peace and quiet, they don't like playing cards very much.
When I arrived at Shushu, I was too lazy to think.
Therefore, no one went to fill Shifujin's place.
Everyone just plays cards for fun, and no one is addicted.
The ninth elder brother was still worried that the tenth elder brother would be away and Shi Fujin would lose his family. He asked Shu Shu: "Isn't it 'appraisal of treasures'? What about the back, what if I see the good ones? They are my sister-in-law and aunt, so they shouldn't take advantage of me."
Is Shifujin cheap? Did you pay the capital?"
Shu Shu rolled her eyes at Ninth Brother, opened the brocade box next to her, took out the two-layered pearl necklace, handed it to Ninth Brother, and said: "Brothers and sisters are generous, I asked everyone to choose their favorites and give them all away!"
Brother Jiu felt a toothache, so he took the necklace and said critically: "The pearls are good, but the beads are not big and not perfectly round. They are not as good as your own string. If you want to wear pearls, I will buy them for you."
Go!"
Shu Shu has a pearl necklace, which was given to her as a dowry by Madam Bo in her early years. After decades, the pearls still have a good luster and the beads are round.
The necklace in front of me does have some shortcomings.
The three-layered pearl necklace placed next to this one was larger, rounder, and more expensive, so Shu Shu had no choice.
She looked at the pearl necklace and hesitated.
This is another business that cannot be monopolized.
Should we cooperate with Kangxi or wait for the new emperor to ascend the throne?
It doesn't seem like it's hard to choose.
In the same way, the king and his ministers are in the front, and the father, son, and brothers are behind. The father and the son are definitely closer and more reliable than the brothers.
Such as the relationship between the emperor and Prince Yu, Prince Gong and others.
Before the princes came of age, both princes were promoted to important positions by Kangxi.
But as the princes became adults one after another, the two royal brothers and the younger brother had to give way to the princes.
When the time comes, the old elder brothers like the Ninth Prince will also give way to the new generation of princes.
Shu Shu said: "What did you think of when you looked at these pearls?"
Brother Jiu blinked and said casually: "You are old and your pearls are yellow?"
What else is there if not related to pearls?
Buy a casket and give it back a pearl?
Confused?
A hidden gem?
Shu Shu glanced at Brother Ninth and said, "I do know myself..."
Brother Jiu knew that he had made a mistake and said hurriedly: "Then what did you think of? A perfect match? Are there pearls and jade by your side?"
Shu Shu took the pearl, looked at Brother Jiu, and said, "Don't we still have two hundred thousand taels of spare money on hand? It would be useless if we just put it aside. How about we arrange for someone to try to cultivate pearls?"
Brother Jiu was stunned, touched Shu Shu's head, and said: "Why are you talking nonsense? Pearls are naturally raised, and they are not grown as tea or fruits. How can they be raised?"
Shu Shu shook his head and said: "This is not what I thought. The predecessors have already had the method. This matter has been recorded in "Wenchang Miscellaneous Notes" for a long time. In the Northern Song Dynasty, some people were cultivating pearls. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Buddhism was popular. There were people on the edge of Taihu Lake.
If you put a small bronze Buddha statue into the mouth of a big clam, you can get a pearl-shell Buddha statue. Later, when the dynasty changed, the income was reduced, and it disappeared from the market."
Brother Jiu looked at Shu Shu, then at Pearl, and said, "How many years will it take to raise her?"
Shu Shu thought for a while and said: "It depends on how big the core is in the center of the pearl. The large fake pearls they used in the Northern Song Dynasty only took two years."
Brother Jiu was excited and took another pearl from Shu Shu's hand, saying, "What about Dongzhu? Should it be possible to grow it too?"
Shu Shu looked at Brother Ninth and said, "I want to hand this over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for exclusive use?"
Brother Jiu shook his head hurriedly.
No one is a fool.
If you really cultivate this pearl, your grandchildren will be able to earn money for their families.
Not to mention becoming the richest man in the Qing Dynasty, it is possible to become the richest man in the capital.
As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, can he still be the general manager for the rest of his life?
When Khan Amma was here, he was the general manager, and he didn't worry about it when someone was replaced.
Brother Jiu understood what Shu Shu meant. Since he was seeking personal gain for his family, Dongzhu could not get involved.
Probably not.
At present, Dongzhu fishing has reached a large scale, with hundreds of pearl fishing boats, thousands of livestock, and dozens of officials. No one is allowed to use it unless they are ordered to do so.
Even their current status as husband and wife is considered to be the most noble group of people besides the emperor and prince. However, the prince Jiu Age follows the princely system and is allowed to use ten east beads on his crown; it is Shu Shu, the prince Fujin, who is in the same dynasty.
Ten East beads must be used on the crown.
But Dongzhu is divided into levels, with a total of seven levels. The only ones they can use are second-class and third-class Dongzhu.
The first class is reserved for the emperor, empress, and queen mother.
Dongzhu is precious because of the difficulty of fishing.
Brother Ninth figured out this key since he was well versed in economics.
Things are rare and valuable.
What would happen if Dongzhu, which was exclusively used by the imperial court according to rank, was ruined?
Cultured pearls can only be south pearls and sea pearls.
But everyone knows that the sea is deep and uncontrollable.
But Taihu Lake happened to be the south of the Yangtze River that he was afraid of.
He couldn't sit still and said: "Apart from Jiangnan, where are the other places? What about Hunan, or Shandong, both of which have big lakes..."
Shu Shu doesn’t know about this.
She thought for a while and said: "I mentioned Taihu Lake because most southern pearls are now collected from Taihu Lake. There are river mussels in Taihu Lake that can produce pearls. When the time comes, we will just fish out the river mussels and put pearl cores in them to make them.
A river mussel that produces one pearl can produce several pearls, so that a river mussel that originally did not produce pearls produces pearls. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. Even if you want to plant pearls, you must plant them in the original place of production, otherwise there will be river mussels in the nearby lake.
But it may not be the kind that produces pearls.”
Brother Jiu nodded and said: "You are right. Even if we want to raise pearls, we must have enough pearl clams. Tomorrow the Holy Spirit will return to Beijing and I will go to Jingyang Palace to look through the pearl tributes of past dynasties and take a look.
Where do they come from? Check the place of origin..."
He got Shushu's advice not to go to the inner court when the Holy Emperor was not in the palace.
The adult prince must avoid suspicion when he is under the melons and plums.
Although Jingyang Palace is now used as a collection of books, it is still in the East Sixth Palace and is included in the inner court...