The sky rises from the terraces, and the mountains are golden and green. There are countless poems describing Yangzhou since ancient times. This graceful and beautiful city in the south of the Yangtze River is really worthy of the descriptions of it by the literati, even in the Northland in the past few years.
Suffering from the Tatar invasion, the Ming Empire was on the verge of collapse, but the place was still full of feasting, singing and dancing. Now the Ming Dynasty is rising rapidly at an unprecedented speed, and Yangzhou is more prosperous than in the past.
With one hundred thousand guan on his waist, he rode a crane down to Yangzhou. This 100,000 guan was an astronomical figure for the people who had just lived a stable life, but it was no big deal for those wealthy businessmen who had the ability to spend a lot of money in Yangzhou city, and they were qualified to use their Tianfu
A certain fat man who used the restaurant as an inn would not take this small amount of money seriously.
As a secret contact point set up in the early days, Tianfu Restaurant lost its effectiveness as Chongzhen took control of Jiangnan and vigorously promoted various reform measures. Now it has become the most famous gold selling cave in Yangzhou City. He only has a thousand and eight hundred taels in his pocket.
Don't try to show off, their slogan is that there is no most expensive, only more expensive. Once you enter this restaurant, even the most ordinary Yangzhou fried rice costs thirty taels of silver. The cost of a meal here is enough for ordinary people.
of the previous year.
"Brother Cong, you said that we came all the way here just to watch others throwing money around?" Chongzhen lay listlessly on the window sill of the private room of Tianfu Restaurant, looking at the bustling crowd on the street.
Chongzhen was the foolish emperor of the Ming Dynasty, not the suave Tatar emperor. The thick-skinned old man Shiquan could go to the south of the Yangtze River six times to find flowers and willows and inquire about his own life experience. The shameless emperor liked to watch the powerful army tyrannize and expand thousands of miles.
Watching the terrifying navy sailing all over the world to reappear the majesty of its seven voyages to the West, he liked spending money to build a huge Imperial College, he liked it...but he just never thought of transforming Baoyang Lake into the Slender West Lake.
Fortunately, although there are not many scenic spots in Yangzhou now, there is no place to hang out without the Slender West Lake. The thousand-year-old Daming Temple is also a good place to go, but Chongzhen was not in the mood to go.
"Sir..." The warm wind may not necessarily intoxicate people. It may also make people drowsy due to colds. But the sudden gust of fragrant wind and Wu Nong's soft words that are numb to the bones can easily make people addicted.
in.
Chongzhen did not believe in Buddhism. Even if he believed in it, the gods and Buddhas would not care for the people at the bottom of society. At most, they would deceive these people into accepting their fate and looking forward to the cycle of the next life. Chongzhen also did not have boundless magic power to save all living beings.
He cannot rescue all the people in the world overnight. Similar to the new laws that are being formulated to only maintain the bottom line of morality, what the Ming court can do now is to provide the people with the most basic living conditions.
Create a level playing field as much as possible.
The subsistence allowance standard set by Chongzhen is very high. Fifty shi of grain and thirty taels of silver per person per year are really not available to the Ming court now. This will take time to be completed slowly, at least at this stage, what the local governments can guarantee
It is only 10%. And Ming Dynasty's reforms are not without scruples. Ministers must also consider the resistance from all parties when formulating policies. If they can be solved through subtlety, they will not immediately start to change it.
The fertile Jiangnan is not a barbarian land in the southwest under the rule of Zhuge Xi. Girls are still not valued here. With the existence of free education for all, the people are very happy to send their children to school, and wealthy families also
Occasionally, they will agree that their daughters should learn some medical skills. But after all, they are a minority. More poor families would rather send girls who meet the requirements to work in factories than to receive the three-yuan monthly scholarship to live.
Ordinary people are like this, especially those who have just got rid of their lowly status and are prohibited from engaging in the entertainment industry. Although no one dares to take the huge risk of selling their daughters into a brothel, if they can get their daughters from a wealthy family,
Even if they can get some money there to improve their lives, they will still bear the pain and part with them.
Even in Nanjing, the practice of inserting a straw mark on one's daughter's head for public sale is accepted by the world and does not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty. The response strategy of Chongzhen and his courtiers was just to buy it with money and then secretly
They put their land in official schools in remote areas to receive education. Women should not be inferior to men. This is not a simple slogan. The Ming Empire did not have the time to promote equality between men and women. Only they proved the correctness of this sentence through their own efforts.
, can it be truly accepted and respected by the world.
"Come in." Chongzhen didn't even look back. He didn't bring his maid with him when he went out for a stroll this time. Hearing the voice, he knew that the little girl Sun Qifeng bought on Yangzhou Street had arrived.
The little girl was born into a Qinhuai official family and received a good education since she was a child. However, because her father died early and her family fell into decline, she was forced by her relatives to become a singing prostitute. Unfortunately, she happened to catch up with the new policies of the imperial court.
, once again lost her place to stay. Thinking that she had delayed for too long and made her master angry because she was impatient to wait, the little girl quickly knelt down on the ground and trembled non-stop to apologize.
"Second brother, why did I say you're fine and scary?" It's not because of any pity for the beauty, Zhu Youcong's behavior is purely boring and provocative. I found a lot of problems during this trip, but I don't have to worry about anything, so I might as well take advantage of this
Before the emperor went back to work, he first found an opportunity to anger him, so as not to be cheated and have no time to retaliate.
"Damn fat man, can you be reasonable? When did my brother become scary?" He turned around angrily, and then realized that the little girl was really scared by him. He gave Zhu Youcong a hard look,
Chongzhen tried his best to maintain restraint and said: "Get up, don't kneel down! This has made me misunderstood!"
"No! No! It's my servant who is timid, my servant..." The little girl did not stand up, but still kowtowed her head in fear. This young master was a very good person, and he did not regard her as a beast like those wealthy families in the legend.
, he actually arranged a separate room for her in the most luxurious restaurant in Yangzhou City. But no matter how kind the master is, he is still a master. If he accidentally makes him unhappy and is resold to others, what will happen again?
life?
"Okay, are you finished yet? Get up as soon as I tell you!" In the palace, it became a habit to boss around. Chongzhen rarely thought about other people's thoughts, let alone deliberately pursued equality of status.
How can it be so easy to change the concept of respect and inferiority that has been cultivated for thousands of years?
"Yeah! Not bad, she looks quite iconic!" Chongzhen looked at the little girl lustfully and nodded with satisfaction. At the beginning, he really didn't expect that such a weak and inexperienced person would have a straw in his head, and be there all alone for people to watch.
The little girl who felt so distressed actually turned out to be a beauty after dressing up. Although she couldn't compare with the two troublemakers in the fat man's family, she was at least a little better than those Western princesses who were brought into the palace this time.
What is this foolish king planning? He rejected the queen's multiple suggestions for draft girls, but instead went to look for women in person? Could this be caused by genetic genes, and he wanted to imitate Wuzong's vigorous free love? Even then, he would not
We should find someone who is relatively older. How could we attack such a little girl who is only in her teens?
The little girl seemed to have a premonition of something, and her face turned pale. It is said that the children of the poor have become rich early. Although the little girl was born into an official, she spent her childhood in Jiaofangsi. She had long accepted her fate and knew very well that in this era
A slave has no status, and it is not unusual for a girl to be married as a wife in her teens. If the young master takes a fancy to her beauty, she will have no room to resist, no matter how reluctant she is.
"I heard that you sold yourself to save your sister?" One hundred taels of silver could only buy a side dish at Tianfu Restaurant, but it could buy several maids of this size. What moved Chongzhen was not the little girl's pitiful life experience, let alone
Her beauty, her willingness to be thought of as a fool and the high price she paid were just the reason for her selling herself.
"Yes, sir..." When she mentioned her sister, the little girl's eyes became moist. The two sisters, who had been dependent on each other since childhood, were eligible to enter the government school and enjoy free education, so there was no obstacle for them.
But her sister, who still retains the pedantic arrogance of a scholar in her bones, chose a rather ridiculous path. In order to prevent others from knowing her sister’s life and death, she actually chose to buy herself a slave and use the five taels of silver she could earn to
The little sister found a foster home so that she could look like she had parents.
The little girl is very ambitious. The old couple who raised her are also very attentive. If everything goes well, when she returns from school, she may be reunited with her sister one day. But fate is such a joke. Two months ago, my sister was doing something.
When he was traveling, he accidentally broke one of the owner's beloved treasures. If the old couple who rushed over after hearing the news hadn't put in all their good words, they would have been beaten to death on the spot.
One hundred taels of silver, both for the ill-fated sisters and the old couple, was the largest amount they could think of. But when they came to the door with the silver, they realized that reality was far from their dreams.
.
"Seven hundred thousand taels? What's so expensive?" Hearing the other party's asking price, even Zhu Youcong, who was used to being extravagant, was frightened.
"Slave... I don't even know!" The little girl choked with sobs and said intermittently: "I only heard that it seems to be a fine porcelain from Fu Kiln given by the emperor."
"Brother Cong, have you ever sold such expensive things to my brother?" Yuci? Isn't that from the emperor? Fu kiln? It seems to be something produced by some fat man's family. Chongzhen really can't remember it.
He had been blackmailed by Zhu Youcong for such a large sum of money.
"Nonsense! When I was at my most expensive, I only sold a pair of 900,000 taels. Besides, when did you ever take anything from me and pay for it?" Zhu Youcong was very depressed. He had suffered the most from selling bone china.
What happened to Gu Dazhang? How could it be possible that there are still fools who would be fooled after so many years?
"Young Master..." The little girl burst into tears and did not expect anyone to offer 700,000 taels of silver to ransom her sister. However, she had known how to observe colors since she was a child, and she vaguely felt that her master had a good background and could use Tianfu Tower as an inn.
People are definitely not short of money, and maybe there is a way to help. "Please show mercy and save my sister's life. Qian Qian is willing to work as a cow or a horse to repay you!"
"This..." Chongzhen is not a knight who rescues people in distress. Although it is easy for him to handle this matter, at least from the description of this little girl named Qianqian, unless he is willing to use his status as emperor to suppress others, otherwise
Even if he knew he was being ripped off, he still had to hold his nose and make compensation. But seven hundred thousand taels, this is really not a small number.
"Master! Please! Please..." Qian Qian kept knocking his head, and the blood gradually soaked the floor.
"It's no use begging me, you have to beg him!" You can't show off your identity casually, and the emperor can't bully others as he pleases, but an elder brother can cause trouble for his younger brother.
"Why me again?" Isn't it just an ordinary wealthy family? In addition to the little girl who is begging, it can be easily solved by screwing out any one of them. If he throws a piece of porcelain and pays the head office for a car? Why do you have to ask him?
Is this the general of the Zhenguo going to take action?
"For the sake of brother's happiness, isn't this an acceptable explanation?" The nominal income from the bone china belongs to the Prince's Palace, so Chongzhen really didn't need to ask court officials to help his family deal with the aftermath.
"No!" A very definite answer, but since the emperor has compassion, he can't appear too ruthless. Zhu Youcong can't instruct Chongzhen, but he still has subordinates. "Second wife, you go downstairs to choose a group
"Excellent products, and then follow Jiandou to get the person back!" The porcelain is worth 700,000 taels. These profiteers are worse than him. When the person is rescued, he will definitely find an opportunity to get double the money back. (To be completed.)