A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Shenzui summarized and organized the information collected since the last meeting, and after careful consideration, he decided that it would be more appropriate to start from within the Liu family.
Since we want to do this, we need to find out the situation of the Liu family. The more detailed information we can collect, the better.
But it is not that easy to do this. Some ordinary information does not sound difficult, but it is difficult to understand the internal information of the Liu family and meet Zhu Shenzui's requirements.
In the past few days, Zhu Minfeng and the three of them have been doing this, but the results are not great. After all, some information in the Liu family is difficult for outsiders to know.
On this day, Zhu Shenzhui got up early, practiced boxing in the courtyard and then went out. Since he had nothing to do, he simply went to Liu's house today.
Zhu Shenzui took some time to get to the place while walking. The location of Liu's Mansion and Zhu Shenzui's courtyard were half a mile away from Pingyang Mansion, not too close in between.
This is also normal. After Lao Zhu established the Ming Dynasty, he divided people into four categories: scholars, farmers, industry and merchants. In addition, he also specially set up military households, craftsman households, lowly households, etc.
According to Lao Zhu's classification, merchants, that is, merchants, belong to the lowest category among the four people, only better than the humble.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, merchants also had strict regulations. The merchants' residence, clothing, etc. must be distinguished. The political status of merchants was very low. No matter how rich your family was, you could not wear silk clothes, let alone be an official.
However, these rules were set in the early Ming Dynasty. It has been more than two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Many of the rules established by Lao Zhu have long been ignored.
In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the rule that merchants could not work for officials was broken by the policy that merchants' children could participate in the imperial examination. It was common for officials' families to engage in business. The rule of clothing restrictions had long existed in name only. During the Wanli period, there were many merchants wearing silk clothes. Who else would care about this matter?
But even so, the restrictions on merchants cannot be said to be completely relaxed, and the residence of merchants is one of them.
If it's outside the city, that doesn't matter. No one will care about where you want to live, or you can build a manor. But in the city, especially in a city like Pingyang, people are quite particular about these things.
Zhu Shenzui was a member of the clan, and his status as a clan member was naturally noble. Among the four types of people, including scholars, farmers, industry, and merchants, the clan's status was higher than that of scholars.
According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, residences in the city were also divided into areas based on this level, so the area where Zhu Shenzui and his clan lived was different from where ordinary people lived. To use the division of later generations, it is the difference between high-end communities and ordinary communities.
Old Beijingers all know that there are differences between the South City and the North City in old Beijing, as well as the differences between the East City and the West City. Where the dignitaries live, and where ordinary people live, these divisions are very clear, and the same is true for Pingyang Mansion.
Just like Zhu Shenzui's family, even if the place they live in is dilapidated, it is still the best area in Pingyang Mansion. As for the Liu Shancheng family, no matter how rich they were, they could not move their yard to the area where Zhu Shenzui and his family lived. They could only build a house in an urban area where ordinary people lived.
Zhu Shenzui didn't come here much because it wasn't his usual area of activity. But they are all in Pingyang City, and Zhu Shenzui is no stranger here. In addition, Liu Shancheng is well-known in Pingyang, so it is easy to find the location of the Liu Mansion.
When we arrived at the place, although it seemed a little messier than Zhu Shenzui's residence, it was also more popular.
The rules of ordinary people are not as strict as those of clans and dignitaries. As ordinary people, they can come and go as they please. In addition, the people of Jingshi are just running around for life every day. It is very lively here early in the morning, with people coming and going. You can also meet all kinds of people.
The Liu family is located here, and the Liu family's courtyard is quite large. In comparison, Zhu Shenzui's small courtyard is simply incomparable.
The entire Liu family occupies almost half of the street here, and the high-walled compound looks quite impressive. If it weren't for the fact that the Liu family was a merchant's home and the house, including its gate and door wall, had restrictions, people who might not know it would have thought it was that adult's mansion when they came here for the first time.
The main entrance of the Liu family is always closed, and it is impossible to see what is behind the high wall from the outside. A small door on the side was open, and servants from the Liu family came in and out from time to time.
It is unknown whether Liu Shancheng's family members are at home. If you want to know, you have to visit in person. However, Zhu Shenzui had no such intention. Although he could visit in the name of the clan, he had no such idea at all. He wanted to investigate Liu Shancheng to target the Liu family, but he did not want to show his face in front of the Liu family master. Once he did this, he would not only It won't have any effect, but will only frighten the enemy.
The Liu family had to think about it secretly. Zhu Shenzui also explained this requirement carefully to Zhu Minfeng and the other three. What's more, although their clan's status is not low, the court's restrictions are also strict. If the clan visits merchants' homes, it will be troublesome for local officials to find out.
After walking around the high wall of the Liu family, Zhu Shenzui felt really emotional. The Liu family is really a big family. Not to mention other things, the Liu family is not simple from the outside.
Liu's house, which occupies half of the street, is called the gate of a big house. Although Zhu Shenzui has never seen the inside, he can still imagine the luxury and grandeur inside Liu's house. These are all piled up with money. Ordinary How can people have this condition?
Let alone Zhu Shenzui's family, I'm afraid the General's Palace of Zhu Minfan, the auxiliary general, is not as good as that.
The Liu residence seems to occupy a larger area than the General's Mansion. Even though the location is not as good as the General's Mansion, in terms of wealth, Liu Shancheng is definitely richer.
Zhu Minfan relied on Zuyin. Among the clan members in Pingyang Mansion, he had the largest wealth. He had shops in the city and many real estate properties outside the city. But the Liu family is a wealthy family. How can the money earned from shop rent and farming be compared with doing business? Not to mention that the Liu family is also engaged in smuggling.
Zhu Shenzhui, who was a salt smuggler himself, knew very well how huge the profit from smuggling was. The profit gained from one trip was probably far greater than that of the General's Mansion in a year. The two were simply incomparable.
After completing the circle, we returned to the main entrance of Liu's house.
The side close to Liu's house is full of high-walled courtyards, while the other side of the street is ordinary houses and shops.
The street opposite Liu's house is very lively, with a lot of people coming and going, and the business of several shops looks good.
The shops here are not big. After all, this area is full of ordinary people, and the shops sell nothing more than ordinary things.
Along the way and after another circuit, Zhu Shenzui was a little tired. Just as a scent of fragrance came along the wind, Zhu Shenzui glanced over there and saw that one of the shops was very busy. The man was sitting and eating, and then walked in that direction.
When I got closer, I saw that they were all ordinary people eating breakfast. The food was very simple, just freshly baked pancakes and the like. In addition, this shop is a tofu workshop, which supplies bean curd at this time. He ate the pancakes with tofu curd and smelled the aroma. Zhu Shenzui, who had not had breakfast today, suddenly felt hungry.
As soon as he found an empty seat and sat down, a young man greeted Zhu Shenzui warmly.
"This old customer, what do you want to use? Our store has the bean curd and soy milk just made today, as well as the freshly baked pancakes from the neighbor next door..."
"Let's have a bowl of tofu pudding and a pancake." Zhu Shenzui said casually.
"Okay! Please wait a moment." The young man responded quickly, and soon brought bean curd and pancakes over.
Needless to say, this pancake is freshly baked and fragrant, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. It smells very good. As for the bean curd, there is a full bowl filled with braised seeds and chopped green onion. The white bean curd, black braised bean curd, green chopped green onion and red chili peppers make one’s mouth itch.
The young man placed the things in front of Zhu Shenzui, and then said that there were condiments on the table. If Zhu Shenzui felt that the saltiness was not suitable, he could add it himself. If he needed anything else, just ask him.
Zhu Shenzui nodded to show that he understood. The young man smiled and asked him to use it slowly, and then he was busy greeting other guests.
He reached out to pick up the pancake, tore off a piece and put it into his mouth. Although this pancake was not a white flour pancake, it tasted delicious. Then he took a bite of the tofu curd, and Zhu Shenzui's eyebrows rose after one bite. Forgetting the pancake, the tofu curd was very good. It can be said to be the best bean curd that Zhu Shenzui has ever eaten.
The seasonings in the bean curd are ordinary, but the taste of this bean curd is unique. Generally speaking, tofu pudding has a strong beany smell, and if the heat is not controlled properly during cooking, it will also have a bit of a burnt smell.
But this bowl of tofu pudding is extraordinary. The beany smell is very light, and there is no burnt smell at all. The skill of stewing it is excellent. The tofu pudding is neither old nor too tender. It is very delicate in the mouth, and it is smooth and smoky when you inhale it. After entering the stomach, there is a hint of sweetness after careful aftertaste.
A bowl of bean curd made Zhu Shenzui smile with joy. This was the first time he knew that there was such a shop selling bean curd in Pingyang Mansion. After eating, Zhu Shenzui was still a little unfinished. He stretched out his hand to greet the waiter, pointed to the empty bowl and asked him to have another bowl.
