Huang Xiaobao is indeed a good, loyal and capable eunuch who works quickly and reliably.
Emperor Zhu asked him to prepare a suitable residence for Marie Mancini a month ago, so that this beauty would not have to live in the residence of Prince Condé - how uncomfortable Prince Condé was! Such a good little foreign horse, you can only look at it but not ride it...
Now the little Yangma has her own "little home", on the edge of Tangquan Town, next to a high wall of Tangquan Palace. The original owner was the Catholic eunuch Pang Tianshou of Emperor Chongzhen. Because Eunuch Pang believed in Western religion, he especially liked Western-style things. Except for little foreign horses like Mary, he didn't like it at all and was annoyed when he saw it!
But no matter how troubled Xiao Yangma is, now he has no choice but to transfer the recently built Western-style mansion to Mary Mancini - of course not for free. Huang Xiaobao spent Emperor Zhu twenty-five thousand taels of silver to buy the house. Another five thousand taels were spent on adding furniture and building corridors. After the completion, Mary Mancini was arranged to move in.
By the way, a special person was also arranged to "serve" Miss Mary.
On the way to "Pang's Garden" (in order to deceive others, the name of this residence is still Pang's Garden), Huang Xiaobao also told Zhu Cixiang the conditions for Mary Mancini to "sell herself".
"Long live my lord, I have negotiated a price with Miss Mary. I will give you 30,000 taels at a time and 500 taels per month from now on. In addition, all the expenses of Pang's garden will be yours. The contract also stipulates a year and a ten-year period. After the expiration, you can ask to renew the contract, and Miss Mary cannot refuse. The price is a bit expensive, but Miss Mary refuses to be cheap, you see..."
A garden house requires a one-time payment of 30,000 taels of silver and an additional 6,000 taels of pocket money a year. The daily expenses of the house are also calculated separately... Zhu Cihong said in his heart: Although Huang Xiaobao is a good eunuch, he doesn't know how to negotiate business. ! If I had known, if I had asked Huang Jiang to negotiate, I could have negotiated half the price!
"Not expensive, not expensive..." Zhu Cixiang thought in his heart, but there was no expression of pain on his face, and he smiled and said to Huang Xiaobao, "The money spent on her can be recovered tenfold and a hundredfold. Yes, so it’s not expensive!”
What? Get it back? How to get it?
Huang Xiaobao was confused when he heard this, and thought to himself: Can you still make money from such debauched and immoral things? How to make money? You can't let Little Mary open the door to do business, right?
Zhu Cixiang looked back at him and said with a smile: "Xiaobao, you don't understand about making money! Do you know who makes the most money in the world?"
"This..." Huang Xiaobao shook his head and thought: Of course you are the one who makes the best money! Didn’t Miss Mary earn so much money from you? Thirty thousand at a time, six thousand a year for ten years, that's ninety thousand taels of silver, plus a house, it's 120,000 taels!
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "Of course women make the most money! Why do Westerners like our silk so much? Isn't it because their women like it? Women love beauty, so why spend some money just to look beautiful? And women like it. Comparison, if you have it, I have to have it too! What’s the point of spending some money? Xiaobao, do you understand how I want to make money through Mary?"
"I don't understand!" Huang Xiaobao still shook his head. Although he goes in and out with a group of women all day long, and even married himself a wife, he really doesn't understand women... and he is also quite stingy, and he is not very willing to spend money on women, no Just plain stingy!
To be honest, even with Mary Mancini's beauty, no matter how much she tempted him, she would never be able to dig out a single silver coin from his pocket.
Zhu Cixiang sighed and said with a smile: "Forget it if you don't understand this... Let me tell you this, if we want to make more money from Europe, we have to think about how to make European women spend money." money!"
While he was speaking, the emperor had already passed through the corridor and arrived at the back door of Pang's garden. The door was already open, and a fairy-like little pony dressed as a lady was already standing at the door with a smile to greet him... .
...
The weather has gradually gotten hotter. Although Pukou, located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, is cooler than Nanjing City, a hot spot on the south bank, the people walking on the street still put on thin robes and shorts. Unlike the elegant garb of loose clothes, large sleeves and square scarves that is more common on the streets of other big cities, such self-proclaimed "celebrities" are almost unheard of here in Pukou.
The narrow-sleeved and close-fitting clothes that are popular here look particularly energetic when worn. Many people also hang a two or three-foot long sword on their belts, which looks like a knight walking in the world - in fact, these belts The people wearing swords and narrow-sleeved clothes are not knights. Most of them are teachers and students from schools in Pukou and Laoshan areas or low-level officials from various government offices, and some are officers and soldiers on vacation.
Officials wear swords to show their status - Zhu Cixiang set the rules for officials to wear swords when he was the prince of Fujun. Not only were they required to wear swords, but younger officials also had to learn to fencing, archery and use muskets!
To be an official in troubled times, it is impossible not to have any martial arts skills!
As for the "new-style schools" in Pukou and Laoshan, all students, whether military or not, are required to wear swords, even girls. Not only must you wear a sword, but you must also learn to fencing. Bows and arrows, muskets, and horseback riding are of course compulsory! Students who are under the age of 18 or have short hair can only wear wooden swords, not the more lethal iron swords. Only after the hair-tying ceremony and hairpin ceremony are performed, the division commander will award the unopened sword - this is the weapon given by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty for them to use to defend the country of the Ming Dynasty! After passing a series of martial arts examinations, the sword can be wielded, and they can be considered a qualified successor to the feudalism of the Ming Dynasty.
As for the officers and soldiers of the Ming army, they would also receive swords nominally given by the emperor on the day they enlisted in the army - also unsharp. Only after they have completed the corresponding training can the sword be wielded, symbolizing that they have become good warriors of Ming Dynasty feudalism.
These swords distributed to officials, sergeants, and students all have special shapes and are prohibited from private imitation. In a sense, they are also symbols of privileges, obligations, and responsibilities!
Industrial and commercial people who work and live in Pukou and Laoshan generally do not wear swords (of course they can wear swords). If they need self-defense, they will only bring a flintlock pistol...
Today's Ming Dynasty allows people to hold guns, but the permission to hold guns is gradually tightened. In the early years of Hongxing, the government didn't care at all, but starting in the eighth year of Hongxing, the court promulgated the "Firearm Monopoly Law". Only businessmen who had obtained the monopoly rights could sell guns. Moreover, new customers who purchase firearms must pass the review, and must also participate in training and pass the assessment (you can also take the exam directly) before they can obtain a gun license and legally hold the gun.
By the way, in addition to being able to legally hold guns, people in the Ming Dynasty can also legally hold guns! Even cannons, with projectiles weighing less than 10 kilograms, can be legally owned! However, a "gun license" is much more difficult to obtain than a gun license. Not just anyone can buy a cannon and play with it at home... The cannon makes too much noise and disturbs the residents!
According to the provisions of the Artillery Monopoly Law, only merchant ship owners and nobles who own castles (nobles with a large number of land grants in frontier provinces or regions can build private castles) can purchase cannons, and the cannons they purchase must be stored in specified Location (fort or ship), cannot be moved without permission.
In addition, artillery can not be bought everywhere. Only in the eastern and western capitals of the Ming Dynasty (Yingtianfu, Wuhanfu), as well as Shanghai, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Macau and other places, cannon monopoly stores are opened. shop.
Anyone who wants to buy cannon has to go to these ten cities with a lot of paperwork and apply to the yamen that manages the monopoly. The purchase can only be made after getting approval.
In short, buying guns is a hassle. Moreover, you have to pay a considerable amount of artillery purchase tax, and you also have to buy artillery training courses. You really can't afford it without any wealth!
Steve Jobs, a big businessman from outside China and North Korea, is a businessman who is not afraid of trouble and is not afraid of spending money. This time, he used the excuse of purchasing a large number of artillery to leave Hanyang, where the head office of Jiale City Bank was located (after Duduo entered the court, he also moved most of his business to North Korea), and traveled all the way. Now he finally arrived at the city. Nanjing is both familiar and unfamiliar to him.
