"Your Highness the Crown Prince, I am willing to buy it!"
Seeing that everyone was unmoved, Wang Chengen hurriedly stepped forward and took the initiative to buy. In this way, it was not too late to remedy the situation.
Yaoji looked at the honest-looking old fat man and thought to himself: I've been shouting for a long time, but you are the only one who intends to buy it. Isn't this too cold?
One seller and one coupon holder...
The scene is so embarrassing!
Fang Zhenghua was not stupid. When he saw Wang Chengen trying to please the prince, he couldn't remain indifferent. He stepped forward and saluted: "Your Highness, I am also willing to buy it!"
Without the support of the prince, even if Fang Zhenghua gave up all his wealth, he would not be able to exchange for a leg of the chair where Admiral Dongchang sits. Now is a good opportunity to repay the favor!
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, I am also willing to buy..."
The eunuchs such as Li Jizhou and Yang Jinchao who serve the prince naturally understand that they have to do their part and must not let Wang and Fang steal the limelight. In the future, when the prince ascends the throne, all those who serve the prince will be followers of the dragon, so they will all be active. Very.
Even if the money cannot be cashed in the future, it is still money spent to buy peace. If the money is gone, you can make money again. If this head falls off, it will no longer be safe...
After a few more "vouchers" were added, the little prince's face finally became pleasant, and he approved a group of servants with their own ulterior motives: "Go to Li Jizhou to declare. The basis for senior servants is ten thousand taels, and the basis for intermediate servants is thousand taels." Basic, the low-level chamberlain is based on one hundred taels, it is all voluntary and cannot be imposed! The following week must check it with the female official appointed by this palace, in triplicate, the applicant keeps one, the East Palace keeps one for itself, and submits it to Kunning Palace One copy. The amount, time and interest purchased by the subscriber must be recorded one by one, and the fingerprints of ten fingers must be carefully recorded and there must be no mistakes!"
After drawing the line like this, even if those extremely rich guys want to test the waters, they have to bring in a few boxes of money.
One tael in the Ming Dynasty was 37.3 grams, which was rounded up to 40 grams per tael. Ten thousand taels was equivalent to 400,000 grams, which is equivalent to about 400 kilograms in later generations. It would take eight boxes to pack 50 kilograms in a box. The father-in-laws don't have to worry about not having boxes to put money in, because that's what they do. Making money is their main job, and their side job is to work for the emperor.
Like Wang Cheng'en, eunuch Bingbi spent twenty years from the time he entered the palace, all the way to Chongzhen's side. Only he knew how much money he could make during this period. After all, each father-in-law has different ability to make money. Not comparable. But there is no doubt that the one who is best at making money in Houdi must be Wang Zhixin who had his head chopped off. Dying for money is a well-deserved death. How heroic is this!
"Purple Gold Bonds" is a name that Yao Ji came up with out of an idea. There is no physical object at all. Currently, the purchase model is adopted. The purchaser can get a ledger similar to a passbook. Anyway, as long as the person is still in the palace, there is nothing to worry about. Even if you lose your account book, you can still come and scan your face. If someone picks up your account book and the fingerprints don't match, not only will you not be able to withdraw the money, but you will also have your head chopped off.
For the time being, everyone does not have to worry about the prince not paying back the money. For the senior chamberlains, the current deal of exchanging money for heads is still a good deal. Even if the prince acts rogue in the future, everyone will regard it as fulfilling their filial piety for His Highness.
Yao Ji will not deliberately default on his debts. If he fails to pay the money when it is due, he will be despised by thousands of people at any time. How can he walk around and play in the big house? Everyone's mouth is worth talking about, so it's scary to talk about yourself like this behind your back.
With the guise of the inner court and the title of prince as a guarantee, plus the fact that he would launch several high-profit projects as soon as possible, and then send his cronies to supervise the expenses, it is certain that this business without capital will not be a success for a while.
After that, it was about Li Jizhou and the female officials of Kunning Palace jointly keeping accounts. Yaoji asked his beautiful mother and two aunts to move to Kunning Palace to discuss important matters with them.
After everyone had sat down, Yao Ji saluted in public and said: "Mother, two aunts, your Majesty the father has not returned from his immortal journey, and the Donglu and Nankou are our enemies of the Ming Dynasty. The household department has been tight for a long time, and the inner court has increased revenue and reduced expenditure. It is inevitable. I boldly ask my mother and my two aunts for instructions on how to save money temporarily before His Majesty the Father returns from his immortal journey. As the prince, I must take the lead. I can suspend my salary and the items I receive, and think about the necessary items first. Borrow it from the Queen Mother, wait for the imperial court's income and expenditure to ease, then distribute it and return it to the Queen Mother."
To put it bluntly, from now on I will go to Kunning Palace to eat and drink, and even take and pack...
Empress Zhou was greatly pleased when she heard this. Her husband was already living frugally. Unexpectedly, the eldest son understood the current trend better than his father, so she said: "Brother Xang has always been gentle and humble. The palaces in the palace have already known about it. I didn't expect him to be the first to start the attack again." The pioneering practice of frugality is really a blessing to me and the Ming Dynasty, but my mother is worried that this will inevitably restrict Brother Hong's daily expenses."
It doesn't matter that the prince himself doesn't get a salary. He has a group of followers around him. There are no less than ten eunuchs serving him closely. It is inevitable that these people will gossip behind his back. The beautiful mother is even more worried about these servants.
Yaoji didn't take this seriously. Maybe from now on, everyone's income will be more. On the surface, he continued to maintain a humble attitude: "There is no need to worry about the queen, the children have their own solutions, but from now on, they will have to disturb the queen three times a day." Got it!"
The queen can afford 360 taels of food per month, which is an average of 36 taels a day. This money is enough to hire four chefs, plus several tables of delicacies and seafood.
Even for mistresses like Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan, their monthly food expenses are as much as one hundred and eighty taels. The prince went to Kunning Palace to get a meal, and the monthly quota of one hundred and twenty taels could be cancelled.
Just cut off the share of the vegetative emperor who consumes the most money. One thousand two hundred taels per month is just a waste of money!
Empress Zhou smiled kindly and scolded her eldest son with a look of annoyance: "Brother Xang, what are you talking about? It's natural to come to the Queen Mother's place to eat, but Du Xun, who was in charge of the meals previously, has been..."
Du Xun was the eunuch in charge of the kitchen, so Brother Xun might have been a little impatient to behead him.
Yaoji had another way of saying it, which was enough to resolve the worries of his beautiful mother: "I have reported to my mother that I think Du Xun, a dog slave, deserves to be beheaded. People who are greedy for money love money so much. If someone bribes him with a lot of money in the future, he will deliberately What's the point of causing mischief in the imperial meal? My six younger brothers are crying for food, and the rest of the imperial brothers are still young. How can we guard against the harm hidden in the imperial meal?"
In fact, the one who was most afraid of being poisoned was Concubine Tian. The three sons she gave birth to were all still young. The youngest, Zhu Cican, was just two years old and would die on the 27th of this month in history.
The fourth son of Emperor Tian, Zhu Cizhao, is only six years old this year, the fifth son of Emperor Zhu Cihuan is only four years old, and the sixth son of Emperor Zhu Cican is only two years old. Even if he is late with something unclean and suffers from diarrhea for several days, his life will be in danger. Not to mention someone deliberately poisoning it.
Among Queen Zhou's children, the eldest son Zhu Cihong was only ten years old, and the rest were naturally younger. Their situation was similar to that of Concubine Tian. In this critical period when the emperor has not returned from his immortal journey, he will definitely be extremely vigilant towards a guy like Du Xun and cannot be careless in the slightest.
The beautiful biological mother gave birth to three sons to Chongzhen, and Concubine Tian also gave birth to three sons. They were simply competing to have babies, each one being more fertile than the other. Fortunately, his mother's first son came earlier than Concubine Tian, otherwise the title of crown prince might have fallen to Chengqian Palace.
There is a secret to why Concubine Tian is favored by her father.
Although her biological mother Zhou Yufeng has a dignified appearance, outstanding temperament, outstanding grace, and quite aristocratic appearance, she can be regarded as a great beauty even in Jiangnan. She can not only take care of the housework, but also cook in the fields. She was taught by the scribe Chen Renxi, so she knows books. Da Li is quite proficient in writing.
However, Tian Guifei is even better in terms of beauty and figure. She can be said to have a delicate jade face and unparalleled grace. Not only that, Tian Xiuying was extremely smart and versatile since she was a child. She was good at both civil and military arts. She was proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was omnipotent in Cuju, riding and shooting.
Not only is she stunningly beautiful, she is the most gorgeous, but she can also chat with, play with, and sleep with. She is simply a person who combines all kinds of skills...
With such a strong competitor who was able to give birth to sons, and the fact that she was ranked behind him when she entered the palace, Empress Zhou was already jealous and had to be vigilant at all times.
Zhou Yufeng was born in Suzhou, while Tian Xiuying is from Yangzhou. Both places belong to the jurisdiction of Southern Zhili. It can be seen that the dumper has a great affection for the beauties from the south of the Yangtze River.
When the beautiful mother was told this, she became nervous. She frowned slightly and said, "Brother Xun is serious. If you are negligent about the royal meal, you will definitely make a big mistake. Someone needs to be in charge of it. That's what he said. Come on, does it mean Brother Hong already has a candidate?"
In her heart, Queen Zhou was still willing to let the slaves from Kunning Palace take charge of the Shangshan Supervisor, but she couldn't show her aggressiveness in front of the two noble concubines. She could only wait for Brother Xun to shake his head before promoting his subordinates. It will be a matter of course.
Of course, you must first occupy the pit for this kind of thing, otherwise you will be poisoned to death and there will be no room to explain. Yao Ji bowed his hands and saluted, and recommended a subordinate: "I think Zhang Guoyuan, the eunuch who supervises the supervisory bureau, is cautious and loyal, so he may be appointed."
The most reliable candidate is naturally Wang Chengen, but this guy has other important responsibilities and cannot be tied to a place like Shangshanjian as the executive chef. The key departments under Zhang Guoyuan's jurisdiction are not illiterate people who can't read Chinese characters. It's perfectly fine to let him take charge of the imperial kitchen.
Empress Zhou originally thought that Brother Xun had just recovered from a serious illness and would need to rest for a while, so it was inappropriate for Zhang Guoyuan to be in charge of Shangshan Supervisor. However, the incident just now gave her a new perspective. Brother Hong's move can establish prestige and trust in the inner court and deter those with ulterior motives.
Thinking of this, the beautiful mother's red lips opened slightly, and she agreed: "I still need to tell Zhang Guoyuan that there must be no mistakes in this matter, otherwise it will be the crime of being executed by the whole family!"
Yao Ji immediately agreed. Taking advantage of Du Xun's experience, Zhang Guoyuan, who was frightened, could only act cautiously. He would never make money wantonly again. He didn't even dare to think about poisoning the royal family, unless he really wanted to be Ling Chi. put to death.
