Gu Yunqiu is rich.
The palace gave him a lot of money, as well as rewards from the prince, princess and the palace.
But these are not "his" money.
Gold, silver, jewelry, pearls and agate were all given on the premise that he "is the crown prince of Prince Ning".
If he is no longer the prince, then the money no longer belongs to him.
When his life experience is revealed, the palace will most likely take back all the property in his name.
Therefore, Gu Yunqiu didn't really want to use the palace's money, and he couldn't use his current name and identity. He had to make up a fake name to do business.
Gu Yunqiu was lying on his stomach, but his thoughts were changing rapidly:
In addition to these, he has to find someone who is only loyal to him to stand up for him.
——After all, he is only eight years old now, and he has some constraints on buying a house and land and doing anything else.
With such determination, all the fears of rebirth were swept away, and he smiled while holding the little wooden bird in his hands.
The princess didn't know what was going on in his heart, but she thought her son really liked this little wooden bird. She told the old doctor a few words, then got up and left Ningxintang——
Halfway through April, it was time for her to pack her things and go to Baoguo Temple.
She had a hard time giving birth and was safe and sound only because of the help of eminent monks from Baoguo Temple.
After that, she would stay in the temple for a few months every year, copying sutras and chanting Buddhist scriptures to express gratitude and fulfill her vows.
…
Gu Yunqiu rested in bed for a few days. After the soreness in his hands and feet passed, he asked Brother Shun to go out together again——
While he was lying in bed, Prince Ning came to talk to him for a while late one night. What he meant was: study and practice martial arts, don't push yourself too hard.
Gu Yunqiu nodded, and when Prince Ning left, he whispered: "Thank you, Dad."
Not Prince Ning as a prince, but the father who once really loved him as his own son.
Prince Ning stood at the door of the room and shook his head in a funny way. Although he muttered "Why are you being polite to your father?", he still couldn't hold back the smile on his face.
With Prince Ning's words, Gu Yunqiu naturally no longer bothered to get up early to study.
The day he led Brother Shun to the streets was the commune day in central Beijing, and all the markets were very lively: people gathered together, and horses and carriages went by.
Gu Yunqiu wanted to go shopping on the streets to find some opportunities, but Brother Shun still treated him as a child and pulled him along to see all kinds of novel bamboo dragonflies, wisteria balls and little sugar figures.
These things are all exquisite, but looking at them too much makes Gu Yunqiu a little too lazy to deal with them.
He was reborn long past the age of being excited about a special toy.
Feeling that Brother Shun was in the way, Gu Yunqiu sent him to line up at Tao Ji and continued walking with the guards.
If he remembered correctly, the official office of Jingzhong Joint Venture, which manages land leasing, is located in Changsheng Lane in the northwest corner of the market.
Changsheng Lane runs north-south, with a dead end to the north, facing the ten-foot-high north city wall. Under the city wall was the North Water Gate. After the Tongji River was rerouted, the water gate was abandoned and an iron fence was erected on the original waterway.
Guanya is at the end of the alley, next to the craftsman's supervisor and the public field office.
Gongtian controls the wasteland in the counties of the capital, and Guanya contains news about all the houses for sale inside and outside the capital. Some of the deeds for buying and hiring slaves can also be seen here.
Brother Shun was not here, and the guards were not as eloquent as him. When he saw Gu Yunqiu turning into Changsheng Lane, he didn't think much about it——
Recently, a new fabric shop opened in the alley. The owner is from Zhangzhou. The fabrics sold are brightly colored, and there are also many ready-made clothes for adults and children, as well as dolls for children to play with.
They all thought that Gu Yunqiu was going to visit the cloth shop. In fact, Gu Yunqiu wanted to read the notice boards at the gates of the government offices and public lands, and see if there were suitable people to hire or suitable properties to buy.
The community was bustling with people gathering in the market, but Changsheng Lane was quiet with no one around.
Gu Yunqiu walked up and down, as if looking at the waterwheel at the entrance of the alley, and as if he was attracted by the raccoon slave licking his paws on the wall. While acting like an eight-year-old child, he scanned the information on the bulletin board one by one.
He was looking at it enthusiastically when two people suddenly ran past behind him.
They moved very fast, one after the other. If the guards hadn't stopped him, Gu Yunqiu would have been brought down by them.
The two of them ran over, and a panting old man ran out of the cloth shop in the alley. His clothes were messy and his face was ugly. He shouted at Gu Yunqiu and others: "Catch the thief quickly! Stop them -"
thief?
Gu Yunqiu looked back, understood, and immediately asked the guards to follow and help.
The guards of Prince Ning's Mansion were all out of the ordinary. They followed up in a few steps and blocked the two people under the big elm tree at the entrance of the alley without much effort.
Both of them were wearing black clothes and pretending to be a bunt.
They struggled together, grabbing each other's neck collars, and their remaining hands were pulling at a cloth bundle.
Gu Yunqiu stood next to the notice board. After a while, many enthusiastic people came nearby after hearing the news. They held weapons in their hands and blocked the entrance to the alley.
Seeing this fight, one of them, who was white and beardless, suddenly shouted, pointed at the other one with stubble, and yelled, "You are so good at hands and feet! How can you have the nerve to rob an old man's things!"
The person he accused was stunned for a moment, opened his mouth, and it took him a long time to say, "Don't be a thief, shout to catch a thief!"
With the guards around, it was difficult to start a fight, so they could only assign one person to pick up the baggage on the ground to report to Gu Yunqiu.
It turned out that the old man was visiting his in-laws, and he brought a baggage with him. The bag contained gifts for his in-laws and some private money for his daughter, so it seemed heavy.
He thought that the capital was at the feet of the emperor, so he was not very defensive. He wandered around Changsheng Lane and heard that there were exquisite dolls in the new cloth shop, so he wanted to buy some more for his grandson.
Without thinking, after looking at two pieces of cloth, a man in black jumped out from behind and snatched the bundle.
The old man was so frightened that he shouted "Catch the thief" on the spot, and some righteous men pushed aside the crowd and followed him.
Coincidentally, this hero was also wearing black clothes.
There is not much difference between the short game and the strong suit: the waist is tied with a belt and the feet are tied with leggings. At first glance, it is really hard to tell the difference.
Moreover, this old man's eyes were damaged, and he could see people and objects with a veil. He could see colors and outlines, but he could not distinguish people accurately.
The people watching also talked a lot:
Some supported the fair-faced boy, saying that he was clean and had a loud voice, so he must be a righteous man who caught thieves; some supported the bearded man, saying that the thief was cunning and good at talking, but he was short-handed. He looks like a benevolent man.
Things got loud and soon alerted the patrol officers of the nearby Fangyu patrol.
He came over with a few soldiers and saw that the two men were holding their own opinions and could not make a decision.
To catch a thief and get rid of him, you still need to provide evidence.
The physical evidence is there, but the human evidence...
As the owner, the old man had an eye problem, and the cloth shop owner, clerks and guests were all busy with their own affairs and didn't pay much attention. The inspector asked them to come over and identify them. After two rounds, everyone was identified, and a few pointed out different people each time.
The inspection envoy had no choice but to temporarily detain the two men and let the Yamen deal with it.
Gu Yunqiu couldn't help laughing when he saw this.
Only then did the inspector notice the young man in a goose-yellow silk shirt under the notice board. He recognized Gu Yunqiu, and even though he was young, he still came forward to greet him, "Why is the prince laughing?"
Gu Yunqiu returned the gesture, "I have a method here. I wonder if you would like to try it?"
The inspector thought for a while and asked what the solution was.
Gu Yunqiu raised his hand and pointed at the closed Beishui Gate under the city wall. There was a copper bell hanging on the top of the iron fence in the middle of the gate:
"Anyway, Changsheng Lane is a dead end, and the entrance to the lane is guarded by everyone. It would be better for you to give the order and let them run from here to the water gate, ring the bell and come back."
He paused and glanced at the two men in black, "The one who came back first is definitely not a thief."
The inspector was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly understood.
However, the fair-faced and beardless young man hadn't thought it through yet. After hearing this, he just sneered, "What kind of idea is this?"
"So, I understand," the inspector nodded, "just follow the prince's method."
He ordered someone to find charcoal and drew a black line on the ground himself. After asking the two men in black and they both knew the rules, he asked the guards of Prince Ning's Mansion to get out of the way.
But before he could give the order, the white-faced boy suddenly jumped out. The remaining one was stunned for a moment, and then he gritted his teeth and chased after him.
At first they were able to keep pace with each other, but after a short distance, the stubble-faced young man easily surpassed the young man in front. He ran to the bottom of the city wall and rang the bell with two volley kicks.
When he turned around and turned back, the white-faced boy ran to the water gate out of breath.
Before he could find Tong Ling, the inspector led troops to capture him.
"Hey?!" He was anxious, "What's the point of this?!"
The inspector ignored him and just asked someone to get the rope.
Some of the people watching the excitement didn't understand and asked why.
The owner of the cloth shop was an understanding person. He smiled and kindly explained to everyone: "The thief stole something and was on the run. When the owner found out, he shouted for righteous men to chase him. There must be a time lag in between."
"The righteous man set out later in time, but he was still able to catch up with the thief who set off first. Doesn't this in turn prove that the righteous man can run faster than the thief?"
"Just now, this young man jumped ahead. He has something in his heart. And he is so far behind. He must be a thief."
After the boss of Bufang finished speaking, all the people suddenly understood.
The thief who was tied up refused to accept his fate and argued forcefully: "...Maybe it was because I tried my best to chase him just now, but my strength ran out first, so I ran slower?"
Hearing this, the palace guard couldn't help but said, "What a cunning thief who is good at sophistry! You just saw that you couldn't escape, so you suddenly attacked the thief and shouted to catch the thief!"
Gu Yunqiu was not annoyed at all, and even smiled at him good-naturedly, "Is that so? How about we play a few more games, what do you think about winning two out of three games?"
Thinking of the result of the competition just now, the man opened his mouth and finally collapsed on the ground.
Catch the thief and recover the lost property.
The old man was very grateful to Gu Yunqiu, and the inspector also thanked Gu Yunqiu.
The righteous man who was almost regarded as a thief also came over and respectfully raised his fists and hands to Gu Yunqiu. He called out "Young Master", and his accent sounded like he was from the northwest.
After being corrected by the guards and inspectors, they realized that the child in front of them was Prince Ning.
Hearing the words Prince Ning, Prince Ning, a trace of surprise clearly flashed across his face. After a moment, he concealed it well and changed his words, "Jiang Jun, the villain, thank you, Prince Ning, for speaking up!"
Gu Yunqiu raised his eyebrows, searched through his memory, and found that he did not recognize this person.
I don't know why he was surprised at that moment.
He secretly wrote down Jiang Jun's name and smiled, indicating that it was nothing more than a simple effort.
However, Brother Shun, who had finished buying the sweet-scented osmanthus cake, came over, pushed aside the crowd and came to Gu Yunqiu's side. He opened his mouth and said that there was a troupe at the gate of Wulingyuan, "My lord, you are so beautiful! They are breathing fire and dancing with the dragon!"
After such a fuss, it will definitely be inconvenient to read the notice board.
Gu Yunqiu took the sweet-scented osmanthus cake and nodded, "Let's go then."
When the group of them walked away, the crowd gradually dispersed, and a thin boy hurriedly ran up to Changsheng Alley. He saw Jiang Jun standing under the big elm tree from a distance, and immediately smiled and waved to him.
Jiang Jun also saw him, took the little cloth tiger in his arms and took a few steps forward, "Gou baby."
"Uncle Jiang, I'm sorry," the boy stuttered a little, "Today, today, my master took brother Shun out on the street, and I was assigned more work in the yard. I kept you waiting for a long time."
Jiang Jun frowned slightly, but finally smiled and patted the child's head.
"I just met your young master."
"Ah, ah——?!" Gouwa's eyes widened, "Uncle, you, you, you see..."
Jiang Jun didn't let him finish, he just took his hand and walked to the opposite side.
Changsheng Lane is opposite Shuangfeng Tower, which is a wine shop owned by the Shen family, a high-ranking family in Beijing. In front of the door, there are colorful paintings of Huan Lou and gold and red gauze lanterns. It is most bustling and crowded.
"Uncle, please come over there and eat."
"Eh?" Gou Wa blinked, "Well, it's so expensive there! Uncle, are you giving rewards to the army?"
Jiang Jun smiled helplessly, "What reward? There is no reward. The army has been disarmed..."
"ah?!"
"Okay, okay, goodbye," Jiang Jun pulled him through the crowd, "This time, I also took a detour back to my hometown. Everything is fine on your parents' graves. Let's talk about the rest while eating. ——”
…
When Gu Yunqiu and his party came to Wulingyuan, he didn't care much about the troupe who were performing, but he noticed a few children nearby pretending to be a family.
They kneaded some things from mud to use as goods, and picked up elm coins that fell on the ground to use as copper coins.
Gu Yunqiu looked at it for a while, and suddenly thought that April was the season for carrying elm trees.
The elm leaves turn white when mature and can be planted after peeling off the outer seed wings.
The seedlings can be sold after they emerge alive, the branches can be used as firewood after combing, and the trees can be sold for lumber after they mature. Even if they are not sold, they can be collected again as tree seeds in the coming year.
Moreover, if the elm money falls on the ground, you only need to spend time picking it up and collecting it, without any cost at all.
It's a pity that there are not many elm trees planted in Beijing. The entrance of Wulingyuan is connected in all directions, and there are several streets and alleys, but there is only one like this.
Gu Yunqiu was thinking about this as the troupe's performance over there ended.
Brother Shun was excited, but when he lowered his head, he saw that Gu Yunqiu was absent-minded. He thought that the prince was tired, so he thoughtfully led Gu Yunqiu out of the crowd, "Sir, it's getting late, why don't we go back first?"
"Madam will go to Baoguo Temple in a few days. Let's go back and spend more time with her."
Brother Shun said it unintentionally. When Gu Yunqiu suddenly heard the words "Baoguo Temple", he suddenly felt happy——
Baoguo Temple is located on Jilong Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Gyeonggi Province. There is nothing else on the mountain but it has the most pines, cypresses, elms and bamboos. There are two large elm trees as soon as you enter the mountain gate. There are also patches of elm trees near the Main Hall, Luohan Hall and Jing Pavilion in the back.
"Yes, yes," Gu Yunqiu suddenly became excited, "I want to spend more time with grandma!"
Prince Ning's Mansion still owns private property in Baoguo Temple, and there are a lot of open spaces and wastelands in several houses. He can plant them immediately after collecting the elm money.
Gu Yunqiu was amused. This time he would ask Princess Ning to take him with her no matter what.
only……
Gu Yunqiu couldn't help but raise his hand and touch his neck:
Li Congzhou, he was also at Baoguo Temple.
