"Sir, this is a major event in my life." Zhu Qizhen said seriously, "You can't refuse to eat your salary and share your worries."
Li Qing nodded amusedly: "Okay, when is the wedding day?"
"According to the divination of Qin Tian Jian, May 19th is auspicious and suitable for marriage!"
"Yeah, okay." Li Qing agreed.
He sighed endlessly, time flew by so fast, even Xiaochuang’s grandson was getting married.
"Then it's settled." Zhu Qizhen was extremely happy. He was about to have a wife and become an adult.
"Mr. Li, do you have wine at home?" Zhu Qizhen asked, he wanted to have a drink.
Li Qing nodded: "What, you want to drink?"
"Well, I'm very happy today."
"Okay." Li Qing stood up, "I'm going to prepare two dishes and wish the emperor a successful adulthood."
Zhu Qizhen said with a smile, "Stir-fry two more vegetables."
"..." Li Qing rolled his eyes: Would it hurt his face if he kicked his nose?
~
Cold preserved eggs and stir-fried pork cheeks with garlic moss, just two dishes, no more, no less.
However, these two dishes cover cold, hot, meat and vegetarian dishes; they can be called all-inclusive.
Zhu Qizhen sniffed his nose and praised: "It smells delicious. Sir, your craftsmanship is very good."
"That's right, it tastes better when you eat it." Li Qing hummed, "Wait, I'll get the wine."
Two dishes and a bottle of wine.
There are not many dishes, but the portions are generous, and the wine is also served in large jars.
Li Qing poured two bowls and asked with a smile: "Have you had any wine?"
"Not yet." Zhu Qizhen shook his head, and then sniffed his nose again, "This wine is still very fragrant. Is it a fine wine collected by sir?"
"That's not true. This wine is sold on the streets. It is currently the cheapest wine in the Ming Dynasty, and ordinary people can afford it." Li Qing said with a smile.
Zhu Qizhen picked up the wine bowl, sniffed it again, and said happily: "It seems that the people's life is already very good, and they can even drink this kind of fine wine from time to time."óΠъ.oяＧ
Li Qing laughed and said, "Don't just smell it, taste it."
"Hey, okay." Zhu Qizhen drank for the first time. He raised his neck and took a big sip like he usually drank soup.
Then……
His little face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then he coughed violently until tears came out.
"This wine..."
The face of the little eunuch waiting on the side changed greatly, "Come quickly, someone, this wine is poisonous..."
"Shut up!"
Li Qing and Zhu Qizhen spoke at the same time.
"Your Majesty, are you okay?" the little eunuch asked nervously.
"No...ahem, nothing happened." Zhu Qizhen blushed and shook his head. When he saw the Jinyi guards outside running in, he waved his hand, "Everyone, please step aside. I have nothing to do."
The Jinyi Baihu looked at the emperor, then at Xiao Huang Men'er, and then at the wine on the table. They had a vague understanding, and finally handed over their hands and said, "I retire."
Mayor Zhu Qi breathed a sigh of relief, calmed down, and asked, "What kind of wine is this?"
"Sweet potato roast." Li Qing asked with a smile, "How is it? Is it very strong?"
"It's strong enough." Zhu Qizhen smacked his lips and quickly picked up a piece of preserved egg to relieve the spicy and bitter taste in his mouth.
Since Xiaopang first ate it, preserved eggs have become a regular offering in the palace and are very popular among emperors and concubines.
Zhu Qizhen also likes to eat this, especially now that it is summer. Preserved eggs are soothing and refreshing, making them an indispensable dish on the table.
Zhu Qizhen puffed up his cheeks and asked, "Sweet potato roast? Is it brewed with Yongle potatoes?"
"Not bad, how does it taste?" Li Qing also took a big sip, and then grinned.
"It doesn't taste very good." Zhu Qizhen complained, "It smells pretty good, but why does it taste so bad?"
"It would be nice to drink some." Li Qing said, "This is it, and the people are flocking to it."
Zhu Qizhen sighed softly: "It seems that people's lives are far worse than I imagined!"
"That's natural," Li Qing put down the wine bowl, "In fact, it didn't take long for the people of the Ming Dynasty to really get rid of hunger. The emperor is well-dressed and well-fed, so naturally he can't imagine the suffering of the people."
Zhu Qizhen was silent for a moment and said: "When you have time in the future, you must go out often and experience the sufferings of the people like the late emperor did."
Li Qing nodded with a smile and asked, "Do you still want to drink?"
"Let's have another bowl." Zhu Qizhen said.
Li Qing poured him another bowl, "Don't force it if you don't like it. Eat more vegetables."
"Yeah." Zhu Qizhen took a piece of pig face, chewed it twice, and praised: "Sir, this craftsmanship is no worse than that of the imperial kitchen."
"That's right." Li Qing smiled proudly and drank to himself.
Zhu Qizhen also took a sip of wine from time to time, but because the taste was so bad, he always drank in small sips.
Even so, even after two bowls of wine, he felt a little elated.
"The ancients said that you will not get drunk after a thousand cups of wine, but it seems that it is just bragging." Zhu Qizhen defended his drinking capacity.
Li Qing said: "The wine of the past is different from the wine of today. The wine-making process has only made rapid progress in the past two hundred years. Before that, the concentration of wine was pitifully low."
These days, Li Qing has been studying history, and his wine culture has also improved a lot.
"Before the Song Dynasty, it was all turbid wine. It used very little koji, the fermentation time was very short, the taste was sweet, and the wine content was very low. So at that time, there were a lot of people."
"That's it." Zhu Qizhen suddenly realized. He took a sip of the wine and grinned, "Sir, I suddenly had a bold idea."
"?"
Zhu Qizhen raised the wine bowl and said, "I plan to use these sweet potatoes to cook on my wedding day."
"...It's not impossible." Li Qing looked strange: Why did the little emperor suddenly start saving?
But this doesn’t save much money!
But Zhu Qizhen said: "Those officials are all pampered. They must have never drunk this wine. They are in high positions, so they have to taste the suffering of the people."
Li Qing was startled and immediately praised: "The Emperor is so kind."
When he thought of the bitter faces of the ministers, he couldn't help but feel happy.
Zhu Qizhen obviously thought about it together with him, and he laughed maliciously.
The two looked at each other and laughed louder...
After seeing off Zhu Qizhen, Li Qing put away the dishes, lay back on the recliner, and thought about his future plans.
The recommendation system has been abolished, and the army has a tendency to move closer to the little emperor. As time goes by, the imperial power of the little emperor will gradually be reflected.
The next step is 'money'.
Money is not only needed by individuals, but also by the country.
In fact, its importance is definitely the first order.
Only with money can we train good soldiers and generals, implement national policies, and provide disaster relief... This huge machine of the Ming Dynasty is running all the time, and it is burning money all the time.
If there is no money, the machine will stop running.
Liquor shops and restaurants will go bankrupt if they are not managed well, and the same goes for the imperial court.
As the saying goes: The emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers.
In other words, the emperor could hardly afford to starve his troops.
If you have no money, what does it matter if you are the emperor? If you don't have enough to eat, who will listen to you?
"We still have to carry out maritime trade." Li Qing said to himself, "Nowadays, maritime trade is almost monopolized in the hands of rich gentry and official gentry. If things go on like this, the imperial court will become poorer and poorer."
The current treasury is rich, which is the accumulation of the Xuande Dynasty, not the work of orthodoxy.
Although the food problem has now been solved, it has also increased labor costs. Things that could be solved with food in the past now cost even more.
And treasure banknotes cannot be printed endlessly, otherwise the court's credit will go bankrupt sooner or later.
In fact, the value of treasure banknotes has depreciated much now.
In the Hongwu Dynasty, one tael of silver was equivalent to one tael of silver. Now one tael of silver can be exchanged for almost ten guan of banknotes, which has depreciated ten times in value.
However, this had little economic impact on Ming Dynasty.
Because the Ming Dynasty was still on the rise as a whole, especially after the opening of the sea for trade, transactions were extremely frequent, and a large amount of treasure banknotes made transactions more convenient.
And although the exchange rate between Baobao and silver has depreciated tenfold, the purchasing power of Baobao has not depreciated that much.
But even so, the credibility of Ming Dynasty Baochao was not as good as before, and some far-sighted wealthy gentry and wealthy men began to hoard silver.
But for now, Baobao is still the most mainstream currency in circulation.
With the development of the economy and the temptation of the emperor to print money at will, it is inevitable that the purchasing power of treasure banknotes will continue to decline in the future.
In the face of this general trend, Li Qing could not stop it at all.
"It is better to stock up on more silver as a backup." Li Qing muttered, "Japan seems to be a major silver-producing country, and this market must be controlled by the imperial court."
Li Qing stretched himself and said to himself: "It's better to wait until the little emperor gets married. At this juncture, we won't spoil everyone's happiness."
The road is long and we can’t rush, we have to take it step by step...
