early morning.
In the courtyard, the little old man was doing Tai Chi, and little Li Hong was learning well from the side.
Under the pavilion, Li Qing and Zhu Yunwen sat opposite each other, one holding black stones and the other holding white stones, playing chess one after another.
Zhu Qizhen was quite bored and made jokes from time to time to disturb the two of them.
"Sir, you entered the court in the fifteenth year of Hongwu's reign. Who is older, you or Taizong?" Zhu Qizhen asked in a low voice.
"I'm the big one." Li Qing dropped a piece and waited for Zhu Yunwen to make a move.
"What about you and Taizu?"
"Taizu is older than me." Li Qing thought for a moment and said, "I was already over thirty when I entered the court. Taizu had gray hair at that time, but Taizong was only in his early twenties."
Seeing that he had little chance of winning, Zhu Yunwen simply gave up and joined the chat camp.
He pointed at little Li Hong in the distance and said, "I was only as old as him at that time. As for you...your grandfather was still a chubby kid."
"..." Zhu Qizhen was not angry, but he had nothing to do.
These three men are older than the other, so how can they be their rivals?
"I'm too lazy to meet you." Zhu Qizhen rolled his eyes and said to Li Qing, "Sir, were you so...arrogant in the Hongwu Dynasty?"
"That's not true. I was obedient at first," Li Qing said with a smile, "Old Zhu... ahem, Taizu is so murderous, I'm afraid of being beheaded."
Zhu Qizhen was surprised: "You are so powerful, but you are still afraid of people?"
"It wasn't as powerful as it is now. I was more restrained," Li Qing said. "The situation was different then. People couldn't move around at will. Not only was household registration very troublesome, but the place also had strong restrictions on outsiders. The repulsiveness is incomparable to what it is now.”
Zhu Yunwen nodded in agreement: "Yes, people have too much freedom now.
However, the current situation is different, and it cannot be said that Taizu was wrong at that time. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had just been established for more than ten years, and the situation was not stable. Preventing the people from running around would help stabilize and restore production. "
"Indeed," Li Qing nodded, "National policies are determined by the times and circumstances. They are not static, nor can we use the current situation to reverse past national policies."
"I understand that." Zhu Qizhen asked with a smile: "At that time, were you as good as a grandson...well, very well-behaved, right?"
"Do you have any misunderstandings about obeying the rules?" Zhu Yunwen curled his lips and said sarcastically, "Do you think everyone is like you, being arrogant at home and behaving like a rabbit when you go out?"
"Can you please stop using this as an argument?" Zhu Qizhen said, "It's endless, isn't it?"
Zhu Yunwen asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
"You..." Zhu Qizhen said angrily, "I was talking to my husband, why did you interrupt me?"
"Okay, stop arguing." Li Qingren's head hurt, "Haven't you read the True Records of Taizu?"
Zhu Qizhen shook his head: "It's too boring. I only read a little bit about Taizu's family history. I haven't seen you come out yet. I only saw you in the records of Taizong and Xuanzong."
Li Qing frowned: "Why don't you read Renzong's Records?"
"During the Renzong period, the government was stable. There was nothing to see, right?" Zhu Qizhen said matter-of-factly.
"...If you want to know, just ask him." Li Qing picked up "Water Margin", leaned back, and read it with relish.
Zhu Qizhen's face was filled with dark lines. His curiosity was aroused and his heart was scratching his head: "Hey, tell me?"
"Begging me!" Zhu Yunwen's face was high.
"...Please, tell me quickly." Zhu Qizhen responded patiently.
Zhu Yunwen said dissatisfied: "Is this your attitude towards asking for help?"
"You want to talk or not, but I won't listen anymore." Zhu Qizhen's nose almost turned crooked with anger, he stood up and left.
But Zhu Yunwen leaned back, shook his head and sighed: "I wanted to talk about it, but some people don't want to listen!"
"..." Zhu Qizhen paused, came back and sat down, and said dullly: "Let's talk."
"Say it first, don't say it in vain." Zhu Yunwen said cheerfully, "You have to watch ten performances."
"Why don't you go grab it?" Zhu Qizhen no longer wants to be emperor, but he still remains stingy.
In fact, he was not short of money. During the holidays, Zhu Yunwen would give money to his grandson's wife, but in the end it fell into Zhu Qizhen's hands.
He doesn't need to buy anything at home, so he only wants to live and eat for free, plus he can live on his wife's side.
"Two games, no more."
"Five games, I can't bargain like you." Zhu Yunwen said, "Two games, am I just talking in vain?"
"Four games, no counter-offering."
"Well... OK, let's start with the consort's fall..."
Li Qing didn't listen anymore, put down the book and went to play with his godson.
…
Jinling Street is still bustling.
The shops are located next to each other, but nine out of ten shops have the word "Shen Ji" written on their door plaques.
It seems that Shen Xin has completed the monopoly... Li Qing is not surprised. During the previous price war, Shen Xin was invincible and was heading towards Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Nowadays, monopoly market is also reasonable.
However, Jinling is Zhili after all, and there are not many officials and gentry here. If Shen Xin can really do this, he doesn't believe it if he doesn't hook up with people from the government.
Those people are not vegetarians, and there are too many ways to punish him.
At this stage, Li Qing is not worried about Shen Xinwei's fate, but is a little worried about Shen Xin's situation.
These are all vampires, and they are not enough to eat. No matter how rich Shen Xin is, he can still feed a group of people.
After all...it's all settled and well thought out.
"Godfather, I'll be back soon and the kid wants to go home for two days." Xiao Li Hong said, "The kid hasn't lived at home for a long time and misses his parents."
"No problem." Li Qing said with a smile, "You can live wherever you like."
"Thank you, godfather." Xiao Li Hong smiled happily, and then confirmed, "Godfather didn't leave even before the year, right?"
"I'm not leaving." Li Qing nodded.
The little guy felt relieved now.
After shopping around, Li Qing bought some gifts and took the little guy to Li's house.
After chatting with little Li Hong's parents for a while, Li Qing left his godson behind and said goodbye.
Instead of going home, he went to the Weaving Bureau, hoping to learn about the current maritime trade situation.
…
Xiao Liuzi has become even fatter. The fat on his body trembles when he walks. He weighs at least two hundred kilograms. With his short figure, he is almost round.
"Our family has met Li Qinchen." Xiao Liuzi saluted with difficulty.
Li Qing helped him up with a smile and explained: "Young Master, I am not an imperial envoy this time."
"That's right." Xiao Liuzi narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Then our family has met Mr. Li."
He didn't believe that Li Qing came all the way to Jinling, either on an imperial mission or on vacation?
Li Qing didn't point out the misunderstanding. It was fine. It would be much easier to do things when the time came.
"What's the current situation in the Weaving Bureau?"
Xiao Liuzi straightened his posture in a hurry and reported, "Since the re-division of maritime trade shares, the Weaving Bureau has become completely self-sufficient and no longer has to purchase Shen Ji's goods, but its income has also declined seriously accordingly."
After a pause, "Of course, overall it's still profitable, but not as much as before."
Li Qing said: "Where is the account book?"
"Uh... Sir, we will send someone to pick it up later." Xiao Liuzi rubbed his hands and said, "Um... Sir, did the emperor have a new order for the Weaving Bureau?"
"Not yet." Li Qing took a sip of tea and said, "How is Shen Xin now?"
"That guy is making a lot of money now, grandma. That's a lot of money." Xiao Liuzi was jealous, "His stall is getting bigger and bigger now. I heard that it is almost occupied in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Half of the country...ah, our family made a mistake, our family made a mistake."
As he said that, he gave himself a big mouth.
Li Qing couldn't stop laughing. There was really no need to care about this kind of thing, so he simply pretended not to hear it.
"If he can do this, he must send money to people in Zhili, right?"
"This..." Xiao Liuzi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said: "Your Excellency has been a favor to our family. Let's not hide it from you. Shen Xin is indeed a generous person. There are no officials in Jinling who have not taken advantage of him."
"Oh?" Li Qing said with a smile, "It seems that my father-in-law also took it?"
"Ah haha... yes." Xiao Liuzi said with a sneer, "However, our family does not enrich the public and private interests. Others take it, and it is for free. Who doesn't want it? Haha..."
Li Qing also smiled and said: "I am not an unkind person."
Then, his smile faded and he said seriously: "However, after all, errands are the top priority. The court is in urgent need of money now. Father-in-law, don't be indifferent to priorities."
Xiao Liuzi quickly promised: "Don't worry, sir, our family will not forget it."
"Well," Li Qing's expression softened and he asked, "You just said he was generous, how big was it?"
"Well... the last time is a thousand taels, but any official with status and the right to speak..." He lowered his voice and said, "He promises to keep this amount every year."
"Twenty thousand?"
Xiao Liuzi nodded.
A bit interesting... Li Qing's lips curled up with a hint of amusement: This guy is a bit wild!
