At night, there is no light, but there are several palaces in the palace that are brightly lit.
Li Qing, dressed in mysterious clothes, blended into the night and easily avoided the inspections of the eunuchs on duty...
Yongning Palace.
"Your Majesty, how do you plan for Wang Zhi?"
"It's no longer possible to stay in the palace," Zhu Jianshen said. "Firstly, this will make the officials think that I am going to break my promise. Secondly, Wang Zhi may not be able to bear such a big ups and downs, from a high position to a low, and a former subordinate becoming a superior. Let him go to South Zhili."
"Nan Zhili..." Zhen'er pondered for a moment and said: "He is simply going to the countryside to retire, why not let him stay in the capital?"
"You want him to stay in Zhongguancun?"
(Zhongguan Village, a retirement home for powerful eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.)
"Well," Zhen'er said, "on the one hand, he is safer under the Emperor's eyes; on the other hand, I can go and see you in my spare time. Your Majesty, I am already this old, how many more years can I live? , you just..."
"No nonsense." Zhu Jianshen interrupted her.
Zhen'er begged: "Your Majesty, just agree to my concubine."
"Okay." Zhu Jian sighed deeply and said, "Wang Zhi still has merit. I will reward him with a house later."
"Your Majesty is wise." Zhen'er said happily.
"Are you wise now?" Zhu Jianshen teased, "I don't know who said before that I was going back on my word."
"Uh-huh... I'm just being presumptuous." Zhen'er laughed dryly, "Concubine Shu just left, why don't I call her back again?"
Zhu Jianshen hummed and said, "You are really good at doing your own thing and being generous to others."
After a while of silence, Zhen'er said: "I am old and can no longer serve the emperor."
"Not old, not old at all..."
~
Li Qing shook his head, lost the desire to listen, turned around and rushed out of the palace.
He wanted to go back home, but he saw that the Changle Palace next to the Qianqing Palace was still lit with candlelight. Li Qing was a little surprised. There were people living here?
The last time he came...he suddenly understood and set off.
In the outer hall, two young eunuchs had their eyelids drooped and their heads lowered. They were half asleep and half awake, and they didn't notice anyone coming.
Li Qing gently nodded on the two of them, and they fell asleep completely.
After carefully helping them lie down, Li Qing started to walk inside.
When I came to the inner hall, I saw a familiar face. It was familiar, but also a little strange.
After not seeing each other for a few years, Zhu Qizhen seemed like a different person. He was still barely in his 60s, but his hair was more than half gray, and his energy was no longer what it used to be, and he was almost the same as an octogenarian.
Zhu Qizhen was leaning on the bedside reading a book. He was reading very seriously and did not notice anyone coming in. He finally reacted when Li Qing was less than one foot away from him.
Without raising his head, he said calmly: "Didn't I say, no permission is allowed, don't disturb me, go out."
After waiting for a moment, no one was seen leaving. Zhu Qizhen then raised his head: "I didn't hear..."
He paused suddenly, his eyes wide open, and his mouth opened and closed. It took him a while before he calmed down: "Sir, you...you are back."
"Yes, I'm back." Li Qing nodded.
"Xiao Qian, she, she, she's gone." Zhu Qizhen said hoarsely.
Li Qing was silent. This was expected. He knew it from the first moment he saw Zhu Qizhen.
"My condolences." Li Qing could only say this. gòйЪ.ōΓg
Zhu Qizhen's eyes were red, and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, tears started to flow.
However, Li Qing had a strong opinion of Zhu Qizhen, and after seeing his appearance, he couldn't help but feel a little pity.
When Li Qing entered the court in the fifth year of Zhengtong, Zhu Qizhen was still a young man. He was smart, studious, ambitious and ideal... In the first few years, the two got along very happily, and Li Qing also gave his sincerity.
Decades passed, and he watched this young man grow up day by day, marrying a wife, having children, fighting in battle, being captured... and now he was old again.
Li Qing also has mixed feelings.
Walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, "It's all over."
"I can't get through it..." Zhu Qizhen murmured, bursting into tears and crying hard.
Li Qing didn't know how to comfort him, so he just stroked his head.
for a long time…
Zhu Qizhen gradually calmed down, raised his sleeves and wiped his face, and whispered: "Mr. Jean, you are laughing."
Li Qing shook his head.
After a while, he asked, "How about I bring that girl over so that you and your daughter can get together."
Zhu Qizhen's heart was pounding, but after a while, he shook his head: "No, the married daughter is throwing water. She has her own life, so don't disturb her."
"There's no need to be so taboo, I'm here." Li Qing said.
Zhu Qizhen's nose felt sore and he wanted to cry again, but he held it back this time. He breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Sir, the slaves in the outer hall..."
"Don't worry, they are sleeping deeply."
Zhu Qizhen felt relieved a little, stood up and said, "Sir, come sit here, where have you been this time?"
The two came to the desk and sat down. Li Qing took the tea from Zhu Qizhen, took a sip, and said: "I went to North Korea and helped them develop. North Korea is developing well. It will be helpful to Ming Dynasty in the future."
"That's right." Zhu Qizhen nodded as if he understood.
He didn't go into details. He knew Li Qing's ability and vision, so he didn't need to worry about it at all.
"Please rest more when you come back this time." Zhu Qizhen said, "Walk around, take a look, and relax. You have plenty of time. The Ming Dynasty is peaceful and the people are safe, so you are not in a hurry."
"What about you?" Li Qing asked, "What are your plans?"
"Me?" Zhu Qizhen smiled bitterly, "What other plans can I have? That's it. I just want to retire in peace."
Li Qing frowned slightly: "Do you like this kind of life?"
"Sir, why do you ask...this?" Zhu Qizhen said amusedly, "You know, once I come back, this is all I can do. If the Ming Emperor does not live in the palace to take care of his old age, can he still be a wanderer?"
Li Qing was silent for a moment and said: "If you feel bored, I will take you out for a walk. You will get sick from boredom."
"No." Zhu Qizhen rationally refused, "It's better to be calm. As a father, I didn't help my son without saying anything, but instead... Oh, how can I cause him more trouble? That's it, that's fine OK."
Li Qing nodded slightly, stopped persuading, and asked, "How is the court situation?"
"I don't know," Zhu Qizhen said, "I haven't left Changle Palace since Xiaoqian left. You want to know..."
After a pause, he said, "He knows your identity, right?"
"Um."
"That's easy to handle. Just ask him directly."
"That's okay." Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Put your hand over here and I'll feel your pulse."
"No need." Zhu Qizhen shook his head and refused, mocking himself: "I live one day at a time. It doesn't matter if I live one more day or one less day. It's just a waste of food."
Li Qing was helpless, but he didn't force it.
Is it really good to live a long time?
not necessarily.
The two chatted for a while, and Li Qing stood up and said, "Tomorrow afternoon, you ask the emperor to go to Lianjia Village."
"Okay, sir, walk slowly."
Li Qing said 'hmm' and said, "Go to bed early and don't stay up late."
Zhu Qizhen just smiled: "As I get older, I sleep less and can't sleep."
Li Qing tried to persuade him, but in the end he just sighed and turned around and left Changle Palace...
On the way back to Lianjia Village, Li Qing looked at the bright stars and sighed softly: Time is not forgiving!
It has only been a few years, but things have changed.
~
Early next morning.
Li Qing went to have breakfast on the street. He liked Ming Dynasty food so much. Over the years, he had suffered a lot in terms of food when he was abroad.
Steamed buns, white porridge, salted duck eggs; steamed buns, pickles, Yangchun noodles... These are ordinary things that are not even rare to the common people, but Li Qing eats them deliciously.
"The food at home is still delicious!" Li Qing burped with satisfaction, "Brother, pay the bill."
"Sir, there are two coins in total."
"So expensive?" Li Qing frowned.
Why don't you look at how much you have eaten... The waiter smiled and said, "Sir, things in the capital are more expensive, but... they are all at this price."
"Okay." Li Qing smacked his lips and took out an ingot of broken silver. "Another basket of steamed buns. No need to change the remaining money."
"Okay." When the clerk saw the big profit, he smiled even more happily and said something auspicious: "I wish you a promotion and a fortune."
Li Qing shook his head in amusement, took the bun from the waiter, and turned around to go to the grain and oil shop and cloth shop on the other street.
In the past few years, prices in Daming seemed to have increased again. He wanted to know what the purchasing power of one tael of silver was now...
After shopping around, Li Qing had a rough idea.
From the perspective of daily life, one tael of silver is probably equivalent to about 600 yuan in later generations. There will definitely be some differences in various aspects, but it will not be too far off.
Counting on my fingers, I ate a small amount for the meal just now.
However, he ate for both young and old. For ordinary people, at most one-third of the food would be enough. When converted to Kyoto in later generations, this price would be completely acceptable.
If you buy rice and noodles, the money will be enough for a family to eat for two days. If you buy whole grains, it will be enough for four or five days.
Of course, this only counts the eating aspect and does not include other aspects.
When he returned to Lianjiatun'er, it was already half noon. Li Qing was not in a hurry to go home and took a walk along the streets.
Walking and looking all the way, as far as I can see, the people are wearing seasonal clothes with not many patches. The fabrics of children's clothes are obviously better.
Obviously, although prices have increased, people can still afford to live a comfortable and prosperous life.
Seeing this, Li Qing was slightly relieved.
In fact, from a macro level, the benefits of a small increase in prices far outweigh the disadvantages. It can not only effectively improve the economy, but also dilute the money in the hands of the wealthy.
In this world, something is happening all the time.
——Wealth is converging into the hands of a small group of people.
If the total value of wealth remains unchanged forever, the result will only be that people cannot afford to live. Therefore, an appropriate increase in currency is not a bad thing.
Otherwise, Li Qing would not be committed to plundering Japan and letting it transport gold and silver to the Ming Dynasty.
On the surface, gold and silver are just cold metals, but in fact they are not. It plays an incomparable role for the Ming court and the people of the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty Baozhao is also a good choice. However, the people of Lao Zhu's family do not know how to exercise restraint. If Li Qing had not tried his best to stop it, the credit of the Ming Dynasty Baochao would have been exhausted.
…
After a while, it was already noon.
Li Qing came to the door of the small courtyard. He wanted to climb over the wall and go in to take a nap and discuss state affairs with Zhu Jianshen in the afternoon. Unexpectedly, a boy of twelve or thirteen years old squatted in front of his house and refused to leave.
