At dusk on August 10th, there were still six days before the northern patrol date.
Zhu Yunwen summoned Xie Jin, Zhu Di, and Xu Huizu in Wuying Hall, and then asked his chamberlain to take out his clothes.
Zhu Di looked in the mirror and couldn't laugh or cry as he looked at himself dressed as a butler. Xie Jin giggled because he was a cashier and was somewhat polite. But Xu Huizu couldn't laugh anymore. He was a dignified military governor, and he was in charge of the world's defense. How could he be a man who leads horses to the ground?
The depressed Xu Huizu was just about to complain, but he turned around and saw Liu Changge who was equipped with the same equipment as himself. He immediately smiled. He was not the only one who had emotional servants. When he turned around and thought about it, he was wrong. Liu Changge was originally a servant, and he was not...
Zhu Yunwen is naturally the young master of a rich man's family. He wears fine fabrics, an exquisite jade pendant, and a folding fan. He is personable and looks like a young master.
Xu Huizu was a little confused. He didn't know what Zhu Yunwen's mentality was. He planned to sing in the palace? This is not a stage, and I am not an actor.
"Your Majesty, what is this?"
Xie Jin seemed to notice something.
Zhu Yunwen smiled calmly: "Bei Xun, I told you."
Zhu Di looked a little ugly. A few days ago, he promised to accompany his wife to go hiking during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Now, I'm afraid he will break his promise...
Xu Huizu helped Zhu Yunwen remember: "There are still six days until the Northern Patrol. Don't be in a hurry and change your clothes today."
Zhu Yunwen chuckled and took out a document: "Let's go, take a good look on the way. Don't reveal your identity."
Liu Changge turned sideways and said, "Your Majesty, the carriage is ready."
Xu Huizu was completely depressed. He watched Zhu Yunwen, Xie Jin and Zhu Di get on the carriage. Just as he was about to get on, he was stopped by Liu Changge: "You are Duke Wu Xun, you are not suitable to go in."
"Isn't it suitable to go in? Can't you let me ride a horse?"
Xu Huizu glanced at the tall horse next to him.
Liu Changge shook his head slightly, pointed to the carriage with a smile, and then pointed to Xu Huizu's clothes: "Wu Xun can drive a car. I heard that Wei Guogong is well versed in this..."
"Your uncle..."
Xu Huizu almost went berserk. I am the Duke of Wei. Do you want me to be a groom and drive horses?
Liu Changge got on his horse, looked at Xu Huizu who was still standing in the same place, and urged: "Man, we are all here, why don't we get on the road?"
"Dude?"
Xu Huizu's face turned dark, and just when he was about to get angry, Zhu Di popped up his head: "The young master said, we can leave..."
"Uh, okay."
Xu Huizu had no choice but to sit on the carriage, picked up the reins and shook it. The chamberlain who was originally beside the carriage stepped aside, and the carriage began to move slowly.
Zhu Di flipped through the document and found Zhu Yunwen's identity written in it. A simple summary is that the young master Zhu Yunwen, together with the housekeeper Zhu Di, the accountant Xie Jin, the groom Xu Huizu and the caretaker Liu Changge, were going to the north to buy cheap medicinal materials and then transport them to Nanjing to make a fortune.
"Northland?"
Zhu Di was a little confused.
It's true that Fengyang is in the north, but saying it's in the north doesn't make sense.
The palace sergeant saw the carriage coming slowly. Although the man on the horse was dressed in simple clothes, his face was still very familiar. Isn't this someone from the Security Bureau? Well, the man driving the carriage seems to be Wei Guogong. …
The people in this carriage...
Oh my gosh, we didn't see anything.
Liu Changge showed his badge and told the sergeants very kindly that if anyone leaked the news, he would treat their whole family to dinner, and then rode away slowly on horseback.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, a lantern was hung in front of the carriage, and the speed was a bit slow.
Liu Changge opened the way in front, and not far behind the carriage, there were some people dressed as ordinary people following at a distance of thirty to fifty steps. Xu Huizu knew that they were from the Security Bureau without looking back.
The carriage arrived at the Yangtze River, and the group boarded the ferry boat. The boatman who joined them was Gu Sanshen.
Take a boat down the river and then go north to reach Yangzhou City.
The distance from Nanjing to Yangzhou is not that far, less than two hundred miles, and it is smooth water and wind. Zhu Yunwen does not need to sleep for a while. He chats with Zhu Di, Xie Jin, and Xu Huizu, and arrives at the Yangzhou ferry in less than two hours.
Tang Buping had already been waiting at the ferry and welcomed Zhu Yunwen and others to a house to settle down.
Yangzhou is a famous ancient city, and its prosperity is inseparable from the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Yes, the city first amazed the world with its prosperity during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
When the willows of Sui Di are blowing tenderly and the peony flowers are blooming with beauty, it is difficult for anyone to resist the prosperity of Yangzhou.
Countless talented poets came to this city of Tsinghua University, and with their wonderful pens, they left behind a Yangzhou that will inspire the imagination of future generations.
Don’t talk about “I was strapped with a hundred thousand guan and rode a crane down to Yangzhou”, nor “Ten Miles of Spring Breeze on the Yangzhou Road” or “On a moonlit night under the Twenty-Four Bridges, where can a beautiful woman teach me how to play the flute?”, let’s talk about Zhang Hu’s "Zong Traveling to Huainan":
The ten-mile-long street is lined with markets, and you can watch the gods on the Moonlight Bridge.
Life is only suitable for death in Yangzhou, where the Zen wisdom mountain is bright and the tomb field is beautiful.
Listen, life is only about death in Yangzhou. Such an amazing poem is enough to show that Yangzhou was the heaven and earth in the minds of the literati at that time.
Well, one more thing, the immortals in "Watching the Immortals on Yueming Bridge" refer to prostitutes, which is the same as the beauty who plays the flute. The literati are very romantic...
Although Zhu Yunwen came here with four elders, he did not come here to seek romance and see the gods, but to observe the sentiments of the people.
Since the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, only eighteen households have died in Yangzhou City. It can almost be said that no one in the city has died. However, after thirty-one years of Hongwu and four years of Jianwen's recuperation, the city is once again full of life. .
For the peaceful feudal dynasty, Yangzhou City was destined to be prosperous, and the founders of all this were Yang Jian and Yang Guang father and son of the Sui Dynasty.
After careful investigation of the past dynasties, regardless of the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, including the later Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou was a prosperous place, no matter how much suffering and pain the city had experienced.
Yangzhou is connected to the Huai River in the north, adjacent to Huai'an, pillowed on the Yangtze River in the south, across the river is Zhenjiang and other places, to the west is the capital of the Ming Dynasty, to the east is Taizhou, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the north and south, and is the north-south transportation hub for grain, salt, money, and iron. For transportation, as long as you take the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, you must pass through Yangzhou.
During the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou was the richest in the world.
During the Song Dynasty, Yangzhou was famous for its prosperity.
As Zhu Yunwen lifted the ban on commerce and implemented new business strategies, the population of Yangzhou increased day by day, from 120,000 in the late Hongwu period to 250,000, and prosperity became increasingly prosperous.
At dawn, Zhu Yunwen stood up and called Zhu Di, Xie Jin and Xu Huizu to go out.
As the strategic hub of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, the choke point between the north and the south, most of the people Yangzhou attracts are businessmen, especially since the imperial court is dredging the Huitong River. Everyone knows that it won’t be long before the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal connects the north and the south again, and Yangzhou will become even more beautiful. bustling.
Many businessmen bought real estate in Yangzhou in order to leave a family fortune for their children and grandchildren. Some people also left the countryside and went to the city to do some small business.
Seeing the city bustling with activity early in the morning, Zhu Yunwen felt very relieved. He went straight to a Chaos stall and ordered four bowls of Chaos. Liu Changge didn't need to worry about it, he had already eaten.
The stall was run by a woman and a boy of eight or nine years old. Zhu Yunwen looked at the boy bringing over the hot bowl and couldn't help but ask: "Don't you go to social studies?"
The boy smiled shyly and said, "Replying to my guest in Mandarin, sir, he knows that my family is in trouble and my mother is too busy to handle it all by herself, so I have been allowed to come to the club for half an hour every night."
"This is a good gentleman."
Xie Jin couldn't help but praise.
Teaching and educating people is the most important thing. Such a gentleman understands people's hardships, understands people's hardships, and does not rigidly implement social rules. This is good for the children and the family.
"Where's your father?"
Zhu Di couldn't help but ask.
The boy shook his head slightly, looked back timidly at his mother, and whispered: "My father went to sea to do business. The ship was destroyed and no one came back. The family owed a lot of debt. In order to take care of my grandma and me, my mother started this business. The Chaos Stall."
Zhu Yunwen frowned slightly.
Before the imperial court instituted the sea ban, many merchants followed the naval fleet to the Southeast Asia and made a lot of money. After the sea ban was established and the municipal shipping department was established, countless people went to sea to do business.
But the problem is that not everyone can go to the sea. First of all, you must have a qualified seagoing ship, and secondly, you need to have excellent sailors and helmsmen. If you want to go directly to Nanyang to pan for gold with a small sailboat, the result is likely to be gone and never come back.
From this point of view, the imperial court must only review the ships, and must also check whether the personnel going out to sea have the ability to sail long distances and whether they have the ability to cope with wind and waves.
There is nothing pitiful about people dying for profit, but going to sea blindly has harmed many people.
"Eat, don't be stunned."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Chaos with some sadness.
The woman was running a business, and many people came here to eat in the morning, mostly ordinary people and workers.
A bowl of Chaos and three pennies can be considered a small profit but quick turnover.
Zhu Yunwen tasted a few mouthfuls and felt that it tasted pretty good. Before leaving, he looked at the woman's busy but smiling face and couldn't help but relax.
She lost her man and her children lost their father, but she shouldered everything on her own shoulders.
She doesn't need her own help.
Zhu Yunwen took the people away and looked at the rows of shops. He couldn't help but say: "During the Northern Song Dynasty, the highest commercial tax in Yangzhou reached 90,000 yuan. Although the commercial tax was 100 yuan, in general, the commercial tax had reached 100,000 yuan. One of every five taxes, or even one of every ten taxes, made the commercial tax account for a very high proportion in the Song Dynasty, which supported the operation of the court. How much is the commercial tax in Yangzhou now? Can you tell the accountant?"
Xie Jin looked troubled. Yangzhou Commercial Tax was in charge of the Household Department. This was Xia Yuanji's specialty. How did he know?
Zhu Yunwen did not hesitate to explain Jin, and just said calmly: "Last year, the commercial tax in Yangzhou was 65,000 yuan. Xia Yuanji once predicted that if we give Yangzhou three years, the commercial tax will be higher than that of the Song Dynasty. Have you ever thought about it, if the Ming Dynasty really had the Song Dynasty? The finances of the Ming Dynasty are not as redundant as those of the previous Song Dynasty. So where will our Ming Dynasty expand its territory? Where will our warships go? How will future generations evaluate the prosperous era of Jianwen?"
PS:
Thanks to the readers of vstinkyshamelessv for the reward. I’m sorry. I’ve been a little busy recently and I really can’t update it. I promise to make up for it next month. Thank you all for your support and companionship.
