Soon, Chen Kan put all those messy things behind him.
Because there are only three days left, Chen Kan needs to prepare the New Year's gift himself.
Just leave it to Yuncheng and Zhu Yuelan to prepare the annual gifts for these officials on the ground in Beijing.
However, the annual gifts of those nobles of the same status as Chen Kan in the capital, especially the elders, all needed to be chosen by him personally.
Even though it is just a courtesy exchange during the New Year and festivals, in this era it is an important tool for maintaining human relations.
It’s very particular about what kind of gift you give to what kind of person.
Civil servants will naturally want to give valuable antiques, calligraphy and paintings, while nobles will want to give rare treasures, as well as gifts for the royal family. They should not be cliché or too expensive.
The details are not something that Yuncheng, a housekeeper, can consider.
This is what is meant by the saying that the butt determines the head.
It took three days to prepare the gifts, mark them individually, and send servants to transport them to the capital via the still-frozen canal. Yuan Zheng also arrived as promised.
This is the third year that Chen Kan has lived since he came to Ming Dynasty.
He witnessed Zhu Di ascending to the throne and consolidating power step by step.
Until now, the entire Ming Dynasty has finally begun to look like it has declined in prosperity.
Not far away in the city of Beijing, fireworks over the city lit up the night sky.
Everyone in the Hou Mansion also put on their fur coats and prepared the brazier.
The three little boys each held two big dogs in their hands, and the servants of the Hou Mansion lifted the three long snowmobiles.
After Chen Kan gave the order, a group of people walked towards the Jinshui River in a mighty manner.
There is a snowmobile competition on the Jinshui River today, and the three little guys are bound to take first place.
For this reason, Chen Kan improved the Ming Dynasty's snowmobile.
The appearance of the snowmobile improved by Chen Kan is more similar to that of later generations of sleds.
Tonight, the lights on the Jinshui River are brightly lit. The first half of the Ice Sculpture Street has become a good place for people in Beijing to enjoy the lanterns and play. In the second half, dozens of tracks have been built with snow.
When a group of people from the Hou Mansion came to the starting point of the track with dogs and snowmobiles, both sides of the Jinshui River were already crowded with people who came to watch.
There were also servants and thugs sent by wealthy families on the shore to maintain order.
"Let's open the betting market, open the betting market~"
A rich man's butler shouted loudly.
Gambling was banned in the Ming Dynasty, but national entertainment activities such as this were not within the scope of gambling.
At the same time, the cries of vendors walking along the streets also sounded everywhere, and the excitement was not inferior to that of Nanjing.
With the help of servants from the Hou Mansion, the three little boys put the frame on the big yellow dog pulling the snowmobile. They only waited for the old man who was the referee to give the order and then went straight to the finish line.
Most of the people competing tonight are children of wealthy families living on both sides of the Jinshui River. The oldest is only twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest is Zhu Zhanhe, who is only four years old.
If the distance between the tracks was not wide enough, and there was thick snow in the middle as a partition, even if they fell, they would fall into the soft snow. Chen Kan would not dare to let the three little guys participate in any case. of competition.
After all, the identities of the Zhu brothers are no better than others.
Chen Kan squeezed to the place where the betting was opened and took a look at the odds of the three people.
It's a pity that the odds of the three of them are not high. After all, after being in Beijing for more than half a year, there are very few people who don't know the identities of these three little guys.
But on a day like this, the whole point is to have fun, and the odds don’t matter.
He took out three and ten taels of silver ingots from his arms and threw them over. Chen Kan smiled and said: "Buy number one, number nine, number fourteen to win."
Number one is Zhu Zhanji, number nine is Hua Shi, and number fourteen is Zhu Zhanhe. As a teacher, of course Chen Kan must support them.
The young man also knew Chen Kan's identity and immediately said with a flattering smile: "Master Marquis, wait a moment, I will issue a bill for you right now."
At this moment, a middle-aged man in coarse linen clothes squeezed over and took out a thick wad of banknotes from his arms: "One hundred guan, buy the Emperor's eldest grandson and win."
The middle-aged man was dressed in coarse linen clothes, but he shot a hundred times. Such a generous move immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Many people whispered, but their attention was focused on the wad of banknotes that the middle-aged man took out.
"Is that a treasure note?"
"I have never seen such exquisite treasure banknotes. Could it be a new product printed by the imperial court?"
"I don't know, I've never seen it."
Hearing the people's discussion, the middle-aged man's face suddenly showed a proud expression.
He began to explain complacently: "Yes, this is the treasure banknote newly printed by the imperial court. You Yankees have never seen it. Now we people in Jiangnan use this treasure banknote."
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the people suddenly booed.
"Isn't it just a treasure banknote? What's so strange about it? A treasure banknote is worthless. No matter how beautiful it is, it's still a piece of paper."
"That's right, look at his strange look."
When the middle-aged man heard these discussions, he plucked his ears in disbelief. He enjoyed the feeling of being in the spotlight.
I prefer to see these Yankees look like they have never seen the world.
After picking out his ears, the middle-aged man sneered: "My treasure banknotes are different from the ones you use to wipe your butts. They can be exchanged for a sufficient amount of gold and silver. Don't you know that His Majesty has opened the Royal Bank?"
"No, no, no, is the news from the north so backward?"
The middle-aged man's contemptuous tone immediately made many people unhappy, but the middle-aged man ignored them and looked at the boy who started betting: "Buy, why are you standing there?"
The boy was a little hesitant. He was a servant of a wealthy family, so he was naturally better informed than the common people. Moreover, the imperial court had already announced the existence of the new type of banknotes through the official newspaper, so he naturally knew about the new type of banknotes.
But the key point is that he has never used it. If he cannot exchange the gold and silver for the full amount, he will be responsible for the compensation.
Seeing the boy's hesitation, the middle-aged man became a little anxious: "Why, don't tell me that treasure banknotes can't be used in your north. I can tell you that the imperial court has issued an order that it is illegal not to accept treasure banknotes."
The boy hesitated for a moment and whispered: "My lord, wait a moment. The amount you bought is too large. I need to ask for permission."
When he heard that it was not that the boy did not accept the treasure money, but that the amount he took out was too large, the middle-aged man suddenly showed a proud expression on his face.
There was even more disdain in his eyes, as if everyone present was poor.
And Chen Kan, who had witnessed everything, was naturally classified by him as a poor person.
Chen Kan couldn't help but smile. At first glance, this man was a businessman from the south. His status in the south was too low and his status was too humble. Only when he came to the north could he look at others with such eyes.
Chen Kan understood this mentality very well, it was exactly the same as when he was a marquis, so Chen Kan had no intention of exposing him.
However, Chen Kan was still a little surprised the moment he saw the treasure note.
Unexpectedly, Baochao developed so rapidly. He thought that Baochao would not become popular in the north until at least Zhu Di moved the capital.
I didn’t expect that businessmen would become the vanguard of popularizing treasure banknotes.
But this is also a good thing. The farther the merchants carry the treasure, the faster the bank will be accepted by the people of the Ming Dynasty.
When the people of the Ming Dynasty are willing to use treasure money in transactions with foreigners, it will be time to harvest.
Chen Kan is looking forward to that day.
The boy left for several minutes and did not come back, and the people immediately started talking about it.
Just when the middle-aged man was about to get impatient, a wealthy man who was obviously more upscale returned to the gambling table under the leadership of the servant.
"I am the steward of Ding Amber Mansion. I heard that a good man wanted to bet a hundred dollars. I would rather bet with treasure money. I don't know..."
Before the rich man who claimed to be Ding'anbo's butler had finished speaking, the middle-aged man slapped the treasure money on the gambling board again.
"It's me. I'll bet a hundred dollars on His Highness the Emperor's Grandson to win."
"Eh!"
Butler Ding'anbo didn't care about the man's impoliteness. Apparently, he also saw the man's identity as a businessman.
It's a bit embarrassing to argue with a businessman.
So the housekeeper just took the banknotes and counted them, rubbed them on his fingertips a few times, and then told the boy: "The banknotes are real, let's issue the invoice."
"What's real or fake? It's just a waste of time. If His Highness the Emperor's Grandson wasn't going to participate in the competition, I wouldn't be too lazy to join in the fun."
The middle-aged man took the note issued by the waiter and left cursing.
But the people exploded.
Ding'anbo's housekeeper accepted the treasure banknotes. Doesn't that mean that what the man said just now is true, and the treasure banknotes can really be exchanged for a full amount of gold and silver?
The troublemaker couldn't help but stepped forward and started questioning the housekeeper Ding'an Bo.
The housekeeper didn't have any airs when dealing with these ordinary people, and he patiently taught them about the new treasure banknotes issued by the imperial court.
After listening to the popular science, the eyes of the people suddenly showed a clear look.
Until the housekeeper Ding'anbo told the people that the new treasure banknotes could not only be exchanged for gold and silver in full, but the old treasure banknotes could also be taken to the bank and exchanged for new treasure banknotes, the people suddenly became excited.
Which common person doesn't have a few old treasure bills in his hands? Those kind of things are so hard that you can even use them to wipe your butt. They are totally worthless.
It can be said that the common people have been suffering for a long time.
Now that I suddenly heard such news, I began to ask where to exchange it.
Just the word Nanjing uttered from the mouth of Ding'anbo's housekeeper instantly extinguished the enthusiasm of the people like a basin of cold water.
"To go to Nanjing, the little treasure money in my hand is not enough to cover the travel expenses to Nanjing. It will be in vain if I go there."
"Me too."
"When can this bank open in Beijing?"
The people's problems were raised one after another, and even the housekeeper was a little difficult to deal with them.
He quickly said: "If you want to know the detailed information of the bank, you can go to Yingtianfu Yamen. It is available in the newspaper and the county government office."
"As for when the bank will open in Beijing, I don't know yet."
After saying this, he confessed his crime to the people and fled.
There was no excitement to see, so Chen Kan squeezed out of the crowd.
If it were in the past, he would have definitely asked the servants of the Hou Mansion to take the opportunity to promote the bank, but that was not possible tonight.
There is nothing more important tonight than cheering for the three little guys.
