royal palace.
The palace was extremely lively at the moment.
There are lights and colorful decorations everywhere, making it look like a festival.
In fact, this was a family banquet held by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in the palace.
Not only the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen was there, but also other royal children and princesses who were rare to see in a hundred years.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting on the main seat, looked at the hall full of children and grandchildren below.
He couldn't help but look happy.
Lao Zhu's family was poor in his early years, and his brothers and sisters either starved to death or moved away from home.
His greatest wish is to have a full house of children and grandchildren, so that his children and grandchildren will not have enough to eat like he did in his early years.
At this time, when Lao Zhu was remembering the past.
The emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen stood up under the signal from Princess Lu's eyes.
"Grandpa Huang, you have just celebrated your seventieth birthday this year, and your grandson has specially prepared a gift to honor you."
Zhu Yuanzhang, whose memories were interrupted, was not angry when he saw that it was Zhu Yunwen. Instead, he said cheerfully.
"Oh? What kind of gift is it? Grandson, please bring it over quickly."
Zhu Yunwen immediately handed a treasure box to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch took it and walked quickly towards Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang took the treasure box and opened it. There was a pile of salt as white as snow inside!
Lao Zhu was greatly surprised and asked quickly.
"What kind of salt is this? Why is it so white? We have never seen such beautiful salt."
Hearing Lao Zhu's surprised tone, Zhu Yunwen and Princess Lu couldn't help but become happy.
"This was given to my grandson by his uncle. It is the finest fine salt that my uncle's family spent countless efforts and time refining."
"This white salt is better than green salt. Not only is it not bitter, it is also unusually salty and sweet!"
After hearing Zhu Yunwen's praise of the salt, Zhu Yuanzhang not only dipped his fingers into a little salt, but also tasted it in his mouth.
tear!
This salt really doesn't have any bitterness at all, it's very salty! !
"Okay! Okay! Grandson, you have done a great thing this time that benefits the country and the people!"
"With this salt, people all over the world will no longer have to eat that bitter and bland green salt!"
Lao Zhu just tasted it.
Immediately, I understood how powerful this salt was. There was no way the light green salt could compare with the white salt as white as snow.
As long as this white salt is introduced into the market, it will definitely replace the status of green salt!
The salt tax has always been the most important tax in the Ming Dynasty.
At this moment, Lao Zhu seemed to see a lot of white money being deposited into the national treasury!
Looking down, Princess Lu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Lao Zhu praising Zhu Yunwen very happily.
This white salt was given by her two useless brothers. Originally, she was not prepared to give this white salt to Zhu Yuanzhang.
But thinking about how popular Bai Yan was in Beijing, she expected that giving Bai Yan to Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely make him very happy.
So she asked Zhu Yunwen to bring out the white salt at today's banquet to please Zhu Yuanzhang.
Now it is indeed so!
"Come here! Reward the grandson of the Emperor with one hundred pieces of silk and one hundred catties of gold!"
Hearing this, Zhu Yunwen happily stood up and thanked him.
"Grandson, thank you, Grandpa Huang!"
At this time, other royal children around him were jealous when they saw that Zhu Yunwen had received Lao Zhu's reward.
But some of them were puzzled when they saw the white salt. They remembered that the white salt was made by a prodigal son from the suburbs.
Why is it now made by the Crown Princess’s family?
"By the way, since you said this was made by the Crown Princess's family, then give them one thousand taels of silver."
Lao Zhu said.
Princess Lu quickly stepped forward as well.
Said: "I would like to thank Your Majesty on behalf of my two brothers~"
Lao Zhu asked Zhu Yunwen and Princess Lu to stay together.
I began to fantasize about how much tax this white salt could bring to the Ming Dynasty.
At this moment, a drum sound came from outside the palace.
This familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar drum sound made Lao Zhu frown.
At this moment, a guard in Jinyi suddenly walked over in a hurry.
Whispered a few words in Zhu Yuanzhang's ear.
"What?!!! Someone is beating the Dengwen drum!!!"
moment!
The banquet that was lively just now became extremely quiet!
Only Zhu Yuanzhang's voice echoed throughout the banquet.
“Who is beating the Dengwen drum!!”
Lao Zhu asked angrily.
You must know that this Dengwen Drum was a drum set up by Lao Zhu in front of the palace gate in the early Ming Dynasty.
It is used to knock the people who have been wronged by the officials.
Since the Dengwen drum was erected, except in the early Ming Dynasty, people often beat it.
No one has knocked on it for almost twenty years now.
Because of this, he said at this year's court meeting that it was a symbol of the well-being of the people.
I didn’t expect someone to come and play drums today!
The slap in the face came so quickly that Lao Zhu blushed with anger.
"Let's go! Let's see which official is bullying the people!"
Lao Zhu angrily took the lead and walked out of the palace.
The others were stunned for a while and then hurriedly followed.
They also wanted to see who was playing the Dengwen drum!
After a while, Lao Zhu led a large group of people outside the palace.
Watching a thin man playing the Dengwen drum.
The sky was dim and Lao Zhu couldn't see clearly, but he always felt that this person was very familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere.
Although he was a little confused, Lao Zhu still suppressed his anger and said gently.
"You are the one who is playing the Dengwen drum? You must have been wronged. Don't be afraid. Tell us! We will make the decision for you!"
Hearing these familiar words, Accountant Zhu's body not only trembled.
The lowered head was full of bitterness.
He originally wanted to tell Zhu Yuanzhang about this kind of thing first, but Zhu Yan insisted on him coming over in person.
He also said that he was worried about others, but only himself.
Moreover, he escorted him all the way to the Dengwen drum and allowed him to beat the drum before leaving.
I had no choice but to stand here.
Now it really alarmed His Majesty, but it also hurt him at the same time.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Accountant Zhu lowering his head and trembling, he even thought that an official was bullying him.
He quickly stepped forward and helped Zhu Accountant up.
"Old man, don't be afraid, the person in front of you is the Emperor of Heaven! I keep my word and say that I will make the decision for you, and I will make the decision for you!"
"Don't be afraid, tell us all your grievances."
When Zhu Accountant heard this, he felt even more bitter.
If His Majesty finds out that it is someone from his own family who is suing, and the person he wants to sue is the Emperor's grandson's uncle, it will be a huge scandal!
Thinking of this, Accountant Zhu lowered his head deeply.
But he knew that keeping silent like this was not the answer, so he deliberately lowered his voice.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, the common people do have grievances, and they are huge grievances."
Seeing that the person was finally willing to speak, Lao Zhu immediately said pleasantly.
"My father-in-law, you can tell us your grievances. If an official framed you, we will definitely remove him from office! Peel the daylilies!"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... What the common people want to sue is the grandson of the current emperor!"
