Chapter 56: What a waste of our eldest grandson’s good brain!
Zhu Gui was very angry when he mentioned this matter. He was short of money and wanted to do business to make money, but reality did not allow it.
In fact, Zhu Gui wanted to remind him yesterday when Zhu Yunhuan mentioned business to him, but he didn't want to discourage him because he was very excited.
"well!"
"My father's reputation was ruined by that group of Confucian scholars, who said that we cannot compete with the people for profit..."
When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, he immediately expressed his understanding.
"So this is ah……"
"But it doesn't matter. There is always a way out. I believe I will find a way out!"
When Zhu Gui heard Zhu Yunhuan say this, he immediately became interested.
"Huh?"
"If you really find a way to break the impasse, don't forget to take me with you. My family doesn't have enough money to build a palace yet..."
"Don't worry, I don't eat alone. Of course, we all make money together!"
When Zhu Gui heard this, he thought that his grandson was joking with him and did not take it seriously at all.
In fact, there is one more thing it didn’t say: the royal family is not completely prohibited from doing business, they just can’t do business in the capital.
When he becomes a fiefdom in the future, he can do whatever he wants in his fiefdom. Who can control him?
As they talked, they walked towards Xihua Gate.
Zhu Gui's palace was near the small training ground on Taiping Street. Originally, one could leave the palace through either Xuanwu Gate or Xihua Gate, and Xuanwu Gate was even more convenient.
But he was already an adult and it was no longer appropriate for him to enter and leave the harem at will, so he chose to leave directly from Xihua Gate.
When the guards at Xihua Gate saw the young grandson of the emperor, they immediately stopped the two. Zhu Gui used his status as a vassal king as a guarantee and promised to send Zhu Yunhuan back before the palace gates were locked, and the guards let them go.
The two men came to Taiping Street and saw the bustling crowd. Zhu Gui was no longer surprised, so he let the guards surround him and sit in the carriage to continue his journey.
Zhu Yunhuan was a man who had never seen the world. His eyes were as wide as a groundhog's. He kept looking out of the car. Everything he saw was truly new to him.
"Wow!"
"There are so many people and so many shops in the capital!"
Seeing that Zhu Yunhuan was so ignorant, Zhu Gui said with pride on his face.
"Of course!"
"The population of our Ming capital is over one million, and it is the most prosperous place in the world!"
When Zhu Gui said this, his tone suddenly became a little bleak.
"It's a pity that such prosperity has nothing to do with us vassal kings. We are only fit to guard the borders in some remote villages..."
Zhu Yunhuan heard the bitterness in Zhu Gui's tone and couldn't help but ask.
"Uncle Thirteen, isn't it good to be a vassal king?"
"You are a local tyrant. You can do whatever you want and no one can stop you!"
Zhu Gui laughed self-deprecatingly upon hearing this.
"Is it really okay?"
"If I can stay in the capital, I would rather never be crowned a king!"
Zhu Yunhuan could not understand what Zhu Gui said, but in fact, Zhu Gui's thoughts were the general mentality of the princes.
For these princes, sending them to become fiefdoms was equivalent to driving them from an international metropolis to a remote village.
Even if they were allowed to become self-proclaimed kings, so what? There were many things in the capital that were so prosperous that they could not buy with money in other places, for example, the Qinhuai River, which was filled with the scent of cosmetics.
"Actually, you don't have to rush to make money."
Zhu Yunhuan looked at Zhu Gui in confusion, not understanding why he suddenly said this.
"Why?"
"I'm not in a hurry to make money now. How can I build a palace, support a guard, and develop the fiefdom economy in the future?"
Zhu Gui looked at this silly grandson and felt furious.
"Father will never be willing to let you become a vassal!"
“Why?”
"Just because I have no father or mother, I don't even have the qualifications to be a county king?"
“That’s not fair!”
When Zhu Gui heard this, he was completely dumbfounded, thinking to himself, weren't his words clear enough?
But he could only say this much. If he said anything more, he would be harming his grandson.
"Don't try to guess. When we get to my mansion, I'll change you into ordinary people's clothes. Then I'll take you for a stroll in the streets to experience the prosperity of the capital. Then you can hurry back to the palace!"
"oh oh……"
Soon, the two arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion. Zhu Yunhuan looked at the gate of the mansion and exclaimed in amazement.
"Uncle Thirteen, your mansion looks great!"
"Don't be so quick to praise me. You'll know once you push the door open."
"The gate is so beautiful, inside..."
As Zhu Yunhuan spoke, he followed Zhu Gui into the palace. As he walked through the gate, he was stunned by the desolation before him.
"wipe!"
"I just built a gate for you!"
Zhu Gui smiled bitterly upon hearing this.
"That's right. Those treacherous officials in the Ministry of Works spent all the money allocated by my father on the main gate!"
"If my mother hadn't pressed me to stop causing trouble for my father, I would have run to the Qianqing Palace to cry and complain."
"Even if you bully someone, you shouldn't do it like this!"
When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, he also expressed deep sympathy for Zhu Gui.
When he was chatting with Zhu Gui yesterday at noon, he heard the other party say that his palace was simple and shabby, and he thought that the other party was being modest to him.
Looking at it now, the word "simple" cannot even be used to describe it, it should be said to be shabby.
In such a huge mansion, except for the main hall which looks presentable, all other buildings are gray and not even painted.
As for rockery, ponds and the like, forget about it. There is only a large expanse of barren green grass and large pits left over from construction.
"Uncle Thirteen, you have indeed been wronged..."
"If I hadn't been about to be relocated and couldn't stay in the capital for many days, I would have made a scene in the Golden Palace and asked my father to allocate money for me to build the palace!"
"Uncle Thirteen, when I become king in the future, I won't be this miserable, right?"
When Zhu Gui heard this, he felt a headache. Why did this grandson always want to be crowned king? Couldn't he stand up and compete with Zhu Yunwen's grandson!
"Don't keep thinking about it. Come with me and change your clothes!"
"Why!"
Zhu Yunhuan followed Zhu Gui into the main hall and once again felt a wave of shabby air blowing towards him.
"Uncle Thirteen, the officials from the Ministry of Works are too much. They can't even provide you with a few decent pieces of furniture?"
Zhu Gui waved his hand when he heard this.
"Don't blame them. The little money allocated by the emperor is good enough to repair the framework of the palace. Do you still expect the officials of the Ministry of Works to buy furniture for you out of their own pockets?"
"Is the money allocated by the Emperor very little?"
"We only allocated 10,000 strings of cash in total, which is not even enough to build a big toilet in the capital!"
"But the other princes are pretty much the same. If they want to live comfortably, they all pay for the renovation themselves."
"Among all the princes, only your second and third uncles have decent palaces. Your fourth uncle, the Prince of Yan, has the most shabby one, but he doesn't live there either. Whenever he comes to the capital, he stays at my father-in-law's house."
"Isn't ten thousand guan equal to ten thousand taels of silver? It should be a lot, right? It shouldn't be built like this, right?"
"ha?"
"Who told you that ten thousand strings of silver is equal to ten thousand taels of silver?"
"If you're talking about when the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes were first issued, it was probably about the same. Even if it wasn't worth 10,000, it could have been worth 7,000 to 8,000 taels."
"Now...tsk tsk , it's worth three thousand taels at most!"
When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, his face was full of disbelief.
No way, is our Ming Dynasty's treasure notes depreciating so quickly?
Zhu Yunhuan decided to find out the reason. Was it because too many Ming Dynasty treasure notes were printed, or was it because someone forged them?
While the two were talking, they changed their clothes. When they were about to go out, Zhu Gui took out a stack of one-yuan banknotes and stuffed it into Zhu Yunhuan.
“Here!”
"Buy whatever you like. Just consider it as your pocket money!"
Although Zhu Yunhuan already knew that the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes had depreciated greatly, he was still very happy when he suddenly saw the small coins.
"Thank you, Uncle Thirteen!"
Just as the two were strolling out of the palace, an unexpected guest arrived at the main hall.
Old Zhu did not have much official business today, so after finishing it, he strolled to the main hall, wanting to see if the little rebellious grandson's ability to recite was really as good as Erhu said.
However, when he arrived at the main hall, he saw that the other two grandsons were there, but that one was missing.
Hey, where is our little rebellious grandson?
When Qi Tai saw the emperor arriving, he hurried out to pay his respects.
"Your humble servant greets His Majesty!"
"Where are the people?"
"Reporting to your majesty, His Royal Highness Yunxun has left the palace with Prince Yu."
"What?"
"Your Highness Yunxun and Prince Yu have both completed their lessons ahead of time. According to the rules of the Grand Hall, they can leave school early."
When Old Zhu heard this, his face suddenly turned dark.
"Qitai, are they given too little homework?"
"Your Majesty, His Highness Yunxun recited the first chapter of the Analects, which has a total of 493 words. Is that not too few?"
"His Royal Highness Prince Yu also does a normal amount of homework, reciting a hundred words every day."
Old Zhu calculated in his mind that nearly 500 words a day was indeed not a small amount. But when he thought that he was almost dying of anxiety, and his grandson actually had the leisure to go out of the palace to play, he was furious.
"double!"
"Double it!"
“ It has to be doubled!”
"We must not waste our eldest grandson's good brain!"
