Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 266: New Weather on March 3
On March 3, the weather is fresh, and there are many beauties by the water in Chang'an. The Shangsi Festival on March 3 was originally a day for purification, that is, bathing by the water to drive away illness and pray for well-being. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it has gradually faded out of the officialdom and the people, giving way to Qingming. However, after Emperor Taizu of this dynasty ascended the throne, he re-advocated the ancient ritual of Qushui Liushang and feasting by the river, so this festival has been preserved.
But as time went by, the waterside feast gradually turned into a spring feast or an outing. So, on March 3rd, the court officials took a day off, the government stopped working, and even the students of the Imperial Academy got a day off.
On this day when everyone in the city was wearing light spring clothes or going outing or feasting, Zhang Shou did not ask Zhu Ying out for a trip. It was not because he did not want to, nor because he did not have time, but because... Zhu Ying did not have time. Although this was a very rare thing, Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying met every few days. Even if there was no marriage certificate, the marriage was already a foregone conclusion, so he was not in a hurry.
Therefore, on this Shangsi Festival, he went to the house that Lu Sanlang had invested in but registered under his own name, which was a combination of a blacksmith shop and a carpenter shop. It was not until the afternoon that he came out, breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned his head to look at Ah Liu next to him.
"You and Guan Qiu are really good! You sold a simple cotton candy machine for a thousand strings of cash."
Although sugarcane is widely planted in various suitable areas in the south under the promotion of Emperor Taizu, so that sugar is no longer a luxury, compared with the sugar needed for seasonings and various sweet soups, cotton candy is definitely a luxury. Therefore, when Guan Qiu just carefully told him that the cotton candy machine was sold, he was quite surprised.
What's more, after he and Lu Sanlang teamed up to cheat the eldest prince, he didn't think that anyone would buy the machines made by his people - weren't they afraid that he would submit the blueprints to his superiors in the blink of an eye, and then lose both his money and his people?
Seeing Ah Liu's innocent expression, as if he didn't understand anything, he asked unhappily, "Stop pretending! This is the money you two earned, and I won't share it with you! You too, stop using it to supplement the family income, and you should think about getting married! Tell me, who did you sell it to? It wasn't a forced sale, was it?"
It wasn't that Zhang Shou was paranoid, it was just that Ah Liu was too resolute. In February, there were more than a dozen cleaning servants in his Luwang Villa, and no one knew where they came from. Then half a month later, he got a detailed blueprint of various secret rooms and tunnels from Ah Liu - of course, they were built in the past.
The most frightening thing was that some of these secret rooms and tunnels had been surveyed and cleaned by the royal family long ago, clearly in preparation for his future use. However, many of them were found to be in a mess after they were opened, and there were even bones in them! After listening to Ah Liu's detailed report, he couldn't help but twitch his eyelids, and almost planned to order all these secret rooms and tunnels to be filled up.
But this would inevitably make him look like he was hiding something, and he once considered discussing with the emperor whether he could change his house. But when he told Zhu Ying about it, Miss Zhu promised to go to the palace to talk to the emperor and the empress dowager, and then brought him a message.
"Just stay here and don't worry. Just treat those underground secret rooms as your workshops. Just make more good things for me!"
Zhang Shou thought about how he felt when he heard this, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, and then he stared at Ah Liu again. After a while, the young man finally said reluctantly: "The emperor sent someone to ask for it. He said that Jiangnan is very rich, and the local wealthy families have money but nowhere to spend it, so he quickly rewarded this blueprint to the weaving family. The messenger reported that they will pay twice as much Yunjin this year."
As the first of the four famous brocades, the name of Yunjin was not originally appropriate, but it is obvious that when Emperor Taizu came, he established the capital in Beijing and Nanjing at the same time, and also gave the brocade woven by Nanjing Brocade Bureau the name of Nanjing Yunjin. However, the Brocade Bureau did not hire weavers by itself, but outsourced the production, and the weaving workshops of those large households were its partners.
The court did not pay, but these weaving workshops received duty-free export quotas for overseas brocade. Except for these large weaving workshops, other families were not allowed to produce brocade, let alone export it to the sea...
Thinking of this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but mutter that the emperor was very calculating. However, what Ah Liu said next surprised him again: "Also, the blueprint was not sold for 1,000 guan, but the emperor paid 1,000 guan in advance... If the big families in the south have any special expressions, the emperor will pay another sum depending on the situation."
At this point, Ah Liu said : "So Guan Qiu also said that although the things were made by him, the principle was told to him by you, young master. He took 100 strings of cash as wages, which was already very unusual. He would never dare to ask for anything else. As for me... I am just a laborer, and I don't have a place to spend money, so why should I ask for money?"
Seeing Zhang Shou's disapproval, he said without hesitation: "So, whether it's the remaining 900 strings of cash or the money that the emperor might give me, it's what you deserve. When the emperor gave me the money before, he also specifically asked me to come up with more good things. He promised that he would be more generous than the eldest prince in giving money, and it wouldn't cause so much trouble."
Hehe... Your Majesty, you still have the nerve to say that! If you hadn't personally sent the eunuch to buy the cotton candy from Ah Liu, how could someone have impeached me for such a trivial matter as a cotton candy machine? Don't you want to cause trouble... This matter is big enough!
When the news of me rewarding a wealthy man in Jiangnan with the blueprints of a cotton candy machine gets out, I might be impeached again!
Zhang Shou had nothing to say, and he glanced at Ah Liu helplessly: "That's it, the money will remain the same as before, I will keep it for you first. Also, don't tell the emperor about today... I will tell him later. As for Guan Qiu... before he makes the clock, I estimate that there will be a lot of messy by-products, you can take it out and use it however you want."
"Oh." Ah Liu agreed, and then explained a few words in a somewhat depressed tone.
"It wasn't me who said that last time. It was the emperor who bought cotton candy and then sent someone to ask for the machine. Most of the time, a madman has quick eyes and quicker mouths. I think that the young master should follow the emperor's instructions and quickly take Guan Qiu and the others to move to the other courtyard. There are many secret rooms and secret passages over there, and any movement cannot be heard. Even if a madman has clairvoyance and super hearing, he won't know."
Zhang Shou felt the veins on his forehead throbbing. No matter what was going on, he couldn't hear such words. Why did he feel so uncomfortable? People who knew him understood that he was tinkering with all kinds of interesting things, but people who didn't know... thought he was rebelling!
Ah Liu, who usually doesn't talk much, suddenly became particularly talkative at this moment: "Master, if you are worried that such a large place may not have enough manpower, I will make arrangements later. I have carefully screened all the guys who are already working in the other courtyards."
"The doorman is An Lu, the former local tyrant of the outer city. Although his lame leg doesn't look very good, he is very capable. He could beat eight people by himself back then. His fighting ability is not strong now, but his vision and means are still there. He can always guide the younger generation. The other three doormen are all smart guys. The cook Xu Pozi is very skilled, but her shop was collapsed by the snow, and she has never sold human meat buns. Master, don't worry..."
"I'm not at all reassured when you say that!"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead, but in the end, he still didn't interfere with the family's recruitment - he was too busy with the Imperial College every day, and he had to come from time to time to check on the development progress of various instruments. If he also managed how to recruit and select servants at home, he would be too idle! However, he was still hesitant about Ah Shou's urging him to move in as soon as possible.
It's not that he has to wait until he gets married to move, but now he hasn't married Zhu Ying yet, and there are only a few people in the family. Moving into such a big house is like throwing a few small stones into the sea; it won't even make a splash!
Moreover, he would mostly live in the Imperial College dormitory in the future to avoid a long commute. Could Wu really treat the house as a park every day?
After much thought, Zhang Shou decided to go back and discuss it with Wu again - he could make decisions independently on matters outside, and Wu never interfered with him, but he didn't want to and couldn't leave her alone on matters of the house. However, when he rode to the door of his house while thinking, he saw Old Liu trotting up to him.
"Master, a visitor has arrived." He lowered his voice and looked around, as if he was afraid that someone might eavesdrop. He looked like an experienced thief. When he saw Zhang Shou stepping into the house, he hurriedly followed him, but explained with an apologetic smile, "It's the eldest son of the Duke of Qin. Everyone says he is recuperating at home, so I have to be careful..."
Zhang Chen's injury was a hot topic among many people in the capital during the New Year. Zhang Chen was a well-known nobleman in the capital - he was famous for his ostentatiousness before and later for his return as a prodigal son. Although he was not as exaggerated as Lu Sanlang, he was also a good head monk in Banshan Hall.
Therefore, Zhang Chen's unfortunate fall from his horse attracted much attention. According to the imperial physician, in order to prevent further illness, he would have to stay in bed for a few months at least. For this reason, almost everyone in the Banshan Hall of the Imperial College took turns to visit him. Zhang Shou also went several times, but later he was busy with schoolwork and did not go so often.
When Zhang Chen's father, Duke of Qin Zhang Chuan, suddenly took over as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, there was another wave of visits. But this time, everyone who went to visit was turned away, because Zhang Chen announced that his father's promotion had nothing to do with him, and he wanted to rest and not see guests!
No one knew that Zhang Chen, who claimed to have fallen off a horse, stayed at home for the first few days to "recover from his injuries", but in fact he soon chased Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu who were going to Xingtai, and quietly went south with a few of his confidants, and arrived in Xingtai before Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu.
At this time, Zhang Shou strode into his study room and saw Zhang Chen walking around in circles. He smiled and said, "Zhang Chen, what's the matter that requires you to come back in person like this? Can't you send someone back to tell us?"
"Young sir!" Zhang Chen looked up and saw that it was Zhang Shou. He rushed over in a hurry and said angrily, "Those wealthy families saw that the new spinning machines were being promoted well, so they really used shady tactics! Just like what you worried about before, they bribed those cotton yarn merchants and lowered the purchase price again and again, and even refused to accept the yarn spun by those spinners!"
Zhang Shou was not surprised by this result. He smiled and said, "But didn't Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu discuss a countermeasure? If others don't buy it, they will buy it. The price is slightly lower than the previous price, but definitely higher than the purchase price of those guys. Then the spinners can get a higher income than before. So, can the spinners still not sell it?"
"Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu brought with them the 10,000 strings of cash that the emperor had allocated to them, but no one knows who spread the news about the exact amount to everyone in Xingtai. The combined financial resources of those wealthy families must be at least several hundred thousand strings of cash! Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu are running out of money!"
At this moment, Zhang Chen saw Zhang Shou was silent, so he sighed: "The eldest prince is in Cangzhou, which is at least an important town on the canal, facing the sea to the east. Unlike Xingtai, although it is the capital of Shunde Prefecture and is located on an important land route south of the capital, it is really inconvenient to transport cotton yarn out. What's more, the eldest prince brought two capable people from the Ministry of Revenue to Cangzhou, and with coercion and inducement..."
"When Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu went down, they also brought Hu Kai and two others. They were so confident at that time. Why, are you scared now?" Zhang Shou was deliberately vague, just wanting to see if Zhang Chen would be so chivalrous as to help his two younger brothers again.
"What am I afraid of? The worst that can happen is that I will lose money. Anyway, my Duke Qin's Mansion has nothing else but a lot of money, and it will all be mine in the future!" Zhang Chen made up his mind and told the truth, "I just don't want people to think that we are not as capable as the eldest prince!"
Zhang Shou looked at Zhang Chen for a long time, then said with a smile: "We? If I remember correctly, promoting the new textile machinery in Xingtai is the task of Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. As for you, I asked you to go all the way south to collect cotton, and by the way, recruit a group of weavers who are good at weaving along the way, and then bring them to Xingtai, right? They are open, you are secret, you can't help but help them again, right?"
Facing this, Zhang Chen suddenly felt guilty: "I have finished all those things, so I just helped Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. Regarding the cotton harvesting, I claimed to be the confidant of the Second Prince, and beat up the two guys sent to Xingtai by the First Prince. I also happened to catch a few crimes of those big households, so they had to obey me. So, except for the stock they needed to use, I harvested all the other cotton."
Zhang Shou was speechless for a while. He wanted Zhang Chen, who was flamboyant and fierce, to secretly support Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, but this guy was even more domineering than the second prince! He beat up the first prince's men... Only this guy could do that!
He scolded angrily and amusedly, "Aren't you afraid that the Second Prince will know that someone is pretending to be his confidant?"
"I sent someone to give the Second Prince a generous gift." Zhang Chen smiled. "When the Second Prince was looking for someone, someone was willing to come forward to disrupt the situation for the First Prince and Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. Why would he be unhappy? He even gave me a token of his love!"
Zhang Chen raised his hand, revealing a bronze plaque with the word "Yanqing" engraved on it. Zhang Shou knew that the Second Prince's villa was known as the Yanqing Villa, so when he saw the bronze plaque and the serial number on the back, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Lu Sanlang cheated the eldest prince, but you can say that he came to him on his own. You cheated the second prince like this, aren't you afraid that the emperor will know?"
"This is indeed a problem..." Zhang Chen suddenly said embarrassedly, "How about you, young master, help me explain it in front of the emperor?"
