Beside the field ridge, looking at Zhu Jianshen who was as white and fat as a lucky baby, the old man couldn't help but laugh and said.
"Young master, such a piece of land is not big!"
"The old man is old now and can't do heavy work. When he was young, he could manage twenty acres of land easily."
"It's a pity that it can't be done now..."
The old man beat his legs and sighed, as if he was recalling the youth and strength of the past.
"Wow!"
This kind of thing is naturally very unfamiliar to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who has grown up in a deep palace since childhood. Zhu Jianshen's eyes widened and his mouth opened in surprise.
"Does this field all belong to grandpa's family?"
Zhu Jianshen pointed to a large piece of land in the distance and continued to ask.
This was a childish remark, but it brought up the old man's sadness. He was silent for a moment and then said with a wry smile.
"How can this old man be so capable? This land belongs to Mr. Liu's family. The old man's family only has seven or eight acres of land. With such a small amount of land, the old man and his two eldest sons can usually work hard."
"The old man's two eldest grandsons are very strong, but they can only go out to do some small business, or they can farm land and pay rent for others. They can't get anything after a year. They are seventeen or eighteen, and they have not yet married a wife.
.”
"Fortunately, two years ago they were going to join the army, but they were stopped by the old man. They spent money to redeem themselves from the corvee. At that time, some people scolded the old man for toiling in vain. Isn't it just to show his strength?"
"But it turned out that Lao Huang, who lived next door, had two sons. One went to be a soldier, and the other went to do corvee service. They followed the army and went away together. After a battle, they were all gone. Alas..."
The old people in the village are always talkative.
After letting go of his initial nervousness, especially when facing a little kid like Zhu Jianshen, the old man's chatterbox opened up completely.
"However, the grandson of the old man's family is as smart as the young master. He is only eleven years old this year and has already passed the boy's exam. The teacher at the private school in the village said that the grandson of the old man will definitely be a good scholar in the future."
Seeing the proud look on the old man's face, Zhu Jianshen looked a little confused.
His Royal Highness the Prince is still in the stage of literacy and rationality, so he naturally does not understand the imperial examination system of the imperial court. Moreover, even if he does, a mere child may not be able to understand it to Zhu Jianshen, who has daily contact with at least starting as a Jinshi.
, what on earth is the old man proud of?
At this time, Zhu Qiyu took over the conversation at the right time and said.
"That's a good thing. If I win the prize in the future, my husband's family will be relieved. However, my husband's family will have to work hard. They have to work in the fields just after the disaster."
"But haven't the summer taxes been paid now? Is my father-in-law raising land?"
Now, it is already the middle of July, and the imperial summer tax has been collected in June. Looking around, the fields are full of harvested straw, and no crops are planted.
Hearing these words, the old man was a little surprised and said.
"Young master actually knows how to take care of crops?"
Ordinary officials' children would not know about raising land.
Nodding, the old man continued.
"Yes, the summer tax has been paid. It is a disadvantage to pay it. Otherwise, if the earth dragon turns over, I don't know how much harvest will be delayed. When the summer tax cannot be paid, I am afraid that the seven or eight acres of land in the old man's house will be lost. Sell another half."
"Young master, don't look at it. The crops have been harvested now, but there is still a lot of work to do. If this field is left unattended for a month, the weeds will grow up and the field will be useless. If the weeds grow vigorously, the newly planted ones will be useless." The crops won’t survive.”
"So after the crops have been harvested, the plows have to be plowed. The old man has been plowing these few acres of land for the second time. It is almost finished today."
"After plowing, all the big clods in the field must be pounded. The more broken the better, the grass and roots in the field must be removed. Then we need to find some fertilizer and plow the land bit by bit. Farmers who grow in this way will have a good harvest."
"Just keep doing this work, and a few months will pass. If you can't finish it, just sow the seeds. Next year's harvest will not be good, and the old man's family will have to go out to beg for food. We people are poor, so beg for food. , but if next year's repairs are delayed, it won't work..."
When the subject of farming was mentioned, the old man became more and more talkative, quite eloquent.
However, when Zhu Qiyu listened, he couldn't help but sighed and said.
"It's not easy for my father-in-law and his family. The imperial court went on a military rampage and carried out large-scale construction projects, which really made the people suffer."
"Hey, young master, you don't want to say this nonsense..."
However, after hearing these words, the old man who was sitting on the ground quickly looked around and said nervously.
"Actually, the past two years have been much better than before. In the past few years, there were thieves and bandits everywhere. The old man was afraid that something would happen to his family, so he didn't let his eldest grandsons travel far away. Life was harder at home, but at least he could Seeing people, alas..."
Zhu Qiyu originally wanted to chat for a while, but at this time, Wynn stepped forward and whispered a few words to him silently.
So, Zhu Qiyu glanced in the distance, and sure enough, there were many more blurry figures coming from the direction they just came from.
Standing up from the ground, Zhu Qiyu thought for a while and said a few words to Wynn. Then Wynn took out a round pearl from nowhere. Zhu Qiyu took it and stuffed it into the old man's hand and said.
"Thank you, father-in-law. You have talked so much with our uncle and nephew, and it has delayed my father-in-law's work. I'll just accept the little thought you have."
"This...this...can't be done, the old man didn't do anything..."
Looking at the round beads in front of him, the old man was stunned and quickly declined.
However, Zhu Qiyu pushed it directly into his hand, then nodded towards him, turned around and left, leaving the old man standing there, holding the beads in his hand, not knowing what to do...
After bidding farewell to the old man, Zhu Qiyu took Zhu Jianshen and others, but did not continue wandering around, but went straight back to the place where the Jinyi Guards were stationed outside the village.
At this moment, on this small hillside, in addition to the neatly prepared Jinyiwei Military Academy, there were also many officials, including several old men in scarlet robes, who were unexpectedly eye-catching.
"I bow to your majesty, long live my emperor!"
Seeing Zhu Qiyu return, a group of long-awaited old men in crimson robes breathed a sigh of relief, looked at each other, and immediately stepped forward to pay homage.
Zhu Qiyu took a quick glance and found that people had arrived in good order. Most of the ministers with names from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Industry, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Cabinet, and the imperial court had arrived.
At the same time, among a group of civil servants, there was also a trembling Shuntian Prefecture Yin...
It seems that his trip out of the city was a lot of trouble for these people.
Looking back at the village in the distance, Zhu Qiyu didn't say much, but simply said to Lu Zhong and others beside him.
"Go back to the palace!"
…………
It's impossible to go to court in the morning, but this matter will definitely not be completed.
The emperor and the prince were sent back to the palace smoothly. A group of elders, none of whom left, blocked the outside of the palace and handed over signs asking for permission to see them.
They acted like they would not leave until the Emperor saw them.
Fortunately, when the emperor returned to the palace, he seemed to immediately return to the familiar sage king. Not long after, a chamberlain came out and summoned them all in.
"See Your Majesty!"
After seeing the ceremony, the emperor gave them a seat as usual. Then, the emperor seemed to know what they were going to say and spoke first.
"I have gained a lot from leaving the palace this time..."
snort!
The elders raised their heads with angry expressions on their faces.
It seems that the emperor does not know that what he has done is wrong. The bosses have made up their minds and do not care what he gains. This time, even if the emperor speaks out, he cannot easily cover up this matter.
God knows that when they got the news, they were so frightened that they broke into cold sweats.
The emperor and the prince went out for a tour at the same time, and they took only a few people with them without the knowledge of the civil and military officials.
If anything goes wrong, at the most serious level, the country will be shaken, and the government will face a new round of turmoil. At the most minor level, they, the civil and military ministers, have failed to fulfill their duty of admonition, causing the king to
Anyone who has made mistakes is a sinner of the Ming Dynasty.
If it hadn't been for interrupting the king without authorization, it would be a breach of etiquette in front of the palace, and they would have been unable to sit still.
Seeing that the emperor himself spoke first, they felt even more guilty that the emperor was guilty. Therefore, one by one, they couldn't help but gear up and pricked up their ears to listen carefully to see how the emperor would "quibble" this time so that they could refute them one by one.
However, what they didn't expect was that after saying this, the emperor turned sideways and winked at Wynn.
So, the chief eunuch immediately understood and waved, and two chamberlains came forward, each holding a square plate covered with red cloth.
Coming closer, Wynn opened the red cloth. The first plate was full of round gold beads, and the other plate was full of silver ingots.
Ah this...
Although they were well prepared, the bosses were still a little bit unexpected when faced with this scene.
What, this is what the emperor gains?
Is it possible that the mighty emperor and prince of the Ming Dynasty teamed up to go out to rob?
That’s not right either!
After all, the elders have seen the world.
The golden beads in this plate are not beads made of gold, but a special kind of pearls. Especially this kind of plump, golden and dazzling gold beads with pearl color, they are a proper royal tribute.
Theoretically speaking, this thing can only be found in the emperor's inner treasury. Where can I snatch it?
Just when the ministers looked suspicious, Wynn and two chamberlains came straight to the middle of the ministers holding two plates, and then...
Standing in front of Yu Shiyue, the Second Assistant to the Cabinet!
"Your Majesty has specially given the Second Assistant and the officials of the Prince's Palace a plate of pearls and five hundred taels of silver. Please accept the reward on behalf of the Prince's Palace, Your Majesty!"
Yu Shiyue blinked, how could this have anything to do with him?
Feeling the looks from all sides, the Second Assistant couldn't help but feel his scalp numb, and he quickly raised his hands.
"Your Majesty, you will receive no reward for your merits. How dare you accept such a generous gift without any merit?"
Although the pearls and silver are very tempting, if Yu Cifu takes it at this time, he will be regarded as a traitor to the civil servants...
However, the emperor shook his head and said.
"Cifu is humble. The biggest gain I have gained from leaving the palace this time is that I have seen the prince's kindness and compassion, and his careful and thoughtful heart. During this period, Cifu and the officials in the prince's palace have tried their best to teach the prince.
If you can achieve this result, how can you call it futile?"
"Besides, this is not for Cifu alone, but for all the subordinate officials in the Prince's Mansion. Cifu just accepts the reward and expresses his gratitude."
this……
When the emperor said this, Yu Shiyue didn't dare to accept it.
They were all people who had been hanging out in the court for decades. How could he not hear that the emperor was turning a corner to get rid of his own responsibility for sneaking out of the palace?
The implication is, you see, I did not leave the palace willfully, but to test the prince's character. Now that the prince's conduct is upright, he has achieved his goal. A little violation of the rules is not enough...
This is not gold and silver jewelry, it is clearly a hot potato!
However, the emperor had already spoken in person, and any further shirk would be disobedience. For a moment, Yu Cifu was on the verge of crying but had no tears, and was in a dilemma.
Fortunately, at this time, Yu Qian stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, Yu Cifu doesn't know what happened when Your Majesty left the palace today, so naturally he doesn't dare to accept it. He might as well ask your Majesty to tell you everything about what he saw and heard outside the palace today, and it won't be too late to reward the officials in the East Palace."
Yu Shiyue looked at Yu Qian in disbelief.
Today, Yu Qian was willing to accompany the emperor to fool around, and they ran out of the palace together for a private visit incognito, which surprised him greatly. Why did he come back and start quibbling with the emperor?
For a moment, Yu Shiyue suddenly felt an urge to grab Yu Qian's collar and peel off his skin to see if it had been replaced by some Heavenly Official.
When the emperor heard this, he looked at Yu Qian and wondered what he was thinking. But after a moment, the emperor finally nodded and said.
"That's right!"
So, Yu Qian cupped his hands and began to tell what he saw and heard from the time he met the emperor and the prince.
First, Yu Qian talked about punishing Liang Fang in a leisurely, but very detailed manner. Even the conversation between the emperor and the prince at that time was described very clearly word for word.
As they listened, the faces of the ministers present gradually became serious, and they all fell into deep thought.
Yu Qian doesn't say anything else, but his character is definitely a first-class one in the imperial court.
There is basically no adulteration in what he said. In addition, these things are not difficult to verify as long as you are willing to inquire.
Therefore, the bosses naturally did not question the authenticity of what Yu Qian said.
The people present were all human beings. Even if they didn't see it with their own eyes, just from Yu Qian's narration, they quickly judged the meaning of the few words the emperor just said.
At such a young age, the prince was able to advise the emperor on Liang Fang's matter, and he was able to quote the truth and explain it. He was indeed a careful learner and thoughtful thinker.
But more importantly, this form seems to be a school test, but in fact, in the eyes of these ministers, this is not just a school test, but more like the emperor taking the opportunity to personally teach the prince how to govern the country!
If you are kind to one person, you will not be kind, and if you forgive someone in a moment, you will not be forgiven!
Clear rewards and punishments, fairness and selflessness are the true benevolence of all people!
The truth contained in these two sentences alone, in the opinion of these elders, is something that ministers would never be able to teach the prince. However, the emperor used such a small thing to have such a subtle influence on the prince. The profound meaning is,
I'm afraid it's not shallow.
If it is said in this way, then the emperor's departure from the palace this time is probably not just willful...
