Chapter 1205, a watch is a symbol of identity and status
In the private room on the top floor of the Wangyue Tower in the capital, a group of the top officials of the Ming Dynasty gathered together, drinking and enjoying themselves.
"Tsk, tsk, let me tell you, this woman is the best from our Ming Dynasty. The women from the Japanese and Korean countries are too short and their figures are not well-proportioned. The women from the prairie in the Western Regions have good figures, but their skin is too rough.
It’s too rough and lacks the gentleness that a woman should have.”
"The skin of these Nanyang women is too dark, and most of their facial features are not good. The European women have good figures, but their body odor is too strong. We Ming women are better."
A young man hugged each other, looked around the group, and started commenting one by one.
"Brother Li has always been an expert in flowers. He has tasted all the flowers in the southeast, northwest, Guangnei and Guan, and his comments are definitely not wrong."
Someone next to him immediately smiled and complimented.
"That's, that's~"
The others also nodded their heads.
"Haha~"
Being complimented, this young man laughed happily.
"Dang~dang~"
Just when everyone was chatting happily, the bell tower on the top floor of Wangyue Tower made bursts of sound.
The man named Mr. Li rolled up his sleeves and showed his watch. He looked at it and said, "It's already ten o'clock in the evening!"
"Brother Li, is that the watch in your hand?"
Everyone nearby looked at Mr. Li, and someone asked quickly.
"Haha, yes, this is a watch."
"It's similar to the clock towers and clock towers outside. You can know the time accurately."
Mr. Li nodded quickly, then took off his watch very showily and handed it to the person next to him.
"This is a watch~ It's so ingenious that it can be used to calculate time."
"I have heard that this thing is now only available to officials of third rank or above. It is a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince to these officials."
"Isn't that right? I also heard my father say that at this time, it's a pity that my father is only in the fourth grade and can only look at it and not get such a watch."
"My dad got a watch, but he treated it like a treasure and wouldn't even let me look at it."
"My dad also wanted to take it out to play with, but he wouldn't even let me touch it and just put it on his hand."
"If only I could have a watch like this."
Many young men held their watches and said one after another.
"Brother Li is so awesome that he can actually own a watch."
"Shh, I took this out for fun behind my dad's back. I have to give it back later. He will definitely wear it in the morning tomorrow."
Mr. Li was very proud at this time and felt that he had gained face.
A watch fully embodies this style.
You must know that there are not many pieces of this thing in the entire Ming Dynasty. Only officials of third rank and above can own one, and officials of fourth rank are not qualified to own one.
This is especially true for the second generation. They only have one at home, and it is not their turn to use or wear it.
Not only they, the second generation, are jealous, but also the officials of the current dynasty are jealous, and they all want to have a watch of their own.
The feeling of having time in one's hands, as if the universe is in one's hands, is what a truly great person has.
…
There are no secrets in the capital, not to mention that Zhu Houzhao sent out a lot of watches at once.
In addition, there are clock towers and clock towers all over the Beijing-Tianjin area. Soon, people in the entire Beijing-Tianjin area knew about clocks and clock towers. At the same time, they also knew that there was something as small as a silver dollar that could be worn on the hand.
, something to know the time anytime, anywhere.
Because the watches were only given to officials of the third rank and above in the current dynasty, it left everyone with the impression that this watch was extremely noble. Only officials of the third rank and above were eligible to own it. Even officials who did not reach the third rank, even fourth-rank officials,
You are not qualified to own a watch like this.
Suddenly, this watch was linked to identity.
Those who can afford to wear a watch are all real people with status and status. They are all high officials of the dynasty, officials of third rank or above. There are not many in the entire capital. Anyone who can do it is a minister, minister, or minister of state.
Gong and so on, they are all real big shots.
You can grasp the precise time anytime and anywhere, wear it with you, and it is also a symbol of status.
Suddenly, in the Beijing-Tianjin area, people everywhere were trying their best to find out the origin of this watch, and at the same time, some people began to buy the watch at a high price.
There were many rich people in the Ming Dynasty, but this watch was hard to come by. Some people even offered a sky-high price of ten thousand taels of silver just to buy a watch.
However, even after offering a sky-high price of 10,000 taels of silver, I still couldn't buy a watch.
Because the people who got the watches were all officials of the third rank or above in the current dynasty. These people were not short of money at all. They didn't have a few plantations, trading houses, factories, etc., and they were worth your ten thousand taels of silver.
What's more, this watch was a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince and is a symbol of status. If you sell it, is it worthy of His Highness the Crown Prince's favor?
Without even thinking about it, everyone will definitely laugh to death.
How many officials want nothing more than a watch, yet you still want to sell it?
Therefore, even if you have money, you cannot buy a watch, and no one will sell it.
At various high-end banquets and gatherings in the capital, if you can wear a watch and roll up your sleeves from time to time to check the time, you will definitely become the focus of everyone and attract countless envious and jealous eyes.
Here in Zhuque Street in the capital, Liu Jin was looking at Zhu Houzhao speechlessly.
Zhu Houzhao's casual clothes didn't matter, but the key was that he actually cut his original long sleeves into short sleeves similar to those of later generations.
If it's summer, there's nothing wrong with wearing short sleeves. After all, it's hot in summer, so even if you wear long sleeves, you'll roll up your sleeves to breathe and stay cooler.
The key is that it is winter now, the wind is biting, the north wind is howling, and the snowflakes are falling.
In order to show off, this guy even cut off his sleeves to reveal the watches he was wearing on his hands. He also had one on his left hand and one on his right hand. He kept shaking it while walking, for fear that people around him would not notice the watch on his hand.
Same.
"Your Highness, you'd better put on your clothes. It's freezing cold today. It's really too cold."
Liu Jin shook his head helplessly, thought for a while and persuaded.
"It's indeed a bit cold, but this is the best way to wear a watch."
Zhu Houzhao rubbed his hands slightly, then looked at the time and said.
His action of looking at the watch immediately attracted the attention of a large group of people around him. Everyone looked over. When they saw the two watches in Zhu Houzhao's hands, their eyes suddenly started to turn red.
"Brother, please forgive my presumption~"
A young man dressed in unusual clothes, wearing a mink coat and Arctic snow fox fur came forward and saluted.
"Is there a problem?"
Zhu Houzhao looked at the other party and asked.
"Brother, is that a watch you're wearing on your hand?"
The other party looked at the watch on Zhu Houzhao's hand carefully and asked.
"Yes, it's a watch."
Zhu Houzhao nodded cheerfully, then took it off directly and handed it to the other party, indicating that the other party could take a closer look and it was okay.
“It’s so ingenious and incredible~”
The other party was not polite. He picked up the watch and compared it with the clock tower here on Zhuque Street. After comparing it, he couldn't help but admire it.
"I see that the young master has two watches. I wonder if the young master is willing to give up his love and sell one watch to me?"
Then the other party pondered for a while, thought about it and asked.
"sell to you?"
Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and asked, "How much gold do you offer?"
"Gold?"
When the other party heard this, he was stunned, and then he smiled and said, "I am willing to pay one hundred taels of gold to buy your watch."
"One hundred taels of gold?"
"Don't sell it, don't sell it, just send it to beggars. You can treat this watch as just anyone can own it."
Zhu Houzhao shook his head repeatedly. One hundred taels of gold is only one thousand taels of silver.
After saying this, Zhu Houzhao was about to walk away. When the other party saw it, he quickly said: "Five hundred taels of gold, five hundred taels of gold~"
Zhu Houzhao still ignored him. Is this prince the one who missed the five hundred taels of gold?
"One thousand taels of gold ~ one thousand taels of gold!"
Seeing that Zhu Houzhao was about to leave, the other party gritted his teeth and shouted again.
"Two thousand taels of gold, I can also accept silver notes."
Zhu Houzhao then stopped and said.
"Okay~"
When the other party heard the figure of two thousand taels of gold, he seemed a little hesitant, but he quickly gritted his teeth and agreed.
Soon, the other party ordered the servant who was following him to hurriedly go home and get the banknotes. Zhu Houzhao also readily gave the other party a watch.
"Haha, Lao Liu, I must be awesome."
After completing the transaction, Zhu Houzhao proudly waved the banknotes in his hand.
"...Awesome, awesome, I'm so impressed."
Liu Jin was immediately speechless. This Zhu Houzhao only had this little hobby left.
Every time he went out with him, he would have to show off, and he would always have a large stack of banknotes in his arms. He would never leave the house without giving him tens of thousands of taels of banknotes.
Now that it's better, he actually shows off on the street with his watch and starts doing business.
But don't tell me, this watch was sold for 20,000 taels of silver. This was really unbelievable, and even Liu Jin was moved.
You must know that one thousand taels of silver can buy a house in the capital. For ordinary people, 20,000 taels of silver is an astronomical figure.
In future generations, 20,000 taels of silver can be used as hundreds of millions, but now a watch can be sold for 20,000 taels of silver. Even in later generations, there will be no such expensive watches.
"Haha, that's right. It doesn't matter who I am. I am a hungry person, so I had to give something in return."
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he immediately became happier.
I saw him taking a watch from Liu Jin's hand, continuing to wear it, and then waving his hand to show off on the street, pretending to be cool.
