Because it is still February, the sky is already getting dark very early.
When night enveloped the earth, the entire capital was once again plunged into darkness. In this era, even at night in the capital, basically everywhere was dark, and only some places engaged in special industries could still be seen.
Some lights.
However, the Gujin Building is completely different, because a large number of mirrors are used in the decoration, the windows are also glass windows, and there are also a large number of glass lamps, glass chandeliers, etc.
As soon as it got dark, Liu Jin had already asked people to light candles. There was no shortage of money now, so he could light candles casually. Under the reflection of many mirrors and glass, the entire Gujin Building was brightly lit, like a candle from heaven.
Like a palace, it immediately became a focus of the entire capital.
The floor of the Gujin Building is also relatively high, and there are many places where you can see the Gujin Building, so that the Gujin Building is like a tall lighthouse illuminating one area.
Well, this is also a way of advertising that Liu Jin came up with. Liu Jin plans to keep this light on until dawn, and he plans to keep it like this for a long time in the future.
Although it is profitable to buy mirrors, because the price is too high, the number of people who can spend it is relatively limited. Even if he can sell a million taels of silver on the first day, after returning to calm, Liu Jin estimates that he can sell tens of thousands of taels a day.
Business is pretty good.
If you want to make money from glass, you must get the dignitaries in the capital accustomed to things made of glass, such as glass chandeliers, glass lampstands, window glass, etc. These things are naturally indispensable.
How to let everyone know the effect of these things? It is the best advertisement to light them at night and make the entire Gujin Building look brightly lit and dazzling.
At the same time, this can also make the Gujin Building appear to be of high quality. Although the items in the Gujin Building are expensive, they are definitely worth the money. Houses in this era are dark most of the time, no matter day or night, and the light is very poor.
Now when the ancient and modern buildings are photographed like this, a huge and sharp contrast immediately forms, and the effect is naturally striking.
In the palace.
Zhu Houzhao dragged his somewhat tired body back to Queen Zhang's Qianning Palace. In the past few days, the little Tatar prince has been going south frequently, and he has been plundering the border wantonly, making the border towns full of smoke and corpses everywhere.
Compared to the past, this time the little prince seemed to be even more cruel. Wherever he went, there was almost no grass. Everything was looted. The things that could not be taken away, houses, etc. were even set on fire. It seemed that he was taking revenge.
I suffered a huge loss this time.
Because of this incident, Emperor Hongzhi has not come to Qianning Palace for many days. He has been discussing countermeasures with ministers day and night.
It's just that the long-term emphasis on civil affairs and the neglect of military affairs has led to the depletion of armaments. In addition, in the fifth year of Hongzhi, the tradeoff between grain and silver was adopted. Salt merchants did not need to work hard to transport grain to border towns to obtain salt.
, so military supplies in border towns cannot be guaranteed, and combat effectiveness is low.
They could only rely on the tall cities and the Great Wall to defend against the attacks of the northern nomads. They were very passive. Even though Emperor Hongzhi and the court princes tried their best, they could only act in a hurry and could not come up with a good solution.
In addition to what happened to the little prince, famines have also begun to occur in Beizhili, Shandong, Shanxi and other places recently. What Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, predicted last year seems to be happening.
Because the winter is too cold, the winter wheat harvest in the northernmost provinces has been greatly affected. Among them, the situation in Zhili is the most serious, and many areas have even experienced no harvest.
This is supposed to be the time when winter wheat is harvested and new grains are harvested. Logically speaking, this is the time when grain is the most abundant, and generally grain prices are also at their lowest.
However, because the winter was too cold, winter wheat was greatly affected and the yield was extremely low. Beizhili was the most severely affected, with even large-scale harvest failures in Beijing, Tianjin, and Yongping Prefecture.
Without new food, the old food has already been eaten to an extent, and famines have begun to appear in various regions, and as time goes by, the famine will become more serious.
Emperor Hongzhi was very preoccupied and had not had a good rest for several days. He looked very tired.
But when he just walked into Qianning Palace, he was immediately attracted by the light in Qianning Palace. The entire Qianning Palace was very bright, brightly lit, as if it were daytime.
"Your Majesty~"
When Emperor Hongzhi arrived, Empress Zhang immediately hurried over to greet him.
"What are these?"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the somewhat unfamiliar Qianning Palace. The windows here were replaced with glass windows, and all the lamps here were replaced with glass lamps. Crystal glass chandeliers were hung on the beams in the palace, plus a side of With glass mirrors, the entire Qianning Palace is very bright and sparkling everywhere.
The original Qianning Palace is no longer the same. In the past, although this was the residence of the empress, Emperor Hongzhi loved Empress Zhang very much.
But there won't be too many candles lit here at night, and overall it's not very bright. Like now, it looks brighter than during the day.
Especially the crystal glass chandelier above the head. There are not many candles on it, but it is like a small sun, overflowing with light and extremely bright.
"These are all things sent by the prince. I heard that the prince and Liu Jin worked together to make them."
Empress Zhang smiled and began to introduce it to Emperor Hongzhi: "You have seen this glass mirror and you know it."
"This is a glass lampstand. Put the candle in it. It will not be blown by the wind and it will be brighter. There is also a crystal glass chandelier on top. Come and take a look. Here are the four treasures of glass style specially prepared by the prince for your majesty. This It’s a crystal pen, a crystal pen holder, a crystal inkstone…”
"And these are myopia glasses that the prince specially made for your majesty. I heard from the prince that after wearing these myopia glasses, you will see things more clearly."
When Empress Zhang heard this, she began to introduce the newly added things in the palace to Emperor Hongzhi like a treasure trove. The prince was always naughty and never made her worry.
Unexpectedly, many things have been sent to Qianning Palace one after another during this period. Today, people even sent these things to Qianning Palace to re-decorate the Qianning Palace.
Putting aside the fact that these things made Empress Zhang like it very much, the prince's kindness alone made her very happy. Her heart was as sweet as honey, and she kept lamenting that the prince had finally grown up.
