"Old man, what you are offering is the emperor's longevity tablet?"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at He Lin's pious look and asked.
"Yes, when the emperor becomes a saint, then we ordinary people will have a good life. We ordinary people have no way to do anything for the emperor. We can only offer the longevity tablets and pray for the emperor's dragon body to be healthy and long-lasting."
He Lin smiled and nodded, never expecting that the person in front of him would be the current emperor.
"Hmm~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded with a smile on his face, while Li Dongyang, Zhang Mao, Liu Jian and others next to him touched their mustaches one by one.
"Old man, this meat is expensive, why don't you raise pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, etc.?"
Liu Jin thought for a while and asked He Lin.
"Isn't that right~"
"Now the price of meat has increased, but the price of grain has been falling year after year. The demand for meat in the capital is very high. Butcher Zhang in the village is collecting pigs everywhere. It is said that he kills more than ten pigs a day.
Pigs, even this is not enough to sell, because there are too many people eating meat, and there are only so many pigs."
"Our Mr. Zhang, the landowner here, saw exactly this, so he built a pig farm and raised hundreds of pigs. Then the land that used to be planted with wheat was used to grow sweet potatoes and corn.
Sweet potatoes and corn to raise pigs.”
"Oh, I have made a lot of money this year. Now I am expanding my pig farm and preparing to raise more pigs next year."
When He Lin heard this, he immediately nodded and said.
"Mr. Zhang has said it bluntly. You can't make a lot of money by growing wheat in this land. You can only make money by raising pigs. Next year, you won't even be able to grow cotton."
"Raising pigs requires a lot of food."
After Liu Jian listened, he thought about it and said.
"Of course you need food to raise pigs, but food is cheap now. The best rice from Nanyang costs just a few pennies per pound. If you buy more, there are discounts."
"Master Zhang and his son have their own ships that travel between Nanyang and Tianjin. They bring rice and bran directly from Nanyang. One tael of silver can buy several stones."
"There are also these sweet potatoes and corn, which are even cheaper. If you just plant some in a few fields, you won't be able to eat them all. They are perfect for raising pigs."
"After all, it doesn't cost much to raise a pig, but the price of pork has been rising. A 200-pound fat pig can now be sold for two taels of silver."
He Lin also nodded, and then calculated the accounts for everyone with his fingers.
"So, you can make a lot of money by raising pigs?"
After Zhang Mao finished his calculation, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said.
"You can definitely make a lot of money. Food is very cheap, and the price of meat is constantly rising. The capital and Tianjin are full of factories, workshops, and businesses. I heard that the population of the capital alone is several million.
"
"Everyone has money in their hands, so eating some meat is nothing. Tell me, how many pigs does this capital eat in a day?"
He Lin nodded solemnly and said.
After hearing what He Lin said, everyone nodded.
Liu Jin knew this better, because he had cooperated with the leaders of the Naiman tribe on the grassland to open wool textile mills, and he was also aware of the huge demand for meat in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
The northern grassland province is an extremely important source of meat for the Beijing-Tianjin region. Every day, tens of thousands of sheep are transported from the grassland to Tianjin and the capital, and are delivered to the dining tables of young and old men in Beijing and Tianjin.
Similarly, here in Tianjin Port, thousands of fishing boats come back every day carrying boatloads of sea fish, and then quickly deliver them to the dining tables of people in the Beijing and Tianjin areas.
"Lao Zhang probably wants to raise pigs."
Liu Jin looked at Zhang Mao's pigs and couldn't help laughing.
But after careful calculation, raising pigs is indeed a good business.
Especially when food prices are low and meat prices are rising, raising pigs is extremely cost-effective.
Of course, in the era when there was no feed, the growth of this pig was still relatively slow, and it could only eat whole grains and the like, but the taste of the pigs it raised must be quite good, and it would definitely taste better than the feed pigs of later generations.
"Old man, besides eating meat, do you have any other pursuits?"
Liu Jin took note of the increase in meat prices and asked again.
"Yes, of course~"
He Lin nodded and said.
"Take my family as an example. In the past, we couldn't have enough food and felt that we were very satisfied if we had enough food. But now we can not only have enough food, but also eat meat."
"This person feels dissatisfied again. My son and his wife think that building such a good house here is not enough. They also want to buy a house here in the capital."
"But everyone also knows that houses in this capital can be afforded by ordinary people?"
"Any house costs hundreds of taels of silver, and it's just a few cement walls. It's enough to have a house inside this house. It's not far from the capital. The cement road is built right in front of the house, so it's easy to get in and out.
convenient."
"But they refused to listen and insisted on taking out a loan to buy a house in the capital. Every month, they have to pay back three taels of silver just to repay the mortgage. In the past, the couple could go to work comfortably, but now I
In order to pay off the mortgage as soon as possible, my son is also planning to go to sea to work as a sailor and do business."
Speaking of this, He Lin also looked very angry.
"These good days have only lasted a few days. If you have to go through all the trouble, it's enough if you have a house at home. Why do you have to buy a house in the city?"
"But there is one thing I still support. Although the houses in this city are expensive, there are schools in the city, so it is convenient for children to study. In the countryside, we don't even have a private school, so children have no way to go to school if they want to.
.”
"Let the young people do whatever they want. In this day and age, those who dare to fight and break out will become rich, even those who stick to the village."
He Lin held his beloved grandson in his arms, touched his head and said.
"Is your family still planning to send your children to study?"
When Li Dongyang heard this, he immediately asked in surprise.
"Of course, it's no different now than it used to be. In the past, it was enough to have enough food. Studying is not a matter for us people at all."
"But the world has changed. Now the people in the city and the children of every household are sent to study. Can you do it if you don't send them?"
"We don't expect this child to be able to take the imperial examination and become an official, but if he can be sent to school to be able to read and digitize, it will be fine. Moreover, whether it is a factory, a workshop, or a business, those who can read and digit will be better off.
If it rises quickly, there will be more opportunities, and the moon sound will be higher."
"If you want to study, you have to buy a house in the city. Only if you have a house can you study nearby. So, although it is expensive for my son to buy a house, it is also a loan, so I still agreed."
He Lin smiled and replied.
"That's it~"
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but nod their heads.
At the same time, I sighed in my heart. In the past, studying was the privilege of the landlords and gentry. How could children from ordinary families study?
But now, even children from ordinary families have to go to school. Because everyone's life is getting better, every household sends their children to study. It's definitely not possible if you don't send them.
The key is that now everyone can afford to send their children to study. Traditional private schools may be a little more expensive, but the new schools opened by Liu Jin offer free admission and provide a free lunch. Naturally, everyone will send their children to study.
.
What's more, there are also requirements and advantages for employment when they grow up, and reading has slowly begun to spread to the children of the lowest class.
"It's good to study. Only by studying can you be able to understand things, understand right and wrong, and only then can you stand out."
Emperor Hongzhi said very happily after hearing this.
The whole person felt a sense of accomplishment. He was so awesome as an emperor that even the people at the bottom began to think about sending their children to study.
"I don't dare to ask for anything to get ahead. Just being able to read and write and understand some principles is enough."
He Lin smiled and hugged his grandson.
Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, and Zhang Mao fell silent slightly.
This kind of education used to be a privilege for the landlords and gentry class. Because the cost of education was very high, only those who had the conditions could send their children to study.
And studying is combined with being an official, and it is accompanied by the fame and corresponding privileges. If you can pass the exam, you can be exempted from taxes, corvee, etc. in your family.
It can be said that they, the landowners and gentry, monopolized this study and also monopolized the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.
But now, a large number of ordinary children can also study and go to school, although most of them have entered the new-style schools opened by Liu Jin. I cannot take the imperial examination in the new-style school, and they do not take the academic examination content.
But after all, this is still studying and receiving education. It may not produce much change in a short period of time, but as time goes by, the talents coming out of this new school will definitely have a huge impact on them, the landlords and gentry, and shake their long-standing attitude.
In terms of monopoly status and power.
Once that time comes, the entire Ming Dynasty may undergo huge changes, and the imperial examination system that has been established for thousands of years may be destroyed as a result.
But they are powerless to change everything in front of them. They can't just ask the court to issue laws that stipulate that children from ordinary families cannot study or go to school.
The riot last time was extremely serious, triggering a general strike by millions of people in the Beijing and Tianjin areas. If such a law is introduced again, the consequences will be disastrous.
"The status established by Confucianism over thousands of years may be shaken!"
Xie Qian couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Being from Zhejiang, he knows all this very well. Why Jiangnan has so many talented people and capable people since ancient times is not because people in Jiangnan area value education, and the proportion of children studying is higher than anywhere else in the Ming Dynasty.
Now here in the Beijing-Tianjin area, even the children of the lowest class of people are going to school. After this, countless talented people and capable people will inevitably emerge.