Several Dongchang fans saluted respectfully and called Master Shen in their mouths. The gratitude in their eyes did not seem to be fake.
These few are the emperor's confidants, so naturally they are not fools.
All the gangsters knew very well that yesterday in Xiyuan, everyone had only escaped death due to Mr. Shen's wit.
Thanks to his quick reaction and the timely escape with the emperor, a catastrophic disaster was avoided. The situation at that time...
If everyone escapes a little slower and is caught by the Grand Master and the Queen Mother, the Emperor will naturally be fine. At most, he will be scolded a few times.
But the guards and officials around the emperor would most likely be pushed out and beaten by the angry empress dowager and grand master, which might even harm their family and parents.
"Good luck to Mr. Shen."
With the compliments of several young eunuchs, the atmosphere became harmonious.
Shen Lie, however, was still so humble. He hurriedly returned the gift to the eunuchs, showed a warm smile, and said softly: "I don't dare to accept it. Thank you for your hard work, brothers."
People do not blame.
After a few words, he became more respectful and said hurriedly: "Master Shen, you are very polite. The things in this box are all given by the emperor as a reward to you. Please be sure to put them away, Master Shen."
Shen Lie smiled slightly, nodded, then quickly stepped forward to open the store door, and said with a smile: "Brothers, why don't you come in and have a cup of tea before leaving."
The eunuchs were even more polite: "That's not necessary. I'm in a hurry to return to the palace to regain my consciousness... Master Shen, please stay."
As the eunuchs put down their things and left quickly, Shen Lie looked at the box made of small-leaf red sandalwood in front of him and couldn't help but touch his head.
That fat smiling face naturally appeared in his mind. At this moment, Shen Lie was actually a little touched. This was the emperor of the old Zhu family.
Sure enough, he is not taking the usual path.
Half an hour later, in the small shop.
When Aunt Li and the other assistants arrived at the store, they couldn't help but feel another commotion when they looked at the gorgeous royal rosewood box.
It was only a few days later, and the emperor actually gave me something again!
In the commotion.
The waiter and several apprentices blushed with excitement, and they gathered together and whispered: "What is the relationship between our shopkeeper and the emperor?"
"Shh... don't ask."
The waiter's face was full of awe, he whispered a few words and quickly shut his mouth tightly, but in his heart he thought of the story about the heroes of the Ming Dynasty that the storyteller in the teahouse once said.
The waiter couldn't help but whispered to several apprentices: "Have you ever heard of the counselor beside Emperor Chengzu, the divine monk Yao Guangxiao?"
Although Yao Guangxiao had no official position or fame, what was the relationship between him and Emperor Chengzu?
The waiter mused: "He is also a teacher and a friend."
In fact, he didn't understand it either. Anyway, that's what the storytellers said.
Several young apprentices from the cheap shop seemed to understand more, so they asked: "Little brother, are you saying that our master is going to... become a monk?"
The waiter rolled his eyes on the spot and couldn't explain to these silly boys.
At this time, Aunt Li and several old neighbors from Liutiao Street came out of the back kitchen and wanted to pay homage to the box.
But Shen Lie quickly stopped him.
Shen Lie hurriedly said: "Auntie, this is... not serious."
So under the expectant gazes of Miss Xuan'er, Yun'er, Aunt Li, the waiter and everyone else, Shen Lie opened the gift box with his own hands.
As soon as the box was opened, Yun'er stretched her neck to look inside, muttering expectantly: "What good thing is it again?"
This time, there were indeed some very novel toys placed in the box. The first thing that caught my eye was a Western clock.
Looking at this beautifully made Western clock, Shen Lie couldn't help but be stunned. He stepped forward to pick up the clock and saw that there were also Western pocket watches, monocular telescopes and other items in the box.
Place the clock on the table.
For a moment, Shen Lie felt a sense of confusion in time and space. Looking at the string of foreign characters on the clock, he couldn't help but touch his head again.
It's not English or French, it looks like Arabic.
Looking at the string of Arabic characters, Shen Lie felt confused. Wasn't the clock invented by the Swiss? Why are there Arabic characters engraved on it?
Soon Shen Lie felt relieved again. Ming Dynasty was far away from Europe and had not much contact with it, but it had close contact with Arab merchants.
Therefore, these foreign gadgets must have been imitated by the Arabs and then treated as luxury goods and sent to the palace as national gifts.
But at this moment, looking at this exquisite clock, Shen Lie felt a sense of urgency in his heart and felt quite uncomfortable.
In this day and age, even the Arabs were able to imitate table clocks. Shen Lie then thought of the flintlock muskets in his hands, which were also the standard equipment of the Ottoman Guards.
The Arabs have begun to embrace modern technology, but in the Ming Dynasty, everyone is still arguing over a whipping law and collecting more head taxes from tenants.
Zhu Yijun's slightly childish face appeared in Shen Lie's mind again, and he murmured to himself: "The Ming Dynasty has lagged behind the world, has he seen it too?"
Presumably so.
Perhaps Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, and Feng Bao all saw it.
Shen Lie felt a little sad in his heart, but quickly cheered up again. Today's Ming Dynasty is not far behind, and there is still time to catch up!
So under the glaring gazes of Miss Xuan'er, Yun'er and everyone else, Shen Lie opened the cover of the gilded clock and took out the key.
Turn the spring again.
The second hand on the Western clock started ticking, and after a period of silence, there was an uproar.
"Wow!"
Yun'er opened her little mouth wide and let out a soft cry, and Miss Xuan'er also opened her bright eyes wide, looking at this magical and strange scene in surprise.
Aunt Li had to kneel down and kowtow again.
In chaos.
Shen Lie looked at the clock and told Yun'er: "Take it home first, and when our new house is repaired, put it as a decoration in the main hall."
This thing was of no use in the Ming Dynasty and could only be used as a luxury decoration, because the Ming Dynasty used hours to measure time and had no concept of minutes, seconds, and hours.
If you want to popularize clocks and watches, you must first reform the calendar...
But this did not hinder Yun'er's joy at all. She hurried forward, happily took the clock away, and hid it as a treasure.
There was another moment of chaos.
Shen Lie took out the Western pocket watch, monocular telescope, snuff bottle and other items in the box and looked at them. They were all engraved with Arabic characters.
Putting the pocket watch back, Shen Lie stretched out the foldable monocular telescope and studied it. The outer shell made of bronze looked very luxurious.
He didn't know whether the magnification was four times, six times, or eight times. He couldn't figure it out either.
Soon Shen Lie's eyes lit up. This thing was probably similar to the children's toys he played with when he was a child, but it was better than nothing!
So Shen Lie held the monocular telescope, like a naughty boy who got a novel toy, and began to observe the surroundings with one eye.
Soon he saw Yun'er's enlarged pretty face, Miss Xuan'er's enlarged pretty nose, and a familiar woman in white clothes walked in.
It's Miss Zhang.
Shen Lie looked at his sweetheart's bright and charming face with a telescope with a bit of fun, but was suddenly slapped.
Zhang Jingxiu snatched the telescope away and pouted her red mouth. It was not like she had never seen a telescope before.
She also had a similar pair of monocular telescopes at home, but her father kept them in the study like a treasure and even hid them.