The next day, Yu Chenglong and others came to the inner city and were even more surprised.
The streets are frighteningly wide, smooth and tidy, and trees are planted on both sides of the road, making it look full of life.
"This road actually splits into two?"
Lu Zhuo was surprised. He pointed his finger at the center of the road and saw a long line obviously made of black bricks, dividing the entire road into two, like the border between Chu and Han.
"Have you not noticed that these carriages walk in the middle, while pedestrians walk on the paths under the shade of trees?"
Jin Wenze shook his head and marveled: "Pedestrians and vehicles are separated, and they go to the right. It's strange."
"Beiming, do you know why it's not to the left, but to the right?"
"Yes!" Lu Zhuo interrupted: "The country respects the left, why should it turn to the right?"
Seeing the two people looking puzzled, Yu Chenglong was caught in a dilemma. He struggled:
"The left is respected and the right is humbled. I think the reason for coming to the court is that we want to have a humble heart. If we drive on the left, everyone respects themselves, and there is no order for people and cars to fight, how can there be peace?"
This explanation is well-founded and convincing.
"What Brother Beiming said is true!" The two of them nodded in praise, feeling that it made sense.
"This is reasonable. You are worthy of being a scholar. You know the truth!"
The pedestrians behind him also nodded, this simple explanation was too appetizing.
After receiving some praise after receiving the goods, Yu Chenglong was not proud and walked out slowly. After a while, he came to Jixian Road.
It seems that spring is approaching, and the place is crowded and extremely crowded.
Lu Zhuo sighed: "If we go to the provincial examination in August, maybe we can come here to study and buy books."
"It's not that easy."
Jin Wen was silent and said quietly: "According to the past examinations, there are no more than ten people in each subject in Jin Province, and as few as three or five people. Can you and I be admitted to the Jinshi?"
When Yu Chenglong heard this, his impetuous heart calmed down again.
The three of them came to a bookstore and began to visit.
Yu Chenglong made some observations and found that expensive official school books (official corrections) were everywhere in Taiyuan, and the Jinshi manuscripts of the first year of Shaowu, which were hard to find in Taiyuan, were also piled up at this time.
Studying in the capital is really different from studying in a local area.
Suddenly, there was a noise at the checkout area.
"Oops, the wallet was touched."
"Brother Li, you are so careless..."
I saw a middle-aged man holding a book lovingly and refusing to let go, but his face was full of sadness.
"Since I don't have any money, I'll buy it -" Suddenly, Cheng Yaojin appeared halfway.
Another scholar's eyes immediately lit up when he saw this book, and he took out his wallet directly, and the crisp and sweet silver coins were displayed in front of everyone's eyes.
The scholar surnamed Li certainly refused to give in. He said to the waiter: "I will send someone home to collect the money. Just wait for me for an hour."
"Hey, who's waiting for you?" The scholar who took out his money bag said directly: "If you don't have money, you can't buy any book. This book belongs to me!"
"First come, first served, don't you understand?"
At this time, the book shop became lively. You were fighting for it, and it was very noisy.
The scholar touched the jade pendant in his arms, which was given to me by my mother; the sachet was not valuable, and the fan was not worth much either...
At this moment of stalemate, the scholar suddenly took out a stack of paper from his arms, slapped it on the table, and shouted:
"Can I collect these food stamps?"
"This book only costs ten yuan. I will give you eleven food stamps so that you can make a fortune."
At this time, the entire bookstore became quiet.
People stretched their heads and looked at the exquisite paper on the table, all curious.
The waiter didn't dare to agree rashly, so he could only report it to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper picked up the food stamps and looked at them carefully. As if he had made up his mind, he said: "Okay, you are a regular customer, so you should take it!"
The scholar was overjoyed and put the book in his arms and was reluctant to take it out.
"Hey, shopkeeper, you can buy books with just some paper? Are you fooling me? He is a regular customer, but I am not?"
The person holding the money bag was instantly angry, furious and filled with rage.
Those who joined in the fun didn't want to see this injustice happening, so they started shouting one after another, and the situation was getting out of hand.
"Sir, please calm down!" The shopkeeper didn't dare to offend anyone, so he could only hold up the food stamps high and said:
"These are food stamps. The imperial court issues something. With one ticket, you can go to the granary and get one stone of food."
As he said that, the shopkeeper said with shame: "Originally, the stone grain in the capital cost me one, but now I have taken advantage. This grain stamp can indeed be worth the money."
Only now did the situation come under control.
Seeing this, Lu Zhuo felt even more incredible: "This capital is really strange. Some paper can be used as money. This world is really different."
"The Shaowu Dynasty is naturally different from the Chongzhen Dynasty, so just get used to it."
Yu Chenglong could only nod, showing a helpless expression.
After leaving the bookstore, they went to the Confucian Temple to burn incense and visit, and then the few of them went back.
Unexpectedly, on the way, several weird looking men with black hair, blue eyes, aquiline noses, six feet tall, dressed in long robes, came towards us talking and laughing.
"This, this, this..." Lu Zhuo was trembling, where did such weirdos come from?
Yu Chenglong held the hands of the two of them tightly, and when he saw that the faces of the pedestrians were the same, he braced his legs and said:
"Shao Wu Dynasty, the new Dynasty has a new atmosphere, just get used to it——"
After saying this, the three of them grabbed their books and ran away.
In addition to this group of reserve magistrates, a major event also happened in Beijing. The Imperial College was reopened.
Sui Gongsheng (scholars recommended by local governments) from various provinces also arrived in Beijing one after another, which made the long-dead Imperial College shine again.
At this time, the number of Imperial College students reached nearly 3,000, including more than 2,300 Sui Gong students, and about 700 En Gong and Yin Gong students. This was a rare event since Zhengde.
The so-called Yin Gong means that one of his sons will be admitted to the Imperial Academy due to the influence of his father and ancestors.
According to the Ming system, a Beijing official of third rank or above could sponsor a son to enter the Imperial Academy, while the emperor, in order to show his favor, could sponsor a son to enter the Imperial Academy.
En Gong, on the other hand, is a loyal person who sacrificed his life to allow one of his sons to go to school. This is called En Gong.
As a result, a grand occasion of 700 people was created.
The emperor originally wanted to participate in this large-scale opening ceremony, but ultimately canceled it.
The weather is too cold and I am too lazy to go out.
For the emperor, the happiest thing was to see the smooth circulation of food stamps.
In just ten days, the value of food stamps was discovered by savvy businessmen, especially the feature of being able to take food as a guarantee at any time, making them widely accepted by many people.
A conservative estimate is that the number of food stamps circulating in Beijing and Tianjin exceeds 200,000, or 200,000 shi of grain.
Obviously, treasure banknotes guaranteed by the country's credibility are far inferior to food stamps linked to grain. People are too realistic.
However, Zhu Yixi was not so optimistic. He was surprised that food stamps were circulating so quickly, and he immediately began to investigate further.
After various inquiries and analyses, he gritted his teeth and came to the conclusion: "Deflation——"
Zhu Yixi did not expect that both copper and silver coins were produced, but they were far from satisfying the market's appetite.
The output of China's domestic silver mines and copper mines is very small, and the speed of inward flow is far less than the prosperous market demand.
With a population of nearly 100 million, the amount of currency required is staggering.
However, as the world became peaceful and the commodity economy and population continued to grow, especially with the inclusion of northern grasslands, many cattle and sheep were exchanged for silver coins.
Mongolians also like silver coins, which are light and simple and hold more value than sheep.
As trade between the two parties grew, silver dollars also began to flow out in large quantities.
As the market becomes larger and larger, the demand for currency becomes stronger and stronger.
And the key thing is that silver coins are habitually stored, just like the silver that was collected in the past, so that the silver coins circulating in the market are far from enough.
Deflation seems to be a curse that has not changed for two thousand years from Qin to Ming Dynasty.