The fifth year of Shaowu passed by in a blink of an eye, and amid a large-scale court meeting, the time came to the sixth year of Shaowu.
Compared with the previous Ming emperors, Emperor Shaowu was particularly generous, and his rewards were extremely gratifying.
In the first month of the Jingying camp, all people are paid double wages, which is used as New Year's money.
As for civil and military officials, rewards ranging from fish, salt, sugar, and sheep were given according to their rank. Even the lowest-ranking scribes received a piece of cotton cloth and a few kilograms of meat to go home for fun.
As the Prince Consort, Zhou Xian's treatment was naturally extraordinary.
In the Ming Dynasty, all those who were named eldest princess, eldest princess, or princess were given this title, and they were ranked below the marquis and above the earl.
As the son-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen and the husband of Princess Changping, Zhou Xian was not low in terms of united front value and status, so he also assisted King Rui in the Zongren Mansion and assumed the position of Zuo Zongzheng.
In fact, Yongle himself was not upright, and he was worried that the clan was in charge of the Zongren Mansion. Therefore, due to the infringement of the Ministry of Rites, the responsibilities of the Zongren Mansion were repeatedly shrunk, and all matters under its jurisdiction were handed over to the Ministry of Rites. The Zongren Mansion existed in name only.
However, Emperor Shaowu was different. All clan affairs were basically arranged by the clan office, but the decision-making power rested with the Ministry of Rites.
Considering the large population of Lao Zhu's family, the new style of title reduction and succession, the reduction of the clan, and the lawsuits between the clan and the people are very complicated. The Ministry of Rites really needs the clan government to share some of the burden.
With a double salary and a high status, when Zhou Xian returned home, the rewards from the inner court were piled into several mule carts.
The newly launched fine snow sugar weighs a hundred kilograms; ten pieces of new silk from Suzhou; oil candles made from whales, one foot high and thick as arms, five as a reward...
There are also some other regular agates, pearls, etc., all of which are valuable.
The pure rewards are less.
"Why are there so many?"
Jiang Jiang's five-year-old son was jumping up and down, but under Zhu Yuluo's warning eyes, he had to calm down.
She looked at the list of gifts and couldn't help but exclaimed.
"The emperor is rich!"
Zhou Xian asked someone to bring a can of white sugar, squeezed it with his hands and stroked it. He felt that it was fine and white, and he praised: "This snow candy is really like snow. It's really rare."
"Where did the emperor get so much money?" Zhu Aao asked puzzledly. She stared at the sugar with her beautiful eyes. Even though she was a princess, this was the first time she saw such sugar.
In her impression, when her father was in power, life was extremely poor. He could not wear more than ten sets of clothes a year, many of which were patched, and he often couldn't sleep because he was worried about military expenses.
Getting up earlier than a chicken and going to bed later than a dog are all because of insufficient money.
And look at this reward, just for their Zhou Mansion, these carriages came down, and there were more than two to three thousand silver coins! There were also many rare and precious things, which was simply appalling.
This was a gift given every year, and she had almost never seen it in her memory.
"You don't know."
Zhou Xian washed his hands, washed away the sugar, took off his coat, sat on the couch, and leaned on the table:
"The emperor is very smart. He didn't care about the currency customs back then and directly used the customs as internal funds, at least two to three million yuan a year."
"Although the vassal lands in each province became official lands and were divided a lot, I think those in Huguang and Sichuan were not divided at the beginning. The king of Shu was a wealthy clan."
"The most profitable one is Taiwan."
"Taiwan Prefecture?" Zhu Yuyao was stunned. He had never heard of this place.
"Just across the sea from Fujian, it's a big island."
Zhou Xian sighed: "Although it was a bit deserted, the imperial court still sent troops to capture it, and the emperor directly planted hundreds of thousands of acres of sugar cane, and now the net profit is hundreds of thousands!!!"
When he said this, his eyes shone and his mouth watered with envy.
"And these things that were rewarded to us were donated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and they almost only took away some of our strength."
"The emperor is indeed very capable." Zhu Yulao smiled and shook her head: "If my father had such ability, why would he tax taxes and corrupt officials mess around, causing public resentment to boil, so that..."
Zhou Xian quickly held his jade hand: "Don't think wildly, everything is God's will. You are weak, so don't get too excited."
As for his five-year-old son Zhou Heng, he carefully climbed up the slump, ignoring his parents' affection, and directly stuck the snow candy with his hands, and started to slurp it deliciously.
"This child is so dirty!" Zhu Yulao scolded, wiping his hands and mouth directly with silk, and then threw it to the ground.
Zhou Xian's face moved when he saw it.
This lotus-embroidered silk silk cost three to five silver coins per piece, so it was thrown away like a rag.
He wanted to pick it up, but he could only ask his servants to do it privately and resell it!
There is no other way. If you have a princess, you have to take good care of her.
The huge capital city is purely a consumption-oriented city. Officials get rewards and the capital camp gets money, which instantly makes the market buzz and vendors make a lot of money.
The dog was reading a book leisurely, his eyelids were dark, as if he was about to fall asleep in the blink of an eye.
When the teacher saw all this, he could only sigh and grit his teeth and continue teaching.
If it weren't for the twenty yuan a month, how could he, a talented scholar, have endured such humiliation?
Seeing the sun reaching its zenith, he said cruelly: "Jia Daihua——"
"What's wrong, sir, do you want to have lunch?" Jia Daihua immediately stood up like a spring and asked blankly.
"You know how to eat." The gentleman took a ruler and slapped his palm ten times, and then said angrily: "I have been studying for many years, and I only memorized the Three-Character Classic and the Thousand-Character Classic. The Analects of Confucius is not complete, so you might as well
He’s a Mengtong!!”
Jia Daihua was sprayed with saliva and could only lower his head and endure it.
He didn't dare to provoke this scholar. He really beat him without feeling any pity. He would be even more unlucky if he got angry.
"At the age of fourteen, I had already memorized the Analects, Daxue, Doctrine, and Mencius, and started writing essays. You are still studying in elementary schools..."
The teacher looked up to the sky and sighed, then stared at him with piercing eyes: "Remember, when you go out in the future, don't say that you are my student."
"I can't afford to lose this person——"
"Um..." Jia Daihua raised his head in confusion and said secretly: "Sir, it's really lunch time."
"Go for it!"
My husband was immediately relieved of his anger, so he could only put down his ruler and go out to eat together without any burden, not to mention that the food at the Viscount Mansion was really good.
Jia Daihua left in a lively manner, and then he called a few companions, all of whom were young men, and together they started cooking mutton in a hot pot.
At their age, their stomachs can hold an ox, and more than ten kilograms of mutton are put into the pot. The four of them are full.
“When eating hot pot, it must be mutton!”
Jia Daihua patted his belly and was filled with emotion.
If only there were no classes in the afternoon, how beautiful that day would be.
"Gouzi, the inner court has sent a reward. You go and check it with the housekeeper."
After a while, his mother lifted up his collar and gave him unceremonious instructions. Then she changed her voice and whispered: "You have to study hard. If you are still angry and run away from this gentleman, you will be punished."