Zhu Cixiang ran to Shandong in one breath, then slowed down his pace and began to truly travel.
One thing he has not forgotten.
Emperor Chongzhen asked him to write a diary every day, writing down where he went, what he saw, what he heard, and what he thought. Once a month, he should send it to the capital to show his father.
Along the way, he didn't have to worry about anything, such as planning the journey, eating, drinking, and so on.
Beside him, there was Fang Zhenghua leading twenty-five elite Jinyi Guards, ten of whom were divided into two groups, either to clear the way for the forwards or to serve as rear guards. The other fifteen Jinyi Guards officers provided personal protection. Generally speaking,
With so many followers, that is, only those who are truly wealthy, or those who have suddenly become rich, have such a posture.
All Jin Yiwei are equipped with weapons, concealed short-handled flintlock guns or hand crossbows.
Because Zhu Cixiang was on a private visit incognito, his identity could not be revealed, so all the Jinyi guards were in plainclothes, and their swords were not Xiuchun knives.
Every night when he stayed at the inn, one of the things Zhu Cihong had to do was write a diary.
No, I saw him starting to write in his diary again.
Fang Zhenghua, who was beside him, polished his ink and took a look at the prince's diary.
He found that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could write in his diary more freely than before. He must have gotten used to how to write this diary!
His Royal Highness the Prince recorded in his diary that what he saw that day was the autumn harvest everywhere, heavy wheat, and the farmers in the fields were all filled with the joy of harvest.
After asking the old farmer, he learned that even the prefectures and counties are now equipped with steam engine-powered water pumps, etc., so the farmland no longer has to worry about water shortages. The government will allocate water sources, and the harvest is good.
The old farmer also said with emotion that life is getting better day by day. Before, there were thieves everywhere. The harvest in the fields was small, the taxes were high, and people died of hunger, freezing, and were killed by thieves.
Yes, every year there are some people who see bones in the fields and wild fields. People who died of unexpected deaths are not strange at all and the government does not take it seriously at all.
When Fang Zhenghua glanced at this content, he knew that the emperor would definitely be very happy when he saw this content when he looked back. This was all a manifestation of the Ming Dynasty's resurgence!
Then, he turned on the wick to make the room a little brighter.
That's the bad thing about being outside. There are no electric lights and this old-fashioned oil lamp is a bit hurtful to the eyes. I have to advise His Highness to take a rest early!
With this thought in mind, Fang Zhenghua went to take a look at what Zhu Cixiong wrote next.
Zhu Cixi then wrote that he asked the old farmer if he was dissatisfied with anything.
At first, the old farmer said no, but after he pressed him, he said something. He said that those who farm can basically have enough to eat now, but they have no money to replace things.
The main reason is that the grain harvest is not valuable. Although the court's storage warehouse will also collect grain, the price is not high. The excess grain will not make much money after selling it. Not to mention, most people want to keep it.
There is a surplus of grain to avoid accidents, so there is even less grain that can be exchanged for money.
However, every household costs money to buy fuel, rice, oil and salt, as well as food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Every household still raises pigs, ducks, chickens and so on. At the end of the year, they kill the pigs, ducks and chickens. During the holidays, they can eat some for themselves and exchange the rest for money.
But even so, most people still don't have money to spend on some basic things. Having meat to eat and new clothes during festivals is the happiest thing.
Fang Zhenghua saw that when Zhu Cixiang was talking about this matter, he specifically emphasized the old farmer's statement, saying that he was actually very satisfied with his life now. This was just nitpicking!
Finally, there is Zhu Cixi’s own idea, saying that people who have experienced war are particularly easy to be satisfied. However, the court cannot be satisfied with this. Relatively speaking, the people’s days are indeed just food and clothing. They need to continue to make decisions for the people, implement benevolent policies, and then improve the people.
life.
For example, by promoting livestock breeding among the people, you can open some embroidery workshops, etc., so that farmers and farm women can earn some money to support their families during their leisure time.
Fang Zhenghua nodded slightly. His Highness the Crown Prince really followed the Emperor's instructions and took ordinary people into consideration when doing things. If this continues, His Highness the Crown Prince will definitely be a benevolent king in the future!
After Zhu Cihong finished writing his diary, he prepared to go to bed.
There is no way, there will be no entertainment activities after dark, unless you are in a provincial capital or the like, there may be a theater run by the imperial court that you can go to.
Of course, Zhu Cihong knew that those were under the jurisdiction of the Political and Communications Department. He knew all the programs in them and was not very interested in watching them.
……………………
Early the next morning, Zhu Cihong was awakened by the crow of the rooster.
He was not dissatisfied with this at all. On the contrary, since leaving the capital, there had been several times when a rooster crowd near the inn where he stayed. In order to let him sleep until he woke up naturally, Fang Zhenghua asked the Jinyi Guards School Captain
Go and kill the chicken.
However, after Zhu Cihong found out, he ordered this boring thing to stop. He said that he enjoyed the feeling of hearing the chickens dancing and hearing the crow of the chickens was something he was happy to do.
For this reason, Fang Zhenghua never cared about whether a rooster crows or not.
In the early morning, Zhu Cixi started on his way after having breakfast. Seeing that some farmers had already harvested a large area of wheat when he set out, he sighed to Fang Zhenghua: "I always thought I got up early, but...
Look, these farmers get up earlier!"
"What the young master said is absolutely true!" Fang Zhenghua heard this and did not refute anything, but just agreed.
After leaving the Forbidden City, Zhu Cixiang was the son of a wealthy family, while Fang Zhenghua was the steward.
At this time, Zhu Cixiang breathed in the fresh air, faced the already cool morning breeze, and walked and watched.
When the sun began to rise, the temperature also rose a lot. Fang Zhenghua looked ahead and said to Zhu Cixiang: "Sir, we will probably be able to reach Zizhou before noon. There is a temple in front of us. Let's go and have a rest first.
Let’s take a rest?”
He is responsible for the prince's safety, which of course includes not letting the prince get tired, sick, etc.
Fortunately, Zhu Cixiang was reasonable enough and did not let himself go after leaving the Forbidden City just because he was the prince. He basically agreed to everything Fang Zhenghua proposed.
So, the group of people went to the temple on the roadside ahead.
Among the accompanying imperial guards, two of them immediately sped up and rushed to the temple first, going inside to see what was going on.
When Zhu Cihong arrived at the gate of the temple and had not yet dismounted, he saw a military officer in gilded clothes appearing at the door and reported to Zhu Cihong: "Sir, someone hanged himself in the temple and he was rescued just now."
After all, they had walked from the capital to Lu Di. Zhu Cixiang had already experienced it. From outside, he could tell that this was an earth temple. It was very small. It probably didn't even have temple blessings. It was probably only during festivals that the surrounding farmers would do it.
Come to pay homage.
At this time, when he heard the report from Captain Jinyi, he couldn't help being surprised and asked quickly: "Is the person alive?"
"What a coincidence. He was rescued not long after he hung himself!"
When Zhu Cixiang heard this, he seemed very interested. He immediately got off his horse and said, "Let's go and have a look. Is there anything else that you can't think about in the days when the world is peaceful?"
Fang Zheng on the side saw him, but he didn't stop him.
Before departure, Emperor Chongzhen told Prince Zhu Cixiang to only watch and listen, and not to reveal his identity. In other words, don't meddle in other people's business, especially things that will reveal your identity!
Now, I just saved a person and did not violate Emperor Chongzhen's instructions.
The Jinyi Guards were all elite, and they did not need to be informed by Fang Zhenghua. They immediately surrounded His Highness from the front and back, allowing His Highness enough space to enter the temple.
This temple is indeed an earth temple. After entering, there is a courtyard without a temple door. You can directly see the clay Bodhisattvas in the middle, who are the father-in-law of the earth and the mother-in-law of the earth.
On the ground in front of the father-in-law, there was a man lying on the ground, still panting, and beside him stood two military captains in golden uniforms.
There was also a broken rope on the beam.
That's all there is to see in this temple.
After Zhu Cixiang glanced at the situation in the temple, he naturally looked at the man on the ground, the hanged man who had been rescued.
He found that this man was well-dressed. He was definitely not an ordinary citizen, at least not a farmer. Instead, he looked more like a squire.
This was a bit unexpected!
Originally, he thought that those who hanged themselves were farmers and other lower-class people. They were forced by life and had many troubles. Sometimes they couldn't think about it, so they might actually hang themselves.
Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a country squire. From what he saw along the way, the local country squires definitely lived a prosperous life. Basically, the country squire had to intervene in all rural matters, and the farmers also listened to the country squire.
Moreover, these squires are generally the richest in the village, and they are definitely the kind who have no worries about food and clothing.
So, here comes the question, why did this middle-aged man who looked like a country squire hang himself in the temple early in the morning?
It doesn’t seem to be considered early in the morning, it’s morning anyway!
Thinking of this, Zhu Cixiang had already arrived in front of the man.
At this time, the hanging man seemed to have taken a breath. There was an obvious strangulation mark on his neck, but it was still very obvious.
I saw him sitting up, looking up at Zhu Cixiang, understanding that this was the person in charge, and said with a complaint: "This... this young master, why... why bother meddling in other people's business! Save... save me
What to do?"
"..." Zhu Cixiang, who had thought about the man who hanged himself, not only did not thank him, but even complained about him. For a moment, he was a little speechless and froze there.
The imperial guards did not scold him, but stared coldly at this ungrateful person. If His Highness the Crown Prince gave an order, they would execute it immediately.
After Zhu Cixi came back to his senses, he asked with a little curiosity: "It's better to die than to live. You should be living a good life, why do you want to die?"