Chapter 37 – The Trouble with the Royal Grandson
Zhu Gaoqi said, “What happened to this Eastern Palace?”
“Ah…… your highness what did you say?”
“What happened to the Eastern Palace?”
“Oh, oh, your highness, your highness all hail, slave girl also read your highness, your highness …… when you were in the Beiping Yan Wang Fu ah, it is good behavior and understanding, slave girl at that time ……”
Zhu Gaoqi: “……”
Zhu Gaoqi simply ignored him, accelerated his footsteps, and hurriedly entered the depths of the great interior.
In the distance …… Norton s several halls, but the sound of clamor came out.
Zhu Gaoqi entered a hall, this look …… almost did not go back to the air.
Only one loom was set up, and hundreds of palace eunuchs and eunuchs were skillfully pumping silk and weaving yarn.
In the corner, bundles of made gauze were piled high.
On the pillars inside the temple, there is a sheet of red paper hanging, on which it is written, “Safety is greater than heaven!”
Or: “Beware of flaming candles and eliminate fire.”
Zhu Gaoqi: “……”
Zhu Gaoqi also met Deng Jian.
Deng Jian smiled, his feet not touching the ground as he traveled through the looms, occasionally stopping and pausing in front of some clumsy courtesan before personally giving her a demonstration.
Or, run to the piles of finished products and test the quality of the gauze.
Zhu Gaoqi almost fainted, barely holding on to his body.
At this time, someone finally spotted Zhu Gaoqi, so they busily rose and saluted, “Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
The rest of the people heard the commotion and rose to salute without daring to utter a breath.
Zhu Gaoqi was really in a bad mood at this time and only roared at Teng Jian, “Come!”
Teng Jian was startled and busily followed Zhu Gaoqi out.
Zhu Gaoqi was furious, pointing his finger at the palace and said: ”Is this like words? Is this still the Eastern Palace? Is there any rule, is there any king’s law?”
Teng Jian said, “This was decided by the Crown Princess Mother and Mr. Zhang, slave girl …… slave girl ……”
He originally wanted to say that the slave servant also objected, but of course, he soon realized that as a slave servant, he was not supposed to shift the blame onto his master’s head, so he busied himself by saying, “Ten thousand deaths for the slave servant.”
Zhu Gaoqi said, “Go and call Zhang Anshi here, go and call him.”
Ken Deng responded and went to call for someone in a huff.
To the side hall, Zhu Gaoqi settled down to hold the tea, waiting for Zhang Anshi to come, the party he still want to tense face scolding, but see Zhang Anshi panting appearance, came to be brittle called a brother-in-law.
Zhu Gaoqi’s face eased slightly and said, “Sit down.”
“Oh.” Zhang Anshi obediently owed his seat.
Zhu Gaoqi said, “What’s going on in the Eastern Palace?”
Zhang Anshi naturally understand what brother-in-law asked, then said: “Textile ah, brother-in-law, you see ha, the world spinning out of Songjiang, but really to say that the production of cotton yarn, under the sky, who can compare to the palace, to say manpower, the palace manpower is sufficient, to how many people have how many people, to say that the quality of manpower, the women in the palace, both well-behaved and obedient… …”
Zhang Anshi’s words are justified, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, in the Jiangnan region, only to find the emergence of the sprout of capitalism, the reason is the emergence of a large number of handicrafts, a lot of merchants began to gather female workers for production.
Now in the Songjiang area, there are actually sporadic beginnings of this, but on a very small scale, most of them are small family-based workshops.
Is there anywhere in this world more suitable for a workshop than the Eastern Palace?
Think about it, hundreds of idle palace maids and eunuchs, and they are all handy people, the age is also appropriate, the most important thing is that there is no shortage of space, the East Palace is more than empty halls, the most suitable for workshops.
Zhu Gaoqi pressed his hand, “Don’t talk to this palace about this, this palace is asking you, is this like this?”
Zhang Anshi said, “Like words ah, how not like words, brother-in-law you forget, when Empress Cixiao Gao was around, she was spinning yarn in the palace, brother-in-law and sister sent the loom to the palace, isn’t Empress Xu also very happy? What does that mean?”
Zhu Gaoqi: “……”
Zhang Anshi said, “I also heard my sister say that after seeing that spinning machine, His Majesty and the Empress Mother were very happy, saying that brother-in-law and sister do not forget their roots. Brother-in-law …… you see, we can not forget our roots.”
Zhu Gaoqi was actually speechless.
Zhang Anshi added: “So I discussed with my sister, we also have to textile, to follow the example of Empress Cixiao Gao, not only my sister to personally exemplify, this palace up and down, all have to move their hands, the Great Ancestor Emperor Gaozu said, Er salary Erluo, the people’s fat and cream. Listen to this, how good it is.”
Zhu Gaoqi thought about it, but still felt it was not right: “But the East Palace is like this, it’s really not like this, this Palace still wants to prohibit it.”
Zhang Anshi anxious: “Brother-in-law, do not ah, I silver are invested in, just waiting for the output to earn silver ……”
“What?”
Zhang Anshi drooped his head and said: “I invited many craftsmen, manufacturing this spinning machine, but also bought into the many ways of cotton, spent more than 10,000 taels of silver, which is not only my own money, are a few of my good brothers into the shares, there is also a buddy, see me born extraordinary, although I met with me in the water, then waved his hand, gave me a lot of silver, I take his silver business, if brother-in-law refused, I will all folded in, their own loss of capital is good, but can not be sorry people ah! If my brother-in-law refuses, I will be all folded in, their own loss of capital is good, but can not be sorry people ah! Brother-in-law, you don’t want me to be a man who doesn’t keep his word.”
Zhu Gaoqi’s brows wrinkled deeply at once and said, “You still do business? You take the Eastern Palace to do business?”
Zhang Anshi said, “Brother-in-law, you can’t say that, this is self-reliance, it is not forgetting the legacy of Emperor Gao and Empress Cixiao Gao, not to mention that I am giving money ah, cotton yarn at 30 cents per catty, which is all given to my sister.”
Zhu Gaoqi face of anger, heard here, color slightly stiff, he stood up, silent for a long time, finally just said: “This palace just came back from the filial piety mausoleum, some fatigue, and go to the bath to rest.”
……
The East Palace halls are busy with production.
Zhang Anshi sat comfortably and cozily on the high threshold in front of the temple gate, pinching a popsicle in his hand.
This popsicle in the marketplace is a rarity, but in the East Palace, it is easy to make but, the East Palace has a special ice cellar, Zhang Anshi took the green bean soup in the ice cellar frozen, this popsicle will be made.
He comfortably licked the green bean popsicle with a hint of sweetness, and on the other hand, he watched the sound of silk threads and bobbins turning from one spinning machine to another with indescribable pleasure.
Sitting side by side with Zhang Anshi on the threshold was Zhu Zhanji.
Zhu Zhanji stared sideways at the popsicle in Zhang Anshi’s hand and kept swallowing his spit.
Zhang Anshi touched his head, “Zhanji ah, you can’t eat this, if you eat it, your stomach will get cold, you are too young to get sick.”
Zhu Zhanji frowned a small frown.
Zhang Anshi, on the other hand, pointed to the eunuchs and palace eunuchs who were making yarn in the distance, and said with great pride: “Once upon a time, the treadle loom, a person only produces one or two pounds of yarn in a day and night, but this spinning loom of A’uncle, it can produce eight pounds to ten pounds in a day and night. Zhanji, you can’t always think about food, you have to have big ambition, be like A uncle.”
Zhu Zhanji wrinkled his eyebrows and rested his cheeks, “Uncle, I’m worried.”
“Worried that you won’t be able to make it big in the future?”
Zhu Zhanji shook his head, “I always feel that sooner or later, you will be beaten to death by your royal grandfather.”
Zhang Anshi became infuriated and immediately tensed his face, “What kind of words are these, what kind of saintly person is His Majesty, would he not be able to distinguish between loyalty and treachery? You are punished for not speaking to me for three days.”
Zhu Zhanji: “……”
……
The thirty-third day of Zhang Anshi’s re-do.
In the East Palace’s storehouse, cotton yarn was soon piled up, and Zhang Anshi took samples and summoned Zhang Yoking and Zhu Yong.
The three of them first gathered at Zhang’s house.
Zhang Yoking came the earliest and was giddy.
Zhu Yong, however, came limping, with bright red slap marks on his face.
Once Zhang Anshi saw Zhu Yong like this, he couldn’t help but say, “Second brother, what’s wrong with you?”
Zhu Yong stalked his neck and stubbornly said, “It’s nothing, it’s just that I taught my father a lesson yesterday, so that he can learn more from big brother and not to live a life of confusion all day long.”
Zhang Anshi swept Zhu Yong with a look of concern for a mentally retarded child, “And then your father beat you?”
Zhu Yong proudly said, “My father, how dare he beat me, I teach him a lesson, although he is not happy, but still obediently accept, otherwise when the time comes to share the dividends, not a penny will be given to him.”
Zhang Anshi looked at his face and said suspiciously, “Then who did you get hit by?”
“My father is not hit ……,” Zhu Yong paused, frustrated, “but my mother in the side pulled me a good beating, said I wings hard, but also dare to teach my father, my mother is too hard, big brother, you have no medicine here, I feel that Cure a better.”
Zhang Anshi: “……”
Dare I say that the most ruthless person in the Zhu family is Zhu Yong’s mother? Well, this is something to write down, it’ll be useful later.