prosperous age

Although it is said that Emperor Jiajing abandoned the government because of Taoism, in fact, no matter which emperor the Ming Dynasty was in, the economy was booming, and the national power was also growing, and there was no obvious increase or decrease at all.

In fact, the reason is also very simple. The production of commodities during this period was far from reaching the level of sufficient supply.

In fact, the oversupply of social commodities occurred after the Industrial Revolution. After the transition from household and handicraft industries to large machine industries, a large number of social commodities were produced, and the phenomenon of oversupply appeared.

In this era, people can restrain their consumption because of income, but this does not mean that people have no demand.

Regardless of whether it is the Jiujiang mansion that Wei Guangde is familiar with, or the capital city, if we compare the east and the west, it is obvious that the people of the Ming Dynasty lived a more prosperous life. Almost completely crushing the West.

We must know that most people in the West during this period had just passed the life of raw hair and blood, and most of them wore clothes made of wool and linen, or even wrapped a piece of cloth casually around their bodies.

In the Ming Dynasty, even if ordinary people could not afford silk and satin, the clothes they wore were better than the wool and linen used by ordinary people in the West, because most of these fabrics were made of cotton.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, cotton was a crop with high economic value, and its benefits were much higher than that of grain. During this period, the cotton planting technology was relatively mature.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang vigorously advocated the cultivation of cotton in some places suitable for growing cotton.

After the cotton planting area and output increase, the price will be a little cheaper, and it will become shorter and shorter, and ordinary people can afford it.

In the West during this period, the best fabric was silk from Daming, which was the most high-end luxury, followed by fur, and then cotton.

During this period, Westerners used very little cotton, and most people had never seen it. Because the planting area was small, the value was still very high. In the end, they could only use the most common wool and flax to make clothing, which is also the wool of the West. One of the reasons why the textile industry can develop rapidly.

So despite the high price of wool fabrics in later generations, in fact, in the West during this period, the only fabrics that the poorest commoners could afford were this.

After arriving in Ming Dynasty, many westerners were amazed by the wealth of Ming Dynasty, and clothing was actually one of the main reasons.

The people they saw in the Ming Dynasty, even the people at the bottom, wore clothes made of cotton that only a few people in the West could use, while the richer people such as businessmen and gentry in the Ming Dynasty mostly wore silk. With such top-level luxury goods, the impression of Ming Dynasty's wealth and prosperity naturally formed in his heart.

As for the actual living standards of the people of Ming Dynasty, they are definitely much better than those in the West.

Since the Song Dynasty, Chinese people have transitioned from two meals a day to three meals a day. This habit was not really formed until the Ming Dynasty, because with the peace of the world, the supply of agricultural products also increased greatly.

And for a long time, the Ming government pursued a policy of small government, low income, and low prices.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the common people were divided into three categories: civilian registration, craftsman registration and military registration.

The nationality of the Ming Dynasty is mainly peasant households, people who specialize in agricultural production. The main obligation of these people is to bear the land tax and corvee.

The Lijia system can be understood as the most grassroots administrative organization similar to the current "village committee". Controlled the peasants at the grassroots level.

Military registration actually refers to the professionalization of the army and the separation of soldiers and peasants. Although the cost of supporting professional troops is relatively high, their combat effectiveness is relatively strong, and they can deal with internal and external troubles and other wars in a timely manner.

The establishment of the craftsman’s register actually follows the system of the Yuan Dynasty, and the interior is also very detailed. There are many types. For example, there are dozens of categories such as kitchen servants, tailors, horse households, boat households, and weaving. See it as a real "iron rice bowl".

Although such a system is solidified, it can solve social problems, so the common people can afford to eat, and if they want to be promoted, they can only rely on reading.

In an era of good weather, such a social system can naturally maintain stability, but once natural disasters or wars occur, social stability will be broken, because every household has insufficient reserves and it is difficult to go through a long period of difficulty.

Since the Zhengde Dynasty, there have been natural disasters in the provinces of Ming Dynasty one after another, coupled with the rampant southern Japanese and northern captives, social stability has begun to be challenged.

However, these are not seen in the capital. The pedestrians on the streets have not changed from usual, and they still look like they are living affluently.

However, in this prosperous street, Wei Guangde was sensitive to the fact that there were so many captains in Jinyi, as if all the captains from Fusi in Nanbei Town had driven onto the street.

Well, this is the capital city, and it is normal for Captain Jinyi to appear in the streets and alleys. They are also responsible for the security of Beijing city, maintaining the peace on the streets, and collecting some extra money by the way.

Wei Guangde felt that perhaps because of what happened in Nanjing City, he might be a little sensitive, so he put down the car curtain.

The carriage has entered the inner city and will soon be home.

Soon, the carriage turned into Nanxunfang, and the familiar street came into Wei Guangde's eyes.

The carriage stopped in front of the gate of Wei's mansion, and the gate had already been opened. His wife Xu Jianglan, who should be called Wei Xushi by now, had brought her maid and servants to welcome him back to the mansion.

The specifications are a bit high, Wei Guangde saw it from a long distance, and he jumped out of the carriage before it stopped.

Although Wei Guangde is not considered a wealthy family, but because Xu Jianglan is the only daughter of Duke Wei's mansion, there are still a lot of people brought here. Wei Guangde thinks that the spacious house is not enough to live in, so he built a big house in the yard to solve so many people's accommodation.

"Don't be outside, let's go in."

Wei Guangde got out of the car, took Xu Jianglan who was about to meet him by the arm, and dragged her back to the mansion.

The young couple have been separated for half a year this time, and it is normal to miss each other, but now in broad daylight, Wei Guangde can't be like the later generations, after all, he is still in the Ming Dynasty.

Back in the backyard, Wei Guangde changed his official uniform and put on the clothes he usually wears at home. Now the scholar's clothes are still robes with long sleeves, and he looks very personable when walking around. However, Wei Guangde doesn't like him, he still likes being changed by Lao Zhu Military uniforms are simple and convenient to wear, and are very similar to the clothing of later generations.

After chatting with Xu Jianglan in the room for a while, I noticed that Zhang Ji and Zhao Hu were sneaking in outside the door, looking in, as if they were peeping or looking for him for something.

"What's going on outside? What do you mean by being sneaky?"

Outside the door, there are maids brought by Xu Jianglan, but Zhang Ji and others are from the Wei family, and they usually don’t say anything. What to say.

I mentioned it to my wife in private, but Xu Jianglan just smiled casually and didn't care about those things.

In her opinion, the servants have some bad habits, but Wei Guangde doesn't care, so why should she force them to correct them.

"Master, there are some things outside, we just found out, so."

Zhang Ji replied outside the house.

Wei Guangde's heart moved slightly. Zhang Ji's words must have happened to something very important, and it was inconvenient to say it casually in the backyard, so he smiled at Xu Jianglan, "I have to write a memorial to submit when I return to Beijing. Just go to the study first."

"Husband will go on his own."

Xu Jianglan got up and sent Wei Guangde out of the room, watching him go to the study, although she was curious about what Zhang Ji said about the outside world, she didn't ask.

In fact, Wei Guangde had already written the memorial when he was on the boat, and it was just an excuse.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the study, Wei Guangde leaned back on the grand master's chair, and asked seemingly casually, "Tell me, what happened outside?"

"Master, Dudu Lu fell ill yesterday."

Zhang Ji didn't speak, but Zhao Hu bowed down and answered.

"what?"

Wei Guangde, who was lazily lying on the teacher's chair, jumped up as if being rubbed by a cat stepping on its tail, and asked with an unbelievable expression: "Be more specific, what's going on? What kind of disease did you have? Can you find a doctor?" Seen."

Lu Bing died, and this time Wei Guangde returned to the capital, he wanted to find time to discuss with Gao Gong, to see if he should come forward to talk to Lu Bing, and see if he could be pulled over to help King Yu.

With Lu Bing's help, King Yu's Mansion will no longer be blind and deaf in the contest with King Jing's Mansion. Isn't it easy to use the power of Jin Yiwei to investigate every move of King Jing's Mansion and Yan Mansion?
It's a good idea, but why is it like this?
Lu Bing died of a sudden illness yesterday. Did he really die of illness or was he murdered?
Thinking of this, Wei Guangde shook his head, not to mention what Lu Bing does, he must be very careful about his diet and daily life, and Jin Yiwei's power is there, if someone wants to murder their adults, it is unlikely that they will not reveal it. A little bit of cheating was discovered by Jin Yiwei in advance.

Could this really be Lu Bing's fate?
Wei Guangde sat back on the chair, still thinking about it.

In Nanjing, Weng Pu analyzed the forces in the court for him. Don’t even think about the power of King Jing’s Mansion and Yan’s family. They are the enemy, and Qingliu is relatively scattered, so it’s not easy to win over, but there is a high probability that they will support King Yu. Yes, so just let it go.

But there is still a force, and the one whose holy family is not under Yan Song is Lu Bing.

Winning Lu Bing and Prince Yu's Mansion to fight Yan Song together, this is Weng Pu's idea to balance the power in the court, but now that Lu Bing is dead, that power will naturally disappear.

While Wei Guangde was still thinking about it, he heard Zhao Hu say in his ears: "It was only reported this morning that the Governor-General of Lu Dadu died of a sudden illness yesterday. He invited an imperial physician, but the illness was too severe and he could not be cured. .

As for the disease, I don't know. I only know that it is a terminal disease that is very ferocious after the onset. "

Thinking of the Jinyiwei suddenly appearing on the street, Wei Guangde knew that they might be sent to patrol the streets to arrest those who spread rumors and cause trouble. After all, Lu Bing is not an ordinary person.

However, Wei Guangde suddenly thought of something, and immediately asked again: "Who is in charge of Jin Yiwei now?"

Jinyiwei is different from other guards, and the position of steward can be temporarily vacant.

Lu Bing was in charge of Jinyiwei's affairs as an acquaintance of Jinyiwei. Now that he is dead, who will Emperor Jiajing order to take care of the big business of Jinyiwei?

"It's Cheng Guogong Zhu Xizhong Zhu Dadu."

Zhao Hu hurriedly replied, "I heard that he is still in Beizhen Fusi at this moment."

Zhu Xizhong, the fourth grandson of Cheng Guogong Zhu Neng, inherited the title in Jiajing 15 years, went to Chengtian from Shizong, and took charge of the affairs of Zuofu.

Emperor Jiajing went on a tour to Weihui, and the palace caught fire at night. He rescued Emperor Jiajing together with Lu Bing, so he was favored and entered Zhixiyuan.

Now Zhu Xizhong is mainly in charge of the Rear Army Governor's Mansion, the Right Army Governor's Mansion and the Beijing Camp, so although he has the title of Commander of the Jinyiwei on his head, he never cares about the affairs of the Jinyiwei, and Lu Bing is in charge.

In any case, Zhu Xizhong is Cheng Guogong, and he is already a nobleman of the highest rank, so it would be appropriate for him to take over Jinyiwei temporarily.

However, the reason why Wei Guangde asked this question was still his inference.

Although he didn't think in his heart that Lu Bing would be killed by someone, he couldn't rule out the possibility, at least until the cause of death was verified.

Then, whoever benefited the most after Lu Bing's death is suspected of being the real culprit behind the scenes.

But when he heard that it was Zhu Xizhong who took over Jinyiwei, Wei Guangde shook his head.

For others, the position of commander of Jinyiwei may be very attractive, but for Zhu Xizhong, it is dispensable. There is no need for him to take the risk of punishing Lu Bing. You must know that Lu Bing’s favor is no longer Yan Songzhi’s. Next, definitely surpass Zhu Xizhong.

"Go and find out what's going on, in detail, when did you get sick, what symptoms did you have, and which imperial physician you invited, ask me clearly."

After giving the order, Wei Guangde thought about it and called Zhao Hu who was about to go out, "Go to the cashier to pay some money, I want detailed and clear information."

"Yes, sir."

Zhao Hu hurriedly replied solemnly, and then lifted the curtain and went out the door.

"Master, you doubt Mr. Lu"

When Zhang Ji heard Wei Guangde's order, he had some guesses in his heart, but he was not sure.

He is one of the few people in Wei's mansion who knows that Wei Guangde and Lu Bing have contacts, although he seldom moves around.

Wei Guangde raised his right hand and waved it weakly, "You have just returned to the capital, logically speaking, you should be allowed to rest in the mansion for a few days, and you should also go out, get in touch with friends outside, and inquire about what I ordered just now.

Also, send someone to send a letter to Ren Zhi and the others, saying that I am back, and let them come to drink with me at night. "

The news of Lu Bing's sudden illness yesterday began to spread in the capital in the morning, and by the afternoon it was almost a household name, not to mention officials, even ordinary people knew who he was.

Jinyiwei is not a high-ranking organization, but they often walk on the street, very down-to-earth.

The people in the capital, even those who are older, have seen the grand occasion when the Jinyi Tiqi was dispatched back then. Those officials who they thought were great, wagged their tails like dogs in front of these Jinyi school captains.

Now, the boss of these people died suddenly, and there are naturally countless jokes circulating in the market. The mythical version is killed by someone who died unjustly, the conspiracy version is murdered by some political opponent, and the secular version is naturally died in the belly of a woman.