Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Uncle Qi..."

"Come on, sit down."

Only one day later, when Wang Chengen arranged the time, Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong came to Qi Palace.

Zhu Youjian held a family banquet for the two of them in the Yupeng Hall, but only Yuan Xipin, Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cixuan, Zhu Cijiong, and Zhu Cixuan were the only people in the Qi Palace.

The four boys are five, four, four, and three years old. Except for the four brothers who are already "self-reliant", some time ago Wei Pingyang and Li Shaoxi gave birth to two boys for Zhu Youjian.

Because it was too difficult to name the old Zhu's family, Zhu Youjian basically used the names of Chongzhen's descendants and named them Zhu Cihuan and Zhu Cican.

As far as males are concerned, Prince Qi's Mansion is prosperous, but even so, no one dares to place a bet.

Yuan Xibing and her stomach became unstable factors. After all, as long as Yuan Xibing gave birth to a boy, according to "Emperor Ming Zu Xun" and "Daming Huidian", no matter how young the child is, it will be the son of Prince Qi .

Right now, Yuan Xipin and Zhu Youjian are still young, and the generals need to wait and bet on the situation.

"Brother Wang..."

Under the leadership of Zhu Cihong, the men of Prince Qi's Mansion saluted Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong.

"Brother, don't be too polite..."

Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong are 12 and 11 years old respectively. Compared with Zhu Ciran, who is out of touch, they are very similar to their mother Fan Guifei, with a quiet temperament.

In terms of appearance, their facial features are more like Concubine Fan, and their face shape is similar to Zhu Youxiao's. It is not eye-catching, but at least they are refreshing and handsome.

Fan Guifei's height is not low, exactly five feet and one inch.

In addition, there is a lot of exercise in the official school, and the diet is not so greasy, so although they are only eleven or twelve years old, the height of the two is already about five feet.

After the family sat down, Zhu Youjian arranged the two next to him, and said while the food was on the table:
"I haven't seen you in three months, but I don't want three months to pass, you have grown so tall."

Concubine Fan Gui needs to take care of two children, so she is one of the concubines who live in the capital.

Since Zhu Youjian is in charge of the enfeoffment of the vassal kings, and normally, the vassal kings need to be vassals at the age of fifteen or sixteen, so she often asks the inner court eunuchs to take Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong to the Qi Palace.

For the two eldest nephews, Zhu Youjian is more concerned about their studies.

No, knowing that the two of them will enroll in middle school next year, he specially arranged a family banquet.

"I have seen your mid-term exam results in the first half of the year. Although they are not very good, they are still very good. You are about [-] in Shuntian government school."

Although Zhu Youjian said that the two of them did not do very well in the exam, Yuan Xibing was a little surprised when they announced their rankings.

There are nearly 30 students in Shuntian Prefecture, and 30 of the 6 students are in the fifth grade. That is to say, the two of them are considered young geniuses who are one in hundreds.

"The question about the government school, do you have a government school you want to go to?"

Zhu Youjian served the two of them with food, and at the same time asked them in a friendly tone.

Zhu Ciyun was a little older, he shook his head: "We don't know either, Mother said let's ask uncle."

Seeing that the two of them didn't know what major to choose, Zhu Youjian also understood it very well. After all, choosing a major at the age of eleven or twelve is really difficult for people to choose.

"You will all be feudal kings in the future, not to mention when you will become feudal, but you will definitely go to the feudal state."

"Uncle has selected a few good places for you. Some places don't need to fight, but the distance is too far, and some places are close. In the future, the railway will be connected and you can go back to the capital quickly, but you need to defend Daming against foreign enemies."

"However, no matter where the domain is chosen, the necessary military strategy needs to be learned."

"My suggestion is to study in Shuntianfu School, major in military strategy, minor in politics, and take economics and ideological courses within five years."

"It will not be very tiring, and there will be plenty of time to rest and play."

Zhu Youjian's advice to the two is very practical. He doesn't think it takes hard work to learn something. As the king of the vassal state in the future, learning these things is enough. There are many unnecessary courses that don't need to be studied at all.

Everyone has a different career plan, and the career plan of a vassal king is to follow the path of a king.

"My brother and I will consider it, thank you Uncle Wang for your suggestion."

Zhu Cixuan acted very decently, and Concubine Fan Gui taught him well. Seeing this, Zhu Youjian no longer talked about academic matters, but chatted about life matters.

For example, Zhu Youxiao returned to Beijing, and there were some interesting events in the palace and government schools.

The three chatted with great interest, and from time to time Zhu Cijiong would ask about things on the battlefield, and Zhu Youjian also told them the same way in the way of storytelling.

Zhu Cihong next to him was also listening, but the other children were eating.

Such a family banquet lasted until dusk, and after a few simple greetings, Zhu Youjian asked the Xiao cavalry guards to send Zhu Cixuan and the others back to the palace, and he himself was free.

"Ugh……"

After finishing everything, Zhu Youjian sat on the couch, resting his head on Yuan Xipin's lap.

Yuan Xipin smiled, looked down at Zhu Youjian who was relaxing with his eyes closed, and stroked his forehead: "Is Your Highness tired?"

"I was tired a few days ago, but I feel much more comfortable these days."

Zhu Youjian closed his eyes, feeling Yuan Xipin's hand on his forehead, and responded with a mop.

"Yesterday, I asked Cheng En to send the memorials from the Ministry of War, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Xing, the Ministry of Rites, and the Jinyiwei to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. There is no fighting now. It takes two or three hours to finish the memorial. Still a little uncomfortable."

Zhu Youjian opened his eyes, but Yuan Xipin smiled and said, "It's not just a few days ago, it's been many years."

"Although that's the case, I've already gotten used to it." Zhu Youjian stroked his bare chin.

"Say, do I want to grow a beard?"

"It's good to have a beard, but the children in the house don't like you with a beard, and you look better without a beard." Yuan Xipin touched Zhu Youjian's Adam's apple as she said.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the minds were open, and many people postponed the age of growing beards. Unless they embarked on an official career, ordinarily, folk scholars like to grow beards at the age of 30.

Zhu Youjian is only 26 at the moment, and he is quite young among the people.

"My brother will come back in a few days, you go to the Forbidden City to see him for me."

Zhu Youjian grasped Yuan Xibin's hand to figure it out, and Yuan Xibin also asked back, "Why doesn't Your Highness go by himself?"

"Me? Hehe..." Shaking his head with a smile, Zhu Youjian replied, "If I go and see that my brother can't finish the memorials, I'm afraid I'll soften my heart and help him deal with it."

"Since it can't be finished, it's okay to help." Yuan Xipin used ear picks to dig Zhu Youjian's ears, and Zhu Youjian closed his eyes to enjoy, and replied at the same time:
"If you can't finish it, let's save it for Brother Ran to help deal with it. This Daming is their father and son's Daming, not mine."

"I have been in power for 12 years, and I have exhausted my mind. I should relax and enjoy myself."

"That's true..." Yuan Xipin carefully cleaned up Zhu Youjian's ears, and asked, "Is everything done in Qi State?"

"Hmm..." As sleepiness deepened, Zhu Youjian responded in a low voice: "Although it is not as prosperous as the capital city, it is almost the same as some prefectures."

"In another five or six years, I'm afraid it will be able to reach the level of the capital, and then I will be able to enjoy it in the past."

"Five or six years later, when His Highness is about to stand, how can you say you are enjoying it?" Yuan Xipin teased with a smile, and added: "Besides, if it really passes, His Highness will probably urge himself."

"..." Zhu Youjian wasn't talking. Yuan Xipin saw that he had fallen asleep, but she didn't move her body, but gently coaxed him to sleep like this.

They are in harmony here, but when it comes to Zhu Ciran's side, it's all over the place.

"Wang! Wang Wang!"

"Step hard!"

In the late winter month, accompanied by the barking of dogs in the early morning, Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun were pedaling desperately on the bicycle in the border of Chenzhou Prefecture, Huguang, while behind them were a dozen vicious dogs from a village.

"I am a dignified Jinyiwei, and I can still be chased by dogs..."

Liu Shun only felt that he was out of breath, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, there are more than a dozen dogs, just kill them..."

"No! These are the domestic dogs of the common people!" Although Zhu Ciran said so, there was a smile on his face, obviously he was not cherishing the lives of the dogs, but enjoying the excitement.

"Ouch..." A soldier of the Southern Army stepped on them and wanted to retch. Fortunately, they were stepped on a hillside, and they ushered in a long downhill, so they left the group of "village tyrants".

"Wang Wang-"

Seeing Zhu Ciran and others flee in embarrassment, more than a dozen rural dogs barked a few times, wagged their tails, and returned to their village proudly.

"Woohoo... Finally got rid of them."

Turning his head to take a look, Zhu Ciran wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He turned his gaze to the front, and there was also a sign hanging on the tree on the country road in front of him.

[Twenty miles away from Luojiawan, Shaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong]

"Finally, it's almost here." Seeing that his group was about to enter the border of Guangzhou, Zhu Ciran felt better again.

This was the No. 18 day when they left Zhongzhou. On the [-]th day of the winter month, the ship arrived in Wuchang County, and Qi Wulong also took a train to Guangzhou with [-] southern soldiers.

He intended to take Zhu Ciran back to Guangzhou together, but Zhu Ciran insisted on riding a bicycle, and Qi Wulong was on military affairs, so naturally he couldn't accompany him, so he could only leave first.

"Woooo-"

In the distance, piercing sirens sounded, and Zhu Ciran and others looked up. On the mountainside opposite, a train was heading south along the rails.

Looking at the train, Liu Shun breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his sweat: "The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway has been repaired quite quickly. If it continues like this, it will probably reach Guangzhou by the end of next year."

"At that time, it will only take five days from the capital to Guangzhou."

"That's right... I don't know if the Jingjia Railway has been built yet." Hearing Liu Shun's words, Zhu Ciran also remembered that the Jingjia Railway hadn't been built yet when he went to Hexi last time.

"It should be soon. Among the many railways built by Guochao, the most difficult one is the Jinglong Railway. I heard that there are still [-] miles, including [-] miles in the mountains, and it will take five years at the earliest to complete."

Liu Shun took a sip of water, Zhu Ciran also nodded.

With the continuous use of the fourth version of steam engines and the continuous proficiency of technology, the construction period of many railways has been shortened, such as the current Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.

According to the previous design, it will take at least nine years for the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway to reach Guangzhou, but from the current point of view, it will be completed by the end of 17 at most.

The Jinglong Railway, which was originally planned for 15 years, is now estimated to be completed in only 12 years.

The reason why Daming's railway was built so quickly was mainly due to the quick allocation of funds and the large number of laborers.

For the same railway, if the Qing Dynasty did not allocate funds in time every year, it would be fine, and the number of workers was only tens of thousands.

On the other hand, in Ming Dynasty, because of the "relief with work" policy, each railway has at least 10,000+ or ​​even hundreds of thousands of workers, and millions of workers are working.

At such a scale, it is impossible to think about it.

The two chatted without saying a word, and soon drove along the country road to a hill, and saw Luojiawan Town in the distance.

Entering the area of ​​the market town, needless to say, what catches the eye is naturally a patch of vegetable fields.

Although you can't grow grains in time, you can still grow vegetables.

As for why so many vegetables were planted, Zhu Ciran was also asking along the way. In the final analysis, it was because of the opening of the train, which led to a large number of purchases by merchants along the railway.

Most of these purchased vegetables were shipped to the north, after all, the northern vegetables are expensive in winter.

For example, cabbage costs one penny and three catties in Guangdong, but it costs one penny per catty when transported to the north, and even two pennies per catty in winter.

In other words, there are five times the profit, even if the shipping fee is excluded, there will be twice the profit.

Like now, when Zhu Ciran and the others entered Luojiawan, the vegetable fields in the distance were filled with farmers harvesting vegetables, and many horse-drawn carts were parked on both sides of the country road.

Some of these horse-drawn carriages have two wheels, some have four wheels, and some have sixteen wheels.

In front of the car, the merchants put wooden signs and wrote their purchase prices.

Seeing Zhu Ciran and his group, many merchants and farmers were on the sidelines, thinking that they were also harvesting vegetables.

"Four catties for a penny? This is cheaper than before. Let's go, stop and have a look."

Seeing the cheaper vegetable prices than before, Zhu Ciran couldn't help being a little speechless.

He and Liu Shun stopped the car, and then stepped forward to a businessman's horse-drawn carriage.

Hundreds of catties of cabbage had already been piled up on the carriage, and when Zhu Ciran arrived, the merchant also looked at them curiously.

"Boss, didn't the cabbage cost a penny and three catties before? Why is it now a penny and four catties, and the price has dropped?"

Zhu Ciran asked loudly, but the merchant said unhurriedly: "Look around you, there are so many cabbages, how could the price be as high as before."

"Oh..." After understanding why the price fell, Zhu Ciran nodded and continued to ask:

"How much can these vegetables be sold in the north?"

"How do we know this? We are all responsible for collecting vegetables. We just need to sell them to regular merchants when we receive them at the train station. If you don't sell vegetables, go away and don't disturb my business."

The merchant impatiently asked Zhu Ciran to leave, but Zhu Ciran was not unhappy, but ran to the field with Liu Shun.

He came to a vegetable farmer, took out his village official badge and said:
"Old man, I am an official sent by the county, and I want to ask if the price of your vegetables has been suppressed?"

As soon as Zhu Ciran opened his mouth, the vegetable farmer was so frightened that he almost knelt on the ground, but fortunately he was supported by Zhu Ciran.

"It's been reduced... It used to be three catties for one penny, but now it's four catties for one penny, but there's no way around it. There are too many people growing vegetables this year, and they grow vegetables in every village."

The old farmer spoke intermittently, while Zhu Ciran looked at the cabbage in the field: "How many acres of land does each household have in the village?"

"About 32 and three acres." The old man patted the mud on his body, and Zhu Ciran also asked, "Is the 32 and three acres planted with cabbage?"

"No, we keep some land to grow vegetables for ourselves. There are only [-] acres of cabbage in the land, and this is the first year to plant cabbage."

The old man explained, and Zhu Ciran continued to ask: "How much money can we sell all the vegetables in this way at the current price?"

"Four catties a penny, about five hundred catties per mu of land. If you sell them all, you can only earn three or five or six cents. You can't make much money, but it's not as hard as growing food." The old man's explanation made Zhu Ciran a little speechless.

Thirty acres of cabbage is only three, two, five or six dollars, which is a bit low.

But in a flash, Zhu Ciran figured it out. Although [-] mu is only three, two, five or six dollars, it cannot support the cultivation of rice in other seasons.

"Counting the rice, you can have an income of more than twenty taels, right?"

"Almost...almost..."

Zhu Ciran asked the old man, and the old man also nodded in approval.

Seeing this, Zhu Ciran asked curiously: "Are there no pigs raised in the village? These people don't accept domestic pigs and poultry?"

"Take it, but it will not be harvested until the twelfth lunar month." The old man replied to Zhu Ciran while cleaning up the vegetables in the field.

Seeing this, Zhu Ciran unambiguously helped with the work: "I will help you with the work, and you will give me ten catties of cabbage to eat later."

"That's fine!" Hearing that Zhu Ciran was helping with the work, and that he only needed ten catties of cabbage, the old man smiled, and felt that the officials from this county were very close to the people.

"How about the price of pigs and poultry?"

Zhu Ciran asked while working, and the old man replied without hesitation, "It depends on the weight."

"Live pigs now cost fifteen yuan a catty, fat chickens cost five yuan a catty, ducks cost four yuan, and geese cost nine yuan."

"Raising pigs every year is about feeding two stones of feed, plus some swill left over from eating, and some pigweed. It costs about four to five hundred yuan a pig, and it can basically be sold for two, two, six or seven yuan."

"That's all? What kind of pig?" Zhu Ciran couldn't help being surprised when he heard that a pig could only be sold for [-] cents.

"It's the small ear flower. This kind of pig is not bad. It can basically grow to 180 catties in one year. If it is a black pig in eastern Guangdong, it will only be 120 catties."

The old man answered while working, and Zhu Ciran also asked about their family's income.

"My three sons have gone to build the railway. The family grows some land and raises some pigs and poultry. They can still earn seventeen or eight taels a year."

"That's quite a lot." Perhaps because he has seen the rich people in some villages in Yunnan and Sichuan, the annual income of seventeen or eight taels per household does not seem to be that much to Zhu Ciran.

"Now we are just waiting for the court to continue to divide the land. The court said that one person can divide up to ten acres, and we only have six or seven acres per person here."

"If the court allocates enough land, we should be able to eat meat every day."

When it comes to eating meat, the old man has a smile on his face: "These days must be getting better and better."

"That's true..." Zhu Ciran couldn't help but nodded along with the old man.

After that, he continued to work with the old man, and Liu Shun and the two Jin Yiwei also followed suit.

The old man saw that they were working very neatly, so he asked his wife to go back and get food to bring back, and even specifically told him to kill a chicken.

Zhu Ciran got up quickly when he heard it: "No need, just eat as you normally would. We are used to big fish and big meat, so it's good to eat some farm food."

"Big fish and big meat?" Hearing Zhu Ciran's words, the old man looked at him, then at Liu Shun and Jin Yiwei who were thin and thin.

It seems that the four of them can't get involved with big fish and meat, and are thinner than many farmers in the countryside.

"Then do it normally." The old man did not insist, but confessed to his wife, and then continued to work with Zhu Ciran and the others.

Five people worked together, and quickly cleaned up an acre of vegetable fields.

The five people took one mu of vegetables to the side of the road, found a vegetable merchant, and sold the cabbage at a price of four catties per mu. The 530 six catties of cabbage brought the old man an income of 130 four catties.

The old man also wanted to give Zhu Ciran and the others a salary of three Wen each, but Zhu Ciran refused.

Seeing this, the old man can only say that he will give them ten catties of cabbage later, and then bring them a piece of bacon from home to eat.

Zhu Ciran didn't need money, but for meat dishes, Zhu Ciran happily accepted them.

Looking at Liu Shun with such a cheerful look, he was speechless for a while.

Thinking that he is a dignified Nanzhen Fusi Jinyiwei Baihu, a sixth-rank official, and a person with an annual salary of 500 taels, but now he sells his labor for a piece of bacon. This is really...

"Liu Shun, come to work!"

"Hey!" Hearing Zhu Ciran's shout, Liu Shun quickly responded, and then skillfully went to the field to pick up the cabbage.

From Si time to noon, the five people collected three acres of cabbage in total, and the [-] catties of cabbage brought the old man an income of [-] yuan.

The old man asked some vegetable merchants to exchange four silver coins with a denomination of [-], and checked them carefully.

It has to be said that although the weight has not changed, doing business is much easier with the denomination of Tianqi Tongbao.

"The circulation of Tianqi Tongbao is quite fast."

Zhu Ciran looked at the old man who carefully put away the money, and couldn't help sighing.

"This money is good, you don't need to weigh it, you don't need to cut it, you can understand it just by looking at the denomination, and you can know whether it is real money or fake money just by tapping."

"With this new money, very few people have been scammed, and now a lot of people like to use this kind of money."

The old man responded with a smile, and Zhu Ciran also smiled when he heard the words.

The benefits of the new currency began to appear, which greatly improved the credibility of the imperial court.

Zhu Ciran was also very happy to see that the imperial currency was accepted by the common people.

Thinking of this, they continued to work in the sun, and as time passed, when the time came to 12:[-] noon ([-] o'clock), many vegetable farmers either went home to eat, or found a shaded place to rest.

The same goes for Zhu Ciran and the others, and not long after they sat down, the husband's wife appeared on the country road with a basket on her back...