Chapter 186 Picking Peaches
“This is a great thing.” Yuan Zhengqing said excitedly: “Erlang, you must behave well when you go to the East Palace, you know?”
Can you go to the East Palace as an errand? , it doesn’t matter what the official position is.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally asked Yuan Wenshao to serve as a servant in the East Palace. Even if he is just an ordinary soldier, his future prospects will not be different.
"My child understands!" Yuan Wenshao said.
"Erlang, can you talk to His Highness the Crown Prince and ask your eldest brother to also..."
After hearing this, Mrs. Yuan thought of her eldest son. The eldest son was also on duty in the Wucheng Army and Horses Division, and his position was the commander.
But the East Palace is not comparable to the troops of the Five Cities.
“Shut up!”
Before Mrs. Yuan finished speaking, she was stopped by Yuan Zhengqing.
Staring at his wife fiercely, Yuan Zhengqing turned to look at Yuan Wenshao and said, "You have had a hard day on duty. Go back and rest. While you are waiting for a break, take your wife to your in-law's house for a walk. They are all in Bianjingli. It's not far away, so we need to move around more."
When Yuan Wenshao heard this, he glanced at his mother, and when he saw that she didn't speak, he said, "My son has taken note of it."
That's it. Yuan Wenshao had a foolish and filial temper, and his father-in-law was in Bianjing, so how could he not visit him.
It’s just that Mrs. Yuan didn’t allow him to go.
After all, you have to prepare gifts to go to the Yue family, and the money will naturally have to be provided by the Yuan family.
Except during holidays and when he had to move around, Mrs. Yuan did not allow him to go.
After Yuan Wenshao bowed and left, Mrs. Yuan said dissatisfiedly: "Why is the second son so valued by His Highness the Crown Prince that he is asked to help the first son?"
As the saying goes, the emperor loves the eldest son, and the people love the youngest son. .
This preference concept is not absolute, but it is true in most cases.
The so-called emperor and common people do not refer to one specific one, but to a general term.
The emperor refers to the aristocratic class, while the common people refer to the common people.
The formation of this class concept has a lot to do with the ancient inheritance system.
Class people basically follow the eldest son inheritance system. The eldest son is not only the first child, but also the future of the family.
But the common people are different. They have almost no property and few houses at home.
When the older children get married, they will separate into separate houses, and the youngest will be left behind in the end.
Parents will also live with their younger sons, so they naturally prefer them.
This concept is actually similar to the concept of raising children to provide for old age.
Yuan Dalang and Yuan Wenshao are both legitimate sons, but Yuan Wenshao is destined to separate in the future, and Mrs. Yuan also has to live with the eldest son, so she naturally prefers the eldest son.
So when she heard that Yuan Wenshao could go to the East Palace as an errand, the first thing she thought of was whether she could help her eldest son.
"Stupid!" Yuan Zhengqing snorted coldly: "There are so many lords in Bianjing, and there are even more countless lords' children. Our Yuan family sounds like they are lords, but who is the lord in Bianjing? Why does His Highness treat Erlang differently? Isn’t it because Erlang married a good wife?”
"Now that Erlang has not even gone to the East Palace as an errand, you want Erlang to beg His Highness. Does Erlang have such a great reputation?"
"Then let Erlang's wife go to her natal family to talk and see. Can you ask for a favor from His Highness the Crown Prince? Even if you can't go to the East Palace as an errand, it would be better to go to the western suburbs camp." Mrs. Yuan said.
"Now you know how to beg someone? Why didn't you think about it when you went to Erlang's room to seduce people and were worried about their dowry?" Yuan Zhengqing said angrily.
"I put people in Erlang's house, didn't I also want to open up branches for the Yuan family? It's been almost six years since she came in, and she just gave birth to a girl. She can't give birth to babies, and I'm not allowed to take concubines for Erlang. As for the official saying that I was thinking about her dowry, it would be even more unjust. When did I take her dowry?" Mrs. Yuan retorted.
"Hmph!" Yuan Zhengqing snorted coldly: "I won't talk about the stuff. You pretended to be sick and made her the head of the family. You didn't even give her the key to the warehouse. She could only use the dowry to support the family. You are a dignified Earl's manor and your daughter-in-law is supported by a dowry. If you don't think it's embarrassing, I feel ashamed!"
A few days ago, Mrs. Yuan pretended to be ill and left Hua Lan in charge.
At that time, he still found it strange that the eldest daughter-in-law was the niece of Mrs. Yuan’s natal family, and Mrs. Yuan had always been close to her.
Even if a daughter-in-law is to take charge of the house, it should be the eldest daughter-in-law.
However, the ancients always emphasized that men should be the main ones outside and women should be the main ones inside.
Yuan Zhengqing is a grown man, so naturally he will not care about the affairs of the back house.
It was only today that I overheard the discussion among the servants and realized that Mrs. Yuan did not give Hua Lan the key to the warehouse at all. All the Yuan family's expenses in the past few days were paid for by Hua Lan.
Before Yuan Wenshao came, Yuan Zhengqing had a quarrel with Mrs. Yuan because of this.
"Why didn't I give her the key? I was not feeling well and forgot about it." Mrs. Yuan argued.
Of course she couldn't admit this kind of thing. Her mother-in-law's idea of her daughter-in-law's dowry would be laughed at to death if word spread.
"Do you know in your heart that when you did some small tricks in the past, I saw that you had kept filial piety for your parents and I didn't want to argue with you. Now that the prince Erlang values it, this concerns the entire Yuan Dynasty If you mess around with me about the future of my family again, don't blame me for not caring about our relationship," Yuan Zhengqing said coldly.
.........
Yuan Wenshao didn't know about the quarrel that broke out between his parents. After leaving that yard, he returned to his own yard.
When Hualan saw Yuan Wenshao come back, he skillfully helped him change his clothes and made tea for him herself.
"The official drinks tea." Hua Lan put the tea on the table next to Yuan Wenshao, picked up her daughter from his arms, and said with a smile: "The official is in a good mood today, but is there any happy event? "
"There is indeed a happy event." Yuan Wenshao told the story with a smile, "According to my father's wishes, I seem to have taken advantage of the fifth sister."
Yuan Wenshao is actually not stupid, but he is a foolish and filial person due to his temperament.
As soon as Yuan Zhengqing asked him to visit Sheng's house more often when he had time, he understood what his father meant.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems very possible. I am just a captain, clearing a road, and being valued by His Highness the Crown Prince. It is not possible no matter how you look at it.
"This is because the officials themselves have the ability, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a keen eye for talent." Hua Lan was also very happy for him when she learned that her husband was going to the East Palace as an errand.
"I just went to the East Palace, and I'm not sure when I can take a break. You can take Sister Zhuang back to your father-in-law's house to visit your father-in-law and mother-in-law in the past two days, and then I will go back with you after I take a break." Yuan Wenshao said.
"Then mother-in-law's side..." Hua Lan naturally wanted to go back to her parents' home to see her. It had been several months since she last went back.
It would be fine if they were far away, but both families are in Bianjing City, and the journey is only more than half an hour.
But every time she mentioned that she wanted to go back, Mrs. Yuan would make all kinds of excuses.
"Don't worry about mother, I will just talk to father later." Yuan Wenshao said.
"Yes." Hua Lan nodded happily.
Sister Zhuang also clapped her hands happily and shouted that she was going to play with the fifth and sixth aunts.
…………
Zhao Xing did not know that his random actions had caused the Yuan family to misunderstand.
But it is not necessarily a misunderstanding. Although he asked Yuan Wenshao to come to the East Palace as an errand, he had little relationship with the Sheng family.
But the reason Yuan Wenshao caught his eye was because he had a certain role in the play and he knew a little about him.
In the end, he still took advantage of the Sheng family.
Otherwise he wouldn’t even know about Yuan Wenshao, so he wouldn’t pay much attention to him.
When Yuan Wenshao came to the East Palace the next day, Zhao Xing didn't even see him and left him to Gu Tingye.
Actually, Zhao Xing does not have to summon these people to the East Palace now.
There is another purpose for doing this, so that they can get together to discuss the art of war and conduct sand table exercises.
Although doing this makes sense on paper, Zhao Xing can only go so far.
Zhao Xing wanted to open a small school and ask the British public and Gu Yankai, veterans of the battlefield, to teach Cao Qin and Gu Tingye the art of war and tell them about their battlefield experiences.
However, this is not obvious. My father will not be able to pass the test.
When it comes to reform, my father still has thoughts in this regard.
My father has no thoughts at all about fighting.
Zhao Xing tried it several times, but his father preferred to maintain the current situation and did not want to fight, let alone start a war.
So he wanted to open a school to train military generals, but now it is impossible to do so.
We can only let Cao Qin and others discuss the deduction in private.
Paper talk is better than nothing.
Since the opening of Liulice, business has been getting better and better day by day.
Those glass products are okay. Although they look good, they are not necessary to buy.
Even if you can’t buy it for the time being, just wait a few days.
However, mirrors are different and are very popular among noble ladies and those rich ladies.
Half a month after the opening of Liulice, two new products were launched.
One is the dressing table, which Zhao Xing painted after imitating the dressing tables of later generations. Each dressing table is equipped with a large mirror nearly one meter in diameter.
The other is a hand mirror, which is very compact and easy to carry.
This kind of hand mirror existed in the Song Dynasty, but before that it was a bronze mirror with average clarity.
When these two kinds came out, they were very popular among the ladies of Bianjing, and the supply exceeded the demand.
Even the price has doubled due to speculation.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xing decisively ordered Sheng Wei to increase the price. Although it attracted a lot of scolding, there was still an endless stream of people buying.
In today's circle of wealthy women in Bianjing, if you don't have a hand mirror, you will feel inferior when you go out and meet people.
Liu Li Pavilion has earned nearly two million taels of silver for Zhao Xing in just over a month since it opened.
This does not include the sales to Li Ge and overseas traders.
Due to the distance, there is currently no feedback from overseas traders, but the feedback from Li Ge is very good.
Glass products are very popular in the Liao Kingdom. He bought 100,000 taels of goods, but they were sold out soon. He has contacted Sheng Wei twice to replenish the goods.
Zhao Xing attaches great importance to the transactions with the Liao Kingdom and asked Sheng Wei to ensure the supply there first.
The Liao Kingdom had limited money, and most of the time it was used to offset it with things.
Although the proportion of horses is not high, other goods are of great use.
For example, some leather can be used to make light armor, and animal tendons can be used to make bows and arrows.
Zhao Xing was naturally willing to exchange things like glass for practical supplies.
Zhao Xing made a lot of money here, which naturally made many people jealous.
Many people are writing letters, saying that the new colored glaze is very profitable and the production method should be handed over to the court.
At the beginning, there were only a few people writing letters, and the officials didn’t pay much attention.
But as more and more people submitted letters, the officials asked people to investigate. If they didn’t investigate, they wouldn’t know. When they did, they were shocked.
According to official estimates, if the business is run well, it is no problem to earn one to two million taels of silver a year.
How much tax does the imperial court pay per year?
The official was immediately moved and called Zhao Xing to the palace to raise the matter.
When Zhao Xing heard that his father was going to pick peaches, he was instantly unhappy.
"Father, I will tell you directly in front of you that the Liuli Pavilion does belong to me, but it is my personal property. There is no reason to hand it over to the imperial court, right?"
(End of this chapter)