On March 3, the weather was new, and there were many beautiful people by the water in Chang'an. March 3 Shangsi Festival, originally the day of purification, that is, bathing by the water, expelling pain, praying for well-being, since the Song and Yuan dynasties gradually faded out of the officialdom and folk, gave way to Qingming, but after the Emperor Taizu of this dynasty ascended the throne, he re-emphasized the ancient rites of winding water and flowing and feasting on the river, so this festival has been retained.

But as time goes by, the waterside feast gradually turns into a spring feast or a trip. So, on the third day of March, the court officials were closed, the government suspended its work, and even the prisoners of the Guozijian were given a day off.

On this day when the city was full of light spring clothes or outings or feasts, Zhang Shou did not ask Zhu Ying to travel, not because he didn't want to, not because he didn't have time, but because he ...... Zhu Ying didn't have time. Although this is a very rare thing, Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying met at two ends in three days, even if there is no marriage certificate, but the marriage has already passed the bright road, and he is not in a hurry.

Therefore, on this Shangsi Festival, he went to Lu Sanlang's fund, but it was hung in his name, the blacksmith shop and carpenter shop in one mansion. It wasn't until late afternoon that he came out of it, breathed a sigh of relief, and then glanced sideways at Ah Liu next to him.

"You kid and Guan Qiu are two people! Just such a simple marshmallow machine was actually sold by you for a thousand. ”

Although sugar cane was widely cultivated in various southern regions suitable for cultivation under the vigorous promotion of Emperor Taizu, so that sugar is no longer a luxury, compared to the sugar needed for seasonings and various sweet soups, marshmallow is definitely a luxury. Therefore, when Guan Qiu had just cautiously told him that the cotton candy machine had been sold, he was quite surprised.

What's more, after he and Lu Saburo teamed up to pit the eldest prince, he didn't think that anyone would buy the machine made by his own side - wasn't he afraid that in the blink of an eye, he would give the drawings to the top, and then the people and money would be empty?

Seeing the innocent expression on Ah Liu's face that I couldn't understand anything, he asked angrily, "Don't pretend!" This is the money you two earned, and I won't share it with you! You too, don't take it out to subsidize the family, you should also think about marrying a daughter-in-law! Tell me, who did you sell it to? It won't be a forced buy and a forced sale, right? ”

It's not Zhang Shoubei's bow and snake shadow, it's really Ah Liu's work that is too resolute. In February, there were more than a dozen servants in his palace of King Lu, and I don't know where they came from, and then after half a month, he got a detailed drawing from Ah Liu's hand with various secret rooms and tunnels—of course, it was built in the past.

The most terrifying thing is that some of these secret rooms and tunnels have been surveyed by the royal family a long time ago and cleaned, clearly for his future use. But there are also many after discovering and opening, it is a mess, and there are even white bones among them! So much so that after listening to Ah Liu's detailed report, he couldn't help but jump in his eyelids, and almost planned to order these secret rooms and tunnels to be filled in.

But in this way, it is inevitable that some places have no silver three hundred taels, and he once considered discussing with the emperor whether he could change the house. But when I talked to Zhu Ying that time, Miss Zhu patted her chest and said that she would go to the palace to talk to the emperor and the queen mother, and then brought him a message.

"Just stay, don't worry, those authentic secret rooms should be used as your family's workshop, just make more good things for me!"

Zhang Shou thought about the crying and laughing when he heard this, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, and then stared at Ah Liu again. After a while, the young man finally reluctantly said, "The emperor sent someone to ask for it." He said that the south of the Yangtze River is so rich that the local wealthy families have money and have nowhere to spend it, so they quickly rewarded this drawing to the big weavers. The messenger replied that they had doubled their tribute this year. ”

As the first of the four famous brocades, the title of Yunjin was not supposed to be there at the moment, but it is obvious that Emperor Taizu came, so he set up the capital of Beijing at the same time, and also set up Nanjing, and by the way, he also gave the Jin'an woven by the Nanjing Brocade Department a name of Nanjing Yunjin. However, the Brocade Department does not hire its own weavers, but outsources production, and the large weaving mills are partners.

The imperial court did not pay, but what these weaving mills got was a duty-free export quota for overseas cloud brocade. In addition to the weaving mills of these large households, the rest of the families are not allowed to produce cloud brocade, let alone go to sea......

Thinking of this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but muttered about the emperor's astucinating shrewdness. However, Ah Liu's next words surprised him again: "Also, the drawings were not sold for a thousand yuan, but the emperor paid for a thousand yuan in advance...... If the big families in the south have anything special, the emperor will pay another sum depending on the situation. ”

Speaking of this, Ah Liu said solemnly: "So Guan Qiu also said, although the things are made by him, but the principle is what the young master told him, he takes a hundred yuan as a salary, which is already very out of line, and he will never dare to ask for the rest." As for me...... I'm just a person who contributes, and I don't have a place to spend money, so why do you want money? ”

Seeing that Zhang Shou's face was full of disapproval, he said disregardedly: "So, whether it is the remaining nine hundred yuan, or the money that the emperor may give again, it is what you deserve, young master." When the emperor gave me money before, he also specially instructed him, hoping that the young master would toss more good things out, he promised to be happier than the eldest prince to give money, and he would not cause so many troubles. ”

Hehe...... Your Majesty, you're embarrassed to say it! If you hadn't personally sent an attendant to Ah Liu's place to buy the marshmallow, how could someone impeach me for such a trivial matter as a marshmallow machine before? Don't get into trouble yet...... This is big enough!

After the news spreads about the blueprints of the marshmallow machine in Jiangnan, maybe I will be impeached again!

Zhang Shou had nothing to say, and glanced at Ah Liu helplessly: "Then so be it, the money is still the same as before, I'll help you keep it first." In addition, don't tell the emperor in advance today...... I'll get back to that. As for Guan Qiu...... Before he tossed out the clock, he estimated that there would be a lot of messy by-products, and it was up to you to take them out and use them however you wanted. ”

"Oh." Ah Liu agreed, and then explained a few sentences in a somewhat sullen manner.

"I didn't say it last time, it was the emperor who bought the marshmallow and sent someone to ask for the machine. Most of the time, it's the madman who has quick eyes and a faster mouth. I think that the young master should follow the emperor's words and quickly take Guan Qiu and them to move to the other courtyard together. There are many secret passages in the secret room over there, and no movement can be transmitted, and the madman doesn't know even if he has a clairvoyant ear. ”

Zhang Shou only felt that the blue tendons on his forehead were jumping suddenly. There is no movement that can't come out of this kind of words, why does he sound so awkward? Those who know understand that he is tinkering with all kinds of interesting things, and those who don't know...... I thought he was rebelling!

And Ah Liu, who has always talked a lot, suddenly seems to talk a lot at this moment: "If the young master is worried that there is not enough manpower in such a big place, I will go back and arrange it." I have carefully screened all the guys who are already working in the other courtyard. ”

"The porter is the former head snake An Lu in the outer city, although his lame leg is not very good-looking, but he is very capable, one can fight eight back then, and now the combat effectiveness is not strong, but the vision and means are still there, it is always okay to bring a junior, and the other three porters are clever boys. The chef Xu Pozi has very good skills, but the shop was crushed by the snow, and she has never sold human meat steamed buns, young master, don't worry......"

"I'm not at ease at all when you say this!"

Zhang Shou couldn't help but hold his forehead with his hand, but in the end, he still didn't interfere in the recruitment of people at home - he was too busy every day just to be a Guozijian, and he had to come over from time to time to see the progress of the research and development of various appliances. However, he was still hesitant about Ah Shou urging him to move in as soon as possible.

It's not that he has to wait until he gets married to move, but now he hasn't married Zhu Ying yet, there are only a few people in the family, and moving into such a big mansion is like a few pebbles in the sea, and he can't even make a splash!

Moreover, most of him will still live in the Guozijian Mansion in the future, so as not to commute for too long, is it difficult for the Wu family to use the house as a park every day?

After thinking about it, Zhang Shou still decided to go back and discuss with the Wu family - he can make decisions independently about those outside matters, and the Wu family never interferes with him, but in the category of family affairs, he doesn't want to and can't leave her alone. However, when he rode to the door of his house while thinking about it, he saw Lao Liu Tou trotting up to meet him.

"Young master, I'm here." His voice was very low, and his eyes were still looking around, as if he was afraid that someone would eavesdrop, he really looked like an old thief who had been in the thief field for a long time, and when he saw Zhang Shou raise his feet and enter the door, he hurriedly followed again, but he explained with a smile, "It's the eldest son of the Duke of Qin." It's not like everybody says he's recovering from his injuries at home, so I've got to be careful......"

Zhang Chen's injury was once a hot topic in the capital during the Chinese New Year. Originally, Zhang Chen was a well-known noble son in the capital - in the past, it was because of swagger, and later because of the prodigal son's return, although it was not as exaggerated as Lu Sanlang, but the head of the Banshan Hall also deserved to be presentable.

Therefore, Zhang Chen's unfortunate fall from a horse and his injury have attracted much attention. After the diagnosis and treatment of the imperial doctor, in order to prevent falling ill, he had to stay in bed for a few months, for this reason, almost everyone in the Banshan Hall of Guozijian took turns to visit once, and Zhang Shou also went several times, but then he was busy with schoolwork, so he didn't go so diligently.

When Zhang Chen's father, Zhang Chuan, the Duke of Qin Guo, suddenly took over as the Yin of Shuntian Mansion, there was another wave of visits, but this time, the people who went to visit were all closed, because Zhang Chen let out the words, and his father's promotion had nothing to do with him, he wanted to recuperate and not see guests!

No one knew that Zhang Chen, who was known as falling from a horse, stayed at home for the first few days to "recuperate", but in fact, he quickly chased Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu who went to Xingtai, and quietly took a few henchmen all the way south, and actually arrived in Xingtai before Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu.

At this time, Zhang Shou strode into his living room, and when he saw Zhang Chen circling in circles, he smiled and said, "Zhang Chen, what do you want to come back like this in person?" Send someone back and say no? ”

"Little Mister!" Zhang Chen looked up and saw that it was Zhang Shou, and hurriedly rushed over, and said angrily, "Those big families saw that the new textile machinery was being promoted well, and they really used a trick!" Just like what you were worried about before, they don't know how to buy off the merchants who collect cotton yarn, and the purchase price drops again and again, and they don't even accept the yarn spun by the spinners! ”

Zhang Shou was not surprised by such a result, and immediately smiled: "But, didn't Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu discuss countermeasures at the beginning?" They don't take it, they do, and the price is a little lower than the previous price, but definitely higher than the purchase price of the guys, and then the spinners can get a higher income than before. Why, can those spinners still not sell? ”

"Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu took the 10,000 yuan allocated to them by the emperor before, but I don't know who passed on this specific amount to everyone in Xingtai, and those big families together have hundreds of thousands of financial resources! Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu are running out of money! ”

At this moment, Zhang Chen saw that Zhang Shou was silent, so he sighed: "The eldest prince is in Cangzhou, which is at least an important town on the canal, facing the sea in the east. Unlike Xingtai, although it is the government of Shunde Prefecture and is located on a land artery south of the capital, it is really inconvenient to transport cotton yarn. What's more, the eldest prince went to Cangzhou and brought two capable members of the household, plus coercion and temptation......"

When Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu went down, they also brought Hu Kai and the two of them, how confident they were at that time. What, are you scared now? Zhang Shou deliberately referred vaguely, just to see if Zhang Chen had gone to help the two younger brothers again.

"What am I afraid of, the big deal is just to lose money, anyway, I don't have anything else in the Qin State Mansion, but there is a lot of money, and it will be mine in the future!" Zhang Chen turned his heart sideways and simply said honestly, "I just don't want people to think that we are not as capable as the eldest prince!" ”

Zhang Shou looked at Zhang Chen for a while, and then said with a smile: "We? If I remember correctly, promoting new textile machines in Xingtai was the task of Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. As for you, I asked you to go all the way south to harvest cotton, and by the way, recruit a group of weavers who are good at weaving along the way, and then take them to Xingtai, right? They are light, you are dark, and you can't help but help them, right? ”

Faced with this, Zhang Chen suddenly felt a little weak: "I have done all those things, so I will help Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu casually." As for the cotton harvest, I claimed to be the second prince's henchman, and I beat the two guys sent by the eldest prince to Xingtai, and I happened to arrest a few of those big households, and they had to get rid of me, so except for the inventory they wanted to use, I finished collecting the rest of the cotton. ”

Zhang Shou was speechless for a while. He wanted Zhang Chen, who had a flamboyant personality, to secretly support Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, but this one is good, even more domineering than the second prince! Beat the people of the great prince...... Only this one can do it!

He scolded angrily and funny: "You're not afraid that the second prince will know that someone is pretending to be his henchman?" ”

"I asked someone to give the second prince a generous gift." Zhang Chen smiled, "When the second prince is employing people, someone is willing to come forward to stir up trouble for the eldest prince and Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, what is he not happy about?" He even gave me a token! ”

Zhang Chen raised his hand, and a bronze medal engraved with the word Yanqing appeared on one side. Zhang Shou knew that the Second Prince's Courtyard was known as Yanqing Beppu, so when he saw this bronze medal and the serial number behind it, he couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

"Lu Sanlang pits the eldest prince, it can be said that he came to the door by himself. You are so pitiful to the second prince, aren't you afraid that the emperor will know? ”

"This is indeed a problem......" Zhang Chen was suddenly stunned, "Or, Mr. Xiao, you can help me explain in front of the emperor?" ”

Fu Tian said

Today's single update ......