Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 13 Zhang's Case Money (Part [-])
As for Zhang Siwei’s remarks, the main reason is that Gao Yushi stayed in Xinzheng to study ancestry. Gao Yushi’s mother was not at ease, so she stayed in Xinzheng to take care of her nearby and did not follow Gao to Fengyang. If Gao Gong came to Beijing, his mother would not have any particularly important "business" in Xinzheng for the time being, so Zhang Siwei said this.

Gao Wushi nodded and said: "My nephew will write to my father about this matter, and I think my father will not object."

Zhang Siwei nodded in satisfaction, and Gao Wushi invited Zhang Siwei in to talk as half the host, and the two sat down separately according to the etiquette—Gao Wushi insisted on sitting first, and Zhang Siwei did not insist on him being the host. The identity is obvious.

There are not many people in the Gaogong Mansion, but after all, the chancellor's servant, his eyes are not bad, and the time for tea is very well grasped, and two cups of tea are served at the right time. After all, the two are relatives of nephew and uncle, so there is no need to pay too much attention Besides, Zhang Siwei had just had a conversation with Gao Gong, and he was indeed a little thirsty, so he drank two sips before asking: "There is something, I wonder if you have heard of it, it is about you."

Gao Wushi was slightly taken aback: "About me?"

"Yes." Zhang Siwei slowly put away his smile, and said seriously: "I gave a lecture feast for the Holy One one day before. How much do you understand?"

"Ah?" Gao Wushi was stunned, and thought to himself: Could it be that the little prince Zhu Yijun couldn't keep his words in his heart, so he told the emperor about the previous incident so early?This... is a bit early.

Zhang Siwei looked at Gao Wushi with piercing eyes, "That day, after you arrived in Beijing, you went straight to the palace with Duke Zhongxuan. I heard that you talked with the prince?"

Gao Wushi's heart moved, but he answered honestly on the face: "Yes." He didn't know how much Zhang Siwei knew, so he planned to see Zhang Siwei's reaction before he thought about it.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Siwei was a little worried, and hurriedly told him: "You have been educated in the Gao Clan School and studied for several years, and you have been taught by Duke Zhongxuan in person. Knowledge and insight are rare among peers, and the crown prince because of some The reason is that you haven't studied yet... So, don't act arrogantly in front of the prince. You must know that although the prince is young, he is a king; although we are capable, we are ministers. Do you understand the truth?"

"Yes, my nephew understands." Upon hearing this, Gao Wushi knew that Zhang Siwei didn't know what the conversation between himself and Zhu Yijun involved that day, so he said: "The prince and my nephew are about the same age, and most of them just talked The matter of playing... But the prince occasionally mentioned something, it seems that he is a little displeased with some of Ke Dao's practices."

Zhang Siwei's eyes were fixed: "Oh? The prince..." He seemed to realize that asking the prince directly what he said was a bit inappropriate, so he couldn't help but stop.

Of course, Gao Pragmatic still had this wink, and immediately followed up: "The prince actually just said that some people in Ke Dao are too harsh on the Holy Majesty."

"Hmm..." Zhang Siwei didn't reply immediately, but thought carefully for a while before asking, "What do you say?"

Gao Wu said sincerely, "I knew you wanted to ask!"

Now, with an honest look, he replied: "My nephew said that if they have done a great job themselves, and then hope that the Holy Majesty can do better, then it is understandable."

Zhang Siwei's face changed slightly, and he said with a little reproach: "Fortunately, you are young, otherwise... well, if there is a next time, you should not make any comments about this kind of thing."

"Oh." Gao Wushi put on a dejected look and lowered his head.Zhang Siwei naturally couldn't see the dark smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Pragmatically, Uncle is not saying that there is anything wrong with what you said, but I want to tell you: the identity of the prince is very sensitive, and your identity is actually not insensitive. Although you are very young, you are From the perspective of others, some of the words you said "inadvertently" may represent the meaning of the Holy One or the elder Gao Ge, so it is very easy to arouse people's imagination! It is even difficult to guarantee that some people with selfish motives will take your words seriously. Utilizing...doesn't this cause unnecessary trouble for the Holy One and Mr. Gao Ge? To be honest, uncle said so, you should understand what uncle means, right?"

Gao Wushi nodded, and said: "Although there should be no chance to discuss these things with outsiders in the future, my nephew understands what uncle means, and I will be cautious in my words and deeds."

Only then did Zhang Siwei smile: "Okay, if you can understand this truth, you can feel relieved as an uncle." Then he paused, and his smile became wider: "Pragmatically, although you learned Kaimeng from the Gao clan before , but you also have the blood of the Zhang family. According to the Zhang family rules, all junior relatives who enter school will have a monthly allowance, and your share has always been recorded in the account... Oh yes, This amount of money is calculated from the time when you learned enlightenment in the Gao clan."

When he said this, seeing Gao Wushi was a little dazed, he couldn't help but joked: "Why, didn't you expect that? Didn't your mother mention the rules of the Zhang family to you?"

Gao Wushi shook his head slightly: "Mother really never said that."

Now it was Zhang Siwei's turn to be a little surprised: "I handed over all the family's money and household affairs to your third uncle a few years ago, and he mentioned this specifically when he corresponded with me, but before you In Xinzheng... your third uncle originally planned to transfer it to you through your mother, but your mother said that you didn't need to use the money at the time, so it was better to let the Zhang family temporarily store it, so it has never been distributed——I don't know if your mother has any Tell you the matter? Well, maybe she doesn't want you to be distracted." He laughed again: "However, this time is convenient, you came to the capital with Mr. Gao Ge, and you are close to me. When I got the news, I sent a letter to ask, and as of this month, your persuasion money has accumulated to 970 five taels of silver."

Gao Yushi was really taken aback by this time - no one else, just because it was close to a thousand taels of silver, it was enough to be called a huge sum of money in this era!
Let me just give you an example: the value of a catty of flour at this time is only 0.01 taels of silver.

Moreover, the catty in the Ming Dynasty was not the current 500-gram catty, but the 594.6-gram catty in the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, one tael of silver can buy nearly 60000 grams of flour, which is 60 kilograms... In other words, this sum of money can already buy 58500 kilograms of flour, which is nearly [-] tons, and this The price is still calculated according to the grain price of the capital, which is obviously on the expensive side.

If you are buying meat or simply livestock, the price of a cow at this time is about 1.5 taels to [-] taels of silver (divided into size, year, etc.), while the average price of a pig (divided into large, medium and small) is only [-] taels.

If you want to compare, then you can compare labor, how cheap is labor?An official craftsman who has passed the skills in the capital, worked hard for three months, and earned about five to six taels of silver, which is about two taels a month.

As for Gao Gong, as a senior official of the first rank, his theoretical monthly payment is only "72 stones" of rice, which is about 8000 kilograms.Now the price of a stone of rice in the capital is not even a tael of silver, and the official salary of a dignified first-rank prince and grand teacher is only more than sixty taels.Of course, Gao Gong held multiple positions, so he didn't only have the salary of an honorary position like prince and grand teacher, but that's two things.

So no matter if you look at it horizontally or vertically, the nearly thousand taels of silver is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for Gao Yushi.

(End of this chapter)