Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Zhu Yunxi's words were a joke on the one hand, and helplessness on the other.

Because he collected taxes on the gentry, it can be said that he completely offended the bureaucratic class of Ming Dynasty. It is difficult to say how the local officials would react when they learned of his identity.

In addition, this place is still far away from Yangzhou Fucheng, and it will take a few days for the two of them to walk there. If they encounter rebellion from the White Lotus Sect or robbers blocking the way along the way, then the two of them will be in vain.

"Then what shall we do now?"

"How about we row the boat back?"

Xu Miaojin gave a very reliable idea, but Zhu Yunxi didn't buy it.

"You row?"

"How can I paddle alone, of course it's the two of us paddling!"

Zhu Yunxi rolled his eyes in disdain.

"You can take a break!"

"We just spent so much effort to row the boat over, don't you have any idea?"

"You actually want to go back by rowing, why don't you go to the sky!"

Xu Miaojin also had a little temper. Seeing what Zhu Yunxi said, she asked with displeasure.

"Then what do you think, you can't go to Yangzhou, you can't go back by boat, you can't just stay here and wait for someone to rescue you!"

Zhu Yunxi looked at the awning boat docked at the pier.

"Sell the boat first, sell some silver as travel expenses, and hire a carriage or boat to go back..."

Xu Miaojin said in a puzzled manner.

"Why sell it, why don't we just hire a boatman?"

Zhu Yunxi looked up at the sky helplessly when he heard this.Fortunately, Xu Miaojin was not stupid, and soon figured it out by herself.

"Are you worried that there will be a mark on the ship, and people from the White Lotus Sect will recognize it?"

Zhu Yunxi said angrily.

"Or else?"

Xu Miaojin gave Zhu Yunxi a thumbs up when he heard the words.

"You are really smart!"

"Why didn't I think of that!"

"I can't see that you are smart in other aspects besides practicing martial arts!"

"cut!"

"We were also masters in Dabentang back then!"

Zhu Yunxi and Xu Miaojin bragged about it, and then found someone to sell the boat on the pier.

Because they stopped at a grass market under Yangzhou Mansion, and there were not many people in total, so they couldn't sell them at a high price.

In addition, the two of them were still children, so the other party didn't dare to give a high price, and only sold five taels of silver.

Even so, Zhu Yunxi kindly reminded him.

"Uncle, you buy this boat and tidy it up properly, remove everything that needs to be dismantled, and put on a new coat of paint..."

The man who bought the boat was also very funny, and said while agreeing.

"know!"

"You sold the boat so cheaply, it seems that you have come from a wrong place. If it weren't for your eloquence, I wouldn't even pay five taels of silver!"

Zhu Yunxi praised the man with a thumbs up when he heard the words.

"Understood people!"

"There is indeed a problem with the origin of this ship, but you don't have to worry about my lord finding it."

"To tell you the truth, my parents died long ago, and I am the oldest in my family!"

"Is that so..."

When the man heard this, he counted hundreds of coins to Zhu Yunxi when he gave the money, and there were a lot of new copper coins in it.

When Zhu Yunxi saw the copper coins issued by him, he immediately felt an indescribable intimacy.

This is the first time he has received copper coins other than his mother's money after the copper coins were issued, and he earned them with his own hands!

"Thank you uncle!"

After Zhu Yunxi thanked the man who bought the boat, he led Xu Miaojin to the grass market to eat, drink and have fun.

The first thing the two of them had to do was to take a shower. Zhu Yunxi paid a few hundred cash to a shopkeeper and bought the whole shop, including the boss and his wife, and bought two sets of old clothes.

One was busy boiling bath water for the two of them, and the other was busy cooking for them in the kitchen.

Not long after, the two of them took a hot bath, changed into the old clothes prepared by the store, and came to the hall for dinner.

Zhu Yunxi chatted with the shopkeeper while eating.

"Shopkeeper, have the past two years been easier?"

The shopkeeper knew that the identities of the two people were not simple when they saw their clothes and the generosity of their hands. Now hearing Zhu Yunxie's question, he felt even more certain that they were from the official family who had fallen into trouble.

"Okay!"

"It's better than before!"

Zhu Yunxi's face immediately showed joy when he heard the words.

This is much more comfortable than officials boasting about his comfort. This is the voice of the people.

However, before the boss could say a few words, he was interrupted by the boss lady.

"Good shit!"

"My natal family is still the same. Although the government will no longer send corvees randomly, you still have to pay rent for farming, and you have to help the landlord's family to do the work!"

Seeing this, the shop owner hurriedly winked at his mother-in-law and aunt, but the proprietress was already immersed in the situation of complaining and couldn't extricate herself, so she couldn't care less about looking at him.

Zhu Yunxi frowned slightly when he heard this, and asked tentatively.

"That's not right."

"Didn't the New Deal implemented by the emperor's grandson in the past two years only charge [-]% of the rent and tax, and exempt all corvee and miscellaneous taxes? Why is life so difficult?"

The proprietress said bitterly when she heard the words.

"You are talking about people who have their own land, like ours who have no land and can only rent other people's land to plant. It's no different from before."

"On the contrary, because the emperor's grandson collected taxes on the squires, our family paid a lot of rent every year!"

"In the past, when we planted the land of the landlord's family, we paid [-]% of the land per mu, and the family could keep [-]%."

"Now the master's family has to pay [-]% of the tax, and the master's family has to collect another [-]% of the rent. We can only have [-]% of an acre of land."

"I figured it out, no matter how taxes are collected, the unlucky ones are ordinary people!"

While the proprietress complained, she added food to Zhu Yunxi and the others, and from time to time advised him to eat more.

However, Zhu Yunxi was in no mood to eat at this time.

The tax reform that he has always been proud of has been changed to this in the end, which is simply the greatest irony to him.

Xu Miaojin wanted to laugh when she heard the proprietress complaining about it at first, thinking that Zhu Yunxie was too stinky, so she turned a corner and listened to others praise him.

But listening and listening, Xu Miaojin was also silent.

Although he didn't quite know the purpose of Zhu Yunxie's reforms, he had heard many rumors in Dahontang.

At the very least, Zhu Yunxi really wanted to reduce the burden on the common people.

However, after tossing around now, instead of reducing the burden on the common people, it has become heavier than before, which will definitely hit his self-esteem very badly.

Xu Miaojin quietly grabbed Zhu Yunxi's hand and comforted her.

"Don't take it too seriously, maybe it's just this place, not other places..."

Zhu Yunxi looked at Xu Miaojin gratefully upon hearing this, and was about to say thank you when she heard the proprietress turn on the complaint mode again.

"This little girl is right. It's true that only our place is like this. Other places are not as good as our place..."

"I've heard that in other counties in Yangzhou, some landlords collect [-]% of the rent and only leave [-]% to the tenants!"

"One mu of land has been taken care of, and there are only a hundred catties of grain. After paying taxes to the court and rent to the master's family, there are only forty or fifty catties left throughout the year. What is it enough for?"

"It's true what the village butcher king said, the pig's hair grows on the pig's body, it's nothing more than picking up the hair in another place!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yunxi shook off Xu Miaojin's hand, and dropped the chopsticks resentfully.

"I'm done eating!"

"Thank you for your hospitality, we will be on our way in a while, so we won't bother you any more!"

The proprietress was chattering non-stop, but she had a good heart, so she hurriedly tried to persuade her.

"It's past noon now, and you may miss your place if you rush on your way at this time, why don't you stay in our shop and sleep all night, get up in the morning and start your journey again!"

Zhu Yunxi shook his head and said.

"No!"

"You can prepare some dry food for the two of us, enough for us to eat on the road!"

Xu Miaojin knew that Zhu Yunxi's self-esteem had been frustrated, so she quickly put down her chopsticks and said that she could go on the road at any time.

Seeing the attitude of the two, the shopkeeper had no choice but to prepare dry food for the two, and then watched the two go on the road.

When the two were on the road again, Zhu Yunxi was no longer in a hurry, but chatted with someone from time to time, asking about his feelings about the reform in the past two years.

Ask about the harvest when you meet a farmer, ask about the business environment when you meet a businessman, ask about your understanding of the imperial government’s major policies when you meet a scholar, and ask whether the current visitor rate is high when you meet an entertainment practitioner. and a vision for the future.

Zhu Yunxi ate and drank very comfortably along the way, but it was hard for Xu Miaojin who accompanied him all the way.

She could tell that this guy wasn't in a hurry to go back at all, and instead regarded the kidnapping as a private visit to understand the people's sentiments.

Zhu Yunxi was not in a hurry, but Lao Zhu was so angry that the corners of his mouth were blistered.

Lao Zhu is now facing an important decision, that is when to announce the news of Zhu Yunxi's "death of illness", and when to appoint a new emperor's grandson or crown prince.

But Lao Zhu always had a kind of unwillingness in his heart. If he didn't see Dasun's body for a day, he would not believe that Dasun was dead.

However, the emperor's grandson has not shown up, which has caused turmoil in the government and the opposition.

Fortunately, the officials above the court said that although they secretly suspected that the grandson of the emperor was missing, they did not dare to ask publicly.

Relatively speaking, the officers of the Jinghai Navy were much more courageous. They kept clamoring to see the emperor's grandson, as if the emperor's grandson was under house arrest by the old emperor, and he was not allowed to come out to govern the country.

Lao Zhu was so angry that he wanted to kill a few to add to the fun, but he was afraid of hurting his grandson's face.

He had no choice but to order someone to arrest the officers who took the lead in making trouble, lock them up in Jinyiwei and beat them up.

Even so, the turmoil at Jing Haijun and Xingwuwei did not subside. Every day, young military officers knelt at the gate of the palace and wrote petitions, requesting to meet the emperor grandson and report the so-called military situation.

I hope that the school will not stop. Hundreds of students have collectively written a letter, asking the emperor and grandson to continue to listen to the government.

There are also many new-style colleges under the Hope Academy, and from time to time they come up with something to ask Lao Zhu to decide.

For example, there is a thing called the Radio Research Institute, who said that he had made a major breakthrough in the field of radio communication, and wrote a letter every day to urge the mass production of wireless transmitters...

There is also the dean of the Textile College, who wrote a letter saying that he had developed a new type of spinning machine and asked for approval to build a factory...

If the other party only wanted 100, Lao Zhu gritted his teeth and approved it.However, as soon as the other party asked for [-] million taels, and said that it was only the first phase of the project, and that funds would be allocated in the future, Lao Zhu could only scold him back and ask him to come back after his grandson recovered from his illness.

As for when his eldest grandson will recover from illness, Lao Zhu has no idea.

In desperation, Lao Zhu could only turn to ghosts and gods.

Seeing the haggard and disfigured Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Sloppy knew he was in trouble again without waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to speak.

Although Zhang Sloppy doesn't care about world affairs now, he is studying medical skills in Huimin Medical Center, and he can often hear patients talking about things outside.

Some time ago when the capital was full of ups and downs, he felt that something was wrong. Now that the old emperor had two dark circles under his eyes, he knew that something serious happened to the court, and it was most likely related to the grandson of the emperor.

Sure enough, the old emperor scared him half to death when he opened his mouth.

"Master Zhang Xian, our eldest grandson was tied up by the Bailian sect!"

"what?"

Even though Zhang Sloppy has always paid attention to his personal fairy style and character design, he was frightened to death when he heard the news at first.

"how so!"

"The emperor's grandson lives in the Jiuchong Palace, how could he be tied up by the Bailian Sect?"

When Lao Zhu mentioned this, his face was full of resentment.

"Isn't it all the fault of Ni Sun for being disobedient!"

"We told him a long time ago, let him pay attention when he goes out, bring as many guards as possible, and don't be careless..."

"However, on the day of the Chinese New Year, he dared to go out of the palace with only a dozen people. After all, he got his way!"

"Of course, he can't be entirely blamed for this matter. Who would have thought of his second uncle..."

"Forget it, let's not mention that Nizi, we just want to ask the immortal master, can you use your supernatural powers to find us, see where our grandson is, whether he is dead or alive, even give us a general direction ah!"

"Is that so..."

After listening to Lao Zhu's words, Zhang Sloppy expressed sympathy for Lao Zhu and himself at the same time.

Emperor Zhu really regarded himself as a god, but he didn't open his eyes, where could he find someone for him?
"Your Majesty, wait a moment, wait for the poor to count!"

Zhang Sloppy meditated in front of Lao Zhu, and soon entered a semi-sedated state.

After a while, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in Zhang Sloppy's mind, and he stretched out his finger to point to the northeast.

"Your Majesty, you can send someone to search in this direction, maybe there will be a turnaround!"

"Northeast?"

"Yes!"

"Is our eldest grandson still alive?"

"The grandson of the emperor is protected by the emperor, so he is naturally safe and sound!"

When Lao Zhu heard the last sentence, he finally felt a little relieved.

"Thank you Master Zhang Xian for your guidance!"

"If our eldest grandson can escape this catastrophe this time, we will definitely rebuild the Taoist temple for you in Wudang Mountain, and reshape the dharma body for Sanqing!"

Listening to Lao Zhu's empty promises, Zhang Sloppy made a coordinating salute and said Wuliang Tianzun.

Lao Zhu returned to the palace from the Huimin Medical Center, and before his butt was hot, he heard the news from Jinyiwei outside the door.

"My lord, the grandson of the emperor has been found!"

When Lao Zhu heard this, he slid off the dragon chair in shock and asked nervously.

"Is it life or death?"

"pregnancy!"

"The grandson of the emperor is still alive!"

When Lao Zhu heard that Dasun was still alive, he immediately regained his energy and got up from the ground.

"Where is the Ni Sun now!"

"Return to Your Majesty, the grandson of the emperor has already passed the Guanyin Gate, and is rushing to the palace under the escort of Jin Yiwei!"

Old Zhu rubbed his hands in surprise when he heard this.

"Great!"

"What Zhang Shenxian said is true, our eldest grandson really has the protection of the emperor!"