Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 45
Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Juzheng and Fatty were very curious about the affairs of the Hanlin Academy and the current court.As soon as Gaoyi sat down, they started asking questions.

When Wang Daoqiu saw that the four of them were chatting happily, he couldn't get a word in, so he paced to the kitchen.

As soon as Wang Daoqiu entered the kitchen, he saw Mrs. Qiu cooking. One of her two sons was helping her light the fire, and the other was helping her clean up.The little girl Sanniang was holding her little brother who had just learned to crawl, imitating her mother, and being "mom" with a sweet voice.

Sister-in-law Qiu heard the footsteps behind her, turned around and saw that it was Wang Daoqiu. She smiled hurriedly and said: "Mr. Xie Yuang, the food will be ready in a moment. I will fry it as soon as I see you enter the hospital. It will be ready in a moment. Yes." I know Mr. Yuan, I see you brought a guest here just now, does that guest want to have dinner here?"

"Yes, that guest is Lao Yin's good friend who he worked with in the past. His name is Gao Yi. He is now working in the Hanlin Academy. He will have dinner with us tonight and may stay at our place in the future."

"What, that guest is Mr. Hanlin? That's incredible, that's incredible!"

"It's no big deal, Sister-in-law Qiu, don't be afraid. He is very easy-going. We will leave him here to eat today. I am afraid that there will not be enough food and wine, so I want to come over and let you go out to buy some more. Now that you are so busy, forget it, I will Let’s take a trip.”

"Hey, no, no, no, how can you, Mr. Xie Yuang, do this kind of rough errand work in person? Let my boss do it. He has nimble legs and feet. He is also familiar with the streets. He knows which restaurants have delicious dishes. Which wine is better?"

After saying this to Wang Daoqiu, Mrs. Qiu said fiercely to her eldest son: "Boss, stop lighting the fire and go run errands. If you dare to eat on the way, be careful with your skin."

"Hey"

The boss of the Li family was happy when he heard that he could run errands and buy food and drinks. As for eating secretly, it was impossible not to eat secretly. It would be impossible not to eat secretly all his life.

Looking at this, the eldest son of the Li family, who was just over his waist, stood in front of him with an expectant smile on his face. Wang Daoqiu understood the little thoughts of a little man.After all, he often did this kind of thing when he was a child, so it was considered a happy childhood time!So he doesn't mind if a child eats it secretly.

So Wang Daoqiu took out two pieces of silver from his sleeve, handed it to the boss of the Li family, and said: "Go and buy a roast chicken, a roast duck, a plate of pig head meat, and a pot of glutinous rice wine. Any leftovers are yours." ."

"Hey, good!"

"Buy bigger chickens and ducks, don't just worry about your leftovers! If there's not enough to eat, I'll skin you."

"Hey"

After receiving the order and knowing that the "leftover" also belonged to him, the boss of the Li family was happy. After receiving the two broken pieces of silver, he rushed out like a rocket.At this time, Mrs. Qiu was busy shouting loudly from behind, warning her eldest son not to eat less because he was worried about the change.

Seeing her son's excitement, Mrs. Qiu was happy in her heart, but she still complained to Wang Daoqiu: "Mr. Xie Yuangong, don't give these two stinky boys a good face in the future. I, these two boys, they They are no more well-behaved than little girls. They are so naughty! If I hadn’t warned them, if they dared to be disobedient here, they would never come here to eat in the future. Instead, they would just stay at home and eat steamed buns and drink millet porridge. They could make your place noisy. What a shock! Mr. Jie Yuan, you can’t give these two debt collectors a good face, hit them when they need to be beaten, and scold them when they need to be scolded."

"Okay Sister-in-law Qiu, are you a boy! Who is not a naughty person? When Mr. Jiang and I were young, we were covered in mud all the time. I was okay, my father was a scholar, and he didn't hit anyone. Mr. Jiang was in a miserable situation. You have also seen his father, the rich man Jiang. I don’t need to tell you how ferocious he is. So Mr. Jiang was whipped with a bamboo stick by his father since he was a child. Sister Qiu, look at his fat body now. They were all bruised and swollen!”

"Ha ha ha ha"

"Ha ha ha ha"

"Ha ha ha ha"

In order to liven up the atmosphere, Wang Daoqiu made up a joke about the fat man, making Qiu's sister-in-law and the second child of the Li family who listened happily, as well as the little girl Sanniang who didn't quite understand and just joined in the fun with her mother and brother, made them laugh like "cluck" "Laugh straight.

After telling the joke, Wang Daoqiu returned to the main hall very wisely and went to accompany Gaoyi and the others.

After about 10 minutes, Mrs. Qiu and her two sons brought the food and wine.Seeing Mrs. Qiu and her two sons coming over, Gao Yi couldn't decide. He stood up as soon as Mrs. Qiu came and was busy, but he didn't know what kind of status Mrs. Qiu had in this family.So he stood there and said respectfully: "Sister-in-law, thank you for your hard work. I have made my sister-in-law suffer."

Wang Daoqiu had just told Sister Qiu about Gao Yi's identity.So now faced with Gao Yi's politeness, Mrs. Qiu was so frightened that as soon as she put the dishes on the table, she hurriedly said "Hail" to Gao Yi.Then he said in horror: "Master Hanlin has destroyed the slave family. The slave family is the servants here, but they cannot afford to be called Master Hanlin, sister-in-law."

After saying this, Mrs. Qiu hurriedly took her two boys and hid back in the kitchen.

The servant is the servant here, but why are you bringing two children who don't even look ten years old?Faced with this situation, Gaoyi was confused.

Seeing Gaoyi standing there in confusion, Wang Daoqiu, Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Juzheng and Fatty were all amused, laughing loudly "Hahahahaha".

In the end, as a good friend, Yin Zhengmao really couldn't bear to see his friend make such a big fool of himself.So Yin Zhengmao explained everything to Gao Yi about Qiu Sao and her children forming a gang here.After listening to Yin Zhengmao's explanation, Gao Yi finally understood, and said sadly: "What do you mean, looking at that woman's age, there is absolutely no way that she is the wife and concubine of three virtuous brothers, Shuda, Zhijian, and Liangzhen. She may be your brother Shi Ting’s wife. But why did you, brother Shi Ting, bring your wife and children to the high-level examination? And you didn’t bring your wife and children to the last two general examinations!”

"Brother Zixiang, what are you talking nonsense about? How can you think that woman is my wife and those two clay monkeys are my sons? Brother Zixiang, if you do this again in the future, be careful for my brother to cut off your robe." righteous."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. But I asked the servants to bring the children at home to have a party here. Brother Shi Ting and the three wise brothers are kind-hearted."

"Hey, dear brother Zixiang, are you talking right? Brother Zixiang, please move here quickly. When we stand in the yard, we can see the Five Phoenix Tower in the Forbidden City when we look up. It's just a few steps away from your Hanlin Academy. It's only two miles away, which is much closer than the outer city where you live now. Moreover, all the housework here is taken care of by Sister Qiu, so you don't have to do it yourself. The monthly rent includes food expenses, plus Sister Qiu's wages. Now There are four of us, and each of us contributes three taels of silver per month. Dear brother Zixiang, the same goes for you, just three taels of silver."

Regarding things like rent and food expenses, Yin Zhengmao knew that Gaoyi would not live here unless he was allowed to pay.So Yin Zhengmao, as an old friend, spoke frankly.

After listening to Yin Zhengmao's words, Gao Yi said: "It's only three taels of silver per month to take care of food and housing, and have servants to take care of the housework. It's really cheap. But brother Shi Ting, you came to the capital the last two times. To take the exam, you will stay in inns. You may not know how much money it will cost to spend the winter in the capital."

"Based on my expenses for winters in previous years, I generally don't dare to buy high-priced charcoal, and only buy cheap coal. As for the price of coal, which is one cent of three cents of silver and one hundred catties of silver, I have to buy more than 7000 catties of silver in one winter. It's more than nine taels, and the average monthly cost is nearly two taels. This is only the cost when I have to be on duty at the Hanlin Academy during the day and come back to burn some money at night."

"When winter comes in Beijing, it's freezing and snowy outside. Brother Shi Ting and the three wise brothers can only stay at home all day long to warm up. The fire in this house cannot be turned off, so the cost of heating in winter will be It costs about four taels of silver every month. Regarding this, Brother Shi Ting and the three wise brothers must calculate it carefully to avoid any unpleasantness. Moreover, there are only ten days until winter begins in Beijing. We have to hurry up when buying coal, otherwise the price of coal will rise by [-]% or [-]% once winter comes."

Economic accounts, dignified officials are all forced by life to live a small life.Seeing Gao Yi calculating small accounts like a housewife, Yin Zhengmao laughed and teased Gao Yi: "Brother Zixiang, after five years of living in the capital, you have made progress in your calculations. I think so. Brother, look, Brother Zixiang, you will be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in the future, which is more than enough! Hahahahaha."

"Hahahaha"

"Hahahaha"

"Hahahaha"

When Yin Zhengmao teased Gao Yi, Wang Daoqiu, Zhang Juzheng and Fatty were all very considerate and laughed and cheered.

Seeing everyone laughing at him again, Gao Yi said awkwardly: "Hey, life is not bad! Otherwise, the money will not be enough!"

"I pretend to be a breeze with two sleeves, I pretend to be a breeze with two sleeves, and I will drink a glass of wine as a penalty. Come, come, I am like a good brother, fill up the wine."

"Hey, Brother Shi Ting! Come on, I'll punish myself with a drink."

As Gao Yi was talking, he unconsciously mentioned his lack of money, which made Yin Zhengmao seize the opportunity to talk and forced Gao Yi to drink a drink as a penalty.

When Gao Yi finished drinking, Yin Zhengmao ignored Gao Yi and discussed with Wang Daoqiu and the other three about buying coal for the winter in advance.

When Yin Zhengmao mentioned this, Wang Daoqiu hurriedly said: "Brother Shi Ting, there is no rush to buy coal. I heard from the blacksmiths in the inner palace prison in our alley that a new type of briquettes has been introduced. It is much easier to use than coal. The blacksmith workshop of the Inner Palace Superintendent is currently working overtime to build a stove for burning this kind of briquettes."

"Coal briquettes! Brother Liangzhen, what is this? I have never heard of it." When Wang Daoqiu said that Lao Shenzi had briquettes, Yin Zhengmao was confused. He had never heard of it!
And just when Yin Zhengmao's doubts subsided and Wang Daoqiu had no time to explain, Gao Yi rushed to say: "Brother Shi Ting, what Brother Liangzhen said is true. There is indeed a kind of briquette in the capital now, called honeycomb briquettes." Things. Today, craftsmen have installed this kind of briquette stoves and chimneys in all the rooms in our Hanlin Academy. It’s just that the kind of briquettes today have not been transported, and I don’t know whether they are good or bad. "

"Okay, it's definitely better than coal. There are four briquettes in the stove, and you can close the damper to keep the room warm all night long, and you don't need to get up to add coal in the middle. It's very convenient."

"Brother Liangzhen, have you seen that kind of briquette?" Faced with Wang Daoqiu's clear explanation, Yin Zhengmao asked in confusion.

As for Yin Zhengmao's question, Wang Daoqiu was honest and lied: "Brother Shi Ting, haven't you seen the fishing gear I bought and the fish I caught? The day before yesterday, I went to the West Lake at the foot of Yuquan Mountain to fish and read a book. And right between the West Lake and the city wall over there, there is a large coal yard covering an area of ​​about fifty or sixty acres. That kind of briquettes are being made in that coal yard. I accidentally wandered in and watched them burning briquettes. , that kind of honeycomb briquettes are round, weighing about a kilogram each, with several holes connected up and down like a honeycomb, which can withstand burning."

"That's right, that's right. Brother Liangzhen should have gone to the coal yard outside Beicheng the day before yesterday. It is said that the coal yard is owned by Jin Yiwei, and the person behind this coal briquette business this time is Jin Yiwei."

When Wang Daoqiu mentioned the coal field outside Beicheng, Gao Yi, who had been involved in the officialdom of the capital for five years, immediately realized that Wang Daoqiu had indeed seen that kind of briquettes.

Since Gao Yi said that the Hanlin Academy was installing that kind of briquette stove, Wang Daoqiu had seen with his own eyes that that kind of briquettes was better than coal.Then the plan to purchase coal in advance can only be canceled temporarily, and we will wait until we find out more about the kind of briquettes that ordinary people can buy.

When it came to the purchase and installation of briquettes and briquettes stoves, Wang Daoqiu also boasted that he knew people in the inner palace prison and that he could ask them to install briquettes stoves and chimneys in every room in the house.

(End of this chapter)