unclear

Chapter 27
"I just don't know if there is a suitable store in the city. Since the bell is ringing, it cannot be sold together with firewood, rice, oil and salt."

According to the glass kiln model, Chen Ju only takes care of official matters and does not participate in the operation, so he can move forward and retreat more freely.But he had no idea about the outside of the imperial city, so he had to ask others for help.

"The self-ringing bell is expensive and the output is not high. It is enough to sell it in the inner market of the imperial city, but it will lose its value if placed outside in the market."

Chen Ju really responded to every request. He didn't shirk the problem at all. He opened his mouth and named a place that made Hong Tao want to have his forehead photographed. Not only was it suitable, it was tailor-made!
There were many markets in the capital city of the Wanli Dynasty, such as the Bell and Drum Tower, Gangwa Market, Chongwenmen, Qipan Street inside Zhengyangmen, Langfang Hutong outside Zhengyangmen, etc.But there is one market that is more unique, called the Inner Market. As the name suggests, it is a market located within the Imperial City.

On the fourth day of every month, a market will appear between Dong'anmen and Donghuamen. At that time, the imperial city, which is usually heavily guarded, will be open to the common people for most of the day. In theory, anyone can come here to set up stalls and do business.

But since the establishment of this inner market, except for a few brave common people, the people who come here are basically the family members of princes and ministers, or the eunuchs in the palace.The goods sold are not ordinary daily necessities, but various expensive appliances and furnishings, standard Ming Dynasty luxury outlets!
Put the chimes there for sale, and although they are only open for three or four days a month, the effect is really no worse than outside.Most of the people who come here to visit are dignitaries and dignitaries who are eager to buy expensive things. They definitely have plenty of money in their pockets.In later business terms, it means identifying the right audience.

So the question is, if the emperor has to leave the palace here for something, will the market have to be cancelled?The answer is no, not that the market will not be cancelled, but that the emperor will not enter or exit from here at all.

Just count the door nails on Donghua Gate and you will know why it is special.The doornails of other palace gates are all nine horizontally and nine vertically, with ninety-nine and eighty-one nails, indicating the ultimate, the largest, the highest, and the most noble.Only the Donghua Gate has 81 doornails, eight horizontally and nine vertically.

Chen Ju said that this was a Feng Shui number. According to the architectural model of the Forbidden City, it would be unlucky if the Donghua Gate also had a positive number, so he changed the number of door nails to 72. In ancient times, 72 was a negative number, used to ward off bad luck and turn it into good luck.Unless the emperor and empress die, they will never come or go from here in their lifetime.

I really don’t know what Feng Shui Hong Tao is, but there is a market outside Donghua Gate every fourth day of the month.Even the prince can't go out for a casual stroll, but the sales of self-ringing bells are finally starting to show some signs of success.

In early September, Li Zhizao, who had disappeared for nearly two months, suddenly appeared in the Wenhua Palace. He mysteriously took out a small package and placed it on the table. With a smile, he asked the prince to guess what was inside.

"Only lenses!" Hong Tao said the answer without even opening the package.

"Has someone reported to His Highness? No, the lens grinding is all done by me, and outsiders don't know about it!" Li Zhizao was stunned when he heard this, and he was obviously right.But he couldn't figure out why His Highness the Crown Prince could guess it right at once.

"Yuanwai Lang's face is dark and red. It doesn't look like it has turned black under the sun, but more like it has been burned by flames. It can be seen that you have been in the glass kiln in the west of the city these days. Let me take a look... Well, it's not bad, it's translucent enough!"

You'll know if it's right or not when you open the package. It's really carefully packaged. There are more than ten layers of cotton and silk inside and outside, so it won't break if thrown on the ground.

As for the quality of the firing, Hong Tao has to sincerely thank the craftsmen of this era. Even if they switched to shift craftsmen, they were still conscientious and fired the transparent glass through only two face-to-face lessons and the writing process.The quality is very good, I'm afraid it would be at this level if it were me.

"Your Highness, when can I see a telescope?" Li Zhizao's interest is not in the glass, but in the magical thing that can see the stars more clearly.Since it is possible to produce glass purer than crystal according to the instructions of His Highness the Prince, then the telescope is definitely not a lie. "With the lens, the telescope can be completed in the next few days. Yuanwailang, I can now go to Honglu Temple. I also asked Shaoqing, but Matteo Ricci and others are not in the temple. Why?"

Unfortunately, Hong Tao doesn't have much enthusiasm for telescopes, and his small skills are not worth mentioning.What he wanted more to see were people, living people, living European missionaries.Only by meeting these people can we have a clearer understanding of the extent to which the world has developed, and thus be aware of it.

"Someone from the Ministry of Rites has been writing to the Western Monk saying that what he has learned is not in line with the teachings and his monstrous words are confusing the public, and he wants His Majesty to issue an edict to drive him away. During this time, they left Honglu Temple and moved to the Seiyi Hall to temporarily avoid the limelight."

Speaking of the whereabouts of Matteo Ricci and others, Li Zhizao felt a little sad. As a scholar, he wanted to have more contact with the outside world, but as an official, he was unable to make enough noise and could only go with the flow.

"That's right... I can help you, and you will be half successful or not. Yuanwailang, are you willing to give it a try?" Hearing that Matteo Ricci and others were in a difficult situation, Hong Tao not only did not feel anxious at all, but secretly chuckled in his heart.

Opportunity, if you can lend a helping hand when they are in the most difficult time, and don't say you are grateful afterwards, you can at least increase a lot of trust and get something in return when they need it.

Now he is not short of money, nor is he short of talents, nor is he short of connections. The only thing he is short of is manpower.European missionaries were also isolated and helpless in the Ming Dynasty. As long as they could meet some of their small needs, they were very likely to become reliable helpers.

"Your Highness, despite your orders, I am willing to lend a helping hand!" Li Zhizao probably didn't expect to get help from the prince, or he didn't think the prince had the ability, but he was still very grateful when the prince offered to help, and he stood up and bowed.

In the autumn of the 30th year of Wanli, another major event occurred in the court.No, it’s not a big deal, but the effect is shocking.The prince sent a memorial to the emperor, and the memorial is in the cabinet. The specific content is to translate "The Analects of Confucius" into European language, so that the saint's teachings can really spread all over the world.

If this memorial had been written by someone else, it would not have attracted so much attention, but since it was written by the prince, it would have to be surprising.

The 20-year-old prince has been studying for less than a year. He was even educated by eunuchs. He boasted so much before he had even finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics. He was a bit too eager to show off.

However, two of the three cabinet ministers actually added their votes and handed over the memorial.If Shen was always scheming and just wanted to give him a favor, why did Shen Li, who had never rubbed sand in his eyes, follow the trend?

If something is abnormal, it must be a monster. The courtiers thought about it carefully, and it seems that they have gained something.Shen Yiguan and Shen Li were both lecturers at Jingyan, that is, the prince's teachers.The prince suddenly made such an abnormal move, could it be the instruction of these two people?
If the emperor is right, the prince will have some political achievements and will not be lost to the public by doing nothing.If the emperor disapproves, the two of them and the prince will have nothing to lose.Nine out of ten memorials submitted to me in the past few years have been retained but not published. Isn't that normal?

(End of this chapter)