The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 68 Little Zhu refutes Old Zhu
Have you ever seen the scene of Zhu Yuanzhang holding a fat chicken and gnawing it wildly?
Chen Jingke finally saw it.

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say he was gnawing furiously, but the chopsticks certainly didn't stop.

If Ma Xiuying hadn't stopped him, he would have wanted to do it.

Instead of laughing, Chen Jingke was filled with emotion.

During the Hongwu period, the food in the palace was better than that of ordinary people. Even the wealthy households with a little wealth had better food than those in the palace.

Ma Xiuying stipulates that chicken can only be eaten once every three days, and elbow can only be eaten once every ten days and a half.

It is said that food was worse when the country was first founded, but it has improved now that the country's strength has recovered.

Of course, the chicken mentioned here refers to the whole chicken, and you can still see a little oiliness on weekdays.

Specifically, eat steamed buns, white porridge and pickles in the morning, add one meat, one vegetable and one soup to the staple food at noon, and dinner is relatively light.

A whole chicken, a whole duck, a whole elbow like this can only be eaten every few days.

Zhu Yuanzhang was used to living in poverty when he was a child. He had never eaten anything and had a bad habit of eating.

Now that I am rich, I naturally want to taste all the delicacies of mountains and seas and exotic animals.

It's just that he knows how to exercise restraint, and he and Ma Xiuying formulated this recipe together.

Afraid that he could not help but eat secretly, he asked Ma Xiuying to supervise the execution.

Zhu Yuanzhang had some shortcomings, but in terms of diligence and frugality, he was unique among monarchs of all dynasties.

Chen Jingke can only admire this, but how can he laugh at it.

Compared with Lao Zhu's rough manner, Ma Xiuying and Zhu Biao paid more attention to etiquette and chewed their meals carefully.

Zhu Xiongying really wanted to imitate Lao Zhu, but under the care of his grandmother, he could only eat honestly.

Chen Jingke was naturally not qualified to sit at the same table with them and sat alone on one side.

But for the ministers, it is still a great honor.

At that time, only Xu Da, Tang He and others had such an honor.

In joy, a meal is finished.

Chen Jingke originally wanted to resign and leave space for his family of four.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Biao kept him here to discuss the specific operation of the treasure money.

Zhu Biao first said his plan: "I plan to announce that when the autumn tax ends in February next year, we can use treasure banknotes to pay taxes."

"There are still four months until the next summer tax collection. During this period, we will recover as much treasure as possible."

"In this way, the pressure of waiting for next summer's harvest will be much less."

Chen Jingke couldn't help but nod. In the early Ming Dynasty, the two-tax law was implemented, which was divided into summer tax and autumn tax.

Summer tax begins with the summer harvest and ends in August.The autumn tax begins with the autumn harvest and ends in February of the following year.

Therefore, there will be four months between the end of tax collection and the start of next summer tax collection.

Using this four-month period is enough to recover most of the treasure banknotes on the market, and the remaining ones will no longer be able to have an impact on the summer tax.

"Your Highness, this method is sound and I have no objection."

In Zhu Biao's heart, Chen Jingke was the person who knew the most about coins in the world, and he was relieved to receive his recognition.

"We will use one month to spread the news throughout the country and let people know that treasure banknotes can pay taxes."

"Wait until March to announce that salt can be purchased directly with Baoqiao, and at the same time start Baoqiao recycling in Yingtianfu."

"This can minimize the losses of the people."

Even if you do this, there will still be some people who take advantage of the information gap to acquire valuable banknotes from the people.

But without the salt dealers joining in, the situation would be much better.

All they can do at this time is try their best to help people stop their losses.

Hearing this, Chen Jingke stood up and saluted solemnly: "Your Highness is merciful, and on behalf of all the people in the world, I thank God for his kindness."

Zhu Biao sighed: "This was caused by a mistake in the imperial policy. Now it is just a remedy. You don't need to thank me." Chen Jingke was silent. There was really no way to deny this.

The bad policies of treasure banknotes all stem from Zhu Yuanzhang's unclear understanding of currency.

But fortunately, he is not the kind of person who hides his illness and avoids medical treatment. He will make timely remedies to recover some losses as much as possible.

After that, the two discussed some details, and Chen Jingke made another suggestion:

"Establish a special banknote management agency to be responsible for studying the issuance of coins and paying attention to the circulation of banknotes..."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Speaking of this matter, I was just looking for you."

"The new Banknote Department is already under preparation, but there are too few people who understand coins."

"Even my father and I have little idea of ​​what the Baochao Department is responsible for and how it carries out its work."

"We still need to draw up a charter. It would be better if there are more detailed guidance books."

Chen Jingke smiled bitterly and said: "I also know only a little bit..."

Zhu Biao said seriously: "Now is not the time to be humble. You are already the person who knows the most about coins in the world."

"If you don't dare to shoulder the responsibility, I'm afraid the bad policies of Baochao will be repeated soon."

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang, Ma Xiuying and Zhu Xiongying also came over.

Zhu Yuanzhang said dissatisfied: "You are afraid of a bird, hurry up and write the book for me."

Ma Xiuying knew his concerns and comforted him: "In your words, now we are crossing the river by feeling for the stones."

"It's best if nothing happens, and it won't be a surprise if something happens. No one will blame you."

"If anything happens, let's just find a way to solve it."

With Ma Xiuying's words, Chen Jingke felt relieved: "Yes, I will write down what I know as soon as possible for your Majesty's reference."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This is just right. If you have the energy, give it to us, and I can't treat you badly."

Chen Jingke could only smile bitterly.

Don’t you know who you are, Lao Zhu?I'm just afraid that if something goes wrong, you'll kill me.

If Queen Ma hadn't spoken out, even if you were talking about breaking the sky today, I wouldn't have written this thing.

After chatting about the treasure notes for a while, they changed the topic and continued to talk about what they had seen in the No. [-] Scholar Building.

Everyone recognized Fang Xiaoru's knowledge and character.

Everyone agreed that his political wisdom was naive.

But compared to Fang Xiaoru, who has obvious advantages and disadvantages, Lao Zhu was extremely dissatisfied with the performance of other students and made a disdainful evaluation:
"No one can match the ability to sit down and talk; nothing can be done by adapting to circumstances."

But what people didn't expect was that Zhu Xiongying actually refuted his words: "Grandpa Huang, I don't think they can be entirely blamed..."

"Leave aside the big families, the average family can only train a scholar with the whole family's efforts and hope that he will succeed."

"The imperial examination only tests classics... studying other things will only distract you."

"They don't have famous teachers to teach them. If they want to stand out, they can only concentrate on studying the scriptures..."

Zhu Yuanzhang, Ma Xiuying, and Zhu Biao all looked at him in surprise.

On the contrary, Zhu Xiongying became a little uneasy when he was seen: "Did I say something wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said thoughtfully: "No, you are absolutely right. Did you think of this yourself?"

Zhu Xiongying shook his head and said, "No, Jing Ke told me."

Relief showed on the faces of the three people.

Ma Xiuying praised: "Jing Ke always sees people and things in such a unique way, which is thought-provoking."

(End of this chapter)