high official

Chapter 275 Promoting Weaving
Cricket fighting originated in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it was already a game that everyone from Gaoliang children to street thugs was very keen on.It is said that in top-grade cricket producing areas such as Shandong, as soon as autumn comes, every household catches crickets in the fields, in front of and behind houses, and raises them carefully. Goods are naturally unnecessary. Medium-sized goods can be sold for tens of dollars, high-quality goods can be sold for hundreds of dollars, and if there are insect kings, they can even be sold for thousands of dollars.

The money the common people exchanged with crickets is often higher than the harvest of a year's hard work, so they are naturally satisfied. It is not uncommon for things to make tens of thousands of times of profit.

After the crickets transported to the capital from other places got familiar with the environment and had enough energy, the carnival of the players began.Especially in Jingshi City, where the richest people, the most idlers, and the most gamblers are gathered in the world, every August and September, the door of gambling is opened up, and the city is full of madness.In the streets and alleys, there are thousands of fighting arenas at the same time, fighting fiercely.

For this reason, those censor officials went to the emperor several times and asked for a ban on games such as cricket fighting.Zhu Di disagrees, he knows that people's gambling nature is deep in their bones, instead of strictly controlling it, forcing it to go underground and making the court lose its tax revenue, it is better to acquiesce and collect taxes on the ground... This is the same as when his father was in Qinhuai. The idea of ​​opening an official brothel by the river is actually exactly the same.

The emperor didn't care about it, and the princes and nobles completely lost their scruples, so they naturally let go.Big players like Zhao Wang, Ding Guogong, and Yongkang Hou even set up a weaving arena directly in the mansion, starting day and night, both sitting in the manor and ending the game, turning cricket fighting into a career.

What Wang Xian and Zhu Zhanji were going to was King Zhao's Qingliang Bieye located at the foot of Qingliang Mountain in the west corner of the capital. Of course, in this season, this Bieye was called another name - Qiukui Arena!
When the carriage drove to the front of the mansion, Wang Xian saw cars and sedan chairs parked outside the gate, "Are these all for fighting insects?"

"Otherwise, what are you doing here?" Zhu Zhanji said in a low mood.

"It seems that you are either rich or expensive." Wang Xian exclaimed like a country bumpkin.In this day and age, those who ride in a horse-drawn carriage are at the same level as BMWs in the later generations, and those who can sit in a sedan chair can go directly to Rolls-Royce...

"Of course." Zhu Zhanji said: "You can't get in if you are not rich or expensive." As he spoke, his carriage drove straight into the mansion.The bearers and coachmen waiting outside all looked sideways, asking in a low voice, which nobleman this is... You can't get into King Zhao's mansion if you have money alone.

When the carriage came to a complete stop, several youths in Chinese costumes greeted them, and smiled at Zhu Zhanji who got off the carriage, "Looking forward to the stars, to the moon, and finally His Highness is here!" "Yes, today I can finally see The demeanor of the red-robed general!"

Zhu Zhanji's face froze for a moment, and he forced a smile: "Today is to come and see."

The young men were stunned, and then suddenly said: "That's right, knowing yourself and your enemy is the only way to win a hundred battles."

Zhu Zhanji's face was hot with embarrassment, so dark that he couldn't see it.

"Who is this?" Looking at Wang Xian who was following him, everyone asked with a smile.

"My buddy, Wang Xian." Zhu Zhanji pulled Wang Xian over, and introduced these few to him. Yes, Yongle died of illness on the South Expedition Road in four years, and Zhu Yong took the title, and he is only in his 20s so far.

Wang Xian couldn't help sighing secretly, it's really incomparable between people, people are less than 20 years old, they are the princes of the country, and he is already [-], and he has no rank or rank.

"Scared, so you are Wang Xian," but Zhu Neng and others were also very interested in him, they patted him on the shoulder vigorously and said, "Master Yao's student is really famous!"

These bastards spoke nicely, but they used ruthless hands. Even if Wang Xian suffered from daily physical exertion, the pain still made him suck in the air, but he still forced himself to smile.

Zhu Zhanji blocked the hands of several people, and said with a smile: "They are like this, they have to weigh each other when they meet, and they don't play with frail scholars."

Wang Xianqiang smiled and said, "Fortunately, if I can't write well, I can't do martial arts."

The princes laughed loudly: "That's the best, just like us." After finishing speaking, they ignored Wang Xian and went to Chaoqiu Kuidang surrounded by grandsons.The so-called Qiukui hall is the main fighting arena of the Wuying hall. There are more than a dozen short sandalwood square tables with three chairs beside each table.The periphery is surrounded by spectators and gamblers.

Because crickets are about the size of your little finger, they can't be seen clearly when they are fighting in a cricket bowl from a distance, so no matter whether you are a prince or a rogue in the city, when you look at them, you will always be head to head, shoulder to shoulder, and face to face. It was full of spitting stars, but still enjoyed it, and was so intoxicated that I completely forgot about the etiquette and dignity.

At this time, the hall was full of people, almost every table was full of people, but the table in the center covered with yellow silk was empty.Several people told Zhu Zhanji that the champion of this table is His Royal Highness Zhao Wang's Golden Winged King, who has won [-] games in a row.Many masters who did not believe in evil inside and outside the capital were defeated, and now no one dared to fight.

"I'm one of those who don't believe in evil. I feel that this year's purple-robed Marshal is also a master who can win every battle. So I had a betting battle with King Zhao, and agreed that whoever loses, I will close my arena. As a result Just after the scene, Marshal Zipao was bitten to nothing..." Zhu Yong said with a sad face: "I live here every day now, and I hope someone will avenge me." He is really sad, open a season In the arena, just relying on sitting in the manor to pump water, there are at least three to fifty thousand taels of silver, which is enough for the daily expenses of the government of other countries.

"Yeah, we are too..." Several noble sons began to 'cry' one after another. They were all defeated by King Zhao's men, and they lost at least 1 taels of silver. They were anxious to make money.And His Royal Highness Taisun is their hope - Zhu Zhanji raised the worm last year, and he was invincible all over the capital. It was not until the end of autumn, when he was old and frail, that he was defeated by Zhu Gaosui's worm.But everyone felt that His Royal Highness's worms had fought too much before, and it was already at the end of their strength. If they were at their peak, it might not be clear who would win.So everyone is full of expectations for their duel this year.Everyone in Zhu Yong knew about the bet between Zhu Zhanji and Zhao Wang, and they also guessed that he would come today, so they waited here early in the morning.

At this time, the gamblers also saw Zhu Zhanji, and they came to greet him one after another, and they couldn't help but say: "His Royal Highness lost a lot last year, and he must be able to rise to the next level this year. Whether he can kill the Golden Winged King depends on His Highness's decision." Already!"

Zhu Zhanji wanted to say, my red-robed general was eaten by a chicken, but he wants to save face, and he can't say it for fun.I can't help but feel like my face is on fire, wishing I could find a crack in the ground and get in.At this time, Zhu Yong saw the clue, and asked in a low voice: "Don't you have confidence, Your Highness?"

"How could it be!" Zhu Zhanji hurriedly covered up and laughed loudly: "I must be the winner..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard "Well said!" Wearing a black robe with a jade belt around his waist, and holding an ivory folding fan, His Highness King Zhao appeared in the hall surrounded by a group of servants.Wang Xian has long heard that the emperor's three sons, the eldest is like a Buddha, the second is like a father, and the third is like a mother.Looking at Zhao Wang Gaosui now, his brows and eyes are three points similar to Xu Miaojin, he is already a rare handsome man.

"Third Uncle." Zhu Zhanji arched his fists.

"Nephew, no courtesy." Zhu Gaosui said with a smile, "You made my third uncle wait so hard, I thought you were going to renege on the appointment. After hearing what you said just now, I am completely relieved."

"Hehe..." Zhu Zhanji said with a dry smile, "Is my nephew a person who doesn't believe what he says?"

"That's right, His Royal Highness, if you break the appointment, wouldn't it make people laugh?" Zhu Gaosui said with a smile: "My worm can end at any time, choosing a day is worse than hitting the sun, let's just choose today?"

"I'm afraid it won't work today." Zhu Yong said for Zhu Zhanji: "His Royal Highness didn't bring his red-robed general here."

"What?" Zhu Gaosui opened the folding fan gracefully, twirling lightly and teasingly said: "The sentimental nephew is here to spy on the military situation?"

"I'm just here to take a look," Zhu Zhanji said halfway through, feeling a little soft, so he said stiffly, "Come and make an appointment with Uncle San by the way!"

"You can set the date as you like." Zhu Gaosui said generously, "I won't be accused of bullying the younger generation!"

"Then the day after tomorrow, the time after tomorrow!" Zhu Zhanji said.

Wang Xianxin said, okay, we have a three-day holiday, and you can procrastinate as much as you can...

"No problem!" Zhu Gaosui agreed immediately, and then generously said: "Since my nephew is here to see, I can't let you go for nothing." He said to a gambler in his thirties: "Since today Grandson is no better, cousin, you don't have to wait for tomorrow."

The one called Cousin is Duke Ding Xu Jingchang, whose father is Xu Zengshou, younger brother of Empress Xu.At that time, Xu Zengshou had been reporting to Zhu Di. On the day Jinling City was broken, Emperor Jianwen killed him on the Golden Palace. After Zhu Di entered the city, he stroked his corpse and mourned.This Lord Dingguo has reached the peak of having different surnames in the Ming Dynasty at a young age, what else can he pursue?Just play differently.

There was a place in his house before, but like Zhu Yong, he was killed by Zhu Gaosui's Golden Winged King and shut down. But he was not convinced, and looked everywhere for a cricket that could take revenge. This time, he bought it from Shandong at a sky-high price of 1 taels of silver. When a worm king came, he excitedly came to seek revenge on Zhu Gaosui.

Ordinarily, the cricket that Ding Guogong found for revenge must be extremely strong, but Zhu Gaosui dared to agree to his challenge before fighting Zhu Zhanji, obviously he had full confidence in the Golden Winged King.

Xu Jingchang nodded solemnly, he knew he couldn't back down, because worms follow human nature, if the master lacks confidence, worms will also be listless, and there is no possibility of winning.

(End of this chapter)