Traveled through Daming, but was punished by the old Zhu Shizu

"Yes…"

Liu Xiu's special courier Xiao Zhu ran to the harem,

"mother!"

I saw that Empress Ma was doing weaving work, and standing beside Empress Ma was a maid whom Zhu Biao thought looked familiar.

Zhu Biao naturally checked the people around Empress Ma. This maid named Xiaohua is very clean. It seems that this little girl is very suitable for her mother's appetite if she is so close to her.

"Mother, your body is recovering, why are you doing these things again?"

Seeing that it was the boss who came, Empress Ma signaled the boss to wait with her eyes. After weaving the last bit of cloth, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Biao and said with a smile,

"Men farm and women weave, it's just right and proper. Your mother and I have nothing to do in the harem every day. I eat and use people's fat and people's ointment. I really can't take time off, so I think I can do something."

Xiao Zhu frowned and said, "But, mother..."

Empress Ma feigned anger and said, "Do you think that your mother and I are getting old, and the things we weave are not good? Huh, let me tell you, my weaving is no worse than that of Huanshafang in Nanchang Prefecture! The fifth child said, You want a high price for the cloth I can weave!"

Xiao Zhu knew that his father and his mother were the same, they had the right ideas, and once they made up their minds about something, it was hard for others to say anything, so they could only squat beside Empress Ma, and said with a smile,

"My son knows that mother knits well, but mother should also pay attention to her body. In the future, the eldest grandson will be waiting for you to hug!"

Empress Ma's eyes flashed, and she immediately showed a sad expression, "My son, as the prince, you also have to leave more children. The child Xiong Ying is gone, and mother knows you are sad, but it's not enough just to have Yunwen and Yunxi. Ah, look how fertile your second brother is! You are blessed with many children!"

Thinking of the death of Zhu Xiongying, his most beloved eldest son, this spring, Zhu Biao felt another pain in his heart, and he pulled himself together and said,

"Mom, don't talk about this! Guess what I'm doing here today?"

Empress Ma smiled, "Are you making your father angry again? Come to me to intercede? Well, your father is getting older too, old child, old child, the older you get, the more you look like a child, you should accommodate him more. "

"That's not true, mother," Zhu Biao said with a smile, "it's your godson who brought you a present!"

Empress Ma was taken aback, "Xiu'er?!"

"Oh! That's right!"

Empress Ma was overjoyed, "Xiuer still has me as a godmother in her heart!"

Zhu Biao smiled and responded, "That's needless to say."

Then I rummaged through the big bag and took out a small box wrapped in red cloth, "Mother, here it is!"

Empress Ma was about to take it, but her hands froze, she looked at the maid, "Xiao Hua, fetch me a basin of water."

"Yes, ma'am."

After washing her hands, Empress Ma wiped her body, then took Liu Xiu's gift, opened the red cloth, and inside was a beautiful red sandalwood box,

"What a neat box."

This red sandalwood box uses a mortise and tenon structure, and it needs to be twisted sideways to open it. With a click, the box was unscrewed, and Xiao Zhu hurriedly moved her head towards it.

"Wow! What a beautiful jade pendant!"

I saw a glowing green buddhist jade pendant lying quietly in the box, just looking at it, this jade pendant is priceless!

Empress Ma carefully picked up the amulet jade pendant and hung it around her neck, "Xiao Hua, how are you doing?"

Xiaohua smiled shyly, "Young lady is so beautiful~"

"Xiu'er is a real kid. The right way is to be diligent and thrifty to manage the family. You gave me such a precious thing for this old lady. Next time Xiu'er returns to Beijing, I really want to talk about him!"

Xiao Zhu said in his heart,

Mother, you are all happy, and you have to talk about Liu Xiu, I am afraid that Liu Xiu will not know how to love him when he returns to Beijing!

"Yeah, mother, Liu Xiu probably doesn't have much money anymore."

Empress Ma looked serious, "What's going on?"

Xiao Zhu talked about the dividend distribution of the salt company, and Empress Ma sighed.

"Xiu'er is a good kid, he has no selfish intentions, but your father is very suspicious, and he always thinks that he can see through others at a glance. Boss, if you have the day when you become the emperor in the future, you must remember to be suspicious." People don't need it, and people don't doubt it."

Zhu Biao nodded, "Understood, mother."

Empress Ma continued, "Xiu'er has done a great job in replenishing the treasury. It's okay to run a deficit in the treasury, but it's not okay to tear down the east wall to make up the west wall like your father did. Your father has always put his heart and his men in Let this group of officials go together, how can they treat you wholeheartedly?"

Xiao Zhu was stunned for a moment, she didn't expect that Empress Ma lived in the deep palace for a long time and didn't care much about political affairs, so she could point out the affairs of the court so sharply.

Empress Ma also understood the meaning in Xiao Zhu's eyes, and said with a smile, "I really think you are stupid? When you were not there, when your father rebelled, there were no military advisers in the army. Your mother helped a lot. what~"

"Mother, baby letter."

"Hehe, the land of Yan is vast, and it is the place where Xiu'er can flex her muscles. You can also help out in Beijing, so don't let your father tie Xiu'er's hands and feet again."

Xiao Zhu's eyes flashed, and she nodded in response, "Don't worry, mother."

Empress Ma also stopped talking and didn't say anything more about this matter. She changed the subject and said, "Oh? What did Xiu'er prepare for you?"

Xiao Zhu slapped his head, "I forgot! I'll look for it!"

Xiao Zhu got into the package again, searched for a while, and finally took out an envelope with his name written on it,

"This is?"

This guy, what he gave to dad is such a big thing, and what he gave to mother is so precious!

How did it come to me, but it was just a letter? !

Xiao Zhu was a little disappointed, Empress Ma smiled, "Open it and have a look."

Xiao Zhu obediently opened the envelope, and there were more than a dozen pieces of letter paper inside, densely packed with something,

Xiao Zhu's eyes widened suddenly, and he quickly passed through more than a dozen pieces of letter paper, and said in surprise,

"This is the salt recipe?! And... the firearm blueprint?!"

Empress Ma was taken aback, then heaved a long sigh,

"Xiu'er thinks so far."

After Empress Ma mentioned it, Xiao Zhu instantly understood what Liu Xiu meant by this move, and a warm current rose in her heart.

In the final analysis, whether it is selling salt or making guns, the design drawing is the core of the core. Whoever masters the core technology controls everything.

Take the sale of salt as an example. The fourth and fifth sons of feudal lords have salt recipes in their hands, but one is boiled salt and the other is sun-dried salt. Fang, the fourth and fifth children can also do it by themselves.

Liu Xiu gave the two salt prescriptions to Zhu Biao, the prince, the meaning of which is self-evident,

This is handing over the most core thing to Zhu Biao!

Chapter 139

"Sir, you really have a heart!"

Zhu Biao held more than a dozen pieces of letter paper in his hand, but these ten thin sheets of paper were indeed heavier than Mount Tai, which meant that Zhu Biao had taken all the money and power back into his own hands!

This is also Liu Xiu's move to deliberately strengthen the power of the central government.

If the vassal kings of the four sides are too powerful, it is inevitable that there will not be a situation like the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion in the early Han Dynasty and the separatist regime in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the people of the world will not have a good life.

Therefore, Liu Xiu should regard herself as a huge bargaining chip, and move it carefully every time, so as to ensure the balance of the general situation in the world.

Empress Ma suddenly thought of something, "I heard that Liu Xiu is preparing for this year's rural examination? Now that the examination is coming soon, I don't know how you are preparing?"

Zhu Biao grinned. At first, Lao Zhu was discussing with him, let Liu Xiu take the imperial examination, and then transfer him back from Yandi, but he didn't expect that Liu Xiu wanted to go to the imperial examination by himself, and Lao Zhu didn't have to do anything extra up,

"Mother, my husband's knowledge is all over Yunei, and I'm still worried about failing the hometown exam... However, it seems that it's really not easy for my husband to take the exam in Yandi."

Empress Ma was a little surprised, "It also has something to do with where to take the exam?"

Zhu Biao's face was serious, he looked to the left and right,

The maid Xiao Hua understood, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the servants are stepping back first."

Empress Ma raised her hand, "No need, Boss, they are all our own people, just say it."

Zhu Biao nodded, and said in a low voice, "Mother, in the imperial examinations in recent years, there are more southerners than northerners. Not to mention the top three, it's good if a few northerners can get on the list."

Empress Ma frowned slightly. She really didn't know about the imperial examination. After all, apart from candidates, few people noticed how many southerners and how many northerners were on the imperial examination list.

"Is there still this?"

Zhu Biao pulled a bamboo stool and sat down, "Father, I have also discovered this in the past two years. There are indeed more southerners in the middle examination than northerners. Dad sent Jin Yiwei to secretly check the papers from previous years..."

"Is there any favoritism?" Queen Ma asked.

Zhu Di shook his head, "There is no personal preference at all. The southerners' papers are indeed better than the northerners'! The examiners don't need to look at the names. They just need to look at the test paper to know whether the paper was answered by a southerner or a northerner." People can answer, but often they can guess nine out of ten.”

"...As time goes by, the examiners will look twice more when judging the papers of the southerners, and less when judging the papers of the northerners. If there is any phenomenon of favoritism, that's it. People's papers are more popular."

Empress Ma pondered for a moment, although Zhu Biao said that this was not a kind of selfishness, but in Empress Ma's heart, this was already a very presumptuous thing.

Because the imperial examination is very subjective, unless it is the top three test papers, which need to be corrected by multiple examiners, most of the rest of the test papers can often be determined by one examiner.

And if you look twice more or look twice less, the difference is earth-shaking!

A test paper is only that big, if you are willing to read twice, you will naturally give a high score, but if you read less, you will basically give a lower average score.

But the strange thing is that Lao Zhu sent people to check the test papers of previous years. The southerners did answer better than the northerners.

Now that the matter fell to Liu Xiu, Empress Ma didn't want to affect her godson's imperial examination because of the examiner's double-check or under-check.

"This is really weird... They all grew up eating food, so why are southerners smarter than northerners?"

Zhu Biao's eyes flashed, "Mother, I checked this matter privately."

"Oh?" Empress Ma looked at Zhu Biao, "Have you found anything?"

Zhu Biao said seriously, "The gap between the north and the south is indeed huge."

Hearing Zhu Biao's conclusion, Empress Ma felt a little unhappy. She saw Empress Ma rubbing the amulet and muttering something for a long time before she opened her mouth and said,

"Why?"

Zhu Biao nodded and continued, "Mother, the imperial examinations were not held in the Yuan Dynasty, and the imperial examinations have been suspended intermittently for nearly a hundred years. Moreover, the Yuan Dynasty focused on developing the southern port trade, and the southern region developed extremely fast. When Dad established the Ming Dynasty, the southern region was only The tax revenue of one government can basically be equal to that of the whole north."

Empress Ma was silent, and suddenly understood the key points. For studying and taking exams, it is natural to have the strength to study when you are full. You can't eat enough, and you are so hungry that you are so hungry, how can you still read? ?

The north is so poor that even the seeds of reading cannot grow.

Moreover, the north is full of wars, and the south is indeed extremely peaceful. A peaceful and stable environment will naturally lead to a good economic development, and those big families in the north are also willing to live in the stable south.

Over time, nine out of ten of the great Ming families gathered in the south. They were rich, powerful, and well-established, so they could naturally produce more seeds for reading.