Daming: I asked you to hang yourself, but I didn’t ask you to rebuild the Ming Dynasty

In fact, both Zhu Youjian and the ministers in the court guessed what Bi Maokang was thinking——

After all, the old man was old, and a serious illness made him realize that he only had a short time left.

Now if we can study it for one more day, that is a real national event.

This old man...

Use your last moments of life to seek benefits for the country!

……

Guanghua County is only two miles away from Laohekou Pier.

The Han River is an important shipping river connecting the north and the south. [-]% of the goods traveling from south to north are transported through this north-south river.

As a result, Laohekou Pier is very prosperous.

Even though it is said to be a market town wharf, it is actually no worse than Guanghua County.

Even the prosperity of business is not worse than that of many other cities.

Shengdian Town, this land and water interchange for transporting goods toward the capital, is one of the four ancient towns.

Zijingguan Town is also one of the four ancient towns.

From this, we can infer the prosperity of Laohekou market town at that time.

There was a saying at that time: "There are eighteen mouths in the world, and Hankou belongs to the river mouth!"

Because Laohekou is located at the intersection of the Hanjiang Ancient Road and the Han River, it is named Laohekou.

Not only does this place have a city wall that is more than ten miles long, but it is also full of shops and warehouses. Even the permanent population in the city is twice that of the county seat.

This is the waterway hub between Hubei, Henan, Sichuan and Shaanxi, and there are many chambers of commerce here.

There are 20 piers alone!

This shows the prosperity of Laohekou.

Fan Jingwen was already waiting outside the city gate. When he saw the emperor and his entourage arriving, Mr. Fan Ge, who was wearing home clothes, hurriedly stepped forward and saluted:

"I have seen the old man."

Zhu Youjian nodded and said, "Come with me for a walk."

Fan Jingwen saluted the two princesses again, one body behind Zhu Youjian, and walked beside the three of them.

Zhu Youjian and his party entered the market town from the city gate between Guanghua County and Laohekou.

There are rows of houses on both sides, and there are many high-rise buildings along the river not far away. Restaurants and restaurants are everywhere, and the red buildings of Xiaojin Cave are standing next to each other. Even before the sky turns dark, you can already smell the tangy scent of rouge powder.

I saw a constant flow of people coming and going, and the vendors' stalls were next to each other.

"Selling hairpins, beautiful hairpins!"

"Don't miss it if you pass by. The shop owner is going to drink tea by the river. He will be closing soon. Customers who want to buy should hurry up!"

"Our store sells all kinds of needlework, soaps and soaps from the north, as well as cotton embroidery from the south of the Yangtze River. Come and take a look!"

……

The vendors speak in a distinctive Laohe dialect and speak fast and urgently. If it weren't for the long drawl, outsiders would have to ask several times before they knew what they were talking about.

"Selling ice powder, freshly made osmanthus ice powder, osmanthus ice powder with ice~!"

A vendor's shout caught Zhu Yini's attention.

The six-year-old girl was just greedy when she heard that there was ice powder for sale. Zhu Yini immediately stretched out her white and tender little hands, pointed at the ice powder and said:

"Daddy, daddy, I want to eat ice powder."

"Okay, let's go eat ice powder!"

Zhu Youjian didn't look like an emperor at all. He immediately hugged his daughter and walked towards the roadside stall. He turned to Fan Jingwen and said:

"Mr. Fan, let's have a try together."

Fan Jingwen laughed and accompanied the emperor to sit down at the dirty table covered with old dirt.

Fan Jingwen was about to ask the boy accompanying him to buy it when he was stopped by someone.

It was Liu Tichun, the former General Dashun, nicknamed General Erhu.

Liu Tichun was the commander of Jinwu. Although he was a reduced general, he was deeply trusted by the emperor.

Hearing that the emperor wanted to eat ice powder, he immediately winked at Zheng Zhaoji who was beside him.

Zheng Zhaoji, the third generation member of the Zheng family, gradually left the team and said to the vendor:

"Here are four bowls of ice powder, add two more cubes of ice and half a spoonful of sugar."

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment!"

The vendor quickly scooped out several bowls of ice powder from the large iron pot, then opened a box covered with a thick quilt on the counter, scooped out a large spoonful of crushed ice cubes, and poured it into the bowl.

According to Zheng Hongji's request, he added half a spoonful of sugar and then said:

"Thank you sir, twenty copper coins in total."

Who is Zheng Hongji? The eldest son of the Zheng family. Although he is not Zheng Zhilong's heir, he is not short of daily necessities.

He casually took out a broken piece of silver and threw it to the vendor:

"Keep the change, please!"

Just as he was turning around with the ice powder, Zheng Zhaoji reached into his arms, took out a bamboo tube, and pulled off the lid of the bamboo tube with his mouth.

All I saw was a silver needle!

Zheng Zhaoji used a silver needle to probe into the ice powder. After a little while, he pulled it out and saw that the silver-white needle tip was still the same. He was relieved.

He held the ice powder in both hands and placed it in front of the emperor.

Then he tested the remaining three bowls of powder one by one. After seeing that they were non-toxic, he presented them one by one.

Princess Zhaoren Zhu Yini used a small spoon to scoop out a spoonful and put it in her mouth.

"Hey, it's cool, sweet, and delicious!"

Zhu Youjian laughed and reached out to touch his little daughter's head:

"There's sugar and ice in it, so of course it's cold and sweet."

Fan Jingwen stretched out his hand to smooth his beard, and while slowly drinking the ice powder, he said:

"This is a unique snack in this area. It's like making tofu with brine. The jelly is made with plaster, and soup and ice are added. A bowl of it in the dog days of summer is one of the most beautiful things in the world."

Zhu Yini tilted her head: "Then do they also have an ice cellar?"

Fan Jingwen smiled and shook his head: "Ice cellars are a way for rich families to preserve winter ice. These vendors all use ice cubes made of saltpeter!"

"Saltpeter can also make ice?" Zhu Yini blinked her big eyes: "Then when did this method become available?"

"I heard from my father that people's lives are difficult. Will they know how to do this?"

"Saltpeter to make ice?"

The eldest princess Zhu Ainao said:

"This is a method from the Song Dynasty. When I read ancient books, I have seen records that during the Song Dynasty, when business was booming, this method of making ice with saltpeter was spread."

"Chang..." Fan Jingwen opened his mouth to call the eldest princess, but suddenly realized something was wrong and said hurriedly:

"The eldest lady is well-read and I admire her. It is indeed the Song Dynasty that spread the method of making ice with saltpeter.

But, this method of making ice came from the Tang Dynasty.

It's just that business was booming in the Song Dynasty, so this method of making ice spread. "

"As for the young lady asking if the common people can enjoy it..."

Fan Jingwen's eyes dimmed.

A bowl of jelly costs five cents, although it is not expensive, but it is also affordable for wealthy households.

The only cool drink for ordinary people to relieve summer heat is well water.

If they were asked to spend five copper coins to drink a bowl of jelly, they would be called a prodigal.