The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Yan Chengjin followed the young eunuch and came to the side hall of the palace with doubts.

Emperor Hongzhi and the three members of his cabinet were already sitting in the side hall, and the Shangshang Supervisor placed delicacies on them.

The last time I came here was when Emperor Hongzhi held a banquet to warn the Zhang brothers and Uncle Chang Ning.

Your Majesty won't want to default on your debt, will you?

Before he could salute, Emperor Hongzhi smiled happily and patted the brocade stool beside him: "Cheng Jin, come and sit down."

Buying leather... Your Majesty really wants to default on the bill!

Unexpectedly, the wine table culture in the rice circle was handed down from the ancient palace.

Yan Chengjin sat next to Emperor Hongzhi.

On the other side of Emperor Hongzhi was Liu Jian, and even Li Dongyang and Xie Qian had to sit a little further away.

It can be seen that this is a great honor.

One glance showed that today's dinner was not simple. Emperor Hongzhi had hosted several dinners for the Zhang brothers and Uncle Chang Ning.

He is like a master at dinner parties.

Emperor Hongzhi got straight to the point and said: "The treasury is empty again and we cannot spend two hundred thousand taels of silver."

Yan Chengjin lowered his head, not thinking of a way yet.

The eyes of Li Dongyang and the six ministers all fell on Yan Chengjin's face, as if they were cheating on Yan Chengjin's face.

Emperor Hongzhi frowned slightly: "Are the Yan Qing family blaming me?"

Yan Chengjin said hurriedly: "I don't dare, but most of the silver comes from the Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce has no money to pay workers, and those who are hungry are the refugees and common people in Liangxiang.

Moreover, merchants from all over the world come to Liangxiang to do business. Without money to buy materials, the workshops cannot operate.

When merchants come to Liangxiang, they will not be able to buy goods. If an empty cart passes through the banknote checkpoint, the court will not be able to collect tax money. "

How serious will it be if the capital chain is broken?

Although not as good as later generations, it has reached the level of bankruptcy.

It is also a great loss for Liangxiang.

Yan Chengjin wondered, did the court really have no money?

Emperor Hongzhi’s brows deepened: “Is it so serious?”

Liu Jian was born a big landowner and was well versed in business: "Yan Chengjin is right, Your Majesty, taxes and money come from good places.

If the merchants do not trade, the bank will not receive any silver. "

Han Wen stood up, bowed and said: "I heard that a search of Yan's house a while ago found 60,000 silver.

It's better to help the imperial court first, and I will give Yan Chengjin an IOU.

The summer tax collected this year will be returned! "

It is true that the court borrowed money from ministers.

Emperor Chenghua of the previous dynasty did this, and Zhu Houzhao also did this after he became emperor.

The most famous one is Emperor Chongzhen of later generations, who borrowed money from ministers to fight wars.

However, compared to Chongzhen, Emperor Chenghua and Zhu Houzhao were much more shameless and borrowed money purely for fun.

What’s interesting is…

Of these two people, one is Emperor Hongzhi's biological father, and the other is Emperor Hongzhi's biological son.

Now, Emperor Hongzhi also wants to borrow money.

Yan Chengjin was speechless and choked.

Emperor Hongzhi glanced at Xiao Jing. Xiao Jing hurriedly picked up the imperial pot, poured a glass of wine, and said with a smile: "Master Yan, try the imperial wine in the palace."

Han Wen looked at Yan Chengjin: "I don't know, what does Mr. Yan mean?"

"This is my father's hard-earned money for writing a book." Yan Chengjin looked a little heartbroken: "Your Majesty wants to take it, but I dare not disobey. I still hope that Your Majesty will make an IOU..."

Li Dongyang and others' faces darkened.

This guy didn't even drink a drop of wine, and he's so drunk?

Let His Majesty give you an IOU, why don't you let him call you biological father?

Emperor Hongzhi laughed loudly, and his face quickly turned cold: "Yan Chengjin, do you know your guilt?"

"I know I'm guilty." Yan Chengjin was a little timid: "I haven't finished speaking yet. If it's inconvenient for Your Majesty, you can ask Mr. Han to do it for you."

Sixty thousand taels of silver, if I don’t come back...

Although there was still countless silver in the other new mansion, Yan Chengjin felt extremely heartbroken after losing one bar of blood.

Emperor Hongzhi had a deep smile on his face. All the ministers here have money in their houses.

But the only one who really showed it was Yan Chengjin, who was devoting all his wealth to the imperial court!

Emperor Hongzhi was moved and said: "I don't blame you, eat vegetables!" As he said that, he put a piece of braised pork into his bowl.

It's quite a bit like a loving father and a filial son.

Xiao Jing and others smiled slightly and nodded.

After dinner, Emperor Hongzhi said: "I am going to Liangxiang to see this big treasure ship."

His Majesty is going to leave the palace for a small visit, so the royal guards need to make sufficient preparations in advance.

As far as Mu Bin knew, many people and gentry were in Liangxiang to pay homage to the treasure ship, and it was already overcrowded.

But His Majesty was going to go, so he had no choice but to prepare.

I heard from Dr. Wang that your Majesty wants to go out and walk around, so you can't stay in the palace all day long reviewing memorials.

The cabinet and the six ministries will not dissuade him.

Liu Jian stayed behind in the cabinet, and Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and others accompanied him.

Three carriages rushed from the capital to Liangxiang.

Yan Chengjin sat in a carriage with Emperor Hongzhi melancholy, and Emperor Hongzhi sighed: "I haven't been to Liangxiang for a long time.

What happened to the 30,000 refugees in Liangxiang? "

"Reporting to your Majesty, the refugees are still as poor as ever. They can barely support their families by working in workshops," Yan Chengjin said.

There is no shortage of a small group of people who make some money from the prosperity of Liangxiang.

But not everyone has the courage and vision to block family wealth.

People like Liangzhong are just a small group of refugees.

They cannot represent the refugees in Liangxiang.

Generally speaking, the refugees have not changed much from the past. In the event of a major disaster, they still have to be rescued by the court.

Emperor Hongzhi sighed: "I knew that was the case."

Arriving at the shipyard in Liangxiang,

The bustling common people and gentry had never seen such a magnificent giant ship. The government officials did not stop them and watched it for a long time.

The vendors saw the opportunity and hawked.

Emperor Hongzhi stood in its shadow, looking at the big treasure ship. He was so shocked that he had to hold his head high to see the mast.

Li Dongyang said anxiously: "Master Zhu, why not get on the boat and take a look."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded, got on the giant ship, and saw copper cannons one after another.

Such a big ship, plus these guns.

It is not surprising that it took five thousand people to carry it.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Han Wen and Zeng Jian: "The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs summoned laborers to lift the ship to Tianjin Port."

"I obey the order!"

…………

Yan Mansion, take a rest today.

Yan Chengjin asked people to buy all the sugar cane and brown sugar in the capital.

The juice from the sugar cane is squeezed out and flows out into the vat, then mixed with brown sugar and poured into a large pot.

He Neng asked: "Master, what are we going to cook?"

Yan Chengjin wants to boil white sugar, which burns easily, so he needs to control the heat according to the water splash when the sugar juice boils.

See the water splashes in the form of small bubbles, like boiling meat soup.

"Twist it quickly with your hands and tell me whether it sticks to your hands or not!"

He Neng looked at the hot syrup and almost didn't cry: "Master, I don't dare..."

"Next year's salary will be deducted by fifty..." Yan Chengjin hadn't said anything yet, so he put his hand into the pot with a swish of a hand, without looking out in pain.

"Master, sticky hands...!"

If it sticks to your hands, it means the heat is up!

Yan Chengjin ordered people to put it in buckets and wait for it to condense into black sand.

Then, place the tile slide on the cylinder. The tile slide is actually an ancient funnel.

Plug the bottom of the tile slide with grass and pour the black sand into the tile slide.

When the black sand solidifies, remove the grass plug and pour in yellow mud water.

Among them, the black water flows into the cylinder.

On the tile wall, there is a layer of icing sugar as white as snow, about five inches thick.

He Neng and his servants stared wide-eyed, "Master, this is...candy?"

Yan Chengjin was so happy that he relied on sugar to restore his blood. He didn't know how much money he could make.