Just after the afternoon, the sun slowly set in the west, and the sunlight gradually became a little gentler from the scorching heat. A breeze suddenly arose, blowing the leaves and stirring the wind chimes hanging on the eaves of the roof, ringing the evening.
"Oh, the sun is setting, it's almost time to go to court."
In the office, Zhu Ping'an put down his brush, stretched his arms, stretched himself, and looked out the window lazily. Seeing the sun slowly setting outside the window, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips.
Happy
That’s right, Zhu Ping’an was indeed very happy at this time.
The sun is setting, and it's time to go off work. Today is June 29th. According to the Ming calendar, June is a short month, with 29 days in total, and a long month with 30 days in total. Today is June 29th, which means it's the last day of June, and tomorrow is the first day of July.
What does this mean on the first day of July?!
The first day of July means the day of rest has finally arrived!!!
It’s finally vacation time!
After working so hard for so long, I finally have a day off.
Compared with the Ming Dynasty, modern people are really blessed. Modern society protects the right of workers to rest very well. National laws have clear provisions that employers should ensure that workers have at least one day off per week, usually two days off per week. However, it was not like this in the Ming Dynasty! Emperor Hongwu wished that officials would go to work every day! He changed the system of rest for officials from the five-day rest in the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the ten-day rest in the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, with only two days off in a month.
After working hard for half a month, it’s finally time for the holiday. How can Zhu Ping’an not be happy? !
I miss the weekends off!
If the ancients could travel through time and space back to the modern era, they would definitely be attracted by the modern relaxed vacation system. With more vacation days, the ancients would have more opportunities to travel and visit relatives and friends, and their poetry output would definitely increase several times.
Zhu Pingan complained in his heart for a while, then began to pack up his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, ready to go home from get off work...
Just as Zhu Ping'an was putting away his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from outside.
Then, I saw a crowd of people outside the window, running around to tell each other, gathering in a group, and looking cheering.
What's wrong
Did something good happen
Zhu Ping'an looked out the window curiously, feeling distracted.
"Zihou, let's go out and take a look. It seems that Zhengfu (Yin Shidan, courtesy name Zhengfu) has brought back the annual gift from His Highness."
Chen Yiqin appeared at the door of Zhu Ping'an's office with an excited look on his face and waved to Zhu Ping'an.
"Ah? So fast?!" Zhu Ping'an was delighted but also surprised when he heard this. When did Yin Shidan go to the Ministry of Revenue to collect the annual gift? Didn't he say at noon that he would go to the Ministry of Revenue to collect the annual gift tomorrow
Also, I just gave Yan Shifan a gift this morning, but I took the gift back this afternoon before I got off work? !
According to historical records, it seemed that Prince Yu received the New Year's gift on the second or third day after he presented the gift.
I didn’t expect that I would get it back on the same day.
Unconsciously, this little butterfly of mine, flapping its wings, has accelerated the pace of a certain historical event.
Ming Dynasty!
My, Zhu Ping'an, will not come here in vain!
Zhu Ping'an smiled, as bright as the sunshine outside the window, and his inner confidence in the future was strengthened a little bit.
Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqin went out of the palace together. On the way, they met Gao Gong, so the three of them went together.
The three of them came to the outside of the hall. Everyone outside bowed to them and made way for them to go to the center. In the center, Yin Shidan stood there with a smile on his face, looking at the three of them. At his feet were three wooden boxes, all of which were open, with a golden glow inside... ...
"Haha, a full 180,000 taels of silver." Yin Shidan kicked the box and said happily.
"One hundred and eighty thousand taels?" Zhu Ping'an was stunned when he heard this. Wasn't the annual gift 130,000 taels? 50,000 taels each in the previous two years, and 30,000 taels last year, totaling 130,000 taels. How come he only received 180,000 taels
Gao Gong and Chen Yiqin were also surprised to hear Yin Shidan say that he had brought back 180,000 taels of silver.
"Hahaha... I just went to the Ministry of Revenue on official business, and asked about the annual gift by the way, just to try it out. I didn't expect that the Ministry of Revenue would let me collect it directly. The Ministry of Revenue rarely speaks, and I was afraid that the Ministry of Revenue would change its mind again, so I simply went through the formalities and collected it directly. I found out after receiving it, it was an unexpected surprise. I didn't expect that in addition to the annual gift of 130,000 taels of silver, there were also festival gifts such as Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year's Day, Lantern Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, and Winter Solstice. In three years, it was as much as 50,000 taels. The annual gift plus the festival gift totaled 180,000 taels of silver, and the Ministry of Revenue readily reissued it. It filled three boxes, and after I collected it, the Ministry of Revenue saw that I was alone, and sent someone to deliver it to me. Haha, to be honest, this gift is really worth it. You haven't seen the attitude of the Ministry of Revenue. Compared with before, it is really a world of difference." Yin Shidan said with a laugh, and when he was excited, he even stretched out his hand to gesture.
value!
It’s really worth it!
I originally thought I would get 130,000 taels of silver, but I unexpectedly got 180,000 taels of silver, which is a full 50,000 taels of silver more. It was really a huge pleasant surprise.
I exchanged 1,500 taels of silver for 180,000 taels of silver. Is there anything more valuable than this? !
Just when everyone was getting excited, they heard a burst of hurried footsteps. Zhu Ping'an turned around and saw Prince Yu, with an excited look on his face, swinging his sleeves and running out of the hall with big strides.
If you don’t know, you might think Prince Yu is in trouble.
"Meet His Royal Highness Prince Yu."
"Greetings, Your Highness."
Everyone saluted Prince Yu.
“No need to be polite, no need to be polite, please stop being polite quickly, Master Yin, Sui... Sui Ci, have you... returned?!” Prince Yu was anxious to know the result, and waved his hands vigorously, asking everyone to stop being polite. Then, with an excited and eager look on his face, he asked while panting.
"Your Highness, I've brought it back." Yin Shidan nodded vigorously.
"Good!" Prince Yu was overjoyed.
"Your Highness, I brought back a full 180,000 taels of silver this time!" Yin Shidan added.
"What? One hundred and eighty thousand taels?!" Prince Yu was overjoyed.
So Yin Shidan explained to Prince Yu again what he had just said to Zhu Ping'an and the others, and Prince Yu was overjoyed after hearing it.
"Good! Good! Good! Now I finally don't have to be constrained by these money-grubbing things anymore!" Prince Yu excitedly said three good words in a row, then gritted his teeth and said hatefully that he had money in his hands and was not worried.
At dusk, when the sun was setting, Zhu Ping'an returned to Linhuai Marquis' Mansion with a bright face, carrying two fifty-liang silver notes and five liang of silver in his arms. One fifty-liang silver note was the money Zhu Ping'an lent to Prince Yu in the morning, and the other fifty-liang silver note was a reward from Prince Yu for merit (Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and others also received rewards of varying amounts), and the remaining five liang of silver was a welfare payment from Prince Yu to everyone in the palace.
Of course, the reward is not important. What is important is that after this incident, Zhu Ping'an was convinced and clearly felt that his status in Prince Yu's heart had reached a new height.
That’s great!