"Do you still need them? It's agreed that today we will buy private tours in micro-services. Hey, there are bamboo baskets over there, let's go buy a vegetable basket."
Before the crown prince had time to speak, Pan Er went over there, so he had no choice but to follow.
Zhang Laishun led the cattails and followed behind.
There are people everywhere. As the crown prince, even if he is with his biological parents, it is rare for him to be so close. And when there are too many people, the smell will be mixed, earthy, bloody, chicken and duck. He took out a handkerchief and half-covered his nose, trying to avoid people and walked past.
When he passed by, Pan'er was already too happy to think about leaving.
The seller of the hand-woven bamboo baskets was an old man, from the color of his skin and his attire, he seemed to be from the nearby countryside. His craftsmanship is very good, and there are all kinds of large and small bamboo baskets in front of him. The small ones are only as big as a palm, and the big ones can fit a person without any problem.
Pan'er first picked up a vegetable basket suitable for shopping. Looking at it, I felt that those small baskets were very cute, and the colors were bright. There are red, green, blue, and purple. They are used to hold flowers or some needles and threads. Good.
She also liked this one, and that one was also good. She grabbed several of them and asked the old man the price.
"Five coins for the small ones, ten coins for the big ones, if you buy five small ones, you can get another small one as a gift, but you can't give away the big one." It can't be seen that this old man is quite good at business.
Immediately, Pan'er was stunned by such a cheap price.
Let her do the math, one tael of silver can be exchanged for more than 900 copper coins, that is to say, you can buy more than 90 for the big ones, and two hundred for the small ones. There are two hundred goods in this stall
She took a general look, which meant that a stall of goods could not be sold for a tael of silver.
"Old man, is it a good deal for you to sell this thing so cheaply? Is it a little too cheap?"
The old man gave her a very strange look, but he still smiled: "It's not worth it, but I made something to sell during the winter slack season to supplement the family. The colors on this basket are all from our It is dyed by the local method in the country, and the color looks a bit monotonous, but it will not fade. These rattans are all cut from the mountains, and they are worthless, which is a waste of time."
What a simple and honest person!
Pan'er thought she had taken too much, but now she decided to buy them all. She subconsciously wanted to get the silver, but realized that she had no silver at all. She turned around to look for cattails, but she didn't see cattails, but she saw the prince.
"Grandpa, have you brought any money?"
The prince's face was a little stiff, he is also the master who never wears money on his body, even if he rewards someone, he still has Fulu by his side.
When the two looked at each other, there was an embarrassment that belonged to a nobleman.
Fortunately, Zhang Laishun squeezed over quickly with the cattails. Pan'er finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the cattails.
Cattail is usually by her side, and she always carries a few purses from tippers on her body, there must be some silver. Sure enough, cattails are omnipotent. He took out a few purses from his bosom, and from the purses he took out a silver key for rewarding people.
These silver peas are all made in-house. In order to make the nobles look decent, they are either in the shape of melon seeds and peanuts, or made into birthday peaches or something.
At the time of the crisis, Zhang Laishun came to the rescue.
Zhang Laishun once again admired his brains, no wonder his godfather chose him as his godson among the eunuchs.
Under Pan'er Cattail's gratified eyes, Zhang Laishun took out a silver dime and handed it to the old man. He felt His Royal Highness's admiring gaze on him, and suddenly felt that his life was complete.
"How to give the money, I haven't done much business in the middle of the morning, so I don't have any money to change." The old man took the money and was a little flustered.
"You don't need to look for it, I will reward you." Zhang Laishun said very generously.
As soon as the words were finished, Zhang Laishun's high spirits suddenly vented when Pan'er looked at him disapprovingly. He didn't dare to go to see the prince, for fear that his master would think him stupid.
Well-spoken private patrol in micro-service, how come you brought out all the idiomatic words in the palace.
Pan'er covered his mouth and smiled, stuffed the baskets in his hands into his arms, and left.
I haven't forgotten to pull the prince.
Zhang Laishun followed behind with his head drooping. Cattail laughed beside her. Originally, she had always been afraid of the eunuchs around His Royal Highness, but now she realized that these people are actually no different from them, they all have stupid moments.
Pan'er went to buy mutton, some mutton haggis, and some vegetables that can be served with it. He planned to go back and make a pot of mutton soup, and he could also roast mutton to eat.
Zhang Laishun was quite smart. Before leaving the stall, he turned around and took another basket, but the old man ignored him to collect the money. Now he has set up those messy little baskets one by one, and put them in the back basket, there is still a lot of space for the bought vegetables.
This incident caused Pan'er to praise him severely, because as she walked slowly, she bought more and more things. It's impossible to count on her and Cattail to take it, they don't have the strength, so don't worry about it, the only one who can use it is Zhang Laishun.
Pan'er stopped in front of a small stall selling eggs.
"This egg is good. You can see that it is white with powder in it. It looks fresh at first glance." Pan'er said to the prince.
The crown prince is not good at this. Anyway, since he entered this vegetable market, he has kept silent all the time, just looking at the pan like a fish in a river, playing around, wanting to buy this and that.
He didn't know that Pan'er seemed to be born in the market, but he had actually experienced decades of court career in his previous life. He was also full of curiosity about the so-called folks and the excitement of reuniting after a long absence.
The prince didn't answer, but the egg vendor did.
"Ma'am, you have a good eye. These eggs have just been laid in the past few days. I collected all the eggs in our village and sold them while they were fresh."
Pan'er smiled, talking to him while choosing eggs: "You are always good at business, and you know how to collect and sell all the eggs in the village. How many chickens do you have in your family? Do you lay enough eggs for the family? ? How much is this one egg, can you make money?"
"How many chickens can be raised at home, only a dozen or so. In winter, the chickens lay fewer eggs, and the price is higher than in summer. I don't want to eat them. I sell them all, and I can exchange needles, thread, etc. for the women in the house. An egg costs two cents, if you buy more, I'll count you three and five cents. Don't worry, my eggs are the freshest and biggest in the whole vegetable market."
The crown prince followed along, and always felt that Pan'er talked a lot more than usual, but after a closer look, he found that sometimes what she said was very meaningful.
Like this time, only through a few conversations, the situation of this farmer's family and his village has been clarified.
He can't even bear to eat eggs. His family background must not be considered good, but his life should not be bad. Didn't you see that old farmer smiling
But an egg costs two pennies, which is really cheap. Thinking of something, the prince's face became a little strange, and Pan'er was still talking to the old farmer over there.
"Two Wen is not expensive, but how much does one sell in summer? Is it less than two Wen?"
"Eggs can't be kept in summer, and there are too many chickens, so they are sold cheaply, two for three coins, and one for a penny."
"That's really cheap."
While talking, the eggs had already been bought, and the tray didn't dare to buy more, and only bought more than 30, fearing that Zhang Laishun would not be able to handle them, and they would all be broken when he went back.
The old farmer was considerate, and even gave them some straw, saying that it would cushion the eggs so that they would not break.
Pan'er walked forward a few steps, only to realize that the prince hadn't followed. Looking back, he had a strange expression and didn't know what he was thinking.
"Third Lord?"
"Buy it? Let's go."
"What’s wrong with you?"
The prince shook his head and said nothing.
In fact, he thought that one year, when Prince Gong fell ill due to illness, he was given an errand in the House of Internal Affairs for a while. He had read the account books handed up below, and he remembered that the eggs in it were one hundred and fifty cents each.
The prince is not too ignorant of practice, he only remembers that there is a small Liangyuan in Guangdong Palace, and there are ten eggs in the daily quota. There are many concubines of this level in the palace. How much does it cost each month? The palace needs a lot of money for the monthly expenditure of eggs alone.
He thinks the eggs are too expensive.
I remember the eunuch told him at that time that the chickens that laid the eggs were fed with high-quality rice, drank mountain spring water, and ate the best grain. The waiting medicinal materials are not equal, so this is the price.
At that time, he didn't think too much about it, he just thought it was like that, and now seeing that an egg in the market is only a penny or two, and it was picked out by the common people, he only thought of four words - Min Zhi Min Gao.
Of course, the crown prince also thought about the corruption in the palace. There have always been some slaves who cheated and swindled in the palace. This time it made him face the impact more directly.
The price of an egg dares to increase by more than a hundred times, what about other things
The prince felt a cold feeling all over his body. The journey along the way flashed before his eyes. Those local officials had extravagant banquets and hospitality, as well as the antique calligraphy and paintings presented.
The annual salary of a county magistrate is no more than 70 taels, and the annual salary of a fourth-rank magistrate is only 300 taels, but a pair of calligraphy and painting they give away is worth thousands of gold.
Where does silver come from
But it's still the fat of the people.
Seeing most of the smiling faces in the vegetable market, the prince suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if he was standing naked on the street.
Because of this, he seemed strangely silent afterwards.
Pan'er observed all this, and suddenly remembered that after Emperor Jianping came to the throne, he vigorously rectified the corruption of ink in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so it must be considered a tacit understanding.
But at the same time, she also thought that after Emperor Jianping came to the throne, because of vigorously rectifying corrupt officials, he was often scolded as cruel and merciless. The most murderous people in the world have always been the literati, and it is precisely this group of people who are officials, so verbal criticism is all up to them.
When Emperor Jianping was young, his reputation was not good, but it gradually improved as he got older and his methods became more tactful and forbearing.
Because of this incident, the vegetable market naturally couldn't go on. But the things were almost bought, so the group walked back.
Pan'er smiled and said to the crown prince: "Actually, the ordinary people in the south of us have a good life. The place is rich, and even the people's life is easy. There are two rice crops in a year, and you can harvest twice, just like the old farmer just now. Just come out to start a small business to supplement the family income during the slack season, and a year's harvest plus these odds and ends is enough to eat." She intentionally relieved him.
"Two crops of rice?"
"The first season is planted in March and harvested in the small heat, and the second season is planted in the great heat and harvested in October. But it seems that it can only be planted in places with warm climates, and the north cannot be planted, so I heard that people in the south live longer than those in the north. The people are much better off."
The prince was lost in thought.
All of this is something he has never been exposed to before. What do people do for a living? Naturally, it is farming, but he doesn't know how to do it. He only knows that the people have to pay exorbitant taxes when they farm.
Where do these numbers come from, why are they sometimes more and sometimes less? The lower level reported drought and flood in a certain place in a certain year, and the higher level only managed—oh, it’s time to exempt from taxes.
But I have never thought about why some places have good harvests and some places have poor harvests, why the harvests are poor, what is the reason, and is there a remedy
Before today, the prince was confident that if he ascended the throne in the future, he would be a good emperor. But now he is hesitant, he claims to be rich in learning, knowledgeable in past and present, but in fact there are too many deficiencies.
But at the same time, he is also fortunate, because he discovered it early, and there is still a chance to remedy it.
He suddenly felt that the vegetables bought today were good, and he could buy more vegetables in the future.
The author has something to say: There are examples of the egg thing. I don’t remember when the Qing Dynasty was. It should be the end of the Qing Dynasty. This place has shrunk a lot, because Mianmian also thinks that two eggs are too expensive and unbelievable, but it turns out that only you dare not think about it, and no one can't do it.