Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 69 Why not eat minced meat

From mid-autumn to early winter, Xishan has attracted thousands of refugees. Wang Jinyuan is not in a hurry to produce on a large scale, but according to Fang Jifan's instructions, let a group of refugees who are originally loose begin to understand the process slowly. Of course, a large number of products need to be purchased. mining tools.

  However, most of the pickaxes used for mining are not handy, and in this era, most of the utensils manufactured in the construction bureau are crude and shoddy. In ordinary blacksmith shops, the craftsmen are also good and bad, and the output is also low, so they cannot be supplied on a large scale. Fang Jifan still wants to make a coal stove, it's better to build a pot together, and the right way is to do one thing and earn a few dollars.

  Fang Jifan encouraged Zhu Houzhao to go to Emperor Hongzhi to ask for permission to build an iron workshop in Xishan Coal Mine.

  Emperor Hongzhi did not immediately agree to this matter. In fact, he wanted to forge production tools on a large scale. The court has always been more cautious about this.

  In this era of salt and iron monopoly, iron ore is almost monopolized by the governments of various places, and private large-scale iron smelting is not allowed. After all, this thing can be used to make tools and weapons.

  Since the attitude of the palace is unclear, Fang Jifan had no choice but to wait patiently.

   It was Zhu Houzhao who was busy for him, but became complaining and sighing, like a little daughter-in-law who had been abused. After asking the bottom line, she still had no money and no motivation.

For this reason, Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan sneaked to Xishan again. In this snowy weather, there were few pedestrians along the way, but at the foot of Xishan, simple work sheds had been built one after another, forming a simple In a small village in the village, smoke was rising from the sheds, and the women had already started picking up rice for cooking.

  The men have gone to the mines, so there are only a few ragged kids in the 'village' making snow with their noses running.

The scene in front of him disappointed Zhu Houzhao. He thought that what he and Fang Jifan were doing was a big deal, and it shouldn't be so dilapidated and dirty. Although it shouldn't be as magnificent as the Forbidden City, it should also be prosperous scene.

  Zhu Houzhao wanted to go to the mine, but Fang Jifan stopped him, so he just wandered at the foot of the mountain.

Before leaving, I met miners carrying pickaxes to work. The miners were all wearing tight clothes, and their bodies were pitch black. However, these strong men were full of masculinity. And the snow flakes melted.

   "Grandfather..." Someone had sharp eyes and saw Fang Jifan and Zhu Houzhao.

  One of them rushed towards Fang Jifan and Zhu Houzhao with a pickaxe in hand, frightening the guards behind Zhu Houzhao to hold down the handle of the knife one by one.

  The man bowed down without hesitation, and with tears in his eyes, he said to Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan: "The villain has seen two benefactors..."

In fact, Fang Jifan was already taken aback, because this guy rushed over with a pickaxe in his hand, and according to his rich life experience, people who usually rush towards him, nine out of ten, are here to seek revenge, after all... Prodigal son, God knows how many enemies Fang Jifan made in the past. Fang Jifan has no doubt that one day, when he walks on the street, he will be beaten with a sap.

  So his first reaction was to run.

   It wasn't until the other party called for favor and worshiped on the snow that he sighed lightly.

The miners rushed forward one after another, and many of them said in low voices, "It's these two benefactors, the shopkeeper Wang said personally, our bosses are two young men, both of them have good looks, and they can't be wrong. Let's pay our respects. Thanks to benefactor, we have a job in this mine."

   After a while, the snow was full of people kneeling, which made Fang Jifan doubt life.

  Zhu Houzhao was even more stunned, seeing all these dark-faced people looking at him with tears in their eyes.

Ok…

   There is actually a little sense of accomplishment.

  But... did I really do something good? No, didn't Lao Fang only let them dig coal? Hey, hey, this is obviously just for you to do coolies, what are you grateful for?

A miner choked with sobs and said, "Thank you, Mr. Eunuch, for taking us in and giving us a chance to work hard in this mine. Otherwise... I'm afraid we won't be able to survive this cold winter. The villain has a son. If he didn't come Once in the mine, he will starve to death. The villain has been teaching him to grow up. He must remember the kindness of the two benefactors. Now the villain has a mouthful of food in this mine. Not only that, every day Yue still has some salary, which is given by the two benefactors, benefactor, please accept the villain's worship."

   "..." These words were enough to cast a shock bomb in Zhu Houzhao's heart.

  Could it be...letting them do hard work is enough to gain their gratitude?

  And their request is just to have a full meal. What a humble thought, but even this humble thought seems to be hard-won for them.

  Zhu Houzhao has never experienced suffering in the world, but seeing these miners today, he was a little at a loss. He couldn't understand that there are such a group of people in this world who would be so grateful for these things.

   Zhu Houzhao blushed and was at a loss.

  Fang Jifan said: "Okay, don't be too polite, just work hard."

  The miners' eyes were red, some were in tears, some put down their pickaxes, and just kowtowed to Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan blindly.

   Zhu Houzhao was still there in a daze, he had too many things to digest, until Fang Jifan pulled him out of the crowd, Zhu Houzhao suddenly had red eyes: "Are they lying to us?"

   "What?" Fang Jifan was stunned.

  Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath: "I mean, do they want to curry favor with me, so..."

  It is easy to understand Zhu Houzhao's thoughts. After all, he is always surrounded by a group of people who please him, so in his heart, these people must also take the opportunity to curry favor.

Fang Jifan was silent for a moment: "They don't know the identity of His Highness, so I think they may be really grateful to His Highness. Of course, they are mainly grateful to the humble minister. After all, for many people, as long as they can eat a full meal, they will be satisfied. It's a gift from God."

  Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment.

  In the snowstorm, the young crown prince felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.

  Fang Jifan despised Zhu Houzhao in his heart. Why doesn't this guy eat minced meat?

  When he returned to Zhan Shifu, Zhu Houzhao seemed to have something on his mind. He held his chin and looked at Xue from a distance. There was less cunning in his eyes, but more melancholy.

   "Sometimes, I think..." Zhu Houzhao said, "It would be great if the snow stopped."

   "..." Fang Jifan glared at him, Prince, if you don't get any dividends, you will blame me for the coal mine? Are you still human?

  Zhu Houzhao sighed again: "Think about it, many people are naked and their faces are cracked from the cold. They are really pitiful."

These words hit Fang Jifan's weak heart all of a sudden. He took a strange look at Zhu Hou and looked up at the sky. On the sky, snow flakes were still flying, so he let out a breath of white air: "To many people! In other words, it is more than just a snow that makes them suffer from the cold. What many people lack is not just clothes to keep out the cold. It is very difficult for people to live..." Looking up, the corners of the eyes are a little wet, perhaps it is rare to have a long-lost feeling. Emotion hit his heart, Fang Jifan took a breath and sighed.

  In the distance, Liu Jin waved to this side: "Your Highness, Your Highness, come quickly, the Chenla Kingdom paid tribute to three monkeys without tails, oh, it's rare."

  When Zhu Houzhao heard it, he rushed towards Liu Jin with a whoosh: "Where, where, I have a look..."

   "Your uncle!" Fang Jifan gave Liu Jin a vicious look in the distance.

  …

  Originally, some people said that the character of the Zhang family brothers was too stupid, but in history, this pair of brothers were indeed stupid, otherwise they would not have seen the direction of the wind after Jiajing ascended the throne, and ended up in a miserable end.

Some people say that it is unreasonable for the two to be stingy. Hey, I really don’t know what to say. Grandet in Balzac’s works is also so stingy. As a result, this great French writer has won countless praises for his stingy image. , and no one said that the character he wrote was so rich that he would rather abuse himself for a few copper coins. On the contrary, this character is well-known and has become one of the most classic images in French literature. How come to the tiger, the same role, it becomes unreasonable.

  Tiger is not a literary giant after all, and writing books is just for a living. Forget it, I am used to it.

  (end of this chapter)