Chapter 162 As for luck, it has to be the future Emperor Yongle.

"Mahjong?"

"What is this?"

After Li Heng took the mahjong back, Zhu Gang poured all the mahjong on the table. Zhu Biao looked at the mahjong with different patterns and asked.

"When I was in Taiyuan, I invented this little gadget for entertainment."

"But mahjong also requires strategy and calculation, just like playing chess. If you make a wrong move, you lose."

“So there aren’t many people who can really play mahjong well.”

"This is also a popular way of playing in Taiyuan, and it became popular in Taiyuan for a while."

"Anyway, whether it's a commoner or a wealthy family, everyone has a few sets of mahjong at home."

"After all, think about it, if we sit together and play mahjong a few times when we have nothing to do, it can also help to improve our relationship."

Zhu Gang arranged the mahjong tiles in front of him into fifteen piles to form a wall, then he looked at the curious Zhu Biao and said.

"Ok?"

When these words were spoken, not only Zhu Biao became curious, but even Zhu Di, who had been sitting there without saying a word, had a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes.

"You can arrange the mahjong tiles into fifteen piles like I did, forming a wall."

"The dealer then rolls the dice to determine the direction of the cards."

"Also, you need to draw cards from the wall according to the rules. Each player takes turns drawing and playing cards."

“Then you have to keep it in your hands.”

Afterwards, Zhu Gang told everyone all the rules of mahjong.

In fact, mahjong is not difficult to learn, but it is not easy to play mahjong well.

Furthermore, even if there was no Zhu Gang, mahjong would have been born in a few decades.

But this is also a long-term guess, after all, there is no truth in history.

There are many stories in history about the origin and inventor of mahjong.

There is also no clear evidence pointing to a single inventor.

Take for example what Zhu Gang knew.

The most widely believed version in later generations is that Zheng He invented mahjong, and it is believed that mahjong was invented by the navigator Zheng He.

It is said that mahjong was created to provide entertainment for the crew during Zheng He's long voyage to the West.

The name Mahjong comes from a general named Ma, so it was named Mahjong.

But there is another saying that Zhang Sui invented it. The Tang Dynasty astronomer Zhang Sui (Seng Yixing) once compiled a set of playing cards for entertainment, which is considered to be one of the early forms of mahjong.

There is also a theory about the origin of the grain-protecting cards, which says that it comes from a kind of bamboo chips in ancient times that were used to reward people who caught birds and protected grain, and later evolved into mahjong.

Of course, there are many different opinions and there are many statements, which cannot be completely unified.

So Zhu Gang didn’t know whether it was invented by Zheng He.

But now, the inventor of mahjong is Jin Wang Zhu Gang.

Because of Taiyuan's prosperity, mahjong became popular, and many people liked to play it when they had nothing to do.

Of course, they don't play big, just for entertainment, or for gambling.

By the way, casinos are prohibited in Taiyuan, and there are clear regulations that small-scale gambling can bring pleasure, but large-scale gambling can harm your health.

It is even stipulated that the total amount of money won in a game of mahjong must not exceed half a string of Ming Dynasty treasure notes.

After all, the people of Taiyuan are rich, not poor at all, so half a string of Ming Dynasty treasure notes is reasonable.

If it exceeds the government regulations and is discovered by the government, a fine will be imposed, and it is not just half a string of Ming Dynasty treasure notes.

Of course, this problem cannot be eliminated at the source.

Even if casinos are banned and no more than half a string of cash is allowed, there are still people who take risks.

This is also because the profit of mahjong is too great. As long as you play well, you can completely stop working and concentrate on playing cards and still live a good life.

Many evil people who seek to profit from this have emerged.

For this reason, Zhu Gang also used iron-blooded means to stop it, and it calmed down a lot.

But there are still some, just not so many. After all, human beings are greedy, so this kind of thing can never be stopped in a lifetime.

"I'm crazy."

After playing a few times, everyone understood the rules and started to win in various ways, especially Zhu Di, who was having a lot of fun.

After all, being able to beat Zhu Gang in one thing, even if it's just mahjong for entertainment, is still a win, isn't it worth being proud of?
But the more you play mahjong, the more boring it becomes.

"Third brother, this was a little interesting at the beginning, but as time went on, I felt very calm."

After Zhu Di pushed the cards down, he spread out his hands and said helplessly.

"That's normal. After all, if you just play cards, there won't be any passion."

Zhu Gang smiled, then took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket, threw them on the table and said, "But with silver, you can definitely have fun."

Sure enough, after Zhu Gang threw the treasure banknotes on the table, it became difficult to stop playing mahjong.

Especially the Crown Prince Zhu Biao, whose face had turned slightly blue.

After all, rules are dead, but people are alive.

Moreover, since it is royal entertainment and will not cause bad atmosphere, they kept it secret.

So there is no upper limit at all, which leads to the fact that Crown Prince Zhu Biao always has bad cards in his hand, while Zhu Di always has good cards in his hand.

After these rounds, Zhu Biao had already lost hundreds of coins, so it would be strange if he looked good.

On the other hand, Zhu Di was holding a stack of banknotes in his hand and smiling from ear to ear.

Because among those present, Zhu Di was the only one who did not lose.

It's the novice protection period, so this is normal.

Besides, everyone present, except Zhu Gang, is a newbie.

In a competition of luck among the novices, it seems that Zhu Di is better.

He is worthy of being the future Emperor Yongle. He has such good luck playing mahjong.

As for Zhu Gang, he was just a runner-up and didn't care about winning or losing at all, and he didn't lose much anyway.

"continue."

Zhu Biao's face looked a little gloomy, and he said.

After all, Zhu Biao could allow himself to lose a little, but he could not allow himself to be so unlucky that he would lose every time and never win a single game.

So he must make a good fortune today, otherwise, Zhu Biao would not be able to sleep well.

"Li Heng."

"Play a few games for me first. Yujing Pavilion will open today. I'll go down and take a look at the situation."

But Chang Mao shook his head and waved to Li Heng, saying, "Whether you win or lose, I'll take care of you three.

"sit."

Li Heng looked directly at Zhu Biao, who nodded slightly. Li Heng then came over and sat down.

After all, I have been standing by for a long time, so I have naturally understood the rules of mahjong, so it is not difficult to get started.

"Today, I have to play a trick, or no one will be allowed to leave."

Zhu Biao looked at the bad cards in his hand and said angrily.

"Come on, come on."

Faced with Zhu Biao's obviously angry behavior, Zhu Gang did not care and just waved his hand to continue.

But even though Li Heng didn't dare to fool the three gentlemen in front of him, Zhu Biao didn't fool anyone either, even if the game ended in a draw.

It is enough to see that Zhu Biao's luck today is very bad.

As for the following. Yujing Pavilion opened today, so naturally there were firecrackers. Not to mention ordinary people, even dignitaries would come in to take a look.

Especially the second generation of Huaixi, they all stuck their heads in, wanting to see what good things this Yujing Pavilion had.

"Brother Maoer."

However, as soon as these Huaixi disciples stepped into Yujing Pavilion, they saw Chang Mao walking down from the upstairs. They immediately shrank their heads and spoke out in unison.

Among the six sons of the dukes, Li Jinglong, the son of Li Wenzhong, the duke of Cao, was a little younger, while Xu Yungong, the son of Xu Da, the duke of Wei, had a very strict family education.

Although Duke Song Feng Sheng had no son, he had a nephew, Feng Cheng, who was like a son. However, he was now a general in Taiyuan and not in the capital.

As for Deng Zhen, the son of Deng Yu, Duke of Wei, although he was in the capital, he had already joined the army, so naturally he would not mix with this group of sons of nobles.

The rest were Li Qi, the son of Li Shanchang, Duke of Korea, and Chang Mao, the son of Chang Yuchun, Duke of E.

These are the top noble children of Yingtian Prefecture.

But except Chang Mao and Li Qi, the other four basically never show up.

This led to the situation that these noble sons were like mice seeing a cat when they saw Chang Mao and Li Qi.

Li Qi is better, after all, he is the son of Duke Han of Korea and is well-educated and well-mannered.

But Chang Mao is different. This guy really beats you, and if he doesn’t do what he wants, he will beat you to death.

Plus, his father was Chang Yuchun, also an unreasonable bastard, so they were naturally afraid of Chang Mao.

"Tang Jingye, Lu Xian, Fu Zhong, Xie Ying, did you not go to the party today?"

When Chang Mao heard this, he raised his head, looked at the group of bastards and smiled.

"I'm just about to go."

Tang Jingye scratched his head, not feeling embarrassed.

After all, Chang Mao also drinks wine, and which Huaixi young man doesn’t drink wine?

Tang Jingye was the son of Tang Shengzong, Marquis of Yan'an.

Lu Xian was the son of Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an.

Fu Zhong was the son of Fu Youde, Marquis of Yingchuan.

Xie Ying was the son of Xie Cheng, Marquis of Yongping.

However, Xie Ying was a concubine's eldest son because Xie Cheng, Marquis of Yongping, had no legitimate eldest son.

But as for status, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate sons, if there is only one son, then he is no different from the eldest legitimate son.

"Then why are you here at Yujing Pavilion?"

Chang Mao was no longer surprised, so he spoke.

"This was originally Yuexiang Tower, but was later changed to Yujing Pavilion."

"We thought it was still a brothel."

Only then did Lu Xian scratch his head in embarrassment.

That’s right, these young men are well acquainted with all the brothels in the capital.

Besides, they were all regular customers of Yue Xiang Lou before it closed down, so they were very excited to see it reopen with such a poetic name.

Yujing Pavilion, with hundreds of flowers as the scenery, was built for the emperor, so they naturally thought it was a brothel.

But who could have imagined that this place with such a pretentious name was actually a grocery store.

They all regretted coming in, not to mention meeting the unlucky star Chang Mao.

"So why don't you buy something?"

Chang Mao was a little speechless, but after rolling his eyes, he started to smile.

Today is the first day of the opening of Yujing Pavilion. Even if the customer flow is large, it will not be that large.

After all, it still has to be spread by word of mouth, so it will take at least some time before Yujing Pavilion can truly face Yingtian Prefecture.

Just like Recalling Jiangnan, it became known little by little and became popular in Yingtian Prefecture.

But today is different. With this group of Huaixi brothers, the sales of Yujing Pavilion will definitely be boosted today, and these brothers are not short of money.

And through their mouths, this Yujing Pavilion will surely become famous among the powerful and wealthy in a short period of time, and thus become popular in Yingtian Prefecture.

Besides, the prices of salt and sugar, although not very expensive, are not cheap either.

Because it had not yet been popularized throughout the country at that time, in order to prevent people from buying low and selling high, the prices of salt and sugar were really unaffordable for ordinary people.

"Third brother, you must popularize refined salt and white sugar throughout the world in a short period of time."

"Otherwise, only the rich and powerful can afford salt and sugar."

"This is not good for the people of our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Biao, who was still sitting there playing mahjong, looked at Zhu Gang opposite him and murmured.

"Of course, if we open Yujing Pavilion to the world, it will be equivalent to monopolizing the market."

"If this continues, it will be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty."

"After all, the market in Daming must not be monopolized by anyone, because this is our own home."

"So, I plan to find some people with good character and willing to do practical things for the people in all the states and cities in the world to sell salt and sugar."

"As for the price, we can make it more favorable for the people so that they can afford sugar and salt."

"But in foreign trade, we must not show any mercy, because they are not the people of our Ming Dynasty, and their life or death has nothing to do with us."

“We also need to control trade routes to prevent people from smuggling salt and sugar and making huge profits from it.”

"This means that we will lower the prices of salt and sugar so that people can afford them. This requires stricter control."

"After all, the price of foreign trade is high, and those small foreign countries will try their best to obtain low-priced salt and low-priced sugar from the Ming Dynasty."

"This is not allowed, and it must be stipulated that if they dare to have this idea, the Ming Dynasty will cut off trade with them and send troops to attack them and destroy their country."

"We must make them fear the Ming Dynasty from the bottom of their souls, so that they dare not even have the slightest little thoughts."

A hint of ruthlessness flashed across Zhu Gang's eyes, and he spoke softly.

At the same time, throw out a two-card card.

"Bullshit!"

Looking at the two cards in front of him, Zhu Biao instantly pushed the cards in his hand down and shouted excitedly.

"Did you hear that?"

In response to this, Zhu Gang was completely annoyed.

"Of course I understand, and I have already thought of a solution from the beginning."

"These vassal states were nominally conferred by the Ming Dynasty, and they must also pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty."

"As a nation of etiquette, we will return the favor."

"But trade is different. Trade is the lifeblood of a country. How can we confuse the two?"

"And even if they want to open up trade with our Ming Dynasty, they have to wait until the beginning of next spring."

"Because it will be early next spring before envoys from various countries can come to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to discuss specific matters."

“This is the fastest time I’ve ever calculated.”

"Then we can make some preparations during this period, such as expanding the Shenji Camp."

"After all, the current time is enough for us to produce a large number of firearms."

"Then when these envoys arrive in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, we can show them the majesty and might of the Ming Dynasty, as well as its elite firearms."

"In this way, the military deterrence of our Ming Dynasty and advanced firearms will inevitably spread to their country. With such a deterrent, who dares to act rashly?"

Zhu Biao picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, and then smiled.

(End of this chapter)