Chapter 119: Emperor Gaozu of Han is not as good as me
Deng Qianqiu came closer and saw Wen Yuanji's trembling signature. He couldn't help but say, "Your handwriting is so ugly, you did it on purpose."

Wen Yuanji's face immediately turned red. He felt guilty and tried to defend himself, "Nonsense, Captain Deng, I swear to God, I have been taking notes all the time and have not dared to relax for even a moment. My arms are numb now and my handwriting is not very good. It is only natural that it is not very good."

Deng Qianqiu saw through his little trick at a glance, but didn't want to bother him any more, so he just ordered: "Copy it out, print it into a book, and sell it. See if the price can be lower."

Wen Yuanji was surprised and asked, "Still selling?"

Deng Qianqiu glared at him and asked, "Why, you can't sell it?"

Wen Yuanji was packing up the manuscripts in a hurry, and said with a wry smile: "Captain Deng, think it through."

Deng Qianqiu just found it funny. I haven’t thought it through before I tell you this?

It is precisely because Deng Qianqiu has been with Wen Yuanji for such a long time that he has such a strong desire to be a teacher.

Think about it, a Confucian scholar like Wen Yuanji is definitely one of the best in this era. It can be said that such a person will definitely be able to enter the government and hold a high position in the future.

But when he thought about... a sour person like Wen Yuanji, who was in a high position and whose words and actions could determine the fate of thousands of people, Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but shudder.

In later times, Deng Qianqiu once read that Zhu Yuanzhang was furious because a minister submitted a memorial to the emperor, in which the minister wrote tens of thousands of words about a trivial matter. He beat the minister severely.

When Deng Qianqiu saw this story, he just found it funny.

But now... when Deng Qianqiu knew that he and even his children and grandchildren would live under the governance of such a "noble man", Deng Qianqiu could already empathize with Zhu Yuanzhang. He even felt that Zhu Yuanzhang was still too conservative. If it were him, he would chop the bastard to death.

Of course, not all people trained under this system would be like Wen Yuanji, but Deng Qianqiu had to admit that such people, let alone the majority, would be enough to make him shudder even if there were only 20% or 30% of them.

In this case, then... no matter what, we must think about whether we can change it.

Even... just a little bit?
The scholars dispersed one after another, and the captains went back to their duties.

Deng Qianqiu then greeted the emperor and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang, saying, "Your Majesty..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Deng Qianqiu with an admiring look that he could not hide. He said with a smile, "Come on, it's rare for me to be outside the palace. Come with me, Xu Qingjia, for a walk. By the way, there is a pier built nearby, right?"

Deng Qianqiu corrected: "It is an expansion, not a new construction."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with some emotion: "I remember that when I led the troops to attack this place, I landed at the ferry nearby. At that time... there was no one living here, and the streets were deserted... Oh, forget it, let's not talk about the past."

Deng Qianqiu pretended to be amazed and said, "I never thought that Your Majesty had already braved the arrows and stones and led the troops to attack the city? Alas... I thought Your Majesty must have stayed far away and led the rear army. You are so wise and brave. Among the founding emperors, I am afraid that even Emperor Gaozu of Han is far inferior to Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang's smile suddenly disappeared, and he said with a stern face: "Bullshit, Emperor Gaozu of Han was such a great man, why are you comparing him with me? I am not as good as him in many aspects."

Deng Qianqiu suddenly became annoyed: "Yes, yes, I shouldn't compare like this."

"But..." Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "Emperor Gaozu of Han had many good qualities, but he was too narrow-minded. When he ascended the throne, he still remembered the grudge of Mrs. Qiu and made his brother's son the Marquis of Gengjie. He was also suspicious by nature and killed the families of meritorious officials. It seems that his biggest shortcoming was his cruelty and suspicion, and he was not broad-minded and magnanimous."

What this means is that Emperor Gaozu of Han was too narrow-minded. Even after becoming emperor, he still remembered the hatred of being treated badly by his sister-in-law and only gave his nephew a title of marquis. Moreover, he was so fickle, suspicious of and killing meritorious officials...

Deng Qianqiu was so confused after hearing this. Is this what a human being would say? To be more precise, is this something that you, the Ming Taizu, would say?
But Zhu Yuanzhang was beaming with joy, as if he was in a very good mood today. He did not notice the embarrassment of Deng Qianqiu, who could dig out a map of the Ming Dynasty with his toes. He continued in a loud voice: "I am not like that. Since I ascended the throne, I have been lenient to people, valued meritorious service, and treated meritorious officials well. These are all from the bottom of my heart. Take Left Prime Minister Li Qing for example. Since he fell ill, I have sought medical treatment for him and asked about his health. It can be said that I have taken great pains. This Liu Bang is such a great ruler, but this is the only thing he is far inferior to me. What a pity, what a pity."

Hehehe...

Deng Qianqiu smiled inwardly.

But soon, he couldn't laugh anymore. After all, what was he laughing at? If one day Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still laughing at Liu Bang today, turned evil, he would cry.

No, he must be allowed to feel more of the good side of human nature and must not turn evil.

The three of them arrived at the dock near the Hundred Households Office, and found that the river here was indeed badly blocked.

The cargo coming and going from the south and the north, as well as the flow of people on the ferry, make it impossible to move here.

After taking a few steps, Zhu Yuanzhang began to sweat profusely.

So he had no choice but to say, "You can't go any closer. If you go in again, you might not be able to get out."

Then he took Deng Qianqiu to a nearby teahouse and sat down.

This teahouse was already packed with guests, bustling with people, and the waiters were all busy.

"Sir, what kind of tea would you like?" Deng Qianqiu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, then at Xu Da. Seeing the two sitting still, he smiled helplessly. He immediately took out a piece of silver from his pocket, put it on the table and said, "Bring some good tea, and a few plates of cakes."

The waiter's eyes lit up, knowing that he had met an important customer this time, and asked for money immediately.

As a result, before he could pick up the silver, someone else had already gotten there first. Zhu Yuanzhang calmly snatched the silver away and said slowly, "Go get some tea and cakes."

The waiter stared at the silver, cleared his throat, but still left unwillingly.

Zhu Yuanzhang, on the other hand, acted as if no one was around and just pursed his lips at Xu Da.

Xu Da understood what he meant and searched the bag on his waist, and finally took out an ear spoon.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, but finally took it. He rubbed the spoon on the silver block and finally pried out a crack. The silver block was split into two. He picked up one of the pieces of silver, which was as big as a soybean, and put it on the table. He gave the rest to Deng Qianqiu and said, "This big piece of silver is enough for the salary of that clerk for one or two months. If you spend it lavishly like this, what will happen to you in the future? Money and goods are money and goods, and you still have to be frugal."

Deng Qianqiu was embarrassed and laughed dryly: "Yes, yes."

Well, the emperor knows how to live better than him!
When the waiter brought the tea, he saw that the large pieces of silver had turned into small pieces as big as soybeans. Although he was reluctant, he still accepted it with a smile.

After all, even so, it was enough to cover his expenses for ten days or half a month.

So he still said with a smile on his face: "Sir, enjoy your meal."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Wait a minute."

The waiter's smile was towards Deng Qianqiu. Although he was smiling at Zhu Yuanzhang, he was not as warm as before. He still asked, "I wonder if the distinguished guest has any other instructions?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Why are there so many people here?"

The clerk said, "They are all workers at the nearby docks. They are tired and come here to rest."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and saw that many people were indeed dark-skinned and dressed in short clothes. He frowned and asked, "How dare the porters here come to drink tea?"

The waiter said, "Why are you reluctant? Their wages are not small now. Think about it, my dear guest. There are so many cargo ships coming and going from the south and the north that need to dock. When they dock, they need to unload the cargo, which always requires manpower. This is a very strenuous job. If the pay is too low, why don't they do something else?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little stunned. Although he knew that Jiangning County had undergone great changes, he had no direct feeling of it. Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he realized how scary it was.

"I didn't expect that it wasn't like this before." Zhu Yuanzhang said subconsciously.

The guy laughed and said, "Of course, today is different from the past."

Then, he lowered his voice and said, "The footmen make money, and the owner of our teahouse also makes a fortune, right? Every day, the teahouse is packed with guests, and the business is many times better than in previous years. It's just a pity for us, the guys, who have to stay at home every day."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang roughly understood Deng Qianqiu's thinking.

Although what I said just now was just theoretical talk, the real feeling now is even more profound.

He couldn't help but say: "In that case, your life should be good too."

“This…” The clerk chuckled, “How can life be bad in Jiangning County? Hahaha… This is all thanks to the Hundred Households Office and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince…”

Zhu Yuanzhang had been asking casually at first, but when he suddenly heard his eldest son mentioned, he became more interested: "The Hundred Households Office... I know about this, but what does 'thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince' mean?"

The waiter suddenly became mysterious and lowered his voice and said, "Your Excellency is really confused. Think about it, what is our centurion called? It is called Chunhe Palace! Do you know Chunhe Palace? Chunhe Palace is the residence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Now you understand. Well, there are many things that you would not believe even if I told you..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up at this moment, and he suddenly stretched out his hand towards Deng Qianqiu.

Deng Qianqiu was confused: "What?"

"Silver, bring the silver back."

Deng Qianqiu: “…”

Deng Qianqiu had no choice but to quietly take out the silver bar that Zhu Yuanzhang had just cut from his arms and hand it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately stuffed the silver into the clerk's hand and said, "Believe it, believe it, why don't you believe it? Come on, clerk, tell me what's the matter?"

When the clerk saw the silver, he immediately smiled with joy, and hurried over to thank him for the reward in a friendly manner, then he lowered his voice and said more mysteriously: "Do you want to know the secrets of the imperial palace... It's absolutely horrifying!"

(End of this chapter)