sovbooks Chapter 32 He's a little afraid of you.
Chapter 32 He's a little afraid of you.
After Zhang Kun left after the meal, the woman in the fur robe came over carrying a snow-white Linqing lion cat.
"When we first adopted it, we thought it was a raccoon dog, but later we thought it was a leopard."
Zhang Ye looked at the lion cat in his wife's arms and shook his head, saying:
"I never imagined he was actually a 'biao' (a fierce and cunning man), destined to grow into a tiger sooner or later."
"What is my husband worried about?"
The beautiful woman in the fur robe sat down next to Zhang Ye, picked up the lion cat's paw, waved it, and asked with a smile:
"Is the child so afraid of not being fed that he will hurt people?"
Zhang Ye reached out and patted the lion cat's fluffy little head, then nodded to the woman in the fur robe:
"I worry that money and official positions alone will not be enough to feed him."
"Does my husband intend to keep him as a pet for the rest of his life?"
The woman in the fur robe put the lion cat on the ground and advised Zhang Ye:
"When he's a bit older, we'll let him go out and become a mountain king."
"If we let him out, with his personality, he'll definitely cause trouble."
Zhang Ye pointed to the antique jewelry not far away and sighed to the beautiful woman in the fur robe:
"He's not even fully grown yet, and he's already offended the Prince of Lu's family."
"Just distant relatives and vassal states."
The lion cat lazily lay at the feet of the woman in the fur robe, who gently tapped its little head.
He continued to persuade Zhang Ye:
"Throughout the court, who isn't fed up with these ever-increasing numbers of parasites..."
Upon hearing his wife directly call the imperial princes parasites, Zhang Ye quickly interrupted, "Don't talk nonsense!"
However, Zhang Ye knew that his wife was right; the court was indeed very tired of the imperial princes.
Because the princes and nobles consumed too much of the official salary!
In the early years of the Jiajing reign, Zonglu's expenses, after being converted to silver, amounted to approximately 61 taels, which was not yet such a heavy burden.
The number of people with the surname Zhu increased, and by the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, the imperial stipend expenditure had grown to 216 million taels!
The imperial court was forced to compile the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan" and drastically reduce the stipends for imperial clansmen to 126 million taels.
Moreover, during the Jiajing and Longqing reigns, seven princes—Hui, Liao, Shou, Ru, Jing, Yi, and Jing—were stripped of their titles.
There was also Prince Su. Although the court allowed a collateral branch of the family to be succeeded by a general in charge of assisting the state, his salary was still paid according to that of a general in charge of assisting the state.
In the eleventh year of the Wanli reign, the stipends for the imperial clan in Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces were set as permanent quotas and would not be increased further.
In addition, the imperial court began to default on stipends during the Hongzhi era, and the situation became increasingly serious.
So much so that Qing dynasty scholars actually commented on the Ming dynasty: "After the Zhou dynasty, the historical records show that the imperial family was treated with increasing indifference, which reached its extreme during the Ming dynasty."
Unfortunately, although the power of distant imperial relatives was reduced, the emperors continued to have sons:
During the Jiajing era, the total estates of the imperial princes amounted to less than 6 hectares.
The Longqing Emperor bestowed 4 hectares of land upon Prince Jing, while the Wanli Emperor granted 4 hectares to Prince Lu and 2 hectares to Prince Fu...
Today, the estates of the imperial princes and their families exceed 20 hectares!
Against the backdrop of increasingly serious arrears in the performance appraisal system, Zhang Juzheng removed the performance appraisal system from the scope of the performance appraisal law.
Because of the existence of these close relatives and princes, the expenditure of their stipends in silver has increased again to more than 150 million taels!
......
The courtyard of the Niangniang Temple in Majuqiao.
The beautiful woman in the fur robe kicked Zhang Kun away, pulled the silk quilt over her body, and refused:
"You beast, call that little girl in and give her a piece of your mind, I can't take it anymore!"
Zhang Kun was very frustrated. He got out of bed, walked to the table, grabbed the cooled teapot, and gulped it down in one go.
"...Your godfather has already set his sights on land in Liulichang."
The beautiful woman in the fur robe closed her eyes to rest for a moment, then spoke to Zhang Kun:
"We are looking for ways to relocate Liulichang outside the city as soon as possible."
"The Liuli Canal in Yuhedu, Wanping County?"
Zhang Kun cleaned the teapot of residue, poured in sweet water, placed it on a small stove to boil, and asked the beauty in the fur robe:
"Does your sister want to get involved?"
"Liulichang covers 420 acres, and the Ministry of Works wants to sell it piece by piece."
The beautiful woman in the fur robe took the tobacco box from the bedside, took out a peppermint tobacco, lit it by the oil lamp, and exhaled smoke, saying:
"The smallest one is over twenty acres, I don't have that kind of capital."
"Kun'er, I'll lend you this."
Zhang Kun immediately turned around, counted out a stack of silver notes from his satchel, totaling 1000 taels, and placed them on the bedside table, saying:
"Liulichang is located between Xuanwumen to the west and Zhengyangmen to the east. With such a prime location, the investment can be recouped in just a few years by renting it out."
"Wow, you're really rich now, aren't you? A thousand taels, and you don't even blink?"
The beautiful woman in the fur robe counted the silver notes, took out 500 taels, and pushed the other half back to Zhang Kun, saying, "I'll give you 30%."
Zhang Kun didn't say anything more and put the five hundred taels away.
"Come here, come here~"
The beautiful woman in the fur robe picked up a box from the bedside table, smiled and waved to Zhang Kun, patting the bed beside her.
This doesn't feel like a good thing!
Zhang Kun felt a little uneasy, but he still obediently walked over and sat down next to the woman in the fur robe.
The woman in the fur robe opened the box, which contained a set of facial grooming tools. She sneered at Zhang Kun:
"I told you to shave your stubble clean last time, but since you couldn't, I'll have to do it for you myself!"
In those days, few people shaved their beards, especially officials and gentry, who took pride in having a beautiful beard.
The problem was that Zhang Kun was used to shaving his beard, and in those days, having a beard made one more susceptible to lice.
He happened to meet a eunuch who became his godfather, and Zhang Kun used this connection to always shave his beard.
His skills aren't great, though; he often leaves stubble on his face.
Surprisingly, the woman in the fur robe was very skilled... wait!?
Suddenly remembering something, Zhang Kun asked the beautiful woman in the fur robe in a trembling voice, "Sister, how...how did you train?"
"Don't move!"
The beautiful woman in the fur robe grabbed Zhang Kun's chin and said with a wicked smile, "Hmph~ I used what I practiced myself."
After shaving, I grabbed a towel from the basin by the bed and wiped away the soap residue mixed with my stubble.
He carefully examined Zhang Kun's face, then smiled with satisfaction and said:
"Your godfather told me yesterday that he originally thought you were a cat, a leopard."
I never imagined you were actually a tigress; you'll grow into a tiger sooner or later!
Her eyes sparkled, and she leaned closer, whispering in Zhang Kun's ear:
"He's a little afraid of you."
Several more fierce battles ensued.
Ning Xuan'er timidly carried in a basin of water to serve Zhang Kun and the beauty in the fur robe as they washed and changed.
She never expected that her previous speculation about Zhang Kun and the woman in the fur robe was true.
Zhang Kun was truly so audacious as to dare to put a blue turban on his eunuch godfather!
"Don't be afraid."
Seeing that Ning Xuan'er was distracted, the beautiful woman in the fur robe reached out and touched her cheek, smiling slightly:
"After returning to the South City, take good care of my younger brother, and your sister will reward you."
......
In Xuanbeifang, more than two months later, Zhang Kun and Ning Xuan'er returned to the courtyard located in Liuxiang'er Hutong.
Although no one stays behind, Deng Wenqi from Feiduan, Xuanbeifang, often personally leads people to clean the area, making it very tidy.
After getting off the carriage, Ning Xuan'er instructed the maids to carry her belongings back to her room.
After hesitating for a long time, she mustered up her courage and began to persuade Zhang Kun:
"Master, the teacher who taught us at the brothel once said, 'Lust is a knife above one's head.'"
If... if that person finds out about your relationship with Madam Cheng, I'm worried... worried something might happen.
"If you wish, sir, I will come to your room tonight to serve you."
Zhang Kun stared at Ning Xuan'er expressionlessly, without saying a word.
Ning Xuan'er's eyes darted away, her hands trembling and her legs going weak with fear.
Just as he was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, Zhang Kun spoke gently:
"What you said makes a lot of sense, thank you for reminding me. However, I will make my own decision on this matter, so please don't mention it again."
Ning Xuan'er breathed a sigh of relief and was about to reply when Zhang Kun continued:
"This courtyard is too small. I plan to leave it to Xu Xin, and we'll move out and find a bigger courtyard."
"You'll be in charge of managing the household for me then, so you should learn how to do it beforehand."