"Your Majesty, don't worry. Old Slave will settle things in Dongchang as soon as possible." Zhang Jing didn't dare to be negligent and quickly promised.
After making arrangements for Li Shizhen and Wei Liangfu, Zhu Yijun was idle again. Soon, the weather turned cold and the first snow of winter fell.
Zhu Yijun couldn't help but sigh. The first snow of this year came earlier than last year.
This wasn't Zhu Yijun being pretentious, but it really came earlier.
The Little Ice Age!
Mentioning these four words, Zhu Yijun had a headache. The Little Ice Age started at this time. It was fine at the beginning, but it would become more and more serious as time went on.
When a major disaster broke out all over the country, it would be all over the place.
Zhu Yijun didn't know the whereabouts of the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn that he found. He was very concerned about this matter.
In this era, everything was fake except for food. There was no need to panic when there was food in one's pocket!
However, there was no news for the time being. Zhu Yijun knew that he would have to wait until after the New Year. He didn't know if he could make it in time for the spring plowing.
After winter, the capital calmed down. However, there was one thing that surprised many people in the capital. There were people selling vegetables in the capital, and they were all green vegetables.
This vegetable shop was opened at the foot of the imperial city. The variety of vegetables inside was very complete.
The only thing that made people angry was that it was expensive. It was too expensive. It was simply too expensive.
Of course, this thing wasn't something that ordinary people could afford to eat. The shop was selling to the nobles.
The rich nobles didn't care at all. They pulled away cart after cart. The silver flowed into this shop like water.
There were also ignorant people who wanted to reach out, but soon, the news spread that this shop belonged to Wu Qingbo and Li Wei. So, no one dared to have any ideas.
In the past, Wu Qingbo and Li Wei might not be considered a big deal. There were many people who could afford to offend them. However, things were different now.
Now that the Emperor was still young, everyone knew that the Empress Dowager was in charge of the Imperial Palace. The Empress Dowager was the daughter of Wu Qingbo and Li Wei.
Now, Wu Qingbo's mansion was so prestigious that no one dared to offend it.
Naturally, there was no lack of vegetables in the palace. Wu Qingbo personally escorted the carriages into the palace, but not much.
It was enough to satisfy the emperor, princes, and princesses. Including Empress Li and Empress Dowager Chen, no one else had a share.
After all, there weren't many people who could make Wu Qingbo deliver food to them!
Of course, this also had something to do with the stinginess of Wu Qingbo and Li Wei. Now that vegetables were all money, he was reluctant to send them into the palace.
Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful.
Zhu Yijun accompanied Queen Dowager Li for dinner. The table was filled with green vegetables.
Wu Qingbo and Li Wei were also there. He had specially come to deliver food today, so Queen Dowager Li had him stay in the palace to eat.
It wasn't easy for her father to come here, so Queen Dowager Li also wanted to chat with her father.
"Empress Dowager, these vegetables are produced in the Imperial Plantation!"
Wu Qingbo smiled very happily and had a very proud expression on his face, "This way, the Imperial Plantation won't be idle during the winter. Moreover, the profits are quite good. After a few days of accounting, I'll have someone send the money into the palace."
"The Empress Dowager has a lot of expenses in the palace, so this money can help her a bit."
Seeing that her father was being so considerate, Queen Dowager Li was very happy and the smile on her face didn't stop.
Money was one thing, but the other was that her father was finally doing something serious.
In the past, her father also made money, but his methods weren't clean.
Although it wasn't the wrath of the heavens and the resentment of the people, it was really shameful to always be accused by the censors.
Although this time, they were using the Imperial Plantation's land, it added more income to the palace. Moreover, the money was coming in openly, so even the censors couldn't say anything.
Although it was expensive, it was expensive for a reason. Eating vegetables in the winter, how could you expect it to be cheap?
Giving the money to his mother was actually Zhu Yijun's idea. First, he didn't have much money in the palace treasury, and second, it was a covert move.
He wanted to give his mother some benefits and let her think that the Imperial Plantation was only used to grow vegetables, so that there wouldn't be any trouble in the future.
As for the money from selling vegetables, Zhu Yijun actually didn't care about it. He wanted the Imperial Plantation for another purpose.
This meal was a joyous one for both the host and the guest. While the palace gates weren't locked, Wu Qingbo left the Forbidden City and returned to his Wu Qingbo's mansion.
Zhang Juzheng's mansion.
As night fell, Zhang Juzheng stood on the steps in front of the study with his hands behind his back. The snow on the ground hadn't melted yet, so the moonlight shone brightly on it.
The temperature was a bit low. Although Zhang Juzheng was wearing a large cloak, he still felt a bit cold.
He took a deep breath and shivered. Zhang Juzheng felt a lot more energetic.
After thinking about things for a long time in the room, his head felt dizzy. He came out and took a deep breath to clear his head.
You Chi used the moonlight to walk over. When he saw Zhang Juzheng standing at the door, he said anxiously, "Master, why are you standing here in this cold weather? It's better to warm up inside. Old Slave had someone cook some rice porridge and prepare some cucumbers. Master, eat some to warm up."
Zhang Juzheng nodded. It was indeed a bit cold standing here, so he turned around and went into the house.
The warm rice porridge, coupled with the crisp and delicious cucumbers, went well with the rice. After drinking two bowls of porridge and eating two pieces of venison, Zhang Juzheng put down his chopsticks.
He couldn't help but say, "This Wu Qingbo's mansion has found a good business. I'm afraid it will make a lot of money this winter."
"It's going to be the Spring Festival soon. Maybe the price will rise again. It's a unique business!"
After listening to Zhang Juzheng's words, You Chi said with a smile, "Yes!
There are many people who are jealous, but no one dares to offend Wu Qingbo.
If you really offend him, he won't care about his reputation. He can do anything. "
Zhang Juzheng also smiled and then said, "It's also a good thing. This is also a fair and aboveboard business. No one can say anything.
If you really want to be serious, this is also farming, but it's farming in winter. "
"With this business, Wu Qingbo won't have any more ideas."
This was the focus of Zhang Juzheng's attention.
You Chi nodded. He also heard that some time ago, Wu Qingbo and Li Wei were planning to extend their hands into the military supplies business. It seemed that they were going to make a fortune.
The one who encouraged Wu Qingbo and Li Wei was Xu Congcheng, the Prince Congcheng's son-in-law. If they extended their hands, it would be another troublesome matter.
Whether it was Wu Qingbo and Li Wei, or the Prince Congcheng's son-in-law, they were all idiots who did not do proper work and only knew how to make money.
If the military supplies were handed over to them, then Daming's military supplies would be gone. However, there was no news these days. Obviously, Wu Qingbo and Li Wei did not agree.
Zhang Juzheng was originally puzzled, but now he understood.
Dealing with military supplies was time-consuming and laborious. It was not easy to earn money, and it was easy to be targeted by the censors. Now that there was an easier way to earn money, naturally, they would not touch the military supplies business.
This also made Zhang Juzheng heave a sigh of relief. Facing Wu Qingbo and Li Wei was also a headache for him.