Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 650: Dowry, Civil Engineering
Chu Kuan was very sure that this was not a question that a mature Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace would ask.
However, even if the emperor had considered making the third prince the crown prince a year ago, it was probably just a vague idea and he didn't think too deeply about it. It was only after the failure of the first prince Cangzhou that the idea really took shape. In this case, how could Chu Kuan have considered the third prince as a popular candidate for the East Palace from the beginning?
After all, the eldest and second princes were two huge . Moreover, the third prince was shy and the fourth prince was impulsive and reckless. From any perspective, they were not qualified candidates for the crown prince. Chu Kuan hoped that the emperor could stay healthy and then have more princes with his concubines to choose from.
For this reason, the woman who was too jealous and did not have the bearing of a queen was naturally listed as a target that he must eliminate. Now, that woman has become the deposed queen, and the emperor directly sent the eldest and second princes out of the capital, while the third prince was like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, gradually spreading his wings and radiating a different brilliance.
Now, although the Third Prince asked him such an immature question, Chu Kuan felt relieved. He lowered his head and said in a calm voice, "Your Highness, I did it on purpose."
The third prince almost blurted out the word "Why?" Fortunately, he still had a deep memory of the emperor's lecture last night, so he managed to hold it back. He finally said dryly, "I understand. Since the emperor has ordered you to serve here, from now on , you will be in charge of everything inside and outside the Ciqing Palace. You will be the only one left during the lectures."
"I respect the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Chu Kuan bowed deeply and respectfully agreed, then said as if nothing had happened, "But now that I'm here, Grand Secretary Kong, who previously proposed to allow illiterate people to serve in the East Palace, may be furious."
"I don't need him to tell me what to do!"
The Third Prince sneered in anger, which was rare for him. When he saw Chu Kuan straighten up, with a strange look on his face, he suddenly realized that his self-proclaimed attitude and attitude seemed too strong. He looked away awkwardly, and after a long while he said seriously, "Father believes in you, so I also believe in you. Eunuch Chu is smart and capable, and the small Ciqing Palace is handed over to you."
Thinking back to last night, the other two scribes who came with Chu Kuan were directly dismissed from their posts and placed in idleness, but Chu Kuan was sent to Ciqing Palace to serve as a scribe after being relieved of his position as the seal-bearer by the emperor. As for his rank and treatment, he did not mention a word. After a pause, he continued, "However, Ciqing Palace is not my bedroom, and I do not live here on weekdays, so there is no need for a steward badge."
Chu Kuan didn't expect the Third Prince to block this road directly. He was slightly stunned, then lowered his head and answered respectfully: "Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince usually lives in Zhaoren Palace and is taught by the Emperor himself. Ciqing Palace is just a place for reading. It has no other use except sweeping. The study is also swept by someone in the morning and evening, so there is naturally no need for a steward's badge."
"My job here is to take care of the writing and the house. I will do my best to prevent anyone from hiding anything messy in any corner. That's all."
The Third Prince was not an ignorant child. He understood Chu Kuan's meaning immediately and his hair stood on end. Hiding all kinds of things could be framed, or worse, witchcraft...
But he settled down in an instant. In the later years of several generations of emperors in this dynasty, when the princes fought for the throne until their brains were beaten out, there was no witchcraft and nightmare tricks that were common in the Han and Tang dynasties. It is said that they were actually quietly dealt with.
Because when Emperor Taizu was in power, he said that witchcraft would never be tolerated in this dynasty. I think there were many people like Chu Kuan working in secret to avoid angering the ancestors to death... No, they angered the ancestors so much that they came back to life from the grave!
Therefore, after taking a deep look at the former eunuch who had made great achievements since his grandfather Ruizong and worked diligently by his father's side for nearly thirty years, the Third Prince nodded slightly and said, "Then I will leave the Ciqing Palace to you, Eunuch Chu."
Chu Kuan breathed a sigh of relief only after he saw the thin and short figure of the Third Prince disappear from his sight. He had a rough assessment of the days he would spend in Ciqing Palace in the future. He and the Third Prince did not have the same affection as the Emperor, nor did they have the trust built up through life and death. He still had a lot of things to do.
Zhang Shou, who had achieved two admonitions within a few days, felt helpless when he left the palace. He had originally intended to develop the rural tourism industry by taking advantage of the name of a famous scholar, but by some strange coincidence, he himself became a famous scholar (famous teacher), and a teacher who would beat people with a ruler at any time. What the hell was this?
Chu Kuan's appearance in Ciqing Palace today seemed to be a long-planned plot. He even suspected that everything that happened in these days was controlled by this guy who once claimed in front of him that the inheritance of the torch depended on the eunuch party!
When Zhang Shou walked out of Dong'an Gate, Ah Liu came up with a horse. The master and servant rode leisurely as usual, but this time they went to the Outer City Public School. Although the move was not complete, he never wanted to go to the Imperial College again.
As for the many Jiuzhangtang attendants who left the palace earlier than them, they of course shared a carriage. These carriages were free rental carriages unique to the public school. At the suggestion of Lu Sanlang, Lu Wan specially mobilized donations from all parties to maintain them. At several fixed times in the morning, noon, and afternoon every day, there would be two or three carriages going between the inner and outer cities to pick up and drop off students. If you calculated it right, you could catch up.
Seeing Zhang Shou riding on his horse and telling him about the Third Prince's initiative to ask for a fight today, Ah Liu listened silently and suddenly said, "I went back home and my wife went to the Duke of Zhao's mansion. I heard that the Madam and the Madam invited her to see the dowry furniture prepared there."
Zhang Shou, who was feeling sad about the passing of time, was suddenly stunned. His mind suddenly shifted from the empty realm of consciousness to the daily necessities of life.
That’s right, Lu Sanlang got married first, and the next one was Zhu Tingfang, and then he… and for him, he didn’t have to prepare anything before the wedding, he didn’t even have to take measurements to prepare the groom’s attire!
That's right, because in this era, common people would wear the clothes of a ninth-rank official when they got married. As for officials and noble children, it was much simpler, they could just wear their official uniforms! Of course, they didn't wear dark court clothes, but official uniforms with more festive patterns. Of course, forget about wearing red, after all, he was only a fifth-rank official, and he was still far from being able to wear bright red and flaunt it in public.
Zhang Shou sighed softly, then said with a bit of toothache: "What on earth were Madam Tai and Aunt Jiu thinking? They actually asked mother to come and see the dowry of the future daughter-in-law?"
"The furniture is not an ordinary dowry. It is made long ago with the best materials. Who knows if it suits your taste?" Ah Liu seriously refuted Zhang Shou. Seeing that he seemed to be about to speak, he said solemnly, "The lady also said that she would ask the eldest lady to go to Zhang Garden in person to choose the new house for you after your marriage. She said that the current yard will be reserved for you to live in."
"Anyway, Zhang Garden is big, and many places were previously empty. There was no furniture anyway, so it's just right to fill it up."
Zhang Shou was embarrassed. When the emperor "sold" Zhang Garden to him at an absurdly low price, it was indeed well maintained. However, a house needs people to maintain its vitality. Even though there were people who had been repairing the house, taking care of the garden, sweeping the road, and cleaning the pond before... it was impossible to mobilize so many people who had been there when Prince Lu was alive to wipe and maintain all the furniture.
Therefore, in several main courtyards, those furniture made of high-quality materials and extremely solid workmanship still exude an antique luster after more than ten years, but many of the side courtyards that were previously used for servants to live in, and even for guests, were found to be in good condition in appearance but rotten inside within a few months after he moved in, and finally had to be thrown away.
Since it was useless to buy furniture and just leave it there, he discussed with Wu and decided to clear out the rotten furniture one by one. As a result, there were naturally many empty houses and yards without furniture in the entire Zhang Garden.
Therefore, Zhang Shou and Wu were very happy that there were more and more guests in Zhang Garden these days. Because if there were no more people living there, those courtyards with good furniture might be ruined. On the contrary, the only extra expenses for Zhang Garden with guests coming here were their food and drink. As for the various utensils...
That was even simpler. Wu led people to count the furniture in the guest rooms at home, and then moved the ones with similar styles. To be more precise, it should be to rob Peter to repair Paul. Anyway, the furniture in the guest rooms is similar, so just put them together and they will be complete.
Some of these guests brought their own followers, some liked to chat with the little guys working in Zhang Yuan, and while asking about things, they also taught some random things, and some would be very diligent in cleaning the house themselves... Among them was Mr. Song, who was often jokingly called Song Benben by Ah Liu. As for the remaining staff, Zhang Yuan also had people to fill in, and it was just right for training.
In the previous move to entertain guests, Zhang Garden had several beautiful views, but because there was no owner, the furniture was moved and now it is empty. Although Zhang Shou is not short of money now, he has no time to enjoy the scenery at home and is too lazy to spend money to buy furniture.
After all, the most popular furniture painting techniques these days, such as carved lacquer, covering lacquer, filling lacquer, mother-of-pearl, and gilding, all depend on one word, and that is money!
As a result, from what Ah Liu said, Zhu Ying's elders were planning to use this opportunity to fill up all those empty rooms at once! How much furniture did the Madam and the others prepare for the eldest daughter as a dowry?
Moreover, according to the rules of the capital, large items such as furniture are not included in the dowry, but are quietly laid out before the dowry is delivered. If the dowry is estimated according to the size of the furniture, then Zhu Ying really needs a ten-mile red dowry?
As he thought about it, Zhang Shou couldn't help but ask thoughtfully, "Mother went to the Duke Zhao's mansion, so where is Yingying?"
When he heard Zhang Shou asking Zhu Ying, Ah Liu's expression suddenly became more vivid. He said with great joy, "The eldest lady said that she invited Madam Hong to go out with her today to hire a female doctor for the women's school."
Zhu Ying really went all out to do this. Compared to the young lady who used to call friends and ride horses in the capital, she is now full of energy and vitality... But, she just left Princess Yongping behind. Didn't she think that this would only make the conflict worse? Maybe it's not just Zhu Ying, Princess Yongping is also a troublemaker...
Thinking of this, Zhang Shou rode his horse all the way south. After passing Chongwenmen, he did not go to the public school immediately. Instead, as it was already past lunch time, he simply changed his route and went to Xinglong Tea House first.
Because the first Imperial Chef Selection Competition had ended, he thought that the area that was once prosperous might see a decrease in traffic. However, he never expected that there would be a large-scale construction going on here. Remembering that he had not seen this scene when he came here on the day of the finals a few days ago, he had to ask Ah Liu to stop a passerby to ask, and the person was stunned when he saw him.
Although Zhang Shou had changed out of his official uniform as soon as he came out of the palace, his face was mostly covered by the warm hat and sable fur coat, but it gave him an air of wealth and nobility. Therefore, even if his face was not immediately recognizable, it was enough for the old man to stare at it for a while.
"This young man is so handsome... ahem, they say that Master Zhang of the Eastern Palace looks like a banished immortal, I think this young man is not bad either..." After praising him for a long time, he laughed and said, "If you want to know why a house is being built here, you should ask me. My son has taken over the work of a mason here... ahem, what is being built here is a mathematical classics hall."
Seeing Zhang Shou's astonishment, the old man suddenly became even more proud: "I heard that this was proposed by the third son of the Lu family, the favorite disciple of Zhang Xueshi. Although the elders in the court disagreed, Lu Jijiu was very supportive, so after secretly preparing, he started construction in the past two days. It is said to be a mathematical library, but he plans to donate part of his family's collection of books for free borrowing by readers."
"But the reason why it was named Suanjing Hall was because he wanted to thank Master Zhang for helping him raise a good son."
Even though Zhang Shou knew that this was definitely a publicity stunt by Lu Wan, he still wanted to give a thumbs up to the school's chief priest who was becoming more and more sophisticated. Moreover, the old man said proudly at this point, "Chief priest Lu is compassionate, and with the help of the Holy Emperor, many wealthy families have donated money, and now my grandson has a place to go to school."
"It was really expensive to send him to a teacher before. Although he had some talent, he only knew a hundred or so characters after a year of study and could write a few of them. Now he can go to a public school, the annual cost is very low, and the teacher is good. I am so happy! I heard that there will be a few more public schools to teach other skills. I am looking forward to it!"
Seeing someone holding up three fingers and telling him that he had three grandchildren at home, Zhang Shou immediately laughed. However, after laughing and saying goodbye to the old man, he thought to himself that some of the trial products in his Tiangong Workshop were far from enough to be produced by himself, and they should be put into large-scale production. Only large-scale production will generate the corresponding demand for literate workers.
However, it is not necessary to monopolize the benefits. Sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone. The one-time authorization buyout method may induce some people to get on board... Just as he was thinking this, he heard an enthusiastic voice: "Master Zhang, you are here too? Lu Jijiu wanted to give you a surprise, but he didn't expect that he couldn't hide it from you!"
