The spring light was bright and beautiful.
On Zhengyang Street in Beiping, the crowd was crowded and bustling.
A white-robed young man with red lips, white teeth, and a face as fair as peach blossoms was slowly strolling on the street with a cape draped over his shoulders.
Occasionally, he would meet a few familiar neighbors and greet them.
"Little Su, are you buying groceries?"
"Yes, yes. Hello, Aunt Ma and Uncle Zhao.”
"Good, good, good. Are you feeling better?”
"Yeah."
After greeting him, Su Ce continued to walk slowly. Whether it was the butcher shop or the market, the vendors here would always give this polite young man more dishes.
A group of adorable commoners.
Su Ce was still holding a blank book and a charcoal pen.
After he bought the dishes, he would take out a book and record the food. The price of grain in Beiping included the price of wheat, rice, and millet.
Occasionally, he would walk around the cloth and silk shop and chat with the shop owner. After he left, he would record the price of the cloth and silk.
These inconspicuous things, things that even politicians would not pay attention to, Su Ce paid special attention to.
This was because they could calculate the daily expenses of ordinary people in Ming Dynasty, and thus know how much ordinary people's expenses were, how much income was enough to feed them, and how much income was enough to let them live a well-off life.
These things were not for Su Ce to see, but for Zhu Houzhao to see, so that he could have an intuitive understanding of the living conditions of the Ming people.
Su Ce didn't know how much longer he could live. He wanted to make the empire grow as quickly as possible in this limited time and make the empire develop in an even bigger direction.
He wanted the Han people to not be invaded by the Qing army, and for the Han people to become the world's hegemon in just 500 years. He wanted the future China to stand at the top of the world, and he wanted his country to no longer suffer the pain of losing 300,000 people!
It was laughable.
Why would a dying person think so much? Couldn't he just wait for death at home?
Some people would choose to do so, but some people would continue to strive for self-improvement.
Su Ce belonged to the latter.
He was holding a dish in his hand and walking on the crowded Zhengyang Street. He noticed a familiar figure in the crowd.
He was in his forties and had a refined appearance.
The middle-aged scholar was also slightly shocked when he saw Su Ce, but he still walked over and asked Su Ce,""Are you feeling better?"
"No." Su Ce shook his head.
"Uncle Ning, I'll go back first."
"Yes."
In this era where public relations were underdeveloped, bureaucrats could go out on the streets or enter brothels and houses because no one knew who they were when they took off their official robes.
Ning Cheng was the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture in Beiping.
He was also Su Ce's father-in-law, but that was in the past.
The reason why he came to Beiping from Suzhou was to complete his parents 'last wish.
However, the other party's words were clearly rejecting this marriage.
Su Ce didn't force her, nor did he shamelessly beg for help. He took the initiative to thank the other party for breaking off the engagement, not wanting to delay the other party's daughter's future.
He talked about how he looked down on others and how he would slap the other party's face in the future when he was in a high position.
Su Ce did not have such thoughts. He ended the marriage in the most ordinary way.
Magistrate Ning looked at the weak body slowly disappearing from his sight and sighed slightly.
He didn't fight for it, he didn't have any resentment, and he knew how to be polite. If it was a healthy child, Ning Cheng wouldn't reject this marriage.
Since he was able to become a magistrate, of course he would not look down on others.
However, he did not dare to bet his precious daughter's future on the recovery of a man with consumption.
If his daughter married him and left within two or three years, wouldn't he be a widow for the rest of his life?
Which parent didn't love their child?
……
In the small courtyard of the ivy.
Zhu Houzhao looked at the construction blueprint that Su Ce threw at him and was stunned.
How was this repairing a house? You clearly want to build a mechanism array for this inconspicuous house!
The mechanisms on it were all exquisite, and Zhu Houzhao was extremely excited when he saw them.
He liked these strange things the most. Ever since he first saw these mechanism blueprints, he was excited.
Taking advantage of Su Ce's departure, he quickly ordered people to go to the Eastern Palace to find some servants.
He didn't want outsiders to see such an exquisite mechanism array.
The servants of the Eastern Palace worked very hard to install the various mechanisms in this small courtyard.
When Su Ce came back with the dishes.
Zhu Houzhao pulled Su Ce excitedly and said,""Little mister, where did you get this mechanism blueprint?”
"Oh," Su Ce said,"I drew it casually."”
He couldn't say that it was a reward from the system.
"High, high! Wonderful, very good!"
"With these mechanisms, no thief can enter your small courtyard.”
Su Ce smiled and didn't really care.
He squatted by the well and bent down to draw water, but Zhu Houzhao took the job.
Su Ce squatted beside him and washed the dishes that were not too heavy.
While washing the dishes, he asked Zhu Houzhao,""Do you know how much money an ordinary family of three needs every month to maintain their food and clothing?”
"I don't know. Why would I want to know?" Zhu Houzhao was stunned.”
"Then, if the net financial income of the imperial court is twenty million taels of silver every year, do you think it is much or little?" Su Ce smiled.”
"Ah?"
This…he didn't know.
He did not have such a concept.
And how should he define the concept of how much? There was no way to define it.
If he knew how much money the commoners needed to survive every year and compared them, wouldn't he be able to know how much the imperial court earned?
The rulers were concerned about finances, but they were concerned about the finances of major projects, national defense expenditure, water conservancy projects, and palace construction. These expenditures were very large.
But to what extent? Compared to the lives of ordinary people?
If the future of the empire was to be made into a joke, would the country be able to recover?
The prices of the common people were naturally as low as the dust, but it was also a big matter that could not be considered big. They could not sit on the top for too long and be separated from the sufferings of the common people.
Su Ce looked at Zhu Houzhao and smiled as he took out a small booklet from his pocket.""I went to the shops today and asked about their living conditions, as well as the prices of firewood, rice, oil, salt, silk, cloth, and hemp in Shuntian Prefecture.”
"Take a look when you have time.”
"Alright, alright!" Zhu Houzhao hurriedly said.”
Just now, he was very embarrassed. Su Ce had asked him a lot of questions, and he didn't know anything, which made him look very embarrassed.
Now that he knew the prices of Shuntian Prefecture, he would have a rough idea of how much the 22 million taels of silver were.
He was a strong Crown Prince! He couldn't lose face in front of Su Ce!
……
"Ding! Your house experience points 100%, your house level up to LV2 "
"Ding! A new function has been activated in your house-Nurturing."
The system's voice sounded in Su Ce's mind.
……
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