Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 16: Physically disabled but mentally strong
Chen Ce struggled to sit up and leaned against the head of the bed. He still looked a little weak, but felt much better than before.

He showed a warm smile and thanked Madam Wu: "Thank you, ahem, thank you."

Madam Wu was wearing a light blue single garment today, with a very thin cotton jacket underneath. She kept wearing this cotton jacket all the time.

Ordinary people don’t have the financial resources to change clothes every day. Having one cotton-padded jacket in the winter is considered good enough.

Madam Wu shook her head and said, "Mr. Chen, don't be so polite to me. It's only natural for neighbors to help each other... Didn't the guy from your family come?"

Chen Ce: “…”

Sure enough, she still thinks I am God Bunny, so Chen Ce needs to explain it to her.

Zhu Houzhao, you bastard, you have caused me so much trouble.

Chen Ce said helplessly: "Miss, you really misunderstood me. I really don't like men."

"Oh."

"It was such a misunderstanding that day."

"Ah."

Forget it. The more I explain, the worse it gets. I'll just stop explaining.

Madam Wu said that she heard a rooster crowing, so she came to check. After crowing a few times but hearing no one, she broke in and immediately saw Chen Ce lying in the kitchen.

I never thought that the big rooster sent by Zhu Houzhao was so spiritual.

Chen Ce thought of something and asked Miss Wu hurriedly, "How much did you pay for the consultation? I'll give it to you."

Madam Wu said, "Take a rest first, I will prepare dinner for you."

Chen Ce didn't hesitate and just kept thanking her.

After Wu Niangzi had finished everything, she went back to the next room, looked back at the courtyard, and sighed faintly, "We are both people who have been cast away in this world."

She really admired Chen Ce. She had also had similar experiences, but she could never face them as calmly as Chen Ce. She always complained about the unfairness of God, but over time she realized that complaining was useless. However, the process from experience to understanding was long and painful.

But she didn't see any such expression on Chen Ce's face just now.

Obviously he is not very old, but he can take it calmly. It would be great if he had a healthy body. But God always likes to play jokes on you. The poorer a person is, the more he will tease you and make you lose hope in life.

But this time God hit a wall.

The lights were on in Chen Ce's courtyard. After he finished his meal, he washed the pots and dishes and returned to his room.

Madam Wu took a look and was still a little worried. She would occasionally come out to check on Chen Ce to make sure he was okay before going in to embroider his clothes.

In the past she would go to bed early so as not to waste lamp oil, but this time she kept the lamp lit until very late.

Chen Ce continued to write in the study. He had read the four great classics, but could not write them. However, the system had stored a copy of "Rebirth of the Phoenix" in his mind. Chen Ce could not really say that he was writing, he was just copying. He was forced by life and had no other way to make money.

The ten acres of land given by Lord Ning will not generate any income in the short term, so I can only continue to write the second volume of "Rebirth of the Red Chamber".

When he wrote the first volume, he didn't understand it and directly sold it for ten taels of silver. This time he didn't plan to sell it directly, but to share the profits with the bookstore to maximize his profits.

He didn't know about the sales market in the Ming Dynasty. After learning about it, he realized that the novel market in the Ming Dynasty was also divided into buyout and profit sharing.

The first volume sold pretty well, so I had the confidence to bargain for the second volume.

Unfortunately, Chen Ce was suffering from tuberculosis and could not stay up late for long periods of time. He wrote very little every day, and ancient characters were difficult to write, so he could only persevere bit by bit.

After writing a few articles today, he prepared a blank notebook, which he planned to take out tomorrow as a gift to Zhu Houzhao in return.

It was late at night, and Chen Ce turned off the lights and went to sleep. He looked outside and saw that after he turned off the lights, the lights next door were also turned off.

……

The next morning, Chen Ce got up early and washed up. Mrs. Wu from next door greeted Chen Ce and asked him if he was feeling unwell.

Chen Ce then remembered that he had not paid the money yesterday, and hurriedly asked Mrs. Wu how much she paid for the consultation. Mrs. Wu said more than a hundred coins, but she did not say the exact amount, so she asked Chen Ce to just give her a hundred coins.

Chen Ce knew that there must be more than that, so he took out two hundred coins from the room and handed them to Madam Wu. Madam Wu refused to take it no matter what, until Zhu Houzhao came. She blushed and took it, probably because she was afraid that Zhu Houzhao would misunderstand something.

Zhu Houzhao stood with his hands behind his back while Liu Jin held two hens in his arms. He said with a smile, "Xiaobing... Young Master, our master always keeps his word. Here, your chickens."

Chen Ce was not polite and asked Liu Jin to put the chicken from the cage into the fence.

Seeing that Chen Ce hadn't cooked yet, Zhu Houzhao said impatiently, "Let's go out to eat. I'll treat you."

He was in a hurry and had not been to the suburbs yet. If he had enough time to go back and forth, he might be able to catch up with Jiao Fang's homework.

He is also afraid of that old man Jiao Fang!
Chen Ce asked Zhu Houzhao to wait a moment. He was carrying a small basket filled with pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

Zhu Houzhao asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"never mind."

He waved his hand and pointed at Liu Jin, saying, "Take it. Why are you standing there? Don't donate your eyes."

Liu Jin hurried over and snatched Chen Ce's small basket.

At the soup dumpling shop on Zhengyang Street, Zhu Houzhao was eating soup dumplings and drinking salty tofu pudding with a sizzling laugh.

Chen Ce drinks sweet drinks.

However, compared to Zhu Houzhao's carefree appearance, Chen Ce was much more polite. He took out the blue notebook and asked about the price of the restaurant's soup dumplings.

A basket of soup dumplings cost two cents, and Chen Ce recorded it in the book.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know what Chen Ce was doing and didn't ask.

However, Chen Ce did not seem to be in a hurry to go to the suburbs. He went to the cloth shop again and inquired about the price of cloth. Cotton was 1.6 cents per catty, blue cloth padded jacket was 4.5 cents per piece, dark blue cloth was 3.2 cents per piece, green shuttle cloth was 4.5 cents per piece, and flat white cloth was 4.8 cents per piece.

After asking at the cloth shop, he went to the mule shop. A good horse cost eighty-three taels and thirty-three cents each, while a good mule cost fifty taels each.

Then I went to the grain store and bought rice for about five to eight cents of silver per stone.

Zhu Houzhao really didn't know what Chen Ce was doing, but he just felt that he always had his own way of dealing with people. If he went to ask about the price himself, the shop owners would probably think he was a commercial spy, but they were chatting and laughing with Chen Ce.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but ask Chen Ce, "What are you doing? Didn't you say you were going to the suburbs to check on your land?"

Chen Ce smiled and said, "How much is a mule on the market?"

Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin in confusion, and Liu Jin also looked confused.

Chen Ce continued to ask: "How much is the price of rice in Hongzhi?"

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

Liu Jin: "..."

How would they know these things? They have no worries about food and drink in the East Palace, so talking about money would hurt feelings.

"I've recorded these prices for you. You can take a look at them when you have time."

"The most important issue for this country is not to drink from the vast sea and seal the wolf's lair. If you don't even know the prices, then your ambitions will be castles in the air."

These words made Zhu Houzhao's face turn red. He was so embarrassed that he couldn't say a word. He wanted to retort, but he couldn't find any angle to refute Chen Ce.

This is normal. No teacher in the Eastern Palace would care about these livelihood issues, nor would they bother to care about them. But this is the first lesson the Crown Prince should learn.

Only by understanding the lives of ordinary people can we think about how to govern the country.

Only by knowing the prices can one have a comprehensive understanding of the Ming Dynasty's finances. It is not possible to only see the whole picture through a tube.

(End of this chapter)