GBP Chapter 470 This is outrageous! It's bullying the emperor like this!
Chapter 470 This is outrageous! It's bullying the emperor like this!
Yang Shaofeng did not hesitate to retaliate against Emperor Zhu's slander.
Yang Shaofeng pointed to another shop not far away and said, "Isn't that a shop that says Qixia Apples?"
"Isn't that one next to it labeled 'Laiyang Pear'?"
"And that one, isn't it written as 'Penglai Fried Fish'?"
Emperor Zhu sneered and said, "Anything else? Show me one. I want to find a sign that doesn't say Ningyang or which county in your Dengzhou Prefecture."
When asked this question by Emperor Zhu, Yang Shaofeng immediately fell silent.
But then Yang Shaofeng said, "It's not that I can't find them, but that all the merchants from Jiangnan have gone to the border market. Ordinary small merchants wouldn't come to Dengzhou Prefecture to do business."
Therefore, the reason why so many shops in Xiguan Market have signs from Ningyang and a certain county in Dengzhou is entirely because the merchants from Jiangnan are not competitive enough.
It's definitely not because I, as an official, have taken more than my share.
Yang Shaofeng became more and more assertive as he spoke: "I've thought it over. I'll have the Chang brothers find a few well-known shops in the capital and have them open branches here in Dengzhou."
"Like Nanjing salted duck, Nanjing roast duck, Nanjing osmanthus cake, and so on."
"Aren't all of these places named after Jinling?"
"Oh right, and there's also West Lake Vinegar Fish and Song Sister Fish Soup. You could add the word 'Hangzhou' before them."
"And there's that Xuzhou-style gift of pork, and Huangzhou-style Dongpo pork."
"There are far too many places that don't bear the names of Ningyang County and Dengzhou."
"If they don't want to open a shop in Dengzhou Prefecture, they should be blamed, not your son-in-law."
Ok? ? ?
Emperor Zhu suddenly felt that what his son-in-law said seemed to make sense.
Could it be that we've wronged him?
Empress Ma, standing next to Emperor Zhu, glanced at him and whispered, "Just eat his food, drink his drinks, and listen to him. Don't argue with him."
After Empress Ma said that, Emperor Zhu immediately realized what was going on.
I've been led astray by that bastard again!
Emperor Zhu snorted coldly, then simply walked past Yang Shaofeng and headed towards a shop with a sign that read "Wine".
Perhaps sensing that Emperor Zhu's imposing presence was unlike that of an ordinary person, the shopkeeper immediately came forward, bowing and scraping as he asked, "What kind of wine would you like, sir?"
Emperor Zhu, his face dark, snorted and said, "I'm not feeling well and want to drink some good wine, preferably grain-brewed liquor. Do you have any here?"
The shopkeeper's expression immediately changed, and he cautiously replied, "Sir, our shop has wine, pear wine, and jujube wine. And the spirits you requested..."
It's hard to say whether or not they have shochu (a type of Chinese liquor).
Especially since the customer opposite them didn't look like an ordinary person.
After all, the imperial court prohibited alcohol, especially spirits, so ordinary people could only drink fruit wine and the like.
As for distilled spirits... brewing distilled spirits illegally is a serious crime.
Just as the shopkeeper hesitated, Yang Shaofeng walked in and said to him, "This is my father-in-law. You don't need to hide anything. Just take out the sorghum liquor you've been hiding."
The shopkeeper glanced at Yang Shaofeng, then at Emperor Zhu, and suddenly knelt down with a thud, kowtowing to Emperor Zhu and saying, "This humble subject, Zhang Wuba, pays his respects to Your Majesty the Emperor!"
Emperor Zhu grunted and said, "Get up."
After Zhang Wuba stood up, Emperor Zhu asked again, "Do you recognize him? And do you know us?"
Zhang Wuba replied nervously, "Your Majesty, I am from Xihe Village in Ningyang County. I have seen you, sir, many times when I was in Xihe Village, and I know that your father-in-law is His Majesty the Emperor."
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement and then asked, "You know how to brew wine? Is it brewed wine or spirits?"
Zhang Wuba answered honestly, "Yes, I learned the craft of brewing wine from my family since I was a child. In the past two years, my family has stored up too much sorghum, so I brewed some sorghum liquor on my own."
"However, I did not sell it privately. I just kept some in the shop for myself to drink occasionally."
Emperor Zhu ignored Zhang Wuba's explanation and instead frowned, asking, "Is there too much sorghum stored? How much?"
Zhang Wuba glanced at Yang Shaofeng, but Yang Shaofeng just smiled and said, "Just answer truthfully. Anyway, His Majesty has already issued an edict to exempt taxes."
Emperor Zhu almost couldn't catch his breath.
What do you mean by saying that we have already issued an imperial decree to exempt taxes?
So, you people from Ningyang County dare to take advantage of others so blatantly?
This is outrageous! It's an insult to the emperor!
That bastard, we need to find a way to teach him a lesson, otherwise he'll be so arrogant!
Just as Emperor Zhu was secretly angry, Zhang Wuba honestly replied, "My family stored more than a thousand catties of sorghum last year. If we add the leftovers from the year before last, it would probably be close to two thousand catties."
Emperor Zhu's eyes widened, and he asked, "How much?"
Zhang Wuba glanced cautiously at Emperor Zhu and replied, "Small...small two thousand catties."
"The main problem is that suddenly nobody eats sorghum anymore."
"Besides, we don't usually need this much sorghum to feed chickens and pigs."
"In a moment of confusion, I thought I might as well brew some wine."
Who the hell cares if you brew wine or not!
At this moment, Emperor Zhu's mind was filled with only the words "two thousand catties".
What does "small two thousand jin" mean?
Assuming one person eats three catties of sorghum a day, about two thousand catties would be enough to feed two people for a whole year.
If you cook it into a porridge to fill your stomach, this little over two thousand catties of sorghum would be enough to feed a family for a year.
In other words, with these two thousand catties of sorghum as a base, even if there is no harvest for a whole year, it is enough to ensure the livelihood of the family.
and many more.
Emperor Zhu suddenly came to his senses and looked at Zhang Wuba, asking, "What do you mean by suddenly no one is eating sorghum anymore?"
Before Zhang Wuba could answer, Yang Shaofeng said directly, "This son-in-law knows, because sorghum doesn't taste good and doesn't keep you full."
"After all, there are only a few ways to eat sorghum, and it's not nearly as delicious as wheat-based noodles."
"In addition, the people of Ningyang County are not lacking in oil and fish now. They can occasionally eat chicken or fish, so naturally no one is willing to eat sorghum anymore."
"The reason why every household still grows sorghum is mainly because they were afraid of starvation in the past and always thought of storing some sorghum to save their lives."
"But no one expected that every household would have stockpiled so much sorghum that they couldn't finish it all in a short time."
"To be honest, Father-in-law, there are quite a few people like Zhang Wuba in Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture."
"Keep hoarding them; they'll spoil sooner or later anyway."
“If we sell them off cheaply, they'll feel bad about it.”
"So some people secretly brewed some of the sorghum into liquor."
"Tsk, tsk."
Yang Shaofeng smacked his lips and said, "Just you wait and see, these idiots will plant sorghum again next year, and they'll hoard it. They're all incorrigible."
Emperor Zhu immediately glared at Yang Shaofeng.