GBP Chapter 296 Practicing New Skills
Chapter 296 Practicing New Skills
Emperor Shun'an and the Crown Prince in the palace were also paying attention to the results of this auction. After all, this was just an appetizer for the next formal auction, and the merchants' attitude towards this auction would determine how much they were willing to pay for the auction of the courtyard.
When they learned that the auction would ultimately raise 100,000, both father and son fell silent.
After a long silence, Emperor Shun'an said, "Why don't we demolish the West Garden and give it all to Wen Zongji to build houses?"
It's no wonder Emperor Shun'an was short-sighted; even the wealthy landlords had run out of surplus grain.
In recent years, natural disasters and man-made calamities have occurred one after another. Many prefectures and counties have been exempted from taxation. Once a natural disaster occurs, in addition to opening granaries to distribute grain, the local harvest will also be delayed for one or two years. All of this results in considerable losses.
Zhou Shiyue was worried about the national treasury, and Emperor Shun'an was naturally even more worried.
The crown prince's brow twitched: "But it shouldn't be that bad."
Emperor Shun'an clicked his tongue and said, "I don't know how Wen Zongji's brain works. He actually came up with the idea of auctioning off the visiting slots. The key is that those merchants are quite cooperative."
Merchants are profit-driven and accustomed to calculating gains and losses.
Their willingness to pay a high price for a tour spot means they believe it's worthwhile.
Wen Zongji's ability to keenly perceive the value of this spot and hold an auction for it makes him even more remarkable.
The Crown Prince was not surprised: "It was Wen Zongji's idea to auction off the quota for the Beijing Gazette. He must know what is valuable and can make people pay for it."
Emperor Shun'an stroked his chin: "What do you think about handing over the Ministry of Revenue to Wen Zongji in the future?"
Showdown!
He coveted Wen Zongji's ability to amass wealth!
The crown prince remained calm: "He's still young; he needs to gain experience in several government offices."
Emperor Shun'an raised an eyebrow: "You certainly value him highly."
Not all officials are qualified to gain experience in multiple government departments; many remain in one department until their retirement.
Although the top three in the first-class examination should have received such treatment, the Crown Prince's initiative in mentioning it was clearly not solely due to Wen Zongji's status as the third-ranked scholar.
It seems more like high hopes were placed on Wen Zongji.
The Crown Prince said, "Your subject only wants to see how far he can go."
Emperor Shun'an smiled and said, "I hope he won't disappoint you."
……
County Princess's Mansion
Pei Rujing praised him without reservation: "As expected of my husband, he has already pocketed 100,000 taels of silver before the courtyard has even been officially auctioned off."
Wen Zongji squinted: "They really are a group of extremely wealthy people; they have plenty of money."
Pei Rujing leaned closer to him: "What's wrong, husband? Are you up to something again?"
Wen Zongji's face darkened, and he raised his hand to lightly tap her forehead: "What do you mean by 'tricking someone'? How can you talk like that? One is willing to hit and the other is willing to be hit, that's called mutual consent."
Pei Rujing pouted: "You scholars always have such nice-sounding words."
They sell people out and then expect the people to help them count the money.
This is the ultimate way to kill someone by destroying their spirit!
"And I really didn't intend to cheat anyone, I just wanted to provide them with quality service, it was all for their own good."
Pei Rujing chuckled: "Do you think I believe that?"
Wen Zongji glanced at her: "Whether my wife believes it or not is not important."
"Yay ya ya—"
At this moment, Rui Ge'er, who was lying on the couch, woke up and waved his arms, making babbling noises.
Pei Rujing immediately replied, "It's either that he pooped or peed."
Sure enough, when the wet nurse took Rui Ge'er over to check, he had indeed wet himself.
Wen Zongji laughed and said, "Our son is so easy to take care of."
They'll make a sound when they pee or poop, and they'll cry when they're hungry.
He's usually incredibly well-behaved and always smiles at people; he's a total sweetheart.
Pei Rujing glanced at the maid beside her: "She's just too easy to take care of."
She specially arranged many maids to take care of Rui Ge'er, and even assigned two of her head maids to him, which can be said to be extremely considerate.
In the end, it was completely useless.
Basically, two wet nurses are enough to take good care of Rui Ge'er.
This made Pei Rujing, a new mother, feel very unfulfilled.
Wen Zongji looked at her with amusement: "My lady, don't take your blessings for granted."
I wonder how many people would want a child who is easy to raise.
In later generations, these would be called "Gratitude Baby," meaning they came to repay a debt of gratitude.
Pei Rujing rolled her eyes at him and said sweetly, "I was just saying."
After the wet nurse finished tidying up Rui Ge'er, Wen Zongji took Rui Ge'er from her.
Rui Ge'er immediately reached out and hugged Wen Zongji's neck.
Five-month-old Rui Ge'er has started to recognize people, and his attitude towards Wen Zongji and Pei Rujing is different from that towards others.
Of course, his closest person right now is his wet nurse, that much is certain, after all, she has been with him the longest.
Wen Zongji and Pei Rujing were not worried about this. Anyway, once Rui Ge'er turned one year old, he wouldn't need a wet nurse anymore. Children forget things easily, and they would forget about it after a while.
They have plenty of time to develop feelings for each other.
There's no need to feel uncomfortable just because Rui-ge'er and his wet nurse have a good relationship.
Wen Zongji had intended to comfort Pei Rujing about this matter, but she took it all in stride.
"It's normal for Rui Ge'er to be close to his wet nurse because his wet nurse takes care of him every day."
Wen Zongji looked at her strangely: "I thought my wife would be unhappy."
After all, based on his understanding of Pei Rujing, her possessiveness was exceptionally strong.
Pei Rujing retorted irritably, "He's my son. He'll get married and have children someday. What's wrong with him being a little closer to his wet nurse now?"
To put it bluntly, her possessiveness was only directed at Wen Zongji; her son was not included.
Wen Zongji understood: "My wife is only targeting me."
He hadn't forgotten that at the beginning of their marriage, Pei Rujing would get angry if he even glanced at a maid.
"A husband and a son are of course different."
"Alright."
Wen Zongji readily accepted this explanation.
Anyway, he didn't have any ulterior motives, and he was happy that Pei Rujing would focus more attention on him.
I've heard that once a woman has a child, she won't be as focused on her partner and will spend more time with her child.
Pei Rujing was clearly different; she cared about Rui Ge'er, but this did not diminish her attention to Wen Zongji.
She still cared that Wen Zongji drank too much when he went out to socialize, and she still didn't like the maids getting close to Wen Zongji. She would still pester Wen Zongji to accompany her on her days off, but she never took Rui Ge'er with her.
All of this is partly due to the fact that Rui Ge'er has no shortage of caregivers, but more importantly, it's because Pei Rujing, unlike other women, doesn't make her child her whole world.
She loved herself, loved Wen Zongji, and only then did she love her children.
Although she always wanted to have children, she was more influenced by the prevailing social trends, but she still maintained a strong sense of self.
In layman's terms, it means avoiding internal friction.
No one should try to morally blackmail the county magistrate!
After considering all this, Wen Zongji smiled and said, "This is quite good."
More than anything else, he wished Pei Rujing were just Pei Rujing, the Princess of Anhe County!
Pei Rujing was playing with Rui Ge'er in his arms when she heard his words. She looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Wen Zongji shook his head: "It's nothing... Come on, Rui-ge'er, let's continue practicing standing."
The new father spends all his time teaching his son new skills.