Rise From the Humble

After coming out of the old lady's yard, Zhu Ping'an remembered that he had forgotten to mention the matter of moving out of the Hou Mansion to the old lady.

Forget it, wait until Li Shu comes back to discuss it and then mention it to the old lady. Now is a good time to look for a place to live, inquire about housing prices in Beijing, and see whether to buy a small courtyard or rent a small courtyard.

The housing prices in the Ming Dynasty are not as outrageous as those in modern times. In my impression, the housing prices in the Ming Dynasty recorded in history seem to be relatively low. There seems to be a record that says that in the 13th year of Chongzhen, Fu Shangzhi, a resident of Zhengyangmen Street in the capital, sold his house. The property was a courtyard house in the south. There were two rooms, a wing room, two more rooms in the north, and a courtyard. They were sold for a total of 33 taels of silver. In other words, one hundred years from now the house price in Beijing will be enough to buy a courtyard house for just a few dozen taels of silver. In addition, "Jin Ping Mei" also has a record about real estate. In it, Ximen Qing bought a four-story building with two front rooms for only 120 taels of silver.

Even if there are discrepancies between the two records and reality, at least housing prices in the Ming Dynasty were much cheaper than modern housing prices.

No rush, take your time.

After returning to Tingyuxuan, Zhu Ping'an took the money bag and put it in his sleeve. He divided the pickled cucumbers brought by his mother from Xiahe Village into two portions and put them in a small jar. The smoked rabbit was also divided equally into two gifts to bring.

Zhu Ping'an told the old lady on duty that he was going out to visit friends and would not bother the house to prepare meals for him today, and then left the Hou's house with his things.

From the words of the concierge when he entered, he could tell that by the time he returned home, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen had already come back, and even came to Huaihou Mansion to look for him.

Therefore, Zhu Ping'an went out this time to meet the two of them and bring them some specialties from home. Now that the fifty-day long holiday for visiting relatives of the newly promoted Jinshi has not ended yet, the two of them don't have to go to work when they come to the capital. It's rare that everyone has time, so it would be perfect to have a good gathering together, and it's good to learn about the current situation from them.

Since you don't go to work, go directly to their residence and you will be able to find them nine times out of ten.

The capital is very large, and there is a long distance from Linhuai Marquis Mansion to their residence. Walking is too slow, and you have to ride a horse. The horse that came here ran all the way from Xiahe Village to the capital, and it was time to rest, so this time the horse was riding a black horse that killed the horse.

The black horse Sha Ma Ma was much fatter than when he left, and the saddle was two buckles looser than usual. I heard from the boy who was waiting at the stable that during the time he left, this fat horse was not only greedy but also dishonest. Whenever he got the chance, He went around seducing mares, and even made Master Zhou's favorite snow horse pregnant... Master Zhou was so angry that if it wasn't for his uncle's sake, Master Zhou would kill it and eat its meat.

I didn’t expect you to be such a horse. Should I castrate you? Zhu Ping’an glanced at Shamat Dark Horse with ill intentions. Shamat Dark Horse seemed to have realized something. In short, he was extremely obedient on the way, for fear of offending his master. Make yourself a useless horse.

The fat horse and light coat left the Marquis's Mansion and headed east.

The courtyard where Wang Shizhen lived was close to the Linhuai Marquis Mansion. Zhu Pingan first went to visit him at his residence. After arriving at the courtyard where Wang Shizhen lived, the guard servant told Zhu Pingan that Wang Shizhen had gone to visit friends.

He probably went to Zhang Siwei's house, so Zhu Ping'an then went to Zhang Siwei's residence.

Zhang Siwei's residence is much larger than Wang Shizhen's residence, and not much smaller than the Linhuai Marquis Mansion. The Zhang family, who was born in a family of salt merchants, is not short of money. This should be a residence of the Zhang family in the capital.

I heard Zhang Siwei mention that there is a martial arts training ground in this mansion. Shanxi merchants have a tradition of letting the family's children work hard. Generally, large families will prepare a martial arts training ground, and the Zhang family's mansion in the capital is no exception.

Zhang Siwei was good at talking about military matters. In addition to being greatly influenced by his uncle Wang Chonggu, he probably had something to do with this tradition of Shanxi merchants.

Zhu Ping'an comes from modern times. He has read many military magazines and visited various military forums. He can be regarded as a senior military enthusiast. He and Zhang Siwei used to talk a lot about military matters in their spare time. They often read on the forum before moving out. Zhang Siwei was amazed by his various conclusions and repeated arguments.

Wang Shizhen was not interested in military matters. Whenever Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei argued, Wang Shizhen would always sneer at them.

When they arrived at Zhang Siwei's house, Zhu Pingan passed the news, and within a moment, Zhang Siwei came out with a big smile on his face and said, "Hahaha, Zihou, you are back."

"Brother Ziwei, you're fine." Zhu Ping'an smiled and held his hands.

"Come on, come on, let's have a drink together at my brother's house and talk freely over the wine."

Zhang Siwei shook his head and smiled, holding Zhu Ping'an's shoulders and entering the house together. Then he ordered his servants to warm wine, prepare tea, and hold a banquet in the study.

Through chatting with Zhang Siwei, I learned that Wang Shizhen was not with Zhang Siwei. Li Panlong, the head of the Criminal Department, hosted a poetry reception this morning and invited Zong Chen, Xu Zhongxing, Liang Youyu and others to attend. Wang Shizhen also attended the meeting. Zhang Siwei had just been working out his muscles in the martial arts training ground when he heard from his subordinates that Zhu Ping'an was here. He didn't even have time to get dressed, so he came out with his clothes on.

"Why didn't Ziwei go with Wen Sheng?" Zhu Ping'an asked curiously.

"Master Li emphasizes that literature must be based on the Qin and Han Dynasties, and poetry must be based on the Han and Tang Dynasties...I can't get along with them." Zhang Siwei shook his head and laughed.

"Well, I have had a chat with Vincent in the past and I know that Vincent has always advocated the restoration of literature, which coincides with Mr. Li." Zhu Pingan nodded.

"Wen Sheng and I originally had a relationship with the Ministry of Justice to ask about your memorial, and we also had a relationship with Mr. Li. As for Vincent's acquaintance with Mr. Li, it can be regarded as an accident." Zhang Siwei explained.

"It turns out that it was because of me that Ping An was ashamed. A memorial made Ziwei and Wen Sheng worry more." Only then did Zhu Ping'an understand the reason why Wang Shizhen and Li Panlong were married, and he was very moved by Wang Shizhen and Zhang Siwei for a while.

Zhu Pingan also knew about Li Panlong. Historically, he had a close relationship with Wang Shizhen. Li Panlong was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Jiajing, seven years earlier than himself and others. Historically, Li Panlong successively formed editorials and poetry reviews with Xie Zhen, Wang Shizhen, Zong Chen, Xu Zhongxing, Liang Youyu, Wu Guolun and others. Together with Wang Shizhen, he was one of the leaders of the "Last Seven Sons" of Ming Dynasty literature, and was known as the "Master of Zonggong". .

Wang Shizhen originally went to the Ministry of Justice for her memorial, but unexpectedly she met Li Panlong by accident. The wheel of history was rolling forward, and it was indeed difficult to change. Come to think of it, the "Last Seven Sons" will soon be on the schedule.

"You and I, no matter each other. How can Wen Sheng and I just sit idly by if something happens to you?" Zhang Siwei smiled and shook his head, then looked at Zhu Pingan seriously and said, "Zi Hou, do you know that you That memorial stirred up the waters of the capital city."