"I can finally get out of the palace, it's still good air outside!" Zhu Yunxi opened the window and took an exaggerated breath, and then slowly spit it out.

"Don't you like to swim?" Li Jie next to him couldn't help but smile when he looked at Zhu Yunxi's appearance.

"I like it, I like it, but my father asks us to accompany me every day, and I don't even have time to leave the palace." Zhu Yunxi said helplessly at this time.

During this time, Zhu Biao lost weight and called his two sons and Li Jie to accompany him, so that they couldn't do anything, fortunately, Zhu Biao's weight loss effect during this time was remarkable, and swimming was also more interesting, at least Zhu Biao now likes swimming, so there is no need for people to accompany him, Li Jie and Zhu Yunxi have a chance to leave the palace.

"By the way, it's my eldest sister's birthday in two days, what gift are you going to give her?" Zhu Yunxi suddenly approached Li Jie curiously at this time and asked.

"What are you going to give?" Li Jie did not answer, but asked Zhu Yunxi rhetorically.

"I'm also worried, the eldest sister has no other hobbies besides reading and writing, last time you brought so many things from the country, except for a few ancient books and a few good rolls of paper, the rest were taken away by the second sister, every year on her birthday I will worry about her gifts!" Zhu Yunxi also showed a sad expression at the end.

"That's why not, let's not talk about the academy today, why don't we go to the street and see if there are any suitable gifts?" Li Jie smiled and proposed, his gift had been prepared a long time ago, and this time it was mainly to help Zhu Yunxi choose a gift.

"Okay, I've been locked up in the palace by my father for so long, and I want to go around!" Zhu Yunxi immediately nodded in agreement.

Immediately the carriage turned and went to a place called Xia Street in the northwest of the inner city, which is one of the most prosperous streets in Jinling City, with all kinds of shops on both sides of the street, jewelry, clothing, etc. everywhere, which also attracted many rich people in the city to come shopping, and even some women who usually don't go out much, sometimes accompanied by their families, will go around here.

After arriving here, Li Jie and Zhu Yunxi got out of the carriage, both of them were dressed in civilian clothes, followed by a few guards, and at first glance, they looked like two rich boys came out to play, and there were many young people like them around, so they didn't look very conspicuous.

Zhu Yunxi rarely has the opportunity to go shopping so casually, and the whole person is also very excited, almost every store has to go in and take a turn, even some shops that specialize in selling women's clothes and accessories are not let go, but the stores are all women, as soon as the two men enter the store, they immediately attract the curious eyes of these women, and Li Jie is also a little embarrassed, it is estimated that many people regard them as prodigal disciples.

In the end, the whole street was almost finished, Zhu Yunxi bought two things, one of which was a hairpin for his second sister, and as for Zhu Yuning's birthday gift, it was a good inkstone, which is said to be an antiquity, and the price was not cheap, Zhu Yunxi's money was not enough at all, and in the end, Li Jie helped him pay in advance.

"It's over, I've saved up for almost a year, and I've spent it all today!" Zhu Yunxi said with a painful face while holding the two gifts.

Don't look at Zhu Yunxi is the grandson of the emperor, and he is also the king of the county, but he is not an adult, so he only has a certain amount of money every month, and the amount is not much, after all, Lao Zhu does not like his children and grandchildren to develop the problem of being extravagant, so Zhu Yunxi actually does not have much money, and he is not even as rich as ordinary rich people.

"It's given once a year, and I've bought it all, don't feel distressed!" Li Jie explained with a smile, the first time I saw Zhu Yunxi worrying about money, it was quite interesting.

"It's light, but I can't figure it out, you don't usually have a lot of money, why do you feel like you're rich?" Zhu Yunxi finally looked at Li Jie curiously at this time.

"If I rely on Yulu alone, I can only barely maintain food and clothing, but in addition to Yulu, I also have some property, which is the bulk of my family's income." Li Jie explained with a smile.

"No, isn't the emperor's grandfather forbidden officials to do business, and you actually know the law and break the law?" Zhu Yunxi also showed a shocked expression when he heard this, he always felt that Li Jie was an upright person and had no selfish intentions in doing things, but he didn't expect him to do business in private.

"This is not called knowing the law and breaking the law, but exploiting the loopholes of the law, such as His Majesty stipulates that officials are forbidden to do business, but officials can let their relatives or subordinates go to business, so nominally it has nothing to do with them." Li Jie explained again that it was time for Zhu Yunxi to understand these unspoken rules.

"Yes...... But this ......" Zhu Yunxi was still a little unacceptable when he heard this, and his gaze at Li Jie became very complicated.

"Do you think I'm disgusting?" Li Jie smiled again.

"Sort of!" Zhu Yunxi nodded, Li Jie took advantage of the loophole of the law, that is, harmed the interests of their royal family, after all, the law was meant to serve the royal rule.

"Then let me tell you again, I am not the only one in the DPRK who does this, in fact, almost all the officials and nobles do this, otherwise how can he support their usual expenses with his money?" Li Jie threw a heavy bomb again.

"Does the imperial grandfather know?" Zhu Yunxi also asked again in shock after hearing this.

"Of course I do!" Li Jie replied immediately.

Officials and nobles let the people around them do business, this has long been one of the open secrets in the officialdom, of course, it can't be hidden from Lao Zhu's ears and eyes, but there is no way, the officials and nobles want to eat, and Lao Zhu's salary is too low, so they can only find ways from other aspects.

Of course, business belongs to business, and these officials and nobles must also abide by the laws of the imperial court, otherwise they will also be severely punished, for example, Lao Zhu has a son-in-law, Ouyang Lun, who actually instructed his servants to smuggle tea, and even dared to beat the tax collector, but Lao Zhu directly slaughtered Ouyang Lun in anger, even if he was a colt.

"Doesn't Grandpa Huang hate others for corruption and bribery the most, why should he tolerate this situation?" Zhu Yunxi still asked puzzled.

"Your Highness, this world is not black and white, since one thing exists, it naturally has a reason for its existence, even Your Majesty can't easily change it!" Li Jie also reached out and patted Zhu Yunxi's shoulder as he spoke.

Officials use power for personal gain, this has been the case since ancient times, even later generations can not avoid it, even those countries that are in the name of freedom and democracy, this situation will also occur, you must know that later generations have a so-called perfect regulatory agency, not to mention the current Ming Dynasty, the emperor's supervision of the power organs is far less than that of later generations, so that naturally there are many gray interests.

Zhu Yunxi also lowered his head when he heard this, as if he was digesting Li Jie's words, and after a long while, he raised his head and said, "What kind of business do you do to make money?" ”

"Mirror, I invented glass mirrors before, so I opened a mirror workshop with my cousin Liu Yi, and the glass mirrors you saw in the store just now are all from my family's workshop." Li Jie replied again.

Zhu Yunxi also breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, he didn't care what others did, at least Li Jie relied on his own talents to make money.

"Your Royal Highness, don't think there's anything wrong with officials and nobles doing business, in fact, if you think about it carefully, the royal family is the biggest merchant in the world, such as the salt and iron franchise, except for the royal family, other private individuals are forbidden to operate, this is the world's first-class business!" Li Jie smiled again at this time and said, no matter what era, monopoly is the most profitable business, and salt and iron are the royal monopoly business.

"This ......" Zhu Yunxi was also stunned when he heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, it seems that it is really like that, since the Han Dynasty, salt and iron have been a monopoly business of the imperial court, and it is also a major item of treasury revenue, and even the imperial court needs to set up special officials to manage it, in fact, it is the same as the merchant sending a steward to take care of the business.

"I understand, thank you for your advice!" Zhu Yunxi immediately saluted Li Jie and said, even the royal family itself is in business, and it is natural that the officials and nobles will not be able to do business, as long as they don't make too much trouble, everything is acceptable.

"Does Your Highness really understand?" Li Jie suddenly smiled again, and then said again, "Then I'll take a test for Your Highness, which business do you think is the most profitable in the world?" ”

"It's salt, right?" Zhu Yunxi was stunned again when he heard this, and then replied, although the salt and iron business is very profitable, but iron tools are used in many aspects of the army, and the army is a big money-eater, in contrast, salt is a necessity for everyone, whether it is poor or rich, so intuitively he thinks that salt is more profitable.

"Wrong, I'll give you a hint, this most profitable business is neither salt nor iron, but another business controlled by the imperial court!" Li Jie once again induced that he would take advantage of this opportunity to give Zhu Yunxi a business finance lesson to make him understand the importance of business.

"Another business?" Zhu Yunxi also thought hard when he heard this, but after thinking about it for a long time, he still didn't have any clue, it is said that salt and iron are already the biggest business in the hands of the imperial court, except for these two accidents, he really can't think of anything else that can be compared with salt and iron?

"I ...... I can't think of it! In the end, Zhu Yunxi gave up with a frustrated face, this problem is too difficult, and his knowledge is limited, so he really can't think of a more profitable business than salt and iron.

"Your Highness, think about it carefully, this business can only be done by the imperial court, and no one else can do it!" Li Jie induced again.

This time, Zhu Yunxi finally had a flash of inspiration and thought of a possibility, so he exclaimed very excitedly: "I remember, it's the land!" The imperial court holds a large amount of land in its hands, whether it is fertile land or residential houses in the city, these are all land, and the imperial court can collect huge wealth from the people by selling these! ”

I have to say that Zhu Yunxi's answer is very close, the land business is indeed profitable, although the land is sold for a piece less, it is a non-renewable resource, but it is more profitable than salt and iron in a short period of time.

Li Jie was about to shake his head, and then tell Zhu Yunxi the correct answer, but he didn't expect that suddenly a guard stepped forward and whispered: "Your Highness, Li Banyu, someone is following us behind you!" ”