Ziling, the royal palace.

Early in the morning, Xiang Zhuang got up and was wearing a crown under the service of Mrs. Cao.

As early as a few years ago, Ziling City has been built, the city is rectangular, eight miles long from east to west, five miles long from north to south, the city wall is four zhang high, the bottom is more than four zhang wide, the ditch around the city is three zhang deep, four zhang wide, the Wujiang River water is poured into a moat, the whole city is made of big bluestone, it can be said that it is solid.

After the completion of Ziling City, Xiang Zhuang moved the capital here.

There are two long streets in the east and west in Ziling City, three main streets in the north and south, the whole city is divided into 12 areas, the most central two blocks are connected as a whole, that is, the palace, the west side of the palace is the official office, the east side is the gathering area of the rich and gentleman family, and the rest of the blocks have living areas, industrial areas and commercial areas, which can be described as orderly.

After putting on a dress for Xiang Zhuang, Mrs. Cao ordered the palace maid to take the bronze mirror and give Xiang Zhuang a haircut.

Looking at the faces in the mirror, Xiang Zhuang couldn't help but feel a little in a trance, time flies, and ten years have passed in a blink of an eye!

He is thirty-six years old, that is, the throne of Chu has been almost twelve years, his father Fan Zeng has died as early as eight years ago, the eldest son Xiang Zheng and the second son Xiang Zhi are twelve years old, and the third son Xiang Quan and the fourth son Xiang Shu are also eleven years old.

Now he Xiangzhuang has seven sons and six daughters, but he is completely better than Liu Bang in this regard.

In the jingle of rings, Wei Yue, who was dressed in costume, had already walked into Xiangzhuang's bedroom.

Five years ago, Xiang Zhuang had officially canonized Wei Yue as the queen, and after Xiang Zheng, Xiang Zhi, and Xiang Quan, Wei Yue gave birth to Xiang Zhuang's eldest daughter Xiang Yuying and seventh son Xiang Qing. Her position in the Chu State can be described as stable as a rock, and she is now the most favored Cao Ji. It can't threaten Wei Yue's position at all.

Wei Yue is twenty-eight years old this year, which is the most amorous time in a woman's life.

Although she has given birth to four children, Wei Yue's figure has not been out of shape in the slightest, and the skin on her body is still so white and tender. The delicate beauty of the flower is still so exquisite, the place that should be fine is still so fine, the place that should be convex is still so convex, the place that should be warped is still so warped, only the big place is bigger than before!

Xiang Zhuang couldn't help but look at it twice, he liked such a style.

"My lord, the sisters and children are here." Wei Yue saluted Xiang Zhuang.

"Got it, it's good to be a widow." While Xiang Zhuang was talking, Cao Ji had already tied his hair in a bun.

Wei Yue personally put on the Nine Crowns for Xiang Zhuang again, and then smiled at Xiang Zhuang. Stretching out his slender jade hand again, Xiang Zhuang immediately grabbed Wei Yue's little hand, and the two walked out of the dormitory together.

Outside the dormitory, the concubines, seven sons, and six daughters had already arrived, and Xiang Qing in swaddling clothes was also hugged.

Today is the first day of the new year (Xiang Zhuang has changed the calendar, setting January as the first month of each year), according to the etiquette law, Xiang Zhuang should take the queen, concubines, and children to the ancestral temple outside Ziling City.

"The king is well."

"Father is well."

See Xiang Zhuang. Except for Xiang Qing in swaddling clothes, the children of the concubines stepped forward to salute.

"Let's all be flat." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, his eyes fell on Xiang Zheng first, and asked, "Zheng'er, I heard that you have finished reading the forty-two chapters of the Taigong Art of War and the Captain's Commandment. Reading the Art of War right now? ”

Xiang Zheng arched his hand and replied respectfully: "Back to my father, the child is indeed reading Sun Tzu's Art of War. ”

Xiang Zhuang frowned imperceptibly and said, "Forty-two articles of Wei Yizi, have you read it thoroughly?" ”

Xiang Zheng shook his head. replied honestly: "Don't dare to deceive my father, in the forty-two articles of the Taigong Art of War and the Captain's Son, there are many contents that the child does not understand very well, Mr. Baili and Mr. Bi have explained many times, and the child still does not understand it very well, so the two gentlemen suggested that the child transfer to the Art of War, maybe there will be an unexpected gain." ..., Xiang Zhuang sighed in his heart, this eldest son's qualifications are really average.

Xiang Zhuang encouraged Xiang Zheng a few words, and then turned his gaze to Xiang Zhi, who was standing beside Xiang Zheng.

However, before Xiang Zhuang could speak, Xiang Zhi had already preemptively said: "Uncle, don't force children to read, what children hate most is these tadpole-like words, and when they see their children's heads, one is bigger than two." ”

Xiang Zhuang frowned when he heard this, politics has been passed to Xiang Yu since he was a child, so he is usually raised by Yu Ji, but Yu Ji is pampered to this precious son, so he has developed an arrogant and domineering character since he was a child, and even his uncle doesn't listen to much, Xiang Zhi doesn't like to read when he is a child, he only likes to dance and play with swords.

Because Yu Ji was also present, Xiang Zhuang could only reprimand Xiang Zhi a few words without pain.

Xiang Zhuang then turned his gaze to Xiang Quan and asked, "Quan'er, what have you been reading recently?" ”

Xiang Quan had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looked the most like Xiang Zhuang, and replied: "Father, the child has been reading Shangjun's book recently. ”

"Oh, you're reading Shang Jun's book? Can you recite a passage to your father? Xiang Zhuang was slightly stunned when he heard this, Shang Junshu is a legal work compiled by Wei Ying and later students, the content is extremely boring, a child like Xiang Quan, who is in his early tens, should like subjects such as military books and history, how could he read legal works?

"Whoa!" Xiang Quan replied respectfully, and immediately recited Shang Jun's book in a childish voice.

Clearing his throat, Xiang Quan recited the three articles of "Reclamation Order", "Order" and "Territory" in one breath.

For Shang Jun's book, Xiang Zhuang has also read it repeatedly, although he can't memorize it backwards, but he still remembers the general content, but he was surprised to find that Xiang Quan's memorization is basically the same.

"Good boy, good." Xiang Zhuang touched Xiang Quan's little head and walked in front of Xiang Shu again.

Among all the children who have been enlightened, Xiangshu is definitely the most intelligent one, even the prince Fu Bishu and Bailixian have not hidden their appreciation for Xiangshu, Xiangshu has already read "Shangshu", "Analects", "Mozi", "Taigong Art of War", "Forty-two Articles of Wei Xuanzi", "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and other subjects at a young age.

Bai Lixian and Bi Shu, the two princes, even laughed when chatting with Xiang Zhuang that in three years at most, the two of them would have nothing to teach Xiang Shu.

For Xiang Shu, Xiang Zhuang no longer had the mind to compare, but just encouraged: "Shu'er, the two princes said that you are very smart, and you can become a praise at a glance, but you must not be proud, you must maintain a humble heart, humbly ask the two princes and Jiangdong celebrities for advice, and don't look at anyone." ”

Xiang Shu responded: "The child remembers the teachings of his father. ”

Not far away, looking at Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Shu's father and son, Ying Zhen's heart is extremely complicated, if there is no later Xiang Wang, Ying Zhen will be very happy, but after giving birth to Xiang Wang, Ying Zhen's feelings for Xiang Shu have become subtle, no matter what, Xiang Shu is not her own child, and her stepson is still separated by a layer compared with her parent.

After encouraging Xiang Shu, Xiang Zhuang walked directly in front of the remaining sons.

Because among the remaining children, the eldest Xiang Wang has just entered the school, and the youngest Xiang Qing is still in infancy, so there is nothing to compare with at all.

A moment later, a family of more than a dozen people boarded the carriage and went straight outside the palace.

Coming out of Miyagi, the street along the way, the traffic is busy, bustling, the forbidden army accompanying the escort took the old nose to finally clear the street, Xiang Zhuang looked out through the carriage curtains, only to see the shops, wine shops, teahouses, inns and other buildings on both sides of the street lined up one after another, a prosperous scene.

Compared with ten years ago at the beginning of the reform, the business atmosphere in Jiangdong has long been very different. Ten years ago, the commercial scale of Jiangdong was still very small, except for public paper, books and shochu, there were very few varieties of goods widely circulated in the market, and the tax contribution was also very small, but now, the commercial trade in Jiangdong has been extremely prosperous, and there are almost nothing that cannot be bought in the market of Ziling.

With the prosperity of commerce, business tax revenue has also increased substantially.

Ten years ago, Jiangdong's commercial tax was converted into rice grain but more than 30,000 stones, but now, Jiangdong's commercial tax converted into rice grain has already exceeded 500,000 stone, although it is less than half of the field tax, but the growth of the field tax is slow, the commercial tax is growing rapidly, at most five years, the commercial tax will surpass the field tax to become the main source of treasury revenue.

Of course, the commercial tax of the Chu State was not collected on rice grain, but on five baht coins and gold coins!

As early as five years ago, the state of Chu had accumulated more than 600,000 catties (Qin catties) of gold, and according to historical records, the total amount of gold in China at the end of Qin was almost 180,000 kilograms, or 720,000 catties.

Now, this gold has basically flowed into the Chu State.

With enough gold, Xiang Zhuang immediately implemented the monetary reform, a large number of gold coins minted as legal tender, a gold coin weighs about one tael, about fifty percent of the color, can be exchanged for two thousand pieces of five baht, which is much higher than the gold price at the end of the Qin Dynasty, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, a tael of gold is worth 36 stones, a stone of millet is worth 30 yuan, according to the comparable price, a tael of gold can only be exchanged for 1,000 and 80 yuan!

It can be seen that the value of the gold coins stipulated by the Chu State far exceeds the actual value, but after the Chu State hoarded most of the gold, there is nothing wrong with such a price comparison, who let the Chu State have the right to speak? The state of Chu wanted to carry out naked wealth plundering against the countries of the Central Plains through such a comparison of prices and quantities.

In fact, another reason why Xiang Zhuang measured such a gold exchange price was that the gold reserves were insufficient.

Compared to the current commercial scale of the Chu State, more than 600,000 catties of gold reserves are enough, but what about five years later? What about ten or twenty years from now? Also, if the state of Chu unifies China, the population size will surge, and the commercial scale will increase exponentially, and at that time, this mere hundreds of thousands of catties of gold will not be enough.

Therefore, Xiang Zhuang had to take precautions and set the price of gold as high as possible.

In the future, when there will be more gold mines in China, the mining technology of gold mines will go up, and the output of gold will increase, and it will not be too late to reduce the price of gold. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )……，