Go through multiple levels.

Li Dingguo smoothly entered the mine owner's office and met Hu Wenting, the owner of the mine.

Along the way, he was not hindered or reprimanded, and no one made it difficult for him, a boy under the age of fourteen, but was kind enough to help report.

The reason is very simple, because Li Dingguo has a good appearance.

In the third year of Chongzhen, the reason why Zhang Xianzhong accepted him as a righteous son was because of his extraordinary appearance, which gave him sympathy and gave him a way to live.

When the mine owner Hu Wenting saw the young man and looked at a tattered book in his hand, he not only had a good impression of him, but also asked the servant to make him a cup of hot tea and invited him to sit down.

"Thank you, mine owner." Li Dingguo was a little flattered.

"Kid, you're just a miner, and you're a little older, why do you suddenly want to study?"

After learning the basic situation of this young man, Hu Wenting asked with a straight face and pretended to be difficult.

"Because I want to learn!"

Li Dingguo explained with a serious face: "The knowledge in the book is very useful, especially the new knowledge of Xujiazhuang, as long as you learn it, you can operate those machines, and you can dig more mines, which can not only bring benefits to yourself, but also to the world." ”

"Oh~"

Hu Wenting leaned back in the chair, his face was surprised, he didn't expect a semi-literate fourteen-year-old boy to have such insight and vision, and keenly perceive the value of Xujiazhuang's new knowledge.

In fact, in order to better manage the mine, Hu Wenting has been studying and researching the new knowledge of Xujiazhuang in recent years.

But if you don't learn, you can't do it, otherwise the foot-operated manpower drive generator on the mine (30KW power generation power, which requires a lot of manpower and animal power to drive), battery devices, some more complex mining equipment, electrical equipment, no one can repair it if it is broken, and you can only do it yourself.

After a few years of study, it cannot be said that he has mastered a lot of new knowledge in Xujiazhuang, but it is barely enough.

He also taught more than a dozen apprentices, but none of them were particularly smart, and each of them mastered two or three manipulation and repair skills at most.

If the young man named Li Dingguo in front of him has good talent and can master a lot of new knowledge, then it is also very good to focus on training him and let him become a professional and technical talent - now technical talents are very popular, and major mines are rushing to ask for them and offer extremely high wages, but they are still seriously insufficient.

"Child, I'll test you on some of the simpler questions, if most of them can be answered, I'll give you a chance, if not, the basic skills are too poor, then you better go back, I don't have time to teach an apprentice who doesn't know anything." Hu Wenting said.

"Yes, please ask the adults to do the question."

Hu Wenting spent more than half an hour deliberately assessing this young man.

The questions are also very simple, that is, to recognize words, recognize some long and short sentences, and do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within a hundred.

Li Dingguo's performance surprised Hu Wenting, as if he had seen a piece of jade.

Because Li Dingguo knows most of the words, he has the ability to read and write, and he is obviously inferior in mathematics, but he can also make most of the addition and subtraction problems, and he can reach this level only by self-study, which can be said to be a great talent.

It is a good seedling with great cultivation value.

"You can come and study with me in the future, you don't have to go down the mine, I will ask the steward to arrange a job for you that you don't have to go down, you can come and study every evening and evening, and I will make room for you to study." Hu Wenting said.

"Thank you, thank you!"

The young Li Dingguo knelt on the ground and kowtowed excitedly, saying that he would be filial and repay the teacher in the future.

……

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Shangyuan Festival.

Beijing, inside the Imperial Palace of the Forbidden City.

Today, all the eunuchs and palace maids worked together and arranged many lanterns, which suddenly made the palace brightly lit and extremely festive.

And Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen also ordered an extremely grand family banquet to celebrate this year's Shangyuan Festival.

And those who attended this family feast.

Except for all the royals.

He also invited dozens of imperial relatives and relatives, a few trustworthy vassal kings and noble representatives, and others did not invite, after all, he has always asked for frugality, and he does not have the conditions to feast his ministers for the time being.

Even so, this family banquet is enough to be called extravagant.

On the self-service splicing long table banquet with a circumference of more than 20 zhang (the banquet style from Xujiazhuang), there are as many as 108 hard dishes alone.

Such as whole roast whole sheep, roast whole beef, roast bear paw, roast chicken, roast duck, roast goose, roast pork (i.e., crispy suckling pig).

There are seaview Buddha jumping over the wall, lobster, squirrel osmanthus fish, boiling water cabbage, crab roe lion head, nine turns of large intestine, West Lake vinegar fish, spicy beef hot pot, tuna fillet, seafood soup, mutton health soup, ginseng chicken soup, Wensi tofu soup, shark fin soup and so on.

Even Western-style breads, biscuits, cheeses, cream stews, cakes and other dishes appeared on the feast.

It's really a combination of Chinese and foreign, and it encompasses almost all the delicious flavors of this world.

Naturally, the cost of this banquet is also very amazing, many high-end ingredients, such as seafood, beef cattle, black porpoise, etc., are imported from Xujiazhuang, take the fast shipping, and ensure that the fresh, the cost remains high.

But in order to satisfy his appetite and show that he must not lag behind the power of a district of merchants, Zhu Youzhen spent more than 50,000 silver dollars on such a family banquet, which is equivalent to the annual income of a thousand medium-sized families.

If it was left in previous years, there would be no need for the rain-drop exhortation and impeachment of civil officials, even if Chongzhen himself could not forgive this extravagant behavior, he would impeach himself.

Moreover, it has only been three or four months since Jiannu entered the customs in September last year, and the traces of destruction around the capital have not disappeared, and the wounds suffered by the people have not healed, and the royal family has begun to be so extravagant.

Square peg.

It's really not appropriate.

But in this luxurious family banquet, Zhu Youzhen still let people do it, and tried his best not to make a noise.

Because he has money in his internal money, after the raid of the eight families of the Jin merchants, most of the 3 million silver dollars he obtained are still there, and he has not spent much, there is money, and he has money.

Secondly, in the past six years of Chongzhen, although there have been many disasters and difficulties, there are still two most significant achievements.

One is that the rogues in the Central Plains have finally been completely exterminated, and there is almost no possibility of resurgence.

The second is that Liaodong Jiannu suffered an unprecedented heavy loss, with a loss of 100,000 soldiers and horses, and a loss of more than 30,000 from the elite of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, which can be said to have lost more than half, as if two legs were broken, and the possibility of strategic offensive has been lost.

That is, Zhu Youzhen's henchmen are in serious trouble, and two of them have been basically solved, or they are in a state of passive waiting for death.

There is only one Xujiazhuang left - at present, the imperial court is helpless against Xujiazhuang, fortunately, Xujiazhuang is greedy, but the businessman is bent on making money, the offensive is not so strong, the desire to occupy the land is not so strong, and the work is more contract-abiding and rules-oriented, so the threat is slightly lower, in the short term, there should be no plan to destroy the Ming Dynasty, otherwise it would have been done a long time ago.

This made Zhu Youzhen relax his vigilance a little, and he had a hint of luck - which made him feel angry and ashamed.

But all in all!

The two major disasters have gone, and for Daming, the pressure has been significantly reduced, and the severe situation he faces has been greatly improved.

As long as the next Da Ming can adjust the wind and rain.

As long as the people of the Ming Dynasty can recuperate for a few years.

As long as Fang Yizhi is in charge of the "Royal Farm Plan", the number of royal farms will increase to about 1,000 this year, and strive to bring a greater harvest and more grain.

The future must be bright, embracing a new and prosperous world.

At that time, it will be Xujiazhuang, and the imperial court will not have no way to deal with it.

So in the face of such an optimistic and bright prospect, Zhu Youzhen relaxed a little and took his family to enjoy it rarely, what's wrong? Is this really excessive?

"Once, I just do it once a year, spending tens of thousands of silver dollars at most, and I usually focus on frugality."

"Qi Chunnian didn't say crookedly in front of me last time, there is consumption to produce, a large amount of consumption can bring economic activity, employment increase, and the prosperity of the people, the more silver buried in the cellar, the more depressed the Ming economy will become...... Now that I think about it, it seems to make some sense. ”

"Don't think about it, eat well, drink well, enjoy it today, and fight for Daming Zhongxing with vigor tomorrow!"

Zhu Youzhen, who quickly figured it out, moved quickly, and beckoned his family to eat and drink well, so they don't have to be too restrained.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone at the big table also moved.

After a while, all kinds of admiration sounded.

"It's delicious, this lobster meat is so delicious, I like it." The prince Zhu Cihong, who has always been a picky eater, has set his sights on lobsters.

"Old lady, try this seascape Buddha jumping over the wall, I heard that the Buddha has to jump over the wall when he smells the smell, it is not only delicious, but also very nourishing." Queen Zhou gave Concubine Liu a bowl of Buddha jumping over the wall soup, and the old lady tasted it, her eyes couldn't help narrowing, and she said 'delicious' after a long time.

"Sister Yuan, it's very good for you to taste this sweet called cake, I don't know how to make it?" Tian Guifei liked the cake, so she recommended it to Concubine Yuan beside her.

"Wow, this spicy beef hot pot is so good that I can't stop eating." This concubine from Sichuan, obviously she has never eaten spicy, but she is addicted to spicy beef hot pot, rolling up her skirt sleeves and eating it, and the dialect comes out one sentence after another.

Emperor Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile when he saw that every family member was gobbling up and eating quickly, and his appetite was also greatened.

However, after sweeping a golden silk nanmu pillar at a glance, the historian who was holding a pen and burying his head in writing a living note, Zhu Youzhen's heart moved, and asked the eunuch to call the historian and said to him: "I don't need to record this family banquet, you can go back and rest earlier." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The historian nodded, and then quickly sketched a few strokes on the book: On the night of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor set up a family banquet, the dishes were extravagant, and the emperor was ashamed, so that the historian did not record it.

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