Chapter 1: Protective Money
On June 27th of the first year of the Hongxi reign, Zhu Zhanji finished handling the late emperor's funeral and arranged the defense of the capital before calmly ascending the throne. The next year, the reign was changed to Xuande, marking the first year of the Xuande reign. Furthermore, a slew of honorific titles were bestowed upon the empress, imperial concubines, and virtuous concubines. Sun Mengqiu was particularly impressed. Not only was she presented with a golden imperial concubine certificate, but Zhu Zhanji also granted her special permission to present a golden seal to accept the title, a truly astonishing sight.
Zhu Yuhuan naturally understood that when Zhu Zhanji saw that Sun Mengqiu had changed her attitude towards him, and they were childhood sweethearts, he would definitely not want Sun Mengqiu to suffer any injustice. As for Hu Shanxiang's face, that was secondary among secondary things.
As a daughter, Zhu Yuhuan naturally could not stop her father. She attended a large number of ceremonies and was busy to the point of being exhausted. Only then did she finally have time to take care of her own affairs.
As for how Zhu Zhanji favored Sun Mengqiu, and how it had caused Hu Shanxiang, who was now the queen, to lose face, Zhu Yuhuan really had no time to care about it. She was busy catching her uncle.
Zhu Zhanji originally went to the palace to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Zhang, but he was caught red-handed by Zhu Yuhuan. The uncle and nephew found a small corner. Zhu Zhanji straightened his collar and asked, "Huanhuan, what are you doing? You're so sneaky. Do you still look like a princess?"
Zhu Yuhuan waved his hand and said, "Princess, you can't do that. Father hasn't conferred the title on her yet."
"Isn't it just a matter of time?"
Zhu Yuhuan said casually, "It's hard to say."
Zhu Zhanji was confused and asked, "It's hard to say?"
"Actually, I came to see Fifth Uncle for something." Zhu Yuhuan chuckled and said, "I heard that Daddy rewarded Fifth Uncle with a lot of fertile land and shops."
Zhu Zhanji was ordered to be regent, although the time was not long, but he was a meritorious minister after all, and he was also Zhu Zhanji's younger brother, so he naturally received many rewards, which made people jealous but also envious.
But not everyone can be trusted by Empress Dowager Zhang and the current His Majesty like this. If you are not careful, you will be crushed to pieces.
Zhu Zhanji raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this, and asked in return, "You little girl are like the Empress Dowager, but you never do anything without a purpose. Tell me, what do you want to talk to your uncle about?"
Zhu Yuhuan said politely, "I'd like to ask my fifth uncle to take some of the agricultural tools developed in the greenhouse and try them out at your farm."
Zhu Zhanji met her innocent gaze, showing no sign of belief. He simply asked, "Is that all? I'm afraid it's not enough for my eldest niece to be so mysterious."
Zhu Yuhuan chuckled, his hands behind his back, and then said, "This farm tool has been developed, but I haven't tested it properly yet. I'm asking my fifth uncle to help me try it out. After all, the one and a half acres of land in the greenhouse is not enough. Ordinary farmers have to cultivate more than this amount of land throughout the year."
Zhu Zhanji snorted and asked with a half-smile, "Isn't that more than that? I think you're afraid Your Majesty has forgotten about this, so you're reminding him. It's impossible for Fifth Uncle to move things out of the palace without saying anything. He must report it to Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuhuan didn't feel guilty about being exposed. Instead, she said openly, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Uncle Wu." Seeing that Zhu Zhanji seemed to be unwilling to do so, she continued, "The bicycle drawings I showed you before have been revised. The craftsmen have made a simple version, but it's a bit bulky. If you're interested..."
Zhu Zhanji's eyes lit up, but he was worried about being teased by his eldest niece, so he just said softly, "Fifth uncle is also involved in this matter, and he should take responsibility. This is an order left by the late emperor..."
Zhu Yuhuan knew that he was agreeing to help, so he tilted his head slightly and said, "Besides that, Huanhuan has another thing I want to ask Uncle Wu."
Zhu Zhanji uttered an "ah" and immediately sensed that Zhu Yuhuan had some hidden agenda. He quickly looked around before asking in a low voice, "What's your personal matter?"
If it was official business, Zhu Yuhuan would have told her everything along with the farm tools issue long ago, but Zhu Yuhuan only said these words now, probably for her own little calculations.
Although they have a good relationship as uncle and niece, Zhu Zhanji is not brave enough to trust his eldest niece. He still has to put his own safety first.
"Besides the farm tools, I also learned a few new methods from the book. Coincidentally, my fifth uncle owns Dad's shop, so I can give it a try."
Zhu Zhanji finally understood what she meant and couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. He then teased, "I thought it was a big deal. You scared your fifth uncle."
He could see that his eldest niece was not an easy person to deal with. It was not that she was a bad person, but her personality and behavior destined her life to be extraordinary, and it would even affect the people around her.
What's more, she is facing characters like her elder brother and her own mother, so it will all depend on who can use whom.
Zhu Yuhuan said obediently: "I also asked Huai En to bring the things. Fifth Uncle, you go back and try it first. I can subsidize the cost for you. If the method doesn't work, I also have money to compensate Fifth Uncle for his losses."
Her words amused Zhu Zhanji. He reached out and touched Zhu Yuhuan's head, then said with a smile, "Okay, you just want your uncle to help you with some small business, right? Your uncle isn't so stingy as to not want to spend this money. After you leave the palace, I'll have someone count the revenue from a spice shop as yours and give you some small subsidies. When you get married in the future, you can even subsidize the Princess's Mansion with some of it."
Zhu Zhanji certainly knew that the palace would not treat Zhu Yuhuan unfairly, but these princes-in-law were mostly selected from the common people. Once they came to power, they would look down on everyone. It would be better for Zhu Yuhuan to have some money to protect himself.
Seeing that he didn't care, Zhu Yuhuan didn't force him. He just said, "The shop and the staff are all ready-made from Uncle Wu. It's embarrassing for Huanhuan to just take them for free. If there is any income in the future, Huanhuan will give some of the money to Uncle Wu."
Seeing her insistence, Zhu Zhanji had no choice but to agree and asked, "Do you have any other requests?"
"Everything I ask for is written down on paper. I just need them to produce and operate the business according to the methods I wrote. The specific details can be left to the manager. After all, they have been running the shop much longer than I have."
Zhu Zhanji weighed the booklet Zhu Yuhuan handed over and asked curiously, "Tell me, what do you write in it?"
Seeing that he was eager to try, Zhu Yuhuan said, "Fifth Uncle, why don't you open it and take a look?"
Zhu Zhanji chuckled and then opened it and took a quick look. He saw that it first wrote about various production methods and also provided business methods for different products. It can be said that every detail was covered.
The thing that Grandpa Taizu hated most in his life was businessmen, but unexpectedly, there was someone in their family who was good at business! If Grandpa Taizu knew about this, wouldn't there be an uproar in the underground?
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