July 7th,

As the largest city in the world today and the capital of the Ming Dynasty, it was once Jinling and is now Nanjing.

The already bustling streets looked extremely bloated.

On weekdays, it's mostly the smell of the sweat of horse dealers, but today, a faint fragrance can be smelled everywhere on the streets.

There were even more sounds of warblers and swallows.

Women's chatter and laughter, men's showoff, and servants' compliments all filled my ears.

This is a different capital.

A graceful lady, a gentleman is a good man.

It’s not just women who dress up in costumes, men even more so.

Even a poor scholar will at least wear clean and decent clothes so that he can hold his head high.

The academy is also on holiday on this day.

Even if you are a teacher, you must not miss such festivals.

Zhu Gaochi had already started walking towards the palace before dawn.

In the palace, Zhu Ying had already rinsed her mouth and face, and began to read the memorial.

It has to be said that what Zhu Ying uses to rinse her mouth now can be regarded as a homemade toothbrush.

This toothbrush was originally going to be invented by Zhu Youtang, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, a hundred years later, but now it has been used by Zhu Ying.

A toothbrush is not difficult to make, it is naturally much easier.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang rinsed his mouth in the morning and started using a toothbrush.

Zhu Yuanzhang has already gone to prepare for the morning court. Zhu Ying does not need to go to the morning court yet, but when the time comes, he will be called out by the eunuch Guo Zhong.

"Your Highness, these are early rice tax notices sent from various places. Your Majesty said that your Highness should go through them first."

Guo Zhong respectfully handed over more than ten memorials.

There was also early rice in the Ming Dynasty.

Generally, sowing is done in mid-to-late March, and harvesting can begin at the end of June or early July.

After harvesting in July, late rice transplanting immediately follows and must be completed before the beginning of autumn, commonly known as double-grabbing.

Early rice is mainly produced in the south, concentrated in the four provinces of Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi and Guangdong.

Zhu Ying nodded and took the memorial. What was written in it was the approximate valuation of Zaodao.

Although the entire Ming Dynasty suffered a lot of disasters, the situation in the early Ming Dynasty was still much better than that in the late Ming Dynasty.

This wave of early rice harvest is very important. If a batch comes, the Ming Dynasty's treasury will suddenly become much richer.

The salaries of most officials can also begin to be paid on time.

Although the Henan region was severely affected, the southern region is still doing well. After food comes, the situation in the entire Ming Dynasty will become very good.

And a wave of late rice can be harvested in November.

Just when Zhu Ying was checking the memorial, the eunuch Guo Zhong came in again and reported:

"Your Highness, the envoy from Song Town would like to see you."

Zhu Ying paused, something strange flashed in his eyes, and said: "Let him come in quickly."

Soon, Song Zhong appeared in front of Zhu Ying again after half a month.

"What, I found out the information." Zhu Ying, who had always been steady, actually seemed a little anxious at this moment.

"Reporting to Your Highness, I have lived up to my great trust and have finally found out the information about Mr. Li." Song Zhong's expression at this time looked haggard and tired.

Obviously, Song Zhong did not seem to be in the capital during this period, but went out to perform a secret mission arranged by Zhu Ying.

This is normal.

Jiang Yu is the commander of the Jinyi Guards, equivalent to Zhu Yuanzhang's personal bodyguard.

Zhu Yuanzhang would naturally arrange one for his eldest grandson Zhu Ying, and this person would be Song Zhong.

Song Zhong and Guo Zhong, like Jiang Yu and Liu He, were Zhu Ying's right-hand men in the future.

Of course, in addition to this, Zhu Ying also has forces under his command, but for now, the more significance lies in the hidden line, rather than Song Zhong and Guo Zhong.

Song Zhong was originally a personal bodyguard. When the identities of Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang first became clearer, Zhu Ying arranged a task for him.

This mission is about Mr. Li.

Mr. Li, whose full name is Li Xing, is also an ordinary businessman.

When Zhu Ying was living in the Western Regions and was in poverty, it was because of Li Xing's help that he was able to survive.

A drop of kindness should be repaid by a spring.

But when Zhu Ying gradually became more active, Li Xingren was suddenly nowhere to be found.

Apart from knowing that Li Xing was from the Ming Dynasty and had a slight northern accent, he knew nothing else.

In recent years, especially after Zhu Ying's Qunying Chamber of Commerce began to gradually expand, Zhu Ying never gave up the opportunity to find Li Xing.

It's just that these days, the frontiers are in chaos, and the internal situation of Ming Dynasty is not necessarily stable. Even the household registration is not known. How can it be found with just a name.

Even if it is the Heavenly Eye of later generations, it does not mean that you can find whoever you want, let alone in today's Ming Dynasty.

But Zhu Ying never gave up searching.

After Song Zhong followed Zhu Ying, the first thing Zhu Ying gave Song Zhong was to dig three feet into the ground to find this person. Zhu Ying made it clear to Song Zhong that it was a test.

.

If something can be gained, even if it is just a clue, Song Zhong will be considered to have passed the test.

From that day on, Song Zhong left the capital directly and embarked on a journey to find the person.

It has to be said that Jin Yiwei has the household registration after all, especially when he knows that Zhu Ying has met Li Xing.

Although it is the Western Region, if you want to go to the Western Region, you cannot avoid several border cities.

Nowadays, merchants need to issue directions no matter where they go, and these are all recorded in the city.

Li Xing's household registration was quickly found out by Song Zhong.

"Where is Mr. Li now?" Zhu Ying asked directly.

If the adoptive father was Zhu Ying's first noble person when he came to Ming Dynasty, then Li Xing was Zhu Ying's second noble person.

Zhu Ying, who was competing with wild dogs for food, would really have no way to survive without Li Xing's help.

This is a life-saving grace.

And at that time, Li Xing was actually a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river.

In the end, Zhu Ying had no choice but to separate from Li Xing, but Zhu Ying never had the idea of ​​​​blaming Mr. Li in her heart. She could let him cultivate for a period of time and heal his injuries.

It was already a great kindness. At that time, Li Xing himself could not even afford a few mouthfuls of food.

But when Zhu Ying asked for Mr. Li's future contact information, Li Xing shook his head, gave Zhu Ying half of the dry food left in his arms, and then left.

Zhu Ying never dared to forget that scene.

"Your Highness, Mr. Li's place, or..." Song Zhong seemed a little hesitant after hearing this.

"Say!" Zhu Ying shouted with a frown.

Song Zhong's performance made Zhu Ying feel a bad feeling in his heart.

Song Zhong did not dare to hesitate too much and quickly stated the information he had found in detail.

It turned out that Li Xing was from a small village in the northwest region. Due to famine and wandering, he could only be regarded as a halfway businessman. He had also attended private school for two years.

Zhu Ying nodded when she heard this, knowing that Song Zhong had checked correctly.

Mr. Li can be called Mr. Li because he knows many words.

But the next news made Zhu Ying frown.

The village where Mr. Li lived was attacked by bandits the second year after Mr. Li returned. There were not many people left alive in the whole village, and almost all of them died.

From this moment on, there was no news about Li Xing, and there was no trace of Li Xing in the nearest county seat.

Obviously, this means that Li Xing has inevitably passed away.

"Have you found out where the banditry is?" Zhu Ying asked in a deep voice, her teeth grinding together.

"Reporting to your highness, after my investigation, there are basically no bandits gathering within a hundred miles of Mr. Li. And such a massacre of a village is most likely not caused by bandits, but by soldiers.

"

Song Zhong replied and directly expressed his guess.

These days, those who are capable of massacring villages are either bandits or soldiers. Only these two types of people are most likely.

Apart from grabbing some food, ordinary bandits would not do such unscrupulous things.
To be continued...