kingnovel Chapter 499 He's so ugly he deserves to be cursed.
Chapter 499 He's so ugly he deserves to be cursed.
Just as Empress Ma was pondering whether the mirror could be sold for 500 strings of cash, she heard a shop assistant sneer and say, "500 strings of cash is too expensive?"
"The 500-guan is the basic model with no optional extras; it's just a mirror like this."
"If you want the frame, you'll need to add at least another two hundred strings of cash."
"Some frames are made of special materials, and even a thousand strings of cash wouldn't be enough to cover them."
"..."
Emperor Zhu and Empress Ma were somewhat bewildered as they listened to the servant's explanation to the merchant.
Yang Shaofeng coughed lightly and said, "If you want to do business, you have to study the psychology of rich people."
"A person who can afford to spend 500 strings of cash to buy a mirror will not care about spending another 5,000 strings of cash to buy a frame."
"Let's put everything else aside and just talk about this mirror."
"Don't worry about whether it was made from one shovel or two shovels of sand, that doesn't matter."
"The important thing is that this thing was made by Viscount Wang Laowai from Ningyang County of the Ming Dynasty."
"The frames are made of the same material as those used by the royal family, and they are decorated with patterns hand-carved by royal craftsmen. The craftsmanship alone is worth at least five thousand strings of cash."
"Take this small mirror for example. Just the stand on its back alone would require several master craftsmen..."
"..."
Emperor Zhu suddenly asked, "The same material used by the royal family? The patterns carved by the royal craftsmen themselves?"
"No, where did you get this royal-grade material from?"
"Even if that makes sense, what's the deal with this royal craftsman?"
What's wrong with my son-in-law?
You could call him stupid, but his elaborate schemes are enough to ruin someone's life.
But if you call him shrewd, doesn't he know that terms like "royal-made materials" and "royal craftsmen" shouldn't be used casually?
Even if our old Zhu didn't care, the spittle from those officials in the court would be enough to disgust him to death.
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "The so-called royal material is the same material used for the frame of the full-length mirror that I had someone send to my mother-in-law."
Yang Shaofeng spoke with increasing confidence: "The full-length mirror that I gave to my mother-in-law has a frame made of the finest paulownia wood."
"Several of the picture frames in this shop are made from the same paulownia tree. How can they not be made of the same material used by royalty?"
"As for the royal craftsmen, they are the few craftsmen that my father-in-law and His Highness the Crown Prince have assigned to Ningyang County."
"With their father-in-law and His Highness the Crown Prince personally assigning them, how can they not be considered royal craftsmen?"
Emperor Zhu glanced at Yang Shaofeng with a dark expression.
Yang Shaofeng, annoyed that Emperor Zhu had interrupted him, rolled his eyes and continued, "Didn't I just mention this little mirror?"
"Yes, it's the support behind this small mirror."
"The process and cost of gilding must be at least ten or twenty strings of cash, right?"
"The craftsman's skill must be worth at least several tens of strings of cash, right?"
"If you calculate it that way, even a palm-sized mirror would cost one or two hundred strings of cash."
"As I said before, someone who can afford to spend fifty strings of cash on a mirror will definitely not mind spending an extra fifty strings on a stand and frame."
"If others could also figure out how to make mirrors..."
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "They can bring mirrors to the market too. Anyway, they're all making money off the barbarians. Luxury tax and commercial tax both go to the national treasury. So what difference does it make who makes the money?"
"If the barbarians figure out how to make mirrors, then support a few merchants from the Ming Dynasty, let them set up workshops, fire glass, and make mirrors, and drive down the price of mirrors completely."
"A palm-sized one costs one coin, and a full-length mirror costs ten coins."
"Even if we lose money in the short term, we must completely crush those barbarians' workshops."
Emperor Zhu's face darkened again, and he glanced at Yang Shaofeng.
That bastard is still doing the same inhuman things as always.
While inwardly complaining, Emperor Zhu strolled around the market.
Until the imperial guards who were left to guard the government office rushed over.
"Wang Sheren has come again."
……
"The rate of difficult childbirth for women who marry and have children after the age of eighteen is lower than that for women who marry and have children before the age of eighteen, but higher than that for women who marry and have children after the age of twenty."
"According to the current statistical data analysis, the best age for marriage and childbearing should be between 20 and 25 years old."
"..."
This is a report compiled by Zhou Jingxin based on data provided by the Ministry of Revenue and the Secretariat.
This was followed by an imperial edict issued in the name of Emperor Zhu.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Let all the people know that from the date of this imperial edict, the age for marriage for men and women shall not be lower than twenty years old."
“If anyone marries before the age of twenty, both the parents of the man and woman shall be whipped twenty times.”
"When the imperial edict arrives, the military and civilians shall obey it without fail."
"Appreciate this."
Emperor Zhu curled his lip and said sarcastically, "He writes imperial edicts exactly the same way we do; there's no originality at all."
Empress Ma glared at Emperor Zhu and directly ordered Erhu, "Go and cut two pieces of meat and bring back some fruit."
Erhu immediately accepted the order and left, but Emperor Zhu, completely bewildered, asked, "Sister, what are you doing?"
Empress Ma snorted coldly and said, "What are you doing? Go thank Physician Yang and your good son-in-law."
"Never mind whether your good son-in-law is trying to upset you or not, and never mind whether he's trying to cause trouble for Li Shanchang and the others."
"Anyway, his and Physician Yang's memorials saved countless women."
"This is a great act of merit."
"How you reward Biao is your business."
"But today's gift is from us as the parents of our daughter."
Upon hearing Empress Ma's words, Emperor Zhu immediately fell silent.
After all, Old Zhu has several daughters.
If it weren't for Yang Shaofeng and Yang Qing's memorials, Old Zhu would have even considered choosing a husband for his daughter.
If we had married our daughter off early...
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the more frightened he became. He couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and cursed, "That bastard!"
Empress Ma was slightly taken aback and asked, "Why did you scold him again?"
Emperor Zhu was also stunned.
Yeah, why did I scold him again?
"He looks like he deserves to be cursed."
Emperor Zhu cursed and said, "That bastard! If he had submitted a memorial to us earlier, would we have married Jin'er and Yu'er to him so soon?"
"He only wrote a memorial after we married our daughter to him. What do you think he's up to?"
"And what about today at the border market? Listen to him, is he even speaking human language?"
What does it mean to only buy expensive things, not necessarily the right ones?
"He's always scheming and plotting, he really doesn't care about other people's lives."
"This bastard!"
"..."
Seeing Emperor Zhu getting more and more worked up while cursing, Empress Ma couldn't help but rub her forehead.
Do you, Zhu Chongba, have no idea why your son-in-law has become like this?