Chapter Thirteen: Old Zhu With Empty Hands
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Zhu Yuanzhang had barely finished rejoicing over keeping the Darksteel Sword when the little fellow changed his mind and stuffed the jade pendant back into his own hand.
“Grandson, this sword is useless for anything. Even if you sold it outside, no one would dare buy it! The jade pendant is different. Just this small piece would feed an ordinary family for an entire lifetime!”
Old Zhu refused to give up and tried to persuade him again.
But the little fellow was stubborn beyond measure. Clutching the treasured sword, he refused to let go. “No, no! I want this sword!”
Unable to reason with him, Old Zhu could only grit his teeth and concede. “Fine! Have it your way! This time, can you ask the old immortal for more sweet-potato and potato seeds?”
“What sweet-potato seeds?”
The little fellow stroked the sword happily, flatly denying everything that had just happened.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately felt a vague sense of foreboding. “Wait, Grandson, you can’t lie to me! We clearly agreed just now that once I gave you the sword, you would ask the old immortal for sweet-potato and potato seeds!”
“Grandfather Emperor, you can’t bully me just because I’m young! Didn’t I just trade the jade pendant for this sword? The jade pendant is still in your hand! My younger brothers and sisters all saw it!”
Yilun, Yuntong, and Jiangdu all nodded repeatedly from the side.
Zhu Yuanzhang was bewildered. He looked at the jade pendant, which was indeed still in his hand.
Scratching his head suspiciously, he finally understood. “No, wait! That’s not right! When I gave you the jade pendant just now, you never agreed to get us any seeds!”
“Grandfather Emperor, you never gave me the jade pendant either! Isn’t it still in your hand?”
“Then what about my sword? It couldn’t have ended up with you for no reason!”
“Grandfather Emperor, didn’t we already say it? I traded the jade pendant for the sword, and you agreed to it!”
“Then the jade pendant…”
“Father, this jade pendant belongs to me!”
Old Zhu had been thoroughly confused by the little fellow. Before he could sort things out, Zhu Biao took the jade pendant from his hand.
“Then what about my paper money? I also paid one thousand taels in paper money!”
“Grandfather Emperor, let’s go through it slowly…”
The little fellow gestured back and forth as he explained. “I wanted the sword just now, but you wouldn’t give it to me, right?”
Old Zhu nodded.
“Then Grandfather Emperor took out the jade pendant and wanted to trade it for the sword, but I refused, right?”
Old Zhu nodded again.
“Then Grandfather Emperor offered me one thousand taels, right?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“So I put the banknotes away! But then I thought the treasured sword was more meaningful after all, so I used the jade pendant to exchange for it! And Grandfather Emperor agreed too! Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right!”
“So there you have it! I traded the jade pendant for the sword. What’s all this talk about one thing or another?”
Zhu Xiongying carefully retraced the entire transaction from beginning to end.
It seemed perfectly logical, yet it only left Old Zhu even more bewildered.
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Yunqi and Zhu Biao were also counting on their fingers, trying to work it out together.
“The jade pendant plus money for the sword… then the sword was exchanged back for the jade pendant! The jade pendant… Ah… No, that’s not right…”
The more they calculated, the more confused Old Zhu became.
Ding! Congratulations, Host. Using the experience of Brother Bao from the future, you have successfully teased Zhu Yuanzhang. Reward: Strength +10.
Ding! Congratulations, Host. Using the experience of Brother Bao from the future, you have successfully teased Zhu Yuanzhang. Reward: One Life-Extending Pill.
When he heard the system announce his rewards, Zhu Xiongying’s eyes lit up.
Rewards were much easier to farm when he was beside Old Zhu.
Over the past few days, he had already gained more than a year of additional life.
While Old Zhu was caught up in self-doubt, Zhu Xiongying checked the latest reward.
He was already familiar with attribute points. They increased various aspects of his physical abilities.
As for the Life-Extending Pill, this was the first time he had seen one.
He lightly touched it with his mind, and its instructions immediately appeared.
In essence, all one had to do was consume it, and one’s lifespan would instantly increase by a year.
There were no restrictions on whose lifespan it could extend.
In other words, whoever took the pill would gain an additional year of life.
Now that was a good thing!
Having obtained his reward, Zhu Xiongying quietly took Yilun and the others by the hand and began slipping away while Old Zhu was still trying to make sense of things.
But before they had gone more than a few steps, Old Zhu called out, “Wait… I understand now!”
Unable to escape, Zhu Xiongying stopped and gave him an ingratiating grin. “What does Grandfather Emperor understand?”
“My treasured sword is gone, and my paper money is gone, yet you little rascal still never agreed to help me obtain sweet-potato seeds! Right?”
Old Zhu was utterly certain that his reasoning was flawless.
He had received no benefit at all, yet lost two things. Wasn’t that an obvious loss?
The moment he finished speaking, Yunqi and Zhu Biao, who had been tilting their heads and puzzling over the matter, understood as well.
They had all been confused by the Crown Prince’s Grandson trading the same things back and forth.
In reality, if something was gone, then it was simply gone. There was nothing complicated about it!
His Highness the Crown Prince’s Grandson really was clever.
“What is Grandfather Emperor talking about? I’m young and don’t understand a word! Since Grandfather Emperor wants sweet-potato seeds, I’ll just help you ask for more!”
Zhu Yuanzhang might not have read many books, but he was certainly no fool.
It was only natural that he would eventually figure it out.
Zhu Xiongying had merely wanted to farm a few rewards.
Since he had been found out, he might as well agree to get the sweet-potato seeds.
Given how much Old Zhu doted on this grandson, forget tricking him out of a treasured sword.
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Even if the boy asked for his imperial throne, Old Zhu might well give it to him!
“Hahaha! That’s my good grandson!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely pleased with this answer. With a grand sweep of his hand, he continued, “As for those one thousand taels in paper money, keep them as pocket money! Later, have the palace servants buy you some sugar figurines and the like.”
“Thank you, Grandfather Emperor!”
The little fellow cupped his hands in salute. One still had to be polite when politeness was called for.
“All right! If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first. I still have plenty of official business to handle!”
“Your grandson respectfully sees Grandfather Emperor off!”
Old Zhu had barely taken a few steps when he suddenly slapped his forehead and turned back.
“Look at my memory! I came to the Eastern Palace today to tell you that the Yellow River really has flooded. Most of the farmland in Henan Prefecture is underwater, and the harvest has truly failed completely! Everything you predicted came true!”
“See? I told you stockpiling grain could make money!”
Old Zhu was speechless.
Why was this grandson talking about money every other sentence now?
“Those grain merchants are far too well-informed! I had only just received the memorial, yet they had already begun raising their prices!”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s face, already long and narrow like a shoehorn, stretched even farther.
“The Embroidered Uniform Guard just reported that wheat, which originally cost three copper coins per jin, has now risen to five. Rice has doubled outright, reaching ten copper coins per jin!”
In this era, ordinary people had very little opportunity to earn money.
An able-bodied adult man who went out to work might earn only eight to ten copper coins a day—enough to buy two or three jin of grain, barely sufficient to keep his family fed.
Those with a trade, or those who could read and write, might earn twenty or thirty copper coins a day, allowing their households to live somewhat more comfortably.
Now that grain prices had risen, even a full day’s wages might no longer be enough to support a family.
Resentment was bound to spread.
“Didn’t Grandfather Emperor send people to spread the word that the court would soon open the granaries and release grain to stabilize prices?”
Zhu Xiongying asked with complete seriousness.
“We already did…”
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed deeply before continuing. “Over the past few days, the Ministry of Works has also sent people to refine a considerable amount of coarse salt. As you instructed, we selected a group from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and had them disguise themselves as foreigners to sell salt throughout the various regions. We still don’t know how effective it will be.”
“Grandfather Emperor, rest assured! As long as you follow my instructions, not only can we stabilize grain prices, we can also fill the imperial treasury!”
“Really?”
“When have I ever lied to you, Grandfather Emperor?”
The tricks don’t count.
“Good! Then we’ll wait for the good news!”
“And when we make money, Grandfather Emperor, don’t forget to give me ten percent!”
…
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