The strongest eldest son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 61 Sweet potatoes are selling like hotcakes in Beijing!

Upon hearing this, Hu Weiyong's impatience vanished instantly, his brows furrowed sharply, and a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Seeing this, his wife became even more suspicious and quickly asked, "Sir, in the past, when the Koreans sent people to invite you, you were always overjoyed and couldn't wait to go. Why are you hesitating today? Is something wrong?"

Hu Weiyong sighed deeply, shook his head, and said urgently without explanation, "It's nothing, don't ask any more questions, I'll go to the Duke of Han's residence right away."

As he spoke, he instructed his wife, "Quickly, find something to cover up the injury on my face so that the Duke of Han can't see it, otherwise it will be difficult to explain if he asks about it."

Although his wife was puzzled, she didn't dare to ask any more questions. She quickly nodded, turned around to get some concealer, and carefully covered the bruises and wounds on Hu Weiyong's face.

A moment later, Hu Weiyong straightened his clothes and covered his wounds. Although he still looked somewhat haggard, he looked less disheveled. He hurriedly bid farewell to his wife and, with his entourage, headed towards the Duke of Han's residence.

Before long, Hu Weiyong arrived at the Duke of Han's residence. After announcing his arrival, he was led into the hall by a servant. Li Shanchang was sitting upright in the main seat, looking serious and resting with his eyes closed.

Hu Weiyong quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Student Hu Weiyong greets teacher."

Li Shanchang slowly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on Hu Weiyong. He carefully examined him for a moment, then slowly asked, "Zizhong, how did it go this time you were ordered to go out and handle the affairs of Chenzhou? Was everything going smoothly?"

Hu Weiyong's heart stirred, and he had already prepared his words. He bowed and said, "Reporting to Duke Han, everything went smoothly. On my trip to Chenzhou, I discovered that the prefect of Chenzhou, Zhao Wude, was corrupt, oppressed the people, and ruthlessly exploited them, thus ruining the reputation of the people of Huaixi."

"Upon seeing this, my subordinates immediately took action, apprehended Zhao Wude, and dealt with him according to the law. This would give the people of Chenzhou an explanation and also uphold the dignity of our Huaixi people."

He made no mention of his encounter with Zhu Yuanzhang in Chenzhou, nor of Zhu Yao's existence, only reporting trivial matters and deliberately concealing the true gains and experiences of his trip to Chenzhou.

Li Shanchang nodded, his face expressionless. He casually asked a few more questions about the details of Zhao Wude's punishment, which Hu Weiyong brushed off one by one. Then he made an excuse: "Teacher, I am exhausted from this trip, and I also have some trivial matters to attend to at home, so I will take my leave now."

Li Shanchang glanced at him, but did not try to stop him. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, you must be tired from your journey. Go back and rest first. We can discuss it another day."

Hu Weiyong felt relieved and quickly bowed. He then turned and hurriedly left the Duke of Han's residence, fearing that if he lingered any longer, Li Shanchang would see through his disguise.

After Hu Weiyong left, only Li Shanchang and his trusted steward remained in the hall. The steward stepped forward and whispered, "Master, I feel that Prime Minister Hu acted strangely today. He certainly didn't tell the truth."

"In the past, he would always give a detailed report to the adults every time he returned from an outing. But today he only gave a few perfunctory words, and he looked flustered and avoided eye contact. He was obviously hiding something."

Li Shanchang nodded slowly, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. His eyes were deep, and he said in a low voice, "You're right. I can see it too. He must be hiding something from us."

"His trip to Chenzhou this time was definitely not just to deal with a corrupt prefect; otherwise, he wouldn't be so secretive and uncertain."

As he spoke, a hint of curiosity flashed in Li Shanchang's eyes, and he slowly said, "It seems that there must be something unusual about this Chenzhou, that Hu Weiyong is so cautious and deliberately concealing it. I am becoming more and more curious."

"Go and make arrangements to send someone to Chenzhou secretly to investigate what Hu Weiyong did and who he met during his trip there. Make sure you find out the whole story without any mistakes."

The trusted steward bowed and replied, "Your subordinate obeys. I will make the arrangements immediately and will certainly investigate the whole story and report back to you, sir."

.....

For the next two weeks, Zhu Yuanzhang was in high spirits, everything went smoothly, and he never stopped smiling.

The cement he ordered directly from Chenzhou arrived at the palace on schedule, and he immediately ordered the craftsmen to start construction and build a smooth cement road in the imperial garden.

The once bumpy, muddy dirt road has now been transformed into a clean and smooth cement road. It is firm and stable to walk on, and you won't get muddy no matter how windy or rainy it is. Every time Zhu Yuanzhang strolled in the Imperial Garden, he couldn't help but admire Zhu Yao's wisdom.

Meanwhile, a construction team specially invited from Chenzhou has arrived in Jinling and is busy renovating the muddy, bumpy, and difficult-to-travel road on the outskirts of Jinling. In just a few days, a brand-new cement road has taken shape, flat and wide, and all passers-by are full of praise. The construction effect far exceeds expectations.

On the other hand, following Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions, the Ministry of Revenue purchased a large quantity of sweet potatoes from Chenzhou and transported them to Nanjing. Zhu Yuanzhang specifically instructed that they should not be sold directly in the name of the Imperial Palace, but instead a "Zhu Ji Chamber of Commerce" should be established to cover up the matter and be specifically responsible for the sale of sweet potatoes.

The sweet potatoes had just arrived at Zhu Ji Chamber of Commerce and hadn't even officially gone on sale yet, but their unique sweet aroma already permeated the entire street. Especially when the sweet potatoes were roasting, the caramelized fragrance was so strong that it could be smelled from several streets away, instantly attracting countless passersby to stop and watch.

Within a few days, sweet potatoes became a sensation throughout Jinling City. From princes and nobles to wealthy merchants, everyone flocked to this novel food. For a time, eating sweet potatoes became the most fashionable thing in Jinling City.

There were even rumors that "if you haven't eaten Zhu Ji Chamber of Commerce's sweet potatoes, you can't be considered a true aristocrat." This statement caused a frenzy among nobles, young ladies and gentlemen of wealthy families to rush to buy them. Even though the price of the sweet potatoes was outrageously high, with an ounce of sweet potato being comparable to an ounce of gold, it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

It should be noted that in the early Ming Dynasty, one tael of gold could be exchanged for at least fifteen taels of silver, enough to support an ordinary family of five for several years, which shows how precious the sweet potato was.

A wealthy merchant, upon learning that sweet potatoes were going on sale, specially brought his entourage and waited at the entrance of the Zhu Ji Merchant Guild early in the morning. However, when it was his turn, all the sweet potatoes had been snapped up. The usually arrogant man suddenly teared up on the spot. In desperation, he had his entourage take out a hundred taels of silver and begged the guild manager to reserve sweet potatoes for the next day, saying, "Even if it costs several times more, I must buy them."

Xu Miaoyun, daughter of Duke Xu Da of Wei, was always gentle and dignified, but she was also attracted by the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes. She specially sent her maid to buy some, but the maid went three times and returned empty-handed each time because of the long queues. Helpless, Xu Miaoyun had to ask an acquaintance in the palace to contact the manager of Zhu Ji Merchant Guild. She finally managed to get two roasted sweet potatoes. After tasting them, she couldn't forget their soft, sweet and fragrant taste and asked people to buy them for her for several days in a row.