Chapter 1369 Private visit with son!

Yijing, Chenji Teahouse

Two storytellers in long gowns and jackets are standing on the stage and talking.
"Okay! What will you treat me to when we get to Baiweizhai Restaurant?"

"Please let me treat you to a full Han banquet, with dishes from both the north and south!"

"No need for a full Han banquet or northern and southern cuisine, as long as you name three or five of these dishes, it'll be your treat!"

"That's too easy. Just wait and see. I'll treat you to steamed lamb, steamed bear paws, steamed deer tails, roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, and braised salted duck. Braised chicken, bacon, pine flowers, tripe, dried meat, sausages..."

The storyteller had a loud voice, clear pronunciation, round and precise intonation, and was very eloquent. His ups and downs in reading aroused the emotions of many tea drinkers in the teahouse, and they all applauded and cheered!

In a private room in the teahouse, a middle-aged man, two little boys and a little girl were also listening with great interest.

A chubby little boy swallowed his saliva and asked the middle-aged man next to him expectantly:
"Father, are there really so many delicious foods? I have never eaten steamed lamb or steamed bear paws, and what is deer tail?"

As soon as the little boy finished speaking, another slightly older boy also looked at Ye Mingsheng expectantly, but the little girl next to them said with some complaints:

"Third brother! Dad just told us that once we leave the palace, we can't call him father but dad!"

"We are visiting incognito, you said that father's identity will be exposed..."

Ye Jingcheng, who was being taught a lesson by his second sister Ye Xingtong, looked a little embarrassed, and at this time, his eldest brother Ye Jingren asked:

"Dad! Is Deer Tail a deer tail?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:
"Our Daqian catering culture is extensive and profound with a long history. Every place has its own special cuisine, and there are naturally countless delicious ones!"

"As for this deer tail, it was originally a deer tail, which is considered a high-end food. However, there is also a folk practice of chopping up pork liver, sesame sauce, peanuts and other things, stuffing them into pig intestines, and then steaming them for consumption. Because it looks like a deer tail, it is also called deer tail!"

Listening to his father's introduction, the youngest Ye Jingcheng couldn't help but continue to ask:

"Dad, have you ever eaten these two kinds of deer tails?"

The question from the third brother Jingcheng brought Ye Mingsheng's thoughts back to the distant past. After a moment, Ye Mingsheng said with some emotion:

"I ate a real deer tail once before when I was entertaining people in Luoan. As for the folk method, I have seen it, but I didn't eat it!"

"Dad! What does a deer tail smell like?"

"This happened so long ago that Dad can't even remember it, but since it didn't leave a very deep impression on me, it should taste just average!"

At this time, Ye Xingtong also asked curiously:
"Then Dad, why don't you eat the deer tail made from pig intestines?"

Ye Mingsheng rubbed the pigtails of the second child Xingtong, then smiled and said:
"Deer tail made from pig intestines is similar to blood sausage. I don't like blood sausage, so I have never eaten this deer tail!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng seemed to have thought of something, and then he spoke to Xing Tong again:

“Your mother likes to eat blood sausage. She should have eaten deer tail before. If you are curious, you can ask your mother what deer tail tastes like when you go back…”

Ye Xingtong nodded as if he understood what he said and said:
“That should be delicious!”

"Brother, what do you think this deer tail will taste like?"

"I think this deer tail might be the same as a sheep tail. Sheep tails have sheep tail oil, and deer tails might also have deer tail oil!"

Looking at the three children who were discussing enthusiastically, Ye Mingsheng's face showed a bit of pampering.

Because Ye Mingsheng was busy with official duties, he basically entrusted Jingren's education to An Miaoyi, the child's mother, and Gu Sansi, the child's teacher.

Ye Mingsheng was basically satisfied with An Miaoyi and Gu Sansi's educational work for Jingren, but Ye Mingsheng believed that as a prince, Jingren should not just stay in the palace and study the Four Books and Five Classics every day. He should also understand the lives of the grassroots people and how Daqian operates.

So based on this idea, Ye Mingsheng decided that as long as time permits, he would take Jingren on incognito visits as much as possible and lead Jingren to experience the lifestyle of the grassroots people. Ye Mingsheng believed that after Jingren had such an experience, he would better understand the difficulties of the grassroots people and would be more empathetic.

There happened to be not many things to deal with today, so after reviewing memorials in the imperial study for a whole morning, Ye Mingsheng decided to take a break in the afternoon and go on a private visit to understand the people's sentiments. If Ye Mingsheng remembered correctly, he had no time to go on a private visit since he ascended the throne...

Therefore, in addition to taking a holiday today, Ye Mingsheng also wanted to see what reform results Liu Ning has achieved during this period and what changes it has brought to the lives of ordinary people.

In order to educate Jingren, Ye Mingsheng decided to take Jingren with him on the incognito visit. However, what Ye Mingsheng did not expect was that Jingren was playing with his second sister Xingtong and third brother Jingcheng at that time. Therefore, after hearing that Ye Mingsheng was going to go on an incognito visit, the two little guys also refused to do it and insisted to go with him.

Ye Mingsheng was a little hesitant about taking the three children with him on the incognito visit, but after Xingtong and Jingcheng's constant pleading, Ye Mingsheng finally softened his heart and decided to take the three children with him.

The first stop of the incognito visit was Chenji Teahouse. Ye Mingsheng had been to this Chenji Teahouse several times before and was quite impressed with the teahouse's snacks, environment, and services. Therefore, when he was in the palace, Ye Mingsheng sometimes missed the teahouse's snacks and storytelling and opera.

So now that they have time to relax, Ye Mingsheng also came here with his three children.

At this time, because the two crosstalk actors had just finished their show, a storyteller walked onto the stage and began to tell the story of the Monkey King's rampage in Heaven in Journey to the West.

Although the three children have all read Journey to the West, the storyteller Liu Tiezui is known as one of the top ten storytellers in Yijing, so his reputation is well-deserved. He is also a very good storyteller, and the plot is full of suspense in his mouth, so the three children’s attention is attracted by him and they listen with relish...

At this time, some whispers outside the box caught Ye Mingsheng's attention.
"This Chen's Teahouse is getting more and more expensive. I just ordered two cups of tea, two plates of snacks, and some peanuts and dried fruits, but they actually asked me for two taels and five cents of silver!" "These two taels of silver are enough for me to sleep with a girl at Evian Tower! I'm never coming here again!"

"Brother! Didn't the imperial court promulgate the Work Law? So the prices of Chen's Teahouse have naturally increased!"

"What does the court's promulgation of the Work Law have to do with them? This Work Law is not a tax, why are they raising prices?"

"Brother, although this work method is not a tax, it does require the employer to pay more money to the employees, which means the employer will make less money. If the employer makes less money, he will naturally raise the price to make it back. Now it's not just Chen's Teahouse that is doing this, all the shops and businesses in Yijing, big and small, have raised their prices!"

"Although the court had issued the Work Law before, the inspection was not very strict, so there were not many price increases. Now that the Work Law is not being enforced, if workers report to the government, they will be investigated, and there will be more price increases!"

"Ugh!"

With a long sigh, the noise outside the box also completely calmed down. Ye Mingsheng was touched by what he said and coughed lightly. Zhang Hu, the guard stationed outside the box, immediately walked in and asked Ye Mingsheng:

"Master, do you have any instructions?"

"How much silver will this table of refreshments cost?"

Zhang Hu was a little surprised to hear Ye Mingsheng's words. He didn't know why Ye Mingsheng suddenly asked this. Although it was not the first time that he went out on business with Ye Mingsheng, Ye Mingsheng had never looked at the price when they had relaxing activities like drinking tea in teahouses, watching plays in theaters, and eating in restaurants before...

Therefore, Zhang Hu did not care about how much silver it was. Anyway, this silver was from the imperial treasury, not his own silver. When he came out, he had about three thousand taels of silver notes on him. After finding out how much Ye Mingsheng had spent, he would go back and report to the imperial treasury, and then hand back the remaining silver.

Therefore, under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Zhang Hu could only say awkwardly:
"Master, I didn't ask!"

After saying this, Zhang Hu also asked tentatively:

"Master, should I ask now?"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly, and Zhang Hu left immediately. About a cup of tea later, Zhang Hu came back and reported to Ye Mingsheng:

"Master! The shopkeeper told me that you ordered the best Longjing and Tieguanyin tea here, so our table almost cost five taels of silver!"

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised to hear this. When he came to Chen's Teahouse before, he only paid attention to the quality of the tea and snacks, the environment and service, and did not pay attention to the price of the tea and snacks. So Ye Mingsheng did not know whether the price of Chen's Teahouse had increased compared to before, and how much it had increased.

However, Ye Mingsheng also felt that five taels of silver seemed a bit high. Ye Mingsheng remembered that Murong Yuliang had reported to him in his memorial that he had set the annual minimum wage for Lin'an workers at five taels of silver.

As the prefect of Yijing, Liu Ning referred to the standard set by Murong Yuliang. However, because Yijing's economic level was not as good as Lin'an, Liu Ning also set the minimum wage standard for Yijing at four taels and six cents of silver per year.

This means that the cost of Ye Mingsheng's table of tea and snacks and the private room at Chen's Teahouse has exceeded the income of a waiter working in Yijing in a year!

Although this minimum wage standard was set a little low by Liu Ning in order to popularize the minimum wage, most workers in Yijing can earn five to six taels of silver a year, but Ye Mingsheng still thinks this is a bit exaggerated.
Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng also scanned the tea and snacks on the table. He ordered the best tea. Because there were four people, Ye Mingsheng ordered two pots, one pot of Tieguanyin and one pot of Longjing tea.
As for snacks, since it was noon when they arrived, the three children were a little hungry as they had not had time to eat lunch in the palace, so they ordered a lot, a total of seven plates of pastries, some fried nuts such as peanuts and melon seeds, and a fruit plate consisting of white pears, apricots, and red dates.

Although he knew that Chen's Teahouse was one of the most upscale teahouses in Yijing and that the consumption level was very high, Ye Mingsheng was still surprised that these things were worth five taels of silver.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng's somewhat surprised expression, Zhang Hu asked tentatively:

"Master, is this teahouse overcharging its customers? How about I call the Yijing government office and ask them to come over and check it out?"

Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:

"Nothing! I'm just curious, go pay the bill!"

"Yes!"

After Zhang Hu left, Ye Mingsheng also said to the three little guys:

"We're leaving!"

As soon as these words came out, the three little guys all showed reluctance and said:

"Dad! He's at the most crucial moment of his sermon, let's listen!"

"We finally got out here, this teahouse is great and I want to stay here!"

"Dad, there are delicious food in this teahouse, and people are singing opera. Why should we leave? It's so nice to stay here..."

Listening to his three children's words, Ye Mingsheng also frowned and said:

"If you want to stay, then stay here. Your father is leaving anyway!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng stood up. Seeing that Ye Mingsheng was really leaving, the three little guys, although reluctant, had to stand up from their chairs reluctantly and followed Ye Mingsheng out of the box.

After a cup of tea, under the protection of Zhang Hu and other guards, Ye Mingsheng left Chenji Teahouse with his three children. At this time, a housekeeper came to a room on the second floor of the teahouse and reported to a young girl:

"Miss! That guest left with three children!"

Chen Xiangling nodded slightly when she heard this, her eyes full of complexity. Although she had heard that Marshal Ye of the Fengwu Army, now the Emperor of Daqian, Ye Mingsheng, had the habit of making incognito visits, she had never thought that she would meet this big shot who made incognito visits.

What Chen Xiangling didn't expect was that Ye Mingsheng not only went on a secret visit in disguise, but also used the alias Ye Dong, a general under his command, when answering her questions!
At that time, Chen Xiangling had already realized that Ye Mingsheng must be an extraordinary person. Therefore, when she heard Ye Mingsheng call himself Ye Dong, she believed it without a doubt. She even felt that she was very lucky to meet such an approachable, generous and magnanimous general of the Fengwu Army!
However, when Ye Mingsheng went on the Western Expedition a few years ago, Chen Xiangling also visited the departure ceremony out of curiosity. Only then did the little girl realize how wrong she was...