Chapter 209 The Zhu Clan is Stinky with Wine and Meat
Since there were not many things, Zhu Pingan quickly packed up the things. It was still early, so he sat at the table again and practiced calligraphy while writing "The Story of Yitian Tuhui" , useful when you go home and borrow books.
Zhu Pinquan practiced calligraphy and continued writing until noon before he stopped writing. Looking out the window, it started to snow again, and it was pure white.
Perhaps the snowflakes outside the window aroused his interest, or perhaps he was in a leisurely mood after winning the imperial examination. Zhu Pingan packed up his pen, ink, paper and inkstone, put on his rabbit fur coat, and prepared to go downstairs for a stroll. After the snow in Nanjing, I took the opportunity to have lunch.
Many students in the lobby gathered around Zhu Shiming, who had just passed the exam, and arranged two tables. The tables were filled with big fish and meat. There were two stoves next to them, warming two pots of wine with an intoxicating aroma. .
"Brother Zhu Xian, come and have a drink with us." Zhu Shiming saw Zhu Ping'an coming downstairs from a distance, stood up and invited.
"Two people at one table will be a good story in the future." Others also stood up and invited Zhu Pingan to the table. After the incident of catching his son-in-law under the list in the morning, these people were more in awe of Zhu Pingan.
The person who is favored by all the officials of the third grade is not easy to be like.
Zhu Pingan thanked them for their kindness and declined to have anything to do, so he left the inn and wandered around Yingtian City aimlessly. I have been busy with the imperial examinations and have not taken a close look at this ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, which was full of glamor and wealth. I want to take a closer look today while I have time.
The street outside is already a world covered in snow, with snow falling in the sky. The restaurants and tea shops on both sides of the street are doing extremely busy business. You can smell the aroma of vegetables and wine while walking on the street. From time to time, You can see wealthy people eating and drinking around a table of food, and you can also see dancing singers in large-scale restaurants
After walking along the bank of the Qinhuai River for a while. Zhu Ping'an changed direction and walked along another street that he had never walked before.
This street is not much less busy than the Qinhuai Strait. It seems to be even worse. The control of this street is looser than that of the politically concentrated area of Qinhuai Confucius Temple. The vendors are also more active, and there are also many children chasing and playing in the streets, which has a very life-like atmosphere.
In the noisy and hot restaurant, Zhu Pingan, who was infected, also bought a pot sticker wrapped in thick paper and enjoyed the snowy scenery of Yingtian while eating.
The skin is crispy and the filling is delicious, fragrant and juicy.
On a snowy day, eating hot pot stickers is especially delicious.
Zigu~ton
While Zhu Pingan was eating and shopping, he heard an unusually eye-catching sound of swallowing saliva.
Zhu Pingan paused. Looking around, I saw two five- or six-year-old children leaning against the wall at the alleyway connecting this street, looking at me timidly, fearful and eager. They were still wearing tattered shoes with open toes on a snowy day, and they seemed to be very young. It didn't fit my feet, and the wrinkled clothes were still patched.
The two children cannot tell the difference between male and female. They are thin and have big eyes. Staring straight at the pot sticker in his hand.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Pingan was a little shocked.
Since he traveled to the Ming Dynasty, although he was poor in a mountain village, every household could still get by. He was studying for scientific examinations so much that he forgot the existence of these dark sides.
"Come, brother, I'll treat you to food." Zhu Ping'an squatted down. He handed the pot stickers in his hand to the two children.
The two children looked at each other and did not dare to move.
"Brother is not a bad person. Come on, take it." Zhu Pingan smiled gently. Once again, he handed the wrapped pot stickers to one of the older-looking children.
In the end, the two children still couldn't hold back the hot pot stickers. The older child timidly reached out and took it. Seeing that Zhu Pingan really gave it to him, his big eyes lit up. .
"Eat it for mother."
After the two children took the pot stickers given by Zhu Pingan, they just swallowed two more mouthfuls of saliva, and then they confirmed the ownership of the pot stickers without any dispute with expressions of joy on their faces. .
"Big brother, go to my house to drink water."
Because of a pot sticker, the two children completely classified Zhu Pingan as a good person. They were happy and invited Zhu Pingan to drink at home. Water is the guest. The two children's eyes flashed with anticipation, as if they were afraid that Zhu Pingan would refuse.
Follow the two children into the alley. This is a deep alley, like two people connecting two worlds.
The alley was strange and winding, and the two children finally led Zhu Ping'an into another alley. There was a mottled signboard hanging at the entrance of the alley with the words "Yangjiyuan" written on it. Inside the alley is a large area of simple houses, which are low and narrow. It is not clear whether they can be protected from wind and snow. The alleys are also dirty and messy.
The two children led Zhu Pingan into one of the narrow and cramped courtyards. There was a thin and sick woman washing clothes in the courtyard. Her body was covered with wind and snow, and her fingers were wet. They were all cracked by the cold and red and swollen.
"Dawuwu is back, cough, cough, cough. When mother finishes washing these clothes, I will boil water for you to drink. When your father comes back in the evening, you will have food."
Woman His voice was weak, as if he was seriously ill.
“Mom, let’s eat for you.” The freshman child took the wrapped pot stickers in his hand and handed it to the woman who was washing clothes like a treasure.
"Dawu, you, you stole other people's things?! Cough cough cough." The woman was not happy and got angry when she saw this, and she kept coughing angrily.
“I don’t have a mother, it’s this big brother who gave me this.” The child felt aggrieved.
Then at this time, the woman saw Zhu Ping'an walking into the yard. She took the two children into her arms with some caution, took the pot stickers from the freshman child's hand, and put them on the wooden board aside. Then he took the two children and hid in the house.
"Master, please come back with your things. My man is not here, and my family will not sell children or anything."
The woman's sickly voice came from the room. .
"Mom, eldest brother is not a bad person." The two children also said it, and then the woman stopped them.
Zhu Pingan looked at himself, and then realized, men and women are on guard.
Looking at the closed door, Zhu Pingan knew that it was better for him to leave obediently at this moment, one more sentence Everything he said was wrong, and staying a minute longer was also a mistake.
After thinking about it, Zhu Pingan took out all the money he had with him, put it next to the pot stickers, bowed his hands slightly, said a word, and left.
“Excuse me.”
After Zhu Ping'an said this, he left the courtyard and continued walking along the alley.
In this alley, Zhu Ping'an witnessed with his own eyes the many holes under the bright appearance of the Ming Empire
The Zhumen smelled of wine and meat, and there were bones frozen to death on the road!
For some people, the heavy snow in Yingtian brings not beauty but disaster. While wealthy families, officials, and even themselves enjoy feasting and enjoying the snow, poor people are dying of cold and hunger on the streets. Some of them don't even have money for medical treatment. It's really heartbreaking.
Chatting with an old man with white hair and beard in the alley, Zhu Pingan understood why these people ended up in this situation in the Ming Dynasty where taxes were extremely low: they have no land, why don’t they have land? Because of land annexation and taxation The corvee was too heavy. In the Ming Dynasty, agricultural taxes were very low but the corvee was very heavy. ; No matter what the reason was, they lost their land. A farmer without land has no income, and he still has to eat without income. So he began to sell off his property, etc., and then he became a refugee. He could not eat bark, leaves, etc. When you are hungry, you have to sell your wife and children.
In this extremely cold winter, they lived a very hard life. They didn’t have enough to eat or wear, and they didn’t have money to pay for medical care when they were sick.
Zhu Pingan, a newly promoted young scholar in the Ming Dynasty, walked heavily in this alleyway. , watching the hungry refugees struggling to survive in this alley, watching their begging and helpless eyes.
Drinking and admiring the snow on the banks of the Qinhuai River, freezing and hungry in the alley, a certain young man walked out of the alley with heavy steps and a firm gaze. (End of this chapter)