Chapter 972 Under the rockery
"Old man, it is feasible to place these two flat peach plants here. With this thing placed like this, it does look like something serious. And these two plants It's not easy to move the flat peaches around. It doesn't take more than three or four people to get them out of the house. I guess it's really impossible. If a thief can get in, he won't touch it. But the problem is that the porcelain I bought from Hongguang Pavilion is not safe to put here, isn't it possible for someone to take it away at will? , wouldn’t you just leave me in an empty house without anyone watching? If so, I might as well leave it in my uncle’s courtyard in Dongshitiao, where Uncle Zhai is watching over me every day.”< br>
Ning Weimin, who has seen the world, is different from Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao.
Having already had a certain understanding of Ma's Garden, he was more concerned about other issues.
For example, the safety of placing things.
Unexpectedly, Kang Shude not only refuted him immediately, but also gave him a surprising answer.
"What are you in a hurry for? I didn't say just empty the house. We still have a cellar. If you lock it in the cellar, it will be absolutely safe."
" And the cellar? Where is it?" Ning Weimin was surprised and asked in disbelief.
Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao also woke up, and their eyes moved over at once.
“It’s far away in the horizon but so close in front of us, right under this rockery.” Kang Shude said.
"Oh, I understand, you are talking about the vegetable cellar where vegetables are stored."
Hearing what the old man said, Ning Weimin's eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought he had determined the cause and effect.
You know, Ma’s Garden is such a big yard, and so many people lived here back then.
Needless to say, cooking in winter is definitely a big deal, and of course you need a big vegetable cellar.
Among other things, shouldn’t you be able to store thousands of catties of radishes, potatoes, onions and garlic?
The Chinese cabbage followed Dehai, and some even weighed tens of thousands of kilograms.
Unexpectedly, he is still trying to be smart.
The old man narrowed his eyes and shook his head slowly, "You, you are thinking blindly again. You don't even think about how far this rockery is from the kitchen. To build a vegetable cellar underneath, it would be two miles back and forth. , This is ridiculous. Is this reasonable? You can imagine it! The Ma family doesn’t have a vegetable cellar, but the vegetable cellar is right over the kitchen..."
Ning Wei was immediately confused by this. Min said he was stunned.
Yes, what the old man said makes sense, but I didn’t think carefully enough.
Fortunately, Kang Shude didn't give in and didn't talk nonsense. He simply waved and took them to see it with their own eyes.
"Okay, I'm too lazy to say it. Lock the door and come with me. Why don't I show you the place and open your eyes. Once you have seen it, you will know better. I know what life was like in the old mansion.”
So under the leadership of the old man, a few young people locked the door and went down the rockery along the verandah.
Finally, they took a detour from the west to the south slope and walked into what looked like a rockery cave.
Unexpectedly, after entering the cave, I found that it was quite spacious.
Not only did the terrain rise in a gentle slope, it looked at least thirty centimeters higher than the outside, but there was also a large locked wooden board on the raised flat ground inside.
I saw Kang Shude took out the key to open it again, and then lifted the wooden board, revealing a one-meter-two-meter-wide stone steps, which led darkly down - it turned out to be a secret underground entrance.
To be honest, at this time, Ning Weimin, Xiao Tao, and Luo Guangliang were all a little embarrassed at the thought of going down.
After all, people yearn for bright sunshine, and darkness and coldness always bring negative feelings to people.
Although he knew that there would be no danger and the old man would never take them to the goblin cave, he could not help but resist in his heart.
But then again, they were all five-foot-tall men. They saw Kang Shude lowering his head and picking up the flashlight that had been placed at the door of the steps, then turned on the switch to illuminate it, and entered first.
The few young people looked at each other in disbelief, not wanting to be cowardly, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow in.
I didn’t expect that the stairs were quite long when I walked down.
They were like gourd boys who wanted to settle accounts with the goblin. They walked in the dark for at least ten meters before reaching a level ground again.
It is also strange here. There is obviously a door in front, but there are two wellheads on both sides of the door. They are also covered with raised stone well covers carved with money eyes.
Although this way, I am not afraid that something like Sadako will crawl out of the well and scare people.
But if the old man hadn’t warned him, whoever stepped on it would have sprained his foot or tripped and fell.
As for the door in front of him, it was unlocked. Kang Shude waited for them to come down, walked over and pushed it open.
A few people heard the sound of the door, and saw an arched cave dwelling building clearly visible in the halo of the old man's flashlight.
The green bricks extend from the ground to the top, and the space is at least two to three hundred square meters, which is only much larger than the five-bay house on the rockery.
Most of the place is empty, except for dozens of one-meter-high jars scattered in one corner, and nothing else.
“This is an air-raid shelter!” Xiao Tao couldn’t help shouting when he saw the cave inside when the door was opened.
"No, it looks like it, but there are lights in the air-raid shelters, but there are no lights here. And the roof is too high, three or four meters high. Why are the air-raid shelters so high?" Luo Guangliang followed Kang Shude He walked in, used his lighter and the old man's flashlight to illuminate, looked around for a long time, and shook his head in denial.
"Then...is this the place where pickles are stored? Or is it the wine cellar where wine is stored?" Xiao Tao pointed in the direction of the jars.
"It's impossible. Do you need to store pickles in the ground? Besides, how much space do those jars take up? Even the palace can't use such a large space to store pickles and wine? Don't even think about it. How long will it take to fill up such a cellar?”
"Oh, I see, it's the gold and silver treasury of the landlord, right?"
Xiao Tao made the same mistake as Ning Weimin just now, he was a bit too smart.
But maybe it was the atmosphere, or maybe it was because it was hard to imagine the life of a rich man, but these words frightened Luo Guangliang.
He was speechless, waiting for Kang Shude to verify Xiao Tao's words.
But as expected, the old man once again denied this statement. "You really dare to think that such a big place is used to store gold and silver treasures. Then how rich this owner must be. No one has so much gold and silver. Of course, maybe the royal treasury can have it when the emperor is the emperor. That's impressive. However, this gate doesn't look like it. If it were a treasure house, it would have to be guarded at all levels, right? Place? ”
Those words completely blocked Xiao Tao and Luo Guangliang's thoughts.
But Xiao Tao asked unwillingly.
"Then what kind of place is this? We really can't think of anything. Old man, don't be so secretive and just tell us..."
How many young people are there? Among them, the one who understands the most is Ning Weimin.
Seeing this architectural structure like the Beamless Hall of the Temple of Heaven, with thick rammed earth between the walls, vaults and roof tiles, and the beams and columns, it looked like a city gate, and he was moved in his heart.
He knew that the construction cost of this kind of building was very high, let alone that it was under a rockery.
No matter how rich the Ma family is, it would be a waste of money to have such a place just to store ordinary things.
Besides, why do we have to dig so deep?
The temperature inside is so low that it’s not good for people to stay there for a long time.
And what are the two wellheads outside, what are they used for?
Obviously it is impossible to draw water up, so it can only be...
After thinking about it, he suddenly felt blessed and suddenly became enlightened.
Kang Shude took over the conversation before he could reply to Xiao Tao.
“I think this is an ice cellar! Right, old man?”
"Oh, I really made you guess!" Kang Shude asked in a surprised tone, "Tell me, how did you guess?"
Ning Weimin listed his own words one by one. reason.
“First of all, it’s the air. I’ve managed Tangong Restaurant, and our restaurant has a cold storage. I’ve also been to the Polar Bear Factory and seen their artificial ice workshop and warehouse. I’m not unfamiliar with the feeling of entering a cold storage. So as soon as I came in, the coolness and special smell of the air reminded me of the cold storage of the unit."
"Secondly, there are two wells so deep underground outside this door. It’s a cold place, and there’s no need to use water. The only thing that has to do with water is drainage. I know that our cold storage and polar bear’s workshop are also built outside the door. The most important thing is to consider drainage, so I suspect that the two holes outside the door are not well openings but drainage outlets.”
“Lastly, let’s talk about space. It’s an exaggeration to store anything in such a big place. Only ice storage is suitable. In the first two years, there were no ice harvesters in the moat. There were no air conditioners or electric fans in the past. The ice that my family consumes for cooling during the summer is probably equivalent to this storehouse of ice.”
"Lastly, let's talk about this location. From here, we lay a board to pull the ice up. There is a huge open space outside. According to you, it is a place where water is splashed in winter and you can skate. Wouldn't it be just right to pull out the ice and smash it? It’s very convenient to distribute it to the whole garden. It’s not suitable for storing vegetables, but it’s suitable for storing ice.”
Hearing this, Kang Shude couldn’t help but praise him, this apprentice is worthy of it. It is a quick thinking.
Ning Weimin sorted through the clues one by one, and finally put them all together, making the analysis well-founded.
"Well, that's a good point. If you take it seriously, you're a bit smart."
Kang Shude looked up happily, and then gave full consideration to Ning Weimin's answer. affim.
"Yes, this is the Ma family's ice cellar. It is built about four meters underground. The cellar has a solid foundation. The bottom of the cellar is made of cypress piles. It is paved with granite and has granite walls. It is inlaid with yellow glazed tiles. This is called a 'copper-backed iron bottom'. '. The bottom of the two dry wells at the cellar door is more than one meter deeper than the cellar bottom, and they are connected to the cellar. As you might guess, they are used to drain away the ice water in the cellar. "
"In the past, the Ma family, the richest man in the capital, got their ice from here in the summer. The ice was cut out in the open field outside, once at noon and once in the evening, and broken into pieces and distributed throughout the yard. I also came here to help Mr. Song. After taking the ice, carry a bucket back and put it in the ice basin. Placing it in the house can not only cool down the temperature, but also can make fruit, mung bean soup and sour plum soup. It is very useful, so the rich people in the past were quite comfortable in summer. The foreigners who come to the Ma family always wonder how the Ma family has ice available at all times."
"Wei Min, don't all the guests at your Tan Gong Restaurant learn well? Are you satisfied? Especially now that we have a ceiling fan and a fan. It will be more comfortable. And the ice cellar can also be used to chill fresh fruits and ice wine. You see, those jars are not only useful. Just put the fruits.”
“In the past, when the autumn fruits were on the market, the Ma family would send special people to pull these jars on carts to buy fruits from the trees. , I specially select the kind of apples, oranges, pears, and cinnamon seeds that are good-looking and don't hurt the skin, and then carefully put them one by one into the jar and seal them, and put them in the ice cellar when they come back. This way, they will wait until the coldest months of winter until the early spring. , there are still fresh fruits to eat in the Ma family. The preserved fruits in Beijing are famous, right? But even if the ones made with honey are not made with sugar, they are only enjoyed by ordinary rich people, so it is called fresh fruit in winter. Real wealth..."
At this point, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao, who were listening, finally realized it and couldn't help but secretly clicked their tongues.
The old society that says everything is evil!
If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, who would have believed that some people could live such a life in the past years.
Damn it, rich people actually have such big ice cellars in their homes.
Although people today can already use refrigerators, when it comes to it, they still cannot compare with the rich people in the past.
Where to reason?
As for Ning Weimin, he was filled with excitement.
For no other reason, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was the perfect place to put the porcelain.
Not to mention the secret of the place, most people cannot find it here.
Even if you find it and break the lock, you may not have the guts to go down there to see what's going on, let alone move out.
The most important thing is that he never thought that the Ma family had an ice cellar in the past.
This is like hundreds of square meters of space falling from the sky for nothing. Isn’t this a huge profit?
It doesn’t matter that now that we have an ice machine, we don’t have to think about storing ice as much as we did in old age, but how can we use such a big place?
It is suitable for simply being used as a wine cellar.
Go back and bring his Moutai Wuliangye here, and buy some Lafite or something like that to entertain guests, so why don’t you pretend to be a big fat?
Just like that, Ning Weimin felt so happy, even happier than after drinking two taels.
After waiting for a few people to come up from the ice cellar, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao rode their tricycles to Liulichang to collect goods.
Ning Weimin's interest remained undiminished and he insisted that his master take him to have a good look around the Jiang's courtyard, theater and flower cave formerly occupied by the Ancient and Modern Cultural Association.
He needs to take a closer look at the situation and seriously consider how to practice it.
(End of this chapter)