The area near the Imperial City is the most prosperous area in the entire capital. Most of the residences of princes, ministers, and wealthy businessmen are located here. The streets here are lined with shops, and people come and go. It is very prosperous!

To put it in modern terms: this area is the "golden area" of Beijing.

Yang Ning and Shui Ling were walking on the street. This was the first time Yang Ning had seen the customs and customs of this era. He watched with great interest how people dressed, spoke and behaved, and looked at the small items sold on the street stalls.

I was full of curiosity while eating. I could hear the various cries of the vendors and the calls of the waiters soliciting customers, which made me feel very novel and interesting.

For Yang Ning, there was a familiar yet unfamiliar world in front of him. He had only seen scenes like this in TV series before, but now they were all vividly displayed in front of him. Once again, he felt something strange in his heart.

An ethereal sense of unreality.

"Ling'er, what dynasty is it now?" Yang Ning suddenly thought of this important question.

"It is now the fourth year of Longqing's reign in the Ming Dynasty. The reigning emperor is Emperor Longqing. I heard that he is a good emperor with a gentle personality, diligent and caring for the people!" Shuiling glanced around, then whispered to Yang Ning.

It turned out to be the "Ming Muzong" in the history of the Ming Dynasty!

Yang Ning recalled what he learned when he was reading, that Emperor Longqing was indeed very gentle and generous in character, but he could not be said to be diligent and caring for the people. This emperor's talent was mediocre, he had no ability, and his temperament did not like to manage politics and exercise power.

Leave it to his "Queen's Secretariat", the "Cabinet" of the Ming Dynasty.

But Emperor Longqing also had a very big advantage, that is, he "employed people without any doubts"!

During his reign, he appointed a large number of capable ministers and officials, including Zhang Juzheng, a famous reformer in history, and Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general. Both of them were historical figures that Yang Ning liked very much.

Emperor Longqing gave this group of capable ministers and officials a lot of room to display their talents, which made the Ming Dynasty socially stable and economically prosperous during the Longqing Dynasty and the early Wanli Dynasty. This was a period of prosperity in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

It is a pity that Emperor Longqing only reigned for six short years. It is now the fourth year of Longqing. In other words, this gentle and generous emperor will die in two years, and the young "Wanli" will succeed him.

—The longest reigning emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Yang Ning was lowering his head to recall the history, but found that Shui Ling beside him stopped and asked strangely: "Ling'er, what's wrong?"

"Brother An Ning, I'm hungry!" Shui Ling raised her head and said to Yang Ning.

Yang Ning couldn't help but said with a smile: "Let's buy something to eat when we are hungry!"

"But -, I only have three cents on me!" Shui Ling lowered his head and rubbed his toes.

Yang Ning subconsciously touched her body, but she felt all over her body, but couldn't find even a penny.

"What can you buy with three cents?" Yang Ning asked hopefully.

"I can only buy three steamed buns! But that's only enough for the two of us. Zhang Cheng and Xiao Lezi are still waiting for me to find something to eat, but I've been wandering around for a long time before I met you, but -, but

Nothing...!" Shui Ling mumbled and couldn't continue.

Yang Ning's heart became heavy and she asked in a deep voice: "Did we always live like this, hungry and full?"

"Most of the time...yes!" Shui Ling said with a somewhat sad expression.

Only then did Yang Ning notice Shui Ling's thinness and the faint tinge on her fair face, which was obviously caused by long-term malnutrition.

Look at the scene in front of you. Mingli is a prosperous and prosperous scene, but there are many poor people who don't have enough to eat and don't wear warm clothes. They live at the bottom of society and are always struggling on the verge of death. The former one

"Yang Ning", Shui Ling and others all belong to this group of people.

"Ling'er, let's go find something to eat!" Yang Ning turned to Shui Ling and said.

"Okay! Just——, where should we find it?" Shui Ling frowned and asked.

"Uh--, don't worry, let's look for opportunities slowly."

Yang Ning didn't have any good ideas at the moment. He definitely wouldn't do begging; he didn't know how to do anything as an entertainer; let's find a job. Water far away can't quench the thirst of the near, so now he can only take one step at a time.

The street the two of them were walking on was very wide and flat. There were many shops on both sides of the street with their signboards, such as restaurants and teahouses, cloth shops and pawn shops, medical clinics and drug stores, silk shops, jewelry shops... It can be said that there are all kinds of businesses and department stores gathered there.

.

The middle of the street is also filled with stalls of small vendors, such as clay figurines, candied haws, embroidered cloth shoes, rouge and gouache, etc., which are all dazzling to see.

Shui Ling told Yang Ning that this street, together with several surrounding streets, is collectively called "Qipan Street". It is located outside Donghua Gate of the Imperial City and is the liveliest and most prosperous street market in the capital.

The two of them walked dozens of feet along this bustling street and arrived at an unusually wide intersection. From this intersection, they headed east, south, and north respectively.

Westward Street is full of shops and very prosperous, and this intersection can be said to be "the most prosperous place among the prosperous markets."

Just to the northeast of this street intersection, there is a very majestic and spectacular restaurant. It is five stories high and covers a large area. The door of the restaurant can be said to be high and wide, and it is quite majestic and bright. There is a huge plaque hanging on the lintel.

The letter "Tian Tian Ju" is written in three large golden characters. The characters are written with flying dragons and phoenixes in a majestic style. It can be seen that they were written by famous artists.

To be able to own such a large restaurant in such a prosperous place where "every inch of land costs money", the "owner" behind it must be powerful, if not wealthy.

It would be great if I could have a big meal here and pack it away again after eating.

While Yang Ning was thinking about it, he found that Shui Ling's eyes were looking directly at a vendor's stall next to him.

This is a stall that sells cloth-made gadgets, filled with small animals like puppies, rabbits, monkeys, etc. made from cloth.

What Shui Ling is interested in is a little buza tiger. This little tiger is really beautifully woven, with yellow and black colors, very bright, and a lifelike expression. It is quite delicate and cute!

"Ling'er, do you like it?" Yang Ning looked at Shui Ling's eager expression with some humor. After all, she was a little girl. She couldn't walk immediately after seeing this beautiful and cute gadget.

"No, no, Brother Aning, let's go!" Shui Ling said hurriedly.

The little girl obviously didn't mean what she said. Yang Ning ignored her words and said to the stall owner: "What's the price of this little tiger?"

The stall owner is a man in his forties, with big eyebrows and big eyes. He looks very honest and honest. When Yang Ning asked, he quickly said: "Ten, fifteen cents!"

Yang Ning couldn't help but be stunned. The price was not expensive, but the problem was that he was short of money now!

Shui Ling also looked gloomy and couldn't help but whisper to himself: "It's so expensive!"

This man had sharp ears, and he actually heard Shui Ling's whisper clearly, and stammered quickly to Yang Ning: "Guest, guest, if you think it's expensive, then... ten cents is enough! I did all this myself."

"Originally, I don't know the exact price for how much I earn, but--, I have to make enough money to make it happen!"

This man was honest, but Yang Ning couldn't even afford ten cents, so he had to apologize to the man: "Uncle, I'm really sorry, we can't afford it, excuse me for bothering you!" After that, he took Shui Ling.

Turn around and leave.

Although Shui Ling was a little reluctant to leave, she was well-behaved and knew that they were indeed too poor at the moment, so she had no choice but to reluctantly glance at the little Buza tiger before turning around and leaving with Yang Ning.

"Hey, young man, don't leave!" The man suddenly said to Yang Ning.

Yang Ning turned back and looked at the man doubtfully.

"Haha, it's rare that this girl really likes this thing of mine. Come on, I'll give it to you!" the man said cheerfully.

"This——!" Yang Ning really didn't expect this man to be so generous.

"What are you still hesitating about? To be honest, I also have a daughter as old as her, and I know the character of girls of their age. Come on, daughter, take it!" After saying that, the man just stuffed the little tiger into the Buza.

In the hands of Shui Ling.

Yang Ning hurriedly refused and said: "Uncle, this can't be done. It's not easy for your small business, which is exposed to the sun. How can we ask for your things in vain! In this way, when we make money in the future, we can buy uncle's things again.

thing."

After hearing what Yang Ning said, Shuiling obediently put the little cloth tiger back on the man's table.

"Young man, please call me 'Uncle'. This is a gift from me to this girl. If you don't want it, then you are looking down on your Uncle Han!"

Before Yang Ning could refuse, he heard a crisp voice beside him: "Sir, come and see, this little tiger is really beautiful!"

"Well, it's quite delicate and cute!" A soft and pleasant voice followed.

Yang Ning turned around and looked around, and found that there were two people standing next to him. They were both young and looked similar to Shui Ling. One of them was dressed in a book boy's attire and was very handsome, while the other person attracted Yang Ning's attention.

Ning is very interested.

Just now Yang Ning heard the voice of a woman, but this person was dressed in a typical scholar's style, wearing a noble Guihu silk scholar's uniform, a jade pot scarf on his head, and a jade pendant hanging from his waist.

What surprised Ning was the scholar's appearance. This scholar was so tall that his eyebrows were as bright as a star, and his face was like jade. He was extremely handsome and handsome!

This scholar is so handsome! Even women would be jealous if a man could look like this!

"Sir, if you like it, I'll buy it. Hello! How do you sell this?" The little book boy picked up the little cloth tiger and asked the man named Han in a very rude tone.

The man surnamed Han said apologetically: "Brother, I only have this one cloth tiger, and it's already...!"

"Why are you so verbose? I just want to ask you how much does this cost!" The little book boy frowned and interrupted the Hanzi rudely.

Before the man named Han could speak again, Yang Ning said with a cold face: "You little book boy is so rude. If this uncle doesn't call me 'Hey', please speak more politely. Besides, this little tiger has already been

I bought it, so I don’t have anything to do with you, understand?”

"Oh! Why am I so rude? I think you are rude. You bought it just when you said you would? I picked it up from this stall." The little book boy said arrogantly and looked arrogant.

"Ugh——, forget it, since this young master has already bought it, how can we take advantage of him again!" The person who spoke was the handsome scholar, with a soft voice, like the sound of nature!

Yang Ning couldn't help but feel dumbfounded again as she thought: How could a man have such a voice? How could a man have such smooth skin and such a pretty face?
Chapter completed!