Chapter 429 I don’t know how long I can struggle? (Please order, please vote)
In the quiet afternoon, the blazing sunshine pours down without any obstruction, illuminating the entire city of Beijing with incandescence, like a huge lit furnace. In the unbearably hot weather, everything seems to have been drained of energy.
Sluggish. Even flat
On the busy and noisy street outside Zhengyangmen in the day, the footsteps of pedestrians are dragging their backs at this moment, and every step seems to have exhausted all the strength of the whole body. The tall and majestic archery tower of Zhengyangmen, in the steaming heat around it, actually looks like
It is an illusory floating shadow, faintly shaking.
The pace of Beijing is already slow, and under the scorching sun, it becomes even more lazy and careless. However, Wang Lili, the young waiter at Yutai Tea House outside Zhengyangmen, is too busy at this time. He has nothing to do.
The portable pot has a long spout
The big teapot shuttled between the tables of tea guests. Big beads of sweat rolled down the forehead and soaked the clothes, but there was no time to wipe them. From time to time, I had to speak with a few regular customers in a voice with a Beijing accent.
Say hello warmly.
This Yutai Tea House is a real time-honored brand. Rumor has it that it was opened by a slave of a certain king's family. It has stood proudly outside Zhengyang Gate for more than a hundred years. It sells all kinds of fragrant teas as well as simple supplies.
snacks and meals. Every day, those leisurely Eight Banners men carrying bird cages take a walk
When I was tired, I wandered here, rested my legs and legs, sipped the fragrance of tea, and played with the birds. The leisurely and comfortable look really made others envious. There were also those gentlemen who came to Beijing from other places to seek errands, and they were here too.
People often gather here, hoping to get acquainted with minions who have a backer and find ways to make money.
Although there are people coming and going here and it is noisy and noisy, it does not look like a place where filth and evil are hiding. In fact, there are "someone's backing" behind it, which is as stable as Mount Tai! Those out-of-town gentlemen who have come all the way to find a way to find a way can really find some hope here.
The young boy Wang Li is very smart. With just one glance, he can tell who is the Eight Banners master, who is the slave with real power, who is the ruffian who cheats and cheats, and who is the person who is willing to borrow money and rent an official position just to get a job.
A "official white job" who desperately searches for land to recoup his capital. Yes, that's right, a "white job". He owes a "rental loan" and seeks to become a small official with little financial resources. Compared with a flag member who is slightly motivated,
, isn’t it just “for nothing”?
And these "offices for free" are precisely the God of Wealth in Wang Li's eyes. With just a handful of copper coins, he can quietly tell the other party which table to go to to find the coveted door————
Relying on this clever trick of "guy guiding the way", in the past two years, he actually paid nearly three hundred taels of silver, which was enough to allow Han people to purchase real estate recently.
He bought a small village outside the Guan of Guan. Therefore, Wang Li secretly planned that one day he would save a thousand taels, bid farewell to the city of Beijing, and move his house outside Chaoyang Gate into a small courtyard.
He sold them all and went to buy a spacious village outside the customs. From now on, he no longer had to wait for people in Beijing, but went to the Northeast to become a happy landlord.
However, his beautiful vision has recently been shattered by an increasingly cruel reality - it has become increasingly difficult to "rent" official positions in the Qing Dynasty! Although there are still many foreign gentlemen in the Yutai Teahouse, they have been
We are not here to run for office, but to discuss government affairs! Everyone who walks in the political affairs department carries the official status.
The title of a sixth-grade civil servant comes with a meager salary. There is no money to support him and he cannot be transferred to other posts. When the five-year term is over, he has to pack up and return to his hometown and cannot be re-elected. In Wang Li's view, this is simply a job promotion.
Worrying, being poor and happy in an official position, I really don’t know who with a bright mind came up with it.
However, this group of people walking around the political affairs office are still very enthusiastic about political affairs. Even before the political affairs office has officially opened, they gather in the teahouse outside Zhengyang Gate every day, sing in southern and northern accents, and talk loudly, as if the emperor can really hear them.
gossip, as if accepting their suggestions.
After finally working hard for a while, Wang Youli was fully expecting to get a few rewards, but he ended up with nothing. Alas, these people in the political affairs office are all extremely poor! Even the flags that used to spend generously were
The master has become picky now. In desperation, he had no choice but to carry the teapot.
He shrank his head aside, pricked up his ears, and listened to this group of poor and happy members of the Political Bureau talking about the mountains and rivers.
"I would say that the old days were comfortable - I think back then, there was no foreign smoke raging, and those Western things were not even visible, and there were no long-haired people who believed in Western religions toying around all day long.
The common people down here all do their duty honestly, guarding their one-third of an acre of land, and pay the rent obediently when the season comes. As for us scholars, we can dive into the books of sages without any hesitation, and read with both ears.
Ignore the troubles outside the window and just read the classics left by our ancestors. It will save you a lot of trouble!"
The person who spoke looked like a Shandong gentleman, with a cloud of sadness on his face that seemed to be unable to be dispelled. His emotion immediately aroused the agreement of the surrounding people, and the praises of "good, good, fair, fair" came one after another.
Sitting aside, Wang Youli was fanning himself with a big fan in his hand. He also agreed deeply in his heart that the past was indeed a good time! I think back in the day, when scholars won the title of Juren, they could apply for the Ministry of Civil Service and be admitted to the Jinshi.
Is it possible to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to be a candidate for Quan? Whether you are a candidate or a candidate for Quan, it is inevitable to go through the connections, and naturally he will also receive a benefit from Mr. Wang. How can the situation be like today?
"This long hair has become a trend nowadays, and its power is astonishing. Those foreigners have gone too far. They have expanded the concession to our Tianjin Wei boundary. Looking at this situation, I want to completely
If we go back to the past, there will definitely be no chance! But having said that, we are Westerners, so we should do as little as we can, and do as little as we can, so as not to get into trouble!"
Another man with a Tianjin accent expressed his opinion. Wang Li nodded frequently after hearing this, yes, that’s what we should do!
"Let me tell you, when the Qing Dynasty engaged in foreign affairs, it was all for two things, one was foreign guns, and the other was foreign cigarettes...\n.\n.\n.\n. Just spend money to buy it! It's tens of millions.
Don't imitate growing hair, what are you doing?
Why learn skills from the barbarians to control the barbarians! Even the principles passed down by the ancestors are forgotten, and they spend all their time tinkering with the strange skills of the foreign devils, and even prepare some foreign books that look like ghostly drawings for the scholars to learn. This is simply a disgrace to elegance.
"
This political master who must have been in the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for a while probably also taught himself primary school mathematics, but he didn't become famous in it.
As soon as his words came out, it seemed that he had spoken to everyone's hearts, and everyone around him immediately nodded in agreement.
Wang Li also felt that what the political master said was very true. Foreign guns and foreign cigarettes can be bought with money. It would be a waste to get involved in more. Moreover, too much foreign affairs would easily disturb people's hearts. Once people's hearts are disturbed, the world will be in chaos.
How can there be peace? If the world is not peaceful, it will become more and more difficult to rent an official, which will affect the waiter like him.
I can’t even make any money...:
"But there are so many ordinary people in the world, but such good fields and good soil are pitifully few.
What's going on?"
Suddenly, a gentleman with a Hunan accent posed a difficult question that left everyone speechless.
The Yutai Teahouse instantly became quiet, with only a few deep and suppressed sighs remaining.
The speaker was a middle-aged man with a thin face and high cheekbones. He looked to be in his thirties, with a goatee and sparkling eyes. His surname was Peng, his first name was Yulin, and his courtesy name was Xueqin.
Opposite him, sitting a white-faced scholar with a sad face, waving a paper fan, it was Huang Shijie.
"Xueqin, why are you bringing this up?"
Huang Shijie sighed, took out a few copper coins from his pocket, threw them on the table, then turned to Peng Yulin and said, "Let's go back!"
With that said, the two of them stood up together, stepped out of Yutai Teahouse, and walked slowly along the street outside Zhengyangmen towards the tall and majestic Zhengyangmen.
At this time, there were only a few pedestrians on the street outside Zhengyangmen. In the shadows on both sides of the street, there were many unkempt and dying beggars huddled in the shadows. Seeing Huang Shijie and Peng Yulin approaching, they seemed to have grasped life-saving straws and struggled to lift their hands.
He picked up the broken bowl in his hand and muttered "Do well" and "For those who stutter".
When Huang Shijie saw these people, his thoughts seemed to be instantly pulled back to that afternoon in Etang - the afternoon before Luo Yaoguo broke into Etang!
He sighed again, took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, and threw them hard at the group of beggars, letting them snatch them, but there was a bit of unspeakable melancholy on his face: "It's better to go over there!"
Peng Yulin, who was beside him, heard this: "In the past? In the past, weren't there beggars all over the streets?"
Huang Shijie replied with a wry smile: "In the past, they would slowly starve to death.
2
After saying that, he took big steps and walked towards Zhengyang Gate without looking back.
"Mine, mine, this is mine...
When Huang Shijie left, Peng Yulin heard a young man's cry. He followed the call and saw a young man of twelve or thirteen years old, dressed in low-rise clothes, begging for a bow, and he was wrestling with two tall and thin adult beggars.
The young man’s fist was clenched tightly, presumably containing the copper coins he had just grabbed. The two adult beggars punched the young man with their fists and shouted angrily: "Zhao Sanduo, give the copper coins to grandpa quickly!"
"If you don't pay, you won't pay..\n.:.\n.\n" The young man also had a stubborn temper and suddenly shouted: "I will fight with you!"
Then, using all his strength, he bumped into one of the tall beggars, knocking him to the ground, and then ran away. In his panic, he didn't see the way ahead clearly, and ran straight towards Peng Yulin.
Peng Yulin dodged sideways to avoid the young man, turned around and watched the thin figure disappear at the crossroads not far away. He just shook his head gently and let out an inaudible sigh: "Another one who refuses to be An An
A hungry hatchling, I don’t know how long it will be able to struggle?”
Chapter completed!