Chapter 148 0143 [The other side of bustling Tokyo]
Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, so we can no longer set up stalls or give lectures.
Because the vacant spaces on the streets everywhere are rented by merchants, who want to do business during the Lantern Festival.
The closer you get to the old city, the larger the scale of the lanterns. In some places, lanterns start to be put up half a month in advance.
It happened that Hou Xuan, Chen Dong and others were visiting, so Zhu Ming took Bai Sheng, Shi Biao, Li Hanzhang, Bai Chongyan, Ling Guxu, Min Zishun and other scholars to visit the city.
Hou Xuan has lived in Tokyo for several years, and he comes as a guide to give explanations.
Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty was divided into three parts: the new city (outer city), the old city (inner city), and the imperial city.
The Imperial College, the Imperial Academy, the Martial Arts School, and the places where scholars set up stalls are all at the southernmost end of the outer city.
Everyone entered the city through Nanxun Gate and saw a large construction site as soon as they entered.
Hou Xuan pointed to the construction site and said: "This large area is being built as a Taoist temple. It used to be residential buildings."
Ju Ming asked: "Where have all the people living here been moved?"
Hou Xuan said: "I don't know. Anyway, he must have left the city, maybe he was placed somewhere outside the city."
Ju Ming asked again: "Has the court given money to let the people move away?"
Hou Xuan said: "It is reasonable to give money, but no one knows whether it can be distributed to the people."
Continuing forward, to the east is Shuyao Huiminnan Bureau, which was an affordable public hospital in the Song Dynasty.
This originated from Wang Anshi's Market Regulation Law, which stipulated that cooked medicines (Chinese patent medicines and medicinal wines) must be sold exclusively by the government, and private production and sales are not allowed. On this basis, official pharmacies were added, and then evolved into public hospitals.
Hou Xuan pointed to the west and said: "Going past this street, there is the Qingfenglou Hotel. When travelers from the south arrive in Tokyo, the first hotel they enter is the Qingfenglou. The north and south floors face each other, with four floors on each floor. The appearance is grand.
, the interior is elegant. Visitors from out of town often feel proud to stay in the Qingfeng Building. The building is tall and shaded, and there is a draft in the alley. In the summer, people in the city often go to the Qingfeng Building to enjoy the cool air."
Ju Ming had read "Tokyo Dreams", and the names on the paper kept appearing before his eyes, as if they were in a dream and felt unreal.
Across the street from the public hospital, there are several bookstores open at this time.
The bookstore owners looked gloomy. Ju Ming rode over to inquire and learned that this place was also going to be demolished.
The imperial court ordered them all to be moved out before April, and this area was to be given to Liu Wanrong.
Liu Wanrong was the new favorite of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and she was already three months pregnant with the future Empress Liu. When she blew the pillow wind, several bookstores were in trouble, and the emperor gave this place to her mother's family to build a house.
In Song Huizong's view, it was normal to demolish the house and give it to him. The woman he loved most now had a father who was a tavern clerk and was still renting other people's houses. It would be a shame for the royal family to tell this.
Chen Dong said angrily: "The students who buy pens, inks, papers and inkstones are all here. After they were demolished, I still don't know where to buy stationery."
Ju Ming smiled and said: "There are also bookstores outside Nancheng. It only takes an extra quarter of an hour to walk."
Continuing to move forward, Hou Xuan pointed to the west and said: "This is the house of Deng Xunwu, a member of Cai Jing's party. It was just built half a year ago. Two shops and more than 20 residential households were forcibly removed."
Another forced demolition.
Chen Dong said: "Further outside is the house of Tong Guan's party member Gao Qiu. This guy is in charge of the Forbidden Army. He actually converted the Forbidden Army barracks into a private residence and used the Forbidden Army soldiers as his own slaves!"
Zhu Ming was a little speechless. He had set up a stall to give lectures a few days ago. The place was chosen very well. It was right next to Gao Taiwei's house.
Continuing forward, on both sides of the Cai River, there are many houses belonging to Cai Jing's party members.
Even Cai Jing himself lives in Nancheng District.
This is because there are many old and powerful people living in the inner city, and even the shops are not allowed to be moved casually. In the outer city, it doesn't matter. From a glance, most of them are civilians, and they have no scruples about demolishing and building houses.
Ju Ming also went to take a look at Cai Jing’s residence. It covers an area so big!
Moreover, there are two mansions in the Cai family, one was built when he first became prime minister, and the other was built when he was dismissed for the second time. Both were gifts from the emperor, costing more than one million yuan, and nearly a thousand houses were demolished.
People in the outer city were often forced to demolish, and people in the inner city also had a hard time.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty expanded the Yanfu Palace and built it from the north of the imperial city to the north wall of the inner city. This was not enough, so he actually occupied the inner city wall and built it all the way to the north city of the outer city. This operation alone made the emperor
The city area doubled.
The Shangqing Baolu Palace, which is under construction, is built next to the Yanfu Palace. The Wansui Mountain (Genyue), which is about to be built, continues to expand to the northeast.
If these two sites are completed, they will occupy half of the inner city north of the Imperial City.
It's not finished yet. After the Long Live Mountain is built, Jinghua Garden will be built, which will occupy the inner city wall and extend the royal garden to the outer city area.
After a series of operations, the final area of the royal building can be multiplied by three on the basis of the original imperial city!
Moreover, they were all forced to demolish houses in central areas of Tokyo.
In addition, a large number of Taoist temples are being built, some of which were converted from Buddhist temples, and some of which also demolished private houses.
During the years when Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was in power, at least tens of thousands of Tokyo citizens had their houses demolished and driven out of the city!
How should homeless citizens live outside the city?
No wonder the land of Gyeonggi has been in rebellion for several years, and now there are many thieves, and I am afraid that many of them are Tokyo citizens.
Ju Ming rode half a circle around the Yanfu Palace, and all the scholars from Yangzhou were silent. They had only heard that the emperor was fatuous, but they did not expect that such cruelty and cruelty, such as the large-scale demolition of urban houses, had exceeded the imagination of the local gentry.
.
Ju Ming suddenly asked: "Where do homeless people usually go?"
Chen Dong said: "Go south, east, and west."
"drive!"
Ju Ming whipped his whip violently and rode eastward around the city wall.
Li Hanzhang and Hou Xuan chased him on horseback, but the rest had no horses and continued to wander around the city.
After a short while, we rushed to Niuxing Street, where livestock is sold. Walking along the street out of Xincaomen, we arrived at the residential area outside the city. There was still nothing unusual here.
After crossing the moat, there were fewer pedestrians, and Ju Ming started to gallop away.
Li Hanzhang probably guessed what he wanted to see and shouted loudly: "Go to the southeast!"
Ju Ming reined in his horse and turned to the southeast, quickly running to the Cao River.
At a glance, there are shacks everywhere on both sides of the Cao River.
The young men and women living here have to work part-time in and outside the city during the day. Once they cannot find a job, the whole family will go hungry.
There are not many elderly people and they cannot withstand the heavy snowstorms of the past two years.
Zhu Ming led his horse into the shack area and found that most of them were half-grown children who stayed at home to look after their younger siblings.
Suddenly I saw a rich man coming with his servants.
He was followed by a fang man, and every time he went to a shack, he would lead the rich man in to take a look.
Ju Ming followed silently, and saw the rich man leading a young girl out and ordering her to stand outside the house and spin around in circles, and then checked to see if her teeth were missing.
The rich man was very satisfied and said, "I want this."
"Fifty strings." Yaren said.
The rich man said: "It's too expensive. When I come to Tokyo this time, I want to buy two maids to go back to."
The Yaren said: "If you buy two girls, they will be worth ninety guan."
After the two parties finalized the sale, Yaren went to the girl's parents and drew up an employment contract and signed it on the spot.
In the late Northern Song Dynasty, lifetime buying and selling was no longer allowed, and the maximum contract period was ten years. Failure to grant freedom after the expiration date would result in a lawsuit. If the property was resold during the period, the term would be calculated based on the initial sale.
But in practice, repayments are often overdue, because there are many lawsuits over this matter.
Hou Xuan walked up behind Ju Ming and said, "Since the official government started to carry out construction projects, the price of slaves has been reduced. In the past, this kind of girl was worth at least sixty guan, but now you can buy one for thirty or forty guan."
"Didn't it say that the imperial court restricted the keeping of private slaves?" Zhu Ming asked.
Hou Xuan explained: "The imperial court only did not allow the signing of a contract of sale. When did it restrict the keeping of private slaves? The palace took the lead in buying slaves. Many maids were bought with money, and then they were released after the contract expired, or they were not released at all.
Also, the number of official slaves is gradually decreasing, and when officials commit crimes, their female family members are no longer used as official slaves."
The royal family of the Northern Song Dynasty really took the lead in buying and selling women.
Zhang Rong, a capital official during the Shenzong period of the Song Dynasty, was fined and had his salary suspended. He was short of money and food and could not survive, so he sold his daughter to the palace. Later, when he went to court, he asked for her daughter to be sold to him in front of all the ministers.
His daughter was redeemed, which made Song Shenzong very embarrassed.
Wang Anshi did not keep concubines. Song Shenzong learned about the situation and immediately called the eunuch and gave him three thousand guan to help Wang Anshi buy two concubines.
In fact, Wang Anshi had a concubine, and his wife took the initiative to buy her.
This concubine claimed that her husband was a general in the army. The ship capsized while escorting military supplies, and the family had exhausted all their wealth and could not afford compensation, so he had to sell his wife and concubines to the court to pay off the debt. Wang Anshi took pity on her plight and returned the concubine to her original husband.
The price of a young, beautiful and skilled woman is very expensive, often costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Even buying a wet nurse in Tokyo costs more than 30 guan.
Women can sell and men can buy.
Men are mainly bought to serve as servants, especially during wars. When rich families cannot survive the turn of servants, they hire poor men to serve as servants.
It's said to be employment, but it's actually money to buy one's life!
Tokyo as a whole is the largest population trading market in the country.
It seems to be an employment system, but the powerful family refuses to release her after the deadline. Do the parents of the maid dare to file a complaint?
“In the middle and lower households in Kyoto, no male is born, but every time a girl is born, she will cherish her like a jewel.”
This sentence seems beautiful, and it seems that the people of Tokyo love their daughters more, but there is something else behind it:
"As soon as they grow up, they will be taught arts and crafts according to their qualifications, and they will be used by scholars and officials to collect and entertain people. They have different names, such as those around them, those who are capable, those who have merit and demerits, those who work with needlework, those who stand in front of the hall, those who play miscellaneous works, and those who clean and wash things.
, Qintong, the level of cooks is pretty much the same. The cook is the most egregious, but she has to be a very rich and noble family to use her."
What is the purpose of raising a daughter?
Teach them skills and sell them to wealthy families as maids.
Of course, we can't say selling it, the law doesn't allow it, we just let our daughter be employed as a servant.
Ju Ming witnessed a human trafficking with his own eyes. He could not do anything because this kind of transaction was legal.
Ju Ming rode away slowly on horseback, and saw an old man halfway. It was not easy to survive two years of heavy snow. He reined in his horse and asked, "Old man, have you always lived by the Cao River?"
The old man replied: "I used to live in the city, but my house was demolished and turned into Liu Lianfang's house."
Liu Lian Fang is an Lian Fang envoy named Liu, who is responsible for the supervision of clean government.
Hou Xuan said: "This Liu Lianfang is also a member of Cai Jing's party, and his residence is to the north of Taixue."
Zhu Ming asked again: "Liu Lianfang occupied your house, what kind of compensation did you give him?"
The old man replied: "Someone from the palace said that the official gave the land to Liu Lianfang, but only paid two ounces of money to my family."
Haha, for just two dollars, I demolished someone's house in Tokyo.
Ju Ming rode his horse and looked at the countless shacks on both sides of the Cao River, and couldn't help but sneer: "Tokyo City is indeed one of the most prosperous places in the world!"
