The group of people started from Qingzhou Prefecture, headed northwest, passed through Wuding Prefecture in Jinan Prefecture, and entered Hebei Province. After reaching Hejian Prefecture, they went straight north and entered Shuntian Prefecture via Baoding.
The places we passed along the way were all areas that had been looted by the Qing army. It had been less than a month since the Qing army had just withdrawn. Many places that were supposed to be villages, towns and shops were rarely inhabited, and the houses and fields were all in ruins and rubble.
, the corpses of common people can be seen everywhere, and from time to time you can see jackals and wild dogs running around, gnawing on the corpses, which is horrifying.
In places close to the capital of Ayutthaya, although there are slightly more people, most of them are refugees and disaster victims, either in groups of three or five, or in groups of dozens, wearing Baijie robes, with faces full of dust, or
They are drifting aimlessly with the crowd, or lying motionless on the side of the road. Everyone has dull eyes, weak and lifeless. Sometimes, in order to grab a little food, a group of people will fight and fight. Many people even start to eat.
The body fell dead on the side of the road. It was so miserable that people couldn't bear to see it.
Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong, Cheng Jin, Cheng Gang, Duan Peng and other young people were traveling far away for the first time. They were all very new and excited about everything. Although Ye Yaoyu was married, she still
She was a young girl. She was very familiar with Zhou Shaohuan and others, and Shang Yi did not restrain her. Therefore, in the first few days, she did not sit in the car, but rode with the others on horseback, talking all the way.
There are laughs and it is very lively. Occasionally, we will hunt a few jackals and wild dogs on the road, and we will have a barbecue during the evening break. It is definitely like an outing.
But after walking for a few days, everywhere he went, he saw such miserable scenes, and everyone's mood gradually became heavier. Ye Yaoyao couldn't bear to look at it anymore, and hid in her room every day.
They didn't get out of the car. Everyone else was taciturn and very quiet along the way. The foreign monk held the cross and muttered something, and even Zeng Hualong sighed repeatedly.
Fortunately, Shang Yi had brought plenty of food with him when he set off. There were a large number of people in his group, and they were all officers and soldiers, so ordinary refugees did not dare to mess with them. Occasionally, he was attacked by more than a thousand refugees twice.
, but after being shot by several rows of muskets from the soldiers, a large number of people fell down and then all retreated. However, it is difficult to say that the refugees were really repelled by the soldiers, because when the refugees retreated, the bodies of the dead refugees were
The body was also taken away, and everyone who grabbed the body was smiling. It was as if they had caught a good prey.
Although the two companies of musketeers accompanying them had experienced battlefields and were accustomed to killing people, they couldn't help but feel horrified when they saw such a situation.
Zhou Shaohuan couldn't help but said: "I thought our situation in Qingzhou was miserable enough before, but I know that compared with these places, our Qingzhou is really pretty good."
After hearing this, everyone else nodded frequently, and Shang Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly. In fact, in history, the situation in Qingzhou was similar to that here. However, the arrival of a time traveler like himself alleviated the pressure of the Qing army to a certain extent.
Unfortunately, Shang Yi's power was limited and could not completely change this period of history. Even in Qingzhou, the relief was limited.
Shang Yi said: "Think about it, if we hadn't defended Muling Pass and blocked the Tatars' route to attack Qingzhou Prefecture, then Qingzhou would probably not be much better than here. So you should remember the situation here.
Never forget our responsibilities."
The team gradually gained some life until they entered Shuntian Prefecture and approached the capital. After walking for another day, they finally saw the city wall of Beijing from a distance.
Zeng Hualong also showed his head out of the car and smiled at Shang Yi: "We are finally here."
Shang Yi was also quite excited. He was no stranger to modern Beijing because he had lived in this city most of his life after joining the army. What was Beijing like more than 360 years ago? Shang Yi also I can't wait to take a look.
The general layout of the inner city of Beijing in later generations actually began to take shape in the Ming Dynasty. During this period, Beijing was divided into three circles: the inner city, the imperial city, and the Forbidden City. The maximum circumference was forty-five miles, and during the Jiajing period , due to the population expansion, an outer city was built in the south of Beijing from Dongbianmen to Xishimen, with a circumference of 28 miles. The total area was nearly 100 square kilometers. At its peak, the suburban population More than one million. In this era, it is not only the largest city in China, but also the largest city in the world at this time.
There were almost a thousand of them and the prisoners of the Qing army. Naturally, they could not bring them all into the city. So they found an open space in the east and west suburbs of Beijing, set up camp, and brought the large group of people and the prisoners with them. Everything was left outside the city. Shang Yi only brought Ye Yaogui, Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong, Cheng Jin, Cheng Gang, Duan Peng, and three musketeers, a total of ten people, while Zeng Hualong only brought Han Zhi, Xiao Wenjun and eight family members, a group of 21 people entered Beijing.
Their group entered the city from the Guangqu Gate in the southeast of the outer city, passed through the thick green-grey city wall, entered the outer city of Beijing, and then entered the inner city of Beijing through Chongwen Gate. Except for Zeng Hualong and a few personal Except for my family, it was almost the first time for everyone else to come to Beijing, so they all looked around to see the scene of the Ming Dynasty capital.
Shang Yi felt like he was in a movie, as if in a dream. He tried his best to overlap the scene in front of him with the memories of later generations, looking for a feeling that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him.
The street pattern in the inner and outer cities of Beijing is the same as that of later generations. It is basically horizontal and vertical, square and regular, with dense streets and alleys. Moreover, the streets leading to each city gate are the main roads of the city. The roads are quite wide. , five or six carriages can fit side by side. And like in later generations, these streets leading to various city gates are often named after the city gates. Such as Chongwenmen Street, Xuanwumen Street, Andingmen Street, Deshengmen Street, etc. .The residential areas in the city are called squares, and the lower squares are called shops. There are a total of thirty-three squares and more than 700 shops in Beijing.
Even in the outer city, the prosperous scene of the capital was already in sight. They were passing through avenues, with dense shops and restaurants on both sides. The sounds of buying and selling, and the sound of silk, bamboo and pipe music could not be heard. On the avenue Cars and horses were rushing back and forth in an endless stream. Countless well-dressed powerful merchants, rich nobles, with their beautiful clothes, surrounded by house slaves and guards, went in and out of various shops and restaurants. All the things they wore were luxurious. It was so extravagant and lively and bustling that it was dizzying to see. Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong and others were stunned and stunned. They all slowed down their progress unconsciously.
However, for Shang Yi, who has seen the prosperous and bustling business scene in the 21st century, such a scene can only be regarded as very lively. What he cares about is the other side of the city, which is extremely different from this prosperous scene. Appropriately, on both sides of the street and under the eaves on both sides, you can see homeless people and beggars dragging their children to beg for food. They hold broken empty bowls and go to the door to ask for help. Moreover, they are constantly being harassed by store owners and powerful businessmen. The slaves he brought were driven away, pushed and beaten.
Occasionally, some shops would give away some leftovers, which also caused a fight among them. Even under a restaurant, Shang Yi saw a man who looked like a nobleman sitting upstairs by the window, throwing down a few meat bones, and then
Watching a few hungry people and two dogs fighting over each other downstairs, I laughed heartily.
Moreover, although the road in the main street is still clean and flat, the road in the alleys and side streets has collapsed and potholes, and dust, garbage and feces are piled up in the corners, as well as the carcasses of pets such as cats and dogs.
The ditches are also full of filth, blocking the ditches tightly. It is conceivable that once there is heavy rain, sewage will inevitably flow across the road, making it difficult to walk in the mud. As a result, various plague diseases can be transmitted.
On the surface, Beijing at this time still had a somewhat majestic and majestic atmosphere, but in Shang Yi's eyes, it already showed signs of decadence and weakness in the last days. Therefore, he
Less than a year later, Li Zicheng was able to reach Beijing very easily and ended the Ming Dynasty's nearly three hundred years of rule over China. It was by no means an accident.
It is now around three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly just now. Soon it was covered by clouds, flickering in and out. The dark clouds in the sky were low and rolling, expanding continuously. It looked like heavy rain was coming.
Zeng Hualong said: "Shang Yi, it looks like things are going to change. We'd better move faster and settle down at Guanyi first. We won't be in Beijing for just one day. There will be more opportunities to see these scenes in the future."
Shang Yi also nodded and said to the others: "Don't look at it now. Hurry up and get to Guanyi first. Otherwise, you will get caught in the rain."
The group of people speeded up their journey, entered the inner city, and arrived at the post house. At this time, the sun was completely covered by dark clouds, and the sky was dark, like dusk.
After everyone had divided their rooms, everyone was cleaning up their luggage. Zeng Hualong said to Shang Yi: "I sent Qian to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to inform him that we have arrived in Beijing. It's getting late today, so I'm afraid we won't be here."
After officially entering the meeting, we will take a good rest in the post house first, and wait until tomorrow to formally report to the Ministry of Personnel to see when the cabinet will be free to ask questions."
Shang Yi said: "Everything must be obeyed by the master."
Zeng Hualong nodded and said: "This is your first time in Beijing. If you have nothing to do, you can go out and travel around. However, remember that the capital is an important place with many powerful people and a lot of disputes. It is no better than Qingzhou, Shandong. Therefore,
Be patient with everything and don't cause trouble."
Shang Yi nodded and said: "Sir, please rest assured, I will definitely restrain the servants and not let them get into trouble."
Zeng Hualong also nodded and took his family to his residence to rest. Shang Yi also came to his room and saw Ye Yaoyao making up the quilt on the bed. He couldn't help but said: "It's still too early to go to bed now.
After a long day’s journey, let’s take a rest.”
Ye Yaoyao smiled brightly and said: "I'm not tired, so I'd better lay it first.
At this moment, I suddenly heard a bunch of footsteps coming from the yard, and I heard someone shouting: "The imperial edict has arrived."