As soon as spring began in the 11th year of Chongzhen, the people of the capital realized the abnormality of the weather. As winter turned to spring, the almanac had been turned to late March, but the northwest wind that howled for days did not roll in with yellow sand and dust like in previous years.
, instead blowing countless snowflakes mixed with cold rain and coldly hitting the heads of pedestrians. Those poor people who had no money to buy a sedan or ride a mules and horses shivered with the cold, walking deeper and deeper along the snow-covered and muddy streets.
Stumbling along the shallow ground, suffering from hunger and cold, some people tripped and fell into the quagmire formed by snow and water while walking. They couldn't struggle, and after a while they stopped moving.
The unusual spring cold has unexpectedly boosted the business of tea shops everywhere. In this snowy March, all you need to do is go to Chaishikou and Coal Burning Stores to inquire about the rising prices, and most people will decisively choose to go to tea shops.
The table and chairs near the soup stove were crowded with people early on, but even in the corner far away from the stove, the evaporating and diffusing water vapor in the room will make people feel a sense of warmth. Moreover, in addition to the warmth
, this dense white mist even gives people a strange illusion, as if it is enough to cover the ears and eyes of the factory guard and make him invisible, so the sound of chatting inevitably becomes louder and louder. The topic always starts from the sky.
Paradoxically, this morning the soldiers who patrolled the streets carried away many more tools, and then turned into complaints about the price of rice, firewood and coal. In the midst of sighs, the topic gradually shifted to the invasion of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the rebellion of the bandits.
In dangerous areas such as the separatist rule of kun and thieves, discussions inevitably become more and more wild. Until the tea guests are trying to suppress the thieves, which one is more important, the emperor or the genocide; which courtier and governor should be kidnapped and sent to the Western Market; and even the Ming Dynasty
When they get into noisy arguments about dangerous topics such as what their luck will be like in the future, the store owner will intervene and persuade them, reminding them to pay attention to the "Don't talk about national affairs" poster on the wall.
The owner of this tea shop near Chaoyangmen always instructs Dr. Tea to close the windows tightly in rainy and snowy weather, to resist the cold and at the same time isolate the crazy discussions of the tea guests inside. However, the gaps in the windows are always filtered through.
There was a bit of cold wind, so there were always few people visiting the table by the window. However, a young man who claimed to be a student of the Imperial College was particularly fond of this location. As soon as the tea shop opened in the morning, he sat here and ordered a bowl of Yuanbao tea and a few sesame cakes.
After taking a few sips, he opened the bamboo bookcase he carried with him, took out pen and paper, an ink cartridge, and a thin-page booklet. Using the light coming from the clear tile window panel, he flipped through a few pages of the book and began to immerse himself in copying.
Although it is a tea shop, there is no scent of tea in the room. In winter, the doors and windows are closed, and the air is very dirty. There is only an indescribable mixed smell, coupled with the noise of the tea guests, it is necessary to study peacefully in this place.
Writing is indeed a difficult task. However, this young man was very calm and focused, and his writing skills were as fast as flying.
What the tea drinkers are talking about most recently is not national events, but a recent "strange case". Naturally, this strange case is the kidnapping case of Shopkeeper Leng. Although the case has been settled long ago, the run on Delong caused by it has also subsided.
It lasted for many days, but there were too many unclear details in it, which were enough to arouse the endless curiosity of the tea drinkers.
Originally, for such a major case, there must be detailed information in the Shuntian Mansion Yamen. However, the few Shuntian Mansion Yamen servants who often come to the teahouse can't say anything new. So far, everyone only knows two things: Lao Xi
Er was behind the scenes, and He Liansheng was the first to do so.
Gradually, there were more and more tea-goers in the shop. Amid the tea doctor's greetings and the chatters and sighs of the tea-goers, a middle-aged man opened the door curtain and walked into the room, shaking off the snowflakes that had fallen on the fine velvet quilt.
, and then took off his big green felt hat, revealing his gray and sparse hair, and he also held a bookcase in his hand. The tea guests turned a blind eye to the common shabby scribes in the capital, and Dr. Tea didn't bother to say hello, so the middle-aged scribes were slow to
Slowly wandering to the table in front of the window, I saw the young Gongsheng still immersed in copying books. The green olives in the Yuanbao tea were picked out and placed on the lid of the bowl. He glanced at it with his eyes closed, and then sat down by himself.
: "May I ask this husband, was it the Beijing News that he copied?"
"Exactly." The young man raised his head, and there was a strong Mandarin accent in the Mandarin, "My hometown is far away, and the elders want to hear the emperor's jade voice, but it is difficult to get there. This "Beijing News" has detailed information, but it is very valuable.
, borrowing newspapers to copy them is also an impossible method, which makes the old gentleman laugh."
The so-called "Beijing News" is the result of Australian cultural fashions touching the distant and dull nerves of the Ming Empire. Since the Australians separated Lingnan, even though the emperor personally issued an edict banning "Kun's calligraphy and obscene paintings", an Australian newsprint has also
Examples of prohibitions. Moreover, it was repeatedly reiterated that "Zhang Zou is read by the emperor and is not allowed to be copied without permission" to avoid delivering information to the spies of the Kun people. "Offenders will be punished." However, the wealthy shopkeepers of the newspaper copying houses in the capital came from Australia.
Seeing business opportunities in newspapers and periodicals, they formed a partnership to set up a newspaper office, bribed the Titang officials of the provincial governors stationed in Beijing to copy the newspapers, typed them into volumes with wooden movable type, and even added simple engraving news pictures, and published an issue every ten days.
Although the price of a single copy was not cheap at 30 Wenjing coins, the bureaucrats and scholars in the capital still flocked to it, and even the illiterate people found it a pleasure to have someone read the newspaper.
When several tea-goers with sharp ears heard the word "Beijing News", they came over and asked to read the newspaper. The young man did not refuse, but his Fujian accent was really torture to the ears of the people in the capital. So the middle-aged man sitting across the table
As soon as the scribe finished a bowl of tea soup, he was begged by the tea drinkers to continue reading. He spoke an authentic Beijing movie in a cadence, but seemed a little lackluster. The tea drinkers who were listening to the newspaper gradually began to whisper:
"Why don't the newspapers mention side events?"
"At the beginning of the month in Xuanda Town, a slave (Chahar) knocked at the gate and asked for the opening of the market. Mr. Lu decided that if it was not a Donglu, it was a traitor, and he refused to allow it. Hearing that, he even had a quarrel with Boss Yangge of the Ministry of War.
How come there is no follow-up text?"
"You are so ignorant!" an old man wearing a square scarf said in a sharp voice: "The imperial court not only banned the newsprint of Kun Thief, but also prohibited private copying of memorials and memorials in the newspaper office, mentioning border affairs and military affairs, for the sake of
What? Just wait and think about it, if the Kun thieves knew that the Donglu invaded the fortress just like coming to the capital for an outing, and he went to form a blood alliance with the Nalu chief Hong Taishi, what would our court do? Your Majesty is indeed wise!"
Everyone in the store burst into laughter, and some shook their heads and sighed, "Old Mr. Lu is probably confused. It's just Donglu. If the Kun people ask for the market to open, they just come straight from the sea. There is no need to go around the fortress and knock on the pass."
Xuanda?"
"Zhang Zhang, what nonsense are you talking about?" A man slapped his tea bowl on the table and shouted: "Are you speaking for the Donglu or the Kun thieves? Didn't you hear the newspaper you read last month? Liu
The thief Li Zicheng has been defeated, and the Eight Great Kings Zhang thief has been killed by the heavenly army, and will soon spread throughout the world. These are all the achievements of Mr. Lu back then. Who do you think you are? How dare you slander Mr. Lu here!"
The old man in the square scarf coughed twice and said with a smile: "Wang Laowu is going crazy. You speak of Master Lu, but do you know the other Master Lu of Sixth Subject, Lu Beike?"
"Are you talking about raw meat Lu Beike?" a tea clerk responded, causing a burst of laughter from all the tea guests. Everyone in the capital knew that the official Lu Beike who was born in Guangdong was involved in the matter. Ben Qian, No. Beike), the most hated Kun people and Macau Portuguese barbarians in his life, he often criticized Zhang Fengyi, Minister of the Ministry of War, without thinking about Kun, and made harsh words: "The hearts of the people in Guangdong are in a state of excitement, and they want to eat the flesh of Feng Yi." However, Yang Sichang, the right minister of the Ministry of War, ridiculed him: "Since the people in Guangdong have this kind of mentality, I think all the thieves and thieves will be dead." Lu Zhaolong was so angry and frantic that he inevitably lost his manners in front of the emperor, and he got such a nickname from then on.
"It is said that in Yongzhou the year before last, miners in various places in Chenzhou were in rebellion. Mr. Lu asked the Holy One to go and recruit peace. He planned to follow Qi Nantang's method and train the miners as soldiers to prepare for the attack on Kun. The Holy One agreed and issued an order to teach him to patrol Pianyuan. , it’s a pity that no one is willing to use his life for him, and he died tragically in the rebel army within a few months of taking office, and his head was beheaded by the mine thieves. The old man is really nothing, but if you, Wang Laowu, are really something, why not just start Serving under Lu Beike's command is no better than gossiping with other old men in a tea shop?"
The man who was called Wang Laowu's face turned purple, but he couldn't speak a word.
"I heard that the group of mining bandits were wiped out by the heavenly soldiers until they had no place to live. Most of them were killed and dispersed, and the other half ended up defecting to the Kun Thieves. It's true that thieves have similar personalities. But it shows that the Kun Thieves also have some tricks up their sleeves."
"Kun Ren not only has some tricks, but also said that the edict prohibits Kun Kun from trading, but which one of them is really implemented and makes Kun Ren sore?" The clerk who answered the conversation picked up the tea leaves on the lid of the bowl and placed them He said in a prankish manner: "Did you know that in recent years, the fresh fruits from South China purchased by the Chief Food Supervisor for Ouchi are actually canned Australian products that violate the prohibition? What the palace can't use is sold out, and a small can of lychees with sugar syrup is the price. Eighty-nine taels of silver, which is equivalent to a year's salary of work and food for me, is still in short supply. The huge profits are all shared by the Kun people and the officials. This situation is not known to the outside world, but who in the palace does not know? Except ...The Holy Emperor cares about the world and cannot care about such trivial matters."
The discussion in the teahouse became more and more heated, and the shopkeeper tried to dissuade him several times, but to no avail. Seeing that no one was listening to the newspaper and tired from reading, the middle-aged scribe handed the newspaper back to the young man and took it from his arms. He took out a small tin flask, poured some wine into the tea soup bowl, and drank it in one gulp. He sighed: "How beautiful!" and called the tea doctor to come over and settle the money for the tea soup. The peculiar sweet aroma emitted by the wine aroused his excitement. Young Gongsheng's attention came to his attention. He tried hard to recall this once-familiar smell, but the quarrel between the middle-aged scribe and the tea doctor rang in his ears.
"...How can you say that we are greedy? You old man can read newspapers, don't you know the current market? Since the imperial court banned the sale of Kun goods, everything on the ground in the capital has become expensive. Not to mention that there is something else used in this tea soup Even the brown sugar and white sugar used in the fruit cakes have increased by three to five cents per catty..."