After leaving the teahouse, Zhu Yunxi did not return to the palace immediately. Instead, he took a carriage to the outside of the city and walked along the waterway and docks.
Compared with the inner city of the capital, the outer city has more of a flavor of human fireworks.
It gets dark early in winter. On the dock, workers, stewards, store clerks, boatmen and fishermen, all kinds of people, chatting and laughing in twos and threes, finishing the day's work.
Some went to the street to buy some braised food and went back to give their children teeth as a memorial ceremony. Some stood outside the cloth shop and considered whether they had enough money to draw a two-foot canvas for their wife. Some went to the tavern to drink in groups, and some people
He crept into the alley with a stern look on his face.
It’s noisy and noisy, whether it’s the coolie working on the pier, the coachman who looks honest and clever, or the vendors doing business, or the half-hidden figures in the long alleys, every face is full of freshness.
Live.
Everyone seems to be repeating the monotonous life of the past, but in every day, what they do and say are never repeated.
Zhu Yunxi's carriage took a tour of the outer city and then returned to the inner city.
The way back to the inner city is Tongji Gate. This gate is the second gate of Yingtianfu City, second only to Zhengyang Gate. There is a triple urn city inside, with four gate walls and two Shangma Road and sidewalks. It guards the boundary between the inner and outer Qinhuai.
The gate to the northeast is the imperial city, and to the southwest is the bustling commercial street of the inner city, which is the throat of Yingtian Mansion.
When approaching the city gate, Zhu Yunxi opened the curtain of the carriage and looked at the majestic, thick and undulating city wall amidst the bustle of people in the market.
Yingtian Mansion began to build the city wall from the time when the old man occupied this place, and it was built until the 26th year of Hongwu. It took 28 years to mobilize 280,000 civilians and 350 million bricks and stones to build the city wall.
There is the Qinhuai River as a natural moat outside, Zhongshan Mountain in the east, Houhu Lake in the north as a barrier, and a stone city in the west.
Throughout the past dynasties, it is difficult to compare the great cities.
Looking at the huge three-character Tongji Gate on the top of the city gate, Zhu Yunxi was really filled with emotion for a while.
No matter how majestic the city is, is there any unbreakable city in the world?
Just like this Tongji Gate, the Qing army originally attacked Yingtian Mansion in time and space. Emperor Hongguang of the Southern Ming Dynasty left his civil and military ministers and his guards to escape from Tongji Gate. After being captured by the Qing army, he was escorted into the city through Tongji Gate.
In another Chinese catastrophic battle, the unparalleled Yingtian Mansion was reduced to a hell on earth.
Building a city can protect people for a while, but not for a lifetime.
But many people think that as long as the wall is high and the pool is deep, they can rest easy. As everyone knows, city walls cannot block the enemy, but they can block their own vision.
Zhu Yunxi secretly thought in his heart, "You can have city walls in the world, but you can't have city walls in your heart. If you build a city wall to keep the people safe, you can only look at the world with your own eyes!"
As we got closer to the city gate, there were more and more people, almost shoulder to shoulder, so crowded that it was almost impossible to move.
"Sir, there are a lot of people here, do you want me to go and inform you at the city gate and I will open a way for you to come out!" Deng Ping whispered outside the carriage.
Zhu Yunxi smiled and said, "No need, just wait in line, don't rush for this moment."
Then, under the guidance of the soldiers, his carriage merged into the traffic flow and was ready to be inspected by the soldiers in turn.
"Listen up, everyone. If there is anything carried in each carriage, please tell me immediately and don't let me wait to find it."
"Get the tax stamps from the Tax Department and the deposit receipts for the goods and have them ready!"
"When you enter Beijing from other provinces, you will have your household registration in your hand!"
The tax collectors at the city gate were sweating profusely and shouting among the crowd.
These tax collectors were directly affiliated with the Tianfu Administration and collected city gate taxes from passing merchants. They were typically small in rank but powerful in power. However, the tax only targeted medium and large caravans, and did not collect any money from small traders entering the city.
Various tax forms are posted on the notice board at the city gate. All taxes that need to be paid are clearly visible and clear and easy to understand.
"Tax officer, these are not goods, but specialties brought from Yunnan?"
Suddenly, Zhu Yunxi in the carriage heard a familiar voice.
He opened the curtain and looked over, and saw at the city gate a man on horseback wearing a corseted riding uniform, arguing loudly with the tax collector at the city gate.
"We were returning to the capital to visit relatives, and the car loaded with them were all gifts for relatives and friends, and they weren't anything valuable. This is a tax stamp from the Chief Secretary of Yunnan, and it's clearly written on it!"
"Visiting relatives?" The tax official, dressed in eighth-grade clothing, and with several tax servants, checked back and forth on the carriages accompanying the man, and sneered, "You have a northern accent, why are you coming to the capital to visit your relatives?"
As he spoke, he sneered again, "Worthless things? Ha, one hundred and twenty-eight pieces of Xuanwei ham, a dozen bags of dried mushrooms, and this whole cart of Pu'er tea cakes. Do you think I am a fool?"
The man jumped off his horse, held up his hands and said, "To tell you the truth, I really brought it back to my relatives!" He then raised the bill in his hand and said, "Besides, doesn't it say "No goods, no tax" written on it?
,You can not see it?"
He seemed to be defending, but in fact his tone was quite impatient and somewhat condescending.
How did the tax collector tolerate this attitude?
Immediately he waved his hand fiercely, "Come here, impound the car. Whether it is goods or not, we will make a decision after I report back to you, sir!"
"Hey, you can't do this?"
"What? Do you want to use force?"
With a shout, dozens of soldiers rushed over, and the atmosphere became tense for a moment.
"Sir, that seems to be Zhang Wenbi?" Deng Ping said in a low voice.
"It's really him!" Zhu Yunxi said with a smile, "There was a report the day before yesterday that he was protecting Zhang Rujing. He is only two days away from the capital. I didn't expect to meet him at the gate of the city today."
"Why didn't he go through Zhengyangmen? Why was he still dressed in casual clothes?"
At this point, Zhu Yunxi laughed again, "These tax collectors in the capital are the most difficult to deal with. If he doesn't reveal his official status, he may be made difficult!"
As the saying goes, the king of hell is sad and the little devil is difficult to deal with. These tax collectors and soldiers know how to manipulate people best. If you can talk nicely to them, that's all. If you insist on talking hard with them, you may end up with a baby.
It has always been the case when little people have power, and it has never been the case in the past.
Moreover, when little people have power, they are always more willing to exercise power than real powerful people, and no one is allowed to question it, as if others question it, it is like an insult to them.
It's like...
Suddenly, Zhu Yunxi spoke again, "Is Zhang Yan in the accompanying carriage?" He said, looking at Deng Ping, "Why are you still standing there?"
Deng Ping was stunned, "Master?"
"Tsk!" Zhu Yunxi said with a bitter smile, "Why don't you go over and help us out? Are you waiting to see Zhang Wenbi's joke?"
At this time, Deng Ping suddenly realized it and hurriedly led people over.
Looking at his back, Zhu Yunxi shook his head. Deng Ping lacked some spirituality. If Li Jinglong were here, he wouldn't have to give orders for these things.
~~~
"How courageous, do you know..."
"Zhang Wenbi!"
Zhang Fu was about to get angry when he saw that the tax collectors were trying to move the accompanying carriage, but suddenly he heard someone shouting in the distance.
He turned around and said happily, "Peace Slave!"
At that time, he was a guard of the East Palace, while Deng Ping was the lowest foreign guard. However, because Deng Ping was a son of an honorary noble and the brother-in-law of Cao Guogong, the commander of the Su Wei at that time, the two were familiar with each other.
Deng Ping led his people to squeeze over and saw that the tax collectors were about to clash with Zhang Fu's people. The tax collectors were all old men, and although Zhang Fu's men were dressed in casual clothes, they all had murderous intent.
When he started to use his hands, dozens of tax collectors could not stand the chance to confront each other.
"Stop, stop!" Deng Ping shouted, walked up to the tax collector, and threw out his badge, "I'll blind you!"
The tax collector caught it in a daze, and when he saw the big characters "Imperial City Suwei" on the brass waistband, he broke out in a cold sweat.
But subconsciously, I was still insisting, "I... I'm a low-ranking official and I'm just doing business!"
"Shut up!" Deng Ping scolded, "What's the noise like? Since there is a ticket, why don't you let us go?" Then he frowned and said, "Look at how blocked the city gate is. Let us go quickly.
If you still have any clues, go to the imperial city and look for me!"
"Are you...?" the tax collector asked.
"You are blind!" Deng Ping pointed to his waist badge, "Look behind you!"
The tax official turned it over and saw another line of large characters.
The foreman of the guards in the territory, the Cavalry Commander, the Yiwei Zheng, Deng.
In an instant, the tax collector knew that he was kicking the iron.
Among this series of official positions, the others are not scary, but the word "Yi Wei Zheng" is scary to death. That is the official position responsible for the honor guard when the emperor travels.
This chapter has been completed!