Huaqiong Tower in Liangcheng is not a restaurant, but the gatehouse at the entrance of Beishengfang Main Street.
Nowadays, the term Huaqionglou refers specifically to the business circle composed of Beishengfang main street and branch lanes, including wine shops, business houses, theaters, gambling houses and other entertainment venues.
Every time Kang Kejing comes to Liangcheng, her favorite place is Huaqiong Tower, because it is the most prosperous place in Liangzhou City and is somewhat similar to Bachuan Long Street in Chang'an City.
After entering the East Street of Huaqiong Tower, Kang Kejing was led by He Tanchong to "Baocui Garden".
In Baocui Garden, not only are there all kinds of food, drinks and entertainment, but it is also the first choice place for gatherings of dignitaries, literati and elegant people in Liangcheng.
Kang Kejing entered the garden gate, and a familiar prostitute saw him and quickly welcomed him to the private room on the second floor.
Sitting in the hall upstairs, Kang Kejing nodded to He Tanchong.
The latter took out two gold fragments commonly used in Anxi market from his arms, handed them to the prostitutes, and said: "Get some good wine and food, put them on the counter in the verandah, and we will help ourselves. In addition,
, don’t let anyone come in and disturb you!”
The guest prostitute opened her eyes wide, took the gold fragment, agreed with a happy face, and quickly left the room.
He Tanchong walked back to the private room and said to Kang Kejing: "Master's house, the prime minister's place, when are we going to report?"
Kang Kejing: "Don't worry, the slave team in Luoyang is still halfway there. It won't be too late to see the Prime Minister when they arrive."
He Tanchong: "There are nearly 37,000 slaves bought from the Yan army this time. Due to the heavy snow, there was a delay for a long time. I don't know if they can be sent to Yanqi in the middle of the year."
Kang Kejing: "The Kang family has branches in Liangzhou, Shazhou, Guazhou and other places. This time, the task of transporting the slaves will be left to the people below. You and I should go to Luoyang and continue to open Luonuya."
business."
He Tanchong first bowed his hands in greeting, then frowned.
Kang Kejing: "What? Is something wrong?"
He Tanchong lowered his voice and said: "Among these slaves, there is a batch of hot goods, and I don't know how to deal with them."
Kang Kejing felt a headache when she heard this: "Let the prime minister decide how to deal with those people."
He Tanchong nodded and said he knew.
Having said this, a gavel suddenly sounded outside the house, followed by a burst of cheers from the lobby.
Kang Kejing felt strange. She stood up and went outside. Then she opened the door curtain and went to the corridor and looked downstairs.
I saw a large desk set up on the stage at the far end of the lobby of Baocui Garden, and a standing chair was placed behind the desk.
A middle-aged man in a toga first bowed his hands in a four-way salute on the stage, then sat on a chair and said: "The book is from the last chapter, so-and-so said..."
Kang Kejing listened for a while and found that the middle-aged man was actually speaking from the script of "Nie Yinniang".
In restaurants, theaters or theaters in the Tang Dynasty, there was a special profession of speakers. They compiled some ancient books and documents into manuscripts, and selected some topics that the people were interested in, and presented them in front of the public.
speak out.
This method of telling the contents of books or folk ambitions intact was called talking about ancient times (also known as talking about ancient times) in the Tang Dynasty.
It is completely different from the storytelling culture that officially appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. At best, it can only be regarded as a form of reading for the public.
But now, Kang Kejing listened for a while and found something was wrong.
This talk about "Nie Yinniang" told by the ancients is not strictly based on the original text.
In the process, not only on the original basis, a lot of descriptions or explanations are added to the character's origin, identity, appearance, personality and other characteristics; but also when praising the moral character, appearance or scenic spots of the characters in the story, they will also say
Recite large paragraphs of parallel verse in the form of parallel sentences to achieve a sense of beauty that is more beautiful than seeing and hearing.
Seeing Kang Kejing's doubts, He Tanchong explained: "Master, you usually listen to music in the private room and the back garden. You don't come to the lobby, so you don't know anything. The ancient speaker on this stage said
The storybook of "Nie Yinniang" not only contains the original content, but also adds a lot of excellent explanations based on the original text. I heard that this way of teaching ancient times came from the Xuanwen Museum. Literary officials there
, this way of speaking is called storytelling."
Kang Kejing: "Commentary?"
He Tanchong: "Although storytelling has not been around for a long time, it is popular and fascinating. Therefore, in the streets and alleys of Liangcheng, in order to get rewards, there are now many storytellers."
Kang Kejing said, "That's it."
The two of them were listening, and suddenly among the people who were listening to the book, they first cheered, and then burst into curses.
It turns out that the reviewer happened to be talking about the latest chapter of "Nie Yinniang". The villain in the play said "This day has never been the common people's day", which can be said to have stabbed the lungs of many listeners and made everyone in the audience laugh.
Everyone was very angry.
When Kang Kejing heard this, she couldn't help but clicked her tongue and said: "You actually dare to write this in this book? Are you not afraid that the court will come to cause trouble?"
He Tanchong sighed: "Master, no matter what you say, this is the truth. Nowadays, there are wars everywhere. High-ranking families can enjoy good food and drink, but the common people in the south can't even survive."
Kang Kejing lowered his head and thought carefully for a while, then asked He Tanchong: "Who is the chief official of the Xuanwen Hall?"
He Tanchong: "I heard he is a eunuch, it seems... the eunuch Fan Jinian."
Kang Kejing seemed to have heard something incredible: "The chamberlain supervises the Xuanwen Hall?"
He Tanchong nodded.
Kang Kejing said to himself: "The emperor is ill and has not been in court for a long time. Now all affairs in the palace are handled by the prime minister... In this way, if the internal chamberlain establishes the propaganda hall, then the prime minister is actually
It should be the driving force behind it..."
Hearing Kang Kejing's voice getting lower and lower, He Tanchong asked: "Master, what's wrong?"
After thinking for a long time, Kang Kejing asked He Tanchong: "Let me ask you, the chamberlain supervisor is in charge of palace affairs, why did you suddenly think of establishing the Xuanwen Pavilion department?"
He Tanchong shook his head.
Kang Kejing: "The answer is that the Xuanwen Hall was actually established by the Prime Minister and left to the internal servants to manage it. It was just to attract attention."
He Tanchong: "To attract people's attention? Then what is the real purpose of the Prime Minister establishing the Xuanwen Museum?"
Kang Kejing's eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice: "The Xuanwen Hall publishes the "Datang Wenbao". The Prime Minister uses this newspaper to build momentum for the world. The real purpose... is to promote himself.
Ascend to the throne!"
He Tanchong was startled when he heard this.
Kang Kejing continued: "Now that the emperor is seriously ill, the palace has not announced the prince for a long time. I am afraid that the prime minister is scheming. The prime minister was born in a poor family and is already a very popular minister. Once the emperor dies, the new emperor will be the first to take the throne.
The prime minister will have to take action. Therefore, the prime minister does not establish a prince, the purpose is to find an opportunity for the emperor to abdicate in his place."
When He Tanchong heard this, his face turned pale with fright: "According to what the master said, why does the Prime Minister want to establish a Tang Dynasty newspaper with great fanfare?"
Kang Kejing glanced at He Tanchong: "As I said just now, the Prime Minister comes from a poor family. If he rashly takes the throne by force, he will definitely be criticized by the orthodox people in the world. Not only will he be unpopular, but it may also cause civil strife."
"Therefore, the Prime Minister has to do two things. One is to send troops south to capture Chang'an and Luoyang as soon as possible, and win the hearts of the people in the name of regaining the capital; the other is to use public opinion to summarize the current contradictions.
to the royal family and the clan, thereby achieving the purpose of completely tainting and destroying the legitimacy of Li Tang."
"In this way, the hearts of the people in the world are against Li Tang, and the prime minister can comply with the public opinion and force Li Tangchan to join him, ascend the throne, and rebuild the world."
When He Tanchong heard this, he completely froze in place. After a long time, he stammered and asked: "Master... Master, what should we do?"
Kang Kejing laughed: "What should I do? You actually asked me what should I do? Don't you understand, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
He Tanchong: "Good opportunity?"
Kang Kejing: "Merchant is divided into three categories. Lower-class merchants care about prices; middle-class merchants care about goods; and upper-class merchants care about people. The prime minister wants to ascend to the throne and become emperor. If the Kang family of Shicheng succeeds,
With the power of following the dragon, if nothing else, the family can be prosperous for hundreds of years!"