Chapter 19 Double Ninth Festival - A visit to the capital
Yunxi returned to the palace and changed his clothes, then slipped out of Wenhua Palace and sneaked to Donghua Gate. He took Wang Xi with him, leaving Wang Jin to look after the house in the palace, and stayed at Donghua Gate with the guards who specially protected him every day.
The two of them met and left the palace.
Some people may think that Yunxi is going to work at the Ministry of War. But you are wrong. Yunxi came out today to visit the capital.
Yunxi has long wanted to know how ordinary people lived in this era, what it was like on the streets, and whether it was the same as in later TV series. But in the past, Yunxi had no chance to leave the palace; in recent days, he can leave the palace, but
I am too busy at work and really don’t have time. Today, Lao Zhu asked for a day off from my help (who dares not to give him a day off), and finally has time to go shopping!
In order to prevent people from hiding away, Yunxi only brought two guards except Wang Xi, and everyone changed into plain clothes. This way, he was almost the same as the ordinary hereditary military attachés in the capital.
In fact, it is a traditional custom to climb mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Most people will choose to climb mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. But today, there is only one afternoon, and even going up to the mountains will not be fun; secondly, there are many people climbing today, so it is uncertain.
I met someone I knew. Yunxi was afraid of trouble, so he just walked around the capital.
A group of people walked from Chang'an Street to Shicheng Gate. The capital city of the Ming Dynasty had a clear layout. Although it was not as clear-cut as the Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty, it also had clear distribution rules.
The northwest and north are the military zones, where the Forty-Eight Guards near the capital are stationed, as well as various military-related warehouses and the like. Most ordinary military attachés also live in the North City; the middle and southwest are the commercial districts, in the middle of the city.
Chengxian Street, Beimen Bridge and the Qinhuai River in the southwest of the city are all famous commercial districts; the south of the city is a mixed area of commerce and handicrafts. There are both district workshops formed by various craftsmen summoned by the country from all over the country.
Commercial districts such as Dazhong Bridge, Zhenhuai Bridge, Jubaomen, and Shicheng; the northeast of the city is of course the Imperial City and the Palace City, where Yunxi lives daily, and where the main government departments work;
To the south of the imperial city are Chang'an Street and Hongwu Street. Princes, dukes and other high-ranking officials mostly live in these two streets; in the southeast of the city are the residences of ordinary civil servants.
In the past, Yunxi always went out of the Donghua Gate of the palace city to go to the Ministry of War on the east side of the Meridian Gate, or to the army camp outside the Shence Gate in the northwest. He had never been to such bustling streets and alleys. As he walked, Yunxi felt
If you haven't seen it before, just ask, and the guard next to you will tell you everything.
The houses on both sides have similar styles to those in costume dramas. Most of them are made of bricks and stones. The guard said that this is in the city, and in the countryside most houses are made of wood. There are many small vendors selling things on both sides, and there are also many magnificent shops.
Pedestrians were crowded on the street, but there was no bullying seen in TV dramas. Although some officials' children had a contemptuous attitude towards small traders and their words were quite demeaning, they all paid according to the price, so that they could have an eternal life.
The dream of a literati and chivalrous person was that Yunxi, who wanted to be a chivalrous and righteous man, was secretly disappointed.
Another unexpected and extremely disappointing situation is that there are basically no young women on the street. Even if there are a few, they are wearing veils and walking with their fathers, brothers or husbands. All women without veils are basically over forty.
Old people who look similar to those who are over fifty today (in ancient times, living over fifty was a long life).
The four of them walked for half a day, from Treasure Collection to Sanshan Gate, and then to the west end of Chengxian Street. When they arrived in front of a noodle shop, one of the guards who had been guarding him, named Chen Xing, said: "Your Highness has been walking for half a day. You must be tired, so why not take a rest here. Chen’s father is from Shandong and landed in the capital with the army, but the family mainly eats noodles. The owner of this shop came from the north and claimed that his ancestors made noodles for Prime Minister Tuotuo of Yuan Dynasty. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but their noodles are indeed delicious. Would you like to try it, Your Highness?”
Yunxi was a northerner in his last life. He ate noodles every morning and evening. How could he not get used to it? He wasn't tired at first, but after hearing what Chen Xing said, he wanted to try noodles. He looked up at the sign of the shop: Shandong Noodle House and left. Go into the store.
The four of them sat down. Wang Xi, with sharp eyes, pointed at the people coming in and out from the kitchen to the front desk and said, "Isn't there a young woman without a veil?" Wang Xi's family was poor and he entered the palace at the age of five, so for those outside, Don't understand things either.
Another guard, Lin Feng, laughed: "That is the hostess of this shop; and this shop is different from the street. Whether it is the kitchen or the front desk, it is inconvenient to wear a veil, and it is better for the hostess to recruit customers than to It's easy for a man to be a master, and no one under the emperor's feet in the capital has the guts to molest a good woman in broad daylight."
The male owner of the house saw them sitting down, came up to welcome them, and said to Yunxi: "Master, do you want noodles or porridge? What kind of food do you want?" Then he said to Chen Xing: "Master Chen has not been here for a while. We are having dinner at the restaurant, why do you have time to bring friends here today?" This man was very discerning when he arrived, and he immediately saw that Yunxi had the highest status in the restaurant, so he spoke to Yunxi first, and then greeted Chen Xing.
Chen Xing said with a smile: "I have been busy with work these days and I have no free time. Today is the Double Ninth Festival, so I have some free time." Then he said to Yunxi, "Mr. Yunxi, their Shandong Braised Noodles here are their signature noodles. Would you like a bowl?" Yunxi nodded, then turned around and said, "Wang, um, what do brothers Wang and Yang want?" Wang Xi said, "A bowl of Shandong Braised Noodles, too." Yang Feng also asked for a bowl. Chen Xing said to the shop owner. : "Then four bowls of Shandong braised noodles, plus four dishes of side dishes, and a portion of pork head. Be sure to cook it well and use your best skills. It will be good for you." Before Yunxi came out, he agreed to call him Yun. Young Master, so Chen Xing called him this.
The boss said: "Since Mr. Chen said so, I will cook myself and do my best." He then turned to Yunxi and said, "Young Master is a rare surname." Yunxi nodded and said nothing. The boss went down to make noodles. .
While waiting for the next meeting, Yunxi listened to the two of them telling interesting stories about various places. Chen Xing and Yang Feng were both members of the Jinwu Vanguard of the Twelve Guards. The Jinwu Vanguard participated in the war to conquer Nahachu a few years ago. They were both in their twenties and happened to have participated in that war. They explained what happened during the battle, which made Wang Xi very happy and Yunxi also felt that he had gained a lot of knowledge.
Yang Feng was saying, "On the day Naha surrendered, our Jinwu vanguard was guarding outside the big tent. Suddenly there was a noise from inside the tent. We were all nervous and quickly picked it up..." Just as he said this, Chen Xing touched it with his hand. Touching Yang Feng's arm, Yang Feng was puzzled. Chen Xing secretly pointed at Yunxi. Yang Feng was still puzzled, but Chen Xing must have a point, so he stopped talking.
After thinking about it for a while, he came up with it: the person who made the noise in the tent and had a dispute with Naha was Lan Yu, Yunxi's uncle; the one who wanted to chop Naha with a knife was Chang Mao, Yunxi's uncle. How could this happen? Fortunately, I said it in front of Yunxi.
Yunxi didn't react at first. Seeing Yang Feng stop, he thought about it for a while, then he thought about it, but he couldn't help but laughed in his heart and said: How could he blame others for this, but there is nothing he can say.
But Wang Xizheng was happy when he saw Yang Feng suddenly stopped and asked: "Why don't you say anything anymore?" The scene fell into an embarrassing silence. When it was awkward, the boss came up with a straight face and said: "Gentlemen, the meal is ready.
Yang Feng was glad that the noodles were ready at this time, and hurriedly said: "Eat the noodles first, they won't taste good when they are cold." Chen Xing also said: "Eat this noodles while it's hot, Mr. Yun, try it." Wang Xi just said
The question was ignored.
Yunxi picked up the noodles and took a bite. Well, it was good. It was no worse than the noodles occasionally made in the palace. He said, "It's good. It's better than the ones at home." Wang Xi also said so. Chen Xing breathed a sigh of relief and said: "
Mr. Yun is so proud of them. The small shop outside can be compared with the one at Mr. Yun's house." The atmosphere among the four became lively again, chatting and laughing.
At the counter, the store owner was also wondering about the identity of 'Mr. Yun'. Chen Xing's family is a hereditary family. Although his father has not yet taken up his post and is currently only a soldier in the Jinwu left guard, because of his handsome appearance,
He is tall, and his martial arts skills are so good that he can enter the army. He doesn't pay attention to ordinary commanding matters. The last time he accompanied a commander who had assumed his post to have dinner, he was not so respectful.
But today it was no longer pure respect. In front of Mr. Yun, he noticed that Chen Xing's fingers were clearly trembling slightly. Which family was Mr. Yun in? But were there any princes named Yun in the Ming Dynasty?
Just as he was thinking about it, Chen Xing greeted him: "Boss Tang, check out." Boss Tang hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Thank you for your patronage, a total of 188 Wen. Mr. Chen is a regular customer, so just give me 180 Wen."
(Note 1).”
Chen Xing was taking out money when Yunxi suddenly asked: "Boss, do you accept precious notes in this store?"
Boss Tang said: "If a customer wants to give something, of course he won't refuse to accept it, but he doesn't want to accept it, so regular customers like Mr. Chen don't give the shop treasure money."
Yunxi asked again: "Why don't you want to accept the treasure money?"
"To tell you the truth, because the depreciation of treasure money is too fast, a noble man like you naturally doesn't know the difficulties of this small shop. The treasure money is easy to collect but not easy to spend. The materials in our store are all purchased from farmers outside the city.
, those farmers don’t want treasure banknotes, they all say that when the Ming Dynasty was founded, Guanguan banknotes were equivalent to Guanguan money, and they were only twenty years old, but now they are only worth 250 Wen, and they are not allowed to use Bao banknotes to pay taxes (agricultural taxes), why?
Dare to ask for it. If there is a dispute, we are businessmen, they are farmers, scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, and the government will favor them."
Yunxi nodded, and Chen Xing paid the money and said, "Just do your business, why are you talking about these useless things?" The boss stopped talking.
Yunxi and others got up to leave, but Yunxi stopped the boss: "Business owner, don't you know your surname?"
The boss replied: "Sir, my name is Tang Bohe."
Yunxi was startled and said with a smile: "Then you have a brother named Tang Bohu."
The boss looked confused, "A villain is a single person, passed down through three generations, and has no brothers."
Yunxi laughed loudly, turned around and went out. The others didn't know what Yunxi was laughing at, and followed him out with the same confused expressions.