Tiananmen is the south gate of Beijing, and Di'anmen is the north gate of Beijing.
Common people like to call the north gate the back gate, and the Di'anmen building itself is called the back gate face. From the back gate face to the north, all the way to the outside of the Drum Tower, it is called the back gate. It is also a place full of market atmosphere.
Shops are lined up on both sides, offering everything from needles and threads to firewood, rice, oil and salt, from daily necessities to all aspects of daily life.
From the back door to the south, there are basically no shops or businesses in the back door, only some small grocery stores appear in the alleys from time to time.
At the west entrance of Xilou Lane and the west side of the north entrance of Gongjian Hutong, there is such a small grocery store. It sells oil, tea, sauce, vinegar, needles, threads and brains. The name of the store is Yongxiangheng. People nearby rarely call it the name on the signboard, and they are accustomed to calling it the West Gate Shop.
Or simply call it a small shop.
The shop is said to be small, but it is actually quite small. Two of the three rooms are used as facades, and the one on the south side is separated by a curtain and serves as the living room. There is a tall cabinet in the shop, which separates the inside and outside of the shop. What is sold inside is
There are shredded tobacco, tea, white wine, rice wine, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and various seasonings. Outside, there are various vegetables and dried and fresh foods. In winter, Chinese cabbage, radishes, etc. will also be sold on the steps outside the store.
There is also a row of high stools set up beside the counter. Neighbors nearby or those working on the street can come over to get some free time when they are tired. Or those who like to drink rice wine can come and serve a bowl and then order a plate of fried peanuts or rice wine.
Fried soybeans with lard residue can be enjoyed happily while chatting.
The shop is run by a family named Song, and the owner is Song Heng. It is said that they originally did business at Tongzhou Wharf. Now that the canal is no longer maintained, it is difficult to do business at Tongzhou Wharf, so shopkeeper Song brought his family to the capital.
I placed an order for these three houses, and after a little rectification, it became a one-room deal.
There are three rooms, two for business and one for living.
He has four sons, the eldest is Zhenlie, the second is Zhenxun, the third is Zhenxi, and the fourth is Zhenzhao. The old shopkeeper is about fifty. He is relatively strong and always smiles, but his eyes are shrewd.
The eldest brother, Zhenlie, is in his thirties. He is a tall man, but he is always taciturn. The second brother is always kind-hearted and has a good eye for things. The third brother has a round face and a bit of a stubborn streak, and he often fights with guests.
The fight over the three melons and two dates made my face red and thick-necked. The fourth child was young and smart, but he didn't often go to the shop. He often wandered outside and was also responsible for purchasing goods or delivering goods.
Mr. Zhao, who often came to the shop to drink, was a scholar. He often said that looking at the names of these four brothers, he knew that the Song family must not have been an ordinary family in the past. The names given by ordinary people must be Song Fugui, Song Jizu, Song Fa and so on.
But Lao Liu, who usually likes to come here and ask for two taels of white rice and fry soybeans with oil residue, said that these four brothers looked nothing like brothers. In other words, the four sons brought by shopkeeper Song were obviously suspicious.
Of course, Lao Liu only dared to say this quietly, and no one took it at ease.
Whose biological brothers must look like they come out of the same mold?
this day.
Before dawn, Lao Song was still tidying up the shop. The four brothers had already brought in the goods from the morning market. When they got home, they started busy unloading and sorting the goods. They sorted the vegetables first and picked off the wilted and rotten leaves first.
, placed at the door in categories, and even sprinkled with some water to make them look tender and fresh.
Although this business is run by the five men, and the wife of the family only lives in the backyard and does not come here, the business is done very well by the men.
First of all, this is a necessity in daily life, and everyone can't live without it. Moreover, there is only this shop nearby, so everyone will not go far away from here. After all, these guys are smart in business.
If you buy a cabbage, he may give you two cloves of garlic. If you buy two pieces of tofu, he may give you two green onions. Sometimes if you forget to bring money or something, you can still give it to you later.
Even if it is inconvenient and you want to ask the shop to help you carry some medicine and other things outside, they are willing to do it for you. There are even some neighbors who are in difficulty and want to borrow some rice, flour, money and food, and the shopkeeper is also willing to lend it.
After going back and forth like this, the small shop has only been open for more than half a year, but it has become very popular. Everyone likes to come here to buy things. Even if there is nothing to buy, they are still willing to come and chat for a few words.
The dishes here are almost done, so some neighbors who got up early came over.
Liu Erye, who lives in Xilou Lane, was the first to arrive.
"Second Master Liu is here to take care of our business again. Good morning."
"Good morning, there are no fresh dishes." Mr. Liu is wearing a melon skin hat and a braid on the back of his head. Just looking at his shiny forehead, you can tell that his conditions are not bad. Otherwise, like a coolie on the street, who would have the energy to work every day?
When you shave your head, you will always have short, messy, prickly hair on your forehead.
"I saw some fresh fish and shrimp today, so I brought some back and kept them in that bucket. Go and take a look. They are all swimming happily. You can choose whatever you want to eat, whether it is steamed or steamed.
Braised in braised sauce, they are always fresh." Old shopkeeper Song Heng said with a smile.
This Mr. Liu is an errand in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although he is not an official, he is not an official. He is just an ordinary clerk. He is outside the economic system, that is, there is no formal establishment.
After the Tatars entered the customs, they basically inherited the Ming system, established hundreds of officials, and appointed officials. There were more than a thousand officials in each department of the capital. In fact, a thousand people were not enough, so there were a large number of supernumerary officials.
Although the status of non-staff staff is low, they are actually inseparable from them everywhere.
Youdao is easy for the king of hell to meet, but difficult for the devil to deal with.
If a petty official works in a key department, he can actually live a very comfortable life, which is more comfortable than a county official in some remote places.
Liu Erye worked as an errand in the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he was naturally quite good, so even though he was just a non-staff official, he was an old man in the Ministry of Household Affairs in the Ming Dynasty and had sufficient qualifications.
Shopkeeper Song is very polite to this neighbor because he is a big customer and he spends a lot of money on food and drink. He even comes here often to have a drink or two.
Of course, what's more important is more than just the surface.
Lao Song invited Mr. Liu in to see the fish.
The fish was indeed very fresh, and they were swimming happily.
"smokes!"
Old Song took out a box of cigarettes from the front door and handed them to Old Liu. Mr. Liu also took them without politeness, lit them on fire and started smoking skillfully.
“Have you never smoked or heard of this big front door cigarette before?”
"New cigarettes, a new brand, the taste is quite good."
“It’s pretty good, mellow and not overpowering.”
While smoking, the two of them were not in a hurry to pick fish.
"I went to buy vegetables today, and the price of food has gone up again." Lao Song said.
"Well, if you can stock up recently, just hurry up and stock up. No matter how expensive it is, you will make money if you buy it." Lao Liu works in the Ministry of Household Affairs and knows very well that the current surge in food prices in the capital is just the beginning, because the situation is getting worse and worse.
First, Jiangnan was lost, then Huguang was eroded, now Huainan was abandoned, Denglai Qingxin was lost, and even Liaonan lost several prefectures, not to mention dozens of states and counties were affected by the Yellow River breach.
Even if the autumn harvest is over, the famine in the capital will become more and more serious.
"I heard that the imperial court is going to send troops to Datong?" Lao Song asked.
Lao Liu was not in a hurry to answer.
"Still the old rules," Lao Song handed a small yellow croaker to Lao Liu's hand. Lao Liu smiled on his face. This was not the first time Lao Song gave him a gold bar, and it was not the first time he accepted it.
Since Lao Song came here to open a shop, he quickly found him and met him just to get some information, saying it would facilitate business.
Gold in troubled times, who can resist this temptation?
Gold bars come in many weights, ranging from five cents to ten taels. There are two common types, one tael and ten taels. People are accustomed to calling them small yellow croaker and large yellow croaker.
From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the price ratio of gold and silver was actually not high. It was usually one to five or six, also known as exchanging five or six. In the early Ming Dynasty, the court stipulated that one tael of gold should be exchanged for four taels of silver, but it soon rose to six taels.
Seven taels, it was already more than 10 taels in the early days of Chongzhen.
In the last years of Chongzhen, the world was in turmoil, and gold became more valuable. Overseas gold was valuable, and a large amount of silver was used to cover gold. Now the Ming Dynasty in the south secretly went to the north to use silver to cover gold.
As a result, Beijing now officially exchanges one tael of gold for ten taels of silver, but in fact, privately, it is almost one tael of gold for fifteen taels of silver, and it is even rising.
Lao Liu is from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Last month, one tael of gold was exchanged for 14 taels and 40 silver in the black market in Beijing. This month, one tael was exchanged for 15 taels and 40.
This small yellow croaker weighs one or two taels per standard. It is very delicate, but it is worth fifteen taels or four silver.
Old Liu said, "Now one stone of millet has been sold for eighty taels of silver."
This little yellow croaker is barely worth buying two stones of millet.
Lao Song nodded, "Yes, food prices are getting more and more expensive, and everything is rising in price, one price a day. Why do you think it's rising so crazy?"
"Because there is chaos everywhere, Jiang Gu in Shanxi rebelled, and only Taiyuan and its surrounding areas were left in Shandong. Wang Yongqiang's brothers in northern Shaanxi rebelled, and only the Guanzhong Plain was left in chaos. There were floods in Shandong, rebellion in Henan, and even Tuguobaodu
We have reached the vicinity of Baoding Prefecture. Ming warships have been blocking the Tianjin Port, and the canals have been completely blocked. There is no grain coming to Beijing. Although grain has been urgently collected from various places, it is difficult to provide relief!"
Food supply is seriously insufficient.
However, the princes and bannermen of the Eight Banners who entered the customs in the capital are all quite wealthy, and each of them has a lot of money. After all, they have been robbed in recent years, especially after entering the customs.
But the problem is that if you don't have food, you will starve to death, but no matter how much money you have, sometimes it can't satisfy your hunger.
"It will still rise. Back then, outside the Pass, after the death of Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty, there was a great famine in Liaodong. A dou of grain cost eight taels of silver, and the people ate each other. Although there was a lot of silver taels in the country, there was nowhere to trade, so silver taels were cheap.
Everything is expensive, especially food."
At that time, the Tatars were outside the customs, fighting every year, and constantly mobilizing for war. Disasters outside the customs continued, and the harvest dropped sharply, leading to a great famine.
Although the money taken back was a lot, it could not be exchanged for food.
Now Beijing has begun to see this trend.
If it hadn't been for the great plague in the capital in the 14th and 5th year of Chongzhen, 200,000 people died. Later, Li Zicheng entered the capital and the Qing army entered the capital, and the population dropped sharply. In addition, the population in the north was reduced due to plague, war, and famine.
With a population of tens of millions, a famine has definitely broken out since the beginning of the year. How can we survive until now?
The reason why Datong rebelled was partly because after the grain supply from Jiangnan was cut off, the Qing government urgently levied grain from Hebei, Shanxi, Liaodong and other places. In the past, grain was only transported to Beijing from six provinces including Jiangnan, and other provinces levied it in exchange for silver. But now it can only
Food was collected from all over the country, no money required, only in kind.
The food on hand is being requisitioned again and again, and people are starving to death. Isn't it the opposite?
Food is the most important thing for the people. Once the food supply is not available, the first people to be unlucky are the ordinary people.
After all, if the price of food increases slightly, everyone will not be able to afford it.
"Second Master, I also have a large yellow croaker, I'll get it for you."
Liu Erye's face was immediately filled with a smile as he got a dozen pieces of exquisite large yellow croaker in his hand. It was worth more than one hundred and fifty taels of silver.
"Times are tough, please tell me if there is any news in the future. I will go get a big yellow croaker later," he said, handing over a small yellow croaker.
With two golden yellow croakers, one big and one small, in hand, Liu Er smiled even brighter.
In fact, he had known for a long time that Shopkeeper Song was not a serious businessman. He even secretly sent people to Tongzhou to inquire about Shopkeeper Song.
He also knew that Shopkeeper Song gave him silver and gold, and bought information from him. In fact, he was taking the risk of losing his head, but who could care about this these days.
Two large yellow croakers were worth any risk he took.
"Shopkeeper Song secretly helped me get ten shi of grain, regardless of whether it's old rice, millet, or white grain."
"No problem, I'll take care of it. I promise to get you the food in three days. How about five stones of rice and five stones of millet?"
"Okay, okay." Old Liu was very satisfied and pulled shopkeeper Song, "Let's go inside and have a good chat. I have a lot of latest news."
"Hauge has been killed in prison. It is said that he died of illness."
"The three Dorgon brothers are all dead, and now their wives and concubines have been divided among the Eight Banners masters such as Dai Shan and Beile. Now the one leading the troops to attack Datong is Yue Le, the grandson of Taizu and the fourth son of Abatai.
, is Bolo's brother. He was originally the Duke of Zhenguo. Now it is said that he was named Prince An by the emperor.
Together with Jierhalang's eldest son Fuldun and his brother Bolo, they share the banner of Zhenglan Banner. Fulton has ten niulus, Yuedong has eight niulus, and Bolo has seven niulus. Fulton is the leader of the flag.
This time Yue Le was in command to conquer Datong, and Daishan's fourth son Qianjun Wang Wakda was the deputy general. He transferred 10,000 troops from the Eight Banners to Beijing and 20,000 troops from Shanxi and other provinces under the direct control of Xuanda to conquer Datong. He also brought more than 40 troops with him.
Red cannon.
Fulton and the two kings of Mandahai led 10,000 additional troops to station in Baoding and Tianjin.
Transfer Wu Sangui to guard Xi'an"
Shopkeeper Song carefully remembered this in his mind. This was very valuable information. "Can you get more detailed information? For example, who are the main generals of the 10,000 Eight Banners led by Yue Le in Beijing? How many are Manchu, Mongolian and Han?"
, how is the equipment, and the dispatch of grain and grass equipment, etc.?"
Liu Er was not in a hurry or panic.
"Give me three days."
Shopkeeper Song nodded, "Okay, I will get the food in three days and deliver it quietly to the back door of your house."
"Well, I'll give you the news then."
After seeing off Mr. Liu, the four brothers Song Chenglie came over.
"Does this traitor have any information?"
"Um,"
Shopkeeper Song's true identity is from Jinyiwei. He was indeed in Tongzhou before and was doing business, but that was just his cover identity in Jinyiwei. Shopkeeper Song is an old Jinyiwei. A year ago, he returned to the southern court.
I got in touch, was re-appointed, and received a mission.
Six months ago, I came to Beijing with four of my subordinates and opened this small shop as a cover to secretly collect intelligence and pass on information.
"It seems that the Tatars want to capture Datong first, and they must send this news back immediately."
"How many yellow croakers can exchange for this news? Who in Beijing doesn't know this?"
"What do you know? The important thing is not to fight Datong, but more details. And after Liu Er is fed by us, he will become a grasshopper in our line from now on. Where else can he go?"