Shaowu's 20th year, early February.
As the snow melts and spring comes, a spring rain as precious as oil sweeps across the entire capital.
Raindrops were falling over the streets, and the raindrops were dense and moist. In some streets, alleys, under the eaves, or at the corners of walls, grass struggled to get through the gaps between stone bricks. From a distance, the grass color was vaguely connected, but when viewed up close, it looked sparse and sporadic.
At this time, the city of Beijing is the most prosperous.
The grievances that had been endured all winter were released, and a lot of money came out.
But in fact, hundreds of rivers flow into the sea, and the autumn taxes from the south can't wait to be imported into the capital while the snow melts, so as not to delay the trip.
According to regulations, the tax payment date for autumn taxes is at the end of March. Once the date is missed, the future of officials will be lost.
The autumn tax arrived at Chongwenmen Wharf in the capital from Tianjin, and was then recorded in the accounts of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Ordinary people were naturally unaware of it, but the prosperity of the capital was obvious to all.
As the political and economic center of the entire North China, the city of Beijing continues to attract talents from all over the world and becomes increasingly prosperous.
Nan Huairen got on the carriage and felt the bumps. Through the carriage window, various hawking sounds continued. There was order in the noise, which made people fascinated.
The largest city in the world has been completely restored to its vitality and is becoming more and more prosperous day by day.
Before the fall of Constantinople, the capital city of the entire Western world, I was afraid that this would not be the case!
Unfortunately, the only comparable city has fallen into the hands of a group of pagans.
"Hey, Mr. Nan, you're finally here."
As soon as the carriage stopped, Nan Huairen heard a burst of laughter. He opened the curtain and got out of the car on the wooden bench.
I saw a bright scene in front of me, with lanterns of various colors, mostly red and yellow, so bright that they almost drove out the entire night and turned it into daytime.
Not far away, on a wooden pillar three or four stories high, there was a huge sign: Chang'an Theater Tower.
There is a lantern hanging next to it, with the same four words written on it: Inviting guests from all directions.
A man in his thirties, with a short beard, bright eyes, and slightly thin lips. He wore a mink coat on his upper body and silver moccasin boots. He looked quite wealthy.
This is the person who invited him. His name is Tao Liushan. He is a boy, but he has a huge fortune. He is a wealthy businessman and an Huizhou businessman.
Although he was not familiar with it, Huizhou merchants were famous and after visiting him once, he was invited.
"The theater?" Nan Huairen frowned: "Tao Yuanwai is too polite."
"Where." Tao Liushan hurriedly came over and said with a smile: "I heard that there are some Caesars in your country. One like Octavian is very famous and a famous hero. I wanted someone to write a few books and let him sing them. .”
“But then I think about it, you are religious, is there any name greater than Jesus?”
"So this is a delay, but don't worry, more than ten people have been asked to write the Jesus song, and it should be out in half a month."
Nan Huairen was sweating profusely when he heard this: "Forget it, except for Tao Yuan, there is no need to interpret the deeds of the Holy Son. The singing version is too expensive..."
Although Tao Liushan's words were a bit wrong, this kind of intention was finally received.
You know, it takes less than two or three months to write and perform a script, and it costs at least three to five hundred yuan.
"Hehe, since you gave your order like this, how can I not disobey you?"
Tao Liushan hurriedly posted: "Today's song is The Legend of the White Snake. I don't know which great sage changed it. Xiaoqing became a maid, and Fahai is really hateful, but the play is just lovable."
"You see, this book hasn't stopped since the middle of winter in the twelfth lunar month. The foot-thick snow is almost up to my knees, but the carriages outside the Chang'an Theater are all parked, and it's hard to suppress it."
"I was thinking, aren't you also a Catholic? If you don't deviate from your sect, you will inevitably have to slay demons. This seems to be quite suitable."
Nan Huairen smiled awkwardly: "I'm determined."
However, these words piqued his interest.
The Jesuits came to understand that they only studied Buddhism and Taoism, but did not conquer demons and demons. It seemed that they wanted to learn from them.
The two of them took the servants and took the stairs directly to the third floor, where the boxes were located. They looked up at the stage and had a clear view.
As soon as I sat down, a bunch of melons and fruits were delivered to me, including a piece of watermelon and a plate of cucumbers.
Nan Huairen carefully picked up a piece of watermelon and ate it. The entrance was cold and slightly sweet: "Yes, there are watermelons at this time. Isn't it only available in summer?"
Tao Liushan smiled and said: "This is grown in a greenhouse. Green is rarely seen in Beijing in winter, but those sharp-eyed people happened to get it. Don't just look at these two or three watermelons."
"The selling price is a piece for a piece or a whole big watermelon. You can't get it without dozens of silver coins."
Under Tao Liushan's flattery, the two of them kept talking, from fruits to grapes, and then to wine, discussing rice wine, white wine, and the pros and cons of wine.
In just a short time, the entire theater was full.
The private rooms on the third floor, the square tables on the second floor, and the hard bench seats on the first floor all fell silent at this time.
With a burst of gongs and drums, a burst of smoke appeared on the stage.
Immediately, a lifelike and thick python appeared in front of everyone. Several branches were manipulated and twisted, which surprised everyone and scared many people.
Some people even thought it was a real python and turned blue with fear.
The voice-over suddenly sounded, which was the sound of crackling thunder.
The smoke filled the air and the white snake suddenly disappeared.
Immediately, a young girl wearing white clothes appeared in front of everyone.
Everyone realized that it was a white snake.
As the smoke disappeared, the screen behind him was replaced, becoming an Emei Mountain and a Guanyin statue.
I saw the woman in white kneeling down and singing: "Bai Suzhen at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, thousands of people have cultivated this body in the cave~~"
"Through diligent practice, you will attain the Tao, and you will be transformed into a human being."
"Follow the Tao with all your heart and have no distracting thoughts. Take refuge in the Three Jewels and abandon the mortal world."
I hope that the Bodhisattva will enlighten me and help me escape from the mortal world! "
But Guanyin Bodhisattva actually said at this time that his mortal world was not over yet, and he needed to repay his kindness before he could leave the mortal world.
Only then did everyone realize that in order to become an immortal, White Snake needed to repay the favor of saving his life.
Thus, the drama unfolded for nearly two hours:
They met by chance in Xihu, fell in love at first sight, got married, and stole money from Qiantang treasury to open a medicine shop.
This opera is fascinating and the singing is so beautiful that even Nan Huairen couldn't help but be attracted and devoted himself to it.
Afterwards, Nan Huairen shook his head repeatedly and said: "Beast pythons can also turn into humans, and they can also marry people. Ghosts and gods can also be driven to steal treasury silver."
"Bizarre, unbelievable, too exaggerated."
"By the way, this white lady is married to Xu Xian, will she ever have children in the future?"
As he said that, he couldn't help but pat his head and said with a smile: "How can a snake marry a human and have children?"
"And even if he was born, he would still be a snake egg, right?"
Tao Liushan on the side heard this and couldn't laugh or cry: "You don't care whether he can have children or not. Anyway, in the end he gave birth to a son and became the number one scholar."
"If you are interested, just come and see me tomorrow."
"This opera takes nine consecutive days to complete. If it's not satisfying, listen to it again in another theater. In the whole city of Beijing, nine out of ten houses are singing this play, so you don't have to worry about not being able to hear it."
Nan Huairen suddenly drew ten in his hand: "Amen, it's a sin. I'm actually reading stories from other religions. This is disrespectful to the Lord."
"Master Nan, don't worry, the monk here is singing the villain."
After comforting him, Nan Huairen got into the carriage and went home.
After watching several scenes in a row, the relationship between the two became more and more familiar.
On this day, Tao Liushan showed his cards directly and told his purpose.
"Made to ring a bell?" Nan Huairen was surprised.
"That's right." Tao Liushan said with a smile: "In the whole city of Beijing, from the imperial palace to the royal palace, who doesn't have a chiming bell?"
"This has become a trend."
"You know, besides Beijing, there are many big cities in the world. Suzhou, Nanjing, and Songjiang in the south are also first-class big cities. There is a huge demand for self-ringing bells."
As he spoke, his face became serious: "Unfortunately, this self-ringing clock is too expensive. The ordinary one costs one hundred and eighty yuan. The gold, silver, enamel, and gem-inlaid ones range from one thousand to eight hundred yuan, and the high ones can go up to three to five yuan." thousand."
"If we build a bell farm, are we afraid that no one will buy it?"
As the saying goes, rare things are valuable. Beijing loves Xiyi bells especially, but the local ones feel rustic.
But Tao Liushan saw the secret.
These people's eyes were all fixed on Beijing, but they did not think that the vast south and other rural tycoons also needed to ring their own bells.
It seems that as soon as you leave Beijing, other people are automatically filtered out.
At the same time, because of the dislike, the self-ringing clocks on the market are basically imitations of Xiyi. Except for changing the twenty-four hours to twelve hours, the other differences are not big.
So, what if he built a batch of local self-ringing bells, such as the dragon and phoenix auspicious bells that can be used as dowries, the Avalokitesvara bell to send children, and the Medicine Master Tathagata bell?
He didn't believe that no one liked this kind of self-ringing bell with special meaning.
Therefore, Taoliushan wanted to build a large clock field specifically to build self-ringing bells. Wouldn't this be prosperous?
And if you want to succeed, you must have a good master.
At this time, Nan Huairen, who worked in Qintian Prison, was naturally the best choice.
Nan Huairen hesitated.
He was just a missionary, and he only served the emperor. After all, it was for the great cause of missionary work, but now it was a bit outrageous to do things for personal use.
Besides, wouldn't the addition of an extra bell court be a blow to Italian businessmen?
Tao Liushan said calmly: "I am willing to give you one thousand silver yuan every year as a reward."
Nan Huairen was shocked. This was higher than his annual salary.
"Can."
Nan Huairen responded: "But I have to stay in Qintian Prison on weekdays. I can only give you some advice when I have free time."
"Of course."
Tao Liushan was overjoyed.
Who doesn’t know how laid-back Qin Tian Jian is?
There is no need to go to court. On weekdays, everything is fine, but every day I go crazy with leisure.
In this way, in less than half a month, the clock field will have results.
After Matteo Ricci introduced watchmaking technology to Beijing, today there are craftsmen mastering it one after another. Big clocks are easy, but the difficulty lies in small clocks.
With the help of Nan Huairen, a three-inch tall self-ringing bell appeared on the market.
Its price is only ten silver coins.
Such a low price has been sought after by many readers.
Anyone with a small fortune would buy one and place it on their desk or in the living room.
Folks have a great pursuit of accurate timekeeping.
At the same time, the small self-ringing bells spread from Beijing and gradually spread to other places.
Due to the popularity of self-ringing bells, it has even caused a certain amount of panic among the people.
The watchmen who work the watch are afraid of losing their jobs.
But obviously they worry too much. They are indispensable in terms of fire prevention. At the same time, a large number of people at the bottom also need them to tell the time.
"Chimes?"
Zhu Li glanced at the most conspicuous chiming clock in the shop. It was five feet tall, gilded on the outside, and engraved with auspicious animals such as unicorns and phoenixes. It looked very dazzling.
He shrugged it off.
There is a larger one in his house.
Immediately, he took his servants to the largest bookstore in the capital.
According to legend, there are thousands of types of books in the bookstore, covering all kinds of books, and they are first-class existences.
But when Zhu Yue arrived, I really felt extraordinary.
It is actually three stories high and is filled with books.
You can walk around on the first floor casually, but the second floor requires one silver cent, and the third floor requires two silver cents. Time is not important, and it seems that people are specially asked to check information.
Zhu Yue was very interested in this.
He directly paid a cent and climbed to the second floor.
As soon as I climbed the stairs, I saw a huge map of the world: the World Map.
Almost most of the scholars gathered around the map, looking at it with their faces close to their faces, full of curiosity.
"If the earth is like a round ball, then how come the sea water in the depressions on the four sides and below is not tilted?"
"My Ming Dynasty is just a corner of the world?"
"Oh my god, there are millions of people in Shandong, hundreds of counties, but there are only so many?"
"Where's my house? Why is there no shadow in Sanyin?"
Scholars discussed it a lot and had mixed reviews and criticisms of this map.
"It's really worth the trip, the money is worth it."
Zhu Li nodded, feeling emotional.
If you don't see this map, how can you know how vast the world is?
Still like a frog in a well, he is complacent.
Looking around the second floor, it is indeed extraordinary.
In addition to rare editions of classics and historical books, there are also many unheard of books here:
"Principles of Geometry", "Pythagorean Pythagorean Theory", "Treatise on Geometry", etc.
Arithmetic aspects are involved.
This is a provincial examination, and it is a regular test in the national examination. Reading these will be of great help to arithmetic.
Thinking of this, he picked them up one by one and prepared to take them down.
However, he wanted to go to the third floor.
After thinking about it, he directly took out the money and climbed to the third floor.
What catches the eye is the same map:
The map of the Ming Dynasty.
Its length actually reaches one foot and its width is five feet, which can be described as extremely huge.
The two capitals, twenty-five provinces and three generals' mansions are clearly visible at a glance.
Even if you look carefully, you can actually find prefectures and counties, and some mountains and rivers are clearly visible.
For the first time, Zhu Li knew that the source of the Yangtze River was on the plateau.
"This map is worth ten thousand gold."
Zhu Yue was shocked. He never imagined that such a strategic map could be seen with just two cents. What an exaggeration.
(End of chapter)
