Cars rumble, horses rustle, and the spring breeze in February is like scissors.
This is Zhu Ping'an's most intuitive feeling about the capital at this moment. Cars and horses are constantly coming and going, and the spring breeze has a slight coolness on his face.
Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, as tour guides, wanted to take Zhu Pingan to Chongfu Zen Temple outside Xuanwu Gate, which is the modern Fayuan Temple. The distance is not too far. After leaving Xuanwumen and walking south along the street, it doesn't take too long to reach Chongfu Temple.
As a rule, after the imperial examination, many candidates like to go to temples to find spiritual sustenance, make wishes, burn incense, etc.
In addition, this is the apricot blossom season, and the apricot blossoms at Chongfu Temple are also famous for their beauty.
The three of them walked south along the street outside Xuanwumen. This street was very lively with many people and vendors. There are all kinds of shops on the street, including inns and clubs, shops and teahouses, but the most popular ones are vegetable stalls and vegetable shops. Although it is early spring, all kinds of vegetables are starting to be sold on the street.
Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen are competent tour guides. As they walked, they introduced the local customs and customs to Zhu Ping'an along the way.
"This is Vegetable Market Street. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the largest vegetable market in Ming Dynasty. Most of the people in the capital have come here to buy vegetables." Zhang Siwei introduced this street to Zhu Pingan as he walked.
Oh, this is the vegetable market.
Zhu Pingan nodded when he heard this. It turns out that this is the very famous Caishikou in later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, this Caishikou was just the largest vegetable market. In the Qing Dynasty, this place became famous. This is the main reason why Caishikou became so famous. , the Qing government moved the execution ground for murder from the Xisi Archway in the Ming Dynasty to Caishikou outside Xuanwu Gate, and executed prisoners sentenced to be executed after the Autumn Festival every winter solstice.
However, it is still just the largest vegetable market.
"When we get here, there is a place we have to see." Wang Shizhen was still walking behind, but when she reached a place, she suddenly became energetic. She told Zhu Pingan while leading the way in one direction.
Just a few steps away, I arrived in front of a drugstore called "Xiheniantang".
Pharmacy style. It is also large in scale, but what attracts Zhu Ping'an the most is the pharmacy's plaque. The three words "He Niantang" are engraved on the plaque, among which the word "Crane" has the most strokes. It is asymmetrical with the other two characters, but the three characters put together have an excellent layout and look quite artistic.
"The characters in this plaque are as graceful as a startled dragon, and have a strong backbone. There is such calligraphy in the market..." Zhu Pingan looked up at the three characters He Niantang. This man's calligraphy seemed to be better than his own, and he couldn't help but Somewhat emotional.
"Zihou, you have good eyesight." Wang Shizhen originally wanted to point out this plaque to Zhu Pingan, but when he saw Zhu Pingan noticed the plaque at a glance, he praised it with a smile.
"Wensheng, Zihou, it's not appropriate to stay here for a long time." Zhang Siwei seemed to be a little disgusted with this Heniantang.
"Why?" Zhu Pingan was a little confused.
"That's right, Ziwei, why are you so anxious?" Wang Shizhen was also confused. He discovered this place not long ago. He happened to find this plaque when he passed by this pharmacy. He was attracted by the font on the plaque. Because he was busy at the time, he only looked at it for a while and then left. When I passed by this time, I couldn't help but bring Zhu Ping'an and the others over to admire the plaque together. I wanted to take a good look this time, but when I heard Zhang Siwei said that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, Wang Shizhen found it difficult to understand.
Zhang Siwei did not answer on the spot, but waited a little further after Wang Shizhen and Zhu Ping'an left Heniantang after reading the plaque. Only then did he tell Zhu Pingan and Wang Shizhen the reason.
It turns out that Heniantang, located at the northwest corner of Caishi Street, was the back garden of the home of Yan Songyan's chief minister. This pharmacy was invested and opened by the old prime minister who was both harming people and curing diseases while he was in politics. The name means "songs and cranes prolong life". Yan Song's reputation has been quite bad over the years, despite his overwhelming power. But in the eyes of some Qingliu, they stay away from it.
"What, does that mean the plaque was written by Yan...?" Wang Shizhen looked a little unhappy, as if he had swallowed a fly.
Zhang Siwei nodded. After receiving the confirmation, Wang Shizhen's face became even more embarrassed. It's like seeing a pig chewing ginseng.
"Oh, what a pity." Wang Shizhen shook his head and sighed.
In the evaluation of calligraphy in the past dynasties, the quality of calligraphy and character are a flesh-and-blood whole. Character has always been higher than the quality of calligraphy. Calligraphy is the embodiment of a high degree of integration of human knowledge, talent, and quality. For collectors of calligraphy works with low moral character, it is equivalent to collecting evil spirits, which not only tarnishes the family tradition, but also damages their own character.
That's why Wang Shizhen sighed.
"So that's how it is, no wonder, it's a pity"
After listening to Zhang Siwei's explanation, Zhu Ping'an nodded. It turned out to be written by Yan Song. No wonder, Yan Song was one of the three most traitorous calligraphers in history. There is an allusion about Yan Song's calligraphy in later generations: it is said to be the main hall of Gongyuan in Beijing. The three characters "Zhigongtang" on the plaque were written by Yan Song. During the Qing Dynasty, when Emperor Qianlong learned of this fact, he wanted to replace it and ordered those who could calligraphy in the Manchu Dynasty to write these three characters as his own preference. The emperor, who was a prodigy in writing, also wrote it several times. However, he found that his imperial pen and other people's writings were not as good as Yan Song's, so he had to give up and still let the words of traitor hang high.
It can be seen that Yan Song's handwriting is indeed worthy of everyone's attention, but it is a pity that Yan Song's character is too poor, and his handwriting is often despised because of his bad character.
It can be seen from the reactions of Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen that these two gentlemen do not have much favorable impressions of Yan Song. The two of them could also tell from Zhu Pingan's reaction that Zhu Pingan didn't have much affection for Yan Song.
The three of them looked at each other and smiled, shook their heads, came to Caishi Street, and continued walking south.
After walking for a while, a number of people, mostly men, gathered at the entrance of an alley connecting Caishi Street. People gathered there in groups, surrounding an open space, pointing at the open space, and whispering among themselves.
What happened?
The three of them stepped forward curiously to see what was going on.
The onlookers saw that the three people were well-dressed, and they seemed to be either rich or noble, or both rich and noble, so they moved out of the way to allow the three people to pass through the crowd and walk to the front.
When I got to the front, I realized the truth that everyone was watching:
In the venue, a young girl was wearing plain clothes, kneeling in front of everyone. She had a straw stuck in her hair. Her black hair covered half of her face. The exposed half of her face was covered with a thin layer of makeup, and there was a faint trace of it. Tear stains.
In this era, wearing a straw in your head is not cute. The word "straw" means cheap, which means that this thing is no longer "valuable" to me. If you put a straw mark on it, it will be sold. In different historical periods of ancient Chinese society, grass mustard (grass mark) was used in everything from daily necessities to poor families selling their children due to hunger and cold.
The young girl in front of her is holding a straw, which means she is selling herself.
This kind of plot is often seen in novels, but I didn't expect that I would see the real plot. I hope it won't be a bloody plot. Zhu Pingan shook his head slightly. (To be continued.)
