Refrigerators are not a rare thing. They are also called ice buckets in Sijiu City. The royal family uses all kinds of gold-inlaid, jade-enameled ones, and even cloisonné shells, while most ministers use ordinary hardwood to make them without affecting their use.
Every winter, ice collectors are busy all winter in Beijing's major lagoons, especially those from the imperial family. They pick up ice cubes from the Beihai, Zhongnanhai, Tongzi River, moats and even Kunming Lake, and then transport them to ice cellars across the capital. Store it well and enjoy it in the summer.
This was a continuous important event in the winter of the Ming and Qing dynasties. There is an alley on the east side of Qianmen Street today called Bingjiaochang Hutong, which got its name because there was an ice cellar there.
In an era before modern refrigerators were born, being able to use ice in summer was definitely a status symbol. In the north, ice was collected in winter and stored in ice cellars, while in the south, ice was mostly made of saltpeter. For example, the ice cubes used by Xiao Letian in Ryukyu were completely It is made based on the principle that saltpeter dissolves in water and absorbs heat, so the cost is even higher.
Fan Ru can carry an ice bucket with him when he goes out, and his extravagance can be seen from the side. With Xiao Letian, a cheap young man, this old man really gets a ride.
After several bowls of iced sour plum soup, the old platoon leader breathed a sigh of relief. He asked his men to take the housekeeper of Fan's house to go through the formalities. He and Fan Ru sat in the shade of the big willow tree and continued the conversation just now.
The old platoon leader pointed at the people who were being expelled outside the West Water Gate and said, "These people are the second trouble in the special zone. They are refugees..."
In ancient farming society, people depended on the weather for their livelihood. People's livelihood was concentrated on a few acres of thin fields. Their ability to withstand natural disasters was very weak. Once there were natural disasters and man-made disasters, a large number of refugees would appear, which is what the government calls refugees.
In fact, refugees do not necessarily have to wait for major national disasters to occur. In fact, there are many refugees in normal times of good weather.
Corrupt officials annexing land, unworthy descendants of the family eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling, or even becoming extremely poor due to serious illness... These things will cause a large number of extremely poor people to lose their land.
This is the state that vagrants refer to. The stable family property is completely gone, and not everyone can survive by being a tenant, so just become a vagrant if you don't mind.
Those who should seek refuge with relatives and friends can find relatives and friends, and those who want to break into Guandong can also take the risk and give it a try. There are even people in the south who go to the sea to work as pigs and those who go up the mountains to work as bandits. Anyway, everyone must live.
Where is life in Zhili better now? Even a blind person can tell that this is the Tanggu Special Economic Zone. This county has become the Golden Kingdom in the eyes of the people. To be honest, you can get half a bunch of copper coins for a day if you beg for food here. What is this not paradise?
At first, scattered refugees gathered in Tanggu, only twenty or thirty households a day. They hid outside the willow wall and waited hard for the recruitment quotas with limited quotas, because only the internal merchants named who they wanted and gave them the quotas. Only then can you enter Liuqiang.
However, the officials of the special zone suddenly discovered that this group of refugees was completely different from the people outside the willow wall. After all, the people outside the willow wall were natives of their hometown. If you expel them, they would still have a home to live in and a few acres of land to survive. .
To put it bluntly, these people are refugees who have lost their homes. If you don't let them in, they will have to sleep in the wild. It's so cold in the north in winter. It would be a shame to freeze a group of prime ministers to death.
Therefore, special things are done. Once the refugees are registered, they are allowed to live inside the willow wall. As long as you join the Ryukyu Army, they will give you some basic rations and allow you to build a straw shed, at least with a place to stay.
"Mr. Fan! Is this benevolent government? This is our great benevolent government! But what happened later became more and more out of character..." The old platoon sighed, picked up a piece of ice from the ice box and threw it in Chewing loudly in the mouth.
At the beginning, the special zone only accepted a dozen households a day. However, as time went by, the number of refugees increased. There were more than 30 households a day, more than 50 households a day, and now there are hundreds of households a day. Refugees gather here.
In fact, Xiao Letian and the others also understand that this is because the officials of the Manchu Qing Dynasty are being petty. Refugees have been a factor of local instability since ancient times. If they are solved, it is not a political achievement. If they can push them all to the special zone, won't it be much more stable under their rule? Yet?
Therefore, with the publicity of caring people, the attraction of Tanggu Special Economic Zone has become more and more attractive.
But I never expected that these refugees would cause so much trouble and cause headaches to the entire Special Administrative Region.
First of all, these extremely poor farmers have no idea what it means to abide by the rules. Unlike the people around Tanggu, they have already adjusted to the special zone over several years. People around Tanggu know that in the special zone, you are not allowed to defecate anywhere, throw away garbage, or even spit. You must follow the flow of people and keep to the right when walking.
Moreover, the people here know that the special zone has good welfare but also strict military management, and petty theft and begging are absolutely prohibited. When you are thirsty, there are fountains on the streets that will provide you with clean water. When you are extremely hungry, you can go to any soldier to apply for relief, and someone will naturally take you to eat and help you.
But you are absolutely not allowed to get something for nothing. Even if you are disabled, the Special Administrative Region can find you a job with special arrangements. If you have no legs, you can just stick a paper box at the head office, right? Since I don’t have any hands, can’t you watch the gate all night?
"Master Fan! Look, these people can't do such a simple thing... Come here, come here!" The old platoon leader shook the official document in his hand and called a man about forty years old. come over.
"Mr. Fan, this guy's name is Tian Mazi, and he has two children, a boy and a girl. He claims they are his own children. I don't think they look like they were filmed by a flower girl, but we have no evidence! The children also recognize him. , so the case was not filed...stand still!"
Fan Ru quickly covered his nose with a handkerchief. This old beggar smelled so bad! The old beggar knelt down on the ground almost as a conditioned reflex: "Master, please give me some money for your kindness..."
Fan Ru almost subconsciously wanted to pay, but the old platoon leader stopped him, turned around and kicked the old beggar to the ground. "You bastard, you still want to lie to me?" He kicked the beggar away. The turban on the waist ended up scattering copper coins all over the floor with a splash, including a dozen shiny Ryukyu dragon-patterned silver coins.
"Ah! Is this a beggar?" Fan Ru was stunned at that time.
"Haha, you see, this is a professional beggar..." The old platoon sighed. "These three people are used to making sad scenes. The two children are especially good at crying. People who cry are soft-hearted, especially those foreigners. Some are soft-hearted. They even gave Yingyang silver coins directly..."
