On the fifth day of July in the second year of Tianqi, while the Lord Protector was still having fun and feasting with his one wife and two concubines in the capital, thousands of miles away, in the city of the Xi'an Mansion of the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province, there was a miserable scene. landscape.
A great chaos sweeping across the Three Qin Dynasties is about to occur.
On the east side of Guangji Street, the North-South Street of Xi'an City, stands a tall building with double eaves and three drops of water, made of blue bricks and white ash.
This is the famous Drum Tower.
Xi'an Drum Tower was built in the 17th year of Hongwu. It has been standing in the Three Qin Dynasty for nearly two hundred years.
Climbing up the cypress steps, you can see that the four corners of the roof are flying up, like a bird spreading its wings, and it is grand and open.
Climbing to the top and looking up into the distance, you can clearly see the downtown scenery of Xi'an and the scenery of Qinchuan, which is refreshing and refreshing.
In the Ming Dynasty, the area near the Drum Tower was where various ministries and yamen were concentrated.
Specifically, to the north of the Drum Tower is the Metropolitan Procuratorate, to the northwest is the Patrol Procuratorate, to the southwest is the Procuratorate, to the southeast is Xi'an Prefecture, and to the east is the "Chief Secretary".
Therefore, as long as there is any disturbance in Xi'an Prefecture or even the entire Shaanxi officialdom, this Drum Tower, surrounded by various government offices, will definitely be the first place to get the news.
As the most prosperous district in the Three Qin Dynasty, Xi'an is also an important place for traveling from north to south. The city's prosperous commerce is no less than that of neighboring Chengdu.
With the Drum Tower as the center, the north-south and east-west streets are bustling with people, and the shops along the streets are constantly selling goods.
In the Ming Dynasty, in order to consolidate border defense, economic policies such as "salt expansion", "tea horse trading", "cotton cloth collection", and "cloth horse trading" were implemented in various border areas.
Stimulated by these policies, wealthy businessmen with rich regional characteristics emerged at the historic moment.
Since the Yongle Northern Expedition, groups such as Shaanxi merchants and Shanxi merchants have rapidly emerged.
People at that time said that the origins of Shang were probably from Qin, Jin and Huijun.
Scholar Gu Yanwu pointed out directly:
There are many heroic people in Guanzhong. Those who started as merchants and became powerful people generally respect filial piety and justice, and have the style of ancient gentlemen.
On July 28, the second year of Tianqi, the heat in the Guanzhong Plain gradually dissipated, and the showers began to subside. The cold raindrops fell down the Qianmen Street of Gulou, hitting the cheeks of hundreds of thousands of Qin people. The dusk was over, and the dusk rain in the ancient capital could not help but make people feel sad. A touch of autumn.
Of course, what is more melancholy than Xiaoxiao Muyu is the turbulent civil commotion that has occurred in 31 counties in six states under the jurisdiction of Xi'an Prefecture since last winter.
On the 28th, all government offices closed early.
The gentlemen who usually don't like each other very much got together today and went to the Southeast Governor's Yamen to pay a visit to Shaanxi Governor Hu Tingyan, who was jokingly called "the wise master of the provincial capital" by the hungry people.
In the pattering autumn rain, the area around the Drum Tower became a temporary shelter for pedestrians.
On the street, luxuriously decorated official sedans rushed towards the governor's office in the drizzle. Each sedan was surrounded by a large group of servants and petty officials, like thick tails.
These officials' servants were all very big and round-waisted. They walked wildly and bumped into several pedestrians in a row. They looked quite imposing.
When the old Qin man who was taking shelter from the rain under the Drum Tower saw him, a thin, garrulous man immediately began to curse:
"Guapi! A bunch of indestructible idiots, they are so anxious to reincarnate."
Another tall Qin man next to him replied:
"It's not reincarnation. The county masters from Chang'an, Xianning, Lintong, Gaoling, Lantian, and Hu County are all here. They were playing drums in front of the governor's office at noon. Master Wu was not found, but Master Hu was alarmed..."
A merchant taking shelter from the rain exclaimed:
"You dare to disturb Mr. Hu, do you want to risk your life? Mr. Hu likes to do nothing, and he hates to see his subordinates troubled by trivial matters."
"Where are the trivial matters? People in Lantian Township were cannibalized last month, and you still don't know? A woman from Gaoling Township can be bought for fifty cents, and she is a yellow-flowered girl."
The most comprehensive news was from an old vegetable farmer. He put down the pick of vegetables and lowered his voice with his throat. However, love was like spittle flying into the mouths of a group of listeners opposite.
"The countryside has become like this, why can't the mud-legged people rebel?"
When the word "rebellion" was mentioned, there was a sudden silence. Then the old man pointed at a group of refugees who had just entered the city not far from them.
This group of refugees is huddled under the Drum Tower to take shelter from the rain.
They were all sallow and thin, and their clothes were in rags. Some of the children were not even wearing any clothes. They were all looking at the autumn rain outside the eaves and shivering.
"There are people entering the city every day. Even the government soldiers can't stop them. There are too many. Why don't the officials rush to find Mr. Hu?"
"Something big is going to happen!"
These refugees come from various prefectures and counties in Xi'an Prefecture, and some of them have Yansui accents.
The refugees were all skinny, and it looked like they had been fleeing for some time.
