It was early December in the twenty-first year of Qianlong's reign.
Jiangsu, Nanjing City (Jiangning City)
…
"Selling steamed buns...spicy and sweet steamed buns, delicious and not expensive..."
"Wontons... delicious wontons. It's so cold to eat a bowl to warm up..."
"Let me go, please let me go..."
Three days after the bandit-suppression army entered the city, the chaos in the city was quickly quelled. With the arrival of grain shipments from the bandit suppression army, the high prices of oil and grain in the city also dropped rapidly, and the hearts of the people in the city gradually gained peace.
Now that the end of the year is approaching, vendors on the street have also come out to start their own small businesses, and the flow of people on the street has gradually increased. Although there are still faint traces of blood remaining in the city of Nanjing, the streets are gradually returning to their former prosperity.
Although it is still during the war, the lives of ordinary people must continue. War is ultimately disgusting. Compared with the endless wars, what the people care about is always their own firewood, rice, oil and salt. As long as they can live in peace, no one is willing to make trouble for nothing, and even less so for a court like the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
"Boss, let's have a bowl of wontons. Add more soup to warm up. The weather is cold enough." At a roadside wonton stall, a sturdy man wearing a plain cotton-padded jacket and a winter hat sat down there. shouted from the unoccupied table.
"Okay! It's really cold here. I wonder if this man eats vegetarian dishes or meat-based dishes?" The boss looked at the man and asked happily.
"Can I still save that little money? Of course it's for extra meat." The man seemed to be very dissatisfied and replied.
"Yes, how can I be the owner who is short of money? I'm too talkative. I'll just sit down and drink some hot water. I'll be confused for a while." The wonton boss apologized and greeted him quickly.
There were four Eight Immortals tables in the whole wonton stall. Apart from this man, there were also several people sitting on the other Eight Immortals tables in twos and threes. Due to the lack of manpower, the wontons were naturally a bit busy, so they said they would wait a moment.
"Hey, Dawei, you're out shopping too." On the street, a young man wearing a patchwork cotton coat shouted happily when he saw Zhan Dawei, who was pouring hot water from a teapot in a wonton stall.
"Eh? Shizhu, are you there too? Come, sit down and eat wontons together." Zhan Dawei saw that the person coming was his very close brother Shizhu, and he greeted him quickly.
Shi Zhu responded and sat down opposite Zhan Dawei. Zhan Dawei asked the wonton boss to add an extra bowl of wontons, then poured a bowl of hot water and handed it to Shizhu.
"Come on, Shizhu, take a sip of hot water to warm yourself up first. Are you going out to buy rice on such a cold day?" Zhan Dawei asked.
"Yes and no. You also know that the recent rebels...the bandit-suppressing army is doing some braid tax. You also know my family's situation. How can I have the money to pay the braid tax?" Shi Zhu took a sip of hot water. Said slowly.
"Well, yes. Although this is contrary...this 'Master Wang' has abolished many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. But this braid tax is really high, it is really sucking people's blood. These ordinary people have to pay nearly one tael of silver. The braid tax is a little bit. Not to mention the family background, it is really unacceptable." Zhan Dawei looked around cautiously, lowered his voice, and then said helplessly:
"Men are born with braids that make them suffer, and they are not as comfortable as women with long hair. Manchus wanted to keep their hair open, and their hair but not their heads. This 'Master Wang' did not force you to cut off your braids. , but what kind of braid tax does it have to pay? After paying this braid tax, you will lose your skin even if you don't die."
Shi Zhu naturally nodded to Zhan Dawei in approval, but he also explained in an exculpatory way for the bandit suppressing army: "Actually, this cannot be entirely blamed on these anti-bandit suppressing forces. After all, they are the same as the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. Since we are irreconcilable, they are being kind enough not to force us to cut our braids. Most of us are willing to keep our braids just because we are afraid that the Manchus will come in again and chop off our heads."
"If you are willing to cut your braids, you can still live more comfortably there. People who don't want to cut their braids are not technically their people. It's good that they didn't behead their heads. It's reasonable to impose heavy taxes. ." Shizhu said after taking a sip of hot water.
"That's what I said, but it's better to keep your head or not! It's hard to say whether this bandit-suppression army can succeed. Once the braids are cut and the Manchus beat them back, their heads will be lost." Although Zhan Dawei is very Although he understood what Shi Zhu said, he was inevitably excited and uneasy. Suddenly he seemed to notice something and asked:
"Wait a minute, didn't you just say that you couldn't afford the braid tax? Why did you help them?"
"Well, haha... Actually, I just went to get my braids cut, and they gave me three hundred coins." Shizhu replied with a shy smile, and lifted the winter hat on his head as he spoke. Come up and let Zhan Dawei take a look.
"Shizhu, Shizhu, why are you so confused! Don't you understand what I just told you? Although this pigtail tax is heavy, it is just an addition to the previous exorbitant taxes. As long as you grit your teeth, you can get over it. Yes. You're going to lose your head if you act like this." Zhan Dawei complained as if he hated iron.
"Dawei, it's not as bad as you think. Didn't the Qing soldiers who gathered a few days ago were beaten away by the bandit-suppressing army? They say that the Hu people have no destiny for the country for a hundred years. I see, the world will eventually return to us. In the hands of the Han people. Only our Han emperor will treat us as his subjects." Shi Zhu said comfortingly.
"I don't hope that we Han people can return to the country, but the Manchu people are evil. This kind of rebellion has happened so many times, but it has never been successful. The San Francisco Rebellion was big enough at that time, and Kangxi was not allowed to do it. I have calmed down. Wu Sangui was still the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty back then, and all the troops and generals were defeated. Who can guarantee that this bandit-suppressing army will succeed. If they fail, I will not be willing to take advantage of myself. Head." Zhan Dawei shook his head and did not agree with Shi Zhu's statement.
"The benevolent see the benevolence and the wise see the wisdom! But the bandit suppressing army has a good saying: If you don't want to cut your braids and he doesn't want to, then who else is willing to defend this country and protect the home?" Shi Zhu asked in return: "I thought about it carefully, This braid actually holds up nicely and beautifully.”
"How do you say it?" Zhan Dawei asked curiously.
"If you think about it carefully, there are naturally many people who are unwilling to cut their braids and have to pay heavy taxes. The bandit-suppressing army will have military expenditures. And those who have cut their braids have no choice but to fight against the Qing soldiers in order to survive. The bandit-suppressing army will have Soldiers. This requires money, money, and soldiers. Moreover, the people without braids will be beheaded, and the people with braids will be beheaded because they are enemies. So it doesn’t matter whether they have braids or not. ." Shizhu said.
