Among the last few kneeling death-row prisoners on the execution platform, someone suddenly jumped up and bumped his head into the lower abdomen of the executioner who was about to be beheaded. He was thrown to the ground and even the big knife was inserted upside down in the air. land. The death row prisoner had quick eyesight and quick hands, and swung his wooden shackle on the stone trough.
It fell apart instantly. Then, amidst the uproar and exclamations, the death row prisoner rushed to pick up the decapitating knife, and with a sudden swing he cut off the chains wrapped around his feet; he kicked the executioner who was about to get up again, and at the same time slashed at several others with the knife. The military officials came running to imprison.
While forcing them to retreat a few steps, someone in the crowd unexpectedly burst into flames and shouted: "State-owned traitor!" "Cruelty to innocent people!" "Loyalty is in trouble!" "Kill these pawns!" Following these sporadic shouts, the crowd of onlookers also became commotion and dispersed.
Immediately, from the disintegrating crowd, a dozen strong men masked in sweat turbans rushed out in the opposite direction, leaping onto the execution platform with knives and sticks in their hands. They almost knocked down the police officers on the side of the platform who were maintaining order in one glance. After cutting down several people, the remaining officers were so frightened that they scattered and ran away.
At this time, the death row prisoner who had snatched the beheading knife became more and more courageous in fighting, and once again knocked down one of the arresting military officials; he joined up with these accomplices who came to rescue him. Before the guards at the gate of Dongshi heard the sound and rushed over, the death row prisoner surrounded him suddenly turned around and broke into a street in the nearest city.
Later, the belated disciples of Jinwu, the patrolling Wuhou, and the bad guys arrived. They captured the remaining prisoners who were wearing shackles and had no time to take advantage of the chaos to escape. And according to the identification of the prisoners at the scene, there were buildings in the streets and alleys around Dasuo; and Jiang Tian's carriage had already entered the city.
Dongshi is also called Dongdashi, because it is compared with the East and West cities in Chang'an City; in fact, there are many small markets, morning markets and night markets located in various districts; as well as wild markets, temple markets and so on outside the city; together It is necessary to maintain the daily operation of this super metropolis with a population of one million.
The reason why the East Market is called a big market is because it is not only the largest commodity circulation market in the capital, but also the largest material distribution center and commercial center in the world; it originated from the two major markets set up in Daxing City during the Sui Dynasty, respectively. At the same location on both sides of Zhuque Street,
The east side is called the metropolitan city and the west side is called the Liren city; it is customarily called the East-West city, which is also the origin of the proverb about shopping in later generations. Among them, the West Market mainly sells imported goods from the Western Regions and overseas, as well as various treasures, perfumes, silks, and other luxury goods, while the East Market mainly sells bulk daily necessities.
Therefore, the East Market itself occupies two entire districts; and every district in Chang'an City is like a small city within a city surrounded by high walls; only the East Market becomes an exception, and almost every district Every wall and every ditch was taken care of to build a shop.
The densely packed shops themselves extend into a variety of stalls and sheds. According to records in the "Ch'ang'an Chronicle" of later generations: "There are two hundred and twenty rows of goods and wealth, and residences are built on all sides." Each row has at least hundreds or thousands of shops and residences, which can be said to be an unprecedented grand occasion.
There are tens of thousands of merchants who stay here all year round, and their business scope covers food, clothing, housing, transportation, life, old age, illness and death; almost every need in every aspect can be met; even if you want to have fun, the famous Pingkang Sanli/ Qu, just adjacent to the south.
Today is the Ghost Festival, which is the first celebration of the traditional autumn harvest and the day to worship the ancestors and the gods and earth spirits of the field. Even the poorest households will do their best to put together a bowl of wheat on this day. Food is used to worship ancestors and reward gods; in the Ancestral Temple, a ceremony to recommend new members to the heaven and earth is held.
This day is also the Buddhist annual Menglanpen incense and Zhongyuanzhai, and the Taoist local official Qingxu Emperor's pardon day ceremony; it is believed to relieve the souls of those who have accumulated karma and are difficult to escape. Therefore, countless residents poured into Dongda City early to buy various items needed for the festival;
Therefore, he ignored this small accident of bumping into him for the second time. It was only after he actually entered the scope of Dongshi that Jiang Tian truly felt the festive atmosphere related to the Ghost Festival. They are ubiquitous flags and flags, depicting various protector gods, scriptures, and charms.
There are even ancient legends and Buddhist and Taoist texts such as the Twenty-Four Filial Piety, the repayment of favors by mythical beasts, and auspicious births. All kinds of river lanterns and paper-shaped products sold on the street, fragrant flowers and colorful tables for worship, incense burners and purification bottles needed for burning incense and praying; coarse silk and silk cloth cut into chrysanthemum and lotus patterns;
There are also specially made "痗钱" in the form of Guibi coins, silk and other forms, which are the ghost coins/paper money of later generations; piles and bags are placed in incense shops and miscellaneous stalls everywhere. Among them, there are even differences such as inlays with gold foil, silver foil, red seal, or ink calligraphy according to status.
Obviously it corresponds to the official rank. Later Hong Xiqing's "Dialect of Du Shi" said: "Hunhou of Qidong was fond of ghosts and gods. He cut paper into paper and used it to bind silk. This became popular in the Tang Dynasty." Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty also wrote in "Bei Mang Xing": "Every family in Hanshi sends paper money, and the black kite builds its nest and carries it up the tree."
There are also people who pick up simple copywriting on the street and write memorials to their ancestors for the illiterate people. But it was a side job for some poor scholars and students to supplement the expenses; therefore, you can see the voices of people bargaining and reciting on the spot with various accents and no politeness.
There were even monks and Taoists parading through the streets holding various magical instruments and playing instruments. Behind them were a group of devout believers who also chanted loudly, chanted sutras or mantras, and crowded through the streets. Because today, in addition to various temples, large water and land Dharma meetings and Luotian Dajiao.
It is also the only day when members of these religious sects can get the tacit approval of the government to take to the streets and publicly preach in disguise and expand their influence on the streets on the pretext of praying for blessings and salvation. Therefore, when "boundless blessings" and "cihangpudu" meet face to face, there is a tacit understanding and they smile and pass by each other.
Even later, Jiang Tian saw a group of Nestorian monks and believers wearing white robes and cloth crowns, holding high a circular cross. It's just that what they sang was more like a song: "Lord Father Aloha is high in the ninth level of light tomorrow;" "The compassionate world descends and the great sage Yi Mouse brings blessings to Mianze in his own life."
"Only the Lord Father Aloha, the True Son Mishiha and the True Spirit Pure Wind King are united in one." Therefore, the carriage, which was originally delayed on the road, was soon jammed in the east city, and the streets were covered with cobwebs. In the crowd, they could only stop and go, moving forward as if at a turtle's speed.
However, a somewhat abrupt building and its furnishings made Jiang Tian couldn't help but say "Hey"; because it was a bustling courtyard, with one side filled with fresh clay-colored tubular fireplaces, and the other side with layers of floor-to-ceiling furnaces. On the stacked shelves, there are densely packed black briquettes.
"This should be a newly acquired property in the East Palace in recent years; it is also one of the best-selling businesses at the moment." The girl explained very familiarly: "According to the mineral vein catalog provided by the teacher, the mines dug out in the Xiangshui River in Yanzhou The fine coal is discharged directly to Chang'an via the Jing River."
"Then, after passing through the coal field outside Dongweiqiao, grinding and filtering with water hoists, the refined honeycomb briquettes can be supported; in a stove equipped with an iron mud chamber, it can continue to burn and heat for several hours without additional care and refills. It’s firewood, and there’s no smoky smoke or charcoal gas.”
"Therefore, it is now widely welcomed and praised by the people, and it can be said that the supply exceeds the demand. Even the people in the East Palace last year switched to using this thing for heating; some people did not listen to the advice and closed the doors and windows privately because they were afraid of the cold. If it hadn't been for my mother If we discovered it early during the inspection, we almost lost our lives.”
"Today's industry is also expanding very fast. In addition to the 600,000 cakes that need to be sent as tribute to Dongdu; according to what my mother said, there are also many merchants from Hedong, Longyou, Shannan and even Jiannan, in Dongshi After marketing the local goods, I made a special trip to traffic them back from Chang'an."
"Sir, look!" As the carriage finally broke through the crowd, and after turning a corner, the girl shouted again in surprise: "That is the Jinghua Bookstore under the name of Donggong. Although it is not the location of our store, it is still in the East Market. It is the largest and most comprehensive bookshop and banknote bureau in China.”
"The preface and cataloging of each part of the Classics and History Collection were completed by my mother and I together. Not only are the books quite cheap, but as a favor to His Highness, as long as you can show your title as a scholar, you can get a further discount; if you buy it There are more real deals and promotions.”
"As long as you buy ten Tuyuan volumes, Thousand-Character Classics or Three-Character Classics (Magic Revised Edition), you will get a copy of "An Overview of the Analects" or "Exuns"; at the same time, we also provide copying, type checking, typesetting, etc. part-time jobs and errands; now there are at least a thousand people relying on his name to subsidize their expenses.”
"The big shop with three pillars on the side is the Pushitang, which specializes in selling charcoal pens, pine ink, and rough-edged hard paper. In addition to the best Four Treasures of the Study, it is said that you can buy it for only ten grand. A set of three simple stationery items; specially prepared for those in elementary school."
During the rest of the trip, the girl continued to introduce in detail, several industries related to the East Palace in the East Market: such as shops specializing in making and selling bright dyes, but they originated from trying to A by-product of refining coal tar and wood tar.
Another example is Qiu Shuitang, which operates wine essence dew, cleansing soap, refined lip balm, and powder in the name of the Crown Princess Pei; there are even several stores specializing in selling various colored glassware or various crystals. and a large carriage and horse shop for this purpose.
It was not until the sunset that the girl, who had tasted various street snacks along the way and had a full belly, reluctantly ended her trip to the East Market; however, as she drove out of another city gate, However, they encountered temporary additional search operations from Jingzhao Prefecture and Wannian County;
