The gate of the imperial city has a three-chambered gate with red walls and yellow tiles. There is a plaque on it with the two characters of Ming Dynasty written on it. There are also ten characters on the door: sun and moon light, heaven and virtue, mountains and rivers, where the emperor lives.
The Daming Gate is not open, so we can only walk through the Xiaoyue Gate on the side. After leaving the Imperial City, what we see is that in addition to the morning sunshine, there is also a hustle and bustle.
This is Xiaotian Street, where business is booming and bustling.
People passing by here hawk food, sell goods, and perform operas.
"This is Chaoqian City. Beyond Damingmen, there are many such markets in the inner city."
"In Shuntian, the people who live in the inner city are mostly nobles, officials, scholars, and big businessmen. But most of these people are concentrated in Dongcheng District, where Chongwenmen and Zhengyangmen are closest to the canal ferry. , so wealthy businessmen and visitors from foreign countries come and go frequently."
"Among them, the businesses with large profits, such as pawn shops, cloth shops, grain shops, etc., total about one hundred businesses; the businesses with small profits, such as net shops, vegetable shops, tofu shops, tailor shops, etc., total thirty-two OK."
"There are also various large and small guild halls, totaling more than 140 places."
"From the inner city to the outer city, the East City is a place for buying and selling. We, the palace people, sell palace utensils or buy utensils from outside. They are all in the East City. This is all legal. transaction."
"As for Chaoqian Market, it is the first city in Nancheng. Of course, it is not a particularly big market, but it is a goods market that must be passed through. All goods going to and from the east and west of Shuntian Mansion must pass through here."
"Master Ji is coming with our family. The Han Jing Factory we are going to is in Xicheng."
Ji Xiang looked at everything in front of him.
In the Forbidden City or the Imperial City, unless there is a big event or going to court, you will never see so many people.
But as soon as you leave the imperial city, the mortal world is rolling in, and the flowers are beginning to enchant your eyes. This aura of fireworks makes people want to stop. From the Jiajing to Wanli years, the active population of Shuntian Mansion had already exceeded 800,000.
All kinds of palaces turned into thousands of huts.
The temple is so high that it is difficult to hear thunderstorms in the rivers and lakes.
Ji Xiang also saw many knights with swords. At least from the appearance, they looked like veterans of the world.
Maybe some people here were thinking of going to the Forbidden City to get the emperor's head, but when they saw the officers and soldiers patrolling the Tianjie, they silently shrank their necks and grinned, still unconvinced.
The market was prosperous in the Ming Dynasty. From the Jiajing Emperor, to the Longqing Emperor, and then to the Wanli Emperor, the three generations were all lords who had not been in court for many years. One was addicted to cultivating immortals, and the other was eviscerated by beauty a few years after he ascended the throne. This current lord , he is still an autistic person.
In the country, although the actions of the three emperors were completely useless, they were misdirected and became "ruling by inaction"?
In short, because of the central government's indifference, people's lives and the state of the people have become more prosperous.
Especially at this time, during the Wanli period, perhaps thanks to Zhang Juzheng's whipping method and the inflow of silver from foreign trade, in short, prices began to become very low.
A pound of rice only costs two or three cents, a pound of salt costs four cents, and a pound of mutton costs nine dollars and fifty cents in future generations.
The woodcutter cuts a load of firewood from the mountain every day and sells it in the market, which can be exchanged for two pounds of meat, so that the whole family can have enough food and clothing.
Comparing it with the famous Ming Dynasty measurement unit "Emperor Chongzhen", during the Chongzhen period, one kilogram of rice normally cost more than 20 Wen.
Of course, these are all during peacetime. If a famine occurs in a certain area, it will definitely have to be discussed separately.
But thanks to this short-term peace, a large number of market culture, folk novels, and opera art were born at this time.
This Xiaotian Street, the road leading to the West City, is full of hustle and bustle.
Scholars came to Beijing, merchants sold goods, official documents were delivered, officials shuttled back and forth, and sergeants patrolled.
There are many hotels on the road with complete facilities. This kind of inn provides both meals and accommodation, and even some color services.
Of course, Old Lei Xuan's inn is also nearby.
Someone was busy behind the stove, chopping meat and vegetables with a kitchen knife in his hand, and fireworks were rising. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, which was the time for the first meal in the Ming Dynasty. There were the most guests at this time. He shouted loudly, "It's... He greeted his apprentice and asked him to serve tea and water to others. After a while, he prepared the meal himself, and a steaming hot meat noodle was brought to the table.
There were people with smiling faces, displaying cargo boxes, selling gold lotus and sheep horns, hanging lanterns in broad daylight, and selling copper and porcelain bowls for everyone to choose from. When encountering difficult customers, they will inevitably bargain with each other, and then look like they are in pain and say they want to make friends.
Some people yelled loudly, holding brocade silk in their hands, and tried to attract people when they needed it, causing the people around them to wave their hands, claiming that they couldn't afford it.
Some people lowered their heads, like hard-working oxen, staggering past the Tianjie with two loads of rice. They looked at this and that, shook their heads again and again, and continued to run around to make ends meet.
There are tall horses walking among them, and there are donkeys carrying goods walking slowly.
Someone was concentrating on dyeing a headscarf on the street. After dyeing a large area, he had to paint it in detail without daring to be distracted. Someone called him from the side, and he didn't even dare to shake his head, so he could only turn a deaf ear.
Some people are sitting in a street food shop, holding a book in their hands, taking a bite of a pancake and reading the story. Their eyes are fixed on seeing the wonderful things. They spit out the crumbs of the pancake in their mouths, slap their legs with their hands, and enjoy themselves. Such uncivilized behavior will naturally be criticized by the same people. The other diners at the table started to fight, but after a while they all gathered around his script and started having sex for free.
Someone was singing on the stage in front of him. His voice was sometimes high-pitched, sometimes melodious, and sometimes sob-like, causing the people around him to cheer loudly.
Fireworks on earth, blue clouds in the sky.
Many people, thousands of people, are all different in their demeanor, appearance, and movement spirit! Everyone is working hard to live. Even though the court was searching for Huangtian believers in Shuntian the day before, once the matter subsides, the days that should be lived must still be lived.
In this world, there is nothing greater than "living"!
"Listen, they are singing "The Story of the Purple Hairpin" again. This play is very popular in Yingtian Mansion. In Shuntian, you see, these people just like to hear this kind of story."
"What's the story about?"
"Hey! A scholar and a girl are in love. What happens? There is an old lieutenant from a wealthy family and his noble daughter. They insist on pursuing them. If they fail to pursue them, they also send people to use various treacherous tricks to hinder them. There was a lover who killed several people..."
The eunuch in charge of the palace palace also showed sadness at this time:
"Think about it, before our family entered the palace, there were people who were in love with each other! If they couldn't survive, how could they be eunuchs in the palace! This scene always reminds our family of a night many years ago. On a spring day with catkins floating in the air, our family held pancakes in their hands. The girl we liked held a stick in her hand. Our family...me! I still remember that she called me a stick and wanted to catch me. In the palm of your hand..."
When Ji Xiang heard this, he wanted to ask, father-in-law, where did you come from? The woman's accent was so strong?
The chief eunuch of the shrine sighed melancholy: "Forget it, if our love lasts for a long time, how can we stay together day and night..."
"....By the way, is Master Ji a Zhengyi or a Quanzhen?"
Ji Xiang laughed: "From a family perspective, I am the right one. My father-in-law wants to ask me if I can get married, right?"
"But as practitioners of our generation, the ultimate goal is to become an immortal. How can a mortal woman enter the Dharma Eyes?"
"...I reached out and fished it out in the river. Did you see the gravel slipping away from my fingertips? That is time."
"So for ten or twenty years, with a snap of a finger, everything you see is actually a ridiculous and weird scene, just like floating clouds."
"The world is like yellow beams, this is just a dream."
