Chapter 99
With a bang, Zhang Rongfang poured the bath water in the bucket into the sewer at the gate of the courtyard.
The ditch and the foamy water of the public bath next door slowly flowed down.
He tilted his head and glanced, and the two children were sitting in front of the bathroom door brushing the bucket again.
"Selling glutinous rice balls~~"
The old man who carried the burden slowly turned around the street.
The hot air in the burden steams out from the edge of the jar, and even if it is wrapped in a thick cloth, you can smell the faint fragrance of glutinous rice flour.
"Uncle, two jins." Zhang Rongfang put down the bucket, touched the coins on his body, and stepped forward and stopped.
"Is Zhang Guanren up so late today?"
Uncle Tangyuan passes this street every day, and occasionally Zhang Rongfang takes care of his business.
So he also has a good impression of this young man who speaks softly to everyone.
"Last night, I was a little late to practice." Zhang Rongfang replied casually. "By the way, uncle, where is there any place in this city that sells old books and weird things? I lead the team mostly around the neighborhood, and I really don't know about other places."
"Old books? Weird things?" The old man thought for a while, "You should go to Yanliu Lane and you should be able to find them. There are all these kinds of things there."
"Yanliuxiang? Okay, thank you." Zhang Rongfang paid the money, returned to the yard with the dumplings, and brought the tub back.
After tidying up a little, he changed his clothes and went straight out towards Yanliu Lane.
He had passed by that place before, but he had not entered.
After passing through about half of the city, he found this somewhat hidden alley in another city.
Outside the alley, there is a big hope.
The so-called Wangzi is a long wooden stick with a cloth hanging on the top, and various signs and advertisements are written on it.
This Wangzi was written at this time: The place where the bulk of tobacco and alcohol are shipped, the authentic look for it, the time-honored brand of Tanyang, Liu Ji.
These paragraphs are scattered around a round copper coin pattern.
Zhang Rongfang read it several times. He still rarely sees such a modern-style advertisement on the ground.
At the entrance of the alley, donkey carts are constantly coming in and out.
Two shirtless dark men, smoking a cigarette and chatting.
Zhang Rong straightened his clothes and strode into the alley.
As soon as you enter, there is a small shop on the left side of the entrance of the alley.
The shop has no signs, no notices, and no Wangzi plaques.
Just hung a pink silk scarf on a bamboo pole at the door.
The door of the shop was half-open, and inside a woman in a high-fork pink skirt, half-laid lazily on the bed, looked out the door.
Seeing Zhang Rongfang take a look, the woman suddenly showed a charming smile and waved to him.
"If jade is not cut, it will not become a tool. If people do not learn, they do not know righteousness.
As the son of man, Fang Shaoshi. Friends and relatives, learn etiquette"
A faint sound of a child reciting came from the deeper part of the alley.
Zhang Rongfang withdrew his gaze and walked in following the sound.
There are unlisted prostitute shops densely distributed on both sides of this lane.
And just between these prostitutes, you can occasionally hear the sound of Meng Xue from the simple dwellings.
After a while, he finally found the shop the old man said.
A triangular cloth washed white and hung outside the door with a bamboo pole. On the cloth is written: There is a path in the mountain of books.
The door of the store is only enough for one person to enter and exit, and it is really like a path.
“Mother~~”
Suddenly, a child with braids of sheep’s horns ran out of the store, holding a slightly damaged pale yellow book with the Three Character Classic on the cover, and then threw himself into the prostitutes’ shop on the side.
"Mother, can I buy another copy?"
In the prostitute shop, an impatient woman in a blue dress came out in a hurry and slammed the shop door.
"It's said that I don't come in when I'm doing business! Why don't you listen to me? Don't call me during the day, and don't tell your classmates to hear it."
The voice slowly dropped.
"But you're my mother in the first place? If someone tells me I'll hit him!"
"Da Da Da, who can you beat your special mother? If you hurt someone, you can't even apologize and send money."
The voices of mother and son gradually decreased.
Zhang Rongfang sighed in his heart, and walked into this bookstore with paths.
The store is very dark, just a rectangular road.
On the walls on both sides of the , there are rows of long grids, and a book is placed in the grids.
These books look a lot worn, and the cover titles are bolded with neat ink pens.
"Three Character Classic", "Enlightenment of Sound Rhythm", "Book of Filial Piety", "Er Ya".
The classics of Confucian books are scattered and arranged neatly.
Looking at these familiar classics, Zhang Rongfang suddenly felt like he was returning to his previous life.
Daling is similar to the ancient world in his previous life in many places. He sometimes suspects that this world may be another fork of the past history.
passed through the rows of books, and on the innermost wooden bench, sat an old man with a pair of glasses.
The old man was wearing a grey long gown with a jade pendant made of rope hanging from his waist.
From a distance, it really looks like jade.
"Old store?" Zhang Rongfang asked softly.
The old man didn't say anything, just pointed to the bookshelf beside him and motioned for himself to read.
Zhang Rongfang nodded, turned around and followed the wall to find it.
This time, he learned from the previous experience and opened the attribute bar in the blink of an eye.
The situation of 's previous month's knife made him understand that this world does not seem to be as simple as he thought.
The attribute bar is not only for viewing yourself, but also for viewing external objects.
Books on the wall kept sweeping.
It was just the same situation as the last month's knife, but it never happened again.
Zhang Rongfang quickly swept the books on both sides of the wall, and none of the books made the attribute bar respond.
"Seller, do you have any other old things here?" Zhang Rongfang recalled that the thing in the moon-chasing knife seemed to be a part.
The old man adjusted his glasses and looked at Zhang Rongfang.
"You go a little further inside, there are a few shops selling western stuff. But there are a lot of fakes."
"Thank you." Zhang Rongfang nodded and cupped his hands.
He turned and walked out, only to stop halfway there.
"Master, can I ask you something?"
"What?" The old man looked up at him suspiciously.
Zhang Rongfang was silent.
"Do you think everyone is doing well today, Daling?"
In Daling, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, there are not a few people discussing the current dynasty, as long as they don’t make trouble, there are no restrictions in this regard.
So he is not sensitive to this issue.
The old shop owner thought about it.
"The younger generation thinks that we are in this place and feel miserable, right?" He laughed.
"Isn't it?" Zhang Rongfang asked rhetorically.
The old shop owner stood up and shook his head slowly.
"Actually, even though the present-day Lingdi said that Confucian scholars like me are classified as inferior, it is not difficult for us."
"Do you know why?" He looked at Zhang Rongfang.
"Why?"
"Because we are Confucian students." The old man smiled and said, "We are only Confucian students."
He took a book from the shelf and gently rubbed the handwriting on the cover. There were three big characters on the book: History of Lingyue.
"Speaking of which, many people have misunderstood us. When they see many Confucian scholars dressed up in poverty, they think that the Lingting is persecuting us. It's not."
He was full of breath and seemed to be in a good mood.
"Except for the abolition of the imperial examinations, Ling Ting actually did not restrict the Confucian sect. Many of us still have land and land, and even if the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are paid, many people still have no worries about food and clothing."
"Except for a small number of Confucian people who came from poor backgrounds and had to engage in the dilemma of writing miscellaneous scripts and selling song lyrics, many Confucian people wore a layer of Taoism and Buddhism, traveled around the mountains and water, and sang to wine."
Zhang Rongfang looked at him with a little surprise, not knowing whether these words were true or false.
"Don't look at me like that. You know, even if I can't take the imperial examination, my Confucian scholar is still a learned person, and the most popular teacher in all the gates in the world." The old man smiled and said.
"So, apart from not being able to be an official, we don't lack anything. Now we are also very happy."
His final conclusion.
"I don't need mercy, it's just a temporary trough."
Looking at Zhang Rongfang, who was a little stunned, the old man said again.
"Actually, in today's world, although military service is frequent, the life of the common people is not bad. Just say this Tanyang City, the surrounding people, have you heard that they were starved to death and frozen to death?"
Zhang Rongfang was stunned for a moment and shook his head slightly.
"No."
"That's it." The old man smiled and said, "Daling attaches great importance to craftsmanship and farming. He has reformed agricultural books several times and improved planting. Now the output of farming has increased greatly. The efficiency of textiles has also doubled due to the improvement of tools."
"As soon as the sea opened, blue and white porcelain, glazed murals, tea, wine, etc. were exported, and a lot of money and money resources flowed in. Everyone, these small days are getting more and more moisturizing."
Zhang Rongfang was speechless.
Thinking about it carefully, Lingting had so much military service and uprisings everywhere, but it just couldn't make it a climate.
He has been here for two years, and he has rarely heard of ordinary people who were starved to death and frozen to death.
In fact, when you think about military service, there are not many people who also die, and there are not a few families who return after military service.
is said to be because, when the Ling Ting army went on expedition, the people in the conquered area were generally forced to be the vanguard cannon fodder.
The pioneers make these conquered sieges consume, and when the enemy is exhausted, the main force will be pressed.
In addition, the Lingting army is very elite, and all kinds of war machines are well-equipped, so there are really not many casualties.
"The common people, as long as they have food and clothing, and have no worries about food and clothing, they can be honest." The old man sighed. "Today's imperial court is the strongest in the world. When you look around, no country dares to blockade and retreat, and the army will swept through everything. Forcibly open the door of the country.
or trade, or conquest. It is a pity that such a great cause is a pity to use the flesh and blood of all races to make us live and work in peace and contentment.”
He didn't continue speaking, but his eyes were a little regretful.
Zhang Rongfang did not ask again. He could see that the old man was not lying, but a sincere thought.
He cupped his hands and turned away silently.
Exiting the Shushan Youjing Store, he followed the old man's instructions and walked deeper into the alley.
When is not long, prostitutes on both sides are also rare.
A shop with a signboard called Qiqi Zhai appeared in front of him.
The door of the shop is old and the door is half open.
A blond, blue-eyed, curly-haired old man was bowing his head and smiling with a few officers who came in to check, and whispered something to please.
After a short while, he handed over a roll of banknotes in his sleeve and pleaded a few times.
Unfortunately, those officials were still reluctant to leave with wrinkled faces. His eyes looked around, as if he wanted to scrape some more oil and water.
Zhang Rongfang squinted and stepped forward.
"What's the matter?" He asked casually with a stern face.
Several officials saw him, and one of them changed his face and recognized him immediately.
"Oh, Team Zhang! I saw you several times in the Prison Department not long ago."
He hurriedly stepped forward and bowed his hands.
(end of this chapter)
