Rise From the Humble

  Chapter 209 Zhumen wine and meat smell

  Because there were not many things, Zhu Pingan packed up the things quickly. It was still early, so he sat at the table and practiced calligraphy while writing down "The Story of Yitian Tuyu", which will be needed when he goes home to borrow books.

  Zhu Ping'an was practicing calligraphy and continued to write. He didn't close his pen until noon. Looking out the window, it began to snow again, and it was a piece of pure white.

Maybe he was aroused by the snowflakes outside the window, or maybe he had a leisurely mood in the middle of the court. Zhu Pingan packed up his pen, ink, paper and inkstone, put on the rabbit fur coat, and prepared to go downstairs to take a stroll around the snow-covered city of Nanjing. , take the opportunity to have lunch.

  Many students in the lobby surrounded Zhu Shiming, who had just passed the exam, and joined two tables. The tables were filled with big fish and meat, and there were two stoves next to them warming two jugs of wine with an intoxicating aroma.

   "Brother Zhu Xian, come and have a drink together." That Zhu Shiming saw Zhu Pingan coming downstairs from a distance, got up and invited.

   "Two people at one table, it will be a good story in the future." Others also got up and invited Zhu Pingan to the table. After the incident of catching a son-in-law in the morning, these people were more in awe of Zhu Pingan.

  A person who is favored by all the members of the third rank, how can it be Yi Yi's generation.

  Zhu Ping'an thanked them for their kindness, declined to have something to do, and left the inn, wandering aimlessly in Yingtian City. I used to be busy with the imperial examinations and didn't take a closer look at this ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, so I have to take a good look at it today when I have time.

The street outside is already a world covered in silver, and the snow is falling in the sky. The restaurants and tea shops on both sides of the street are extremely busy. Walking on the street, you can smell the fragrance of vegetables and wine, and you can see the rich and prosperous people from time to time. People gather around a table of gourmet food and wine, and even a restaurant with a larger scale can see dancing singers

   After walking along the banks of the Qinhuai River for a while. Zhu Pingan turned around and walked along another street that he had never walked before.

  The bustle of this street is not much inferior to that on both sides of the Qinhuai River. It seems to be more than that. The control of this street is looser than that of the Qinhuai Confucian Temple, which is a politically concentrated area. Vendors are also more active, and there are also many children chasing and playing in the street, which is full of life.

  In the noisy and hot restaurant, the infected Zhu Pingan also bought a set of pot stickers wrapped in thick paper, and enjoyed the snow scene of Yingtian while eating.

  The skin is crispy and the filling is delicious, fragrant and juicy.

   On a snowy day, eating hot pot stickers is extra delicious.

  Zi Gu ~ Ton

   While Zhu Pingan was eating and shopping, he heard an unusually striking sound of swallowing saliva.

  Zhu Ping'an paused. Looking at the prestige, I saw the alley connected by this street. Two five or six-year-old children were leaning against the wall and looking at me timidly, fearful and longing. It didn't fit her feet well, and her wrinkled clothes were still patched.

  The two children couldn't tell the difference between male and female. They were thin, but had big eyes. He stared straight at the pot stickers in his hand.

   Seeing this scene, Zhu Ping'an was a little shocked.

  Since he arrived in the Ming Dynasty, although he was poor in a mountain village, every household was able to get by. Reading and scientific research. So much so that I forgot the existence of these dark sides,

   "Come on, brother treats you to eat." Zhu Ping'an squatted down. Passed the pot stickers in his hand to the two children.

  The two children looked at each other in blank dismay, not daring to move.

   "Brother is not a bad person. Come, take it." Zhu Ping'an smiled gently. Once again, he handed the wrapped pot stickers to one of the older children.

  In the end, the two children still couldn't hold back the hot pot stickers, the older child timidly reached out to take it, seeing that Zhu Pingan really gave it to him, his big eyes lit up.

   "Give it to mother."

  After the two children took the pot stickers from Zhu Pingan, they just swallowed two more mouthfuls of saliva, and then happily confirmed the ownership of the pot stickers without any dispute.

   "Brother, go to my house to drink water."

  Because of a piece of pot stickers, the two children put Zhu Pingan into the ranks of good people. They were happy and invited Zhu Pingan to drink water at home. The two children blinked, looking forward to it, lest Zhu Ping'an would refuse.

  Following the two children into the alley, this is a deep alley, as if connecting two worlds.

  The alley was full of strange twists and turns, and the two children finally led Zhu Pingan into another alley. At the entrance of the alley was a mottled signboard with the words "Nursing Home". Inside the alley are a large number of simple houses, low and narrow, it is not clear whether they can shelter from the wind and snow, and the alleyways are also dirty and messy.

The two children led Zhu Pingan into one of the narrow yards. In the yard, there was a thin and sickly woman who was washing clothes in the yard. up.

   "Da Wuwu is back, cough cough cough, I will boil water for you to drink when mother finishes washing these clothes, and there will be food when your father comes back at night."

  The woman's voice was weak, as if she was seriously ill.

   "Mother, I'll eat it for you." The first-year boy took a wrapped potsticker and handed it to the laundry woman's mouth as if offering a treasure.

   "Da Wu, you, you stole something?! Cough cough cough." Seeing this, the woman became angry and coughed continuously.

   "I don't have a mother, but this big brother gave it to me." The child felt aggrieved.

Then at this moment, the woman saw Zhu Pingan walking into the yard, she took the two children into her arms warily, took the pot stickers from the freshman child, put them on one side of the wooden board, and pulled the two children A child hid in the house.

   "Sir, please bring your things back, my man is not here, my family doesn't sell children, I don't sell anything"

  The woman's sick voice came from the room.

   "Mother, big brother is not a bad person." The two children were also passed on, and then they were stopped by the woman.

  Zhu Pingan looked at himself, and then realized that men and women are great defenses.

  Looking at the closed door, Zhu Pingan knew that he had better leave obediently at this moment. One more word would be wrong, and one more minute would be wrong.

   After thinking for a while, Zhu Pingan took out all the money he was carrying, put it next to the pot stickers, arched his hands slightly, said a word, and left.

"excuse me."

  After Zhu Pingan said this, he left the courtyard and continued to walk in along the alley.

  In this alley, Zhu Pingan witnessed with his own eyes the dilapidated appearance of the Ming Empire

While the rich wine and meat smell, the road with frozen bone!

   To some people, Yingtian, where the heavy snow is falling, brings not beauty but disaster. While the wealthy families, officials, and even myself are enjoying the snow while feasting and having fun, the poor are dying of cold and starvation on the streets, and some even have no money for medical treatment, which is really chilling.

Chatting with an old man with white hair at the foot of the alley, Zhu Pingan understood why these people fell into this field in Daming, where taxes were extremely low: they had no land, why did they not have land? The agricultural tax is very low but the corvee is very heavy; no matter what the reason is, they lost their land. A farmer has no income without land, and even if he has no income, he still has to eat, so he began to sell his property, etc., and then became a refugee. If you can't satisfy your hunger by eating bark and leaves, you have to sell your wife and children.

  In this extremely cold winter, they lived really hard. They didn’t have enough to eat or wear warm clothes. They were sick and had no money to see them.

  The young Juren who was newly promoted in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Ping'an walked heavily in this alley, watching the dying refugees struggling to survive in this alley, watching their begging and helpless eyes.

  Drinking wine and enjoying the snow on the banks of the Qinhuai River, suffering from cold and starvation in the alley, a certain young man walked out of the alley with heavy steps, his eyes fixed.

  (end of this chapter)