Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Seeing the downcast Zhao Kai, Li Renxiao felt that his life was connected to him.

But he was afraid of getting into trouble, so he asked his servant, "Can I talk to him?"

Li Huo was stunned when he heard this. He clearly understood something wrong and said in a low voice: "Mr. Lang, don't worry. The people inside and outside Kaifeng City initially did not dare to touch the royal family of the former Song Dynasty. Even if they met, they had to walk a few steps away. Later, the court allowed them to move around as they pleased, and only a few of them dared to talk to the royal family of the former Song Dynasty, and no one was sent to check by the government. "

Li Renxiao asked: "Are all the princes and princes of the former Song Dynasty so miserable?"

"Mr. Lang is overthinking it," Li Huo said with a smile. "Except for the man in front of me who has suffered a terrible life, everything else is pretty good. Even the worst can survive by farming, and the court has also successively reissued farm cattle, so his life is better than Ordinary farmers have a better life. There are also people who open a shop in an alley outside Nanxun Gate."

Li Renxiao asked curiously: "How did he become like this?"

Li Huo said: "This guy is called Zhao Kai. He was the most favored prince in the former Song Dynasty. He almost became the emperor of the former Song Dynasty. He wanted to take part in the imperial examination and won the first prize at the age of fifteen or sixteen. The official did not help. It’s strange that he cheated. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, this man also made a lot of money by selling paintings and enjoyed himself every day in Fanlou. "

"Later, he followed other people's trade in cloth goods and ended up with a lot of debt. He actually paid off the debt by selling paintings, but he went to hang out in the Goulan Courtyard and even fell in love with a famous actress to take home as a concubine. . There was a quarrel among the wives and concubines at his house. The man got angry and beat one of his concubines. In anger, the concubine ran to submit a petition to the government for divorce..."

"Reconciliation?" Li Renxiao exclaimed, "The former Prince of Song Dynasty reconciled with his concubine? Or did the concubine file for divorce?"

The sound was really loud, and Zhao Kai, who was half lying on the roadside, heard it.

Zhao Kai raised his head and glared at Li Renxiao, as if he might stand up and hit him at any time.

Li Renxiao quickly shut up and walked away quickly with Gongshi and Li Huo.

Li Huo looked behind him and found that Zhao Kai was not chasing him, so he continued: "That concubine also has a natal family. She couldn't be the prince's concubine, but she still stayed as a concubine for several years. But that Zhao Kai He really didn't care about his family and ran away every day. Wouldn't this make him a widow? I heard that Zhao Kai didn't take much of the money he earned from selling paintings. Even if he did, he would give it to his wife because he objected to taking concubines. My concubine was beaten by Zhao Kai, so she went to the government to divorce her. "

Madam Wang quickly said: "Your Majesty...husband, I will never be such a shameless woman!"

Li Renxiao smiled at his wife, and then asked: "What next?"

Li Huo said: "The lawsuit was very loud. Not only the people inside and outside Kaifeng City knew about it, but it even spread to other prefectures and counties. On the day of the verdict, the whole city came to watch and destroyed several streets outside the Fa Cao Yamen. The crowd was full. When Zhao Kai came out of the Yamen, everyone asked him whether he was really divorced, and they all laughed and gloated. After that, no matter where Zhao Kai went, people pointed at him and laughed at him for not even being able to keep his concubine in sight. . As time went by, something went wrong with Zhao Kai’s mind.”

"Crazy?" Li Renxiao asked.

Li Huo said with a smile: "Many people said he was pretending to be crazy. Anyway, Zhao Kai would rush over and beat anyone who dared to smile at him. He would often get drunk on the streets, talk some prohibited nonsense, and was reported and sent to prison. Several times. He drank outside and also drank when he got drunk. Later, all his concubines divorced him, and one of his concubines went to a Taoist temple to become his sister-in-law.

Li Renxiao shook his head repeatedly: "This person has no responsibility."

Li Huo lamented: "The worst thing is that his first wife has always stayed at home and has not divorced, but she has to raise seven sons and eight daughters. Even if the children are born to concubines, his first wife treats them as her own. The whole As long as the people of Kaifeng mentioned his wife, Mrs. Zhu, who would not say that she was a good woman? "

"She is truly a good wife and mother." Li Renxiao praised.

Li Huo grinned and said: "There are several sons who have grown up, and the eldest one is in his twenties. They can now make money to support the family, which makes the Zhu family much more relaxed. Now Zhao Kai can't go home even if he wants to. If he dared to step even half a step into his yard, he would be beaten out with sticks by his sons.”

Li Renxiao said: "Every peck and every drink has cause and effect."

But Mr. Wang asked: "Zhao Kai has a family and can't return. You said he doesn't beg. How did he survive until now?"

"Selling paintings," Li Huo said, "his paintings are getting more and more expensive. In the past, he imitated his father's paintings and made fakes. After he went crazy, he signed his own name. Now a painting is worth hundreds of dollars. When he gets money, he goes to drink and have fun, and then sells paintings after spending all the money.”

Mr. Nong asked strangely: "How come you are so crazy that selling paintings is more expensive?"

Li Huo replied: "I can't understand it either. I heard that the former Song Emperor Hunjun died, and the ghost came back to possess his son's body. He could paint better than the great painters in the Hanlin Academy. Last year, there was a large-scale painting. Several merchants rushed to buy the painting on the street, and finally raised the price to more than 200 yuan. I heard that the painting is now in the Luoyang Hanlin Painting Academy, and many Hanlin painters have followed it. "

After hearing this, Li Renxiao didn't know how to evaluate it. After a long time, he said: "But he is also a weirdo."

…

But he said that Zhao Kai was sleeping on the street and was woken up by Li Renxiao's scream.

He still sat there motionless, looking at the passers-by with a bit of drunkenness, his expression dull and he didn't know what he was thinking.

After a long time, Zhao Kai lamented that he was hungry, pointed at a passerby and shouted: "You... come here!"

The passerby was not angry, but rather happy. He walked quickly and said, "Did your husband call me?"

Zhao Kai said: "Go and call a donkey cart."

"Sir, please wait a moment, I will be back soon." The passerby ran away happily.

Not long after, a donkey cart was called.

Passers-by and the driver worked together to help Zhao Kai get into the car.

The driver whipped his whip to drive the donkey, and passers-by followed closely, while Zhao Kai lay stretched out on the open donkey cart.

People along the way pointed and pointed, and many people cast envious glances at passers-by.

The donkey cart entered the inner city and stopped at Fan Tower.

Several store clerks rushed out and rushed to help Zhao Kai inside.

Zhao Kai said: "Give them each a silver dollar!"

Immediately, a clerk ran to the counter. The shopkeeper took notes and took out two silver dollars and asked the clerk to hand them to the coachman and passers-by.

A silver dollar is just a copper coin, and the fare and errands are not worth so much.

The shop assistants helped Zhao Kai to the stairs and asked extremely diligently: "Do you want to ride a horse or a sedan chair today?"

"Take a sedan chair." Zhao Kai said.

Immediately there were two shop assistants, holding each other's wrists and crossing each other, with their four arms turning into "∞" shapes.

Another waiter bent down to support Zhao Kai's leg, carefully lifted it up and stepped into the gap between his arms. He also put Zhao Kai's arms on the shoulders of the "carriage bearers" on the left and right.

"Xianggong Zhao is going up to the building!"

"Get up the sedan!"

The two "carriage bearers" stood up slowly, using their arms as sedan chairs, and slowly carried Zhao Kai upstairs.

Since it was still a long time before meal time, there were not many diners in the lobby on the first floor of Fan Building.

The few diners were all not surprised and looked at Zhao Kai like a monkey.

At the corner of the second floor, the store clerk responsible for guiding the way shouted at the top of his lungs: "Ms. Zhao is here, please leave!"

All the guys shouted together: "Back off, back off!"

A waiter behind him saw that Zhao Kai's clothes were wrinkled, so he quickly stretched out his hand to hold it open and patted the dust on the cloth from time to time.

"Xianggong Zhao goes up to the building, and everyone retreats!"

There was another shout, and the store clerk carried Zhao Kai up to the third floor.

He went up to the fifth floor, and just as the store clerk was about to carry him into the VIP room, Zhao Kai suddenly said: "I'm going to watch the scenery!"

The guys quickly turned around and carried Zhao Kai to the overpass connecting the two floors.

There are several telescopes there, one of which was installed after the capital was moved. It can observe a small half of the old Kaifeng Imperial Palace.

"Get off the sedan!"

The shop assistants helped Zhao Kai stand firm, but Zhao Kai pushed him away: "Get out of the way!"

Several guys backed away laughing.

Zhao Kai looked at the palace with a telescope, and his whole person became extremely quiet. He watched it for more than an hour.

Then, he changed positions again. Using another telescope, I looked at my former palace and mansion. It was built illegally according to the specifications of the East Palace. Many things had been demolished when the Ming Dynasty was founded.

From high interest to lack of interest very quickly.

"It's so boring!"

Zhao Kai left the telescope, and the two guys who were left behind quickly came over and asked, "What kind of food and drinks does Mr. Zhao want today? Which lady should he call to accompany him?"

Fanlou is a regular restaurant, not a brothel.

However, famous actors will be invited to sing and dance for a long time. If the customer needs it, as long as he can afford the price, he will also invite famous prostitutes to accompany him elsewhere.

"Not interested."

Zhao Kai actually left just like that. He didn't play the game of riding a horse or sitting in a sedan chair. He held on to the railing and went down the stairs.

He strolled out of Fan Tower without anyone coming to stop him.

The shopkeeper just silently added an account. Those shop assistants also had service fees.

Zhao Kai walked all the way to Genyue. This was the largest civil engineering project undertaken by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. Even a piece of Taihu stone on the mountain was granted a title.

Today's Genyue is equivalent to Kaifeng People's Park.

The astronomical observatory on the top of the mountain has been moved to Luoyang, and many shops have been opened at the foot of the mountain.

There are many exotic flowers and trees on the mountain, coming from all over the world, stained with the blood and sweat of countless people, but now there is no one to take care of them.

Zhao Kai looked east and west around Gen Yue, occasionally stopping to talk to the stones or flowers and trees on the mountain. He suddenly laughed and cried suddenly, and his mental state was obviously problematic.

When he was tired from walking, Zhao Kai lay down on the spot and slept, regardless of whether there were mosquito bites or not.

It was already midnight when I woke up, and there were still lights in Kaifeng City.

Zhao Kai staggered down the mountain, fell down on the way, and rolled several meters away, with many bruises and bleeding on his body.

He was so hungry that he didn't go to Fan Tower. Instead, he went into an alley and knocked on the door.

This is a brothel. If you have money, you can only eat and drink in the outer courtyard. It is more difficult to enter the inner courtyard.

The door opened, and the boy who was in charge of welcoming him saw that Zhao Kai was coming. He quickly bowed and smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, please come quickly."

"Mother Xie, do you have any guests today?" Zhao Kai asked.

The boy replied: "Unfortunately, we have an honored guest today."

Zhao Kai said: "Give me a yard, get some food and wine, and also have paper and pen."

"Ms. Zhao is going to paint today?" The boy was overjoyed. "Ms. Zhao, please come in quickly. I'll make arrangements right away."