My life skills in Daming Liver

Xiangzi glanced at Tong An in the car. Sure enough, he was dressed like an Imperial College student. People like them probably don't understand the hardships of ordinary people.

However, these graduates of the Imperial College are more passionate than scholars who have already entered the officialdom, and they often talk about the common people.

It's just that most scholars don't know what kind of life the common people live in.

After all, those who can study in the Imperial College are already Ming Dynasty's elites. In fact, they are already Ming Dynasty's officials.

When Su Ze was famous all over the world, he was just an official.

Xiangzi was pulling a cart in the capital, so he naturally knew what to say and what not to say. He just said vaguely:

"Life is like this. It lasts for a good year and bad for another year. It's good for people like us to be alive. How can we expect to live a good life?"

Tong An brought up the topic, and Xiangzi thought about the same time when he was fleeing famine, and some fellow villagers finally chose to cross the hard-walled and clearing area to the southeast, and came to the capital on his own.

I learned about the changes in the southeast from the newspaper some time ago. The compatriots there must be living a good life, right?

However, it is impossible for Xiangzi to leave the capital now. Although pulling a cart is a bit harder and more tiring, he can still eat well.

Compared with those fellow villagers who entered the workshop, Xiangzi's life was already pretty good.

Seeing Xiangzi hesitate to speak, Tong An continued to ask:

"Isn't the imperial court implementing a new policy? Why aren't you coachmen still living a good life?"

Seeing Xiangzi's tattered and patched clothes, Tong An couldn't help but said:

"There are a lot more people in the capital now, right? The New Year is coming soon, why don't you buy some new materials to celebrate the New Year?"

Xiangzi became a little impatient when he heard Tong An's questioning.

He was very familiar with these scholars in the academy.

They talk about national affairs in a clear and logical manner, but they have no idea about the real lives of ordinary people at all. They often feel moved by themselves and feel that they understand the people's hearts best and are asking for orders for the people.

Anyway, Wang Shizhen was also in the car, so Xiangzi simply said:

"What's the use of having more people? How can those who work in the workshops afford a green chartered bus? There are more people entering the city, and there are more people rushing to contract green chartered buses. The rent has been raised twice in the past two months. .”

"Rent increase?"

Xiangzi said:

"A green-chartered car costs dozens of taels of silver. How can I afford it? I rent a green-chartered car, and I have to give the owner one tael of silver every month."

Tong An took a breath: "So many?"

Xiangzi said: "Don't be too much. One tael of silver is enough for your conscience. Some cars cost one, two or three taels of silver a month."

"There are so many people in the capital. If it's too expensive, there are still people to do it."

Tong An was silent for a moment. During this period, there were more green chartered cars in the capital.

He asked again: "The rent is one tael a month. Can you make money driving a car for a month?"

Xiangzi said: "Thanks to Mr. Wang for taking care of my business, I go out to pull the cart at six in the morning and close the business at nine in the evening. I can still earn three coins a month, and occasionally drink a few sips of bad wine to keep away the cold. We should be able to hold it through the winter.”

Tong An asked: "Since pulling a cart is so hard, why don't you join a workshop? I read in the newspaper that the workshop is always recruiting workers. Doesn't it mean that the salary is favorable?"

Xiangzi seemed to have heard something funny, and he almost couldn't hold himself back and threw away the car bumper in his hand.

He quickly apologized to Wang Shizhen and then said:

"This gentleman is a good joker."

Tong An suppressed his blush. He also heard the meaning of Xiangzi's words, which was to laugh at him for not understanding people's livelihood.

However, Tong An still held back and asked:

"Isn't it good to go into a factory?"

Xiangzi said: "It's not good, of course it's not good. If it's good to enter the factory, why can't the newspaper be full of people every week?"

Tong An was stunned.

In fact, his descriptions of Mingting Workshop also came from newspapers.

The "Huangming New News" has a section dedicated to introducing the life of employees in new-style workshops.

In these newspapers, there are always a few examples of people who worked hard in workshops and got rich, as if they could live a good life as long as they entered a workshop.

It was advertised in the newspaper that the income of hired workers in the workshop was high and could support the whole family, so Tong An asked Xiangzi why he didn't work in the factory.

Xiangzi said: "I have a fellow villager who works in the textile factory owned by Uncle Li in Nancheng. He is a loader and unloader responsible for transporting cotton."

"He starts work at six in the morning and ends at nine in the evening. He has to carry hundreds of kilograms of cotton every day, and only earns three taels of silver a month."

"Besides, I can pull a cart and bask in the sun when there are no guests. He is a cotton-resistant guy, but he can't rest all the time."

"My fellow countryman has said several times that he wants to rent this car from me, but I haven't even agreed."

Tong An was silent. What Xiangzi said seemed to be the true situation in the workshop.

Xiangzi said again:

"It's good to have a job these days. I have a fellow countryman who also came to the capital after fleeing from Shandong. He worked in an iron factory and his arm was broken by a water tanker. He was fired by the iron factory. My family I sold everything but couldn't save my life. I was in bed in pain for seven days until I died."

"I have seen that fellow countryman. He was a good farmer at that time. One person could do the work of three people. He was skinny and skinny when he died."

Tong An couldn't stand listening anymore, he couldn't help but said:

"Didn't the imperial court have an order to ensure the safety of employees?"

Xiangzi said disdainfully: "The imperial court? That iron factory has shares in Shuntian Prefecture. Is it possible that it will help an employee who has broken his arm?"

"It's good to be able to survive these days. The first few pages of "Huangming New News" are too many words to even wipe your ass!"

Xiangzi cursed and Wang Shizhen frowned. He immediately closed his mouth and said:

"Two gentlemen, Gongyuan has arrived."

Wang Shizhen and Tong An got out of the car, and Xiangzi quickly pulled the car to pick up the next customer on the roadside.

Seeing Xiangzi pulling the car away, Tong An couldn't help but ask:

"Mr. Wang, is everything the coachman said true?"

Wang Shizhen looked at Tong An in confusion and said:

"He is a green driver, why would he lie?"

Tong An was silent.

Wang Shizhen patted Tong An on the shoulder and said:

"You are still young. Take a closer look at the actual situation. You can't believe everything in the newspaper, and you can't believe everything in it."

Tong An nodded and said, "Thank you sir for your teaching."

There were originally many restaurants in the square in front of Gongyuan, but now it is even more lively.

Today is Laba again, and there is an endless stream of scholars wearing long robes. Tong An is attending the class reunion.

Songhe Tower is a restaurant in front of Gongyuan. Tong An and Wang Shizhen parted ways and went to Songhe Tower.

When he first arrived in the capital, Tong An visited Songhe Tower once.

At that time, Songhe Tower was a restaurant relatively close to the place where the imperial examination papers were posted. In previous years, when the tribute examinations were held, the candidates would go to Songhe Tower to wait for the imperial examination papers to be posted.

But now the front of Gongyuan has become a gathering place for scholars on weekdays, and the business of Songhe Tower has always been booming.

The class reunion was held here, and the place was reserved several days in advance.

Business in Songhe Tower is booming these days. The boss has also bought several rooms next door and is currently undergoing extensive construction and expansion.

Tong An boarded the Songhe Tower and soon heard the shouts of his classmates:

"Tong Ziyuan!"

Tong An looked up and saw that the person calling him was Zhao Nanxing, the backbone of the classmate association. He quickly walked upstairs.

Zhao Nanxing was also a candidate for the provincial examination after the Ming Dynasty held the provincial examination again this year. However, unlike Tong An, who took the examination several times before passing the examination, Zhao Nanxing was only sixteen years old this year and passed the examination for the first time. Juren, although this time the rural examination is considered to be an "enrollment expansion" and is not as valuable as before, Zhao Nanxing is considered quite young among the candidates.

Zhao Nanxing was from Beizhili. After passing the imperial examination, he came to the capital immediately and joined the Imperial College. Soon he joined the Alumni Association because he cared about government affairs.

When Tong An went upstairs, a young man took the lead and stood up to greet Tong An.

Zou Yuanbiao, a native of Jiangxi, is one year younger than Zhao Nanxing.

Zou Yuanbiao was born into a wealthy family in Jiangxi. Before the Southeast New Army occupied Jiangxi, his family moved to the capital.

There were members of the Zou family who were officials in the capital, so even if they were fleeing, they could escape quite leisurely. Zou Yuanbiao even took a detour to Guanzhong on the way.

He was also admitted as a candidate when the Ming court expanded its enrollment. He was in the same year as Zhao Nanxing, and he also cared about current affairs and joined the classmate association.

The study association was a group composed of young scholars in the capital. After writing letters on the bus, most of the senior leaders of the study association were ordered by the Ming court to participate in the imperial examination and enter officialdom.

These members of the study association who entered officialdom have withdrawn from the study association one after another.

Because in the Ming Dynasty, scholars in the opposition could form associations, but scholars in the government could not form parties.

Even if there is a so-called "Zhang Dang" in the Ming court today, it is only a private name, and there is no blatant clique among officials.

After the senior leaders of the Study Association withdrew, Tong An, a senior member of the Study Association who gave up the imperial examination and did not participate in this imperial examination, automatically became the leader of the Study Association.

This is also the reason why Tong An, a mere graduate of the Imperial College, was invited by Zhang Jingxiu, the prime minister's son, to attend the cultural conference.

Today is also a gathering of the study association, but the person who paid the money was Zou Yuanbiao, a new member of the study association.

In Songhe Tower, He Xiangzi tells two completely different worlds.

The people in the building were all dressed in brocade clothes, drinking and drinking among each other, but Tong An, who was wearing coarse cloth, looked strange.

Zou Yuanbiao was also wearing brocade clothes. He pulled Tong An to the table and said to the store:

"Today is Laba, bring out the good wine in the store!"

The waiter didn't dare to make the decision, so he called the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper immediately said: "Gentlemen, the shop has high-quality jade pot roasting. Gentlemen, would you like to try it?"

Zou Yuanbiao fled from Jiangxi and was well-informed. He immediately asked:

“But the most popular soju in Hangzhou today?”

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, and Zou Yuanbiao immediately said: "Bring the jade pot and cook it!"

After a while, I saw the store owner walking over with a transparent glass bottle. The liquid in the transparent glass bottle was shaking. After the store opened it, the whole building was filled with the aroma of wine.

Zou Yuanbiao smelled the smell of wine and immediately said: "Good wine! It is indeed the authentic Yuhu Yaki!"

"But the jade pot yaki I used to drink was in a porcelain pot. Why was it replaced with a glass pot?"

The store owner immediately said: "Isn't this because the Yuhu Shao liquor is transparent and the quality of the wine can only be seen in the glass bottle? Sirs, this Yuhu Shao must be drunk from a transparent and flawless glass to reflect the so-called "Jade Pot" quality. meaning."

"Bring the glass quickly!"

After a while, the store carefully brought up a set of glass wine glasses.

Then the store poured the wine into the glass wine glass. Seeing the flawless glass wine glass and the wine body, Zhao Nanxing couldn't help but read a line from Su Ze's poem that named Yuhu Yaki: "What a 'piece of ice heart in the jade pot'" ! Sure enough, good wine must be paired with a good cup!”

The shopkeeper said: "Gentlemen, this glass is from Guangzhou. One glass costs ten taels of silver. Gentlemen,"

Zhao Nanxing and Zou Yuanbiao were young and frivolous, and immediately said:

"I know, I know! Isn't it just ten taels of silver? Can't we afford it?"

After saying that, Zhao Nanxing immediately slapped ten silver coins on the table.

The shopkeeper immediately put on a different face and said, "This shop either looks down upon you gentlemen, or is unwilling to part with this fine cup. Please enjoy your drink, gentlemen!"

Tong An knew that both the jade pot and the glass were goods from the southeast.

It's just that the Ming court's ban only applies to ordinary people. Restaurants like Songhe Tower where powerful people come and go have a big background behind them, and they don't care about the court's ban at all.

During this wave of workshops, people like Zhao Nanxing and Zou Yuanbiao also persuaded their families to join industry and commerce and made a fortune by taking advantage of the Ming court's policy dividends.

Tong An looked at the students mingling with each other and thought of "the wine and meat in the rich family smells bad, and there are freezing bones on the road."

Zou Yuanbiao, Zhao Nanxing and others had impure motives for joining the study association, just to make a name for themselves in the Imperial College.

The study association has also changed from a progressive student organization to an empty talk organization that flatters each other. Many new members are such speculators, or they are children from poor families who want to eat and drink.

Tong An put down his wine glass and looked at Gongyuan in the distance. Can he really have a future with these insects?