National Tide 1980

"Old man, it's feasible to place these two planters of flat peaches here. With this thing placed here, it really looks like something is wrong. And it's not easy to move these two planters of flat peaches here. If you have average strength, not even three or four people can get it out. It's even more impossible to get out of the wall by breaking through the door. I guess if a thief can get in, he won't touch this thing. But the problem is that the porcelain I bought from Hongguang Pavilion is not safe to store here, right? If someone comes here, he can take it away at will? You said you have a place to put it, but you won't let me leave it unattended In an empty house, right? If that's the case, I might as well put it in my uncle's courtyard in Dongshitiao. At least there is Uncle Zhai watching over it every day."

Ning Weimin, who has seen the world, is different from Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao.

He had already had a certain understanding of Ma's Garden, but he was more concerned about other issues.

For example, the safety of placing things.

Unexpectedly, Kang Shude not only refuted him immediately, but also gave him a surprising answer.

"Why are you in a hurry? I didn't say just leave the house empty. We still have a cellar. If you lock it in the cellar, it will be absolutely safe."

"There is also a cellar? Where is it?" Ning Weimin was greatly surprised and asked in disbelief.

Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao also woke up and moved their eyes over.

"It's far away in the horizon but right before our eyes, right under this rockery." Kang Shude said.

"Oh, I understand, you are talking about the vegetable cellar for storing vegetables."

After hearing what the old man said, Ning Weimin's eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought he had figured out the cause and effect.

You know, Ma's Garden is such a big yard, and so many people lived here back then.

Needless to say, cooking in winter is definitely a big deal, and of course you need a big vegetable cellar.

Apart from other things, shouldn’t you be able to store thousands of catties of radishes, potatoes, onions and garlic?

The Chinese cabbage followed Dehai, and there were even some that weighed tens of thousands of kilograms.

Unexpectedly, he was still trying to be smart.

The old man narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head, "You, you are just imagining it again. You don't even think about how far this rockery is from the kitchen. It's ridiculous to build a vegetable cellar underneath and go back and forth two miles. This is ridiculous. Is it reasonable? Vegetable cellar? You can imagine it! It’s not that the Ma family doesn’t have a vegetable cellar, but the vegetable cellar is right over the kitchen..."

These words immediately stunned Ning Weimin.

Yes, what the old man said makes sense, but I didn’t think carefully enough.

Fortunately, Kang Shude didn't give in and didn't talk nonsense. He simply waved and took them to see it with their own eyes.

"Okay, I'm too lazy to say it. Lock the door and come with me. Why don't I show you the place and open your eyes. After you see it, you will know better about the past mansions. What day is it?"

So under the leadership of the old man, several young people locked the door and went down the rockery along the verandah.

Finally, they took a detour from the west to the south slope and walked into what looked like a rockery cave.

But I didn't expect that after entering the cave, I found that it was quite spacious.

Not only did the terrain rise in a gentle slope, it looked at least thirty centimeters higher than the outside, but there was also a large locked wooden board on the raised flat ground inside.

I saw Kang Shude take out the key to open it again, and then lifted the wooden board, revealing a one-meter-two-meter-wide stone step, which was dark and led downward-it turned out to be a secret underground entrance.

To be honest, at this time, Ning Weimin, Xiao Tao, and Luo Guangliang were all a little embarrassed at the thought of going down.

After all, people yearn for bright sunshine, and darkness and coldness will always bring negative feelings to people.

Although he knew that there would be no danger and the old man would never take them to the goblin cave, he could not help but resist in his heart.

But then again, they were all five-foot-tall men. They saw Kang Shude lowering his head and picking up the flashlight that had been placed at the door of the steps, then turned on the switch to illuminate it, and entered first.

The few young people looked at each other in disbelief, not wanting to be cowardly, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow in.

I didn't expect that the stairs were quite long when I walked down.

They were like gourd boys who wanted to settle a score with a goblin. They walked in the dark for at least ten meters before reaching a level ground again.

It's strange to say that this place is obviously a door in front, but there are two wellheads on both sides of the door, which are also covered with raised stone well covers with money eyes.

Although this way, I am not afraid that something like Sadako will crawl out of the well and scare people.

But if the old man hadn't warned him, whoever stepped on it might sprain his foot or trip and fall.

As for the door in front of him, it was unlocked. Kang Shude waited for them to come down, walked over and pushed it open.

Several people heard the sound of the door, and saw an arch-style cave dwelling clearly visible in the halo of the old man's flashlight.

The blue bricks extend from the ground to the top, and the visual space is at least two to three hundred square meters, which is only much more than the five-bay house on the rockery.

Most of the place is empty, except for dozens of one-meter-high jars scattered in one corner, and nothing else.

"This is an air-raid shelter!" Xiao Tao couldn't help shouting when he saw the cave inside when the door was opened.

"No, it looks like it, but there are lights in the air-raid shelters, but there are no lights here. And the roof is too high, three or four meters high. Why are the air-raid shelters so high?" Luo Guangliang followed Kang Shude and used his own The lighter was illuminated in conjunction with the old man's flashlight. He looked around for a long time, then shook his head in denial.

"Then... is this a place for storing pickles? Or is it a wine cellar for storing wine?" Xiao Tao pointed in the direction of the jars.

"It's impossible. Do you need to store pickles underground? Besides, how much space do those jars take up? Even the palace can't use such a big place to store pickles and wine? You don't even think about filling such a cellar , How long will it take to eat?"

"Oh, I see, it's the landlord's money bank where he keeps gold and silver, right?"

Xiao Tao committed the same problem as Ning Weimin just now, and was a bit too smart.

But maybe it was the atmosphere, or maybe it was because it was hard to imagine the life of a rich man, but these words frightened Luo Guangliang.

He was speechless, waiting for Kang Shude to verify Xiao Tao's words.

But as expected, the old man once again denied this statement.

"You really dare to think that such a big place is used to store gold and silver treasures. Then how rich this owner must be. No one has so much gold and silver. Of course, maybe the royal treasury can have it when the emperor is the emperor. This is impressive. However, this gate doesn’t look like it. If it were a treasure house, it would have to be guarded at all levels, right? If you don’t walk all the way down like this, you’ll be bald. Where do you see the guards? Place?"

These words completely blocked Xiaotao and Luo Guangliang's thoughts.

But Xiao Tao asked reluctantly.

"Then what kind of place is this? We really can't figure it out. Old man, please stop being so secretive and just tell us..."

Among the young people, Ning Weimin is the one who understands the most.

Seeing this architectural structure like the Beamless Hall of the Temple of Heaven, with thick rammed earth between the walls, vaults, and roof tiles, and having no beams or columns, it looked like a city gate, and he was moved in his heart.

He knew that the construction cost of such a building was very high, not to mention that it was still under a rockery.

No matter how rich the Ma family was, it would be a waste of money to have such a place just to store ordinary things.

Besides, why dig so deep?

The temperature inside is so low that it's not good for people to stay there for a long time.

And what are the two wellheads outside, what are they used for?

It's obviously impossible to bring water up, so it can only be...

After thinking about it, he suddenly felt blessed and enlightened.

Before Kang Shude could respond to Xiao Tao, he took over the conversation.

"I think this is an ice cellar! Isn't that right, old man?"

"Oh, I really made you guess!" Kang Shude asked in a surprised tone, "Tell me, how did you guess?"

Ning Weimin listed his reasons one by one.

"First of all, it's the air. I've been in charge of Tan Gong Restaurant, and our restaurant has a cold storage. I've also been to the Polar Bear Factory and seen their artificial ice workshop and warehouse. I'm not unfamiliar with the feeling of entering a cold storage, so as soon as I come in, the air The cool feeling and special smell remind me of the cold storage in my work unit.”

"Secondly, there are the two wells outside this door. It is such a deep underground, such a cold place, and it cannot be inhabited, so there is no need for water. The only thing that has anything to do with water is drainage. Our cold storage and Polar Bear’s workshop has drainage ditches. They are also placed outside the door. I know that the most important thing in building an icehouse is to consider drainage, so I suspect that the two holes outside the door are not well openings but drainage outlets.”

"Lastly, let's talk about the space. In such a big place, it is quite exaggerated to store anything. Only ice storage is suitable. In the first two years, ice harvesters could not be seen on the moat. Every piece was so big. In the past, it was not possible. There is no air conditioner or electric fan. Based on the area of ​​​​the yard, if the Ma family used ice to cool things during the summer, I am afraid it would be almost the same as this storehouse of ice."

"Lastly, let's talk about this location. From here, we lay a board to pull the ice up. There is a huge open field outside. According to you, it is the boundary where water can be poured into the ice in winter. Wouldn't it be just right to pull out the ice and smash it? It’s very convenient to distribute them to the whole garden after smashing them. It’s not suitable for storing vegetables, but it’s suitable for storing ice.”

Hearing this, Kang Shude couldn't help but praise him. This apprentice was considered to be very intelligent.

Ning Weimin sorted through the clues one by one, and finally put them all together, making the analysis well-founded.

"Well, that's a good point. If you take it seriously, you're a bit smart."

Kang Shude looked up happily, and then fully affirmed Ning Weimin's answer.

"Yes, this is the Ma family's ice cellar. It is built about four meters underground. The cellar has a solid foundation. The bottom of the cellar is made of cypress piles. It is paved with granite and has granite walls. It is inlaid with yellow glazed tiles. This is called a 'copper-backed iron bottom'. '. The two dry wells at the cellar door are more than one meter deeper than the bottom of the cellar, and are connected to the inside of the cellar. As you might guess, they are to drain away the ice water in the cellar. "

"In the past, the Ma family, the richest man in the capital, got their ice from here in the summer. The ice was cut out in the open field outside, once at noon and once in the evening, and broken into pieces and distributed throughout the yard. I also came here to help Mr. Song. After taking the ice, carry a bucket back and put it in the ice basin. Placing it in the house can not only cool down, but also can make fruit, mung bean soup and sour plum soup. It is very useful. Therefore, rich people in the past were quite comfortable in summer. The foreigners who come to Ma’s house always wonder why Ma’s house has ice cubes available at all times.”

"Weimin, aren't you doing a good job at Tan Gong Restaurant? Aren't the customers very satisfied? Especially now that there are ceiling fans and electric fans. Get a basin of ice and it will be more comfortable. And the ice cellar can also chill fresh fruits. , and ice dew wine. It’s not only useful in summer. If you see those jars without them, then put the fruit.”

"In the past, every year when the autumn fruits were on the market, the Ma family would send someone to pull the jars in a cart and go to the mountains to buy the fruits. People from the Ma family picked the fruits from the trees, and some were specialized in picking the ones that grew well and did not hurt. The peeled apples, oranges, pears, and benzines are then carefully piled one by one into the jar for storage, and then put into the ice cellar when they come back. In this way, from the coldest months of winter to the early spring when the harvest is over, the Ma family will still have fresh fruits to eat. Beijing is famous for its preserved fruits. Right? But even if the honey-pickled ones are not made from sugar, they are only enjoyed by the rich. Only people like the Ma family who can eat fresh fruits in winter can be called real rich..."

At this point, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao, who were listening in, finally understood and couldn't help but secretly clicked their tongues.

The old society that says all evil in its heart!

If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, who would have believed that there were people living like this in the past years.

Damn it, rich people actually have such big ice cellars in their homes.

Even though people today have access to refrigerators, when it comes to it, they still can't compare with the rich people in the past.

Where to reason?

As for Ning Weimin, he was filled with excitement.

If nothing else, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was the perfect place to put the porcelain.

Not to mention that the place is secretive, and most people cannot find it here.

Even if you find it and break the lock, you may not have the guts to go down there to see what's going on, let alone move it outside.

The most important thing is that he never thought that the Ma family had an ice cellar in the past.

This is like hundreds of square meters of space falling from the sky for nothing. Isn’t this a huge profit?

Although now that we have an ice machine, we no longer have to think about storing ice like we did in old age, but how can we use such a big place?

It's suitable for simply being used as a wine cellar.

Go back and bring his Moutai Wuliangye here, and buy some Lafite or something for entertaining guests, isn't that pretending to be a big deal?

Just like that, Ning Weimin felt so happy, even happier than after drinking two taels.

After waiting for a few people to come up from the ice cellar, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao rode their tricycles to Liulichang to collect goods.

Ning Weimin's interest was still undiminished, and he insisted that his master take him to have a good look around the Jiang's courtyard, theater and flower cave formerly occupied by the Ancient and Modern Cultural Association.

He needs to take a good look at the situation and seriously consider how to practice it.