Emperor Ming Dynasty

In the twelfth lunar month, although the city of Beijing is constantly snowing, the streets and streets are still very lively. In other words, the most lively thing in Beijing is the winter season after the autumn harvest.

The most benevolent place in the capital, the world's materials are gathered, so that there is a saying in Gyeonggi that "the city of Beijing is floating."

Because of Huguang's southern grain, hundreds of officials and the army have no worries in the harem; Shandong and northern Zhili's northern grain supplies the people in the capital.

Salt comes from Changlu Salt Fields, silk brocades, cotton clothes and silk from South Zhili; porcelain incense burners come from Jingdezhen; horses and lambs come from Northwest China and Liaodong.

In medicine, a large number of medicinal materials come from Anguo, Hebei and Bozhou, Anhui.

The wind and snow were howling, but it was hard to reach the excitement of the inn.

Several businessmen sat around and ate the recently fashionable mutton hot pot, and suddenly felt warm and connected.

"Guys, this is Datong's yellow mutton. It costs [-] yuan a catty. The meat is strong and refreshing. If you stick some soybean paste, yo, it's so delicious."

The businessman at the head seat pointed to the hot pot and the paper-thin slices of mutton and praised: "I heard that this way of eating came from the imperial palace. Who in Beijing won't follow suit?"

As he said that, he picked up the chopsticks and wrapped it in his mouth without caring about the heat.

"Gazel?" The fat-faced businessman on the side chuckled and said, "Datong's gazelle can number up to ten thousand a year, can it be our turn?"

"Maybe who raised it."

"Hey, you don't know." The sharp-mouthed businessman shook his head and said, "It's been three or five years since you went to Nanjing. The best mutton in Beijing today is yellow sheep sent from Chifeng. .”

"As for the Datong gazelle? All the sheep in Suiyuan say they are Datong sheep, so it's our turn."

"Is that so?" The fat-faced businessman was stunned, and shook his head helplessly: "It's better to stay comfortably in the capital, where there are all kinds of delicacies under the sun."

As he said, he said like a few treasures: "Dongting citrus, Fujian lychee, longan, Yongcheng dried dates, Dingshan chestnut, Yunnan chicken cistanche, Suzhou fermented bean curd, Kaifeng egg pine nuts, Suzhou pine nuts and jujube sesame cakes, Sichuan fried lychees..."

"Good guy, wandering around the city of Beijing, you can eat all the delicacies in the world—"

The businessman sitting in the main seat also put down his bowls and chopsticks at this time, and agreed with his face: "That's true, I heard that there was a plague in the Xuanfu of Datong half a year ago, and the prices of medicinal materials have risen sky-high, and there is nowhere to buy them, but if this is in the city of Beijing , we have to take a cart to pull—”

"So, in this world, even if you are a dog, you have to go to Beijing, right? The taste and benefits are more than other places."

A few people spoke rudely, but the nearby diners nodded one after another.

No matter how hard it is, the people in the capital cannot suffer, and no matter how hungry they are, the city of Beijing cannot be starved.

"As the old saying goes, the east is rich and the west is rich, and the south is cheap and the north is poor. With such benefits, even a tile-roofed house in Nancheng costs 300 yuan!"

"At this price, people are reluctant to sell it."

"Hey, this is Tianjin, but you can buy a small yard!"

The merchants were stunned, and the diners nearby also heard it with gusto, not to mention the sense of pride in their hearts.

Xiao Er listened with gusto, suddenly, with sharp eyes, he caught a glimpse of a carriage through the window, and immediately ran out to meet him:

"Are you going to the top or staying in the hotel?"

As expected of the capital, the waiters in the shop are all dressed in cotton clothes.

An old man who was nearly fifty years old got out of the carriage. He was dressed in a half-worn cotton robe, which was combed neatly. He got out of the carriage directly.

Looking up, the four big characters of Yuelai Inn were mostly covered by wind and snow, and the cover had already been frozen hard.

"Stay in the hotel, do you have a room?" At this moment, a tall man stepped forward.

"Yes, yes." Xiaoer nodded hurriedly.

"Come to two good guest rooms, and another guest room, take the horses to the stables by the way, feed more concentrated feed, by the way, prepare a table of three dishes and one soup for me—"

"Okay——" After accepting the two silver dollars, Xiao Er said with a smile: "You can live until the day after tomorrow, and you will pay for meals..."

It's so expensive!
The young man glanced at the back, and the old man nodded slightly, before he said: "Enough."

So, the servants brought the carriage and entered from the backyard, while the old and the young went directly into the inn.

As soon as the curtain was lifted, a wave of heat rushed over.

Not long after the two of them sat down, the servants also came, just as the food was served.

Looking at the hot pot tables nearby, the young man couldn't help but ask, "Dude, what is this?"

"You don't know, this is a popular way to eat it recently. It's called hot pot. It's eaten with mutton, not to mention how delicious it is."

Xiaoer hurriedly said, "Do you want to try?"

"No need." At this time, the old man sitting in the chair spoke, his weathered face was full of rejection.

"Teacher, the scenery of this capital city is quite different from that of Shaanxi." The young Guo Mi couldn't help admiring in a low voice.

At this time, Gu Yanwu couldn't help but agree: "The capital is rich in food and drink, and it is the best in the world."

"However, this kind of prosperity is only caused by the supply of materials in the world. A city consumes no less than a province. Even if there is no Beijing, there are Nanjing, Tokyo, etc..."

After traveling around the world for a long time, Gu Yanwu went through hardships, but it was the first time he came to Beijing City, and he felt quite emotional for a while.

In fact, the sudden selection of him as the historian was beyond everyone's expectations, and Gu Yanwu couldn't react to it himself.

When he wanted to refuse, but the disciples and relatives around him advised him one by one, he had no choice but to agree.

During this period of time, his mood has calmed down. He thought to himself that traveling the north and south of the river was like looking for the reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Now that he is a historian, he has not been let down.

The next day, Gu Yanwu took his student Guo Mi to the Zhao Mansion to ask for a meeting.

The fact that he was appointed as a historian this time was due to the recommendation of the chief assistant, but Gu Yanwu found out later that it was indeed the case.

He is not a pedantic person, and he still understands reciprocity.

At this moment in the Zhao Mansion, that is, outside the gate of Duke Feng's mansion, there was a long queue of civil and military officials waiting to see him, all wanting to see the chief assistant.

Gu Yanwu sighed inwardly, and still sent the name card, along with a silver dollar.

He was quite polite and lined up directly.

"That's it for you?" Seeing Gu Yanwu's attitude, the man on his body couldn't help but said, "Brother, do you dare to give me a dollar?"

"One dollar is quite a lot." Gu Yanwu smiled lightly.

"Hey, in front of Shoufu's gate, even ten yuan is a starting point." The man said helplessly:

"I'm the nephew of the chief nurse's nanny. Just for this, I also stuffed 20 yuan. It might be difficult to see each other today."

"You, I'm afraid I have to wait until the end of time."

Suddenly, the side door of the mansion was opened.

The man turned pale with fright, like a vulture saw a dying animal, he took three steps at a time, his face flushed and he rushed forward, trying to flock to the threshold that symbolizes the future.

It's a pity that the servants have rich experience and quickly stabilized the situation.

Looking at this farce, Gu Yanwu felt more and more ridiculous in his heart, and his desire to be in the officialdom became more and more weak.

"Is Mr. Gu in Kunshan?"

"Is Mr. Ting Lin there?"

The butler courteously called him by different names, and looked around, as if looking for his soul mate.

Gu Yanwu stepped forward, raised his head and said, "I'm next, Gu Yanwu."

"My master is here, please come with me—"

The housekeeper was overjoyed, and hurriedly led the way cautiously, crossed the threshold, and entered the small door that haunted people's hearts and minds.

At this moment, everyone was shocked.

Including the nephew of the nanny, it can be said that he was stunned and regretful.

The Duke of Feng's mansion is huge in scale, but it is gorgeous and restrained, without the slightest sense of extravagance and extravagance, which makes Gu Yanwu couldn't help but nod:

It is worthy of being the head of civil servants who assist the emperor.

"Mr. Huating, I've heard about you for a long time, and it's really a great luck for Zhao to meet you today."

Zhao Shu was dressed in a leisurely long robe, and his long hair was pinned up by a hosta. Obviously, it was still time to take a rest.

Gu Yanwu complimented them, and the two sat down and began to talk about the revision of history.

"Your Majesty has set up a new history museum to compile the history of the Ming Dynasty..."

Zhao Shu said: "When the history of the former Ming Dynasty is compiled, the history of the Yuan Dynasty will also organize manpower to edit it. The old man is old and weak, so he can only supervise the revision as the president..."

Good guy, the president of the two history books...

When Gu Yanwu heard this, he gasped.

He is completely sour.

Why does this sound so uncomfortable?

After chatting about some ideas of history revision, Zhao Shu emphasized that the report must be impartial, and don't be taboo for the venerable. The emperor asked for only the word fair.

"Mister is a great talent, the post of historian must belong to you."

Zhao Shu summed up and appealed: "Tomorrow, there will be a message in the court, you can prepare for your majesty first—"

"How can this old man be able to thank His Majesty for your concern?"

Gu Yanwu felt that he had been shocked a lot this day, but now he became a little calmer.

Damn it, this is an audience with the emperor!
He had long wanted to meet this man who regained the country and rejuvenated the Ming Dynasty.

You must know that the number of civilians who can be received by the emperor in this world can be counted on one hand.

"Your Majesty has missed you for a long time..."

After leaving these words, Zhao Shu served tea to the guests.

Gu Yanwu left the Mansion of Duke Guo, and sat on the carriage with a lot of worries in his mind.
The roads in the capital are wide and flat, and pedestrians and vehicles travel on the right side in an orderly manner.

As for the snow on the road, it has been shoveled long ago and transported to the outside of the city by trucks.

After he returned to the inn, he found a remote place, listening to the words of the guests, while full of thoughts.

"This man, maybe we can join a table?"

When he closed his eyes and rested his mind, suddenly a voice came from his ear.

I saw two men in their forties approaching, gentle and gentle, with a kind of imposing manner in their words.

When Gu Yanwu saw it, he immediately realized that the two were officials.

One of them surprised him.

How can you be an official with a scar on your face?
"sit down!"

Gu Yanwu smiled, doubts arose in his heart.

The two people in front of them sat down unceremoniously.

"To tell you the truth, the mutton hot pot here is the most authentic. I heard that the shopkeeper has something to do with Datong yellow mutton—"

Huang Zongxi sat down, said a word, and said to Gu Yanwu:
"I'm Huang Zongxi, styled Taichong, from Yuyao, Zhejiang."

As he said that, he pointed to Wang Fuzhi who had a scarred face beside him: "This person's name is Wang Fuzhi, his name is Ernong, and he is from Hengyang County, Huguang."

"I'm Gu Yanwu, a native of Kunshan, Southern Zhili."

Gu Yanwu was amazed, how could he report himself as soon as he came up?

"It really is Mr. Ting Lin."

Huang Zongxi was overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed respectfully: "I heard that Mr. came to Beijing to serve as a historian, we specially searched for it, and it turned out to be true."

Gu Yanwu was startled: "How do you know me?"

Wang Fuzhi on the side said: "After Mr. visited Zhao Daizhou (Zhao Shu's hometown), we happened to pass by, followed all the way, found a few shops, and finally found it."

"Not good—" Gu Yanwu exclaimed, and said with a broken smile: "This time the whereabouts have been exposed."

"It's still early for the two of us. I'm afraid there will be an endless stream of people coming to visit after a while. It's better to make some plans early, sir."

Wang Fuzhi suggested.

"Forget it, soldiers will come to block you, water will come to cover you, sooner or later they will come." Gu Yanwu shook his head, and said to the two of them:
"From now on, you can't escape in the capital."

"It's just that, if it's as expected, this Mr. Wang should be a member of the officialdom, why?"

Wang Fuzhi was helpless, while Huang Zongxi explained with a smile: "In order to save my father, Brother Wang had to slash his cheek and avoid the thief..."

With this explanation, Gu Yanwu immediately had a good impression of Wang Fuzhi.

Seeing this, Huang and Wang hurriedly asked questions, and the more they chatted, the more they felt about some of Huang Zongxi's opinions.

For a while, it was almost dark.

The three of them couldn't get enough of it.

"Unconsciously, the two of you actually feel like confidants—"

Although Gu Yanwu had the highest reputation among the three, he was also the most surprised.

These years of visiting the world, it seems that his thoughts are almost non-existent, and he never thought that he would see it today.

For a moment, he had an idea in his heart:
This time going north, the biggest gain is not the position of historian, but these two close friends, right?

At this time, in the Forbidden City, Zhu Yixi was reviewing the proposals.

The cabinet is on duty to rest and bathe, but he, the emperor, does not rest all year round, which is really too miserable.

But there is no way, to work for myself, I can only bear the burden of hard work.

At this time, Yang Le, the admiral of Dongchang, entered quietly. After seeing the engrossed emperor, he notified Liu Afu.

The latter nodded, but did not act.

After staying for a while, when the emperor was resting, he took advantage of the gap and said, "Master, Admiral Yang is here."

"Oh? Let him come over."

Soon, Yang Le came to the emperor and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, after Gu Yanwu arrived yesterday, he went to see the chief assistant today, and the two chatted very happily..."

"understood."

Hearing Gu Yanwu's name, Zhu Yixi's whole body vibrated, feeling full of energy.

"Give him an oral order to enter the palace tomorrow—"

"Yes!"

While chatting here, suddenly a eunuch came quickly, Liu Afu frowned and hurried over: "You damned, disturbed His Majesty, beat your ass to death."

"Godfather, good news from the northwest—"

The eunuch trembled, pointed outside and said, "The messenger has arrived in the imperial city."

Surprised, Liu Afu hurried up to report.

bass--

The emperor stood up abruptly, his expression excited.