Emperor Ming Dynasty

"Squeak-"

Sakai Tadashiri pushed open the door and window, and there was a commotion in front of him, followed by rouge and gouache all over his nose.

"Yeah—"

Sneezing, he unconsciously waved the air with his hand, as if he could fan it away.

Looking around, there was a layer of frost on the window sill.

He stretched out his hand, and a little rainwater floated into his palm, which was icy cold, telling the end of autumn and the arrival of winter.

"It's only the beginning of October, and it's going to be winter."

Sighing, Sakai Tadashiri closed the window.

In the room, the kang is not yet burned, revealing a smooth black earth color. The most eye-catching thing is a tatami mat, on which is a thin gray-white quilt, pressed by a wooden table, and there are several Four Books and Five Classics, as well as essays. .

"It's time to burn the kang."

After taking off his wooden clogs, he put on stockings uncomfortably, only to find that his thumb had a hole and he was wearing ankle hooks: "It's time to change the socks."

He put on the thick-soled cloth shoes, weighed them a few times, then took them off again, and put on a pair of cloth boots again, with a layer of wool patched inside, which was warm.

He casually took the trousers from the hanger and put on the long robe and shirt. If he wasn't shorter, who would be able to tell that he was Japanese?

After the Ming emperor conferred the shogun as the king of Japan, and formulated the three major regulations of commerce, tribute, and military support (sharing half of the military expenses of the Ryukyu Navy), Japan was ashamed.

Of course, the national policy of closing the country to the outside world has not wavered, but the idea of ​​sending Tang envoys to Daming has become more and more serious.

Last year, thirty or so people, including him, came to Daming Guozijian to study together.

The Ming court has nothing to do with it, and the Guozijian also welcomes it.

As a result, students like him are also supervisors and have the qualifications to participate in the general examination.

Sakai Tadakatsu is the grandson of Sakai Tadakatsu. After he had no possibility of inheriting the Kawagoe Domain, he would rather come to Beijing than guard the fief of hundreds of stones.

If you pass the Jinshi examination and stay in Daming, you will have a great official career, and once you return to China, you can expect great success.

Also like this, he couldn't bear the poverty of Guozijian, so he could only rent a yard outside, and two personal attendants followed him, but he lived a decent life.

Since it is near the Guozijian, there are naturally many brothels, and the smell of rouge in the air cannot be removed no matter what.

At this time, a clerk rolled up his sleeves and carried two large boxes of lunch boxes on his shoulders, which were eight stories high and about three feet high.

Wrapped in a circle of cotton cloth, only a little face is revealed, knowing that it is a lunch box, but those who don't know it think it is a big lantern!
"Guest officer, the meal you ordered has arrived."

"Young master, breakfast is ready."

At this time, a short man walked out of the yard, hurriedly bowed and said, "You have worked hard."

"You're too polite." The clerk was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly, "You seem so petty and ignorant."

The man took the lunch box, and saw a bowl of lean meat porridge, a big bun, a bowl of soy milk, and four gray-black steamed buns beside it.

"Don't sprinkle a drop, you are really amazing."

"Where, we rely on this to eat."

As he said that, the man lined up a row of copper coins, and finally counted out one copper coin, and added five more copper coins.

"Enough, go back quickly, lest it gets cold, I will pick up the lunch box later."

The guy nodded with a smile, shouldered the heavy burden again, and walked away in three steps at a time.

The man picked up the lunch box, took out four fist-sized steamed buns, stuffed two into his chest, then walked to the room, and gave the two steamed buns to the two who were busy with their accounts.

Here, Tadashi Sakai had just changed his clothes when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in--"

Xiao Xing, who was dressed as a servant, walked in with a plate.

Sakai Tadashiri took a look, the third child said:
Yellow and white meat buns, soy milk, white rice porridge.

A small dish of pickles is radish and beans.

"This is in Japan, I'm afraid it's nothing more than a feudal lord!"

Sakai Tadashi sighed.

He picked up the soy milk and took a sip. The faint sweetness poured into his mouth, making people drink it up unconsciously, with endless aftertaste.

Licking the remaining soy milk on his lips, Sakai Tadashiro said, "Why did you add sugar?"

Xiao Xing said: "Young master, sugar has become cheaper recently. In the past, adding sugar cost three pennies, but now it only costs two pennies."

"You study hard day and night, exhausting your energy, and adding some sugar can make up for it."

"I see."

Tadashi Sakai agreed with his opinion, then picked up the bun with chopsticks, took a big bite, ate up the meat filling, then put the skin into the porridge, stirred it and ate it.

A word of praise from time to time, it is extremely delicious.

"Zhao's steamed buns are really good, and the soy milk can be ground well."

Sakai Zhongcheng patted his stomach and said with a smile: "Go to his house to buy, you can't go wrong."

Xiao Xing said helplessly: "My lord, the Zhao family's steamed stuffed buns are pretty good, but they cost three penny each, which is one penny more expensive than ordinary people's."

"It's delicious, so why bother?"

Tadashi Sakai waved his hands.

At this time, another surname came over with an abacus and account book in one hand, and a steamed bun in his mouth: "Master, you spend so much, we may not be here for a few days."

"I brought 300 taels of gold, which is 3000 yuan when converted into silver dollars. How could it not be enough?"

Tadashi Sakai did not suspect that the two of them were guarding against themselves, but felt that they were deliberately saving themselves.

"My lord, you are renting the yard. Since it is close to the Imperial College, it costs 20 yuan a year. We are not good at Tang food, so you buy food every now and then."

"Buying books, eating flowers and wine, poetry gatherings, and eating, in just one and a half years, it cost 2000 yuan."

"No rush." ​​Tadashi Sakai breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that there was still 1000 yuan left: "Next April, it will be Chunwei, a certain high school, and will be named on the gold list."

Xiao Xing hesitated for a while: "What if..."

"If you fail the exam, then take the exam again."

Sakai Zhongcheng gritted his teeth and said, "Let my father send another 300 taels of gold..."

The two surnames almost broke the defense.

After breakfast, Sakai Tadashi came out slowly.

Xiao surname followed behind, carrying a basket containing a change of clothes.

Even though he has been in Daming for more than a year, Xiao Xing is still a little unaccustomed to the bustling streets.

There are countless peddlers and pawns selling candied haws, pruning and sharpening kitchen knives.

The shops facing the street are full of goods and dazzling, people are unconsciously invested in it, and it is difficult to extricate themselves.

Sakai Zhongcheng stopped in a clothing store: "Winter is coming, I have to order a cotton coat."

step in.

One piece of clothes, four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, men, women, young and old, seven kinds of red, white, blue, green, gray and black, all kinds of clothes, dizzying.

The tailor asked if it was a winter coat, so he picked up a ruler and measured it.

After tossing up and down, he said: "There are three types of cotton in the store. First, ordinary black cotton and ordinary cotton cloth. They are bulkier, but still keep warm. Three pieces of clothes, trousers, and hats only cost five cents."

"Medium is snow-white silk cotton, top-quality Songjiang cotton, Tianjin cloth, and two silver coins."

"The best one is also Songjiang cotton. The surface is made of Suzhou satin and Suzhou embroidery, but there is an extra layer of wool inside, which is very warm. It only costs three silver dollars."

Sakai Zhongcheng naturally knew that Suzhou silk was good, so he immediately left a deposit and asked it to be delivered to the place of residence after it was finished.

After that, I passed by a mutton restaurant, slices of mutton were put into the hot pot, my mouth was full of saliva, and I was suddenly hungry after I had just filled my stomach.

"Dude, send two catties of mutton at noon..."

With a yell, Sakai Tadanagi walked away with lazy steps.

Turn left and turn right until you come to an alley.

Here, there are even more people of the three teachings and nine streams.

After going straight for thirty or fifty steps, a cover pierced my eyes:
bath.

It is as long as half a person, and it is especially eye-catching.

This is a bathhouse. Beijing is densely populated, and some people live on less than three feet of land. Bathing is a problem for ordinary people.

Therefore, a large number of bathhouses, also called mixed halls, came into being.

"go!"

Tadashi Sakai stepped in directly, and Xiao Xing hurriedly followed.

Stepping into the bathroom, a wave of heat hits the face, hitting people's eyes.

At the entrance, there is a large square made of white stone, which is divided into several squares.

The water in the big grid is hotter, and there are the most people, gray and black figures are densely packed, one by one, most of them are the people at the bottom, one penny at a time.

The heat is boiling, and there are waiters on the side heating up the soup from time to time, which seems to be able to scald the human skin, which is the most relieved from fatigue.

The medium grid is next, suitable for scholars and teenagers; the small grid is warmer, suitable for children.

But Tadashi Sakai didn't want to take a mixed bath here, so he turned a corner and climbed up the stairs.

Sure enough, when the curtains were lifted, there were bathrooms.

On the room, hung a series of wooden signs: peony, chrysanthemum, jasmine, autumn orchid, deer onion, tuberose, Mizuki, Susheng, red banana, etc., and so on.

Although the baths are not big, they are separated by a few feet, like small houses, with strong privacy.

Naturally, the sound insulation effect is the same.

This kind of business is for scholars, senior small business owners and the like, who pay attention to privacy and cleanliness.

"My lord, what kind of flower bath do you want?"

The man was wearing a single gown, with his arms wide open, very respectful.

"Chrysanthemum!"

Sakai Nakacheng thought for a moment and made a decision.

Xiao Xing had no choice but to take out a silver penny from her bosom, heartbroken.

After entering the chrysanthemum bath, the room is not big, a small square made of white stone, with a wooden plug at the end to prevent the water from flowing out.

There is a deck chair and a bench next to it.

Soon, two guys came with two big buckets of water, and the heat wave rolled over.

The water will soon be over half.

At this time, I brought two small buckets, one for hot water and one for cold water, and I added a pot of chrysanthemum petals, which can be sprinkled directly in the bath.

The guy asked respectfully: "Do you want to eat? I have sweet-scented osmanthus cake, water chestnut cake, kidney bean roll, fried chestnuts, sliced ​​cake..."

"No need, I just finished eating."

"How about picking out ears and clipping armor?"

"Let's get a set!"

"okay."

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, Sakai Tadashi shook his head and said, "Although the hot soup is good, it is not as good as our country's hot spring."

"However, Daming is so good that it makes people want to miss Shu. I really hope that I can pass the Jinshi exam and stay in the capital."

Xiao Xing was silent.

As soon as he left the alley, Tadashi Sakai could smell the smell of mutton all over his nose.

"Well, my nose has suffered again."

Helpless in his heart, he took a closer look and found a group of Tartars in Mongolian robes, exuding a strong smell of sheep and sweat, coming forward muttering.

A rough count shows that there are two to three hundred of them, filling the alleys.

To say that in Beijing, there are not many Tartars.

Every year in Suiyuan and Chahar, an unknown number of Mongolian nobles go to the capital to pay homage to the emperor and receive rewards.

Those nobles were even rewarded with mansions and allowed to stay in the capital for a long time.

But with such a big fanfare, it is rare to gather a crowd to come to the bathroom.

He couldn't help but stand outside, a few steps away, watching the excitement there.

The penniless men in the lobby immediately covered their noses, feeling very dissatisfied, and absolutely did not want to take a bath with the Tartars.

The steward of the bathhouse came out, covered his nose and said, "Although there are only customers coming and going, the shop is small and the customers are already full. You should find another place!"

Before the big Mongolian man could speak, a man in his thirties walked out, wearing royal blue satin and moccasin boots. As soon as he stood up, he frightened the steward.

Such an air of nobility exuded, and the steward immediately knew that he couldn't be offended, and hurriedly bent down: "I don't know what you want to do?"

"I am the scribe of Liao Wangfu. These big men are the distinguished guests of Liao Wang, so they are here to freshen up."

Before the steward could say anything, the man took out his money bag and directly discharged ten silver coins:
"I know you have one person for this article. I'll take care of it today, and let these big guys scrub and wash it. Let's take care of it!"

"Yes, yes!" The steward trembled all over, rushing to respond.

When the uneducated Hans heard that it was the king of Liao, they hurriedly wiped it clean, picked up their clothes and ran away.

In the blink of an eye, there was no one in the huge bathroom.

These Mongolians went into the bath in a hurry, and took off their clothes and washed them regardless of the dirt.

The steward was busy greeting, asked people to change the water and soup, and was busy.

Sakai Zhongcheng was stunned: "Why did the King of Liao recruit so many Tartars?"

He was quite clear about King Liao.

The fourth son of the emperor was entrusted to the Western Regions.

Because he likes to linger in the streets and alleys, brothels and restaurants, he has gained a huge reputation, and is even more famous among the Beijing population than the prince.

Here, King Liao settled the group of Mongols, and he couldn't wait to get acquainted with them before heading to the palace.

In mid-September is the annual Naadam Conference in Chahar, which is known as the Mongolian imperial examination, and he naturally cannot miss it.

"Your Highness—"

When Liu Afu saw King Liao, he showed a little smile: "Come quickly with your servant, Your Majesty is waiting for you!"

"Father is waiting for me?"

King Liao was taken aback for a moment, and his pace was faster.

When he arrived, he really saw the emperor waiting for him.

While eating hot-boiled mutton, he was petting the dog, waiting for him by the way.

"sit."

The emperor patted the dog's head and said casually, "This dog is the smartest in the fifth generation."

King Liao fixed his eyes and saw that the dog was yellow-haired, with sharp eyes, and sat on the ground with its buttocks, allowing the emperor to touch its head, very well-behaved.

He knew that the dog's grandfather was an old dog who accompanied the emperor when he was in Xi'an. When the emperor set up the shogunate in Huguang, he did not forget to give it a harem, where twenty or so bitches waited on him.

Although he died in the eighth year of Shaowu, his descendants continued to serve in the imperial city for generations and became part of the bodyguard department.

Jinyi jade food.

It vividly explains what is meant by a chicken and a dog ascending to heaven, and I don't know how many people want to replace it with their own bodies.

"By the way, you went to Chahar this time, how do you feel?"