Daming Yinghua

In July of the 48th year of Wanli, the northernmost end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Tongzhou.

The wharf closest to the capital of the empire is mainly used for the berthing of grain and troop transport ships from the south.

Ordinary passenger ships and merchant ships have to disembark passengers and goods at Zhangjiawan Wharf dozens of miles away, and then people and goods enter Beijing city by car and horse.

The boat hired by Dong Qichang and Zheng Haizhu, because of the investigation and cooperation of the imperial court, has a strong background, so they enjoy the privilege of a tank boat, and they sail directly to stop near the Tongzhou Randeng Tower, so that everyone can avoid the dust and turbulence of fifty miles.

It was noon when we disembarked. Everyone had a good night's sleep and was in good spirits.

Dong Qichang took the initiative to ask: "Miss Zheng, the Lantern Tower in Tongzhou, together with Liuhe Pagoda in Hangzhou, Wenfeng Pagoda in Yangzhou, and Relic Pagoda in Linqing, are collectively called the Four Canal Towers. Miss Zheng, would you like to visit?"

Zheng Haizhu knew that Dong Qichang believed in Buddhism, so he had to donate a lot of money to buy a wind chime and hang it on the pagoda.

If she goes with her, as a junior, it's not very polite to join in the donation.But with her character of not worshiping any gods, and only loving the heroes and common people in the world, she is reluctant to exchange the waste of money for raising soldiers and farmers for a broken copper bell, and hang it on the top of the tower to listen to it.

I was even more reluctant to waste time looking at the temple. This place is at least fifty miles away from Tiananmen Square in later generations. If you enter the city and then come out, you will be in trouble.Why don't you take this opportunity to learn about the people's sentiments on the outskirts of the capital.

Zheng Haizhu then declined and said: "Dong Gong and Master Ting go to worship the Buddha. I'll take a look around. The waterwheel in the field looks powerful. Let's learn from it."

Dong Qichang's grandson, Dong Ting, was careful, he had already heard about the troubles caused by refugees in the north, and he still had a fresh memory of the green-skinned gangsters besieging Dong's house, so he hurriedly said: "I will separate a family member to protect Mrs. Zheng."

Zheng Haizhu nodded at him to thank him: "Master Duo Chengting is concerned, Li Daniu is good at martial arts, Hua Er also learned some kung fu in Chongming, with him two following, we don't go to weird places, it doesn't matter. After an hour, it's still Meet here."

After Zheng Haizhu experienced being kidnapped by the Jurchen, she didn't dare to be too big. This time, she went to Beijing and took Li Daniu with her as a bodyguard. At the same time, she also asked him to take a look around. He set up two points in Beijing. Mrs. An Yuan came forward as Mrs. Anyuan, and set up a small house, similar to the Zheng family's Beijing office. The second is to find a shop, which is the collection and delivery organization of the Haoming Trading Company in the capital. It is an intelligence station in the dark, which is the past of the Yanzhou Intelligence Central Station. north extension.

Hua Er, a girl from the Liao people, came to Beijing together.Originally, Hua Er was on a business trip with Song Yingxing, from Chongming to Yanzhou Coal Mine, thinking about making water pumps.

This little girl is now older than her elder brother, and her thoughts are maturing quickly. Hearing that Mrs. Zheng is going to the capital, she insists on being a entourage to protect her safety and take care of her daily life.

At the moment, Dong and Zheng parted ways and went their separate ways.

It is not the first time that Zheng Haizhu has come to Beijing after time travelling.

After the Battle of Fushun and the Battle of Minghe Sea, the imperial court declared her to receive the order of the sixth rank.She was in a hurry to go back to the south of the Yangtze River to handle the matter of emigrating to Chongming Island. She met Zhang Quan, who had been promoted to a court official, at the Ministry of War, and left Beijing in a hurry after getting the report.

Although the days of his stay were short, Zheng Haizhu remembered that, except for Huangzhuang, a large amount of land in the capital area was abandoned.After she returned to Songjiang, she specifically asked Huang Zunsu for advice.

At that time, Huang Zunsu told her quite angrily that Yongle had moved the southern capital to the north, and had recruited a large number of people to come to Beijing to grow food.There is no shortage of water near Beijing. With the encouragement of the imperial court, many paddy fields were opened in the suburbs of Beijing. Haidian, Tongxian, Liangxiang, and even Jishuitan in the city have large paddy fields.Among dry-grown grains, wheat, sorghum, and soybeans are also abundant, and there is no shortage of vegetables and fruits.

However, with the establishment of the capital, a large number of officials and honorable officials who had made enough political capital in the Jingnan Battle poured into the capital, and the members of the Zhu family's clan multiplied even more surprisingly.These privileged groups occupy a large amount of land and turn the farmland into farmland. First they grow cotton, and now they grow tobacco, making huge profits.As for food, these nobles and officials have a lot of wealth and can buy food from the south at a high price.At the same time, heavy taxes were concentrated on the dwindling number of farmer growers, forcing them to abandon their land and become refugees.

Unexpectedly, what you see today is not what it used to be.Standing on the bridge in Tongzhou and looking far away, the fields are surrounded by golden fields, reflecting the clear blue sky. The rich and beautiful scenery makes people happy.

In just two years, there have been so many changes. Zheng Haizhu speculated that the official in charge of agricultural affairs in Gyeonggi should have changed based on the same principles of the past and the present.

She turned her head, just in time to see Hua Er licking her dry and peeled lips.

"Let's go, let's eat a bowl of tea soup first. Whether it's Liaodong, Shandong, or our Jiangnan, you can't see dim sum."

Tongzhou is a big wharf, and the taverns and dining sheds by the river are crowded and lively.

Zheng Haizhu found a house with a large copper pot at the door and a storytelling table inside, and took Hua Er and Li Daniu in and sat down.

Hua Ertou came back to Beijing, staring at a pair of big eyes, seeing everything fresh.I saw the clerk in the shop squatting firmly with his legs spread apart, holding the big bowl with his left hand and the copper pot with his right hand. With a sudden shake, a trickle of water rushed straight into the bowl, and within a few breaths, the clerk It is also necessary to turn the bowl around so that the sorghum noodles in it can be evenly soaked with water, and will be completely cooked in a short time.

This method of preparing sorghum millet and brown candy, preserved pine nuts and walnuts in a bowl in advance, and boiling them in boiling water is like making tea, so it is called "tea soup".

Hua Yixin said, darling, I rely on my hands to make a living, whether it's driving a mule cart, or following Mr. Song to make a wooden machine, it's not as difficult as making tea soup.If the hot water column is a little bit off by an inch, wouldn't it be hot to the hand.

Opposite her and Li Daniu, Zheng Haizhu focused on Mr. Storyteller.

The Beijing dialect of the Ming Dynasty, in terms of pronunciation, is already relatively close to the chanting of modern Peking Opera. Zheng Haizhu, who was familiar with Huizhou merchants’ speech and Kunqu opera pronunciation in Songjiang, had no difficulty listening to Zhang Quan’s subordinates when he was ordered by the Ministry of War.

But the storyteller is different, the people in the market, mixed with a lot of northern slang, it is naturally more difficult for outsiders to distinguish.

After Zheng Haizhu heard the clue, he couldn't help being a little surprised, and asked a table next to him: "Brother, sir, are you talking about Chuanguo Yuxi?"

The diner who was questioned had a neat long gown, and a plaque with his surname engraved on his waist, he should be a portman.

In the words of later generations, everyone in this business is a social master, and when they meet a polite little woman, they immediately start to talk, and they speak harder than the storyteller. Recaptured in Li, Emperor Jianwen took Yuandun in the battle of Jingnan, and now reappeared in the land of the Central Plains, and said it all over again.

Zheng Haizhu was not interested in such nonsense as soon as the jade seal came out and locusts retreated. He just wondered how many years had passed since the Jingnan battle, and why it suddenly became the subject of storytelling.

In Songjiang, although scholars also discussed the right and wrong of Emperor Jianwen's cutting down the vassal, they did not involve the nagging news of Yuxi's reappearance.

The news of the creation of gods among the people, such as the public opinion of later generations, is mostly inspired by someone.

The storyteller in front finished his work and hurried to the next scene.Zheng Haizhu brought out another doubt, and asked Yaren why there was a sudden bumper rice harvest in the south of Beijing.

The tooth man had a bright head, and he laughed as soon as he heard it: "The elder sister came back, two years ago, right? At the beginning of last year, the court asked Zuo Yushi to take care of our farming in the suburbs of Beijing. He is from the south and knows rice. When the sluices and dams are built, they will also be exempted from the two taxes, will be given cattle, and people will be recruited from Hebei to farm the land.”

"Zuo Yushi?" Zheng Haizhu thought, it should be Zuo Guangdou.

Calculate the time, who else is not him.