The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 429: I don't know how long I can struggle? (Please subscribe and vote)

In the quiet afternoon, the blazing sun poured down without any shielding, illuminating the entire city of Beijing, as if it were a huge furnace. In the unbearable hot weather, everything seemed to be drained of its vitality and spirit, and was listless. Even on the Zhengyangmenwai Street, which was usually busy and noisy, the pedestrians' steps were dragging and weak at this moment, and every step seemed to use up all their strength. The tall and majestic arrow tower of Zhengyangmen, in the steaming heat around it, seemed like an illusory shadow, swaying faintly.

The pace of Beijing is slow, and under the scorching sun, it seems even more lazy and undisciplined. However, Wang Youli, a waiter at Yutai Teahouse outside Zhengyangmen, was very busy at this time. He carried a large teapot with a long spout and shuttled between tables of tea drinkers. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, soaking his clothes, but he had no time to wipe them off. He had to use his Beijing accent to greet a few familiar customers from time to time.

This Yutai Teahouse is a real time-honored brand. It is said that it was opened by a servant of a certain iron-hat royal family. It has stood outside Zhengyang Gate for more than a hundred years. The teahouse sells all kinds of fragrant teas and also provides simple snacks and meals. Every day, those Eight Banners gentlemen who carry bird cages and take a leisurely walk come here to rest their legs, taste the tea, and play with birds when they are tired. Their leisurely and comfortable appearance is really envied by others. There are also those masters who come to Beijing from other places to seek jobs. This is also their frequent gathering place. They all hope to get to know some servants with backers and find ways to make money.

Don’t be fooled by the bustling crowds and the noise, which may not seem like a place of filth and corruption, but in fact, there is “someone to back you up” behind the scenes, and it is as stable as Mount Tai! Those foreign gentlemen who come here from thousands of miles away to look for opportunities can really find some hope here.

The young man Wang Youli was very clever. With just one glance, he could tell who was the Eight Banner Lord, who was the slave with real power, who was the swindler, and who was the "official for nothing" who borrowed money to rent an official position and tried his best to plunder the land to make a profit. That's right, it was "for nothing". Compared with the bannermen who were a little ambitious, wasn't it "for nothing"?

These "officials" were the gods of wealth in Wang Youli's eyes. With just a handful of copper coins, he could quietly tell the other party which table to go to to find the long-awaited way... Relying on this trick of "helpers pointing the way", he actually saved nearly 300 taels of silver in the past two years, enough to buy a moderately large manor in the new area outside the Great Wall, where Han people were allowed to purchase land. So Wang Youli secretly planned that when he saved up 1,000 taels of silver, he would say goodbye to Beijing, sell his shabby courtyard outside Chaoyang Gate, and go to the Great Wall to buy a spacious manor. In the future, he would no longer have to serve people in Beijing, but go to the Northeast to be a free and easy landlord.

However, his beautiful vision has been shattered by the increasingly cruel reality recently - it is increasingly difficult to "rent" an official position in the Qing Dynasty! Although there are still many masters from other places in Yutai Teahouse, they come here not to run for office, but to discuss politics! The walking officials in the Political Affairs Office all have the title of a sixth-rank civil servant, receive a meager salary, have no money for maintaining integrity, and cannot be transferred to other positions. At the end of their five-year term, they have to pack up and return to their hometowns, and cannot be re-elected. In Wang Youli's view, this is simply an official position that only adds troubles and makes him unhappy. I really don't know which person with a wild imagination came up with this.

It just so happened that this group of people were walking around in the Council of Political Affairs, and their enthusiasm for discussing politics was still very high. The Council of Political Affairs had not even officially opened yet, but they gathered in the teahouse outside Zhengyang Gate every day, speaking in different accents and talking loudly, as if the emperor could really hear their gossip and adopt their suggestions.

Wang Youli, who had finally finished his work, was expecting to get some reward money, but he ended up with nothing - oh, these people in the Council of State Affairs are all very poor! Even the bannermen who used to be generous have become stingy now. Helplessly, he could only hold the teapot, shrink to the side with his head down, and listen to the poor and happy people in the Council of State Affairs talking about everything under the sun.

"If you ask me, the old days were comfortable... Back then, there was no foreign tobacco, no Western affairs, and no long-haired people who believed in foreign religions were messing around all day. The common people were honest and dutiful, guarding their own small plots of land and paying rent obediently when the season came. We scholars could immerse ourselves in the books of sages without distraction, ignoring the troubles outside the window, and focus on reading the classics left by our ancestors. How worry-free!"

The speaker sounded like a Shandong gentleman, with a face full of worries that seemed to be unable to be dispelled. His words of emotion immediately attracted the echoes of the people around him, with praises of "good, good, fair, fair" coming one after another.

Wang Youli, who was sitting on the side and fanning himself with a big fan, also agreed in his heart that the past was indeed better! Back then, if a scholar won the title of Juren, he could go to the Ministry of Personnel to take the examination, and if he passed the Jinshi examination, he could go to the Ministry of Personnel to wait for the imperial examination. Whether it was taking the examination or waiting for the imperial examination, it was inevitable to have connections, and naturally he, the young master Wang, would also have a share of the benefits. How could it be like this now?

"The long-haired people are now very powerful. The foreigners are even more outrageous. They have expanded their concessions to the area of ​​Tianjin. Looking at the current situation, it is impossible to go back to the past! But then again, we should stay away from foreign affairs as much as possible, and avoid getting into trouble!"

Another old man with a Tianjin accent expressed his opinion. Wang Youli listened and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, that's the way to do it!"
"If you ask me, the Qing dynasty's Westernization was ultimately for two things: foreign guns and foreign fireworks. Don't learn from the Taiping rebels and try to learn from the foreigners in order to defeat them. They even threw away the principles passed down by our ancestors and spent their days tinkering with the foreign devils' strange and cunning tricks. They also made some weird foreign books for scholars to learn. It's really a disgrace to society."

This councilor, who must have stayed in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's territory for a while, probably taught himself elementary mathematics, but did not achieve anything significant.

As soon as he said this, it seemed as if he had spoken to everyone's heart, and everyone around him immediately nodded in agreement.

Wang Youli also felt that what the councillor said was very true. Foreign guns and foreign cigarettes can be bought with money. It is a waste to get involved in more. Moreover, too much foreign affairs will easily disturb people's hearts. Once people's hearts are disturbed, how can the world be peaceful? If the world is not peaceful, it will be more difficult to rent an official position, and even he, a waiter, will not be able to make money.
"But there are so many ordinary people in this world, but there are so few good fields and soil. What can we do?"

Suddenly, an old man with a Hunan accent asked a question that left everyone speechless. Yutai Teahouse fell silent, leaving only low, suppressed sighs. The speaker was a middle-aged man with a thin face and high cheekbones, who looked to be in his thirties, with a goatee and sparkling eyes. His surname was Peng, his given name was Yulin, and his courtesy name was Xueqin.

Opposite him sat a pale-faced scholar with a sad face and a paper fan. It was Huang Shijie.

"Xueqin, why are you bringing this up?"

Huang Shijie sighed, took out a few copper coins from his pocket, threw them on the table, then turned to Peng Yulin and said, "Let's go, let's go back!"

As they spoke, the two of them stood up together, walked out of Yutai Teahouse, and walked slowly along Zhengyangmenwai Street towards the tall and majestic Zhengyangmen.

At this time, there were few pedestrians on Zhengyangmenwai Street. In the shadows on both sides of the street, many dishevelled and dying beggars huddled. Seeing Huang Shijie and Peng Yulin approaching, they seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw, and struggled to raise the broken bowls in their hands, muttering "please be kind" and "give me something to eat".

When Huang Shijie saw these people, his thoughts seemed to be instantly pulled back to that afternoon in Etang...the afternoon when Luo Yaoguo had not yet entered Etang!
He sighed again, took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, and threw them to the beggars, letting them snatch them away. However, an indescribable melancholy appeared on his face: "It's better to go back to the past!"

Peng Yulin, who was standing beside him, was startled when he heard this: "In the past? Weren't there beggars everywhere in the streets in the past?"

Huang Shijie smiled bitterly and replied: "In the past, they would slowly starve to death."

After saying this, he took big strides and walked towards Zhengyang Gate without looking back.

"Mine, mine, this is mine."

When Huang Shijie was leaving, Peng Yulin heard a young man shouting. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a ragged young beggar of about twelve or thirteen years old wrestling with two tall and thin adult beggars. The young man's fists were tightly clenched, presumably holding the copper coins he had just robbed. The two adult beggars punched the young man and shouted, "Zhao Sanduo, give the copper coins to grandpa!"

"If you don't want to hand it over, then I won't hand it over." The boy was also stubborn and suddenly shouted, "I will fight you!"

Then, he used all his strength to charge at one of the tall beggars, knocking him to the ground, and then ran away. In his panic, he didn't see the road ahead clearly and ran straight towards Peng Yulin.

Peng Yulin dodged the boy and turned to watch the thin figure disappear at the nearby intersection. He just shook his head and sighed inaudibly, "Another person who refuses to be a starving corpse. I wonder how long he can struggle?"

After saying this, he sighed again, then turned around and walked along Zhengyang Gate towards the inner city of Beijing.
(End of this chapter)