National Tide 1980.

Chapter 972 Under the Rockery
"Old man, it's feasible to place these two pan peach plants here. It really does look like that when it's placed here. And it's not easy to move these two pan peach plants back and forth. If it is of average strength, no three or four people will be able to get it out. It is even more impossible to get out of the wall by going over the door. I guess if a thief can get in, they will not touch this thing. But the problem is that the porcelain I bought from Hongguang Pavilion is not safe to put here? Wouldn’t it be possible for someone to take it away at will? If you say there is a place to store it, don’t let me leave it unattended In an empty house? If that’s the case, I might as well put it in my uncle’s courtyard in Dongsishitiao. After all, there’s still Uncle Zhai watching there every day.”

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

He has a certain understanding of the Majia Garden for a long time, and he is more concerned about other issues.

For example, the security of placing things.

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

"What are you in a hurry for? I didn't say anything, just empty the house like this. We still have a cellar. If you put it in the cellar and lock it, it will be absolutely safe."

"And the cellar? Where is it?" Ning Weimin was surprised and asked in disbelief.

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

"It's far away in the sky and close in front of us, just under this rockery." Kang Shuode said.

"Oh, I see, you are talking about the vegetable cellar where the vegetables are stored."

Hearing the old man's words, Ning Weimin's eyes suddenly lit up, he thought he had figured out the cause and effect.

One must know that so many people lived in such a large yard as the Majia Garden.

Needless to say, it is definitely a big deal to use vegetables in winter, and of course a large vegetable cellar is needed.

Apart from other things, turnips, potatoes, onions and garlic can't be saved for thousands of catties?

The Chinese cabbage went with Dehai, and there are probably tens of thousands of catties.

Unexpectedly, he is still pretending to be smart.

The old man squinted his eyes and slowly shook his head, "You, you're thinking about it yourself again. Don't even think about how far this rockery is from the kitchen. It's plausible to have a vegetable cellar under here, and it takes two miles to go back and forth. Is it reasonable? Vegetable cellar? You can figure it out! It’s not that Ma’s family doesn’t have a vegetable cellar, but the vegetable cellar is just over the kitchen..."

These words immediately stunned Ning Weimin.

Yes, what the old man said makes sense, but I didn't consider it thoroughly enough.

Fortunately, Kang Shude didn't play tricks, and didn't talk nonsense, he simply waved his hand and took them to see it with their own eyes.

"Okay, I don't bother to talk about it. Lock the door, and come with me. Simply, I'll take you to recognize the place and open your eyes. After you read it, you will know better that the gates of the big houses in the past have passed What day is it?"

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

In the end, a few of them detoured from the west to the south slope and walked into a place that looked like a rockery cave.

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

Not only does the terrain rise in a gentle slope, it looks at least [-] centimeters higher than the outside, but there is also a large locked wooden board on the raised flat ground inside.

I saw Kang Shuode took out the key to open it again, and then lifted the wooden board, revealing a 1.2-meter-wide stone step inside, leading to the bottom in darkness—it turned out to be a secret underground entrance.

To be honest, at this time, no matter Ning Weimin, Xiao Tao, or Luo Guangliang, they all felt a little nervous at the thought of going down.

After all, people yearn for 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, it was inevitable that he would resist in his heart.

But then again, they were all five-foot-tall men. Seeing Kang Shuode lower his head and pick up the flashlight that had been placed at the entrance of the steps, he turned on the switch to illuminate it, and entered first.

Several young people looked at each other in blank dismay, and it was not easy to be cowardly, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow in.

I didn't expect to walk down until I found out that the steps are quite long.

The few of them, like gourd babies looking to settle accounts with a goblin, walked in the dark for a distance of at least ten meters, and then they reached a flat ground again.

It's strange to say that this place is obviously a door in front of it, but there are two wellheads on both sides outside the door, and there are well covers with raised stones carved with money eyes on them.

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

But if the old man didn't remind, whoever steps on it will sprain his foot, or trip and fall.

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

Several people heard the door knock, and saw an arched cave dwelling building in the halo of the old man's flashlight.

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

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

"This is the air-raid shelter!" Xiao Tao couldn't help but yelled first when he saw that there was a cave inside after the door was opened.

"No, it looks like, but there are lights in the air-raid shelter, but there is no light here. And the roof is too high, three to four meters. Why is the air-raid shelter so high?" Luo Guangliang walked in with Kang Shuode, using his own The lighter was illuminated with the old man's flashlight. After looking around for a while, he shook his head and gave it no.

"Then... is this the place where the pickles are stored? Or is it the wine cellar where the wine is stored?" Xiao Tao pointed in the direction of those jars.

"Impossible. Do pickles need to be stored underground? What's more, how much space do those jars take up? Even the imperial palace can't use such a large space to store pickles and wine? Don't even think about filling such a cellar." , how long will it take to eat?"

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

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

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

He didn't say anything, just waiting for Kang Shuode to verify Xiaotao's words.

But not surprisingly, the old man denied this statement again.

"Do you really dare to think that such a large place is used to store gold and silver treasures. How rich is this owner? No one has so much gold and silver. Of course, maybe the royal treasury can have it when there is an emperor. It’s grand. However, this gate doesn’t look like it. If it’s a treasure house, it must be guarded layer by layer, right? It’s not like this way, it’s all bald. Where do you look, there are guards waiting place?"

These words completely blocked the train of thought of Xiao Tao and Luo Guangliang.

It's just that Xiao Tao asked unwillingly.

"Then what is this place for? We really can't think of it. Old man, don't be foolish, just tell us..."

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

Seeing this building structure like the Beamless Hall of the Temple of Heaven, the walls, vaults and roof tiles are very thick with rammed earth, and there are no beams and pillars like a city gate, his heart is moved.

He knew that the construction cost of this kind of building was very high, let alone it was under a rockery.

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

Besides, why dig so deep?
The temperature here is so low, it’s not good for people to stay for a long time.

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

It is obviously impossible to fetch water, so it can only be...

After much deliberation, he was suddenly blessed, and he suddenly became enlightened.

Before Kang Shude could answer Xiaotao, he took over the conversation.

"I think it's an ice cellar! Isn't it, sir?"

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

Ning Weimin listed his reasons one by one.

"First of all, the air. I have been in charge of Tangong Restaurant, and our restaurant has cold storage. I have also been to the Polar Bear Factory, and I have seen their artificial ice workshop and warehouse. I am familiar with the feeling of entering the cold storage, so as soon as I entered, the air The coolness and special taste reminds me of the cold storage in my unit."

"Secondly, it is the two wells outside this door. It is such a deep underground, such a cold place, and it is not inhabitable, 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 workshops all have drainage ditches. They are also placed outside the door. I know that the most important thing to consider in the construction of ice storage is to consider drainage, so I suspect that the two holes outside the door are not wells but drainage outlets.”

"Finally, let's talk about the space. It's exaggerated to store anything in such a large place. Only ice is suitable. In the first two years, the moat can still see ice harvesters. Every block is so big. It used to be so big. There is no air conditioner or electric fan, so it has to be calculated according to the area of ​​the yard. Thinking about the ice consumed by the Ma family to keep things cool in the summer, I am afraid that they really need almost this warehouse of ice."

"Finally, let's talk about this location. From here, lay a board to pull the ice up, and there is a huge empty field outside. According to you, it is a place where you can splash water in winter and skate. Isn't it good to pull out the ice and use it to smash it? It’s also very convenient to distribute to the whole garden when it’s finished. It’s not suitable for storing vegetables, but it’s suitable for storing ice.”

Hearing this, Kang Shude really couldn't help but praise, this apprentice can be regarded as quick thinking.

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

"Well, that's a good point. If you're serious, you're still a bit smart."

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

"That's right, this is the ice cellar of the Ma family. It was built about four meters underground. The cellar foundation is solid. The bottom of the cellar is made of cypress pilings. The bottom is made of granite, and the walls are built of granite. It is inlaid with yellow glazed tiles. '. The two dry wells at the cellar door, the bottom of which is more than one meter deeper than the cellar bottom, is connected to the cellar, just as you guessed, it is to drain the ice water in the cellar."

"In the past, the Ma's family, the richest man in the capital, used ice from here in summer. They dug ice in the open space outside, once at noon and at night, and broke it into pieces and distributed them around the yard. I also came here to replace Mr. Song. After taking the ice, take it back to a bucket and put it in an ice basin. Putting it in the house can not only cool down, but also make fruit, mung bean soup and sour plum soup. It is very useful. So the rich people in the past were quite comfortable in summer. Thinking about those foreigners who come to Ma’s house, they always wonder why Ma’s house has ice cubes available at all times.”

"Wei Min, isn't your Tangong restaurant well-learned? Aren't the guests satisfied? Especially now that there are ceiling fans and electric fans. It will be more comfortable if you bring a basin of ice. And the ice cellar can also chill fresh fruit What about ice dew? It’s not only useful in summer. If you see if those jars are there, then put fruit in them.”

"In the past, when the autumn fruits were on the market every year, the Ma family would send special personnel to drive these jars into the mountains to buy fruits in a cart. People from the Ma family picked fresh fruits from the trees. The peeled apples, oranges, pears, and pines are carefully stacked one by one into the altar for storage, and put in the ice cellar when they come back. In this way, the Ma family still has fresh fruits to eat in the cold winter months until the early spring when the green is not harvested. The preserved fruit in Beijing is famous Right? But even if the honey-soaked ones are not made of sugar, they are only enjoyed by ordinary rich people. Only people like the Ma family who can eat fresh fruit in winter can be called real rich..."

At this point, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao, who were watching, finally realized the truth, and they couldn't help clicking their tongues secretly.

The heart said that the old society is evil!
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have believed that in the past years, someone could have lived such a life.

Damn, the rich family actually has such a big ice cellar.

Don't look at people today who can already use refrigerators, but in terms of it, they still can't compare with the rich people in the past.

Where is the reasoning?
As for Ning Weimin, he was full of excitement.

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

Not to mention the secret place, most people can't find it here.

Even if I found it and broke the lock, even the "Captain Mojin" might not have the guts to go down to see what happened, let alone move out.

The most important thing is that he never thought that Ma's house had an ice cellar.

This is equivalent to hundreds of square meters of space falling from the sky for nothing. Isn’t that a lot of money?

Don't look at the fact that now that you have an ice machine, you don't have to think about storing ice in your old age, but how can such a large place be used?

It is also suitable as a simple wine cellar.

Get his Moutai Wuliangye here later, and buy some Lafite or something to treat guests, so isn't it pretending to be big?

Just like that, Ning Weimin was so happy in his heart, he was happier than drinking two taels.

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

Ning Weimin was still interested, insisting that Master lead him to the small courtyard of the Jiang family, theater building, and Huadongzi previously occupied by the Ancient and Modern Culture Association.

He has to take a good look at the situation and think carefully about how to practice it.

(End of this chapter)