Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 854 The Market in Hangzhou City

Zhao Yingong said: "You are a local native of Hangzhou, so you can lead the way as you please."

Cai Shixin joined the mansion, knowing that the master's servants were all brought from Guangdong, and he was an "outsider" when he came in to serve, if he wanted to get ahead in the mansion, he had to figure out what he wanted.So everything is very careful.

This will require him to lead the way, this is a common place for his local aborigines, so he cheers up immediately.Guessing that the master is a son of a wealthy family from Guangdong, he should not care about ordinary entertainment.After arriving in Hangzhou, his daily life is moderate, and he is not in a hurry to go out for fun.It should not be as simple as coveting the prosperity and prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River to come to Hangzhou for pleasure, but to have other plans.Then I thought of sending him to the street to buy "Jin Gentleman" recently, and telling him to go to the yamen every day to buy morning newspapers and inquire about the prices of various commodities in the market. peddler.It's a little unpredictable.

After thinking about it again and again, I felt that taking this master to the busy city was not only a tour, but also a way to let the master understand the business situation, and it would definitely satisfy the master's wishes.Thinking of this, he made up his mind and led him to the main market in the city.

After turning a few alleys, the houses gradually became smaller and smaller, but no matter how small the houses were, they were all made of bricks and tiles. The streets were either paved with bricks or paved with gravel, which was still relatively neat.It's just that rubbish can be seen everywhere on the roadside and on the street, and when the wind blows, the dust is flying.In some places, there are no underground drains, and sewage flows across the open drains, mixed with a lot of garbage.

The burden of pedestrians and merchants on the road gradually increased, and there were clusters of traffickers and pawns.Zhao Yingong noticed that although there were not as many women making a living in the local area as in Guangdong, it was not uncommon.A considerable number of working women do not have their feet bound, and their appearance is not bad, but they are generally short in stature—of course, men are not tall.

Looking at the clothes of the people, they are much better than the people in many places along the way, and their expressions are more happy and stable. There are a large proportion of middle-class pedestrians wearing cheap silk or high-quality cotton linen.Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty was indeed a paradise on the land of China!
Of course, there are also quite a few beggars and vagrants, some begging along the streets, and some curled up under the eaves of small temples in the streets and alleys, all of them in tattered clothes and disheveled faces.However, this is a very common thing in this time and space, and it is no surprise to Zhao Yingong.

The prosperity of Hangzhou in the Ming Dynasty was far inferior to that of the Southern Song Dynasty, even compared with that of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties.However, this is the capital of a province after all, and Zhejiang is also a land of fish and rice, where the wealth and essence of the whole province gather here. "Water and land are the main points, Chinese and foreign markets are gathered, and department stores meet", and a considerable prosperity has been restored. Hangzhou City has "streets and alleys stretching for tens of miles... the people are flourishing and the products are abundant", and the streets are "vehicles". When the hub hits, people rub their shoulders."

Zhao Yingong followed Cai Shi all the way along the street, looking at the bustling scenery of Hangzhou in the 17th century, and for a true Song fan, the scenery in front of him made him sigh.This prosperous scene is ten times better than what he had imagined at the beginning, but what does it look like to walk in the prosperous scene at the beginning?
Seeing the master walking all the way, Cai Shi didn't say a word, but his face was complicated, with a look of regret, thinking, could this master Zhao have been to Hangzhou before?Have you ever had an adventure here?Thinking that this old man is already in his thirties, and his accent is also very strange, he probably used to be a traveler.

"Master, this is Shou'anfang City." Cai Shi said.Zhao Yingong knew that this was the "Flower Market" in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was a comprehensive market in the Ming Dynasty, selling all kinds of handicraft products, fruits and vegetables, candy, rice noodles, food, etc., as well as a night market.It is a relatively large market in Hangzhou.But this market has declined by the end of the Ming Dynasty, and its scale is less than one-tenth of its peak.

Zhao Yingong walked casually, there were many people crowded here, and there were many burdens, Cai Shi hurried forward and yelled to open the way.Zhao Yingong and his party walked slowly along the street among the crowd.

In ancient cities, the streets were narrow. According to the standards of old time and space, the widest "street" along the way was nothing more than a wider "alley".The width is only five or six meters.Barely can run the level of two cars.However, the ground is still neatly paved with stone slabs.In addition to the shops, there are many vendors along the street that occupy more than half of the inside, and the signs of the shops on both sides extend into the street, which looks densely packed and especially crowded.Cai Shi and the two bodyguards struggled a lot to squeeze a path through the crowd.

Zhao Yingong seemed to be walking very casually, but he actually paid attention to the products sold by shops and even street vendors.From time to time, I step into the store to choose products, and often ask the price.In order to show off his merits, Cai Shi often pushed forward to negotiate the price in Hangzhou dialect, Zhao Yingong smiled and waved his hands.After a few times, Cai Shi knew that the master was actually watching the market, and he became more confident in his original judgment.

Zhao Yingong was indeed investigating the market conditions.Shou'anfang City is a retail-oriented market, from which we can see the spending power of the local people.Commodity preferences and general price fluctuations.Compared with Guangzhou, the price level here is not low at all. It seems that there is also a large amount of silver flowing here, and there are many types of commodities.Although this is not a textile market, the shops retail a wide variety of silk and satin, cotton and linen cloth in different colors.Even woolen cloth from Europe and cotton cloth from India and Southeast Asia are also sold.Obviously, the spending power of the local citizen class is considerable.

"Go to another city to have a look." After the group finished shopping around the market, Zhao Yingong took care of Cai Shi, and then went to another city, "Go to a place where things are sold cheaply. The goods are generally affordable for poor people."

Cai Shi was puzzled, but it was the master's order that he couldn't refuse, so he led a group of people to Ma Po Bridge.There is also a market along the upper and lower streets of Mapo Bridge to Shengxian Bridge and Wangxian Bridge.

Before reaching the intersection, I could smell the stench of livestock manure from a distance.It was almost noon, there were not many pedestrians on the street, and most of the vendors were closed. Only a few vendors were packing up their belongings and preparing to leave.The streets are littered with garbage and livestock manure.Zhao Yingong took a look and found that this place is different from Shou'anfang City. First of all, there are much fewer shops, and the scale is not very neat.The goods sold are also very miscellaneous, ranging from cloth, clothing, and livestock.Utensils... nothing more.Many are obviously second-hand goods, but it feels a bit like a shabby city.

"This place actually has the meaning of Jingshi ghost market." Zhao Yingong knew that there was a "ghost market" in Beijing when he was reading, and he set up stalls at dawn to sell all kinds of second-hand goods and fake and shoddy products.

"My lord, this place is called 'East Garden City', also known as 'Poor Man City', and most of the items sold are cheap and worn-out items. Since the opening of the city gate, the collection has been set up, and it will be gone at noon." Cai Shi said, Donghuayuan City Many of the vendors come from the four townships.There are also thieves selling worthless stolen goods here.

A group of people strolled forward until they came to a stone bridge with the words "Wangxian Bridge" on the bridge.Cai Shi said that the bridge is Wangxianqiao Street, where the local cloth market is located.Both non-local and local cloth are traded in large quantities here, and many cloth houses are concentrated.

Zhao Yingong became interested: "Let's go and have a look." He waved the fan in his hand.

Wangxian Bridge is a small stone bridge, which looks very similar to the bridges he often saw in the water town tour in the old time and space.Small and elegant.He stepped onto the bridge and walked a few steps quickly, but stopped as if he was being pulled violently.
Lying impressively on the bridge was a human figure with a swollen face.The reason why it is said to be in human form is because the whole body is extremely dirty, covered with mud and even rubbish.Judging by the size, he is just a child of seven or eight years old.

Starvation on the streets, dead bodies on the road, no matter in Guangzhou or the counties along the road, such scenes are not uncommon.Zhao Yingong felt a little unbearable when he saw it in the past, but now it is commonplace.Cai Shi immediately caught up with him a few steps, led him to the other side of the bridge, and cursed: "It's not good to die, you must die on this bridge!"

Before the words were finished, the "corpse" moved a bit, and let out a slight groan.It turns out that people are not dead yet.

Cai Shi didn't take it seriously, and asked Zhao Yingong to go over.

Zhao Yingong felt compassionate at this moment, and went to take a closer look.Upon closer inspection, it was a girl, completely naked.Unkempt, and some parts of his body were suppurated and yellow water was flowing.It looked really dirty and disgusting.I don't know who discarded it.

He gestured, and the bodyguard beside him immediately probed the girl's breath with his hands, touched the blood vessels around her neck, and nodded to him:

"Master Hui, he is a living person!"

Cai Shi who was beside him said: "My lord, there are people like this every time the villains on the bridge come here. They are all children whose families can't support them, and some of them escaped famine and left them here in the hope that someone will take them in. Don't worry about it, lord. "

Zhao Yingong knew that Cai Shi was telling the truth, he had seen quite a few people dying on the side of the road on the way to Hangzhou.But there is no way to take them in if they are on their way.Although it is the consistent policy of the Senate to take in orphans as much as possible, it may not be possible to save the child if he takes in.Leaving her here for a term to fend for herself seems like the best option.Anyway, in this troubled world, I don't know how many people are going to die.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Yingong finally said, "Take it away."

Cai Shi felt that it was necessary to remind the new owner: "Master! This child looks like this, I am afraid that he will not survive if he is taken back. Even if he can survive, he must be treated and recuperated. At least he will not be useful for a year or so..."

"Take this child with you." Zhao Yingong said, "Although life and death are at stake, I really can't bear to just sit back and do nothing like this."

Cai Shi hurriedly said: "Master is kind!" As he spoke, he didn't care about the dirt on the child's body, so he went to help her up, and he muttered to himself, "You have changed your luck! This master is willing to save you..."

(End of this chapter)