Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 465: Outsiders
"The yellow sazi and mahua, if they don't taste good, you don't have to pay for them!"
"Pig lung soup, pig lung soup, steaming hot pig lung soup, drink a bowl to warm your heart and lungs!"
"Hey, the Fuqi Feipian created by Dr. Zhang from the Imperial College is spicy and fragrant. The Emperor and His Majesty all said it was great!"
Before you even reach the Xinglong Teahouse in the outer city, the constant shouting is enough to break your eardrums. The core area here has long been occupied by guild halls and restaurants from various provinces and prefectures. Most houses were built in the shortest time with the most manpower and material resources. As for those who were late and couldn't recruit enough people, they had to continue to use bamboo houses.
Several of the alleys that spread out are occupied by various small vendors. Here, not to mention the carriages, even walking is very laborious, because there are diners wandering around everywhere. Compared with the relatively high prices in the restaurants closer to Xinglong Tea House, the food here is cheap and tastes good. Especially outsiders, they love to come here to experience the style of Beijing.
Of course, there were also people who were unable to pass by on horseback, and who were deterred by the huge crowds. At this time, a group of dusty horse riders just stopped at the entrance of the alley and looked around. Seeing the smell of oil smoke everywhere, one of the young men said unhappily: "This is simply a foul smell, which ruins the image of the great capital!"
But as soon as he finished speaking , a vendor who was doing business over there became unhappy. He immediately put down the chopsticks he was using to fry sazi, pulled his nephew who was helping to continue, and strode forward without even wiping his hands, and shouted: "Stranger, you are new to the capital, so keep your mouth shut. We are doing business based on our own abilities, why do you have to tell us what to do!"
The young man didn't expect that he would be bullied by a mere vendor, and his face immediately turned red. However, before he could fight back, the diners with greasy mouths and other vendors who were busy with their work ignored the dispute here, and two men in black came forward. The two men looked at the group of people and confirmed that they were indeed outsiders. One of the strong men laughed.
"Qian Laosi, why are you arguing? Go back to your business. Others just said a few words. You didn't lose a piece of meat. Why are you so angry?" After sending Zhao Laosi away with a word, the sturdy man in black smiled at the group of outsiders and said, "There are so many stalls, and the smell is indeed a bit strong. But just the stalls in the nearby alleys support more than thirty or fifty vendors."
The young man was unconvinced when he was scolded just now, but when he heard the word "feed", his already red face suddenly became even redder. Finding that none of his companions came up to help him, he could only force himself to say: "Thirty or fifty people can feed their families, but it blocks the road. Besides, can the people around bear this foul smell?"
The burly man in black was not as furious as the vendor was about the foul talk. He looked at the young man as if he were a fool, and then said meaningfully, "So you are a foreigner. This area of the outer city was originally a wasteland. Now those who are building restaurants and hotels nearby are all rich people. They want this place to be even more foul. Who would still complain?"
"As for the common people, they don't live here. They just come here to hang out and eat something in their spare time. Who cares about this smell?"
Lazily speaking, seeing that the young man was speechless but still unconvinced in his eyes, he smiled and said, "As for what you said about blocking the traffic, that's even less the case. Which alleys around here allow stalls to sell snacks and which ones absolutely don't, only allowing vehicles and pedestrians to pass through, there are rules for that, do you understand?"
"Not only does the traffic need to be kept smooth at all times, but there are also people nearby who are responsible for management. Especially when there are urgent messengers passing by, there are people along the way to direct the flow of traffic. For example, the garbage generated by the stalls every day is also collected by the stall owners and then transported to the designated wasteland. People are also hired here to be responsible for the transportation and landfill..."
He educated the young man from a foreign country on various aspects, such as traffic order, garbage disposal , city appearance, and public security inspection. Finally, he said earnestly: "If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Others have thought of what you have thought of, and others have also thought of what you have not thought of!"
Seeing that the young man had been refuted to the point that he wanted to find a hole to hide in, and was extremely embarrassed, one of his companions finally had to stand up and help him: "You have said so much, then what do you do?"
"Me?" The black-clad sturdy man immediately became complacent. He puffed out his chest and said word by word, "I am Zhao Tieniu, the captain of the South City Security Team!"
Seeing that these outsiders were puzzled and suspicious about this strange title, he laughed, pulled the red scarf on his arm, coughed and said, "The South City Army is in charge of the entire South City, which is a bit too much for it to take care of. The same is true for the Wanping County Government and the Daxing County Government. So we, the righteous people who once eradicated the South City tyrant Wang Si, spontaneously organized ourselves!"
From the Iron Clothes Gang to the Public Security Team, Zhao Tieniu called himself a righteous citizen at this time, and he was so confident: "We maintain public order here, ease the traffic here, and are responsible for managing garbage removal. There is a large area around here where thieves have disappeared, and those who cause trouble can be dealt with in a short time..."
"Those who harm others with moldy, spoiled or other toxic and harmful foods will also be caught immediately! Because we also check the ingredients!"
The man who had just come forward to speak for the young man could not help but be stunned at this moment. He glanced at this strong man who was obviously a member of some kind of dynamic social group with some disbelief, and suddenly asked: "How do you get paid for doing these things?"
"Haha, you must be thinking, are we just sitting here collecting money and exploiting the vendors doing business here?" Zhao Tieniu was used to seeing these hypocrites who occasionally appeared here and made all kinds of doubts. Seeing that the man really remained silent, he said proudly, "Those big merchants like the guild halls also hope to maintain peace and tranquility in this area, so they will allocate money and food to us every month."
"Recently, the preliminary rounds of the imperial chef selection have been held three times, and the flow of people is particularly large. These small vendors can do business around here without paying us a penny. Of course, they have to pay a certain amount of management fees to the owners of these lands, but that has nothing to do with us. It is only natural for them to pay some rent for occupying other people's land to do business. Do you also want to take care of this matter?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man who was the leader of the group finally coughed lightly. Seeing that several students who wanted to retort immediately shut up, he smiled gently and said, "Your Excellency just said that we are all outsiders. When outsiders come to the capital, they will inevitably be curious about everything and ask a lot of questions."
"Now it seems that this place, which seems to have a strong smell and a lot of people, is actually a good place to support a lot of people, and it also provides a place for the people of Beijing to relieve boredom and fatigue. It is really good."
Hearing such a reasonable affirmation, Zhao Tieniu grinned and said, "This gentleman finally said something fair. It's not just these small vendors. Originally, this area of the outer city was a remote place. In the past, not to mention petty theft, there were even more abominable things. Now it's lively here, and we have maintained law and order. The row of shops facing the street here are also owned by owners."
He counted on his fingers and said, "There are bookstores, cloth shops, clothing stores... In short, there is everything."
At this point, he paused, then smiled and said, "I know you must think that the owner of this land has made a lot of money, but he has already announced that he has hired students from Jiuzhang Hall to audit the accounts, and all the profits will be donated to support education. Oh, it will be donated directly to the public school of the former Minister Lu."
Zhao Tieniu suddenly slapped his head and laughed, "Look at my memory. I'm so used to calling him Minister Lu that I forgot that he is now the chief priest of the public school. I should call him Lu Jijiu. Anyway, after Lu Jijiu recruited the first batch of children who could study for free, countless families in the whole capital told each other and cried with joy! Anyway, ordinary people don't have to take the imperial examinations, so knowing how to read and do math is the most important thing."
Although many of the outsiders had heard about the news about the public school, they were far less shocked than when they heard it from the conversations of the local people in the capital.
At this moment, everyone looked at each other in groups of three or four, with extremely complicated emotions. In the end, the middle-aged man who had just spoken fairly smiled and said, "I see, thank you for telling me."
He bowed calmly and was about to turn his horse and leave. Who knew that at this moment, Zhao Tieniu rushed forward. Seeing this, the others were shocked, thinking that the other party was up to no good, but Zhao Tieniu smiled and said, "Strangers, you don't know which alleys around here are passable, right? Be a good person to the end, and I will take you to Xuanwu Gate."
Without waiting for anyone to object, he grabbed the middle-aged man's reins, told his companions and walked forward. He was originally a tall man, and his back, which used to be hunched because of wandering around in the market, was now straight. As he walked, he would greet people who knew him from time to time. In this way, all the strangers behind him had a deep understanding of his wide network of contacts.
Zhao Tieniu did not talk endlessly. He just explained the buildings along the way. After sending people to Xuanwu Gate, he handed the reins back to the middle-aged man on the horse and clapped his hands.
"Beijing people have their own way of living. Since you are new here, please be a little more careful in the future. I have changed my temper now. Otherwise, according to my previous temper, I would never argue with you with words, and I might even argue with you with my fists! In this world, it is not only the educated who understand the truth, everyone understands a lot of truths!"
"Eat enough, wear warm clothes, and preferably be able to read, so that you won't be deceived. This is the most important thing!"
Seeing Zhao Tieniu casually bow and walk away after saying this, the middle-aged man looked at his blushing young student, then sighed deeply and said, "Remember this lesson, right? Be careful with your words and actions when you go out, and don't judge people just because you are educated."
"Just like what this gentleman said, if he hadn't lost his temper, someone might have been beaten! Is it a glorious thing to go to the government office when you first arrive?"
As soon as these words came out, the young man, who was already extremely ashamed immediately dismounted and bowed to apologize, and the others also bowed their heads and said yes. After such a lecture, the middle-aged man just turned his horse and walked in front. A student behind him immediately stepped forward to show the pass, and when the guard checked it, he only took a glance and immediately ran away, and soon called his captain.
The captain who came hurriedly bowed to the middle-aged man, and then said with a smile: "It turns out that you are the headmaster Yue of Zhaoming Academy. I am so sorry for your disrespect. The superiors have long ordered all the major city gates to be on the lookout. If you come, you must be treated with courtesy. Your accommodation is arranged near the Imperial College, I will have someone take you there. But..."
He glanced at the group of more than a dozen followers of the headmaster Yue, and said with embarrassment, "That place can probably accommodate seven or eight of you. If there are more, it might be a bit difficult to handle."
The group of students who had just seen Principal Yue being treated with respect and were in a better mood, suddenly made a small commotion when they heard that there were too many people to accommodate. But after all, they calmed down in an instant because of the previous lesson. Sure enough, Principal Yue smiled and said, "Of course, I am the one who was summoned by the court. They just came to Beijing to gain some experience and can stay at the inn."
The captain immediately apologized with a smile: "Captain Yue, please understand. Okay, I will lead the way, please follow me!"
However, when someone brought a horse to the captain and he mounted the horse and led the way, Shanzhang Yue faintly heard a sneer in the wind.
"It's just a nice way of saying it now. Staying in an inn... Haha, do they dare to say that they have never stayed in a post station along the way? You know, when Dr. Zhang and Grand Tutor Ge passed through Tongzhou, the post station was occupied by the retired Minister Jiang, and they went to stay in the inn without saying a word! The so-called noble scholar... Of course they take advantage of the court, what kind of noble scholar is that!"
If Principal Yue, who was not young at all, could hear it, how could his young students not hear it? Although some people immediately looked back with anger, they could not see the person who was talking. Principal Yue himself did not look away until he left the area around the city gate, and then he sighed secretly.
No matter how famous he was locally, how many promising students he had taught, or even how many students he had all over the world, he was just a local celebrity. It was different when he arrived in the capital. If he had known this, he would not have thoughtlessly taken a group of students to stay at the post station on the road just because the local officials treated him with courtesy and added a few extra words when they opened the pass.
They walked north along Xuanwumen Street, then turned east near Taipingcang, and then walked east along the North Street of the Imperial City. They looked at the Imperial City , but their eyes were mostly on the soldiers of the Ruiqi Battalion who were like nails standing guard every three steps and every five steps. When they passed Bei'anmen, they saw only a dozen riders riding slowly out of the gate.
Then, they heard a clear voice: "Today is the second round of interviews for Jiuzhangtang. Third brother, we can't lose to others. We must pass the exam!"
