Emperor Ming Dynasty

In Beijing in October, the fluttering snowflakes fall like catkins, dry and rough, and if it is not white, it is no different from sandy soil.

The howling north wind was like razor blades, cutting people's faces with pain, so pedestrians wrapped themselves tightly for fear of being blown down.

On the wide official road, donkey carts drove slowly, forming a long dragon, heading for the city of Beijing dozens of miles away.

On the donkey cart, piles of briquettes were stacked up, and old reed mats were covered to prevent snowflakes. It was like a big mountain, and the donkey was panting under the pressure, and it was constantly spraying hot air.

On both sides, a large amount of attractive black is exposed.

As the donkey cart bumped, some debris inevitably leaked from the bottom, leaving black ruts.

Each car is equipped with a handlebar style, wears a bucket hat, and wields a whip to keep the entire fleet in order.

"There are no potholes in front!" Liu Laosan ran back from the front panting, and said to the crowd driving:

"Just the same, it's an uphill—"

"Understood!" Liu Qi, the leader of the team, rubbed his temples, and took out a string of money from the bag with some embarrassment, and prepared to hand it to Liu Laosan.

In the middle of the journey, he took it back again, especially worried, and counted it again to make sure the number was right before giving it.

Liu Laosan watched eagerly, then took the copper coins and counted them again, put them in his bag, and ran forward.

He is the sentry of the convoy. Although he doesn't need to drive the car, he checks whether the road ahead is safe and takes care of chores along the way.

After running a few hundred steps, I came to an uphill.

This is Chenjialing. It has an uphill of about [-] steps and a downhill of [-] steps. Pedestrians can easily climb over it, and even carriages can climb over it in one go.

Only the donkey carts that are too heavy are difficult to climb over without the help of manpower.

At this time, the farmers and children near Chenjialing started a manpower business to help passing vehicles cross the mountain.

"Hey!" A burly man walked over with a battered pole wrapped in hemp rope, rubbing his hands, and wearing a worn-out cotton coat: "Old rules?"

Liu Laosan said unhappily: "Of course, do you still want to increase the price?"

"That's not necessarily true." The big man pointed to the ground and said, "When the snow falls for a while, the road will be even more difficult. There must be a fare increase."

"You are regular customers, so it's cheaper!"

Liu Laosan was in a hurry, but he had no choice but to reluctantly take out a string of money from his bag:
"Five coins for one person, two coins for half-sized children, a total of one hundred coins, you look at the arrangement, my ten cars can cross the mountain safely."

As he said that, he withdrew ten Wen from the one hundred Wen, and gave the rest to the big man.

The big man frowned and took the money decisively.

Then he was busy, about twenty of them, men and women, walked quickly towards the donkey cart below.

This group of villagers went forward or backward, or retreated or pulled, and after a lot of hard work, they took all the donkey carts across the ridge in two quarters of an hour. Only a few pieces of briquettes fell down and were picked up by them.

After crossing the ridge, Liu Qi said displeasedly, "Next time, be more careful and move faster. These pieces of coal are worth a dozen cents!"

A piece of briquette weighs a catty eight taels, and the market price is three Wen.

Liu Laosan can only agree, he understands that this is someone looking to make up for those ten words!

It's just that the loss belongs to the public, so we can only pretend to be deaf and dumb.

The road was calm and calm, and the official road was sparsely populated. Although it had been two or three years, Liu Qi still felt as if he had passed away:

"It's such a peaceful day!"

"That's, how can I say it's the King's Advent!"

When Liu Laosan saw the Beijing city wall in the distance, he also returned to the team, and echoed: "The thieves are gone, the rebel army is gone, and the tax is also reduced. This is the day to live quickly..."

The convoy paid the entrance fee, two coins for each person, and ten coins for the carriage and horse.

Exit left and enter right, no matter how spacious the door opening is, you have to line up to get in and out.

Soon, the convoy came to a courtyard facing the street, where a "coal" flag was flying, and people came to buy coal with their families.

This is a popular coal shop in recent years. There are every one or two streets. Beijingers cannot do without coal in winter.

Of course, there are also firewood sold along the street, as long as the smell of smoke is not too heavy, the price is cheaper anyway.

"It's finally here!" The man came out and was very excited when he saw the donkey cart.

"The snow is getting heavier and heavier, and there are so many buyers that the yard is squeezed and collapsed."

Carloads of briquettes were unloaded, counted one by one, and moved to the courtyard for sale.

Soon, the money was settled.

The transportation fee plus coal money, a total of 30 yuan silver dollars.

Excluding people eating donkey chews, the expenses on the road, and the money to buy coal, I made a net profit of ten silver dollars.

One back and forth in half a month, each person can earn two silver dollars a month.

You can also make a lot of money by transporting some rare things from the capital and selling them along the way.

This is much stronger than planing food in the ground.

During the ten-day break, Wang Fuzhi borrowed a carriage and planned to buy 200 yuan of coal for the winter, but thinking that his wife and children had just entered Beijing this autumn, he bought another 200 yuan.

"Why did you buy so much?" His wife, Tao Shi, was wearing a Jingchai sarong, holding the hand of her eight-year-old son Wang Bian, while the older son Wang Fu, 12 years old, looked at the cart of coal excitedly.

"Father, what is this?"

"The winter in Beijing is tough, so it's always right to buy more."

Wang Fuzhi smiled, and then replied to his son, "This is briquette."

"Oh!"

At this time, the lively scene disturbed the other people in the courtyard.

There are three families living in the small courtyard.

"Brother Wang, it seems that I have to buy coal too."

Huang Zongxi came out with a book in his hand, seeing the scattered snow in the yard and the scattered firewood in the corner, he couldn't help laughing.

"Hurry up, brother Huang, this coal is hard to come by."

Wang Fuzhi said softly.

For this young Shizhong, he is full of good feelings.

"It just so happens that you borrowed this carriage from me, let's go together!"

Huang Zongxi smiled and glanced at the couple who were carrying coal.

"However, your family of four cannot have two stoves?"

"Ah? That's right!" The scar on Wang Fuzhi's face moved, and then suddenly said: "It seems that I have to go with you."

Where coal is sold, stoves are also sold.

Many people just don't want to pay for the stove, so they don't use briquettes.

An iron coal stove requires half a silver dollar, which is beyond the reach of non-middle-class families.

Living in the capital is not easy, but Wang Fuzhi is not stingy about it.

Although he was serving as a rotating secretary in the cabinet, he was still an official of the Imperial Academy, receiving two paychecks, and his family provided occasional support, but he could maintain it.

While the two were chatting and laughing, they passed a bank and saw dozens of fast catchers with knives on their waists entering in a menacing manner.

Huang Zongxi couldn't bear his temper, so he asked the yamen servants for information, but finally he had to ask a colleague to understand.

"Brother Wang, this bank lends money to people. The interest rate is as high as [-]%, and the interest is repaid. It goes out of ten and thirteen times. If it is reported by someone, it will be investigated and dealt with by the county government."

Huang Zongxi sighed: "I heard that many Beijing officials are having a hard time, so they ask them to borrow money, and the result is huge interest, so they can only be released as officials to get money and pay back the money."

"Some even don't need money, thinking of sending someone to be a teacher..."

"How bold are merchants?"

Wang Fuzhi was shocked.

Since ancient times, the power of officials has been inviolable, and merchants dare to interfere with the power of scholars. Isn't this courting death?
"Being greedy for profit and trying to steal power with money is the way to die."

Huang Zongxi was also angry: "After all, this is a scandal, and it can only be dealt with secretly by the county government, so I didn't hear about it."