Tang Qi Tan

Chapter 58

After the carriage that came to pick him up slowly drove out of this large-scale garden, Jiang Tian turned his head and glanced at the door. There were no floral decorations or patterns on it, only three words "Qingqi Pavilion" with a rather simple font. author.Is this where I have been staying for a while?

And when the carriage drove out of the zigzag streets with high walls and green screens; as pedestrians and vendors gradually became denser from sparse to dense; In front of my eyes.Although it has long been accustomed to the predecessor.

But for Jiang Tian, ​​who has experienced too many things at the moment and has almost never stopped fighting and fighting, it is a rare scene of peace of mind and relaxation.And in the distance where a big river meanders, you can even see what looks like a palace wall.Words such as "Qujiang Biegong" and "Furong Garden" suddenly appeared in his mind.

And the "Qingqi Pavilion" where he was located was also quite famous, and he was able to occupy a large space near the Qujiang Biegong.However, behind this glorious and prosperous scene, how much darkness and filth are hidden?Thinking of this, Jiang Tian said to Cong Guo Feng who was driving:

"Do you mind if I delay you a little while on the way?"

"But do yourself a favor."

However, after being slightly surprised, Guo Feng also showed a understanding expression and said: At the same time, he also took out a money bag from his cuff very thoughtfully.It was only then that Jiang Tian realized that he didn't need to spend on food, clothing, housing and transportation in the other garden, so he didn't have the habit of bringing money when he went out.

Therefore, when Jiang Tian's carriage finally arrived at the new site where Xiuzhengfang is located in the southeast corner of Chang'an, he could see the landmark building in the distance - the Daci'en Temple located in Changguofang. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which is very famous in later generations:
Daci'en Temple was specially built by Emperor Taizong to commemorate his biological mother, Mrs. Dou (it is also said that it was Mrs. Xiaodou, the aunt who raised his brother).The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is the place where Master Xuanzang, who wrote "Da Tang Western Regions" and became the guide for the development of the Anxi Protectorate, once translated scriptures and taught the Dharma.

It's just that the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in this era is completely different from the tourist attraction that has been rebuilt many times in later generations.Because, after the earthquake more than a hundred years ago, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was rebuilt.Therefore, today's Big Wild Goose Pagoda has not only been reinforced inside, but also plastered with plaster (cement) on the outside.

On the four-way pagoda surface, the four guardian kings are painted with waterproof and wear-resistant paint; therefore, no matter which direction you are in the southeast city square, as long as you can see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, you will be able to see it. According to the portrait of the king of heaven facing you, you can judge the general orientation of yourself.

And at the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, there is a self-rotating timing mechanism similar to an armillary sphere.Therefore, at midnight and half past noon, the tower will naturally start to ring the bell; it is considered the need to tell the time at a fixed point.As a result, it has also become one of the "New 36 Scenic Spots" under the jurisdiction of Wannian County in Chang'an City.

The new place Guo Chongtao led was located in the South Street section of Simen Cross Street in Xiuzhengfang, near the Left Street near Nanfang Gate.Diagonally opposite is the former residence of Zhang Jiuling, the famous prime minister of Kaiyuan.Today, there are Shangshusheng pavilions and Zongzheng temple pavilions inside; it is said in "Chariot Xia Sui Shi Ji" that the peony banquet for new Jinshi may be here.

Of course, Guo Chongtao's face is not so big.Therefore, what he occupied at this time was only a wealthy businessman's mansion confiscated from the public house, and it was transformed into a medium-sized courtyard with three spans, two entrances and a garden.Therefore, as long as you stand on the pavilion in the inner courtyard, you can see the sparkling Qujiang Lake behind the southeast wall.

In front of the Wutou Gate, which represents the identity, the double horse stones, horizontal barriers, and barriers were also re-established; wooden signs and lanterns with the words "Jinwu Street Envoy" were hung.It can be regarded as being low-key and unobtrusive, with a little more official meaning.And after Jiang Tian got out of the car again, there were already a lot of leftover sticks, cattail leaves, and wrapping paper piled up around him.

In a sense, it is undoubtedly the easiest and most effective way to understand the basic situation related to people's livelihood in a short period of time; it is undoubtedly the easiest and most effective way to start with small itinerant traders who have a wide range of activities and are most sensitive to price changes.Just the price of daily staple foods such as cakes, soup and rice can project a lot of information.

For example, in the city of Chang’an today, the most expensive staple foods are chestnut (millet) and rice (big yellow rice), which cost 12 yuan per bucket (ten liters/about 45 catties); followed by (wheat) wheat, which costs 37 yuan per bucket. After making noodles, it costs 63 yuan per bucket; the cheapest is rice, which is only [-] yuan per bucket.

Among the rice, except for some special varieties such as fragrant rice, longjing rice, chicken blood rice, green glutinous rice, red lotus rice, etc.; the most expensive ones are Zhejiang rice and Jiannan rice from Jiangdong Road. Xichuan Rice from Dao Road, Pearl Rice from East Lingnan Road, Xiang Rice from Andong Duhufu, and Songjian Rice from South Jinghu Road.

The cheapest and cheapest are cicada rice and mouse tooth rice from Annan, Yizhou, Linyi, Shuilu Chenla and other places.Because it is an early-maturing and fast-growing variety with poor taste, it is used as ballast for sea boats transporting tribute to the north.Therefore, at the lowest time, a bucket of rice only costs [-] yuan, and if it is the poverty-relief (Chen) rice released by the government, you only need [-] yuan to get a bucket.

However, the most common ones in Chang'an market are Changgu rice and Yiluo rice, which are widely planted in Guannei Road and adjacent Shannan East Road and Henan Road.Therefore, under the low-cost food security sent to Beijing by these parties, even the generation of traffickers and pawns, simply filling their stomachs is not a big problem.

But if you want to further improve the quality of life, you can only use the names of the Bai Juyi brothers to describe it.At the beginning, their father Bai Jigeng took his niece's generation of strange people; he named the brothers Letian/Juyi and the other Xingjian/Zhitui, which shows that life in the capital is not easy.

Especially since the land and sea borders were opened more than a hundred years ago, many domestic and overseas princes have divided into feudal vassals, and the ministers are subordinate to the subordinate states and monarchs; there are also 32 state capitals in the world, six capital guards and more than a dozen large and small Small governor's mansion; all kinds of palaces, vassal mansions, and noble families successively bought properties in Beijing, which made the land price in Chang'an even higher.

Just like Jiang Tian's predecessor, he still relied on the guarantee of Donghai Society; only then was he able to rent a place of residence in Wenxin Lane, Guangdeli, Wannian County, at a relatively cheap price of 450 yuan every six months.However, there are more scholars and common people who flock to Beijing to beg for life. They cannot afford to live in the city at all and can only settle down in many workshops under the city.

Therefore, the current Chang'an City has a natural difference from south to north; the farther north the city square is, the more sparsely registered it is, occupying a large area, and the more low and flat deep houses and courtyards; and the farther south it is, the more numerous The floors are getting higher and higher, and the distance between the buildings in the workshop is becoming more and more chaotic and dense.

And in the east-west distribution of the city, there are many businessmen from all over the world, generally gathered in the west; and because of the gathering of the princes and dignitaries, the east is called rich in the west and rich in the east. pattern.Of course, specific to a certain city square, each has its own characteristics.

And a large number of ordinary people and poor scholars live in small dwellings among the old, dilapidated and messy, but often six or seven-story high-rise buildings and stacked houses; it is among the squares at the southern end of the city called "Ant House". Quite a unique landscape.At the same time, it is also the place where Jiang Tian's predecessor likes to hang out when collecting materials.

Because, compared with those emperors, generals, princes and ladies, almost all of them are still familiar stories; the joys and sorrows and sorrows and joys that happened here are undoubtedly more real and more down-to-earth.Therefore, even if the final written content is not on the table, it can still obtain corresponding benefits.

There was even a period of time when he lived in one of the tube buildings in order to observe a certain object up close; he had a lot of dealings with all kinds of people who were noisy with people and neighbors up and down.The so-called Tonglou is one of the products of the reconstruction project of the capital presided over by the Duke of Liang after he regained Chang'an more than 100 years ago.

Therefore, when it comes to each tower, it is quite careful in terms of materials and planning.Even after more than [-] years of use, it can still accommodate hundreds of houses or hundreds of people; while the exterior is mottled and cracked, it maintains the basic living functions inside.But stacked houses will not work.

The stacked house is a product of folk self-built after imitating the shape of the tube building.But because the foundation is often not laid well, the result of blindly adding several floors is the result of the continuous settlement of the foundation, so that one day, it collapses without warning.However, the rent of unsupported stacked houses is even lower than that of tube houses, so there are always people flocking to them.

Therefore, in the absence of Guo Chongtao, this unnamed courtyard was actually quite deserted; only a few left-behind officials were seen.Therefore, after registering his identity card and leaving his handwriting in a bland manner, Jiang Tian took advantage of the situation and offered to go to the scene to take a look.

(End of this chapter)