People in the Song Dynasty were lawless. Chapter 267 of the main text: The end of the year is here, have a good year. At the end of the second year of the Qingli period, Zhao Zhen held a grand banquet in Bianliang to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
The city became very lively from the morning.
At Xishuimen Fish Street, when the gong sounded at noon, Hong Wen walked out of his dilapidated courtyard. He was still wearing a long gown, but it was new, and he walked with a limp.
As soon as I go out, I can smell the fishy smell, just like soaking in a fish pond.
Across the street is a man selling live fish. He puts the fish in shallow buckets, strings them together with willow leaves, places them in the buckets, and soaks them in clean water, or he sells them on the street by hawking his wares.
Every morning, tens of thousands of dan of live fish like this were brought into the city from Xinzheng Gate, Xishui Gate, and Wansheng Gate on the west side of Tokyo City alone. In winter, foreign fish, known as "cheyu," were brought in from as far away as the Yellow River, and sold for less than a hundred coins per catty.
Seeing Hong Wen coming out, the neighbor selling fish waved and said with a smile: "Master Hong, here are some fresh fish. Give your wife two to nourish her body."
Hongwen is a married man.
In his early years, he came to Bianliang alone to take the imperial examination. Although he passed the examination and became a Juren, he failed the Jinshi examination twice. He was ashamed and felt unable to face his family, so he did not go home, but stayed in Bianliang, wanting to wait two years to fight again.
As a result, when he was setting up a stall on the street to make a living, he offended Liu Kuixi, the leader of the Liangmen West Street Righteous Society, and had his leg broken. He was completely desperate and almost gave up on himself.
Fortunately, there is always a way out. The Imperial City Department was recruiting clerks, and ordinary scholars were unwilling to join. Hong Wen felt that the Imperial City Department had avenged him, and he really needed a job, so he went to the Imperial City Department to try. Unexpectedly, he was easily accepted.
He has been working in the Imperial City Division for many years. Since he joined early and was one of the rare scholars in the division, he was promoted step by step and passed the assessment. He went from a clerk to a ninth-rank official in the Southern Pacification Division, and now he has become a seventh-rank official.
Although officials of the Imperial City Bureau are often not allowed to be transferred outside the bureau and can only move within the bureau, and the Imperial City Bureau has been expanding rapidly in recent years, after being promoted, they can easily be sent to local areas to serve as chief officials, and be disliked and excluded by local officials.
However, although Hong Wen had a lame leg, he was never transferred out. His salary and benefits were good. After his living conditions improved, he brought his wife and children to Bianliang and rented a house in the remote Yu Street in the outer city.
Hearing his neighbor's words, Hong Wen smiled and said, "Forget it. I bought some chickens and ducks yesterday. My wife said it was a waste of money. The real thing is to save some money for my children to get married."
"Look at what you said, I'll give it to you!"
The neighbor said generously.
"No, no, the department has regulations."
Hong Wen waved his hands quickly.
In fact, he has some power now. He certainly can't cover the sky with one hand in Bianliang, but it is probably not a problem for him to bully others on a street.
However, over the years, he has also seen too many colleagues who were single-minded at the beginning, but later became increasingly arrogant. Once they had power, they turned from dragon slayers into evil dragons. Among them were some former victims of the evil forces in Bianliang.
They had suffered hardships in the past, and once they became rich, they returned the suffering to others double, as if all the suffering was caused by innocent people.
What's worse, some people would feel offended if they were looked at on the street, and would arrest the person and take him back to the pacification office to torture him severely and impose arbitrary punishments on him.
So much so that for a period of time, the Censorate and the Remonstration Office attacked the Imperial City Office crazily.
The Chief was furious and ordered a thorough internal investigation of the Imperial City Division. More than one hundred people were executed and more than three hundred were exiled. Only then was the discipline within the division restored.
If Hong Wen had his leg broken when he was 20 years old, he might have become mentally distorted like his colleagues after he became successful.
But he is almost forty years old and has seen too many ups and downs in the world, so he is more open-minded.
Even if people on the street looked at his lame leg with strange eyes, Hong Wen had long been accustomed to it and would even nod and say hello to them.
"A few fish are nothing. We're all neighbors, and we just want to have some fun during the New Year."
The neighbor enthusiastically strung two large grass carps through the fish's gills with a rope, and came over to hand them to Hongwen.
"Oh, it's not easy for everyone to do business."
Hong Wen couldn't refuse, so he had to pay from his pocket.
"As for these two fish, you're welcome."
Neither do the neighbors.
The two men argued for a while. The neighbor was a little more stubborn than him and didn't pay. He then turned around and went home to deliver the fish before going out again.
After leaving Yu Street, you will reach Wanshengmennei Street, which is crowded with people at this time.
There were street vendors, people carrying loads on their shoulders or pushing carts, as well as medicine sellers, fortune tellers, and book sellers, all dressed neatly, wearing hats and belts. The incense shop attendants wrapped in incense shouted folk songs about selling incense, while those eating snacks raised their plates, boxes, and utensils and shouted loudly.
Merchants dressed in silk and satin walked through the crowd, farmers wearing thin cotton clothes and carrying shoulder poles came into the city to sell snacks and grains, and there were also beggars on the street who kept their seats and dared not slack off for fear of being disapproved by the crowd.
There are signs everywhere in the streets and alleys, and the sounds of hawking, shouting, yelling, and collisions are endless. The smell of fish, medicine, food and sweat mixed with each other hits your nose.
Hong Wen crossed the inner street of Wanshengmen and walked south for more than a hundred steps. He saw that Shifang Jingyin Temple located inside Shuntianmen of the outer city was serving vegetarian meals. Many refugees and beggars were going there to look for a bowl of vegetarian noodles. He had often eaten there before and missed it very much.
Continuing south from the intersection is Hongqiaozi Street. A textile factory opened on the right side of the street two years ago, hiring many female workers. However, he knew that these female workers were actually victims of Wuyou Cave and Guifanlou in the past.
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