Zhao Yinggong said: "You are a local taxi in Hangzhou, so you can lead the way and walk around at will." ”

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

This will lead him to the way, which is a common place for his native people, and he will immediately cheer up. Since the old man is a child of a wealthy family from Guangdong, he should not be concerned about ordinary fun and enjoyment. After arriving in Hangzhou, he has a certain amount of daily life and is not in a hurry to go out to play. It should not be as simple as coveting the wealth and prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River to come to Hangzhou to have fun, but have other plans. Thinking of the recent dispatch of him to the street to buy gentry, and the care of him going to the yamen every day to buy newspapers and inquire about the market of various commodities, it seems that he intends to make progress in his official career, and as if he intends to do business. It's a bit uncertain.

After thinking about it again and again, I felt that taking this old man to the downtown area, the anus was a tour and a way for the old man to understand the business situation, which would definitely be in line with the master's mind. Well, at this point, I made up my mind and led him to the main market in the city.

After turning a few alleys, the houses gradually became smaller, but no matter how small the houses were, they were all brick houses, and the streets were either paved with bricks or gravel, which was still quite a bit of a house. Garbage can be seen everywhere on the street by walking, and when the wind blows, the dust flies. In some places, there are no drainage culverts, and there is a lot of garbage mixed with sewage in the open ditches.

The number of pedestrians and traders on the road gradually increased, and the peddlers were clustered. Zhao Yinggong paid attention to the local head and face, although there are not as many fu women who operate the business as in Guangdong, but they are not uncommon. A considerable part of the working women do not bind their feet, and their faces are still considerable, but they are generally short, and of course the men are not tall.

Looking at the dress of the common people, they were much better than those of the people in many places along the way, and their expressions were more cheerful and stable, and the proportion of middle-class pedestrians dressed in cheap silk or fine cotton and linen was very large. Jiangnan at the end of the Ming Dynasty was indeed a piece of paradise on the land of China!

Of course, there are also a lot of beggars and wanderers, some begging along the streets, and some huddled under the eaves of small temples and alleys in the streets and alleys. However, this is a very common thing in this time and space, and it is no surprise to Zhao Yinggong.

Hangzhou in the Ming Dynasty was far inferior to the Southern Song Dynasty in terms of prosperity, even compared to the Méng Yuan. However, after all, this is the capital of a province, and Zhejiang is the land of fish and rice, and the essence of wealth in the province gathers here. "The key to land and water, the Chinese and foreign markets, and the department stores" have resumed considerable prosperity, and the streets and alleys of Hangzhou City are "dozens of miles long inside and outside, the people are sprouting and prosperous, and the products are vast" on the streets.

Zhao Yinggong followed Cai Shi all the way down the street, looking at the prosperous scenery of Hangzhou in the Kou Century, and he was embarrassed by the scene in front of an authentic Song Fan. This dim and prosperous picture has been ten times better than he imagined at the beginning, and he doesn't know what it looks like when he walks in the original prosperity?

Cai Shi saw that the old man had come all the way, and he didn't say anything, but his face was complicated, and he was quite embarrassed, thinking that this old man Zhao had been to Hangzhou? Or did you have an adventure here?

It's also strange to think that this old man is already in his thirties, and his accent is also strange, probably once a character who traveled from south to north.

"Master, this is Shou'anfang City." Cai Shi said. Zhao Yinggong knew that this was the "Hu Market" in the Southern Song Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was a comprehensive xing market, selling everything from handicraft products, vegetables and fruits, candy, rice, noodles, food and other goods, as well as a night market. It is a large market in Hangzhou. But this market had declined by the end of the Ming Dynasty, and its size was less than one-tenth of what it was at its peak.

Zhao Yinggong walked casually, there were many people here, and there were many burdens, Cai Shi hurriedly stepped forward and shouted to open the way. Zhao Yingong and his party walked slowly along the street and slowly in the crowd.

The streets of ancient cities were narrow, and according to the standards of the old time and space, the widest "street" along the way was just a "lane" with a little wider. The width is only five or six meters. Barely able to run the level of two cars. However, the ground is paved with stone slabs, which is quite neat. In addition to the shops, there are many street vendors along the street that occupy most of the inside, and the shop signs on both sides of the street stretch out into the middle of the street, which looks dense and crowded. It took a lot of effort for Cai Shi and the two dart masters to squeeze a way through the crowd.

Zhao Yinggong seems to walk very casually, but he actually pays attention to the goods sold by the shops and even the vendors. From time to time, I walked into the store to look at the products, and often asked for a price. Cai Shi "often has to squeeze up and bargain in Hangzhou dialect in order to show his merits, Zhao Yinggong smiled and shook his hand." After a few times, Cai Shi knew that the master was actually looking at the market, and he became more and more confident in his original judgment.

Zhao Yinggong is indeed investigating the market situation. Shou'anfang is a retail-oriented market, and the spending power of the local people can be seen from here. Commodity preference and approximate price fluctuations. Compared with Guangzhou, the price level here is not low at all, and it seems that there is also a large amount of silver flowing here. There are also a wide variety of products. Although it is not a textile market, the shops sell a wide variety of silk satin, cotton and linen cloths, and they have different faces. They are also sold in Europe and cotton cloth from India and Southeast Asia. Obviously, the spending power of the local citizen class is considerable.

"Let's go to another city." After the group finished going around the market, Zhao Yinggong took care of Cai Shi, and then went to a city to "go to a place where things should be sold cheaply." Goods are generally affordable to the poor. ”

Cai Shi was puzzled, but this was the master's inconvenience to refuse, so he led the group to Ma Po Bridge. There is also a market on the upper and lower streets of Ma Po Bridge that stretches to Shengxian Bridge and Wangxian Bridge.

Before we reached the intersection, I smelled the smell of livestock manure in the distance.

It was nearly noon, there were not many pedestrians on the street, and most of the vendors were closed, with only a few vendors packing up their belongings and preparing to leave. The streets are littered with garbage and livestock droppings. Zhao Yinggong took a look, this place is different from Shou'anfang City, first of all, there are many fewer shops, and the scale is not very neat, and there are many merchants and hawkers who carry all kinds of burdens. The goods sold were also miscellaneous, ranging from cloth, clothing, and livestock. There are no more utensils. Many of them are obviously second-hand, but they feel a bit like rags.

"This place has the meaning of a ghost city in Beijing." When Zhao Shenggong was reading a book, he knew that at noon in Beijing, the "ghost market" set up stalls at dawn to sell all kinds of old goods and fake and shoddy products.

"Back to the old man, the name of this place is "Donghuyuan City", also known as "Poor Man City", and most of the items sold are cheap and dilapidated. Since the opening of the city gate, the assembly will be dispersed at noon. Cai Shi said that many of the vendors in Donghuyuan City come from Sixiang. There are also thieves who sell worthless piles here.

The group walked forward until they came to a stone bridge, and there were three words "Wangxian Bridge" on the bridge. Cai Shi said that the bridge is Wangxian Bridge Street, which is where the local cloth market is located. Cloth from both foreign and local production is traded in large quantities here, and many cloth farms are concentrated.

Zhao Yinggong became interested: "Let's go, go and see." He waved the fan in his hand.

Wangxian Bridge is a small stone bridge, which looks very similar to the bridge he used to visit in the water town in the old time and space. Small and elegant. He walked up the bridge and walked a few quick steps, but stopped as if he had been dragged violently.

On the bridge deck lay a yellow-faced and swollen figure. The reason why it is said to be a human form is because the whole body is dirty, full of dirt, and even garbage. Judging by the size of the body, it is just an eight-year-old child.

Starvation on the streets, corpses on the road, whether in Guangzhou or the counties along the road, this kind of scene is not uncommon. Zhao Yinggong felt a little unbearable when he saw it in the past, but now it is commonplace. Cai Shi immediately caught up a few steps, led him to the other side of the bridge, and cursed in his mouth: "It's not good to die, you have to die on this bridge!" ”

Before the words fell, the "corpse" moved, and let out a slight shēn groan. It turns out that man is not dead.

Cai Shi didn't care, and asked Zhao Yingong to come over.

Zhao Yinggong felt compassion at this time, and walked closer to take a look. If you look closely, it's a girl, naked. Unkempt, and there are some places on his body that are suppurated and dripping with yellow water. It's really dirty and disgusting. I don't know whose family discarded it.

He signaled, and the dart master next to him immediately probed the girl's snort with his hand, and then checked the blood vessels next to M's neck, and nodded back to him: "Go back to the master, it's a living person!" ”

Cai Shi beside him said: "Master, there are such people every time the villain on the bridge deck by the bridge comes.

They are all children who can't be supported by the family, and some of them escaped from the famine and were left here, hoping that someone would take them in. Don't care, sir. ”

Zhao Yinggong knew that Cai Shi was telling the truth, and he had seen a lot of people who were dying on the side of the road along the way to Hangzhou. But I can't take it in if I'm in a hurry. Although it is the consistent policy of the Senate to take in orphans as much as possible, the child may not be saved if it is taken in. Leaving her here to fend for herself seems to be 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 Yinggong Zuihou still said, "Take it away." ”

Cai Yan felt the need to remind the new master: "Master! This kid is so faint, I'm afraid he won't be able to live even if he is brought back. Even if you can live, you have to heal and recuperate, and it won't be useful for at least a year and a half......"

"Take this kid with you." Zhao Yinggong said: "Although life and death are fate. But I can't bear to sit idly by like this. ”

Cai Shi hurriedly said: "The old man is kind!" Ignoring the dirt on the child's body, he was about to help her up, and he still muttered to himself: "You are out of trouble!" There is this lord who is willing to save you"@.