Episode 191 Beijing: Nobody Sleeps Tonight

Beijing.

From the evening of March 7 to the early morning of March 8, 1937, almost no one slept in Beijing during the long night. This thousand-year-old capital is filled with firecrackers and gongs and drums. From Wangfujing to Dashilar, from Dongcheng to Xicheng, almost all wine shops and teahouses are open all night, Dashilar is fried and fried, and the fragrance of wine and meat is all over the street. The shopkeeper also seemed to be crazy, standing at the door of the store in person and shouting and greeting, whether he knew it or not, he desperately pulled people in. Seeing the soldiers dressed in the Ming army, they pulled in desperately, shouting:

"No money, no money! Today, the shopkeeper is happy, he doesn't want a child, the chief eats and drinks as he pleases! ”

Firecrackers and fireworks light up the night sky in Beijing. And, of course, the firelight. Before Ha Yukun went to the city to fight, he only ignited one or two small fires. And now the Ming army has entered the city, because the whole city has fired artillery, and there are more than ten fires. However, this did not affect the interest of the people of the capital in the slightest. There was a fire here, and the neighbors happily fetched water to put out the fire, extinguished it, and continued to fire fire......

The entire city of Beijing is out of stock, and the liquor is out of stock. Beijingers, who have been in extreme terror and extreme repression for too long, are now venting to their heart's content. The streets and alleys are full of people, crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder. Even the usually secluded places are now the same as those of the temple fair. - Finally able to go out on the street and walk casually.

Except for alcohol and firecrackers, all other daily necessities are also basically out of stock. Prices in Beijing skyrocketed. But even so, the owners of the restaurant and teahouse were still going crazy, shouting "no money, no money, no money...... to the Ming army passing by

If a foreigner who was unaware of the idea suddenly came to Beijing, he would definitely grow his mouth and marvel at the "peculiar customs" of this ancient nation -- at two or three o'clock in the morning, he still opened a restaurant and a teahouse, and opened a small shop, drank wine, set off cannons, and sang and danced. Oh my God, who said that Orientals don't understand nightlife.

Even Tianqiao, now artists are seizing business opportunities and going out in a big way, taking the opportunity to work overtime: practicing martial arts, singing, Jingdong drums, juggling, cross talk, storytelling, selling dog skin plasters and strong pills、...... There are also crowds of people around, no matter how they play, the crowd always keeps shouting "good!!! ”…… Those who talk about cross talk, even if they say the same old-fashioned jokes that they have heard many times, the crowd around them will laugh forward and backward, like a group of crazy people.

Reprisals and lynchings against former Qing officials, military and police were everywhere, and although the Ming army tried their best to control them, they still occurred from time to time. From time to time, the home of a former Qing official was smashed and looted. In the gloomy alleys, several bloody corpses of Qing court officials and military police can be found from time to time. It can be said that the fires, smashing and looting caused by the Ming army after entering the city were more than those caused by Ha Yukun after entering the city. - However, this did not affect the all-night carnival in Beijing at all.

……

Although there were only about 300 people in the army commando, they easily controlled the city of Beijing. At this time, the Qing Janissaries had all surrendered, and the officers and soldiers of the Second Division of the Eight Banners did not know that Xiang Xiaoqiang was unloading and killing the donkey, and they were also happy to welcome the Ming commando. Wherever the commandos went, the officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners there handed over control.

Because the top priority was to control Beijing, not to carry out a formal ceremony to enter the city, the Ming army did not care about paying attention to the "Anding Gate" or the "Desheng Gate", and went inside when they saw the convenient city gate. The First Division of the People's Guard Corps entered through the three city gates in the east and south, and as soon as it entered almost two regiments and several thousand people, the streets and alleys of Beijing were crowded with citizens pouring out. Vehicles and armored vehicles will definitely not be able to drive in, and the Ming army will not be able to put that score, so they can only use infantry to squeeze in, trying to control all the Qing troops and protect all the key points in the city.

In this way, the people of Beijing were carnivaling on the one hand, and the Ming army was crowding and deploying on the other, and it was almost dawn that the Ming army could be regarded as completely in control of the entire Beijing city, and also got the surrendered Qing army out of the city.

……

The pink morning sun shines in the city of Beijing. A large flock of pigeons fluttered back and forth over the ancient city, and the pigeon whistle "buzzed". At this time, the city of Beijing quieted down. The townspeople, who had been partying all night, went home and slept contentedly. Anyway, in this extraordinary period, workers do not need to go to work, students do not need to go to school, and the lower-level staff of the various institutions in the former Qing Dynasty do not need to go to work, and they are all waiting at home for the time being, waiting for their future to be decided.

Now, except for some shopkeepers who are eager to make money and are still struggling to keep business as usual, the whole city of Beijing has fallen asleep.

The streets and alleys were a mess, and the ground was covered with firecracker crumbs and confetti two inches thick. Xiang Xiaoqiang took Qiu Yu, Xiuxiu, Wu Yanbin, Gao Dayi and several other entourages, stepping on thick firecracker crumbs, bathing in the warm sunshine, and wandering on Chang'an Street contentedly.

A large group of children followed, and they did not dare to approach, so they followed with a grin. These children, like adults, have never seen the Ming army. But like adults, they know that Ming Jun is a good person. Adults do it through reason, while children do it through direct feeling. It has been seen since last night that the people are so noisy, and the Ming army is still crowded with everyone, and they are so anxious that they are sweating profusely and are still honestly crowded. If the Qing army had been beating and scolding and arresting people in the past, they would have even shot the whole city in the sky to clear the field, and then swaggered through the market.

Hearing the laughter of the children, Xiang Xiaoqiang turned his head violently. Those children saw Xiang Xiaoqiang looking at themselves, and scattered like sparrows. At the same time, it was accompanied by screams of excitement, as if what a thrilling thing I was doing.

But Xiang Xiaoqiang turned back, and within a few seconds, the children regrouped and continued to follow behind with a grin.

Qiu Yu and Xiuxiu also turned their heads and looked at the children with a smile. These children did not hide, but also looked at Qiu Yu and Xiuxiu with a smile.

Seeing that the affinity of the two ladies far surpassed his own, Xiang Xiaoqiang stopped doing it, turned his head and said to a few people:

"Come on, give me all the sugar, and the chocolate."

Everyone in the combat unit of the Ming army has some high-sugar and high-calorie emergency food, mainly sugar bars and chocolate. Xiang Xiaoqiang snatched a large handful of sugar cubes and chocolates, and then smiled at the child behind him:

"Come on, come on, come here, there's candy to eat."

For these poor children, the magic of "sugar" is enormous. A large group of children "coaxed" all around Xiang Xiaoqiang, clamoring for it. Xiang Xiaoqiang gave each of them a piece, and then scattered the rest.

Looking at the children happily grabbing candy, Xiang Xiaoqiang felt a sense of satisfaction that he had never felt before. This kind of satisfaction is different from destroying millions of enemies on the battlefield.

Qiu Qiu's eyes rolled, his cheeks turned red, he leaned up with a smile, and whispered to Xiaoqiang:

"Xiaoqiang...... When will we ...... Well, give birth to a baby......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned for a moment, and then saw Xiuxiu next to him, who was almost looking at him with the same eyes, with a slight blush of expectation on his face.

"Ahem...... he turned around and saw that several attachés behind him were still two or three meters away, so he whispered, "Ah...... Didn't you say that...... Two years, two years...... It's still young, let's focus on our careers...... Ah......h

“…… Oh. ”

Qiu Yun and Xiuxiu were a little frustrated, but they still nodded obediently and stepped aside.

Regarding the issue of having children, after getting married, the two wives also asked for it many times. They really want to have children, preferably boys, of course. In this polygamous society, there is always a lot of pressure on the lady to be a wife. Especially once another lady gives birth and doesn't give birth to herself, it will be taken very seriously. Xiang Xiaoqiang also knows. Not only the two ladies themselves, but also their father-in-law Qiu Laohu and mother-in-law Shang Xiaojun, have also asked many times when they will hold their grandson......

And his own situation is not ordinary. Whichever lady was the first to give birth to a son, it was the eldest son. In the future, if you marry the empress and become a prince, it will be a great advantage for the eldest son to inherit the son. Although even if he is crowned a prince, it is unlikely to be hereditary, most of them are descending, but the next generation is at least a duke. The next generation is also a marquis. These are all very tempting temptations. Now the two girls know in their hearts that if they want to have a child now, it is just two people who compete, and they have 50% luck for each other. If you wait two years to have a child, then the other "three golden flowers" will also enter the door. That's only 20% luck per person.

But Xiang Xiaoqiang also knows that he has less than four years to go. When the time comes, I go back by myself, leaving a few young women with children, what should I do? He felt that it was better to perfunctory the past three years, and when he left, the ladies did not "drag the oil bottle", and each person got a large sum of money, which would not affect his own happiness in the future.

It's sad to think about, but it has to be.

……

"My lord, it's here."

Wu Yanbin pointed forward and said.

Several people looked at the majestic and ornate building in front of them.

This is a tall building that combines Chinese and Western, with six big characters on it: Qing Imperial Bank

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and smiled:

"Hehe, all the families of the Qing Empire are here. Now, it's all up to us. I don't know how many tons of gold are left for those corrupt officials to toss. However, there will be a lot left. ”

"My lord," Xiuxiu said softly, "this is still Ha Yukun's temporary division headquarters. ”

Immediately afterwards, she whispered to Xiaoqiang again.

"Oh!" Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and asked in a low voice, "Mu Hu is also locked inside, right?" Few people know he's alive, right? ”

Xiuxiu nodded:

"Don't worry, my lord, the concubine personally arranged it. My lord...... What to do? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at others, and seeing that no one was staring at him, he quietly made a gesture to wipe his neck.