Countless houses and houses, surrounded by shops, truckloads of coal and stone, truckloads of stones, being pushed along the road, people on the river chiseled the ice, and were dragging things up with hanging frames.

Emperor Hongzhi opened the sedan curtain and looked at the scene and object in front of him, and his eyes flashed with confusion.

This is the eastern suburbs?

Jingshi has jurisdiction over two counties, Daxing and Wanping.

The east side belongs to the Daxing boundary, but it is actually in the city wall of Jingshi.

And this place is outside the city wall, or more than ten miles away, when did it become such a prosperous place.

The eastern suburbs in Zhu's memory were vast expanses of desolate land, with vast forests and shrubs, and farmland further afield.

Before coming today, he also thought that there would be changes in this eastern suburb, after all, the sugar mill and the printing workshop are located here, but he didn't expect the change to be so big and become so prosperous, which made him feel like he had gone to the bustling street market in Beijing.

is even faintly more prosperous than those prosperous places in Jingshi.

His eyes fell on the person who was transporting stones and coal, and on the eighth day of the first lunar month, it should have been leisure time, but these people pushing the cart were talking and laughing.

Are you happy to work?

At this time, a burst of fragrance wafted over, and Zhu Youzhu opened the sedan curtain on the other side to see, it was a restaurant.

The wisps of fragrance wafted into his nose, arousing the cravings in his stomach, hungry.

"Stop the car."

Hearing this, Xiao Jing hurriedly beckoned everyone to stop the sedan chair, leaned over and asked, "Emperor, what are your orders?" ”

As he spoke, he followed Emperor Hongzhi's gaze again, and suddenly understood, "Emperor, you haven't used your lunch yet, why don't you get off the sedan chair and use some food at this restaurant?" ”

Zhu Youzhu readily agreed, "That's fine, I just want to taste what it's like to eat for this people." ”

Now it was just past noon, and there were still a lot of people coming and going in the restaurant, the diners were full, the voices were noisy, and Emperor Hongzhi followed Xiao Jing by his side, and a few guards entered the store.

Xiao Jing shouted to the shopkeeper who greeted him: "Go, prepare a quieter private room for my master." ”

"Yo, a few distinguished guests, I'm really sorry, now this upstairs and downstairs are full, and there are still empty ones, or, how many of you go and share a seat with that guest officer?"

A few people followed their eyes to see that there was a stout man sitting in the corner, eating like a whirlwind cloud.

Xiao Jingdeng's eyes widened, and he shouted, "Bold, can my master sit with others?" ”

"That's it, just sit together, it's fresh."

A group of seven people were led by the shopkeeper to sit down at that table, but only Emperor Hongzhi sat down, and Xiao Jing and five guards dressed in strong clothes stood in front of the table.

For such a strange combination, the shopkeeper didn't understand and didn't dare to ask, so he nodded and said, "A few distinguished guests, may I ask you what you want?" ”

"Bring me all the best things in your store."

Zhu Youzhu added beside him, "Give this man a portion of the stew he ate, and a few more dough cakes." ”

Since Emperor Hongzhi sat down, the man just glanced up, and then turned a deaf ear to the wind.

A dozen large and thick dough cakes, plus a pot of stew, are all this man eats.

This man had a great appetite, and a few bites were a piece of bread into his stomach, and the stew included cabbage, turnips, and fat and thin slices of meat.

Looking at this gobbling up the food, Zhu Youzhu was first surprised, and then curious, are these stews and pastries so delicious?

"The little one will go and tell the kitchen to prepare it for you, but this time is busy, you have to order a lot of dishes, you have to wait a little longer, please take care of a few distinguished guests."

With that, the shopkeeper turned around and left.

The man Xu also noticed that Emperor Hongzhi was looking at his stew, pushed the vegetable pot forward, raised his head and said, "Eat some?" ”

Zhu Youzhu was stunned at first, and then waved his hand again and again, "No need, I don't have to. I also ordered, you eat yours, you eat yours. ”

"Okay."

The man replied vaguely, dragged the vegetable bowl back, and then gobbled it up.

After looking at it for a while, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but ask, "Dare to ask this."

As he spoke, he glanced at the man's sturdy body, "Dare to ask this strong man, what is your urgent matter, why are you so eager to eat?" ”

"I'm busy going to work."

"Work?"

"Aang." The man answered, took a few big mouthfuls of soup from the vegetable basin, smoothed down the little bread in his mouth, and continued:

"Someone from outside, right? Speak in a crepe, and dress so well, I see that you are a scholar, in this eastern suburbs, reading people are rare, and I don't know that things in the eastern suburbs are also ordinary. ”

"This Eastern Suburbs scholar is a rarity?"

"There are all workshops and shops here, except for the workers who are merchants, how can there be any scholars, and there is no need for scholars, don't you say?"

"That's right."

Zhu Youzhu bowed slightly, and then asked: "It's the New Year's season now, you should be idle for the New Year, why are you still busy going to work?" ”

"Naturally, it's to earn money."

Speaking of this, the man grinned, stretched out his hand and raised a three, "The New Year's salary has tripled, from the first day to the fifteenth day of the first month, these fifteen days have tripled."

Take me as an example, I am now a stone-smashing worker in the kiln factory, and all the laborers are coolies, and the salary for a day is 300 yuan, and I have calculated that I can earn more than four taels in fifteen days, nearly five taels of silver. ”

Emperor Hongzhi also calculated in his heart, it was indeed more than four taels of silver, and he earned more than four taels in fifteen days, and his salary tripled.

"Then your weekday salary is three taels of silver a month?"

Seeing that the fair-faced scholar suddenly calculated his salary, the man grinned again, "You are so good at arithmetic, it is better to apply for a job as an accountant, and you can earn a lot in a month." ”

“.”

Xiao Jing next to him twitched his cheeks, and Emperor Hongzhi was also speechless, and the man continued: "My salary is three taels a month, Master Xia is good-hearted, and the wages for us coolies are higher. ”

Master Xia

A young face appeared in Zhu Youzhang's mind, and the old man Xia also said that the minimum salary for a month was two taels.

Looking at it now, it is.

And two taels of silver, enough for a family of three for a year, has tripled, no wonder those who work so happy.

"I just heard you say, you work in the kiln, what is this kiln doing?"

"Burn cement ash."

Zhu Youjiao's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he couldn't help asking, "Can the strong man tell me about this cement ash." ”

The man refused without thinking about it, "No." ”

Emperor Hongzhi was stunned, "Why?" ”

"I have to be busy with work, chatting with you has been delayed a lot, I can't live with the salary paid by Master Xia if I go late, and this cement must be kept secret."

After that, the man stopped speaking, grabbed two pieces of dough and stacked them and stuffed them into his mouth, picked up the vegetable basin, and used chopsticks to pluck the stew into his mouth.

After only a moment's effort, the remaining seven or eight dough cakes, plus the pot of stew, were eaten completely, and the man didn't even let go of the vegetable soup in the basin, and drank it with his neck up.

After a long burp, the man loosened the waistband of his trousers, and then he felt a little more comfortable in his stomach, and then got up to check out.

And the burp mixed with the smell of vegetables seemed to be still echoing in the air, leaving Zhu Youjiao's expression as an old man in the subway.

(End of chapter)