Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 6: The fireworks of Qingming Shanghe

At this time, Lin'an was the richest city in the world.

As the sun rose, small boats filed into Lin'an City from the various water gates, carrying the freshest vegetables, fruits, fish, snails, shrimps and crabs from the suburbs to the restaurants and teahouses along the Imperial Street.

The young farm girl sitting at the bow of the boat was still humming a little tune, looking carefree.

The teahouses, taverns, art venues and music schools in Lin'an City also woke up from the night and fell into the life of music and singing again.

Despite the large population and prosperous streets, the streets and alleys of Lin'an are extremely clean and not dirty.

The Chinese nation has a very long history of urban management.

"According to the Yin law, anyone who threw ashes on the road would have his hand cut off.

"According to the Qin law, anyone who threw ashes on the road would be tattooed."

In the Tang Dynasty, "those who expose filthy things in the streets will be punished with sixty strokes of the cane."

It is not enough to just use strict laws and regulations to prohibit residents from dumping garbage and waste indiscriminately. "Street toilets" and special city cleaning agencies also appeared very early.

The Song Dynasty did particularly well in this regard, establishing a sanitation agency called the "Street Office". The "sanitation workers" in Lin'an City all wore uniform blue robes and cleaned the streets.

The painted bridge is covered with willows, the curtains are covered with green, the market is lined with pearls, and the houses are filled with silk and satin...

The description in these words is a true portrayal of the city of Lin'an.

But no matter how beautiful the description in words is, it cannot compare to being there.

As soon as he entered the city, Yang Yuan walked into such a vivid picture.

He heard the soft Wu dialect and the sounds of Heluo, and he saw with his own eyes the crowds of people and the daily life along the way.

From the moment he stepped into Lin'an City, ink painting was no longer a freehand style, but a realistic style.

Walking along the Imperial Street, when he reached Taipingfang, Yang Yuan turned right, crossed Taipingfang, and arrived at Houshi Street.

In terms of location, this place is equivalent to the city center within the second ring road of later cities.

The donkey that Yang Yuan rode was rented from Lu’s Mule and Horse Inn on Houshi Street.

The main means of inter-city transportation in the Song Dynasty was donkeys, and the places with conditions for raising horses have always been Yanzhao, Shaanxi and the Western Regions.

However, the Song Dynasty was already congenitally deficient when it was founded, and by the time of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were no conditions for raising horses.

Therefore, unless you are a high-ranking official or a wealthy soldier, it is not your turn to ride a horse, just like Lamborghini today, not everyone can afford it.

Ox carts were too slow, sedan chairs were too expensive, and only donkeys were the most hardworking. However, the rental of a donkey was 100 coins a day, and the daily income of ordinary people in the Song Dynasty was basically between 100 and 300 coins.

Therefore, it was understandable that Yang Yuan got furious and made a fuss because no one signed for the package he sent all the way to Banjingguan.

Yang Yuan returned the donkey at Lu's Mule and Horse Shop. After coming out and passing a stone archway, he came to an alley paved with bluestone.

The alley is not actually narrow, but there is a river in the alley.

The river water gurgles, and there is often a stone staircase in front of the doors of the residents on both sides that leads directly into the river, making it convenient for the residents to draw water and wash clothes.

There are also a series of small bridges on the water connecting the two banks, some wooden and some stone. There are signs and flags on both sides of the bridge. This is a snack street, which not only has local delicacies, but also has snacks from Bianliang such as blood tripe soup, chicken feather vegetables, lung filling, pig pancreas Hu cake, etc.

Because the other end of the alley leads to the Secretariat, many minor officials from the Secretariat often come here to find food.

As Yang Yuan walked in from the stone archway of Qingshi Lane, he heard a rapid "thump thump thump" sound of chopping on a chopping board coming from a nearby braised meat shop. Yang Yuan became increasingly angry as he heard the sound of the knife. He immediately stopped in his tracks and even pulled a passerby next to him.

With a whoosh, something flew out of the braised meat shop. Yang Yuan was like an "iron bridge". In the bluestone alley, the young man's feet were like cast iron, his body was straight like a board, and he was tilted like a bridge, as if frozen. There was only one thing, shooting towards the other side close to his nose.

There were many wine jars piled up in the shop of the merchant on the other side of the river, and there was also a word "wine" on the flag at the door.

There was a man in his fifties in the wine shop. He had no flesh on his face but a full beard.

He raised his hand and accurately caught the object thrown to him, which turned out to be a braised chicken butt.

The thin man with a beard grinned, grabbed a jar of wine with one hand, and poured half a bowl of wine into a large bowl.

The wine jar, including the wine, must have weighed more than 30 kilograms. He held it with one hand and poured the wine, but it was as steady as if it were made of iron.

After pouring the wine, he dumped the jar of wine, threw the chicken butt into his mouth and chewed it, then picked up the bowl and took a swig, laughing loudly, "It's really fucking delicious! Lao Ji, your chicken butt is so well braised, just give me more."

In the braised meat shop on the other side of the river, a fat man was holding a sharp kitchen knife in his hand, his eyes glaring like an angry toad.

The pointed kitchen knife in the fat man's hand is similar to the Western kitchen knives of later generations. In fact, early Chinese kitchen knives were all of this type of pointed kitchen knives.

However, starting from the Song Dynasty, Chinese cuisine became increasingly diverse, with the extensive use of slicing, shredding and dividing techniques. Pointed kitchen knives became obsolete, and more effective right-angled square knives appeared.

However, the fat man said that his ancestors were in the business of selling braised meat, and this kitchen knife was handed down from his ancestors. It was of great significance, and he was reluctant to change it.

Hearing the teasing words of the bearded man selling wine, the fat man cursed: "Bah! You roaming the streets and alleys, are you saying bad things about me again?"

The bearded man laughed and said, "You have a dirty heart, so you think others are not good people. I sell wine to customers, so of course I have to be more attentive to them. Why do you feel guilty?"

The fat man was furious. He chopped the chopping board with a kitchen knife and roared, "If you want to talk to the guests, then go ahead and talk. Why are you looking at me with such sneaky eyes while you're talking? It's obvious that you have bad intentions!"

The bearded man curled his lips and said, "You are not a pretty young lady, who would want to see you? Do you think you are a young lady from the Song family?"

"Oh, you deserve to have your mouth and tongue cut out, I'm going to skin you alive today!" The fat man was furious and rushed out with a kitchen knife.

Yang Yuan quickly stepped forward to stop him, and said kindly: "Uncle Ji, calm down, you calm down. And Uncle Gou, you two should stop quarreling all day long. Harmony can bring wealth. If you keep yelling and cursing like this all day long, are you still going to do business?"

Yang Yuan pushed Uncle Ji all the way back to the store, grabbed a piece of braised chicken from his chopping board, and put it into his mouth.

The bearded man on the opposite side smiled and said, "Erlang, just do your own thing and ignore him. The old man feels uncomfortable if he doesn't find trouble for a day."

The fat man who sells braised chicken and meat is named Ji, and the bearded man who sells wine is named Gou.

Yang Yuan heard from the Song family's daughter that the two of them and Old Man Song had served in the army together when they were young, and now they were doing business in this alley, with Old Ji selling meat, Old Gou selling wine, and Old Song running a snack shop, which was supposed to be a mutually beneficial business. But for some reason, Ji and Gou were always quarreling with each other.

Yang Yuan tried his best to persuade Mr. Ji, who was angry, and finally persuaded him to sit down. Then he gave him a piece of chicken and walked to the Song family snack shop next door.

Under the stone archway, a person quietly followed him out. He had seen the whole scene. When he saw Yang Yuan walking away, he came out from his hiding place.

This man is called Yu Jiguang, a secret agent from the Guoxin Bureau, who has been following us all the way from Banjingguan to here!
(End of this chapter)