Qing Yao

Chapter 410 My lord, we've arrived at the hotel.

Zhao An was in a bad mood.

Tianjin, located under the emperor's nose, was also the wealthiest place in the north besides the capital. When the Manchus entered the pass, the Ming army in Tianjin surrendered immediately, so it was not damaged at all.

Over the past century, although Tianjin, with its convenient transportation, has not become as prosperous as the international metropolis of Yangzhou, nor as prosperous as the Suzhou-Songjiang region in the south, it was still a developed area in the Qing Dynasty.

As a result, the fact that tens of thousands of infant corpses "block" the river in this developed area every year indicates what?
This shows that the people in this developed region are actually living in dire straits!

The bodies under the ice of the canal were not female infants who drowned due to patriarchal beliefs, but rather both male and female infants.

The fact that even baby boys were abandoned only shows one thing: the poor in the heart of the capital region under the Qing government could not even raise a son to carry on the family line!

Later generations said that the imperial farts of Emperor Qianlong accounted for 30 percent of the world's total, which at first glance seems like a remarkable achievement, as if the Qing Dynasty was extremely wealthy.

However, based on what Zhao An observed along his journey north, the living standards of the Qing Dynasty people, who accounted for 30% of the world's GDP, were roughly equivalent to those of some small African countries that ranked at the bottom of the world rankings.

The so-called prosperous era of Qianlong was nothing more than a land of starvation; the so-called imperial capital was in fact a living hell.

On the way to Tongzhou, the number of refugees increased, and along the way, one could even see frozen zombies.

In order to maintain "stability," local officials provided porridge to these homeless refugees who were displaced by the snow disaster to sustain their lives. Some conscientious local officials would also try their best to provide the refugees with tents and cotton-padded clothes to keep them warm, but the quantity was very small. As a result, a large number of refugees lost their lives to the severe cold every night.

This situation will likely not ease until spring.

According to official procedures, after Zhao An arrived in Beijing, he had to take a special vehicle arranged by the Ministry of Rites through Chaoyang Gate from Tongzhou to enter the capital.

The official from the Ministry of Rites who came to greet Zhao An was a man surnamed Wang, around forty years old, with a round face that looked very cheerful.

"Lord Zhao, you must be tired from your journey. I have come to greet you on the orders of the Minister. Your carriage is ready. Please move to the Huanghua Post Station. Everything has been arranged."

The official Wang was referring to was not Ji Yun, who had recently been reinstated as the Han Minister of Rites, but Gong Ala, who had just taken over the position of Man Minister of Rites from Chang Qing a few days earlier.

This Minister of Rites has been a hot topic in Beijing these past few days because before becoming the Minister of Rites, he was just a captain in the Bordered Yellow Banner, in charge of the old barracks affairs in the Governor's Office.

Equivalent to the director of the Housing Reform Bureau.

The sudden promotion of a housing reform bureau chief to the head of the six ministries, Man, naturally caused a sensation in the court.

However, this man's sudden promotion had nothing to do with Heshen, because his personnel appointment was directly issued by the old master, and he and the old master were related by marriage—his daughter was Niohuru, the companion of the tenth princess, who was personally appointed by the old master to be a secondary consort of Prince Jia, Yongyan, a few months ago.

At the time, the marriage arrangement of Niohuru did not cause any speculation or discussion in the court or among the public, because Prince Jia's secondary consort, Wanyan, had passed away due to illness, and it was perfectly normal for the emperor's father to arrange another concubine for his son.

However, Gong Ala's meteoric rise in rank caused a major upheaval in the court, and once again intensified the "guessing game" about who would be the crown prince.

Just as Zhao An was on his way to the capital, two major events occurred in the court.

First, the old master issued an imperial edict to confer the title of Prince Ding on his grandson, Prince Ding Mian'en; second, Zhu Gui, who had been transferred back to the capital from Anhui for his poor performance in disaster relief and bandit suppression, was summoned by the old master again.

Rumors circulating in the palace suggest that the old master's meeting with Zhu Gui went well, and Zhu Gui is very likely to succeed Guo Shixun as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi next year.

Furthermore, the fact that Gong Ala's father-in-law was promoted to the position of Minister of Rites has caused the previously unfavorable Yongyan stock market to stop falling and start rising, and its "gold content" is expected to exceed one thousand.

Thus, a situation arose in which two sons and one grandson vied for the throne.

Zhao An was unaware of any of these things.

However, he refused the Ministry of Rites' suggestion to stay at the official post station, and instead decided to stay at the Anhui Examination Hall, which was prepared by the Anhui Provincial Treasurer in the outer city of the capital for candidates going to Beijing to take the imperial examinations. The examination hall was not a guild hall; it occupied a small area with few buildings and was only a place to eat and stay free of charge for candidates going to Beijing to take the imperial examinations.

The reason is that Anhui is a poor province with a limited budget. In addition, the governor of Anhui rarely went to Beijing to meet the emperor. Therefore, for more than a hundred years, Anhui has never purchased land in the capital to build a special "office in Beijing".

"Examination hall?"

Wang, the official in charge, was taken aback. He had received countless high-ranking officials from various regions who came to the capital. Which of them didn't go for the comfortable and luxurious official post station? And which regional official would lower himself to stay in that simple place prepared specifically for candidates?
After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Lord Zhao, the examination hall is in poor condition and may not be worthy of your status. Besides, with so many people accompanying you, it would be inconvenient for you to stay there."

"It's not inconvenient at all. We can just squeeze in when there are a lot of people."

Zhao An interrupted Wang, the head of the department, with a smile, "I come from a humble background and am not of such noble birth. Besides, this is a good opportunity to understand the hardships faced by scholars from our province when they travel to the capital for the imperial examinations."

Seeing that Zhao An insisted on staying at the Anhui Examination Hall, Wang, the steward, had no choice but to lead the way.

Zhao An rode in a carriage specially provided by the Ministry of Rites, and the procession headed to the capital under the guidance of the Ministry of Rites personnel.

Tongzhou is not far from the capital. After the procession had traveled for less than an hour, a towering city wall appeared before them as if it had risen from the ground.

Outside the city, the place was deserted, without any greenery, giving Zhao An a gray and oppressive feeling.

Chaoyangmen was the only city gate through which grain from Tongzhou was transported to Beijing. The top of the gate was carved with ears of grain symbolizing the grain, but the scene near the gate was quite different from the meaning of "abundance".

The livestock manure and garbage piled up along the moat and outside the city gates were frozen into small mountains.

Filthy!

Caravans of mules and horses carrying grain kept passing through the city gates, and every now and then, fresh droppings would roll down and freeze together with the snow on the ground. At the foot of the city wall, there were all kinds of vendors selling snacks and goods, densely packed like ants.

The camel and horse caravans that came to the capital from all over the country were so numerous that they could not be seen in the distance.

It was lively, very lively, but the hygiene was appalling.

While sitting in the car, Zhao An saw pedestrians and vendors urinating and defecating on the spot more than once, completely disregarding other people's opinions.

A boy sitting on a small stool getting a haircut noticed Zhao An inside the carriage looking at him. Zhao An grinned at him and touched his bald head as if to say, "Sir, is my haircut shiny enough?"

As the procession passed through the city gate, dozens of carriages covered with white cloths came from the opposite direction, and one could easily spot the hands and feet sticking out of the carriages without even looking.

They were probably all refugees and beggars who froze to death.

When I arrived in the city, most of the pedestrians I saw looked haggard, and many were dressed in rags.

It lacks any of the grandeur and magnificence of an imperial capital. The sanitation facilities and sewers left over from the Ming Dynasty in the city are probably already paralyzed due to lack of maintenance.

Xiao Shuan and Xu Lin were full of curiosity about the capital and looked around everywhere, but Zhao An had no interest in looking any further, so he simply lowered the carriage curtain and closed his eyes to rest.

Before long, the carriage slowly came to a stop. We had arrived at the Anhui Examination Hall, located near Xuanwu Gate in the outer city. It was a small, two-courtyard building that looked incredibly shabby and dilapidated compared to the magnificent government-run guesthouses in Beijing, such as the Huguang Guild Hall and Shaoxing Guild Hall.

The paint on the plaque above the door was even peeling off from being soaked by rainwater, giving it an air of poverty and shabbiness.

As Zhao An got out of the car, he stared blankly, feeling a sense of astonishment and loss, as if the Regent Grand Hotel had become the Regent Grand Inn.

(End of this chapter)