Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 112 Major Crackdown on the Black Market

Since the beginning of spring in 1961, black market grain prices have never dropped. During the peak months of May and June, a pound of wheat flour could fetch five or six yuan on the black market, and a pound of cornmeal could cost three yuan.

By the end of September, as new grains began to hit the market, the government could no longer allow the black market to continue operating, and Beijing began a city-wide crackdown on the black market.

On October 9, 1961, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, the Industry and Commerce Bureau, and various districts and counties jointly launched a concentrated operation in just one day, uncovering 13977 cases of black market transactions and arresting 69913 people that day.

(Actual figures: Over 100 people were formally arrested, over 100 were sent to labor camps, over 700 were administratively detained, and over 1000 were investigated and educated. The remaining approximately 6.8 people were either forcibly repatriated to their places of origin (farmers) or taken back by their work units (with criticism, education, and demerits).)

When the news reached the courtyard, Jia Zhangshi was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles. A woman from the courtyard ran over, her face pale, "Jia Zhangshi, the black market has been wiped out! They arrested so many people, I heard it was over ten thousand."

Jia Zhangshi stopped pulling the cotton rope in her hand and opened her mouth slightly. Unlike others, she wasn't panicked; her family had a fixed allowance and a pension, so she wasn't worried about going hungry for the time being.

But then she remembered the days when she was reselling grain, and if she happened to be caught in a sweep like this… A chill ran down her spine. She swallowed hard, muttered something like “good sweep,” and continued sewing shoe soles.

Twelve days passed, and the black market completely disappeared. But prices had actually risen. Buying grain privately required connections and favors, and prices skyrocketed. A pound of wheat flour was now worthless on the street for less than eight yuan, and a pound of cornmeal cost four yuan. Pork was even more outrageous, almost a month's salary. And even then, there was no market; if you missed out, you could only watch helplessly.

He Yuzhu had been stockpiling supplies in his spatial dimension for so long, waiting for this moment. Before taking action, he thoroughly reviewed the knowledge of antiques in his mind. In his previous life, after his death, he became a vengeful ghost, his resentment soaring in the underworld, devouring too many souls.

All the porcelain he had touched, the paintings he had handled, and the jade and bronze artifacts he had examined throughout his life had become fragments of memory, piling up in his mind.

Over these twelve days, he selected and dragged each piece into his memory. Porcelain identification: body, glaze, cobalt blue, base, mark, repair marks, joining marks, iridescence, dead air bubbles—from Yuan blue and white porcelain to Ming and Qing imperial kilns and then to fine folk kilns, porcelain shards from hundreds of years appeared in his memory.

Authentication of calligraphy and painting: paper and silk works, brushwork and composition, inscriptions and seals, mounting style, characteristics of imitations from different dynasties, the difference between pine soot ink and oil soot ink, and the diffusion of ink between raw and sized Xuan paper.

The mold lines, spacers, rust color, inscriptions, shape evolution of bronzes, and techniques for counterfeiting antique bronzes, such as mercury antiquity, green lacquer antiquity, and jujube skin red.

The patina, color, carving, skin, old-finished pieces, and oil-treated fakes of jade artifacts; the differences between Hetian seed jade and mountain jade. Miscellaneous items include bamboo, wood, ivory, horn, lacquerware, cloisonné, snuff bottles, Tianhuang and chicken-blood jade—you name it.

He can now be considered a top expert in the national antique industry.

From that day on, every night he would change into dark clothes, put on a hood and gloves, and silently slip away, hiding in the shadows of the alley walls.

The Dongcheng District has the largest concentration of former nobles and their descendants, including Dongsi North and South, Qianliang Hutong, Qianmian Hutong, and Shijia Hutong. It is home to many princely mansions and large courtyards, and is the most concentrated area for Aisin Gioro and Eight Banner families.

By 1961, they had all become large tenement courtyards, but the residents were still mainly descendants of the old families. Wangfujing, Donghuamen, Shatan, and Beichizi were areas where high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty lived, and were home to remnants of the old regime, former literati, and former Qing officials.

The Xisi, Xidan, Huguosi, and Xinjiekou areas of Xicheng District are densely populated with old princely mansions and princely residences, where a large number of Manchu and Mongol bannermen, hereditary nobles, and descendants of former officials lived.

Shichahai (Qianhai/Houhai), Gulou, and Deshengmen were the core areas of the Plain Yellow Banner and Bordered Yellow Banner during the Qing Dynasty.

The Caishikou, Luomashi, Guang'anmennei, and Liulichang areas of Xuanwu District are inhabited by descendants of former Qing Dynasty Han officials, scholars, calligraphers, painters, and antique dealers.

Now that the black market is dead and grain prices are skyrocketing, even if these people have valuable old items, they can't eat them.

The first door was in a narrow alley, its vermilion gate peeling paint. He Yuzhu knocked for a while before a hoarse voice came from inside, asking who it was.

He lowered his voice, speaking with a slight Hebei accent, and said that he was exchanging grains, both cornmeal and wheat flour, and asked what he would offer in return. He said money was not acceptable, only gold and old items were accepted.

There was no sound from the courtyard. He wasn't in a hurry; he had already seen everything with his spatial perception. He leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. After a while, the door opened, and the old man, having changed into a cleaner coat, let him into the courtyard and quickly closed the door again.

The old man lit an oil lamp in front of the stone table, first took out a brocade box from his bosom, opened it, and inside was a purple clay teapot, with landscapes engraved on the body and a mark on the bottom.

He Yuzhu could clearly tell that the clay was fine, the patina was thick and smooth, and the lid and body of the pot fit together perfectly, which was the style of Shao Daheng in the mid-Qing Dynasty.

He put the pot back in the brocade box and said it was a good item. He would give you fifteen catties of cornmeal and ten catties of wheat flour for this pot.

The old man's hands, which were resting to the side, were trembling violently, and his eyes were red. He said that his family of seven had been starving for more than half a month, and then asked if they could have some more.

He Yuzhu gave them an extra five jin of cornmeal.

The old man quickly brought out a small scale from the house, weighed the flour with trembling hands, and then took out several pieces of old jade and several pieces of Tianhuang stone, all of which were family heirlooms, with a warm patina and skillful carving.

He Yuzhu accepted it and gave him another twenty catties of flour and a catty of pork.

After leaving that door, he walked through several old alleys all night. Some doors were answered when he knocked, others were not. He didn't force his way in when he couldn't get an answer; he would try another door.

When they returned to the courtyard at dawn, they put the antique gold they had exchanged into five wooden boxes in the space.

The next day, some commotion broke out in the eastern part of the city. Several houses had been burgled the night before; the doors hadn't been pried open or the locks broken, but gold bars, jewelry, antiques, and wooden crates were all gone.

The families whose belongings had been stolen huddled together, discussing how incredibly clever the thief had been, leaving not a single footprint. Several other families nearby had also left behind food and supplies, which, at black market prices, were just the right amount.

For the next two weeks, he went out every night. After exploring the entire eastern part of the city, he would head to the grand mansions in the western part of the city. The families living around the old Prince's Mansion in Xisi were all dealing in top-quality goods.

He changed his wig several times, altering his accent each time. One day he'd speak with a Henan accent, the next with a Hebei accent, and the day after with a Shandong accent. He traded these treasured family heirlooms with some starving old men, some of whom were so destitute that they even brought out thumb rings hidden under their ancestral tablets.

The space is filled with more and more antiques. The porcelain includes blue and white porcelain, famille rose porcelain, and cloisonné enamel porcelain. The jade includes mutton fat white jade, yellow jade, and jadeite. The bronze includes Xuande censers and gilded Buddha statues. The calligraphy and paintings include scrolls and album leaves. There are several purple clay teapots and a brocade box containing Tianhuang chicken blood stone.

There were hundreds of wooden boxes filled with antiques in the space. They had also collected a lot of gold, including gold bars, ingots, and jewelry. Some were old treasures kept at the bottom of their chests, while others had been transferred from the palace years ago. In years of famine, grain was more valuable than gold; a bag of flour could be exchanged for a treasure that one could not earn in several lifetimes.

This deal is too good to pass up. As for silver dollars, he doesn't lack them. He only takes a few from truly pitiful families as a way to give them a chance to survive.

One night, he bumped into a brother and sister. The sister was so hungry that she couldn't stand up. She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed, her cheeks sunken, and her breathing shallow and rapid. The brother, in his early twenties, was wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket with several patches. He squatted next to his sister, carrying a coarse cloth bundle on his back.

Seeing He Yuzhu walking over from the alley entrance, he stood up, his lips trembling for a long time before he finally spoke, saying that he had a few pieces of old jade that were family heirlooms and wanted to exchange them for some cornmeal. He added that his father had passed away last year, and his sister was starving and couldn't bear it anymore, so he had no other choice.

He Yuzhu opened the package and looked inside. It contained several pieces of Hetian jade, with a warm and smooth outer skin, indicating they were old, but of average quality. He placed the bundle against the wall, took out twenty catties of cornmeal from the burlap sack, and also picked out a small piece of cured meat and a few catties of millet, placing them beside it.

He said he also has a younger sister, whom he raised himself. These are for the children to eat, and the cured meat will be used to make porridge for her to help her recover.

The older brother was stunned for a long time, his eyes wide open. When he took the cured meat, his voice trembled. He said that this piece of meat could save his sister's life. He then asked what the benefactor's name was, saying that he would repay him even if he had to be a cow or a horse in his next life.

He Yuzhu didn't reply. He picked up the coarse cloth bundle, turned around, and disappeared at the end of the alley.