Chapter 31 Chapter 9: The Return of Lu Shi

Xining five years leap in July.Dozens of people marched on the official road leading to Nanxun Gate of Bianjing with a mighty dozens of horse-drawn carriages. What was unusual was that so many people were marching, but apart from the sound of the carriages and horses, they couldn't hear it. Half a hustle and bustle.A middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a white robe and black veil, rode a big white horse at the front of the convoy.On his thin and fair face, a pair of slender eyes are piercing, with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth with three strands of beard, his expression is flowing between glances, he is really a handsome and handsome man.Also riding a white horse, followed by a young man in his twenties.Judging from the size and momentum of this group of people, passers-by knew that it must be the family of officials and eunuchs who came to Beijing with their families.

The middle-aged man looked at both sides of the official road outside Nanxun Gate, and saw that there were row upon row of houses, including teahouses, wine shops, foot shops, butcher shops, bookstores...the shop gates hung banners to attract business, and pedestrians of all colors crowded shoulder to shoulder, in an endless stream, Compared with the prosperity of the inner city of Bianjing, it is not inferior.Surprised expression unconsciously appeared on his face, he reined in his horse and sighed: "Lu Shan, I can't wait to leave the capital for three years, the changes here are so earth-shaking, it's really surprising."

The person he called was Chen Yuanfeng, who was sent to the Jinjiang magistrate by Xining on the same list as Tang Di and the Chai brothers for three years. , there is improvement in sight.And the middle-aged man who talked to him was Lu Huiqing, who had been in mourning for three years. He was nicknamed "The Good God of the Dharma". He was highly regarded by Wang Anshi and was called "the sage of today" by the emperor.Lu Huiqing is from Jinjiang, and she had a good relationship with Chen Yuanfeng when she was in the funeral room. This time, they happened to be on the way, so they returned to Beijing together.It has been almost three years since the two left the capital.

Chen Yuanfeng also reined in the horse's head, and sighed: "Menshi is right, the capital is indeed changing with each passing day." Because Lu Huiqing was the examiner in the year he became a Jinshi, he called Lu Huiqing his mentor in private. The two of them didn't know that the bustling scene from the Nanxun Gate in the south city to the Wansheng Gate in the west city had become comparable to the inner city of Bianjing in just over two years. In the center of this section, there is an unprecedentedly large Baishuitan College, as well as a Baishuitan Weapons Research Institute and 1,000 imperial guards in charge of guarding. Also here.Taking Baishuitan College as an example, there are nearly 10,000 students in the school, and most of the students have book boys. Calculated on the basis of one book boy per student, the population is nearly 20,000.In addition, hundreds of teachers and family members were invited, and many students who went to Beijing for exams or traveled to Beijing for convenience and cost saving, also tried to live near Baishuitan. The population of Baishuitan is only one item , there are already more than 30,000.If you add other kinds of things, the population is already 100,000.Although Baishuitan Village still stubbornly maintains its own agriculturalization, it is inevitable to build a large number of service shops outside the rural area in the central area.As housing prices in the Baishuitan College District slowly rose, these shops consciously expanded outwards, and even extended to the vicinity of Nanxunmen and Wanshengmen.Now the imperial court is already discussing whether to expand Kaifeng’s city wall outwards and include this bustling area under protection. I believe that if the imperial court’s use of troops in the northwest caused financial constraints, the new city wall would have started to be built long ago.

Starting from Nanxunmen and Wanshengmen, there are several concrete roads connecting Dailoumen and Xinzhengmen outside the city, leading to Baishuitan College. On both sides of the road, behind the thin trees, various shops are springing up like mushrooms after rain. Standing on both sides, the difference between these houses and Bianjing City is that most of them are red brick and cement structures.Baishuitan College is about to welcome its third class of students in September, and it is estimated that there may be as many as 10,000 students.Among Sang Chongguo's plans for one hundred free schools in Kaifeng City, ten schools with a total of 3,000 students were built in Baishuitan District, scattered in the 90-degree area from Nanxun Gate to Wansheng Gate.Amidst the hawking in a market, there can be heard the crisp sound of children reading, which is also the unique scenery of the so-called "Bai Shui Tan District".

Although she didn't know the cause and effect, but with Lu Huiqing's cleverness, she quickly guessed that all this was closely related to that young man named Shi Yue.He smiled at Chen Yuanfeng: "Shi Ziming's reputation is well-deserved, he is a good performer, it's still early, we might as well rest in the restaurant in front." Chen Yuanfeng hesitated for a moment, and reminded: "Teacher, when you return to Beijing this time, you must be greeted by colleagues in front of the city gate." Lu Huiqing waved her hand and said with a smile: "They don't know my itinerary, and my husband doesn't like these empty words, so we don't need to engage in these red tapes. After entering the city and settling down, we can meet the saint tomorrow."

While the two of them were talking, they came to a restaurant called "Cai Shui Ju". When the waiters saw the customers coming to the door, they immediately came out and greeted them attentively.Immediately, the family members were invited to the elegant seats upstairs, but the family members had dinner downstairs. Lu Huiqing went upstairs with a whip, and sat by the window with Chen Yuanfeng, talking about the essentials of Buddhism, the customs of various places, and watching the people coming and going on the official road, which also had a special taste.The two were talking over wine when they suddenly heard cadenced voices outside the private seat.The two couldn't help listening to each other, but they were not storytellers, but seemed to be someone reading some article.Lu Huiqing became curious, so she ordered her family to remove the screen, and saw an old sour scholar in his fifties, holding a piece of paper full of words in his hand, sitting at a small table, shaking his head and reading: " ...Therefore, it is said that those who govern the country should put the people first, and the people are the most important..." Some of the guests were eating alone, talking and laughing softly, turning a blind eye, or listening to each other, thinking carefully, and others Whispering, commenting on something softly, the reckless one asked loudly: "Dr. Bao, what do you mean by that sentence you just said? Explain it to the Sa family..." The reader responded and began to explain in detail .

Lu Huiqing and Chen Yuanfeng looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what kind of new business this was.Unexpectedly, after leaving the capital for less than three years, when I come back today, I don't know all kinds of things.Chen Yuanfeng hurriedly called Dr. Jiu, and asked, "What do you mean by reporting to a doctor?" Dr. Jiu bowed hurriedly, and said with a smile: "If you are an official, the one who reads the newspaper is the doctor." "Aren't you talking nonsense?" Chen Yuanfeng scolded with a frown. Dr. Jiu originally wanted some benefits, but he also knew that the two officials were powerful, so he didn't dare to belittle him. Seeing that Chen Yuanfeng was angry, he quickly replied: "I think the officials have been away from Beijing for a long time, and it's just a special purpose to report to the doctor." Every restaurant has people who read newspapers to guests. Usually the restaurant pays for it. The guests like it. If any restaurant does not have this, the business will not be good. They read to the guests in restaurants and teahouses. The newspaper, if the guest doesn’t understand, he will explain it in detail, and when the guest leaves, he will give him some money. These people’s income is higher than that of storytellers.” Speaking of this, Dr. Jiu’s face was full The envy of these newspaper readers is obviously higher than his income.

"Newspaper?" Lu Huiqing understood and smiled, "Is it the "Bianjing News" of Sang Chongguo? If you do this, no one will buy his newspaper?" Dr. Jiu smiled and said: "Where would it be! Scholars and officials, as long as they have money, they buy it by themselves. I heard that they can sell 50,000 to 60,000 copies a day. Last time the military supervision case was printed, 100,000 copies were printed. Sometimes the bookstore can’t print, so I have to ask other bookstores to help, and the brightly lit area at night will be processed and added. In our restaurant, there are only those who can’t read or don’t have time to read. Just listen to it. Even Zhang Shisan, a storyteller from Xiangguo Temple, reads the newspaper in the morning and tells stories in the afternoon." Lu Huiqing also knows the Zhang Shisan he is talking about, and said that he is famous in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and is quite famous in Tokyo.

Lu Huiqing nodded, and winked at the book boy, and the book boy took out a handful of copper coins and handed it to Dr. Jiu. Lu Huiqing smiled and said, "Please go and buy me a few newspapers from the past few days. Your reward."