Chapter 8 Section VIII

Qin Zhifen had an acquaintance at the Chongwenmen tax customs, and sent someone to say hello, allowing Wang Wu to pass through the customs easily.The shadow of the sun was in the middle, and it was the time for him to date Tan Sitong. Since the inner city was closed for this dead date, he had no choice but to do nothing. He didn't want to have such an unexpected opportunity to get past the restriction, so Wang Wu naturally refused to let it go lightly.Once you enter Chongwenmen, go west along Dongchenggen and turn to Dongjiaomin Lane east of Qipan Street.This street in the Forbidden City is originally called Dongjiang Mixiang. It is said that Wu Sangui's former residence is here.Today, the remains of the "Pingxi Palace" are nowhere to be found, but many foreign-style buildings have been newly built, and most of the embassies of various countries are concentrated here.

Passing the otter alley east of the Zhongyuhe Bridge, I happened to look up and found a couplet on the door of a large building. The four-character idiom is a pair. Wang Wu recognized these eight characters. The idiom "Wang Yang Xing Tan" has also been heard before, but it is inexplicable to pair it with "Being Neighbors with Ghosts" as a couplet.When I got closer and looked at it, I found that the second character of the flat head happened to be embedded with the word "foreign ghost" scolding foreigners, so I suddenly realized it, and couldn't help saying to myself: "I only know that Xu Zhongtang's mansion is in Dongjiaomin Lane, so it is here!"

This "Xu Zhongtang" is Xu Tong, a scholar of Tiren Pavilion, who has hated foreigners all his life, and even hated everything brought by foreigners. Anything with the word "foreign" is not allowed to enter.Others use foreign soap to light foreign lamps, while others still use acacia to light oil lamps.When old disciples came to see him, they had to check first whether they were wearing any foreign gadgets. Otherwise, if he finds out, he will immediately sulk and serve tea to the guests. He is so jealous of foreigners, but there are two things that make him helpless.One is his eldest son, Xu Chengyu. Although, like his father, he scolded officials involved in foreign affairs as "traitors" just like his father, he liked to smoke foreign cigarettes made by factories set up by foreigners, and he loved foreign money from Mexico even more. .Knowing that my father is a bad foreigner, I dare not let him see it, but foreign money can be stored in the bank, and smoking rolls is uncommon for his father to bump into.As long as Xu Tong sees his son swallowing clouds and mists, and looking leisurely and fascinated, he will be so angry that he can't eat.

There is one more thing that is more helpless.I don't know whose idea it was. The foreigners set up embassies and opened banks, so they were concentrated in Dongjiaomin Lane, and more south of Otter Alley.Therefore, if Xu Tong visited the outer city, in order to hate the foreign-style buildings, he would rather make a detour instead of passing through the Chongwenmen. Wang Wu had heard people talking about these jokes, so he finally understood the meaning of this couplet.It's just that I didn't find it funny in my heart, so I spat hard, took a big stride, and went straight to the Japanese legation.

The Japanese Legation had their retired Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi staying there, and the access control was extremely strict. Seeing Wang Wu approaching, the soldiers with guns in the guard booth immediately took a posture of guard.Immediately a person came out of the porter's room, wearing a long robe, a mandarin jacket, a pair of sandals on his feet, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looked like a southerner. "Who is your honor looking for?" Wang Wu was cautious and asked first, "What's your surname?" "My surname is Wang, and I'm the manager here."

"Ah! The same clan." Wang Wu took out a name card from the boot page and handed it over, "I'm the fifth." Guanshi Wang didn't know who the "Wang Zhengyi" on the name post was, but when he heard him say "Xing Wu", and then looked at his vigorous demeanor, he realized that it was the famous "Da Dao Wang Wu" of Zhenbei Road. "It turned out to be the fifth master. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! Please sit inside." Steward Wang explained a few words in Japanese to the guarding soldiers, took Wang Wu into the living room at the entrance, and asked him why he came.

"I want to see a friend of mine." Wang Wu replied, "My friend's surname is Tan, and he originally lives in the Liuyang Guild Hall in Trouser Leg Hutong. I heard that he entered the inner city early this morning and came here." Steward Wang listened quietly, without expression, and asked after pondering for a while, "Master Fifth knows Uncle Tan?" "More than just acquaintances?" Wang Wu replied calmly, "I know you have to ask clearly, please go in and tell me, Wang Wu, who had an appointment with him at Tangfang Hutong Big Wine Vat at noon today, is here, let's see what he has to say ?”

"Yes! Yes!" Guanshi Wang has already seen that his friendship with Tan Sitong is unusual, but at this time and this place, he is inconvenient to act presumptuously, so he apologized and said: "Fifth Master, please sit down for a while, and I will personally report for you."