Vol 7 Chapter 44: I was in Beijing that year

Remember [] in one second, free reading of wonderful novels without pop-ups!
There are two Zhengyangmen Railway Stations. The Jingfeng Line stops at the East Station, and the Jinghan Line stops at the West Station. One east and one west echo each other. The station is full of rickshaws. This kind of two large rubber-skinned foreign cars are used in Shanghai. It’s called a rickshaw, or rubber in the capital. The railway station is a good place to hang out. Passengers carry their luggage and drag their children out from the exit. The coachmen gather around to solicit business. I couldn't help it, and when I encountered a short cut, I came down in the same line as my peers in later generations.
The style worn by the father and son attracted the attention of people begging for life around the station as soon as they got out of the station. A group of beggars came up to ask for money. Liu Yan saw that they were about the same age as their sons, all of them running out of clean noses. , I couldn’t bear it, and took out a handful of copper coins to scatter them out, 　 attracted them to them, and after the snatching, they dispersed, leaving only a seven or eight-year-old boy crying, because the older one didn’t grab it, he even picked it up. A tin of cigarette butts came spilled.
Liu Yanzhi took out a Long Yang, patted his son on the shoulder, and pointed to the child. Xiao Chen Zikun walked over and put the silver dollar in the child's hand. Regardless of the other's stunned eyes, he turned around and ran back, happily.
The father and son continued to move forward. The guys in the front row of rubber bands all stood up and solicited business. The front row was full of strong and sturdy coachmen in neat black cotton-padded jackets. Liu Yanzhi didn't even look at them. His eyes went over the blue. Zhuang, fell to the end of the foreign car line, a ragged old coachman, the car was not broken, and the paint was almost gone.
The father and son got into this broken car that leaked everywhere. The coachman thanked him for his gratitude. First, he tightened the cloth belt around his waist. Then he pulled up the handlebar and walked forward with small steps without looking back. : "Master, where are you going?"
"Qianmen, Xiaochang Chen." Liu Yanzhi answered without hesitation.
As soon as I get off the train, I go straight to the master of the stew. This is the old Beijing. The small intestines are the famous food in Beijing. The main ingredients are pig intestines and various kinds of pig water, with pepper, tempeh, aniseed, Cumin, spring onion, ginger, garlic, vinegar, fermented bean curd stew, the taste is extremely rich, the taste is so gluttonous, the price is low, it is cool to call a bowl of stewed, add two fires, even the soup with underwater belly, that is one A good meal, but I didn't expect this poor person to like to eat, and the gentleman from the rich family would like this bite.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the small intestine Chen's stall at the front door, Liu Yan ordered two bowls of braised boil, one for his son to see Beijing specialty snacks, and the other was brought to the coachman.
"Sir, what are you?" The coachman was startled.
"You haven't eaten for two days. If you don't eat, you will die on the road." Liu Yan said straight, he could see the energy of the person, and the driver had already reached the point where the lights were dry and he couldn't move because of hunger. Steps, but if you don’t pull a cart to work, you won’t be able to chew the valley. Not only do you starve to death, but the whole family will starve to death.
With tears in his eyes, the coachman ate this bowl of hot and fragrant stewed. It is iron rice or steel. A bowl of stewed boiled his belly. Obviously he had strength. Liu Yan was afraid he was not enough, so he ordered another bowl and insisted. Let the coachman eat before hitting the road.
After eating and drinking, the coachman was full of energy, and his whole body was hot, not even the biting north wind felt cold, and he stepped up a lot more agilely. When he was in a good mood, he talked more and chatted with his husband. Knowing that the two distinguished guests came from Hankou and were not natives of the capital, the coachman enthusiastically introduced them to where to live.
"Tell me, which is the best inn in Beijing?" Liu Yan asked him directly.
"Then you can ask the right person. The best is the Six Nations Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane. Those who live in are foreigners and big businessmen from the south. Do you know how much it costs for a night? Five taels of silver! I can't earn this amount after pulling the cart for a month."
"Next?" Liu Yanzhi had already made up his mind to let his son stay in the Six Nations Hotel for a few days to see the style of the Western Hotel. Of course, the old-style inn in old Beijing should also be tasted.
"Then Donghua Inn next to Dong'an Market will cost you a tael or two for one night." The coachman said as he ran, his mouth was warm, like a running train, "As I said, Donghua Inn is good. When I go out, I’m at the Dong’an Market. I have everything I want to buy. It’s so lively. It’s not convenient to get in and out of the Six Nations Hotel. Dongjiaomin Lane is the place where foreign troops are stationed. It’s deserted. I can’t find a place to eat a bowl of braised pork."
"Then stay at Donghua Inn."
Donghua Inn is a Chinese-style hotel, which is considered to be a relatively high-grade hotel. If it is cheap, it has to be the chicken feather shop outside the city. The Datong store does not even have bedding. It only has a few copper plates per night. Liu Yanzhi feels distressed. Son, even if he is experiencing life, he would not go to such a place.
When he arrived at the inn, Liu Yanzhi gave the coachman a little bit of Yang and registered his name. He lived in the upper room on the second floor. The inner and outer room was antique. The furnishings were all old things, but there was no running water in the house, and there was no bathroom. Hot water, take a bath in a special bathroom, the only advantage is that it is convenient to eat, and all the famous foods in Beijing can be ordered for takeaway.
That night, the father and son went to Donglaishun to have a meal of mutton. They came back to sleep with enough food and drink. They woke up to visit Dong'an Market the next morning. The market was very large. There were many shops selling various candied fruits from North and South, as well as paintings, calligraphy and antiques. The shop of the seal is similar to the cultural market. Xiao Chen Zikun likes to eat candied haws. Liu Yanzhi simply bought him a handful of candied haws and ate them while walking.
Then the two went to teahouses, theaters, sky bridges and other places with Beijing characteristics. They ate various snacks, roast duck, fried belly, and various northern-style desserts. They listened to famous corners such as Mei Lanfang, Tan Xinpei, and Yang Xiaolou. I also appreciated the tricks and cross talk on the sky bridge. Xiao Chen Zikun was very happy and reluctant to think about Shu. He said that Beijing is more fun than Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing.
"It seems that you have a relationship with Beijing." Liu Yanzhi knew that his son's future life trajectory was indeed inseparable from the city. In another ten years, this will be the stage where the young Chen Zikun will be the protagonist.
The Donghua Inn had enough. The father and son moved to the Six Nations Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane. They rode a foreign car to the entrance of the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane. There were large black iron gates and British soldiers on duty. They had sharp bayonet swords, sharp military uniforms, and energetic spirits. It was completely different from the soldiers of the patrol battalion that Xiao Chen Zikun had seen in Hunan with their heads wrapped around their heads and their sleeves drooping to the knees.
The embassy area does not allow Chinese people to enter and leave at will. The British soldiers stopped the foreign car for inspection. Liu Yan pointed out the HSBC traveler’s cheque, saying that he was here to cash the cash and stayed in the Six Nations Hotel. The British soldiers immediately let them go. The side is full of Western-style buildings, the flags of the nations are fluttering in the wind, and the pedestrians are foreigners in suits and leather shoes. Occasionally there are East Asians, but also mainly Japanese with Rendan beard and short stature. The Chinese are mostly compradors and servants. , Even the street signs here are in English, and Dongjiaomin Lane is marked as "Embassy Street."
There are not only embassies and consulates in the embassy area, but also many barracks. There are as many as thousands of embassy guards stationed in various countries. Walking on the road, you can hear the sound of military training from time to time and see the soldiers patrolling. Russian cattle with gray coats on ankles, the US Marines in blue uniforms, the British Army in khaki uniforms, and Japanese soldiers with bayonet guns taller than humans. Different advancements, different arm swing methods, and different language commands , Dizzying.
Xiao Chen Zikun was puzzled why there was an area similar to Chinatown in the capital of Qing Dynasty, where all foreigners lived and there were so many soldiers.
Liu Yanzhi just waited to give him knowledge of popular science and history: "My child, I have to talk about it from fifty years ago..."
Fifty years ago, it was 1860. At that time, Dongjiaomin Alley was also called Dongjiang Mi Alley. There was a Ministry of Ritual and Hongshe Temple, which received envoys from Annan, Mongolia, North Korea, and Burma all the year round~EbookFREE.me~ has a diplomatic area. After the Second Opium War, the great powers entered Dongjiang Mixiang in accordance with the "Tianjin Treaty", the British ministers moved into Prince Chun’s Mansion, the French ministers moved into the Anjun Palace, and the Russian ministers moved into the Orthodox Church. Mixiang was renamed Dongjiaominxiang, various countries rebuilt embassies, added banks, post offices, and hospitals, and a large number of Western buildings appeared in decades.
In the year of Gengzi, the Queen Mother declared war on the powers, and Dongjiaomin Lane became a pot of porridge. The embassy guards and the Westerners held on for dozens of days. Finally, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces, foreign troops entered the Forbidden City, occupied Beijing, and chased the Queen Mother and the emperor. When we arrived in Xi'an, we carried out slaughter in Beijing, looted wildly, and killed ten rooms and nine empty houses. So far, there are a large number of empty houses in Nancheng that are uninhabited. Even the money from the household department has been robbed, and there are a lot of treasures in the palace. Lost.
Liu Yanzhi described the scene vividly and vividly. Xiao Chen Zikun couldn't help asking: "Uncle, you know so clearly, is it also there."
"Yeah, I was also in Beijing that year." Liu Yanzhi thought of Xia Feixiong and Yan Shengnan, the fatal shot in the embassy, ​​the club in front of the Xishiku church, and the storm on Xishou Road. He couldn't help but sigh. .
………………………………
Rest day tomorrow