Chapter 302： Crane Hall

Chapter 302 Crane Hall

Cars rattling, horses rustling, the spring breeze in February is like scissors.

This is Zhu Pingan's most intuitive feeling about the capital at this moment, the constant traffic of horses and horses, and the cool breeze blowing on his face.

As tour guides, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen wanted to take Zhu Pingan to the Chongfu Temple outside Xuanwu Gate, which is also the modern Fayuan Temple. The distance is not too far. After exiting Xuanwumen, walk southward along the main street, and it won't take long to reach Chongfu Temple without blushing or panting.

As a rule, after the imperial examination, many candidates like to go to the temple to find spiritual sustenance, make a wish, burn incense or something, and pray for a good test result.

In addition, it is the apricot blossom season at this time, and the apricot blossoms in Chongfu Temple are also famous for their beauty.

Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen led Zhu Pingan out of Xuanwumen, and walked directly along this street to the south. This street was full of people coming and going, and there were many shops selling things on both sides of the street. The business was very good, and the shops for basic necessities of life There are all of them, and of course the most are selling vegetables, which is a bit like today's super big vegetable market. Don't think it's the beginning of spring, but the vegetables in the vegetable shop are already full of beautiful things.

Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen are competent tour guides, and they introduced the customs and customs along the way to Zhu Pingan while walking.

"This is Vegetable Market Street. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the largest vegetable market in Daming. Most of the entire Beijing Normal University has come here to buy vegetables." Zhang Siwei introduced this street to Zhu Pingan while walking.

Oh, this is Caishi Street.

Zhu Pingan nodded when he heard the words. Isn’t Caishi Street the famous Caishikou in later generations? It was only a street for selling vegetables in the Ming Dynasty, but in the Qing Dynasty, it became the execution ground. Because the Qing Dynasty set the location of Meridian Gate beheading here. In the Ming Dynasty, it was at Xisi Pailou. The Qing Dynasty changed it to this place. People often say that the Meridian Gate beheading was launched. This is the place where executions were carried out. Many ghost stories in later generations are based here. .

However, it is still only the largest vegetable market.

"When I got here, there is one place I have to see." Wang Shizhen was still walking behind, but when he reached a place, he suddenly became energetic, and while talking to Zhu Pingan, he led the way in one direction.

Just a few steps away, I arrived in front of a pharmacy called "Xihe Niantang".

Drugstore style. The scale is also large, but what attracts Zhu Ping'an most is the plaque of the pharmacy. The three characters "He Nian Tang" are engraved on the plaque, and the character "Crane" has more strokes. It is asymmetrical with the other two characters, but the layout of the three characters together is excellent, and it looks quite artistic.

"The characters on this plaque are as graceful as a bird's eye, and have a strong backbone. There is such calligraphy in the market." Zhu Pingan looked up at the three characters of He Nian Tang. This person's calligraphy seemed to be better than his own, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit emotional.

"Zihou, good eyesight." Wang Shizhen originally wanted to point out the plaque to Zhu Pingan, but when he saw Zhu Pingan noticed the plaque at a glance, he praised it with a smile.

"Wen Sheng, Zi Hou, it is not suitable to stay here for a long time." Zhang Siwei seems to have a sense of writing about this He Nian Tang.

"Why?" Zhu Ping'an was a little puzzled.

"That's right, Ziwei, why are you so anxious." Wang Shizhen was also perplexed. He had just discovered this place not long ago. When he happened to pass by this pharmacy, he found this plaque. At that time, he was attracted by the characters on this plaque. Because he had something to do at the time, he just glanced at it for a while and then left. Passing by this time, I couldn't help asking Zhu Ping'an and the others to come and admire the plaque together. I wanted to take a good look at it this time, but it was hard for Wang Shizhen to understand Zhang Siwei saying that it is not suitable to stay here for a long time.

Zhang Siwei did not answer on the spot, but waited for Wang Shizhen and Zhu Ping'an to leave Henian Hall after reading the plaque. Only then did Zhu Ping'an and Wang Shizhen tell the reason.

It turned out that the property right of the He Nian Tang located in the northwest corner of Caishi Street belonged to Yan Song’s family. The He Nian Tang invested and established by Yan Shoufu was invested and established without knowing what he thought. Yan Song named this shop He Nian Tang, which was taken from the first and last characters of Songhe Yannian and added a word Tang. It is estimated that the old man wants to prolong his life in his dreams. Regardless of Yan Song's power, everyone is afraid of him, but in the eyes of scholar Qingliu, Yan Song is very stinky, and everyone keeps him at a respectful distance.

"What, that is to say that the plaque is strictly written?" Wang Shizhen's expression was a little bit bad, as if he had swallowed a fly.

Zhang Siwei nodded, and after getting the confirmation, Wang Shizhen's face became even more embarrassing. It's like seeing a pig chewing on ginseng.

"Oh, what a pity." Wang Shizhen shook his head and sighed.

The comments on calligraphy in all dynasties are not only based on the calligraphy, but also on the person who wrote the calligraphy. Words are like a person, and words are like a person. It is not just talk. People associate calligraphy with character, and character is higher than calligraphy. Therefore, even though Yan Song's calligraphy is so good, people still look down on him, and don't attribute him to calligraphers, but think that Yan Song has polluted calligraphy. In the eyes of later generations, the calligraphy written by these people with low character has no collection value. If they are collected, they will cause trouble for themselves. There have been dynasties, so this dynasty is no exception.

That's why Wang Shizhen sighed.

"It turned out to be like this, no wonder, it's a pity"

After listening to Zhang Siwei's explanation, Zhu Ping'an nodded. It turned out that it was written by Yan Song. No wonder Yan Song was one of the three treacherous calligraphers in history. The three big characters "Zhigongtang" on the plaque were written by an old man named Yan Song. In the Qing Dynasty, after Emperor Qianlong knew about it, he felt bad luck and wanted someone to replace the plaque. Emperor Qianlong considered himself a great calligrapher. He wrote the three characters Zhigongtang himself and wanted to use it as a plaque, but found that his writing was not as good as Yan Song, a treacherous minister. But he didn't want to see Yan Song's characters, so he asked his officials to write these three characters as plaques. hanging.

From this allusion, it can be seen that Yan Song's calligraphy is really good, but it's a pity that Yan Song's character is too poor, which lowers his calligraphy taste.

From the reactions of Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, it can be seen that these two brothers do not have much affection for Yan Song. The two of them could also see from Zhu Ping'an's reaction that Zhu Ping'an didn't have much affection for Yan Song either.

The three of them smiled at each other, shook their heads, came to Caishi Street, and continued to walk south.

After walking a certain distance, a lot of people gathered at the entrance of an alley connecting Caishi Street, most of them were men. Groups of three or four gathered there, surrounding an open space, pointing at the open space, and whispering to each other.

What happened?

The three of them stepped forward curiously to see what happened.

The onlookers saw that the three of them were well dressed, and that they were either rich or expensive or both, so they stepped aside and allowed the three of them to pass through the crowd and walk to the front.

When you get to the front, you will know the truth of the crowd watching:

In the arena, a young girl was dressed in white, as if she was wearing filial piety, and knelt there facing the crowd, with a straw inserted in her long hair, half of her face was covered by her black hair, and half of her face was exposed. After wiping off a thin layer of makeup, there were faint traces of tears on his face.

In this day and age, sticking straws on your head is not just to show off your cuteness. Planting grass to sell things is an ancient trading symbol. You can plant grass on the head of the chicken when selling chickens, you can plant grass on the stalls when selling vegetables and fruits, and you can even plant grass on the head when you sell yourself as a slave. There are often similar passages in ancient novels or TV dramas.

The young girl in front of her is planting straws, which means she is going to sell herself.

This kind of plot is often seen in novels, but I didn’t expect to see the real plot. I hope there is no **** plot. Zhu Pingan shook his head slightly.

(end of this chapter)