The imperial city gates, with their red walls, yellow tiles, and three arched doorways, bore a plaque inscribed with "Da Ming" and ten characters: "Sun, Moon, Light, Heaven, Virtue; Mountains, Rivers, Majestic, Emperor, Residence."
The Da Ming Gate was never opened, so one had to pass through a smaller side gate. Upon exiting the imperial city, what greeted the eyes, besides the morning sun, was a cacophony of sounds.
This was Xiao Tianjie, a place of thriving commerce and bustling activity.
People passing through from east to west hawked food, peddled wares, and performed opera.
"This is Chaoxian Market. Leaving the Da Ming Gate, within the inner city, there are many such markets."
"In Shuntian, the residents of the inner city are mostly nobles, officials, scholars, and major merchants. However, these people are concentrated in the eastern districts, near Chongwen Gate and Zhengyang Gate, which are closest to the canal wharves. Thus, wealthy merchants, magnates, and foreign visitors frequent these areas."
"Among them are profitable businesses such as pawnshops, cloth merchants, and grain dealers, totaling about one hundred trades; businesses with small profits and small margins, like net makers, vegetable vendors, tofu makers, and tailors, number thirty-two trades."
"There are also various large and small guild halls, numbering over one hundred and forty."
"From the inner city to the outer city in the east, all are places for buying and selling. We palace staff sell items from the palace or purchase goods from outside, and all these transactions take place in the east city, and they are all legal."
"As for this Chaoxian Market, it is the foremost market in the southern city. Of course, it's not an exceptionally large market, but it is a crucial transit point. All goods moving east and west within Shuntian Prefecture must pass through here."
"Lord Ji, you are accompanying this eunuch to the Han Jing Factory, which is located in the west city."
Ji Xiang observed everything before him.
Within the Forbidden City or the imperial city, unless there was a major event or an imperial audience, one would not see so many people.
But upon exiting the imperial city, the bustling secular world, with its dazzling array of sights, and this worldly atmosphere were irresistible. Shuntian Prefecture, from the Jiajing to the Wanli eras, had an active population exceeding eight hundred thousand.
Countless palaces had transformed into ten thousand thatched huts.
The heights of the temples were deaf to the storms of the martial world.
Ji Xiang also saw many sword-wielding chivalrous figures, who, at least from their appearance, seemed like seasoned veterans of the martial world.
Perhaps some among them were contemplating seizing the emperor's head within the Forbidden City, but upon seeing the patrolling imperial guards on Tianjie, they meekly retracted their necks, baring their teeth in defiance, still unyielding.
The markets of the Ming Dynasty prospered. From Emperor Jiajing to Emperor Longqing to Emperor Wanli, three generations of emperors spent years not attending court. One was obsessed with cultivation, another had his body weakened by beauty within years of ascending the throne, and the current emperor was also a recluse.
For the nation, the actions of these three emperors, though entirely unbeneficial, ironically resulted in a form of "governance through non-action"?
In any case, because the central government was inactive, the lives of the common people and the state of society became increasingly prosperous.
Especially during the Wanli era, perhaps thanks to Zhang Juzheng's "One Whip Law" and the influx of silver from foreign trade, prices began to become very low.
A jin of rice cost only two to three wen, a jin of salt was four wen, and a jin of lamb, when converted to modern currency, was nine yuan and fifty fen.
A woodcutter who chopped firewood on the mountain for a day and carried it to the market to sell could earn enough for two jin of meat, allowing his family to eat their fill.
Compared to the famous Ming Dynasty unit of measurement, the "Chongzhen Emperor," during Chongzhen's reign, a jin of rice would normally cost over twenty wen.
Of course, these figures were for times of peace. If a disaster occurred in a certain region, it would naturally be different.
But thanks to this brief period of peace, folk culture, popular novels, and operatic arts flourished, giving rise to a large number of them at this time.
This Xiao Tianjie, on the road leading to the west city, was a scene of clamor.
Scholars arriving in the capital, merchants transporting goods, official documents being delivered, officials passing through, soldiers patrolling.
There were many inns along the main road, with complete facilities. These inns provided both meals and lodging, and even certain "color" services.
Of course, Old Man Lei Xuan's inn was also nearby.
Someone was busy behind a stove, chopping meat and vegetables with a cleaver, smoke rising. It was almost ten in the morning, the time for the first meal in the Ming Dynasty, and the busiest time for customers. He shouted loudly, calling to his apprentice to serve tea and water to the guests. Soon, he finished preparing the food himself, and a steaming bowl of meat noodles was served.
Someone, with a smiling face, arranged their goods boxes, selling golden lotuses and ram's horns, hanging lanterns even in broad daylight, also selling bronze ware and porcelain bowls, allowing people to choose freely. When encountering difficult customers, they would inevitably haggle, then put on a pained expression and say, "Let's be friends."
Someone shouted loudly, holding brocade and silk, trying to attract passersby, causing those around to wave their hands repeatedly, claiming they couldn't afford it.
Someone, heads bowed like a hardworking ox, swayed along Tianjie carrying two loads of rice, looking here and there, then shaking their heads, continuing their struggle for a living.
Tall horses passed through the center, and donkeys carrying goods walked slowly.
Someone was concentrating, dyeing headscarves by the roadside. After applying large patches of dye, they would then meticulously paint details, daring not to falter. Someone called to him from the side, but he dared not even shake his head, only pretending not to hear.
Someone sat at a roadside eatery, holding a book in their hand, taking a bite of a bun and reading a story, their eyes fixed on it. At a particularly exciting part, they would spray biscuit crumbs from their mouth, slap their thigh, and exclaim with delight. Such uncivilized behavior naturally drew the围殴 of other diners at the same table, but soon they all gathered around his storybook, beginning to "freeload."
Further ahead, someone was on stage singing opera, their voice sometimes high and clear, sometimes melodious, sometimes mournful, drawing loud cheers from the surrounding crowd.
The smoke and fire of the mortal world, the blue clouds of the heavens.
Numerous commoners, thousands of citizens, their expressions, appearances, movements, and spirits all different! Each person was striving to live, even though the day before, the court had conducted a large-scale search for Yellow Heaven cultists within Shuntian, but once things calmed down, life had to go on as usual.
In this world, there is nothing greater than "living"!
"Listen, they're singing 'The Purple Hairpin' again. This play was very popular in Ying Tian Prefecture. Here in Shuntian, you see, these people just like listening to such stories."
"What is the story about?"
"Ah! It's about a scholar and a girl who were deeply in love. But then, an old marshal from a wealthy family and his noble daughter insisted on pursuing her. When they couldn't succeed, they sent people to use all sorts of schemes to obstruct the lovers, causing the deaths of several people..."
The Director of the Imperial Sacrificial Office, a eunuch, also revealed a look of sorrow:
"Thinking about it, before I entered the palace, I also had someone I loved deeply! If I hadn't been unable to survive, why would I have come to the palace to become a eunuch! This play always reminds me of a night many years ago. It was a spring evening with willow catkins drifting. I held a bun in my hand, and the girl I loved held a stick in her hand. I! I still remember, she called me 'stick' and wanted to hold me in her palm..."
Hearing this, Ji Xiang really wanted to ask, "Your Highness, where are you from? The woman's accent is so heavy?"
The Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Sacrificial Office sighed melancholically, "Forget it, if love is meant to last, why should it be measured by morning and evening..."
"...By the way, Lord Ji, are you affiliated with Zhengyi or Quanzhen?"
Ji Xiang chuckled, "In terms of lineage, I am Zhengyi. Does Your Highness wish to ask if I am eligible for marriage?"
"But we cultivators aim for immortality as our ultimate goal. How can mortal women enter our sight?"
"...I reach into the river and scoop. Do you see the grains of sand slipping through my fingertips? That is time."
"Therefore, one or two decades pass in the blink of an eye. What is seen by the eyes is actually a scene of absurd and bizarre illusions, all like floating clouds."
"The mortal world is like a yellow sorghum dream; it is but a dream."