Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1198 Street Office

With the arrival of the winter solstice in the thirty-seventh year of Shaowu's reign, the entire Beijing government office began to prepare for the sealing of the office, and the finishing work was urgently completed.

Snowflakes were falling, freezing people, but the market was still prosperous.

Sun Dafuduo stamped his feet and breathed in the heat. His red face from the cold was covered in black and gray, and his ears were covered with frostbite, but he didn't care and looked around his rickshaw.

The worn-out cotton-padded jacket was full of patches, with a trace of black cotton showing through the occasional gap.

"Master, where do you want to go?"

"The snow is getting heavier. Where are you going?"

Waiting with him were three or five similar rickshaw pullers.

They did not wait in the car and enjoy the warmth of the snow, but greeted the guests by the eaves and corners.

Although it is easy to attract customers on snowy days, there are few people and it is difficult to find anyone.

After waiting for half an hour, he recruited a young man with a suitcase.

He was wrapped in an extremely thick cotton coat, with cotton shoes on his feet, a pair of cotton earmuffs on his head to protect his ears, a white scarf around his neck, and even gloves on his hands. He was obviously extremely afraid of the cold.

"Go to the station!"

"Okay!" Sun Dafu carried the heavy suitcase onto the rickshaw, said yes, and started running slowly.

"Sir, is your suitcase expensive?"

"It's not bad, it's only ten yuan!" The young man looked at the white color and the long ruts on the road, and said casually: "This is made of rhinoceros leather, so it's a bit more expensive."

"This is the latest marketing product in Beijing!"

"I know that!" Sun Dafu exhaled: "Recently I have seen many people carrying them, wooden ones, leather ones, all kinds of styles, and they have that kind of demeanor when they carry them!"

"What do you think? Many people won't let their subordinates carry it. They have to carry it themselves and suffer the hardship."

"Hahaha!"

The two chatted happily, and they reached the ten-mile distance in half an hour.

Sun Dafu held the penny in his hand, and with joy in his heart, he immediately pulled the cart and ran to Chongwen County.

Arrested at a pawn shop, he carefully parked his car under the eaves, cleared away the snow on his body, and then entered.

"Do you want to be a guest officer or redeem yourself?"

"Old Chaofeng, I want to redeem it!" Sun Dafu smiled and took out a wrinkled pawn ticket from his arms.

Chao Feng sat high at the counter, and Sun Dafu stood on tiptoes to deliver the pawn tickets to the counter, looking serious.

"Oh? I pawned it in March this year, eight months, for one dollar and seventy dollars. If you redeem it, you can get two dollars!"

"Yes, these are two pieces!"

Carefully handing over the two dollars, Sun Dafu felt heartbroken.

Chao Feng's expression did not change, perhaps because he had seen too much. He turned around and gave an order, and within a moment a quilt was brought out.

"Take a look and see if you've been bitten by an insect-pierced snake!"

"No!" Sun Dafu smiled and nodded, then he couldn't wait to put away the quilt and wrap it in cloth.

At this time, two more people came in. They were also redeeming quilts and even cotton-padded jackets.

An ordinary quilt costs at least two or three yuan, which is a big item for ordinary people.

Pending a coat in the summer and redeeming it in the winter is a quick way for the poor to have more money on their hands and live a few more days.

After leaving the door, as soon as I put the quilt on the car, I saw a pocket watch.

The brass shell and silver-white chain made his heart beat fast.

He was well-informed and knew immediately that this pocket watch was worth a lot of money.

"Look, how much is this worth?"

"Hey, where's your pocket watch?" Chao Feng's face that had remained unchanged for thousands of years finally showed something strange, with a hint of urgency in his tone: "If you die, I'll give you two hundred yuan!"

"So many?" Sun Dafu was shocked, and then shook his head: "That's inappropriate."

With that said, he asked for the pocket watch back and left the pawn shop impatiently.

After three or four turns, he disappeared.

He headed towards the station, but by some strange coincidence, he passed a car dealership.

A ray of light shines through the half-closed door, and the new cars are dazzling.

Sun Dafu was very eager.

He desperately wanted to own a rickshaw of his own.

The car he pulls is rented from a car dealership for a penny a day. If he owns his own car, he doesn't need to pay a license at all. He only needs to pay ten cents a day to hang it at the car dealership.

But each car costs at least thirty or fifty yuan, and he simply can't afford it.

"Sir, take a look, my rickshaw has four springs. One of them on the market only costs ten yuan!"

"Look at this rain cover, it's made of cowhide, and the guests won't get wet at all..."

"No need!" The waiter's words were too tempting. Sun Dafu suppressed his throbbing and left the store.

When he arrived at the station, he saw many police officers searching the area, seemingly looking for a pocket watch.

He looked around hurriedly and saw the man in the car looking anxious.

"Guest, your pocket watch was left on the car——"

Sun Dafu felt his throat was a little dry.

"Okay, great!" The man was overjoyed and couldn't put it down, playing with the pocket watch: "This watch is extraordinary."

"I want to reward you!"

Before Sun Dafu could refuse, he blocked him: "Don't refuse, you deserve this."

At this time, Sun Dafu not only felt dry in the mouth, but also felt a little urgent to urinate.

After swallowing a few times, he said: "I want a rickshaw -" "Okay!" The man's answer was very simple and he agreed.

Immediately, he took him to a nearby car dealership and bought a rickshaw worth fifty silver dollars.

For a moment, he was at a loss.

He first returned the old car and then pulled the new one. He had no difficulty along the way, as easily as pulling a leaf.

"With my own car, I can save at least five or six yuan a month -"

His heart is full of motivation.

Back home, the cold room seemed to be even colder than outside. My wife and two children were wrapped in thin quilts and shivering.

The broken coal in the corner was piled neatly and untouched.

"Why don't you burn coal?"

Sun Dafu hurriedly asked: "What should I do if I get frozen?"

"Master, it's okay. You have to use this coal at night. You can carry it during the day!"

The woman shook her head and said expectantly: "Has the quilt been redeemed?"

"Yeah!" The man put down the quilt, and the heavy feeling seemed to warm the whole room.

The children crowded into the quilts and cheered.

Then he shoveled the broken coal into the furnace, and the room was really warm.

When he saw his wife and wanted to talk more, Sun Dafu smiled and said: "We have a car, we have a car."

"Burning coal every day from now on——"

As soon as she mentioned the pocket watch, the mother-in-law completely gave up her heartache and showed a child-like smile.

Owning a rickshaw driver is like a farmer owning his own land. Not only does he have hope, but he can also improve his life.

"It's clear, I'll buy you a pair of cotton pants!" Sun Dafu said easily: "It's winter, so don't let your legs freeze."

"It's better to buy a few more pieces of coal. I heard that three or four pieces of briquettes can burn the whole night. There is no need to add firewood in the middle of the night..."

"Dad, I want to study!"

At this time, the youngest son, wrapped in a quilt, showed longing eyes: "I want to honor my ancestors!"

"Read it, you must read it!" Sun Dafu gritted his teeth and said, "But we have to wait a few months until dad has collected enough money to repair it."

When it was getting dark, the security guard on the street came over tremblingly and knocked on the door:

"Dafu, tomorrow Zipu will organize snow clearing and clearing ditches, so your family can find some manpower!"

Zipu is an area centered around a hundred households. One patrol policeman and two white servants are responsible for managing fire protection, burglaries, fire fighting and other matters for hundreds of households.

As time went by, Zipu's weight deceived the people, which was not conducive to the people and the management of the local government. Therefore, the city took Zipu as a point and established a chief to manage it.

Ten households are one guarantee, and ten guarantees are one armor.

The Baochang is elected by the people, and the Chief A is served in turn by the Baozhang. He has the privilege of being exempted from corvee and is responsible for taxation, corvee and other matters that cooperate with the yamen.

After the implementation of the district system, and because these hundreds of households were all in one street, the people also called it the street office, and the chief was called the street official.

In the countryside, township offices are the grassroots government offices in rural areas, while street offices are also the grassroots government offices in cities.

However, the security chief is an ordinary person and has to work. Although the chief is respectfully called a street official, he does not have a street official's office. The so-called street official refers to his home.

Chief Jia is considered a semi-official, so not only can he go to the Yamen to meet officials, but he can also receive six yuan of silver every year to supplement his family's income, which is considered semi-retirement.

Above the armor length is Fangzheng.

Ten buildings constitute one workshop, managing the civil affairs of nearly a thousand households.

Like the three elders in the township, they belong to the ninth rank of civil servants, with an annual salary of ten yuan and ten shi of grain. They are completely out of production. They are appointed and removed by the county magistrate every five years.

They are the pinnacles that ordinary people can come into contact with. They can be seen in conversations.

"Chief Security Officer, isn't clearing snow a patrol job?"

"How can they work so hard?" the security chief said casually, "It's okay if you don't go. Just pay thirty coins and I'll hire someone to go."

"Let's go!" Sun Dafu sighed, turned to his mother-in-law and said, "I still have to buy you a pair of cotton pants, otherwise you won't be able to go out."

While it was still dark, Sun Dafu went to the clothing store on the street.

Rich people go to ready-to-wear shops to buy clothes, and they have tailor-made clothes made of fine silks and satins, while ordinary people like to go to appraisal shops.

People come here to sell or buy used clothes, which are famous for being cheap.

Old linen clothes for summer can be bought here for ten yuan.

If cotton pants are stained with cotton, they are naturally not cheap.

The waiter said truthfully: "In the summer, a pound of cotton cost only fifty cents, but now it has to be eighty cents."

"Although the fabric of these cotton trousers is old, it is a solid pound of cotton. It costs you 120 yuan, which is quite cheap..."

After negotiating the price, we could only settle the deal for one hundred and ten cents.

The next day, the people were busy cleaning the streets and clearing ditches under the command of patrol police.

The patrol officers patrolled the streets, especially at the entrances of shops, going in and out.

They didn't want to hide anything, they said carelessly:

"We have to pay for snow clearing, ten cents per family, no one can avoid it——"

A poor shop pays 10 cents, while a rich shop charges 30 or 50 cents. Each shop is different, which can be said to be fair.

The shopkeepers in silks, satins and rich clothes were speechless, and their former arrogance was gone.

Sun Dafu remained silent as the rickshaw passed by.

What should have been the job of patrol officers was assigned to ordinary people, leading them to work and making merchants pay them to earn private money.

As for the patrol officers of the Jingjie Division who were receiving salary from the imperial court, they were naturally staying at home to keep warm.

This is right!

However, he then thought about it:

In the future, when my son studies and becomes an official, he will be so majestic!

(End of this chapter)