There are two Zhengyangmen Railway Station, the Jingfeng Line Parking Station and the Jinghan Line Parking West Station, one east and one west, echoing each other. The station is full of rickshaws. These two large fine rubber wheeled rickshaws are called rickshaws in Shanghai and are called rubber in Beijing. The railway station is a good place to have a hangout. Passengers carry their luggage and drag their children out of the exit. The coachmen surround themselves to solicit business. When they encounter distances, they are happy and they are not willing to go to the shortcuts. They are in line with their peers in later generations.

The father and son dressed in a grand manner, and as soon as they left the station, they attracted the attention of people who were seeking life around the station. A group of beggars gathered up to ask for money. Liu Yanzhi saw that they were about the same age as his son, and they were wearing thorny clothes. He felt unbearable, so he took out a handful of copper coins to scatter them, which attracted them to snatch them. After the snatch, they scattered a little boy of seven or eight years old. He was left with a can of cigarette butts he picked up because he didn't get a big son.

Liu Yanzhi took out a Long Yang, patted his son's shoulder, and pointed at the child. Xiao Chen Zikun walked over and put the silver dollar in the child's hand. He turned around and ran back regardless of the other party's shocked eyes. He was so happy.

The father and son continued to move forward, and the row of rubber bands in front stood up and solicited business. The ones in front were all strong coachmen wearing clean and neat black cotton jackets. Liu Yanzhi didn't even look at them. His eyes passed over these young and strong coachmen and landed at the end of the foreign car team. An old coachman in ragged clothes was also broken, and the car paint was almost gone.

The father and son got on the broken car that was leaking everywhere. The coachman thanked him very much. He first killed the cloth strap around his waist, then pulled up the handlebars, walked forward with a small step, and asked without looking back: "Master, where are you going?"

"The front door, small intestine is chen." Liu Yanzhi answered without hesitation.

As soon as I got off the train, I went straight to the main one of the braised pork. This is old Beijing. The small intestine is a famous food in Beijing. The main ingredients are pig intestine and various kinds of water for pigs. They use pepper, fermented black beans, large ingredients, cumin, green onion, ginger, garlic, vinegar, and fermented tofu. The taste is extremely strong and satisfying the cravings and the price is low. If you work hard, you can call a bowl of braised pork, add two firewood, and eat the soup and water. It is a delicious meal. But I didn't expect that this food that poor people like, and the rich men's gentlemen would also like this.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the stall in Xiaochan Chen at the front door, Liu Yan ordered two bowls of braised cooking, one bowl for his son to see Beijing's special snacks, and the other bowl was brought to the coachman.

"Sir, are you?" The coachman was stunned.

"You haven't eaten for two days. If you don't eat, you will die." Liu Yan said straight. He could see the energy situation on people. The driver had reached the point where the lights were exhausted. Hunger made him unable to move his steps, but if he didn't pull the cart, he wouldn't chew the grain. Not only would he starve to death, but the whole family would starve to death.

The coachman and the coachman ate the bowl of fragrant and hot braised pork with tears. The man was made of iron rice and steel. After a bowl of braised pork, he obviously had strength. Liu Yanzhi was afraid that he would not have enough, so he ordered another bowl and insisted that the coachman eat it before going on the road.

After eating and drinking, the coachman was full of energy and his whole body was hot. He didn't even feel the biting north wind felt cold. He started to take a lot of steps. When he was in a good mood, he talked a lot. He started chatting with his husband and learned that the two distinguished guests, one and one, were from Hankou and were not from the capital. The coachman enthusiastically introduced them to their residence.

"Tell me, which is the best inn in Beijing?" Liu Yanzhi asked him.

"Then you ask the right person. The best one is the Six Kingdoms Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane. The ones you stay in are foreigners and big businessmen from the south. Do you know how much does that place cost for a night? Five taels of silver! I can't earn this amount after pulling a cart for a month."

"Secondly?" Liu Yanzhi had already made up his mind to let his son stay at the Six Kingdoms Hotel for a few days to see the style of the Western Hotel. Of course, the old Beijing old inn also had to appreciate it.

"Then the Donghua Inn next to Dong'an Market, you can get one or two silver dollars a night." The coachman said while running, sizzling heat in his mouth, like a running train. "In my opinion, Donghua Inn is very good. When you go out, you can buy anything. It's so lively. It's inconvenient to enter and exit the Six Kingdoms Hotel. Dongjiaomin Lane is a place where foreign troops are stationed. It's deserted. You can't find a place to eat a bowl of braised cooking."

"Then stay at Donghua Inn."

Donghua Inn is a Chinese-style hotel, which is considered to be of relatively high quality. If it is cheap, it must be a chicken feather shop outside the city, a large shop, and there are not even bedding. It can cushion chicken feathers to keep warm. It only takes a few copper plates in a night. Liu Yanzhi felt sorry for his son. Even if he was experiencing life, he would not go to that kind of place.

When he arrived at the inn, Liu Yanzhi gave Xiaoyang a coachman, registered his name and lived in the upper room on the second floor. The inner and outer jackets were quaint and the furniture was all old items. However, there was no running water in the house, and there was no bathroom. He had to get hot water to wash his face and go to a special bathroom to take a bath. The only advantage is that he was convenient to eat. He could order takeaway food in Beijing.

That night, the father and son went to Donglaishun for a meal of mutton. They came back to sleep after drinking and had enough wine. The next morning, they got up to visit Dong'an Market. The market was very large, and the shops were lined up, selling various candied fruits, and also shops that operate calligraphy, paintings, antiques, and seals. They were similar to the cultural market. Xiao Chen Zikun liked to eat candied haws the most, so Liu Yanzhi simply bought him a handful of candied haws and carried them while walking.

Then the two went to teahouses, theaters, and overpasses with Beijing characteristics, and ate various snacks, roast duck, sautumn, and various northern-style desserts and fruit cakes. After listening to the plays of famous actors such as Mei Lanfang, Tan Xinpei, and Yang Xiaolou, they also enjoyed the tricks and crosstalk on the overpass. Xiao Chen Zikun was having a lot of fun and was happy. He said that Beijing was fun, more fun than Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing.

"It seems that you are destined to be with Beijing." Liu Yanzhi knew that his son's future life trajectory was indeed inseparable from this city. In another ten years, this will be the stage for young Chen Zikun to be the protagonist.

I had enough stay in Donghua Inn. The father and son moved to the Six Kingdoms Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane. They took a rickshaw to the Dongjiaomin Lane Embassy District to import. There were large black iron gates and British soldiers on duty guards. They had bright bayonets, straight military uniforms, and full of energy. They were a world of difference from the soldiers of the patrol battalions who had seen Xiao Chen Zikun in Hunan who had wrapped their heads and wore wide sleeves and drooped to their knees.

The embassy area is not allowed to enter and exit at will. British soldiers stopped the foreign cart to check. Liu Yanzhi showed HSBC traveler check, saying that he was here to repay the cash. He stayed at the Six Kingdoms Hotel. The British soldiers immediately let it go. After entering the embassy area, the road was full of Western-style buildings, the flags of the nations fluttered in the wind, and the pedestrians were all foreigners in suits and ties. Occasionally, there were East Asians, and they were mainly Japanese with short statures. Most of the Chinese were compradors and servants. Even the street signs were in English. Dongjiaomin Lane was marked as "Embassy Street."

The embassy area not only has embassy and consulates, but also many barracks. There are thousands of embassy guards stationed in various countries. Walking on the road, you can hear the sound of military training from time to time. You can see teams of soldiers patrolling, Russian livestock wearing grey coats with ankles, US Marines in blue uniforms, British Army in khaki uniforms, and Japanese soldiers with bayonets higher than men. Different progress, different ways of swinging their arms, and different language commands are dazzling.

Xiao Chen Zikun was puzzled why there was a region similar to Chinatown in the capital of the Qing Dynasty, where all living were foreigners and so many soldiers.

Liu Yanzhi was waiting to give him popular history knowledge: "Child, this has to start fifty years ago..."

Fifty years ago, it was in 1860. At that time, Dongjiaomin Lane was called Dongjiang Mi Lane. It was equipped with the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple. It received envoys from Annan, Mongolia, North Korea and Myanmar all year round, and it already had the characteristics of a diplomatic area. After the Second Opium War, the great powers entered Dongjiang Mi Lane according to the Treaty of Tianjin. The British minister lived in Prince Chun's Mansion, the French minister lived in Prince An's Mansion, and the Russian minister lived in the Orthodox Church. Since then, Dongjiang Mi Lane has been renamed Dongjiaomin Lane. Embassies have been rebuilt, banks, post offices, and hospitals have been added. In decades, a large number of Western buildings have appeared.

In the year of Gengzi, the Empress Dowager Xi declared war on the great powers, and the East Jiaomin Lane became a mess. The embassy guards and Western expatriates held on for dozens of days. Finally, they arrived at the Eight-Nation Alliance. Foreign troops entered the Forbidden City, occupied Beijing, and drove the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to Xi'an. They started killing in Beijing and robbed the robbery. Nine out of ten houses were killed. To this day, there are a large number of empty houses in the Nancheng City. Even the silver that was suppressed in the Ministry of Revenue was stolen, and a large number of treasures in the palace were also lost.

Liu Yanzhi vividly described the scene of that year. Xiao Chen Zikun couldn't help but ask: "Uncle, you know so clearly, was it there too?"

"Yes, I was also in Beijing that year." Liu Yanzhi thought of Xia Feixiong and Yan Shengnan, and the fatal shot in the embassy, ​​the charlatan in front of the Sishku Church, and the bloody storm on the Xishou Road, and couldn't help but sigh.

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A day off tomorrow
Chapter completed!