Chapter 47: Along The River During The Qingming Festival
At this time, dusk was approaching.
Beside the port, pedestrians hurried along, vendors were pushing carts to close up stalls, and distant homes were shutting windows and doors.
Several women stood on the street, calling their children’s names to come home.
Soldiers were patrolling the streets beating gongs, telling pedestrians not to linger on the streets.
The scene of everyday market life before his eyes greatly amused Lin Qian.
Zheng Zhilong reminded, “Elder Brother Lin, curfew time is approaching; we still need to find a place to stay early.”
Lin Qian came back to his senses and said, “You’re familiar with Guangzhou, so you lead the way and find a high-class place.”
“Alright.” Zheng Zhilong agreed.
Zheng Zhilong shouldered Lin Qian’s shoulder bag, leading the two through streets and alleys; in a short moment, they arrived at a bustling street.
They selected an inn named “Songfeng Pavilion.”
Lin Qian asked the shopkeeper for three upper rooms and also told the boss to prepare bath water and alcohol and dishes to send to the rooms.
The shopkeeper smiled broadly, personally escorting the three upstairs.
Lin Qian entered the room and saw that it was exceptionally clean inside, with furniture and decorations all very exquisite.
Soon the waiter brought alcohol and dishes. After Lin Qian ate and drank his fill, he had them cleared away. Then servants brought a wooden bucket and hot water, along with two girls to attend to the bath.
Lin Qian was accustomed in his previous life to girls accompanying baths, so at this time he acted quite naturally.
Although these two girls were in the flower of youth, their looks were average to poor, so Lin Qian had no other thoughts about them.
After bathing, Lin Qian felt his whole body was two pounds lighter; it was the first time since arriving in Great Ming that he felt this clean.
He lay down and fell asleep on the bed.
This was the most comfortable sleep Lin Qian had had in the half year since transmigrating.
The next day, dawn was just breaking.
Lin Qian got up and went downstairs, seeing Zheng Zhilong and Bai Langzai waiting for him in the inn’s lobby.
The three first went to eat breakfast.
At this time, Guangzhou didn’t yet have dim sum culture, but after all, it was the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine, and breakfast varieties were already quite rich.
Lin Qian chose a second-floor restaurant and selected a window-side seat on the second floor.
While eating breakfast, he gazed at the scenery outside the window.
Guangzhou City in his eyes was like a living Along the River During the Qingming Festival scroll; everything he saw was very fresh.
Presumably, Western missionaries arriving in Guangzhou for the first time thought the same; no wonder various travelogues always lavished praise on Chinese cities.
After introducing Guangzhou for half a day, Zheng Zhilong still couldn’t help asking, “Elder Brother Lin, what are we doing today?”
“Today, let’s stroll around the city first,” Lin Qian said.
The meeting with the councillor was set for the tenth of the seventh month; they arrived four days early, and it happened that the Tanka Boat hadn’t returned, so it was perfect to first find a doctor and incidentally experience Guangzhou’s local customs and traditions.
“Alright, then I know quite a few good places,” Zheng Zhilong said excitedly.
After breakfast, the three strolled idly in the city.
Though called idle strolling, actually Lin Qian was not without purpose; he focused on inspecting Guangzhou City’s gate defenses, major and minor waterways, and the patterns of soldiers’ street patrols.
Then he visited various shops, not to buy things, but to observe the development of handicrafts and technology.
Afterwards, he toured the vegetable market, thoroughly understanding grain prices, vegetable prices, and meat prices.
Lin Qian was not usually very talkative.
However, today he especially loved chatting with all sorts of people, from servants and waiters to vegetable farmers and butchers, then to agents and shopkeepers; whoever he could talk to, he chatted a few sentences.
At first, Zheng Zhilong had to translate Cantonese in between, but in half a day, Lin Qian could already understand a few everyday sentences.
This inevitably made Zheng Zhilong click his tongue in amazement; after all, when he first learned Cantonese, it took him over a month to understand people’s speech.
In his previous life as a merchant, Lin Qian had dealt extensively with people and deeply understood the principle of what to say to whom; with just a few words, he could make people drop their guard and talk freely.
In just one morning, he had a general understanding of the information he wanted.
For lunch, Lin Qian again chose a luxurious restaurant; having come to Guangzhou with great difficulty, he had no intention of wronging his stomach.
At the very least, he had to make up for the half month of eating “wind-sail three-piece set.”
While eating, Lin Qian pondered the information he had gathered that morning.
Combining his previous life’s knowledge, he already had a rough judgment on Great Ming’s current economic problems.
Great Ming was currently trapped in a vicious cycle of southern input-type inflation and northern contraction-type deflation.
Jiangnan, due to the massive amount of Spanish silver inflow, couldn’t match productivity levels in the short term, causing silver inflation. Rich people engaged in overseas trade, earning silver at a speed comparable to printing money; under massive consumption, they exploited the poor’s wealth.
Meanwhile, Great Ming overall lacked silver, and with difficult roads, poor transportation, and large households resisting taxes, silver grew scarcer the further north, resulting in silver contraction.
Northwestern officials and large households, exploiting the convenience of the Single Whip Law, tightened money supply during crop harvests to rapidly appreciate silver; after harvest, they loosened it, causing silver to depreciate sharply.
When commoners had grain, grain was cheap; when they had silver, silver was cheap; they could only be ruthlessly stripped of wealth by landlord masters.
Ordinary commoners truly exemplified the classic “prosperity is bitter, downfall is bitter.”
After all, Lin Qian had long immersed himself in commerce and understood some economic basics; in just one morning, he uncovered countless bone-sucking tactics by officials and gentry.
After lunch, the three went downstairs and spotted a medical hall after just a few steps.
The medical hall’s signboard read “Qingmei Workshop.”
Lin Qian suddenly recalled that the trauma medicine bought from the flower boat bore a plum blossom mark, so it must have been produced by this medical hall.
In places like flower boats, rouge and powder might not be the best, but trauma medicine was definitely top-tier.
Coincidentally, the ship needed a doctor, so Lin Qian went in to take a look.
Just reaching the entrance, he could smell an extremely heavy herbal medicine aroma.
Upon entering, they faced a row of huge medicine cabinets; beside the counter sat no doctor or waiter, only a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl minding the shop.
Having strolled all morning without seeing a single woman, Lin Qian felt some curiosity and cupped his hands, saying, “Miss, where is the adult of your family?”
The girl looked up at his words, her clear black-and-white eyes glancing at the three, then she smiled and said, “Our doctor is seeing a patient in the backyard; the three gentlemen might wait a moment.”
The girl’s voice was crisp, she spoke the official language, and showed no fear of strangers, which created a favorable impression.
Lin Qian and the other two sat down as instructed.
The girl deftly poured tea for the three.
Though it was merely coarse tea, given the medical hall’s rundown decor and the straits of not affording even a shop assistant, letting a little girl mind the shop, this tea was already quite considerate.
After the girl returned to the counter, Zheng Zhilong lowered his voice and said, “Elder Brother Lin, if you need to see a doctor, I know several good ones; this medical hall has hardly any visitors and dismal business, so the medical skill is probably mediocre.”
No sooner had he spoken than, as if confirming his words, a scream came from the backyard.
Then a man’s stern voice followed: “Endure it!”
“It hurts! Spare me, doctor!”
“Your condition won’t improve without pain; the pus must drain completely. Where’s the wooden stick I gave you? Bite it and it won’t hurt.”
Then came the man’s muffled screams, clearly biting the wooden stick desperately and unable to cry out.
Zheng Zhilong paled, exchanging glances with Bai Langzai.
