Eunuch: insatiable, bullying the city and squeezing the people at dawn.
Farmers: Charcoal sellers are as simple and hardworking as the lowest working people. In the harsh environment of freezing, he didn't give in, and used his best efforts and sweat to fight for a minimum wish.
2. A brief analysis of the original text
By describing the experience of the old man selling firewood, this classical Chinese article reveals the disadvantages of the "palace market" and the exploitation and persecution of the working people, making people's lives difficult. While reflecting the greed of ancient officials (eunuchs) for charging poor peasants, it also shows the author's deep sympathy for the working people at the lower level.
3. Creative background
The "palace market" in the Tang Dynasty began in the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years of Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty. Originally named "Inner City Shopping", it was later renamed as "Palace City Ambassador", in charge of palace shopping. After Su Zong, Dai Zong and Dezong dynasties, power gradually transferred to the hands of imperial eunuchs. Tang Dezong was thrifty at first, but he became more and more greedy and extravagant in his later years, and the "palace market" was also tossed to the point where people were in poverty.
According to Han Yu's Records of Shunzong, in the last years of Dezong, even court documents were not needed, and the name "Hundred Kings" was enough. As long as the goods on the "Wang" are taken in the name of the palace market, only about one tenth of the value of the goods will be paid, and the "door bag" and foot money for the goods to enter the palace will be needed. The identity of these villains is indistinguishable, and people who sell goods often return empty-handed. "It is called the palace city, but it is actually sealed up."