Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

For the impression of Huang Chao's brutality, a poem "Song of a Qin Woman" cannot change it.

Because Huang Chao was indeed brutal!

The officers and soldiers at that time were also the same.

The "Old Book of Tang" and the "New Book of Tang" not only record that Huang Chao ate people, but also clearly record that the officers and soldiers sold human flesh to Huang Chao's army to eat. It's just that the "Old Book of Tang" directly uses the words "officers and soldiers", while the "New Book of Tang" omits "officers and soldiers". It is necessary to combine the previous sentences to know that it was the officers and soldiers who did it.

At that time, the officers and soldiers surrounded Huang Chao, and Huang Chao's military rations were exhausted.

The local people fled into the valley to build a camp to protect themselves, and the officers and soldiers who besieged Huang Chao actually broke into the camp and killed people, and made the fleeing people into human flesh and sold it to Huang Chao as military rations.

Such a weird and ridiculous thing, it's really hard to make up.

Who can think like that? The officers and soldiers responsible for the expedition against Huang Chao, knowing that Huang Chao had no military rations, did not take the opportunity to launch an attack, but instead killed the people and sold human flesh to Huang Chao.

Moreover, the two Tang books also secretly wrote that the local scholars "sold cakes for a living" during the war.

At that time, food was the most important thing, and money was useless. Why did they make cakes to sell if they had food?

What kind of cakes did the scholars sell? Neither the New Tang Book nor the Old Tang Book clearly wrote it, but they deliberately mentioned it there.

Noble families, officers and soldiers, Huang Chao, none of them are good people!

As for Huang Chao grinding human flesh and bones into minced meat, this is still very credible. It didn't say that the whole person was thrown in, but various parts were cut off and ground, and minced meat was more convenient to cook and share.

There is no need for the two Tang books to deliberately discredit Huang Chao, because they also wrote about what the officers and soldiers did. They often wrote about the officers and soldiers' great defeat, and the remnants of the defeated soldiers fled to a certain place to burn, kill and loot.

The literary meeting discussed the chaos at the end of the Tang Dynasty around "Qin Fu Yin", and then someone took out the copied Tang Dynasty miscellaneous song collection "Yun Yao Ji".

"Yun Yao Ji" is more valuable for literary and musical research!

There are a total of thirty quzi ci and thirteen ci tunes, all of which are works by Tang people.

Although these ci tunes were also passed down to the Song Dynasty, no related Tang Dynasty works have been seen. So many Song people speculated that they should have appeared since the Five Dynasties, but they didn't expect that they already existed in the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, some of the ci and music were at least born in the middle Tang Dynasty, and it is very likely that they were introduced to the people because of the dissolution of the Jiaofangsi in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

"Wu Guan, we have an appointment with singers tonight to listen to Tang Dynasty songs together."

"I won't go. My father is strict and told me not to stay overnight in the singing house. I have to prepare for next year's joint examination."

"How old are you? Don't worry about taking the imperial examination."

"I appreciate your kindness. Goodbye!"

"Then let's make an appointment next time."

Lu You took a carriage back to the city. He could imagine how lively the brothels and brothels were during this period.

A total of thirty Tang Dynasty quzi ci appeared. The singing girls must sing them all? The scholars must listen to them all?

You can use this to feel the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty!

Actually, there is nothing to feel, a lot of boudoir complaints and military themes. It reflects the Sanlong area, which has been recruiting soldiers and fighting from the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the middle Tang Dynasty to the late Tang Dynasty, and the people hate war very much.

"My dear, there is a letter for you, pressed under the paperweight in the study."

"I know."

His father, who was transferred to the Tongzhengshi, had not yet finished get off work, and he had to wait for a while to have dinner. Lu You went directly to the study to read the letter from his friend.

His engagement has not yet been fulfilled, and the woman is already eighteen years old. Whether he passes the exam or not, he will get married next year.

The "Da Ming Law" stipulates that the legal age of marriage for men is sixteen years old and the legal age of marriage for women is fifteen years old.

But these days, there are many early marriages in ordinary families, and late marriages are more popular among rich children. There are many rich daughters who are not married at the age of seventeen or eighteen, and rich children often get married in their twenties.

This phenomenon appeared as early as the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The letter was written by Li Zuqia, and the mailing address is Guangzhou.

Li Zuqia is Li Hanzhang's nephew, and of the same generation as Li Xiaojian who committed suicide out of fear of crime. But the characters of the generations are different, indicating that the blood relationship is a bit distant, at least a hundred years ago.

His father was involved in the Huainan case and sentenced to eight years in prison, and his descendants for three generations were not allowed to take the imperial examination.

This was a big blow to Li Zuqia, who was already a juren, and he was always pointed at by others when he stayed in his hometown, so he went out to sea again in a rage.

Not only was his family pursued by the government for stolen goods, but they also paid a huge fine and had to sell their land and shops.

Therefore, the economy was relatively tight, and Li Zuqia could not go out to sea just to travel around like last time. He took the ship of the treasure hunting trio and worked for others with his own skills.

"My dear brother, please read An Qi..."

"I went to Hangzhou last autumn and heard that Wang, Gao and Li had already returned. Your Majesty once said that there might be a continent south of the South China Sea. The three of them have been exploring for several years and have learned about the trade winds and currents. Going south from Java Island, you must set sail in the twelfth month and sail southeast with the wind..."

Li Zuqia went to explore the sea, and he was heading towards Australia.

He set off from Hangzhou by boat last winter and wrote a letter to Lu You when he passed through Guangzhou. The postal system was slow and it took several months for the letter to be delivered to Luoyang.

Wang Chongdu and the other treasure hunters went to Java Island three years ago.

There are two small countries on the island, both of which are vassals of the Ming Dynasty. The king warmly received them and conducted friendly trade, selling silk, cotton cloth, paper and other items, and buying back a large amount of spices, pearls, tortoises, etc.

Two years ago, Wang Chongdu began to sail around Java Island and asked local fishermen in detail about the wind direction in different seasons.

After a year of personal exploration, they set out from Hangzhou last winter, carrying a large amount of supplies to Java. They repaired the ship in Java and sold some goods, all of which were exchanged for supplies, and sailed into the vast ocean with the wind at the end of December.

Li Zuqia's letter naturally did not contain any exploration content. He was just afraid that he would never return, so while writing to his wife and children, he also wrote a letter to Lu You to confide his thoughts.

…

The humid Indian Ocean monsoon turned a corner in the equatorial region and blew from northwest to southeast towards Australia.

Everyone was very nervous.

Ahead was a mysterious sea that had never been explored, and they spent two years determining the wind direction.

At this time, it would take half a year for the return trade wind to start from Java Island. If no land could be found for supplies during this period, then everyone would most likely starve to death or die of thirst at sea.

Li Zuqia's position was an assistant to the star-puller, and he had a foundation in astronomy and mathematics.

Day after day, Li Zuqia observed the stars and made records every day, and also observed and recorded the trade winds.

After sailing with the wind all the way, just a few days later, the lookout suddenly shouted with joy: "Land... There is land!"

Li Zuqia hurried out of the star-pulling room and met the captain Wang Chongdu on the deck.

Wang Chongdu climbed up the mast to watch, then rushed back to the captain's room to steer the ship, and someone waved flags to the two ships behind.

Getting closer and closer to the land, the coast can be seen with the naked eye.

Everyone was ecstatic. They thought that this journey would be difficult and they might not find islands or land for two or three months. But they never expected that they would find the target in just a few days!

Of course, they had to wait for half a year to go back.

It was also possible to force a return in advance, but it was more difficult to operate against the wind.

Li Zuqia was very excited. He went back to the cabin to organize the bookcases and waited to go ashore to record the investigation. Perhaps there was an unknown country here, where he could be entertained by the king and bring back many mysterious treasures.

The coast was getting closer and closer... People's smiles began to disappear.

Two words: desolate!

They came to the north-west region of Australia, where the rainfall was more metaphysical. It is possible that the rainfall in one day exceeds the annual rainfall in London. It is also possible that the annual rainfall is less than that in the Sahara Desert!

Whether it rains or not depends on whether a cyclone happens to pass by.

Some small boats were sent out to explore the nearby hydrological conditions, and three ships chose a natural port to dock.

The three captains personally brought armed personnel and a few scholars to land.

Li Zuqia also went ashore. They searched for more than ten miles in a row, and all they could see was a barren land. Not to mention humans and animals, they didn't even see a few grasses, let alone where to find water.

A prospector suddenly stopped, took out a small shovel and started to hoe the ground.

After hoeing for a while, he changed places.

Everyone stopped and waited, and helped him collect ore specimens.

After struggling for a long time, the prospector said with a complicated expression: "Over there...over there...over there, and over here. They are all open-pit iron ore, which is very easy to mine and of high quality. But there is no grass here, and eating and drinking water are problems. It is impossible for miners to come to mine in large quantities."

Everyone could only sigh when they heard this.

This place is not suitable for human survival, even if there are more high-quality iron ore.

Miners are not robots, they also need to eat and drink.

Wang Chongdu clapped his hands and encouraged everyone: "Don't be discouraged. We have encountered the mainland just a few days after we set sail from Java Island. We have just landed and walked not far, and we have encountered a large area of ​​high-quality open-pit iron ore. What does this mean? It means that the goddess of the sea is blessing us! If we land in another place, maybe there will be lush water and grass, and gold and silver everywhere. Goddess bless you!"

"Goddess bless you!"

"Goddess bless you!"

Everyone immediately cheered, and their spirits were instantly improved.

The Sea Goddess is the common name of Mazu, while literati prefer to call Mazu Dragon Girl, Fairy Concubine, and Heavenly Concubine.

As for the title of "Mazu", it is not popular at present.

There are dozens of sea gods in the coastal areas of the Northern Song Dynasty, three of which are goddesses. These three female sea gods in Fujian were all witches with the surname Lin during their lifetime, and gradually merged into one person, namely Mazu.

So, the only female sea god was born, how could those male sea gods compete?

As the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade became more and more prosperous, the belief in Mazu spread rapidly.

Six years ago, in order to simplify and unify the belief, the court simply conferred Mazu the title of Heavenly Concubine and abolished all other sea gods.

The Buddhist and Taoist Department naturally followed orders and gave Mazu a mortal name, and made Mazu a disciple of Taishang Laojun, thus formally absorbing Mazu into the Taoist deity system.

Back on the boat, rest for a night, and sail east along the coast the next day.

After another day and a half, more green began to appear on the land.

The group landed to explore and found that this place was a bit like grassland, with forests in some areas, and they also found rivers.

Climbing a small hill, the group and a group of animals looked at each other in surprise.

Those big rats with long tails stood there stupidly observing humans.

"Rat spirit?" Wang Chongdu was a little confused.

Li Bin shouted: "Catch a few and bring them back to present to His Majesty!"

The armed personnel rushed forward upon receiving the order, and the kangaroos immediately jumped and ran away. These guys had also seen humans.

There is an indigenous tribe nearby!

Li Bin led his men to chase for a while, and then met the indigenous people who went out hunting. They were black and short, like Kunlun slaves.

The encounter between humans and kangaroos turned into an encounter between two different races.

Both sides were very nervous.

Li Bin raised the flintlock in his hand.

The natives also lowered their bodies, with their javelins ready to throw at any time.