Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Li Zuqia also came back this time, changing to a merchant ship in Guangzhou and heading straight to Shanghai.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, it was only the Shanghai shipping business.

Twenty years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Shanghai relied on the convenient shipping on the Yangtze River and relied on commodity supply places and markets in several provinces. Its port prosperity was catching up with that of Hangzhou.

Gradually, the Municipal Shipping Affairs Bureau was upgraded to the Municipal Shipping Department, and then Shanghai County was established.

Li Zuqia took several members of his tribe, as well as letters and money from his fellow tribesmen and fellow villagers, and waited in Shanghai to board a merchant ship bound for Chuzhou.

He wants to go back to Huainan to recruit more gold diggers to Australia!

"Lang Jun, I have heard the news. It will take five days at the earliest before a merchant ship will pass through Chuzhou. Moreover, the cabins are already full, so you have to squeeze in with the crew. However, there will be a batch of ships going to Zhenjiang tomorrow, and the cabins are It’s not full yet.”

"Then take the boat to Zhenjiang and transfer first. You can buy your tickets."

Li Zuqia left the inn and wandered around, observing the busy people along the way. He walked to the inn and said, "Since the beginning of winter last year, I have received a copy of every issue of the Daming Moon News."

The postman who also sells newspapers rummaged through it and said, "The ones for March, April and May this year have been sold out."

"Old newspapers with stains will also work." Li Zuqia said.

The postman quickly took out three obviously worn newspapers.

After buying the newspaper, Li Zuqia strolled back to the inn and read the newspapers month by month according to the date.

This spring, the biggest news was the imperial examination. "Da Ming Yue Bao" dedicated a special page to list the complete list of Jinshi.

A total of 355 people were admitted, and the top pick was named Wang Zuo, who was actually from Lu You's hometown.

Well, Lu You failed again.

The penultimate one was named Zhu Xi, and he almost failed the exam.

Li Zuqia stared at the list of Jinshi for a long time, was speechless for a long time, and sighed. Although he knew that he was not talented enough and would probably fail even if he took the exam, he was still very depressed to be directly disqualified from the imperial examination.

In addition to the examination, another big news was the expedition to Mobei, which took two newspapers to report.

The first issue is a warm-up for the war, describing the situation in Mobei, denounced Tuoli's killing of his brothers, and condemned the Mongolian tribes for repeatedly disobeying the imperial orders.

The second phase is to formally declare war on the Mongolian and Kled tribes.

Detailed information has not been reported. After all, it is a military secret. It is estimated that they are currently at war.

Li Zuqia also paid attention to information on the appointment and dismissal of some officials. For example, Mao Kui, a monk and Taoist priest who was nearly 80 years old, finally officially retired this year.

In recognition of Mao Kui's achievements (mainly his dedication to Fuzhou City), he was promoted to Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites when he retired, and was given a special rank. You can receive higher pensions and have higher funeral standards after your death.

In addition, He Su, the Minister of Rites, died of illness, and the officials of the six ministries changed accordingly. Bai Chongyan, who had a bumpy official career, returned and took over the position of right minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Li Guang, the censor of Zuodu, retired due to illness, and Pan Lianggui took over as censor of Zuodu.

Li Zuqia hadn't finished reading the newspapers for more than half a year when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. He quickly stood up and opened the window to watch.

But a group of officers and soldiers were seen coming from the direction of the dock, and their soldiers were heading towards the southeastern suburbs of the county.

Li Zuqia happily rushed downstairs to the street, called a few people of his own clan, and followed a group of people to watch the excitement.

Not long after, the Shanghai County Magistrate also heard the news and left the city, leading a group of officials to chase the soldiers.

"Xiao Lang, has someone committed a crime?" Brother Li Zuyuan asked in surprise.

Li Zuqia said: "It's not just a simple crime. The court sent out troops to arrest people, but the county officials didn't know about it. This is a shocking case."

In the southeastern suburbs of the county, a mansion that had only been built a few years ago was surrounded by officers and soldiers.

The leading primary school officer said: "We are surrounded on all sides. If anyone resists arrest, we will shoot without mercy!"

When the county magistrate arrived, the soldiers had already broken into the house.

"Where does this general come from to work in this county?" the county magistrate asked cautiously.

The colonel said: "Nanjing Forbidden Army."

"Forbidden...Forbidden Army..."

The county magistrate immediately did not dare to ask any more questions, and just bowed and said: "If there is any need for cooperation from this county, please feel free to give me your orders, general."

The junior high school officer took out a joint document from the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of War: "Two years ago, a large number of counterfeit treasure banknotes were discovered in the south, and later they occasionally appeared in the provinces north of the Yangtze River. They were beautifully printed, and all were of the smallest denomination. But the steel seal If it’s not done well, the anti-counterfeiting pattern is also distorted, and the banknote numbers are all repeated.”

The county magistrate was shocked: "Someone in this county actually forged treasure banknotes?"

The junior high school officer sneered and said: "They are not bold enough. The Ministry of Justice and the Military Intelligence Department of the Ministry of War have jointly conducted a secret investigation for two years and have determined that the counterfeit banknotes were printed overseas. The house in front of you is one of the bulk cargo points! "

"Fortunately, it's just bulk cargo." The county magistrate breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, a soldier dragged a body over and said, "This guy escaped over the wall and was shot to death by a few arrows."

After a while, a group of soldiers came from further south and captured a rich man wearing silk. The leading officer laughed and said, "This guy still wants to escape!"

However, these imperial troops from Nanjing not only landed in Shanghai County, but also sent a team to the south by boat along the Huangpu River to intercept them.

The county magistrate said: "This man's name is Du Jicai. He was originally a wealthy businessman from Huizhou. He moved to Shanghai in the past few years to buy land and build a house. I heard that he made a lot of money by supplying goods to maritime merchants."

The junior colonel said: "The Criminal Department and the Military Intelligence Department have already investigated clearly. Some of my colleagues have led troops to Huizhou to arrest people. Hey, you dare to touch counterfeit money. I am really tired of living!"

Because the Yi tribe is too cruel, this punishment has been canceled for most crimes.

However, there is still a part of counterfeiting and distributing counterfeit money.

It is not necessary to exterminate three clans, only the person, grandparents, parents, uncles, brothers, legal wife, sons, and grandsons should be killed.     The sons of uncles are exiled.

Concubines are ordered to remarry.

Married sisters, daughters, and granddaughters are not subject to prosecution, but unmarried sisters, daughters, or granddaughters are exiled.

Those who are too young will be raised by surviving relatives and will be disqualified from the imperial examination.

The descendants of uncles for three generations will also be disqualified from the imperial examination.

The property of the person, parents, brothers, and uncles will all be confiscated.

Once involved, the family is doomed.

The Shanghai County Magistrate glanced at Du Jicai and found that he was paralyzed by fear. He sighed, "Oh, why bother."

"Take him away!" the lieutenant ordered.

Du Jicai was dragged for more than ten steps, and suddenly shouted: "I want to make meritorious service for my crime, I want to make meritorious service for my crime! I bought those counterfeit banknotes from Sun Luzhen. I have inquired indirectly that his counterfeit banknotes should come from a country in Southeast Asia."

The lieutenant sneered: "It's too late, someone has already made meritorious service for his crime. Find out who is printing counterfeit banknotes before closing the net."

Du Jicai had just recovered a little bit of spirit, and he collapsed again after hearing this.

...

Where did the counterfeit banknotes come from?

Coconut City!

Those guys dare not print in China, nor do they dare to print under the leadership of the overseas governor. So they chose the emerging port of Coconut City, where there are many Ming Dynasty sea merchants every year, and the Ming Dynasty has no troops stationed in Coconut City.

At this moment, the telegram has been sent to Guangzhou.

The Guangzhou Army has assembled 3,000 people, and the navy is on standby at any time, just waiting for the monsoon to arrive before heading south.

By the way, destroy the Sunda Kingdom and grab Coconut City!

The reason for destroying the country is simple, the Sunda King sheltered and condoned the counterfeit banknote makers.

This is definitely not a false accusation. The Military Intelligence Department sent people to Coconut City last year. Various signs indicate that the King of Sunda not only knew about it, but was even very likely to be a partner.

The counterfeit banknote maker was Zeng Boda, who had the title of scholar, but never passed the imperial examination.

Later, his family fell into poverty, and he had evil thoughts. First, he went to work in a printing factory at his classmate's home, gradually learned and mastered printing technology, and then inquired about the special paper technology for treasure notes.

He couldn't make special paper for treasure notes, and this thing was prohibited from being sold privately by the public. There were only four special paper mills in the country.

Zeng Boda chose a paper mill for treasure notes in Fujian, deliberately made friends with the papermakers in the factory, and stole paper from the factory to counterfeit treasure notes.

The paper used for treasure notes was strictly supervised throughout the process, and even defective products and scraps had to be destroyed. The responsible official has been ruled out as a suspect, but he will definitely be dismissed this time because more than a dozen of his clerks and workers have problems.

They registered the paper as defective, but instead of destroying it, they secretly transported it out of the paper mill. Fearing a strict investigation by the government, Zeng Boda went to Coconut City to print money, thinking that this would evade the Ming court.

Now, Zeng Boda's family has moved to Coconut City, and his brother is still a court official in Sunda.

The winter monsoon is coming.

Merchant ships are about to set off in Guangzhou.

Wang Chongdu is also ready, but there are still a few ships that have not come from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Fuzhou.

He picked up the latest issue of the newspaper to read the major news.

The Central Army led by Han Shizhong and the Western Army led by Liu Qi had conquered the Kerey tribes four months ago. The Naiman tribe that came from the west to disrupt the situation was defeated by Liu Qi and Han Shizhong, and more than 3,000 people were killed and captured.

Yue Fei's Eastern Army was relatively bad. Although it won a few battles easily, the Mongols hid in the mountains and did not confront Yue Fei head-on.

Historically, the Mongols also dealt with the Jin Kingdom in this way.

They ran away when they couldn't win, and when the Jin soldiers ran out of food and grass, they came out of the mountains to pursue them, which made the Jin Kingdom completely lose its temper.

In the end, the Jin Kingdom could only support the Tatar tribe, use conspiracy and trickery to kill the Mongolian Khan, and split the Mongolian tribes into pieces, until they rose again during the Genghis Khan period.

This time Yue Fei didn't leave!

Yue Fei asked the infantry and the extra civilians to return, and he took 5,000 elite cavalry and a large amount of food and grass and livestock to stay. At the same time, the remnants of the Tatars driven away by the Mongols, as well as some Khitan and Tanggu tribes in the southern grasslands of the desert, were moved in.

These Han people, Tatars, Khitans, and Tanggu people distributed grasslands with Hulun Lake and Beier Lake as the center. The Han people were stationed in the cities built by the Liao Kingdom, and the rest of the tribes were guarded in the surrounding grasslands.

Han Shizhong also asked the extra soldiers and civilians to return, and he led his troops to station in the Kerait tribe, and enfeoffed the remnants of the Kerait tribe who had surrendered on behalf of the court.

Liu Qi led his army back to Ningxia Province.

Han Shizhong and Yue Fei refused to leave Mobei, so the Mongols either hid in the mountains for the winter or rushed out to fight a decisive battle!

The Ming Dynasty was not the Jin Dynasty that lived without surplus food, and the expeditionary army would not eat up the food and grass in two or three months.

After reading the newspaper, Wang Chongdu lay down to rest.

A subordinate hurried over: "Ship owner, the Guangzhou Navy blocked the port, and the Maritime Customs ordered all sea merchants to delay their departure for five days!"

"What's the situation?" Wang Chongdu was confused.

The subordinate said: "Someone saw the military camp outside the city mobilizing troops, and they took a boat to the military port. Maybe the court is going to conquer another country in Southeast Asia. The order to delay the departure of sea merchants is mostly to block the news, so as to catch the enemy off guard."

Wang Chongdu muttered: "Will it be Sunda? I paid a deposit to buy futures, and the supplier must not be killed by the chaotic soldiers."

Jambi and Palembang have been conquered by Yang Yao, and Malacca has long been owned by the Ming Dynasty.

The most valuable port in Southeast Asia now is the Coconut City in Sunda Kingdom. Wang Chongdu guessed the target of attack at once.