Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The fifth year of the Ming Dynasty, the 3847th year of the Yellow Emperor, and the 1150th year of AD.

winter.

Zhu Guoxiang took his wife and children back to Luoyang to celebrate the New Year. Shen Yourong was an old woman over sixty years old, and most of his other concubines were also aging.

No more concubines were taken.

I usually work on farming, fishing, occasionally practicing calligraphy and painting, and also do some research on the music and rhythm of poetry. He rarely even gets involved in scientific research, and only occasionally teaches at the academy in Wangchuan Valley.

The main focus is to be free and at ease.

Zhu Guoxiang gave birth to nine sons in time, eleven including Zhu Ming and Bai Qi.

Of those nine sons, eight have grown up and been crowned kings. Most of them are idle princes, who receive royal salary every month. Their residences are mainly in Luoyang, Kaifeng and Chang'an.

There is a lot of honor and salary, but not much.

These princes themselves must be living a comfortable life, but when their sons grow up, that will not be the case. Only the eldest sons of princes can descend to inherit the title.

The rest of the prince's sons are only given the lowest two-level titles. They can live on just the title, but if they have a group of wives and concubines, they will be very poor. In one or two generations, the title will be completely gone and you will have to make money to support your family.

Except for the prince's eldest son, the other sons can take the imperial examination or go into business with their connections. As long as they are willing to work hard, the starting point of their career will be lower than 99.99% of their peers in the country.

If they are left to eat and wait to die, then their descendants will suffer from poverty. The cruel Zhu Ming royal family will not care.

Of course, there is another way to get rich through marriage.

For example, a certain great-grandson of Zhu Guoxiang has not received any title, and he is idle and has no ability to make money. But there must be gentry and merchants who are willing to marry their daughters and give them a generous dowry. After the dowry is spent, they can still ask their father-in-law to support them.

Most of these gentry and merchants married their daughters to distant relatives of the royal family who had no power or title, not to gain any special authority, but to enhance their family's reputation and status.

Especially for merchants whose families have never had anyone serve as officials, official families disdain to marry them. If they marry their daughter to Zhu Guoxiang's great-grandson, the family will immediately gain face. They are willing to raise a son-in-law for a lifetime, and even train their grandson to become an official in the imperial examination.

Among the nine sons Zhu Guoxiang later gave birth to, six died.

Not all of them are idiots, but all of them are knowledgeable. It's just that their knowledge is mainly reflected in literature, music, painting, etc. They know a little about Confucianism, history and natural science but are just not interested.

There are three sons left who have not been raised, one of whom is still underage.

There is another person who is proficient in mechanics and has participated in the research and development of telegraphs and steam trains. He is currently appointed by Ju Ming to work in the Ministry of Industry, but he cannot be promoted after reaching a certain level. At that time, Ju Ming plans to be sent to Taixue as a professor.

There is also a son who is proficient in painting, not just for fun, but a bit of a painting genius. He is currently working at the Hanlin Academy of Painting.

Zhu Guoxiang was most proud of agriculture, but none of his sons were interested!

On the contrary, one of the daughters was good at farming.

Zhu Guoxiang has eight daughters, all of whom are married, and all of them are young talents.

The restrictions on the prince-in-law have also been adjusted. If you are a Jinshi, you can be an official, but you can only be promoted to the state magistrate level at most. There are no restrictions for the prince-in-law to enter the Hanlin Academy. As long as he has real talent and practical knowledge, he can study literature, history, art, natural science, etc.

During the winter solstice festival, Ju Ming gathered around the stove and baked cakes himself: "A large coal mine has finally been discovered in Ruzhou Prefecture. There is a mountain there with a flat top, and the locals call it Pingshan."

Zhu Guoxiang said happily: "It seems to be the Pingdingshan Coal Mine."

Zhu Ming continued: "The railway from Nanyang to Fangcheng has been completed, and the section from Fangcheng to Yexian is being paved. The discovery of the Pingdingshan coal mine made the Ministry of Industry decide to extend the railway mileage and lay the rails all the way to the bottom of Pingdingshan."

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "That would partially overlap with the middle line of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. We might as well dig a canal north of the railway all the way to Kaifeng."

One section of the middle route project of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is from Nanyang to Pingdingshan.

"More than one Ministry of Industry official has proposed this plan."

Ju Ming said: "The former Song Dynasty failed to dig the Grand Canal there. The main difficulty was the railway line. We solved the problem by using railways instead of canals, and there are no technical problems on the remaining canal routes."

"The newly opened canal connects Xiangcheng, Yingchang (Xuchang), Xinzheng and Kaifeng, connecting several large rivers along the way. The natural river channel from Xinzheng to Zhengzhou can also be excavated, widened and connected by canals."

"With this new canal, the water network of the three prefectures and one state can be more closely connected, and more land can be irrigated, which will promote industry, agriculture and commerce there."

Zhu Guoxiang praised: "This project will benefit the future." The father and son chatted about railways and water conservancy for a while, and Zhu Ming suddenly said: "I have a son who has performed well in the military school in the past two years. In this year's military school examination, his overall score in all subjects Ranked 16th in the grade, with two single subjects ranking in the top ten.”

Zhu Guoxiang couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Are you showing off your son to me?"

"He is willing to grant a kingdom in Central Asia," Ju Ming said. "I have more than twenty sons who died in infancy, and I have been selecting suitable candidates among them. Except for Zhu Kang who went to occupy the city, the current Zhu Jiong can still be considered People are satisfied.”

Zhu Jiong is the second son of Li Qinglu, and his grandfather is Li Renli, King of Shu in Xixia. Li Renli currently serves as the leader of the Xixia Group of the Hanlin Academy of Literature and History.

In other words, Zhu Jiong has the blood of the Xixia royal family flowing in his body, and it is easier to win the loyalty of the Dangxiang clan who fled to Hezhong Prefecture.

Ju Ming used a charcoal hook to draw a simple map on the ground: "To go directly from Anxi Protectorate to Hezhong Prefecture, you have to cross the Congling Mountains and it is difficult to control directly. I plan to establish the Dayuan Kingdom there and let Zhu Jiong do it. King Dawan, give him the Fergana Basin, and the capital will be located in Samarkand, the capital of the river."

Zhu Guoxiang listened silently, he was not interested in such things.

Ju Ming continued: "Give him some officials, soldiers, monks, immigrants, and supplies, and then let him develop on his own. The court will not provide subsequent funding. At most, he will be unable to bear it and give him some military support. He can expand Dawan's territory. To what extent it reaches is his own business. Even if it becomes a powerful country in the future, it will be difficult to fight back if Congling blocks it. It can always serve as a barrier to the Ming Dynasty. "

"It really saves trouble." Zhu Guoxiang nodded and said.

Ju Ming said: "This kid is still too young and has not even graduated from the military academy. Let him go to the Anxi Protector's Mansion for training first, participate in the recovery of the Ili Valley, and learn how to govern the place."

"Okay." Zhu Guoxiang expressed support.

Light snow suddenly fell in the sky, and Shen Yourong grabbed a handful of grilled mutton skewers and brought them over.

There were dozens of concubines, children and grandchildren of the father and son. Because of the snow, they all moved to the porch, leaving only Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang sitting opposite each other in the pavilion.

Zhu Guoxiang gave all the mutton skewers to his son, while he just nibbled on the pancake and ate cabbage: "I lost one of my teeth this year, and two more are loose. I can't bite anything that is too hard to chew. I am getting old after all."

Ju Ming smiled and said, "With your physique, you can live for several more decades."

"I hope so," Zhu Guoxiang said with emotion, "I want to travel to the south of the Yangtze River. I have never seen the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River since crossing over. Now that Mobei and Yunnan have been pacified, there are no wars except in the Western Regions, and I am not afraid to go to the south of the Yangtze River. Traveling is too much work and wastes money.”

Ju Ming teased: "If you had not abdicated and went to the south of the Yangtze River as the emperor, you would definitely be a coward who would not be safe in the later years."

Zhu Guoxiang thought to himself and said: "Huainan and Jiangnan have been at peace for a long time. I am not the emperor. There should be no one who wants to assassinate me. There are also local troops to protect you along the way. You can ensure safety with two to three hundred guards. My wife and children have About two-thirds want to go to Jiangnan. Bring them all, as well as eunuchs, female officials, doctors, cooks, and students, so there are about seven or eight hundred people."

Ju Ming asked: "When will we leave? I'll ask the officials to prepare."

"Spring will begin next year," Zhu Guoxiang said.

Lao Zhu has really never been willful in these years. Even if he travels to relax, the furthest he can go is around Chang'an. Nowadays, walking around is nothing.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "First travel to the south of the Yangtze River, then go to Sichuan along the Yangtze River, and then go back to the former Shangbai Village and Daming Village."

"You have gone far enough," Zhu Ming said with a smile, "give me some incense sticks for Mr. Bai. By the way, there is also Mr. Bai's mother. The old lady treated us well during her lifetime."

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Is Taoist Master Xue still alive?"

Ju Ming suddenly became happy: "He is alive and in good spirits. He is currently in Heian Kyo, Japan. He went to Heian Kyo to preach the gospel himself. He originally had a dojo in Iwami Ginzan and accepted dozens of Japanese disciples, who in turn accepted He has hundreds of disciples.”

"Later, I accepted an invitation from a Japanese nobleman and went to a nearby mountain city as a guest. I couldn't stand the onmyojis there. I felt that those onmyojis had learned Taoism wrongly."

"Then he took his disciples and grandchildren and ran to Heianjing to meet the King of Japan. Without Master Xue taking action himself, those disciples suppressed the Onmyoji and established a dojo in Heianjing."

"Of course, this is the version spread among the people, and the actual process is much more complicated."

Zhu Guoxiang asked curiously: "What is the real situation?"

Ju Ming said amusingly: "Japan is very superstitious at this time, and Heian Kyo is in the era of hundreds of ghosts walking at night. From the king to the ministers, there are ghosts in the house every now and then. When I get sick, I think it is haunted, and I often build temples for monsters to worship. But many things are yin and yang. It is made by the master, and when catching ghosts, it is just a seal, so that the demons and monsters can break through the seal and continue to cause trouble. Well, the Onmyoji can continue to catch ghosts and make money. "

"Although onmyoji are very popular, they are no different from those who perform great dances. They have always been suppressed by Japanese monks. Xue Daoguang ran to Heianjing and hit it off with the onmyojis. The two parties joined forces to perform a play for the Japanese king and nobles."

Zhu Guoxiang seemed to understand: "Taoist priests from China and Japan are joining forces to expand Taoism in Japan?"

"That's right," Zhu Ming chuckled, "Taoist Master Xue is quite capable. Even at an old age, he is still opening up territory for Taoism."