Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

11. Buy land from Sima Guang’s descendants

Huangzhou Mansion.

Xie Yiqin handed a telegram to his wife.

Wang Yitong read it quickly and sighed: "I really want Princess Shang."

Xie Yiqin analyzed: "If it was just a folk rumor, how could Qingsi Chenghao be published in the "Da Ming Xun Bao"? Even if it was written, the reporter would only dare to mention it in one sentence. Since it was written in such detail, the reporter was sure not to offend the princess."

"That's right," Wang Yitong asked, "does the princess also need to write three books and six etiquettes before surrendering?"

Xie Yiqin said: "Of course it is necessary, otherwise it will violate the evening rituals. However, "Da Ming Law·Etiquette·Evening Rituals" is very general about the princess' surrender, and I am not very clear on how to do it specifically."

Wang Yitong said: "Liu Lang asked us to notify the elders in our hometown and asked us to go to Luoyang with the elders. It seems that we are in a hurry to go to Nacai, right? For folk Nacai, the elders go to the woman's home. Are we going to the palace this time?"

"Maybe that's the case." Xie Yiqin wasn't sure.

Wang Yitong muttered: "If we act in such a hurry, Liulang will not be with the princess already..."

Xie Yiqin scolded: "Don't talk nonsense."

The next day.

Xie Yiqin called several officials from the General Prosecution Hall and said to them: "I have to go to Beijing for something. You should keep an eye on each county and be sure to find out the floor area and number of chimneys of the factories and mines in the whole government. When I come back , I will personally take people to check and check, and if there are any major mistakes, you will be held accountable!”

"Yes!" The subordinate officials quickly agreed.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Yiqin assigned more specific work tasks one by one. As for his own duties, he temporarily handed them over to his deputy. If there were urgent and major matters, he would send telegrams and leave the telegram address given by his son.

After Xie Yiqin left, these people also retreated, talking privately with their close friends.

"Why did the magistrate come to the capital for a half-time? It can't be that he wants to be promoted and transferred, right?"

"Have you forgotten the newspaper from the past few days? I guess Liulang of the Xie family wants Princess Shang, and the judge is going to Beijing to ask for her name."

"The feng shui of the Xie family's ancestral grave must have been good to give birth to such a good son. Alas, those two bastards in my family made my hair turn gray with worry."

"If I were Xie Liulang, I would definitely not be a princess. The seventeen-year-old Furong bachelor was specially recruited to study in the Imperial College. I am afraid that at the age of twenty, he would be directly awarded a Jinshi after graduating from the Imperial College. He would be promoted all the way to the age of fifty, as long as he does not go out. What a mistake, at least he is a third-rank official. If he lives long enough, it is not impossible to become a second-rank official."

"You think so."

"Alas, I was admitted to Jinshi too late. I didn't become an official until I was thirty-four years old, and now I'm only in the sixth rank. If I had become an official at twenty, I wouldn't marry a princess even to death."

"Haha, with your majestic appearance, the princess will wash her eyes even if she takes one more look at you."

"If you have poetry and calligraphy in your belly, what should a man look like if he looks good?"

"..."

Xie Yiqin gave some instructions to his subordinates and went straight to the government office to find the prefect Du Yinzheng.

The two greeted each other and exchanged a few words.

When the handyman brought the kettle, Du Yinzheng personally made tea for Xie Yiqin: "Brother, how come you have time to sit here with me today?"

Xie Yiqin said: "I have something to do and I have to go to Beijing. The affairs of the Interrogation Office have been handed over. For the time being, my brother, Li Tuiguan, is in charge of contacting him."

Du Yinzheng was surprised and said: "Brother Xian is going to be promoted?"

"Asking about etiquette." Xie Yiqin said vaguely.

Du Yinzheng reacted immediately, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Congratulations, congratulations!"

Although Xie Yiqin felt very happy, he still pretended to be calm and calm: "Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. I just followed the etiquette and went there."

Damn it, just pretend!

Du Yinzheng was quite envious, but he still said good things: "Tiger father has no dogs. I liked this kid Liulang the first time I saw him. He is so talented and polite. It's a pity that my daughters are all married, otherwise there would be no way to get married." What's wrong with the princess? I must recruit Liulang as my son-in-law first."

Xie Yiqin laughed and said, "You and I have missed a marriage."

The two of them continued to chat in a nonsensical manner. After Xie Yiqin had enough of pretending, he left in high spirits.

Du Yinzheng sat in the yellow hall, watching Xie Yiqin go away, and said to himself: "Why are you here to show off to me? Your son married a princess, and you will only be of the third rank in your life."

After despising Xie Yiqin, Du Yinzheng sighed again, why can't those little bastards of his own be so successful?

Before Xie Yiqin and Wang Yitong left Huangzhou Mansion, the news that their sixth son was about to marry the princess had quickly spread throughout the government offices and the general judge's office, and then spread to the people.

…

Shou'an (Yiyang) County is more than fifty miles away from Luoyang City. You can travel by boat along the Luo River.

As early as the Warring States Period, this was Yiyang County in South Korea.

During the Five Dynasties period, it was directly destroyed. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the county was removed and became Shou'an Town, and it was only upgraded to Shou'an County in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty.

"That's the Shou'an Kiln there. There are only two official kilns for making porcelain in the entire Luoyang Prefecture. One is the Luojing Kiln that makes white porcelain, and the other is the Shou'an Kiln that makes celadon."

Xie Yan's guide was an official from the Ministry of Industry named Qian Gu.

Fan Ying, the director of the Ministry of Industry, was unable to take leave to go to Beijing for personal matters, so he asked a close official to help.

Xie Yan asked: "The entire Shou'an Mountain is the territory of Shou'an Kiln?"

Qian Gu replied: "Only this area belongs to Shou'an Kiln, and the rest of the mountains and forests are mostly public property of Shou'an County. The king of peony flowers is Yao Huang, Wei Zi. The mother plant of Wei Zi was obtained by a woodcutter in Shou'an Mountain. Luoyang Officials and People Spring Day For outings, some people come here by boat, and Shou’an Mountain is also a popular place for outings.”

"Which family has the most land under the mountain?" Xie Yan asked.

Qian Gu replied: "Sima family."

Of course it's Sima Guang's Sima family.

Sima Guang did not take concubines in his life, and his two biological sons died in infancy, so he adopted his adopted nephew Sima Kang to inherit the family.

Although Sima Guang and Sima Kang were both famous for their honesty and frugality, the honesty and frugality of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty was not comparable to that of ordinary people.

Sima Guang has a house in Luoyang and usually lives there.

At the foot of Shou'an Mountain is Sima Guang's villa.

Opposite the Luo River here is Shao Yong's villa estate. When Shao Yong first arrived in Luoyang, he was so poor that he could not even afford to rent a house. With the help of Sima Guang and other friends, he not only found a place to stay in Luoyang, but also built a villa in Shou'an County.

Today, the descendants of Sima Guang and Shao Yong have long lost their property in Luoyang, but they belong to landlords in Shouan County.

The error-free version is being read! 6=9+Book_Bar debuts this novel.

"Is there a coal mine near here?" Xie Yan asked again.

Qian Gu pointed to the south: "The large mountainous area in the south of the city is all government-run coal mines. In the early years of the Kingdom, there was not much mining, and it was all small and small. The coal used in Luoyang had to be transported from the north bank of the Yellow River. Later, the coal mines in Shou'an Mountain As we dug deeper and deeper, the output became larger and larger, and several small coal mines were merged into one government-run coal mine.”

Xie Yan asked: "Is there anthracite coal here?"

Qian Gu said: "Yes. Some are bituminous coal and some are anthracite. It depends on the specific mining area. Anthracite is mainly supplied to the Imperial City."

"Can private factories buy anthracite here?" Xie Yan asked again.

Qian Gu said: "The Ministry of Industry cannot make the decision. It must be agreed by the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."

Increasing the mining volume means that the Imperial City does not lack this bit of anthracite.

Alas, I have to ask the princess sister for help again.

This soft rice tastes so delicious!

Xie Yan asked again: "Where are the limestone mines located?"

Qian Gu said: "The mountains around the county are full of limestone, and the Shou'an kiln also burns lime. The Sima family also has a lime kiln. As long as Xie Xie's price is right, they should be willing to sell it. Because all counties in Luoyang Prefecture produce lime. , the price is very cheap, and you can’t make much money by opening a lime kiln.”

Xie Yan continued to ask: "Are there iron mines and iron factories nearby?"

"There are iron mines, but no iron factories," Qian Gu pointed to the southeast. "There is an iron furnace village over there, where every household makes iron. The iron ore is dug from the mountains. They are all traditional small mines and small furnaces. They are made into daily ironware and sold to the surrounding people. The Longmen Grottoes have been excavated for hundreds of years, and most of the hammers and drills used by craftsmen came from this Iron Furnace Village.”

After hearing this, Xie Yan was extremely satisfied. There is everything nearby.

After having lunch in Shouan County, Xie Yan bought some greeting gifts, wrote a greeting note, and went to the Sima family's house.

"A distinguished guest is here, and I'm sorry to welcome you from afar!" An old man came out tremblingly.

This person's name is Sima Yu.

If the original historical trajectory is followed, the various branches of the Sima family would have fled to the south to thrive during the Jingkang Rebellion.

In this time and space, not only did he not go to the south, but even the names of his descendants have completely changed.

Xie Yan bowed and saluted: "I have taken the liberty of visiting you, please forgive me."

Sima Yu said: "Xie Xie's name is so famous in Shenjing, and I have long admired his name in Shou'an County."

After exchanging pleasantries, Xie Yan was invited into the main entrance.

The original head of the Sima family was in Shanxi, and the branch in Shou'an County was completely developed from the heirs of Sima Guang. More than two hundred years have passed, and there has been little contact with each other.

Shou'an Sima's family is not even considered powerful. If not for the emergence of a Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, they would probably have to sell some land to maintain it, let alone continue to annex surrounding land.

Xie Yan explained his intention in a roundabout way, only to realize that the Sima family here had already divided their property and households.

The master's family had less than a thousand acres of land left, and the descendants of the Sima family who had been divided out became small landowners and homesteaders. That lime kiln belonged to one of the small landowners.

Moreover, it only has a small area of ​​hills near the lime kilns.

The property rights of that hill are still owned by several other companies.

Sima Yu said: "That's the junction of the two villages. There is a forest to the west that belongs to my nephew. The other mountains and forests belong to the Liu family and the Gao family in the neighboring villages. There are also some forests that are public property and belong to several villages. All the people can go and collect firewood.”

Xie Yan sat and chatted for a while, then proposed to go on-site to check, and Sima Yu asked his eldest son to accompany him.

After wandering around in the mountains and forests for four or five days and staying at Sima's house at night, Xie Yan finally got a basic idea of ​​the situation and asked each family if they were selling land.

Definitely have to buy at a premium.

The dust pollution from the cement factory is quite heavy, and it is someone else's ancestral property. You can't even buy it without paying a high price.