Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Huang Yaoshi took his wife and son to the post office of Zhou to have some food.

Zheng Yuanyi and Li Mujun personally cooked the pastries. After the two female relatives walked away, Huang Guinian took out a letter: "Forward the private message sent to the state hospital to immediately release the Qian and Sun prisoners."

Zhu Ming read the letter out of curiosity and sneered: "He has such a big face. He is just a transfer envoy who has just taken office. He interferes in the affairs of the Criminal Division and dares to write a letter to leave evidence."

"Who can make the holy family prosperous," Huang Guinian joked, "Your Majesty presented Ganoderma lucidum, and Li Wenzhong also presented Ganoderma lucidum. In terms of the total age of Ganoderma lucidum, your Majesty is only ten thousand years old, which is far behind him."

"That's right." Zhu Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Li Wenzhong, the newly appointed transfer envoy of Jingdong Road, was only the governor of Mizhou last year.

The top leader at the municipal level was directly promoted to the top leader at the provincial level!

This promotion is not illegal, but according to past practice, it is generally promoted first to the transportation magistrate, then to the deputy transportation envoy, and then to the transportation envoy.

Li Wenzhong was able to get it right in one step, purely because he contributed Ganoderma lucidum.

There are many officials across the country who donate Ganoderma lucidum, but Li Wenzhong stands out because he has large amounts and sufficient control.

This guy first raised taxes in all counties in Michigan, and then stipulated that people can collect Ganoderma lucidum to deduct taxes. He also misappropriated public funds to purchase all Ganoderma lucidum from pharmacies in the country, and even sent people to other places to purchase it.

After saving for several years, I saved 300,000 Ganoderma lucidum. Taking ten thousand flowers as one line, it was divided into thirty lines, and all of them were dedicated to the emperor.

It was also said that while the Holy Emperor was still alive, Ganoderma lucidum appeared in large quantities in Mizhou, which was an auspicious sign from heaven.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was well-informed and was surprised by the 300,000 Ganoderma lucidum. He thought Li Wenzhong was a loyal minister and immediately promoted him to the transfer envoy of Jingdong Road.

This successful case has given great inspiration to successors.

Even in the Jianyan period, Zhao Gou fled to Yangzhou to become emperor, several armies of the Jin Kingdom went south, and the magistrate of Mizhou was still offering Ganoderma lucidum.

Zhu Ming said: "The transfer envoy interfered in the affairs of the state council. I will impeach him on this!"

Huang Guinian said: "My impeachment memorial has been written."

"Then hand it over together." Zhu Ming didn't intend to get used to this kind of person.

After drinking tea in the pavilion for a while, Zhu Ming asked: "Zhu Shengfei, the academic envoy, will come to Puzhou for a study tour in two days. Does Brother Deshao recognize this person?"

Huang Guinian shook his head and said, "I don't know him."

"Let's go and greet him together." Ju Ming smiled.

He thought that Huang and Zhu were old acquaintances.

Historically, Zhu Shengfei and Huang Guinian both belonged to the main war faction. They caught Qin Hui and yelled at him, which led to Qin Hui's first resignation from the prime ministership. After Qin Hui came back, Zhu Shengfei was forced to resign, and Huang Guinian was also dismissed.

After chatting for a while, Bai Sheng and Deng Chun came in happily.

"My lord, the mace is ready," Bai Shenghui reported.

Three maces were struck, and Ju Ming kept one to match the original one.

The remaining two were given to Deng Chun for use.

Ju Ming said: "Let's have fun."

Deng Chun immediately danced with his maces and swung it out with ease. The strength was enough, but there was no skill at all.

Zhu Ming looked at it and shook his head: "There is a cavalry army in Yunzhou. When things get better here, we will go over there to find an instructor who can use the mace. It doesn't matter how smart you are, as long as you know how to use the mace, I will practice with you."

"That's great." Deng Chunxi said.

Zhu Ming asked again: "How is Huang Tingguan's investigation?"

Bai Sheng said: "Yang Pu hasn't come back yet."

Yang Pu, the rooster and dog robber, no longer works as a security guard at the back house of the state government. Instead, he is sent by Ju Ming to Huangtingguan to gather information.

Yang Pu had been a thief and was familiar with their habits.

This guy spent several days inquiring about it, and the emissary was almost here before he returned to the city to report the news.

"How?" Zhu Ming asked.

Yang Pu said: "With the help of the Zhang family, I have gone to many villages and found out clearly. The leader of the thieves taken in by Huang Tingguan is called Tao Kai. He is not a local, but escaped from Yanggu County. They were originally from Yanggu County. Zi Lu was a good citizen but could not pay the taxes, so he killed the tax collector and was ordered to be arrested by Yanggu County. He also fled to Shouzhang County to become a thief and killed local wealthy people. When he could no longer stand firm, he fled to Juan The city took refuge with the Taoist priests."

A dam is a type of dam on the bank of the Yellow River.

The embankment needs to be maintained every year, and the people not only have to serve, but also provide straw, stones, branches and other materials.

Due to the bifurcation of the Yellow River, the eastern section has not been flooded for decades, and the banks along the line have not been repaired for decades. However, the tax collection continues and is converted into money, thus increasing the burden on the people out of thin air.

The thieves who took refuge in Huang Tingguan were good citizens who were forced to go bankrupt by Xun Ke.

Ju Ming asked: "Do they usually live in Huangtingguan?"

Yang Pu said: "It's not in Huangtingguan, but in Zhaozhuang, northeast of the city and northwest of Huangtinguan. Zhaozhuang is close to the Li family's territory, and many of the good fields in the village have been occupied by the Li family. There are no big households in Zhaozhuang, so thieves will take over. Went there and often robbed merchants."

"Is there a nursing home in Huangtingguan?" Zhu Ming asked again.

"Yes," Yang Pu said, "I climbed over the wall and went in at night. The guards also wore Taoist robes and their weapons were sticks. There were not many people, only twenty or thirty. Taoist priests did not always live in the temple. , they all have houses outside. After taking in the thieves and occupying the land, some of the land was turned into temple fields, and the rest was all distributed to Taoist priests, who were all landlords. There were also nearby landowners who donated their land to become Taoist priests. I heard you don’t have to pay taxes.”

In the Song Dynasty, even officials had to pay taxes. How could Taoist priests be tax-free?

It's just that the emperor believed in Taoism, and the Taoist priests became prestigious, and the officials did not dare to tax them.

From what Yang Pu said, I'm afraid there are quite a few landowners who volunteered, and not all of the temple land in Huang Tingguan was occupied.

Ju Ming didn't completely trust the Zhang family, so he asked Yang Pu to find out the news.

After gathering the information, Ju Ming began to formulate a plan.

The main target of the attack is Zhaozhuang, and the thieves there are quickly hunted and killed. Next is Huangtingguan, which must be captured as soon as possible. Then they raided the Taoist houses in each village and caught all the Taoist priests who had become landlords.

…

Zhu Shengfei came from the direction of Yuncheng.

At the beginning of this year, he served as the Jingdong Luti Academic Envoy. He set out by boat from Nanjing (Shangqiu) to inspect the Xuzhou and Huaiyang armies. Then he took a boat to Yizhou and Mizhou, and also visited Li Qingzhao in Qingzhou.

It took four months to go around in a circle and finally came back to Puzhou.

Although Jingdong Road is divided into east and west roads, after many restructurings, there is only one transfer department, Changping department, and Tixue department. Perhaps because there were so many thieves, the Criminal Division retained two of them, in charge of Jingdong East Road and Jingdong East Road.

Also to guard against thieves, Zhu Shengfei actually brought a few horse soldiers with him when he visited various state capitals.

As we were about to approach Puzhou City, we saw a welcoming team.

Zhu Ming personally led the officials out of the city and bowed: "Ju Ming, the governor of Puzhou, respectfully welcomes the official to inspect the school."

Zhu Shengfei returned the greeting with a smile: "Why should Governor Zhu be so polite? I am touring the various states to study, but unexpectedly I disturbed the place."

"I haven't disturbed him. Inspection is a big deal." As long as he doesn't make trouble for himself, Ju Ming is still very considerate.

Other officials also came forward to greet Zhu Shengfei.

Zhu Shengfei's resume is very similar to that of Zhu Ming. He was a Jinshi at the age of nineteen (graduated from Taixue) and also served as a Zhengzheng of Taixue. Similar experiences naturally bring them closer.

I graduated from Taipei University at the age of nineteen. Haha, anyone with a discerning eye knows there is something fishy about it.

Zhu Shengfei’s father-in-law was Cai Jing’s confidant and privy councilor Deng Xunwu! (Zheng Juzhong became prime minister, Deng Xunwu took over the Privy Council, and Song Huizong was balancing the Cai Party and the Zheng Party.)

In addition, Zhu Shengfei also has a brother-in-law named Zhang Bangchang, and their wives are cousins.

Yao Guangshu, who deliberately opposed Ju Ming, nodded and hunched like a dog at this moment, and deliberately asked for credit: "Today's banquet was prepared by the official himself. It includes Zhu Tixue's favorite roast lamb."

Zhu Shengfei frowned, he didn't like such flattering people.

It is true that his father-in-law is a core member of the Tsai Party, but this marriage was arranged by his grandfather in the early years. After getting married, he deliberately alienated Cai Dang and actively requested to stay away from the capital.

Later, Zhu Shengfei even wrote poems to satirize the power struggle between Cai Jing and Wang Fu, without saving any face for his father-in-law. The poem says: The old fire is unwilling to give up, but the young gold is fighting hard. The winner is determined by the heat and the coolness, and the weather turns cloudy and sunny in an instant.

Lao Huo is Cai Jing, and Zhi Jin is Wang Fu. They are ridiculing that they will do whatever it takes to fight for power.

Zhu Shengfei leaned towards Ju Ming and kept his distance from Yao Guangshu.

Si Hu joined the army and Judi joined the army, and they also joined Zhu Shengfei's side. But their level was too low and they couldn't get past him, so they looked particularly funny - even though they were four or five meters away from Zhu Shengfei, they still bent over and hunched over, tilted their heads, smiled to please, and walked forward with their buttocks stuck out.

Huang Guinian had a sneer on his face and looked at everyone's ugliness with cold eyes.

He was a serious Jinshi, and Zhu Shengfei was born as a Jinshi, and he became an official only one year later. He could only join the army as a manager, with a rank similar to that of a county magistrate, but Zhu Shengfei was already an academic envoy.

There is someone in the court who likes to be an official!

Zhu Shengfei was helpless. His father-in-law was a traitor and a privy envoy. This was not a choice he could make.

After entering the city, Zhu Shengfei said: "Everyone, please disperse, don't delay official business."

The petty officials could only retreat, looking back three times, just like bidding farewell to their lover. They really wanted to accompany the envoy Tixue throughout the whole process, and maybe they could take this opportunity to get in touch with the privy envoy.

Zhu Shengfei looked at Yao Guangshu: "Why do you keep it?"

Yao Guangshu said with a shy face: "Xiaguan is not only the county magistrate of Juancheng, but also the observation judge of Puzhou. He is half a rank higher than those Cao Cao who joined the army. He should accompany the envoy to inspect the study."

Zhu Shengfei was helpless, said nothing, and went to the hotel with his entourage to stay.

Zhu Ming greeted the Tixue envoy with courtesy and sent him to the hotel. He clasped his fists and said, "Zhu Tixue takes his leave. I have official business and will accompany him to the banquet tomorrow."

Zhu Shengfei said: "If the governor has something to do, just go and do it."

Bai Sheng brought the cornucopia and immediately hung a pair of maces.

Zhu Ming got on his horse and shouted: "Archers, follow me to fight against the thieves!"

The archers who opened the way to welcome the envoys into the city threw away their sticks, held their sabers and shouted excitedly: "Kill the thieves, kill the thieves!"

Although I don’t know who Zhizhou wants to beg, but there will definitely be a reward if he goes!

Deng Chun also went to the county government office to gather archers and came to join them when they heard the news.

Zhu Shengfei watched Ju Ming riding away with his troops. He was stunned for a while and asked, "What's going on?"

Yao Guangshu was also a little confused and shook his head blankly: "I don't know."