Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In the pavilion in the middle of the lake, the servants retreated.

The father and son chatted in standard Mandarin, careful not to be overheard by anyone.

"What can you gain from a trip to Shandong?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Zhu Ming took out a bamboo tube and a chart he made and said: "The rural ecology there is more in line with my stereotype of ancient Chinese rural areas. The clan power is greater than that in Hanzhong, the land annexation is more serious than in Hanzhong, and the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are far higher than in Hanzhong." States and counties.”

Zhu Guoxiang read those charts carefully. Compared with the proportion of customers, he was more concerned about the proportion of the main households: "Your chart is wrong. There are too many third-class households."

"There must be something wrong with the official statistics," Zhu Ming explained. "This is how the rich divide the property among households, and one family is divided into dozens of families. Although the household registration books have been separated and the land seems to have been divided, the land deeds are still in the hands of the clan leader. In their hands. They can still control the entire family and at the same time legally avoid taxes. The actual situation is much more serious than official statistics."

Although the proportion of customers can also reflect the degree of land annexation, it more reflects the proportion of landless farmers.

The proportion of households reveals the social structure in more detail.

In the first year of Qingli, the famous minister Zhang Fangping estimated through a survey that less than 20% of the first, second and third class households were definitely, and probably close to 90% of the fourth and fifth class households. Thirty years later, Zhang Fangping estimated that the fourth and fifth class households must have exceeded 90%.

There are many similar statistics. Northern Song Dynasty officials are not fools. They can also read the data, but they are not as detailed as Ju Ming's statistics.

Looking at the entire Northern Song Dynasty, main households accounted for about 65% and customers accounted for about 35%. Among the main households, the first, second and third class households account for about 10%, and the fourth and fifth class households account for about 90%.

In other words, the first, second and third class households, accounting for 6.5%, own most of the land in the country.

However, the heaviest corvee burden was borne by households in the fourth and fifth classes. Wang Anshi's square field equalization tax was exactly what he wanted to solve.

Zhu Guoxiang commented: "Such a serious polarization between rich and poor was hopeless in ancient times and was difficult to reverse with reforms. Only through war and breaking the original social class structure can social wealth be redistributed."

"Are you still afraid of dying in the war?" Zhu Ming asked with a smile.

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head and did not answer directly, but said: "In such a terrible situation, the Southern Song Dynasty was able to survive for more than a hundred years. How did the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty do it?"

"Let's attack the rich," Ju Ming said. "Once there is a war, we will force the rich households to share their income, forcing a large number of upper-class households to go bankrupt. This can not only maintain the war expenses, but also redistribute land in local areas. Of course, the people at the bottom will definitely be more Tragic, when I read the folk works of the Song Dynasty, the words "property, tax and deposit" often appeared. In other words, many fourth- and fifth-class households were forced to sell out their land, but they were unable to obtain customer status and had to be treated as Pay taxes as the head householder.”

Zhu Guoxiang rolled up the chart and put it back in the bamboo tube: "Who are those three people you brought back?"

Zhu Ming said: "Shi Yuangong, a bankrupt scholar, thought about rebellion all day long, and always felt that the Song Dynasty was about to end. Yang Pu, a bankrupt farmer, a rooster and dog robber. Zhang Bor, a descendant of a gradually declining noble family, had good swordsmanship and was good at single combat. Pick, your battlefield skills are actually not very good."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "In just three months, you can recruit these people, which is already considered very good."

Ju Ming smiled and said: "There is another Li Bao who has gone home. After arranging the family affairs, he will come to Tokyo to meet up. This is the real gain of this trip. Li Bao is the commander-in-chief of the Navy of the Southern Song Dynasty. He has 3,000 militiamen who can be wiped out. The record of the 70,000 gold army.”

"It's understandable that three thousand militiamen won the battle, but how did he manage to annihilate 70,000 enemies?" Zhu Guoxiang couldn't imagine it.

Ju Ming said: "Historical records say that he rushed to Shandong from the sea. With his high civilian prestige, he recruited hundreds of Shandong Jin soldiers as soon as he landed. Although these Shandong Jin soldiers were just miscellaneous soldiers, they provided him with important Intelligence. At that time, the Jin soldiers were camped in a bay, and hundreds of ships were docked at the port. He used fire attack unexpectedly, and the Jin soldiers had no place to escape, and the fire burned for four days and nights."

Zhu Guoxiang exclaimed: "What a great man!"

Zhu Ming shook his head and said: "At this time, Li Bao has not learned the art of war. Except for his excellent archery and riding skills, he is not as good as Zhang Guangdao in other aspects. A famous general needs to use his life to accumulate. Without the experience of blood and fire, that is, Just an ordinary guy."

"But he definitely has talent and potential." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Ju Ming smiled and said, "Indeed."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I will go to the palace with you tomorrow to meet the emperor. I have been away from Tokyo for too long, so I have to go and burn the cold stove."

"You're doing well, Dean Zhu. You can enter the palace if you want." Zhu Ming teased.

The father and son were chatting in the pavilion, and Yang Zhi's family was worshiping their masters, namely Yang Zhi, Li Jinyi, Lin Chong, Wang Xiong, Hua Rong, Chai Jin, Zhang Qing, Xu Ning, Li Ying, Mu Heng, Guan Sheng, and Sun Li.

They were all low-level officers, belonging to several units and did not know each other completely. This time they were selected to escort Hua Shigang.

After receiving the same errand, we quickly became familiar with each other and made an appointment to look after each other along the way.

Everyone burned yellow paper and incense and swore an oath: "Your Majesty and Heaven, today we are twelve sworn brothers. If there is any disaster, we will each rescue each other..."

After bowing, everyone looked sad.

They are now polished officers and need to go to Taihu first. He handed over to the local officials and then escorted Hua Shi Gang back to Beijing. Gang Chuan and Min Fu were both on the other side of Taihu Lake.

From beginning to end, there was no extra salary, not even travel expenses.

Although you can take official ships along the way, they do not depart every day. When you are in a hurry, you occasionally have to pay your own way and take a private boat to the south as soon as possible.

Seeing that the brothers were not in high spirits, Yang Zhi said, "Let's go to Yuxianzheng Restaurant for a drink. I'm here to treat you!"

Hua Rong advised: "The hotel in the city is too expensive, so we should go to a bar outside the city."

"Then go to Jinming Pond!" Yang Zhi was also a little reluctant.

The wine shops in the inner city are all high-end consumption. Take Yuxianzheng Store as an example. Silver bottle wine costs 72 cents and lamb wine costs 81 cents and 1 cent.

A dime of wine costs about two taels, and with one sip, nearly a hundred coins are gone.

The wine shops by Jinming Pond are also very high-end, but much cheaper than those in the inner city.

People walked through the city, chatting as they walked.

Zhang Qing asked: "I heard that Brother Yang recognizes Zhu Tanhua?"

Yang Zhi smiled and said, "I've seen him twice."

Sun Li boasted and said: "Zhu Tanhua thinks highly of Brother Yang very much. He also said that when he encounters difficulties, he will go to Puzhou to join him."

Li Ying said: "It is quite risky to escort Hua Shi Gang. Last year, a gang ship sank, and all the commanders responsible for escorting were assassinated in Hebei. Since Brother Yang knows Zhu Tanhua, why not ask him to put in a nice word so that we brothers can't do anything wrong?" This errand.”

"Zhu Tanhua is in Puzhou, how can we beg him? You are thinking of all the good things." Yang Zhi scolded with a smile.

They didn't know that Ju Ming had been transferred. They were chatting and laughing and walking along the street, just in time to miss Ju Ming who was out shopping.

Ju Ming came back in a hurry today, and there was nothing prepared at home. The father and son planned to go out to eat, and called Bai Chongyan and Min Zishun along the way.

Bai Sheng kept talking and introduced to his companions from Shandong: "In front of us is the Tiechilou Hotel. The owner and the waiters are all foreigners."

Yang Pu asked curiously: "Why is the hotel called Tiechilou? Could it be that the owner used to be a blacksmith?"

"How do I know? That's the name anyway." Bai Sheng said.

Ju Ming said: "Iron filings are the name of an ancient foreign country."

Iron chips, that is, Israel, also translated as iron snow, falling chips.

Those Jews were so financially powerful that they were able to open restaurants in the inner city of Tokyo. It is also located in a prime location, with Pan Tower just one square away to the north.

Continuing to move forward, Bai Sheng added, "That's Zheng's fried cake shop. I've eaten their fried cakes before and they tasted very good."

Shi Biao did not go to Puzhou and stayed in Tokyo to protect Dean Zhu. Today I reunited with an old friend, and he became talkative: "I've eaten too. Last month, my husband went to see the emperor. He didn't even bother to eat breakfast, so he got out of the car and bought some pancakes. I also ate them. The inside of the pancakes And meat fillings.”

Only Deng Chun said nothing, silently observing the situation around him.

Yang Pu, a little thief in Puzhou, has been dazzled by the prosperity of Tokyo. He even wants to buy a few pieces of meat pie on the street.

Zhang Boring pressed his hand on the hilt of the sword and remained silent, his thoughts racing.

His ancestor Zhang Yong lived in Tokyo back then and was close friends with Prime Minister Kou Zhun.

The idiom "without learning and without skills" comes from Zhang Yong's advice to Kou Zhun to study more.

These three idioms also come from Zhang Yong.

The county government's treasury was often stolen, so Zhang Yong secretly kept watch and caught a treasury official taking away a penny. At first, he only stole a piece of paper, but the treasurer refused to accept it, saying that he had only stolen a penny, and shouted that he would be beaten at most, but Zhang Yong did not dare to kill him for this.

Zhang Yong was contradicted in person, and he planned to rectify the administration of officials, so he wrote the verdict: "One penny a day, a thousand penny a thousand days, a rope will cut the wood, and a drop of water will penetrate the stone."

Treasury officials were beheaded in public display and were not executed until the end of the autumn. From then on, the officials became honest and obedient, and even theft in the county was suppressed.

With such a famous ancestor, why doesn't Zhang Bor remember his majesty? He always wants to restore the glory of his ancestors.

There are also descendants of the Zhang family in Tokyo, and the families separated a hundred years ago.

Zhang Boring's grandfather still had some contacts with the same people in Tokyo, but now they don't even worship their ancestors together.

Suddenly, Zhang Boring felt that he should study hard. Didn't our ancestors only start studying when they were twenty?

Shi Yuangong's mood was different. He had been to Tokyo before.

At that time, I was very high-spirited and rushed to take the exam together with my fellow villagers. Unfortunately, he failed the exam several times, and he was so short of money that he couldn't even go around Tokyo. He and his family didn't dare to enter restaurants in the city.

Passing by high-end places, Shi Yuangong's expression began to twist.

The dignitaries here are all a bunch of bastards. One day, I will lead my troops into the city and kill everyone wearing silk and satin.

The streets of heaven trampled all the bones of the prince, and the inner treasury was burnt to ashes!

Zheng Yuanyi sat in the car, chatting with Zhu Guoxiang's maid An Niang, and talked about many interesting things she encountered in Puzhou.

They don't eat in the inner city either. It's too expensive. It's okay to buy breakfast. But if you want to have a big meal, you have to go to the outer city.

Arriving at the place where Bai Chongyan and Min Zishun rented, they waited for more than half an hour before the two went home from get off work one after another.

"Sanlang, Brother Min, let's go have a drink!" Zhu Ming smiled from afar.

Bai Chongyan was extremely surprised: "Da Lang has returned to Beijing!"

Ju Ming said: "I am going to Jinzhou to take office, and I will pass by Yangzhou on the way. I can help you bring home letters."

"Don't say too much, just eat and drink!" Bai Chongyan laughed.

He was going crazy in the capital because of the intrigues among his colleagues. Today he was finally able to have a drink with his old friends.

(The afternoon update will be postponed. Dad is celebrating his 60th birthday and needs to play with guests during the day.)