Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The carriage drove to the palace, and the father and son went to communicate with the emperor.

Ju Ming fiddled with a Rubik's Cube and said amusedly: "Dean Zhu, how boring are you in Tokyo? Not only did you build a telescope, but you also built a Rubik's Cube."

"It's actually quite simple," Zhu Guoxiang explained, "First make a central axis out of wood, and then make the spring by hand. In fact, the spring is not necessary, it's just more difficult to assemble. Screws are not necessary, just use nails and wooden plugs to fix it. Then use wood to grind the track, so that the wooden blocks on each layer can move, and smear tung oil in the middle for lubrication."

"This is not the point," Ju Ming said. "The point is how do you know the internal structure of the Rubik's Cube?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I had a roommate in high school, and my family had some overseas connections. My relatives went back to their hometown to visit relatives and visit their graves. They bought a TV for his family and a Rubik's Cube toy for each of his children. There was no instruction manual, and he didn't know the Rubik's Cube formula at all. My roommate couldn't get it right for a long time, so he simply dismantled the Rubik's Cube to observe the internal structure."

Ju Ming complained: "You can't do the Rubik's Cube, but you know how to dismantle the Rubik's Cube?"

"Normally, it is easy to remove. You can pull it off by turning the top layer," Zhu Guoxiang said. "The one I asked the carpenter to make is not easy to remove. There are no screws and it was nailed during installation."

Ju Ming asked: "What did your roommate do next?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I studied civil engineering and later became a bridge expert."

Zhu Ming suddenly asked: "Dean Zhu, you even know the internal structure of the Rubik's Cube, how much do you know about indigenous steelmaking?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "As long as I can remember, I have stopped making steel much. I heard from the elders that that thing is useless and is just for business. Do you want to make steel?"

"Half of my understanding of steel smelting comes from "Tiangong Kaiwu" and half comes from CNKI papers," Ju Ming said. "I have seen small blast furnaces and other things in novels. It seems very powerful, but I only know one The name and general shape are completely unclear."

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "What are the records in "Tiangong Kaiwu"?"

Ju Ming said: "The first is to improve the method of frying steel, connect the iron-making furnace and the frying furnace, and combine the two processes into one. When I was in Puzhou, I asked the blacksmith, and everyone in the iron smelting field knows how to stir-fry steel. Steel method, but the iron-making and iron-frying processes are separate. If they can be connected, the smelting efficiency will be doubled."

"The second is to improve the steel-filling method. Instead of sealing the furnace with mud, it is covered with broken straw sandals coated with mud. This allows the steel-making furnace to continue to receive oxygen and melt the pig iron in the reducing atmosphere. The other is to beat the wrought iron into Thin slices are used to bind the pig iron for forging, increasing the contact surface between the raw and cooked iron and allowing the carbon to penetrate more evenly.”

Zhu Guoxiang commented: "Knowing this is already a great progress. Don't think about becoming a fat man in one bite."

Zhu Ming smiled and said: "There is an advanced version of the steel filling method, which is the so-called Su Steel. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Su Steel introduced an advanced version. When the furnace temperature is more than 1,000 degrees, the pig iron melts and the molten iron is evenly dripped on it. wrought iron, and then forged. This steel filling method has better quality than Su Steel, and its efficiency is greatly increased."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You can probably understand the principle."

Zhu Ming added: "There is also a retort furnace that appeared in the Ming Dynasty and was used until the early days of New China. It is used to cast ironware weighing less than 1,000 kilograms. This type of retort furnace is very convenient for casting small cannons. It is also very simple and is an improvement of the Song Dynasty furnace. version, you can understand how to make it just by looking at the graphics.”

"You quit your job and studied this all day?" Zhu Guoxiang was speechless.

"Not counting research, I just collect materials to make videos if I watch something interesting," Ju Ming said. "I don't understand the more complicated things at all."

While chatting, the father and son had arrived at Donghua Gate.

They can enter the imperial city directly and wait in the foreign minister's office area. Eunuchs have already gone to the palace to report.

There is ground tea here, as well as a honeycomb stove to boil water at any time. The eunuch quickly brews it for them. You need to do the steps of ordering tea yourself.

After the eunuch left, Zhu Guoxiang ordered tea and asked: "Do you want to build muskets in Jinzhou?"

Ju Ming said: "Let's build a few small cannons first. This thing is simpler. We also need to build an iron smelting plant and spend two or three years training skilled workers."

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "I know that Jinzhou is rich in gold. Are there iron ores there as well?"

"Yes," Zhu Ming said, "I already asked about it when I was in Daming Village. There are iron mines in Yangzhou and there are iron mines in Jinzhou. They mainly make daily necessities, iron pots and farm tools. And there is no official mine. It’s all run by the private sector.”

Iron ore has always existed in Jinzhou (Ankang). In 2004, large magnetite with reserves of over 100 million tons was even discovered.

Ju Ming elaborated on his plan: "I went to Jinzhou, first inspected the local iron smelting situation, and then circled a mine to build a smelting plant. I am trying to improve the smelting technology. It is definitely immature at the beginning. I mainly build agricultural tools and cultivate more skills. Work. When everything is on track, build a few more small cannons, and at the same time try to make muskets. If the time is right, you can also build a large number of cold weapons."

"What if I transfer you midway?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Ju Ming said: "People can be transferred, but the smelter cannot be transferred. Just arrange for close friends to continue operating."

The two men had enough, and sat in the imperial city drinking tea and discussing rebellion.

About forty minutes later, the eunuch took them to the art academy.

Song Huizong did not practice Taoism or play today. Instead, he was admiring paintings at the art academy.

Li Bangyan, Wang Fu, and Cai You were all there, as well as a group of painters and poets.

The chief painter is called Zhao Lingrang, the fifth-generation grandson of Zhao Kuangyin. Before Song Huizong became emperor, he often competed with Zhao Lingrang on his painting skills.

There is also a young man named Wang Ximeng who worked as an apprentice in the painting academy at a young age and received personal guidance from Song Huizong. Immediately he asked to travel around the country, and when he was eighteen years old, he presented the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains". Song Huizong liked it very much and rewarded this painting to Cai Jing.

As for Zhang Zeduan, he was also present at this time, but he was not ranked at all. He was a little guy who was not appreciated by anyone.

At the center of the audience's attention was the fifteen-year-old King Zhao Kai!

"Prince Jia's painting skills are quite similar to those of the officials back then." Zhao Lingrang said flatteringly.

Li Bangyan said: "Not only painting skills, but also calligraphy."

Cai You said: "King Jia's thin gold characters have the charm of an official."

The compliments from many close ministers made the young man feel elated and looked at his father with expectant eyes.

Finally, Song Huizong also nodded in approval: "You are quite impressive at such a young age."

The king of Jia, Zhao Kai, presented a painting a few days ago. His painting skills had improved greatly, and Song Huizong suspected that it was not done by his son himself. So he came to take a test, and Zhao Kai performed extremely well, which made the emperor very pleased.

Then he took a test on Zhao Kai's poetry and calligraphy, and his level was far higher than that of his peers.

Song Huizong liked it even more and came up with the idea that "this child is like me". On the contrary, Prince Zhao Huan and Song Huizong felt that his qualifications were mediocre and could not be compared with Prince Zhao Kai at all.

The thought of changing to the prince flashed across his mind. Fortunately, Song Huizong was not stupid enough and knew that such a thing should never be done.

But he just wanted to show off, so he attracted many close officials and asked Zhao Kai to paint on the spot. This was nothing more than the mentality of a parent showing off his child.

Everyone was flattering Zhao Kai, but everything he said made Song Huizong feel happy.

The eunuch announced that the Zhu family and his son were coming. Song Huizong immediately smiled and waved: "Come here!"

Zhu Ming went with his father to meet him.

Song Huizong laughed and scolded: "You are very good at misbehaving. Within a few days of going to Puzhou, you provoked so many impeachments."

Ju Ming said: "If you serve the government and govern the people, you will dedicate yourself to it until you die. Why should you be afraid of a few impeachment memorials?"

"Now that I'm back in Jinzhou, don't act willfully again," Song Huizong began to show off his son again, "Come and see my son's paintings."

The father and son took a closer look and found that it was indeed very impressive. At least for a fifteen-year-old boy, this painting skill was already very superb.

After another round of flattery, Song Huizong returned to Yanfu Palace, followed by Zhao Kai, Zhao Lingrang, Li Bangyan, Wang Fu, Cai You, and the Zhu family's father and son.

On the way, Zhu Guoxiang took out the Rubik's Cube and said, "I made this toy based on the river map and dedicated it to the officials for their entertainment."

"River map?" Song Huizong became interested.

There is a formula for the Rubik's Cube. Zhu Guoxiang has been studying it for more than a month, summed up many rules, and then memorized it by rote.

I saw him disrupting the Rubik's Cube, twisting and turning it, and quickly restored it.

Song Huizong took it and played with it. He twisted it a few times to mess it up, but he couldn't recover.

The more I twisted, the more anxious I became, and I became upset.

Song Huizong simply stopped, the eunuch placed the golden chair, and the guy just sat on the roadside playing with the Rubik's Cube.

After playing for a long time, there were always two or three miscellaneous colors that could not be corrected. Song Huizong said depressedly: "You come and make it a straight color, twist it slower!"

"Yes." Zhu Guoxiang began to recover slowly.

Song Huizong observed it for a while, then took it into his hand again, disrupted it and continued playing.

Everyone could only stand and wait. After nearly half an hour, Song Huizong finally restored the Rubik's Cube. The sense of accomplishment is self-evident, he smiled and said: "It's not too difficult."

This guy is addicted to playing. He completely ignores others and continues to battle wits with the Rubik's Cube.

The second restoration took less time than the first, and Song Huizong seemed to have gained experience.

After restoring it three times in a row, the emperor finally stopped and praised: "This thing is excellent, and it implies the way of magic. My dear, I can always make such novel things. Does it have a name?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I will temporarily name it Huan Fang."

"That's a good name," Song Huizong nodded and said, "Come and have a banquet with me."

Li Bangyan really liked playing, and he even asked the emperor for toys: "Guardian, can you lend me the magic cube to play with?"

"I'll play with you for a while." Song Huizong handed it over casually.

The monarchs and ministers moved to have a banquet. Li Bangyan drank a few drinks and continued to work on the Rubik's Cube regardless of the emperor's presence.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was aroused and scolded: "You are so drunk, give me the magic recipe!"

Li Bangyan handed back the toy with a smile, turned to Zhu Guoxiang and said, "Mr. Zhu must let me know how to make this magic recipe."

Ju Ming joked: "Twenty guan each, do you want to buy it?"

"Buy, I want ten." Li Bangyan said.

Wang Fu also came to join in the fun and was still competing: "I'll buy twenty!"

Zhu Guoxiang felt that he could open a toy factory.

Song Huizong didn't let Li Bangyan play with the Rubik's Cube, but he started playing with it himself, drinking and twisting it, and said happily: "Ai Qing's contribution to the magic cube is meritorious. Since you like farming, I will grant you ten hectares of land on the outskirts of Tokyo."

Zhu Guoxiang cupped his hands and said: "There is already an owner of all the land outside Tokyo. If your Majesty wants to grant land, you can grant land in the barren mountains of Yangzhou, so that the people will not be disturbed."

Song Huizong said: "I love you, but ten hectares of barren mountains are too shabby. You can choose fifty hectares of barren mountains yourself."

5,000 acres of mountain land was given casually.

It's not that Huizong of the Song Dynasty was so mediocre, but that all emperors of the Song Dynasty were like this, giving away acres of land at every turn.

If it is fertile farmland, 2 to 10 hectares are generally given.

If it is wasteland, mountains and forests, it can easily be thirty to fifty hectares.

The above are only given to private individuals, but are also often given to various institutions. For example, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty gave Xingde Chanyuan 30 hectares of silt fields at one time, 3,000 acres, all of which were top-quality cultivated land. Take the land and people directly!

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty worshiped Taoism and rewarded Taoist temples with countless temple lands in the past two years, further intensifying land annexation across the country.

The territory of Daming Village was rewarded by the emperor, and it will be legal from now on.

(I drank too much yesterday, so I will try to catch up on that update today.)