Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The residential area of ​​the iron smelting field has gradually taken shape. With the recruitment of workers and the assigned criminals, the forest is being cut down and the land is being leveled faster, in preparation for mining and furnace construction.

It is of course illegal to use criminals to do private work, but no one cares about it.

Even Li Daochong, the general judge, could only mock Ju Ming for his double standards and never thought of using this kind of thing for impeachment. Because the impeachment was certain to be invalid, the emperor could only laugh at it.

"Do you use the fried steel method in Xuzhou?" Zhu Ming asked.

Tu Shen corrected him: "It's a fried iron method. It can only produce wrought iron, but not real steel."

"They're all the same, they just have different names," Ju Ming said. "Can you improve the process and connect the iron smelting furnace to the iron frying furnace so that the molten iron flows directly into the frying furnace and stirs?"

Tu Shen was stunned, thought for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Why didn't I think of it? Just make the frying pond lower, so that molten iron can flow into it and stir, which can save a lot of time. Unexpectedly, the prefect is good at smelting iron. !”

Ju Ming asked again: "Is steelmaking in Xuzhou tempering or pouring?"

Tu Shen said: "Both are available. To make ordinary iron tools and weapons, the steel filling method is used. The steel is quickly produced and the price is cheaper, but it is definitely far less effective than hammering. If you want to make a good sword or a gun, you have to hammer it over and over again."

Zhu Ming carried his father out again: "My father once traveled overseas and was taught a new method of steel filling by a stranger."

"I heard from Taoist Shi that Mr. Zhu met an immortal overseas. I think the immortal's method is more effective." Tu Shen immediately flattered him.

Ju Ming said: "When filling steel, the furnace is not sealed with soil, but covered with broken straw sandals. If the broken straw sandals are not enough, you can also use something similar. Use a wrought iron plate as the material, drop molten pig iron on it, and then forge it. Steelmaking.”

This is an advanced version of Su Gang's pouring method that only appeared in the late Qing Dynasty.

Tu Shen didn't want to understand and asked: "Why don't you use mud to seal the furnace, but use broken straw sandals to cover it?"

Ju Ming couldn't explain what continuous oxygen supply was, nor could he explain what reduction reaction was. He could only talk vaguely: "In order to always have life in the furnace, it makes the pig iron more energetic when it is melted."

Tu Shen: "..."

"How about you try it first? If it doesn't work, then use the old method." Ju Ming said.

"I will definitely obey the prefect's orders." Tu Shen's focus was not on smelting iron and steel, but on hugging Ju Ming's thigh.

Ju Ming took out another drawing: "This is called a retort, and it can cast iron items weighing less than a thousand pounds."

The steamer furnace is very simple, it is an improved version of the Song Dynasty furnace. Tu Shen understood it at a glance and said: "This should be used in a foundry but it is not of much use in an iron smelting yard."

"Then keep it for later use," Ju Ming said.

Ju Ming has formulated a development plan, not only to develop his own iron smelting field, but also to promote the iron smelting and forging industry in Jinzhou so that more unemployed people can find jobs.

In the early days, iron smelting furnaces and iron frying furnaces were built and put into use as soon as possible. They mainly smelted pig iron and wrought iron and sold them to local blacksmiths to make ironware for daily use. Connecting the second furnace and directly frying the iron can save a lot of time. The manufacturing cost of wrought iron is definitely lower than that of its peers, and it has gradually gained a foothold in the Jinzhou market.

Due to the reduced cost of wrought iron, it can be used in large quantities to make iron pots, which is definitely better than the popular cast iron pots on the market. In this way, a number of blacksmith shops were cultivated, allowing them to make money by making wrought iron pots.

At the same time, a group of merchants can also be cultivated, who are responsible for transporting and selling Jinzhou wrought iron.

It will be next year before we start using an improved version of the Suzhou Steel method to make steel. This thing is even more valuable. As long as Ju Ming is still an official, he can withstand the exploitation of Chang Pingsi and continue to export his energy.

He even obtained a license to make weapons and made mid-range weapons in batches. Although the quality is not as good as the Hundred Refined Weapons (this thing is too expensive), it is definitely better than the weapons made of steel in the Song Dynasty, and should become a mainstream weapon among the people.

Procurement by the court is also possible. As long as Ju Ming is still an official, his workshop will definitely not suffer a loss if he builds weapons and sells them to the government.

By the way, I want to complain about the ordnance system of the Northern Song Dynasty...

In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the quality of the Song army's ordnance was inferior to that of Xixia, and the weapons and armor were unusable.

Wang Anshi then established the Ordnance Supervision to strengthen the design, manufacturing, maintenance and supervision of ordnance, which immediately improved the quality of the Song Army's ordnance.

The Ordnance Supervision nominally supervises the country's ordnance, but in reality it can only control how many large workshops are set up in the Gyeonggi region for production.

As for the local areas, the capitals of border states are set up as capitals and the capitals of ordinary states are set up as zuoyuan. The Ordnance Supervision will send personnel to carry out regular inspections and provide supervision and guidance to the capital construction institutes and construction institutes in various places.

Song Zhezong succeeded to the throne, Empress Dowager Gao took charge of the government, and the ordnance agency was suppressed as the result of the new law!

The number of ordnance production dropped sharply, and officials were no longer sent to supervise and inspect. As a result, officials were corrupt, craftsmen were perfunctory, and the quality of ordnance regressed back to before Wang Anshi's reform.

Song Huizong restored the new law, and the ordnance department also received attention.

But it’s already rotten. How can it be possible to recover just by saying it’s recovered?

Take the Jinzhou Zuoyuan as an example. There are not many craftsmen left, and they are all being paid by officials. If the imperial court issued a task to ask Jinzhou to donate a certain number of weapons, the prefect could only recruit private craftsmen to build them, or directly purchase them from the private sector and use this as an excuse to impose exorbitant taxes.

Ju Ming even had the idea that if the imperial court asked him to donate ordnance, he would take the opportunity to resume the production of Jinzhou Zuoyuan.

Use government money to form a legal weapons production team in the name of Zuoyuan!

…

After returning to the Yamen by boat, Wu Mao immediately came to report: "Prefect, another imperial edict has arrived, and it will be announced to the world."

"Tell the world?" Zhu Ming couldn't guess what it was about.

Wu Mao said: "The leader of the religion is the Taojun Emperor."

Just like ascending the throne and proclaiming yourself emperor, proclaiming yourself the Taoist Lord and Emperor also requires a process and requires the persuasion of officials.

Now it is finally done and announced to the world.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty first issued an edict to the Daolu Academy:

"I am the eldest son of God Haotian, and I am called the Emperor of Dayiao. When I was in heaven, I witnessed China being bewitched by Buddhism, and believers mutilating themselves in order to achieve enlightenment. I felt very sorry for them, so I begged God to voluntarily come down to earth to be the master of mankind and order the world Return to the right path. Father God agreed to my request and let my brother Qinghua Emperor take over my priesthood."

"I had a dream recently, and suddenly I remembered something from heaven, and realized that I have not fulfilled my long-cherished wish. You Taoist priests can submit a petition and, as Taoist officials, persuade me to become the Taoist Lord and Emperor."

As a result, ministers and Taoist officials came forward one after another to persuade him to proceed.

It also confirmed the identity of the Taoist leader, Emperor Taojun, the Great Emperor of Immortality, one of the five sects of Taoism. Moreover, this title was only used in Taoist official documents, and the imperial court followed the original rules.

Immediately, Lin Lingsu's hometown of Wenzhou was upgraded to Yingdao Army (Jiedu level).

Immediately afterwards, His Majesty the Taoist Emperor gave his mother a badge.

His father is God Haotian, but his mother has not been officially banned. Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother, canonize Earthly Mother as "the earthly emperor who inherits heaven's laws, emulates the virtues and makes the emperor great". Abbreviation: Houtu!

Emperor Daojun couldn't just care about his own happiness when he had a father and mother, so he announced the good news to the world and asked local officials to offer sacrifices to celebrate.

After reading the imperial edict, Zhu Ming felt a pain in his head and said to Wu Mao: "Send five copies of the imperial edict to the county government and have the county magistrate post it everywhere in Jinzhou."

Wu Mao asked: "How will the prefect arrange the sacrifices and celebrations?"

"Everything should be simplified," Zhu Ming said. "Let all counties also be simplified. Don't waste people and money because of this."

It is indeed simple enough, but too simple.

The place of worship is located at Yaowang Temple. After all, this is the largest Taoist temple in Jinzhou.

Zhu Ming served as the officiating priest as the magistrate of the state, and the abbot of Yaowang Temple served as the master of ceremonies.

Pigs, cows and sheep were indispensable, but Zhu Ming was reluctant to slaughter the farm cattle, so he bought an old and sick cow from the market to make up for the shortage.

The prefects of other state capitals must first repair Taoist temples, build the altar high, and plant flowers and trees near the altar. The people were also asked to offer gifts, and the officials took the opportunity to blackmail the wealthy households, and the subordinate officials took the opportunity to blackmail the common people.

However, Ju Ming simply built a small earthen platform and strictly prohibited disturbing the people. The sacrifices were extremely shabby except for three animals.

Jishi chose one at random and quickly finished the matter before the hungry people gathered.

The sacrificial article was also written by Wu Mao, and Ju Ming read it once during the ceremony.

The general content is: Thank you to Father God and Mother Houtu for giving birth to a good son who will come down to earth and become the emperor, so that all people in the world can be happy and happy. I am the prefect of Jinzhou. I am entrusted by the Human Emperor to represent all the people of Jinzhou. Today I offer sacrifices to the Emperor Tianhou Tu...BalaBala.

After struggling for a long time, I finally got it done.

As the general judge, Li Daochong naturally had to participate in the whole process.

The man returned to the court and immediately wrote a letter to complain, and seemed extremely excited.

Listing Ju Ming's top ten crimes, he wrote more than a thousand words eloquently.

The first sin is that the altar is only three feet high and only nine feet square, which completely fails to show the solemnity of the ceremony.

The second crime was not carefully choosing the place for sacrifice. The altar was right at the entrance of Yaowang Temple, so we just found a piece of flat land and did it randomly. What if you don’t choose a Feng Shui treasure place?

The third crime is that July is the most auspicious day of the year, but Ju Ming held sacrifices in advance.

The fourth crime was that although the sacrificial personnel were ordered to fast and bathe, Ju Ming's supervision was not strict, and some officials even smelled of garlic when they spoke.

The fifth crime was to sacrifice an old and sick cow to the Emperor, Heaven and Queen, which was extremely disrespectful to the Emperor's parents.

The sixth crime was that there were too few people watching the ceremony, and many people did not know that this event existed.

The seventh crime was that Ju Ming made sarcastic comments about Emperor Daojun in private, saying that the emperor was a coward who had no regard for people's livelihood (this charge was purely false).

The eighth crime was that Ju Ming not only performed perfunctory sacrifices himself, but also asked county officials to perform hasty sacrifices as well.

The ninth crime was that state and county officials wanted to enter Huashi Gang, but Ju Ming not only prohibited it, but also took Huashi Gang for his own use (the matter of seizing alluvial gold).

The tenth crime was to bully Taoist officials and priests, and force the Taoist priests to go into the mountains to collect herbs (actually to preach). As a result, most Taoist priests in Yaowang Temple were unable to participate in this sacrificial activity.

Li Daochong showed it to Song Ning, who had joined the army to record the events, and said happily: "If the officials know about these ten major sins, the person named Zhu will be in bad luck!"

"You can ask a few more officials to be impeached, and the charges should be slightly different." Song Ning suggested.

Li Daochong said: "That's what I meant."

These two guys secretly worked together to coerce and induce officials to write letters of complaint. They actually secretly collected more than ten letters.