Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

There was also a drought in Hanzhong this year, but luckily I met two good officials.

Lin Chi, the transfer envoy of Lizhou Road, previously served as deputy envoy on Jiangnan East Road and was also in charge of the money-making affairs of Jiangdong Road.

Because he offended Zhu Meng for deliberately delaying Hua Shi Gang, Prime Minister Zheng Juzhong helped to intercede, so he was transferred to Hanzhong as the top leader.

Lin Chi offended Zhu Meng and was able to be promoted in another place. In addition to Zheng Juzhong's help, it was also because he himself had long been remembered by the emperor.

During the palace examination, his real name was Lin Hu.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty thought this name was unpleasant, so he was named Lin Chi. The emperor personally gave him his name, and the officials naturally paid attention to him, so Lin Chi was promoted very quickly.

Zhao Quan, the deputy transport envoy of Lizhou Road, used to work as a transport judge on Fulu Road in Chengdu.

Zhao Quan was the one who built the Fengli Canal. He single-handedly completed the century project that had troubled the Northern Song Dynasty for 130 years in only two years.

"Alas, the court is in a hurry to ask for food." Lin Chi handed the official document to Zhao Quan.

After Zhao Quan read it, he frowned and said, "Move here and there, give me half. If the full amount of grain is given, there may be another civil unrest on Lizhou Road."

Lin Chi said: "It's not enough to lose only half of the amount. There is a severe drought on Lizhou Road this year, and the people have too much time to take care of themselves. How can there be any surplus food to hand over to the government? Even if the order is only levied on wealthy households, when the state and county officials implement it, they will have to allocate it to small households. On top of the people.”

Transshipment judge Gao Jingshan said: "Last year's corn harvest was bumper, so we can get some corn to make up for it."

Corn is a new crop and is not within the scope of the imperial court's grain requisition. I don't know what the reaction will be if I hand over this thing.

"Food is not a big deal," Gao Jingshan said in a low voice. "This time, along with the official document, there is also a private letter from my clan brother. Wang Kai, Jia, was promoted to Tai Tu last year, and this year he was promoted to Imperial City Secretary!"

"Prince Jia promoted the Imperial City Secretary?" Zhao Quan was shocked and inexplicable.

Lin Chi was also in disbelief and then relieved, because the current emperor can do anything. He sighed: "Oh, the East Palace is unstable!"

King Zhao Kai of Jia, who was named Taifu last year, had already broken the rules and became the first prince in the Song Dynasty to serve as master.

This year, Zhao Kai first presided over the Summer Festival on behalf of the emperor, and then promoted the Shenxiao Yuqing Wanshou Palace. A few days ago, he was actually ordered to promote the Imperial City Secretary.

That was the Imperial City Secretary, known as the Imperial Guard of the Song Dynasty.

Although it is definitely far inferior to Jin Yiwei, what does it mean to have a prince in charge?

Gao Jingshan said: "The prince is stable and upright, while King Jia is frivolous and immoral. Your majesty's move may cause serious trouble."

Zhao Quan was worried: "We are far away from the rivers and lakes, what can we do?"

Gao Jingshan said: "Gong Yuanzhang, who promoted the planting of corn and sweet potatoes, is currently visiting relatives in Xixiang County, Yangzhou. We can send someone to write a letter asking Duke Yuanzhang to return to Beijing quickly. He is quite favored by the officials. Maybe we can protect the prince from this."

"It's difficult," Zhao Quan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty doesn't like the prince. It can only be changed by some favorite minister."

Lin Chi also said: "The prince is upright and cautious, and he does not please the officials."

Historically, although Song Qinzong had a lot of tricks, he was really impeccable when he was the prince.

The upright people dormant in the court have placed their hopes on the prince Zhao Huan. It seems that the education has been very successful so far. The emperor and the prince have completely opposite personalities.

The emperor is frivolous and free-spirited, while the prince is cautious in his words and deeds.

The emperor was versatile, but the prince only loved classics and history.

The emperor is romantic and lustful, but the prince is not sensual and sensual.

The emperor admired Taoism, and the prince specialized in Confucianism.

The emperor was extravagant and lustful, while the prince was frugal and simple.

Cai Jing wanted to please the prince Zhao Huan and presented him with exquisite glassware. Zhao Huan broke the glass in front of him, saying that such luxury goods cost the people and money.

When Huizong of the Song Dynasty built the Mingtang, Zhao Huan also thought it was inappropriate and did not attend the inauguration ceremony of the Mingtang.

The conflict between father and son has become more and more profound. After a few years of development, Song Huizong even suspected that his son wanted to usurp the throne, and personally ordered the prince's family to be executed.

Because Zhao Huan had a bad attitude towards the traitors, Cai You and Wang Fu, who were political enemies of each other, went to befriend the king Zhao Kai at the same time. Liang Shicheng even wanted to support King Jia. Later, Tong Guan and Yang Jian also turned to Zhao Kai and built Zhao Kai's palace unprecedentedly.

On the other hand, Prince Zhao Huan only had a group of upright civil servants to assist him, and they had no real power in their hands. They had no choice but to cite Li Bangyan as help, because although Li Bangyan was a promiscuous man, he had not done anything serious yet.

Perhaps it was this precarious situation that caused Zhao Huan to become less and less courageous, and he was also suspicious, indecisive, soft-hearted and easily influenced by others.

In any case, judging from Zhao Huan's current performance, all upright ministers agreed that the prince's succession to the throne would lead to political clarity.

Lin Chi, Zhao Quan, and Gao Jingshan were able to work together as officials because it was arranged by some ministers in the DPRK through Zheng Juzhong. They were unable to control Jiangnan, Huainan, Sichuan and other places, so they could only settle for the next best thing and temporarily hold Hanzhong in their hands.

He also secretly recruited and promoted rising stars, tried his best to make young officials serve as state and county officials, and gradually penetrated and controlled local states and counties.

This strategy was very successful, and later even made Song Huizong a polished commander.

In history, the Jin soldiers went south for the first time. Although Song Huizong ascended the Zen throne, he did not intend to give up power.

After leaving Beijing, he ordered Southeast to prevent local official documents from being sent to Kaifeng, and ordered King Qin's troops to move closer to him.

Moreover, he went to the south and built a palace in Hua Shi Gang. The palace in Zhenjiang cost 200,000 yuan per month (including military expenses).

At that time, I heard that Lin Chi had 100,000 guan in his hand, and Song Huizong immediately wrote a letter asking for half of it.

Lin Chi only gave 5,000 strings, and the rest was sent to Tokyo to the new king Zhao Huan. There were many similar things. Local officials collaborated to oust Song Huizong, and only then did the new emperor Zhao Huan truly take control of power.

Zhao Quan said: "Regardless of whether it is useful or not, we must ask Duke Yuan Zhang to return to the capital. Officials are surrounded by young people, and it is rare for an upright person to be favored."

These people were in a hurry and sought medical treatment. They regarded Zheng Juzhong and Li Bangyan as upright people.

"It's difficult," Lin Chi shook his head and said, "I heard that Duke Yuan Zhang will not participate in court affairs."

Gao Jingshan said: "His son Zhu Ming is quite ambitious and has already offended the traitor party. He has to participate even if he doesn't participate. Zhu Chenggong has long been a thorn in the side of the traitor party."

Zhao Quan said: "If the dog is lucky, you can go to see me with the letter. The date of the exam is still early, and you can still rush back to take the other exam."

…

Zhao Fengji is twenty years old this year and has not yet married.

He studied at home and has extensive research on water conservancy projects. When he was sixteen or seventeen years old, he followed his father in building water conservancy projects and had several years of practical experience.

Last year, Zhao Fengji came across a copy of "Zhu Shi Suan Jing" and was immediately astonished. He read the book with his father and studied on his own.

This year I came to Hanzhong with my father and admired Zhu Guoxiang’s name even more.

He heard that when the Yuan-Zhang Highway passed through Xingyuan Prefecture, he saw a serious spring drought in Hanzhong. He immediately wrote to the governors of various states and counties, asking them to persuade the people to plant less corn. This year, they should plant more corn to fight the drought.

The ability of corn to withstand drought is stronger than that of sorghum and far more than that of corn.

Duke Yuan Zhang had a high prestige among the people. He said that corn was not drought tolerant, so farmers switched to corn, which effectively alleviated the impact of drought.

Although corn is not drought-resistant, generally speaking, it is beneficial to the people of Hanzhong.

Corn is grown in many barren mountainous areas, and grain production increased significantly last year. Although the common people still didn't have much surplus food, the grain dealers had saved a lot, so the government could more easily mobilize food for disaster relief.

The Shanhe Weir in Hanzhong was provided with work-for-relief this year. Under the leadership of Zhao Quan, one section of the weir was finally dredged.

"Mr. Lang, there is a village ahead. Let's go ashore and rest for the night."

"Come to shore."

Zhao Fengji did not go ashore to disturb the people and planned to spend the night on the boat.

As for why we stopped near the village, it was of course for safety. The closer we got to the settlement, the less likely there would be thieves.

The sun sets in the west and the sky is filled with red clouds.

Zhao Fengji was sitting on the bow of the boat admiring the beautiful scenery when he suddenly saw a dozen people coming with horses and walking along the river bank towards the village.

"Brother Yang, there is an official ship ahead!" a fugitive exclaimed.

Yang Zhi immediately comforted everyone: "Don't panic, we are not fugitives, we are here to give Duke Yuan Zhang a birthday gift."

After all, they had a guilty conscience. Although these guys acted calm, they were obviously a little too calm.

Under normal circumstances, if you encounter an official ship in a rural village, you will look at it more or less curiously.

But the fugitives either stared straight ahead or turned their heads and looked away, as if the official ship didn't exist.

Zhao Fengji watched carefully and called his servants and said: "The entourage and soldiers on the ship all have weapons in their hands. These people don't seem to be good people."

The servant reminded: "There are more than ten thieves, and they still have weapons in their hands. Don't mess with the low-ranking officials. Let's stop somewhere else."

But Zhao Fengji said: "I am the son of the deputy envoy of Lizhou Road, but I am afraid of more than a dozen thieves? Get off the boat and follow them from a distance to see what they are going to do. If you are in danger, immediately escape back to the boat."

The servants had no choice but to follow orders and follow Yang Zhi and others into the village from a distance.

Then he inquired in the village and ran back to report: "These thieves arrived at the home of a rich family. I heard from the villagers that the rich family's surname was Jin. The villagers had never seen these more than ten thieves before, and they came here for the first time. "

Zhao Fengji thought: "Since they are the first to arrive, they are not supported by the rich households in this village. They may trick the rich households into opening their doors to accept guests, and then commit murder and arson in the middle of the night!"

The servant said: "Mr. Lang, if you worry too much, it will be a coincidence."

Zhao Fengji went back to the cabin, brought a sword, and ordered: "Leave a few boatmen behind, and the rest will follow me ashore. I will definitely catch all these thieves!"

The servant hesitated to speak. He had watched the husband grow up and knew that Zhao Fengji often did some secondary things.

Zhao Fengji had only nine followers and soldiers in total. He went straight to the rich man's house, knocked on the door, and said to the door: "I am the son of the deputy director of Cao on Lizhou Road. I passed by here today and I will borrow your house to rest for one night."

When the identity is revealed, everything goes crazy.

The owner of the house, Jin Yuanwai, hurriedly came out to greet him, nodded and bowed and invited him in.

Zhao Fengji asked as he walked: "I just saw more than ten people entering your house. What are their backgrounds?"

Jin Yuanwai said: "Gong Yuanzhang has old friends in Chang'an, so he sent them to give birthday gifts to Duke Yuanzhang."

Zhao Fengji sneered after hearing this, and went all the way to send birthday gifts. After arriving in Yangzhou, he actually did not go to the county to hire a boat, but had to take the horse to take the more difficult land route. Moreover, if you deliberately don't look at the official ship when you see it, these people have no problem and are going to hell.

Zhao Fengji said in a low voice: "These people are thieves. Your Excellency, you can pretend not to know. Please invite them to drink more and capture them in one fell swoop while they are drunk and asleep!"

Yang Zhi is probably a broom star descending to earth, and he will encounter bad luck wherever he goes.

We were almost at Daming Village, and someone found out that there was something wrong with our identity for no apparent reason.