Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Yang Zhi was very drunk, because Jin Yuan was too enthusiastic and kept toasting.

If he retreated for a few days, Yang Zhi would definitely be wary.

But along the way, as long as they said they were going to give gifts to Duke Yuan Zhang, the gentry along the way would definitely treat the guests warmly. Come and go, no guard at all, it seems like it should be like this.

In the middle of the night, the sword beside the pillow was taken away.

Although he didn't make any noise or even touch Yang Zhi, he seemed to sense something and suddenly woke up and opened his eyes, and directly reached out to grab the sword.

"This guy is awake, hold on!"

Several servants rushed forward and suppressed Yang Zhi's body.

In this position, Yang Zhi, who had been drunk, could not exert any strength at all, and was tied up in a daze.

In the middle of the night, he was escorted to the courtyard, lit by torches.

Yang Zhi angrily scolded Member Jin: "Straight bitch, you're going to die a good death!"

Not just him, all the fugitives cursed, and the curses were extremely unpleasant.

When the fugitives got tired of scolding and gradually stopped, Zhao Fengji asked: "Tell me, where did you come from?"

Yang Zhi firmly refused to admit it: "We are here to give birthday gifts to Duke Yuan Zhang, why don't you let me go quickly!"

Zhao Fengji asked: "Who entrusted me to give gifts?"

Yang Zhi said: "Yongxing Zhijun, Jingzhao Yin Xidan!"

Yang Zhiwai found out that Zhu Guoxiang was indeed friends with Xi Dan. When he first came to Beijing, Zhu Guoxiang passed by Chang'an and had a very happy chat with Xi Dan.

Zhao Fengji naturally didn't know about this kind of thing, but he knew that Xi Dan was not a traitor.

Zhao Fengji sneered: "You speak with a Tokyo accent and have tattoos on your face. How can Xi Zhijun send your wife to give you gifts? Nearly half of you thieves are the ones who stabbed your spouse!"

"With tattoos, you can't be a good person?" Yang Zhi asked.

Zhao Fengji asked: "Since it was sent by Xi Zhijun, where is the proof? Where is the letter?"

Yang Zhi said: "If you meet a thief on the way, your trust will be lost."

"How dare you deny it!"

Zhao Fengji was too lazy to argue anymore and ordered: "All of them will be taken into custody. When I return, they will be taken to Xingyuan Mansion for questioning."

Yang Zhi shouted anxiously: "I know Duke Yuan Zhang. If you don't believe me, just take me to Daming Village."

Jin Yuanwai persuaded: "Little official, although this person has no credibility, his words do not seem to be false. Why don't you take him to Daming Village and ask Yuan Zhang Gong to take a look and know the truth?"

Could it be that the wrong person was arrested?

Zhao Fengji came closer and stared at Yang Zhi. Yang Zhi raised his head and looked at him without showing any timidity.

Zhao Fengji was a little unsure: "Bring them on the boat tomorrow and take them to Daming Village together."

The next day, the official ship sailed down the river and docked at Daming Village at noon.

The inn business is not doing well this year, and the fleet of traveling merchant ships has dropped sharply.

Naturally, Daming Village was also hit by the disaster. When Zhu Guoxiang returned to the village, many villagers were already raising corn seedlings. He ordered all corn seedlings to be scrapped and forced all dry land to be replanted with corn, saying that corn could not tolerate drought.

Although the villagers complained, they could only do as they were told.

At the worst time, all the weirs and ponds on the hillside dried up and bottomed out. Although the Han River has not dried up, the tributary that passes near Heifeng Village is as dry as a small ditch and has completely lost its irrigation function.

Moreover, Daming Village was burdened by its reputation. The hungry people in the seven or eight nearby villages did not believe that the government would provide disaster relief, and they all fled to Daming Village.

Zhu Guoxiang could only contact Lao Bai and the surrounding gentry to jointly provide food and provide separate relief. They took the opportunity to build bridges and pave roads, dredge irrigation canals, and dig weirs and ponds. In any case, they were working for relief, and they helped the hungry people survive these days.

In this way, Daming Village is more like a county town, and Zhu Guoxiang is the local county magistrate.

Although the weather is hot today, there are still several old women setting up stalls under the bamboo sheds near the pier.

Zhao Fengji said to his servant: "I heard that dried sweet potatoes in Yangzhou came from Daming Village, and now they are also available in Xingyuan Prefecture. This product is similar to preserved fruit, and it is cheap and easy to make. Both nobles and common people like to eat it."

"This thing is indeed excellent." The servant smiled.

Zhao Fengji said: "Let's try the most authentic Daming Village dried sweet potatoes. I didn't bring any copper coins with me, but you paid for two kilograms."

"Yes." The servant quickly took out the money.

Zhao Fengji walked to the inn again and asked: "Innkeeper, where is the residence of Duke Yuan Zhang?"

Yu Shanwei was reading a book. He raised his head and asked, "Where do you come from? What's the important thing to find Duke Yuan Zhang?"

female?

Zhao Fengji was a little surprised and said: "My name is Zhao Fengji. I have been entrusted by the Lizhou Road and Cao Division to discuss important matters with Duke Yuanzhang."

"Please come with me, distinguished guest." Yu Shanwei told the waiter to look after the store and took Zhao Fengji out.

Zhao Fengji looked around carefully and said curiously: "Daming Village seems not to be affected by the drought."

Yu Shan smiled bitterly: "Since we are in Hanzhong, how can we not avoid disaster?"

The food that Daming Village had accumulated for several years was all used up this year, and some was used to provide relief to the victims.

There are also some landless farmers who fled famine and are unwilling to leave even after the drought is over. They will just go back and ask Daming Village to take in their whole family.

Zhu Guoxiang did not refuse anyone who came, and placed them further downstream to open up wasteland.

At this moment, Zhu Guoxiang is reading his son's letter.

The letter complained about how poor Jinzhou was, and asked Zhu Guoxiang to get some sweet potatoes and plant them as soon as the rain increased, so that he could harvest them in the winter. Otherwise, according to this year's disaster situation, there will be another famine next spring during the lean season.

Daming Village is also replanting sweet potatoes, and the seedlings have been transplanted.

There are not many potato seeds left in the cellar. It is estimated that after breeding, they can be planted in twenty to thirty acres at most. Moreover, the best planting season has passed, and now the temperature is too high, so the harvest will not be very good.

He called Zhang Guangdao and ordered: "Since you plan to open a business road in Shiquan County, take all the remaining potato seeds to Jinzhou City. Tell my silly son that it is too late to replant sweet potatoes at this time. Can you You’re lucky if you get half the normal harvest.”

"yes!"

Zhang Guangdao is also very depressed this year. Shaanxi is too chaotic and thieves are everywhere, which seriously affects his smuggling business.

Zhu Guoxiang actually planned to return to Yangzhou to build a paper mill, and also acquired the technology to make bamboo paper.

Yangzhou itself produces paper, and Cai Lun's cemetery is in Longtingpu, east of Yangzhou City (Cai Lun's title is Longtinghou). Papermaking here has a long history. In the past, rattan paper was mainly made, but in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was changed to vellum paper. The Min family is the largest papermaker in Yangzhou.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, rattan paper was still the mainstream paper in China. Not only was it expensive, but its output was also limited by raw materials, making it difficult to increase production.

Today's mainstream has become leather paper, which uses various barks as raw materials.

At the same time, bamboo paper was also on the rise.

However, the process of bamboo paper is too complicated, and it is still being explored and improved. It will have to wait until the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty to develop greatly.

The emperor gave Zhu Guoxiang land. When he returned to the village, he found that there was no need to occupy it. It is absolutely possible to encircle the bamboo forest in Yangzhou. There are large tracts of bamboo forest, and Su Shi and Wen Tong, the in-laws, make signboards. There will definitely be a market for the bamboo paper produced. (Both Su Shi and Wen Tong left poems in the Yangzhou bamboo forest, and Wen Tong even left poems and paintings in batches.)

Unfortunately, the papermaking plan was disrupted by the drought, and Zhu Guoxiang could not afford much money or food now.

After reading for a while, Zhu Guoxiang went out to inspect the village, mainly going to the newly reclaimed areas downstream.

The distance between the newly opened wasteland and the inn pier is almost the same as going to Shangbai Village, stretching along the Han River to Daming Village. Further forward it is not suitable for farming. The mountains along the river are extremely steep, and you have to take a boat to get around some dangerous places.

"Mr. Yuan Zhang!"

Zhao Fengji stepped forward quickly: "Junior Zhao Fengji, I would like to pay my respects to Duke Yuan Zhang."

Zhu Guoxiang bowed in return, glanced at Yang Zhi, and saw that he was tied up with five flowers, and asked deliberately: "Why are you here?"

Yang Zhi hurriedly said: "I was sent by Xi Zhijun to give a birthday gift to Duke Yuan Zhang."

These questions and answers made Zhao Fengji extremely embarrassed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.

Zhao Fengji quickly said: "Hurry and untie these strong men!"

"snort!"

Yang Zhi snorted coldly and turned to vent his anger at Zhao Fengji.

Zhao Fengji cupped his hands and said, "I've offended you so much."

"It doesn't matter." Zhu Guoxiang knew that Yang Zhi must be guilty again.

Zhao Fengji immediately changed the topic and revealed that he was the son of the deputy transfer envoy and came with a letter from the transfer envoy.

Zhu Guoxiang opened the letter and did not express his position after reading it.

Prince Zhao Huan was alone, although he had upright civil servants who repeatedly instilled great principles into him. But these civil servants did not dare to get too close, for fear that if they went too far, they would no longer be able to educate the prince.

There were only a few East Palace officials around Zhao Huan, headed by Yang Feng, the prince's family commander, and Geng Nanzhong, the prince's family member.

Because Yang Jian reported the prince's rebellion, Song Huizong later executed Yang Feng.

As for Geng Nanzhong, he belonged to the faction of ceding territories and seeking peace during the Jingkang period.

Geng Nanzhong hosted Zhu Guoxiang many times, hoping to recruit talents for the prince. Zhu Guoxiang did not want to get involved and kept refusing invitations. He and Geng Nanzhong had already become a little unhappy.

"Mr. Yuanzhang, please don't refuse!" Zhao Fengji bowed and bowed.

Zhu Guoxiang asked people to settle Yang Zhi's gang, and said to Zhao Fengji: "Follow me for a walk downstream."

"Yes!" Zhao Fengji followed up honestly.

Walking along the river bank, Zhu Guoxiang pointed to the land at the foot of the mountain: "That area is dry land that has been reclaimed for a year. The fertility is not enough. This year we encountered a drought again. We can't sustain anything we plant. There is no harvest in such a large area." .”

Zhao Fengji said: "The power of God is unpredictable and manpower cannot catch it."

Zhu Guoxiang added: "Replant after the rain, and alfalfa is interplanted with beans. Although alfalfa looks like grass, it is actually a close relative of beans, and it can fertilize the land together with beans. Alfalfa is also drought-resistant and can be eaten by people and livestock."

Zhao Fengji didn't know what Zhu Guoxiang meant, so he could only flatter him: "Mr. Yuan Zhang is good at farming, and the younger generation admires him very much."

Zhu Guoxiang continued to talk to himself: "Alfalfa was introduced together with the Dawan horse during the Han Dynasty. Now there are three types, one with purple flowers, one with yellow flowers, and one with purple flowers. There are differences between purple flowers and purple flowers. , you need to distinguish carefully to know it.”

Therefore, Zhu Guoxiang introduced to Zhao Fengji how to identify alfalfa types.

After Zhao Fengji became impatient, Zhu Guoxiang said: "I said that running a big country is like cooking small dishes. I am not good at cooking. I think running a big country is like farming."

"Please give me some advice from Duke Yuanzhang." Zhao Fengji bowed quickly.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The land in front of us was cultivated decades ago. However, it has been deserted for a long time and is overgrown with thorns and weeds. How is it different from ordinary wasteland? To cultivate and cultivate again, the land must be cultivated first, and the staple food cannot be grown immediately. Alfalfa and The beans are all used to cultivate the land. The country has been in a state of drought for a long time, so the land must be cultivated."

Zhao Fengji didn't understand: "Please speak clearly to Duke Yuan Zhang."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The traitors in the DPRK are full of thorns. Corrupt local officials are just like weeds. We must first eradicate the thorns and weeds, then slowly warm up the land, and finally plant the staple food. The prince is the landlord's son. Sir, you are all alfalfa beans, you can’t decide how to cultivate the land.”

Zhao Fengji said: "If the prince is the husband of a landlord, we are just servants and tenant farmers, and we have to remove the thorns and weeds!"

"The prince will be fine. It won't make any difference how many years the land remains uncultivated." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Zhao Fengji whispered: "King Jia has promoted the Imperial City Department!"

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head and said: "Instead of asking me to come back to Beijing to help, it is better to let the prince lie dormant respectfully. He didn't know how to hide. When the Mingtang was completed, the prince could not come out. In front of all the officials at home and abroad, it really made it difficult for the officials to come down. Taiwan. If this continues, ten of me will come to the capital, and what good will it do? You people only know how to teach the prince to be upright, but you don't teach him to be gentle and gentle. If you are strong, you will break easily, and the same is true for a king."

Zhao Fengji said: "What Yuan Zhang said is true, but those great scholars who teach the prince are very upright themselves. How can they teach the prince who has a meek personality?"

"Haha, they are very gentle and know how to avoid disaster." Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile.

Zhao Fengji was speechless.

Zhu Guoxiang suddenly asked: "You said before that you and your father have lived in Chengdu for many years?"

"Exactly." Zhao Fengji replied.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I am quite curious about Sichuan. What aristocratic families are there?"