Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

When Bai Sheng came to Shangbai Village, the body of Lao Bai had not yet been buried.

The ancients had their own methods to prevent corpses from decaying, such as placing ice cubes next to them to cool down, using pepper and other spices to prevent corrosion and deodorize, using lime mixed with glutinous rice as a desiccant, wrapping the corpse in cloth to reduce contact with the air, and even using mercury if possible. Anticorrosive.

It seems that the longer the body remains in morgue, the more glorious the funeral becomes.

Throughout the dynasties, the imperial courts advocated frugal burials, but the people preferred rich burials.

Song Qi, a Hanlin scholar during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, warned his son to bury himself in a tidy manner. The specific method was as follows: three days after death, the body should be restrained and three months after death, the body should be buried. Don't worry about Yin and Yang Feng Shui, just use miscellaneous wood in the coffin, and don't bury valuables with it. The graves should only be piled three feet high, and five cypress trees should be planted in the cemetery. Don't make any statues of stone men or animals.

It can be seen from the above that Song Qi really wanted his son to bury him poorly.

But even if it is a light burial, the corpse must be kept for three months. This is strictly in compliance with ancient etiquette!

Ordinary families naturally do not have the financial resources to bury the deceased within seven days. Even cremation became more and more popular, and the government repeatedly banned it - only Mohism and Buddhism advocated cremation, which was inconsistent with Confucian concepts, so the court was against cremation.

When Mr. Bai was still alive, he had someone dig a cellar for him, so that if he died in the summer, it would not be conducive to burying his body.

A lot of lime was laid in the cellar to prevent moisture, and lime was mixed with glutinous rice in the interlayer of the coffin. Sichuan pepper and other spices were also used to remove the smell. Every winter he hid ice in the cellar, and he would use the ice cubes to cool down when he died.

Bai Sheng came to express condolences on behalf of the royal family. Brothers Bai Chongwen and Bai Chongyan rebuilt the mourning hall and carried out the coffin.

The county magistrate and chief registrar of Xixiang also came to pay their respects again after hearing the news.

This memorial service was held with the etiquette of a fourth-rank official.

Bai Sheng said to the two filial sons: "Your Majesty asked me to pass on the message that funerals for non-elderly people, grand funerals, and festivals are all allowed, but gold, silver, and bronze vessels cannot be buried with them. From now on, even if someone in the royal family dies, gold, silver, and bronze vessels will not be buried with them."

Bai Chongyan said: "A virtuous person should be buried with dignity."

The more luxurious burials became popular among the people, the more Confucian scholars and gentlemen advocated frugal burials. The most typical ones are the enemies Wang Anshi and Sima Guang. They both requested that they be buried lightly after they died of illness, and persuaded scholar-bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen to be buried lightly.

There is a very famous story in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Yan Shu and Zhang Qi were buried not far away, and their tombs were stolen successively.

Zhang Qi's tomb was buried with a lot of gold, silver and jewelry. The tomb robbers only took away the treasures and did not destroy the bones and coffin.

Yan Shu's burial was very shabby, even the gold wrapping belt was made of wood, with a layer of gold powder painted on the outside. The tomb robbers were so angry that they used the bones to vent their anger and chopped Yan Shu's bones into pieces.

This incident aroused heated discussion in society at the time, and those who advocated frugal burials and those who advocated generous burials quarreled.

Those who advocate thick burials say that Zhang Qi buried the whole body in a thick burial and Yan Shu buried the broken bones in a thin burial. This leads to the conclusion that thin burials are detrimental to the deceased.

But as long as the Confucian scholars are concerned, they basically advocate a thin burial.

Zhu Xi even said that it is best not to put a single worldly thing in the coffin.

The great Confucians naturally had their influence, and the two Song dynasties had "funeral orders". It is required that gold, silver and jewelry cannot be placed in the coffin, and stone slabs are not allowed to be used to build tomb chambers and coffins. The area of ​​the tomb, the height of the tomb, and the number of stone animals and artifacts are all strictly regulated according to the official grade.

Ju Ming granted the title of fourth-grade official to Lao Bai, mainly to improve the standard of the tomb.

Bai Dalang is already asking the potters to re-fire the underworld vessels. The underworld vessels of the fourth-rank officials can use Fang Xiang (a spirit that can ward off evil spirits). In addition, you can also carve a few more tomb beasts.

Soon, the burial ceremony was held - thirty days had passed since Lao Bai Yuanwai died of illness, and Bai Sheng was delayed for a long time on the road.

Brothers Bai Chongwen and Bai Chongyan built a shack next to the tomb and took turns to mourn their late father every night.

Bai Sheng claimed that he still had a mission and quietly ran to find BMW with a dozen people.

…

According to his memory, Bai Sheng came to the bottom of the cliff.

He was waiting down here, and Zhu Ming only took Zhang Guangdao up the mountain to look for Tian Wang Jia.

"You guys, just stand here, take turns waving the flag, and don't stop for a moment." Bai Sheng ordered.

After that, he personally took a few soldiers and craftsmen and walked further along the cliff in search of a gentle slope.

Climb up the gentle slope and estimate the direction.

We spent the night in the mountains that night and continued our search the next day. Every time he walked, Bai Sheng used binoculars to look down carefully.

Finally, he saw the flag that was dancing continuously under the cliff.

Along the way, there were all kinds of plants. He kept cutting passages with his knife, and Bai Sheng finally saw a strange object.

The BMW's body was covered with vines and even fallen leaves, and weeds grew everywhere on the car.

Bai Sheng said to the soldiers and craftsmen under his command: "Listen carefully, Your Majesty was dreaming at night, and the gods pointed out the direction. This is a treasure given by the gods! If anyone dares to reveal even a word, not only will his or her head be moved, but the whole family will be moved as well. Buried with him!"

Everyone said yes again and again, fearful in their hearts.

They were afraid of falling from the cliff, so they tied the rope around their waists, tied the other end to trees, and began to clear away vines, fallen leaves and weeds.

After struggling for a long time, I could barely see clearly the original appearance of the BMW.

"Sir, this thing grows out of the mountains!" a soldier shouted.

Bai Sheng carefully touched it and found that the butt of the BMW was firmly embedded in the rock wall. He immediately ordered: "Cut out the stone and dig out the soil!"

Two masons tied ropes and worked hard all afternoon, but they still couldn't completely cut through the rock.

On the third day, construction continued.

Bai Sheng, who was chiseling while standing on the roof of the car and directing, suddenly felt that his feet were tilting.

Bai Sheng shouted: "Get out of the way, the treasure is going to fall!"

However, the rear end of the BMW lost its fixing, and the entire car was pressed against a tree branch. The branches of the tree grew a little crooked, and the car lost its balance and was about to fall.

Bai Sheng hung on the rope and jumped to the side. The BMW slipped off the tree branch and hit the cliff further below.

The car rolled over several times and broke a small tree, then several branches, and got stuck inside the big tree between the cliffs.

In desperation, Bai Sheng could only lead the soldiers and craftsmen to cut down the big trees blocking the road.

After another two days of struggling, the BMW finally completely fell.

The windshield was completely smashed, one of the rearview mirrors was knocked off, and the car was hit with holes everywhere.

The craftsmen tried to dismantle it and started scratching their heads as soon as they got started.

Let's put it this way, they don't even know how to remove the license plate...

Bai Sheng squatted there and struggled for a while, then said: "This kind of magical object cannot be dismantled by ordinary craftsmen. Drag it to the edge of the Han River with a rope, hoist it onto a big ship and transport it back to Kaifeng!"

It is definitely difficult to walk on the several plank roads in Hanzhong. You can only go down the Han River and then turn to the Yangtze River and take the canal.

The good news is that you can take a boat all the way.

Bai Sheng originally wanted to return to his hometown in fine clothes, stay in his hometown for a while, and then go to Xixiang County and Yang County to play.

But the BMW cannot be dismantled, and the longer it stays, the easier it is to leak the secret.

After he hoisted the BMW onto the boat, he didn't even dare to leave. Even when he said goodbye to Bai Chongyan, he sent someone to tell him that he was on a secret mission and had to return to Beijing immediately.

Arriving at Xiangyang without any danger, Bai Sheng took the emperor's order and directly mobilized the Cao army and Cao ships.

The BMW had been wrapped in layers of tarpaulins. After moving to a larger boat, he ate, drank, and pooped with the car.

There was no way, Bai Sheng was frightened!

He knew very well that the Emperor's Heavenly King Armor was taken out of the car. The entire BMW was beyond Bai Sheng's understanding. He really thought it was a divine object.

Moreover, Bai Sheng vaguely guessed that the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor were probably gods descended to earth!

After taking a long detour by water, Bai Sheng finally returned to Kaifeng, only to find that the imperial court had moved the capital and could only continue to escort the BMW to Luoyang.

Take a boat straight into Luoyang City and dock outside the Zuoye Gate of the Imperial City.

Bai Sheng said to the soldiers who were escorting him: "Disperse the people here, and no one is allowed within a hundred steps along the street. All the doors and windows of the shops on both sides of the street are closed, and no one is allowed to peek."

He then said to the Forbidden Army soldiers beside him: "Go to Zuoyemen to inform your Majesty that the treasure has been retrieved and has not been dismantled yet. Please give your Majesty's instructions where to send it to the palace?"

All of a sudden, everything was going crazy.

All the people in the nearby streets were driven away, and the doors and windows of all the houses along the street were forcibly closed.

Soldiers stood guard at the door of every house facing the street, shouting at people inside not to peek.

Not long after, Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang arrived one after another.

Seeing this kind of battle, Ju Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said to Bai Sheng: "Drag him into the palace with a rope. Just follow me."

Entering through the left door, there are central offices inside.

Anyway, the BMW was wrapped several layers of tarpaulin, and Ju Ming did not continue to disperse the officials.

Officials from various government offices came to watch the excitement. Zhu Guoxiang scolded: "What are you looking at? Go back to work quickly!"

Soon, there was no one outside the yamen, and everyone returned to work.

What happened today was very strange. Many officials and people were quietly talking and guessing what it was.

Later generations will not be able to find a single word in the history books.

But there are many literati's notes that record what happened today. Some officials even chatted with different friends and learned that the "treasure" was transported from Xixiang County and was escorted by cavalry soldiers along the way. Bai Sheng personally escorted the object without ever getting off the ship.

The car pulled up to a part of the harem, and the father and son gathered around and asked everyone to leave.

"What to do?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Ju Ming said: "First dig a basement and get the car in. Then select a group of craftsmen and put their families under surveillance. Every once in a while, call the craftsmen in to dismantle and study them. Those chips, circuit boards and the like must be The research doesn’t yield any results, but some mechanical structures can inspire craftsmen.”

Zhu Guoxiang nodded: "All personnel involved in transporting the BMW will be rewarded and ordered not to speak nonsense."

Ju Ming smiled and said: "It's best to keep it a secret, but it doesn't matter if I tell you. It's just a sacred object."

"Should you destroy chips, circuit boards and other things that are too outdated or keep them?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Ju Ming shook his head: "I haven't thought about it clearly yet."