Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Seeing Zhu Ming asking about the wealthy families, Zhang Guangdao chuckled: "There are only two upper-class households in Baishitou within a radius of 20 miles, and both of them are named Bai. One lives in Shangbai Village, and the owner is called Lao Bai Yuanwai; the other lives in Xiabai Village, The head of the family calls me Xiaobai Yuanwai."

"Which one with the surname Bai has a better reputation?" Zhu Ming asked again.

Zhang Guangdao said: "The one in Shangbaicun wanted to show off his face, but at least he didn't push his neighbors to death."

Ju Ming understood instantly that both families named Bai were not good, but the one in Shangbaicun at least had some bottom line.

Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "Please help me lead the way, brother Zhang."

Zhang Guangdao showed great enthusiasm. He threw the salt he bought to Lu Wang and Ding Dafang, and took Zhu Ming and his son upriver with his bare hands.

As for Lu and Ding, while helping to look after the salt, they continued to stay in the market town and sell chickens and ducks.

The farther away from Baishitou, the less fertile farmland along the river, and the area of ​​barren mountainous land increases. Private houses are scattered at the foot of the mountain. They are all thatched houses with earthen walls. Not only do they live in poverty, but they are also sparsely populated.

During Wang Anshi's reform period, Hanzhong's population reached its peak, but it has declined year by year since then.

Take Yangzhou as an example, it has three counties: Xingdao (Yangxian), Zhenfu, and Xixiang. At its peak, the state's population was about 300,000, and most of them lived in Xingdao County. Today, the total number of owners and customers is 250,000.

Xixiang County is the poorest, with a maximum population of 50,000 to 60,000.

Of course, the above data do not include those who have fled hiding in the mountains.

After walking for about 40 minutes, the terrain opened up again, and a large number of tile-roofed houses suddenly appeared. Those are all the houses of the Bai family. The largest mansion belongs to the main family, and the nearby houses belong to the same family.

"That's Lao Bai's wife," Zhang Guangdao pointed to the mansion and said, "He has a grudge against Xiao Bai's family downriver, but the two families are brothers."

Zhu Ming couldn't help but glance at Zhang Guangdao and thought to himself, I'm a stranger, why are you telling me this grudge relationship?

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "I see there are many tea mountains here. Did the Bai family make their fortune by growing tea?"

Zhang Guangdao's smile became weird: "In the past few decades, only relying on tea farming can only ruin your family. How can you make a fortune? At that time, the imperial court canceled the official errands and replaced them with the round cadres in front of the yamen. No other family dared to go, Bai Bai There were two brothers in the family who were very courageous. They went to work as Changming Yamen, and were appreciated by the magistrate. Within a few years they became prosperous."

Changming Yaqian also worked as an errand for the government, but the nature was completely different. He signed up to do things on his own initiative.

They are not official officials, but they are like official officials. They do not receive wages and cooperate with the government for a long time. Including collecting taxes and arranging corvee labor, Changming Yaqian assisted and cooperated. If something happened, they did not have to pay compensation, and they could work with the government to make money.

Zhang Guangdao continued: "In addition to the old white official, my grandfather and I were both long-term yamen, and our family was very familiar with the government. He became a gray-clothed official when he was more than ten years old, and later became a serious literary scholar when he became a new magistrate. An official, he gave his daughter to the county magistrate as a concubine, and she actually became the chief registrar of Xixiang County."

The County Registrar, a ninth-grade official, seems to have no sense of existence, but to the people in the countryside, he is already a great figure.

Moreover, many of the county administrators in the Song Dynasty were Jinshi or were academic officials. If you want to be promoted from a civil servant to a chief clerk, you must get the support of a senior official. I am afraid that in addition to marrying your daughter as a concubine, you may also give a lot of money privately.

In addition, many county registrars in the Song Dynasty also served as county lieutenants and were also responsible for catching thieves. (In order to save wages, the imperial registrar and county lieutenant were often the same person, and they only needed to pay the salary of one official position). If the county magistrate does not like to take charge of affairs, the hearing of many daily cases will also be handled by the county magistrate and the chief registrar.

The three major powers of taxation, justice, and law enforcement are integrated into one. To the villagers, they are the emperor of the country!

Ju Ming has already understood that the transaction partner he is about to face is a retired county clerk. He is a powerful figure who must be respected by people from all over the country.

"If you can trust me, I'll show you the horses and you can go sell the pens yourself." Zhang Guangdao said.

Zhu Guoxiang cupped his hands and said, "Thank you."

Zhang Guangdao pointed to the side of the mansion: "Go through the side door. Don't make yourself uncomfortable by taking the main entrance."

"Thanks for the reminder." Zhu Ming thanked him.

After the father and son took a few steps, Zhang Guangdao shouted: "If you can't get in, you can follow me back to the mountains. My brother likes to make good friends."

Ju Ming turned around and bowed, his attitude was ambiguous.

The father and son came to the side door of the Bai family's mansion, the high-walled courtyard, and the door was closed.

Ju Ming said: "The contents of the packaging box cannot be exposed. Although it is printed in traditional Chinese characters, it contains manufacturer information."

Zhu Guoxiang stuffed the packaging box back into his backpack and asked his son, "Only sell one?"

"Things that are rare are valuable." Ju Ming said.

There are six Hu pens in total, all of which are New Year gifts for relatives’ children. The workmanship is fine and the pen is worth a lot of money. Although it is not top quality, a pen is worth hundreds of dollars.

Just when he was about to knock on the door, Ju Ming suddenly asked: "In which dynasty was Hubi famous?"

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head: "I don't know."

Things are a bit embarrassing. What if Hubi was not famous during the Northern Song Dynasty?

Zhu Guoxiang thought about it carefully: "When I bought a pen, the salesperson in the mall seemed to say that Hubi was famous in the Tang Dynasty. He also quoted Bai Juyi's poem, "Pick one cent out of millions." Hey, how could I remember this poem? ?”

Ju Ming said: "After we traveled through time, my memory seems to have gotten better. I can blurt out many details of the information I checked in the video before."

"Whatever, let's give it a try," Zhu Guoxiang said.

In fact, Hubi was not really famous until the Yuan Dynasty, and it was not yet mature in the Song Dynasty.

"Puff puff puff!"

Zhu Guoxiang knocked on the house door.

After a while, the door of the house opened, and the doorkeeper was an old man.

Seeing that the father and son were dressed in rags and smelled slightly of rancidity, the old man thought they were beggars and closed the door of the house again without saying a word.

There was no choice but to keep knocking on the door.

The old janitor probably got tired of knocking, so when the door opened again, there was a servant holding a stick.

The young servant scolded: "Get away from those beggars, don't even look at whose house this is!"

Zhu Guoxiang was forced to take two steps back by the stick. He held the Hu brush and said, "We are not beggars, we are businessmen passing through this place. This brush is a high-grade Hu brush, worth hundreds of dollars. The old white man will definitely like it when he sees it."

The old janitor and the young servant obviously didn't know much about the goods, and they didn't believe that a writing brush was worth hundreds of dollars.

Father and son Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang turned from beggars to liars in an instant.

The young servant picked up the stick and said fiercely: "If you don't leave, I will fight in the future!"

Zhu Guoxiang turned to look at his son. Zhu Ming shook his head and sighed, and all of them retreated from the distance.

"Bang!"

The house door was closed again.

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "What should I do?"

Ju Ming said: "Keep it, there will always be someone who knows the stuff."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I see there is a pawn shop in the market, why not go to the pawn shop and ask about the price."

"It's also a way." Zhu Ming nodded and said.

The two turned back, but Zhang Guangdao still stayed at the same place and did not take the opportunity to take the thin horse away.

Zhang Guangdao smiled and asked, "Can't you get in?"

Ju Ming said: "The gatekeeper doesn't know the goods, so he has to deal with the old white officer face to face."

Zhang Guangdao smiled even more happily: "Come back to the mountains with me to count balls. How can you easily see me outside the old Bai team?"

Ju Ming said: "It's strange. My father and son are so down and have nothing to offer. Why does the Zhang family brother keep inviting me?"

Zhang Guangdao said: "You talk and act differently from ordinary people. You are definitely not ordinary people. They are mostly educated people. There are many good men in our village, but we are short of those who can read and write. My brothers will definitely like it when they see it. .”

"Brother Zhang is in love with the wrong person." Zhu Ming was still noncommittal. He didn't want to go into the mountains and become a bandit for the time being.

Zhang Guangdao accompanied his father and son back to the market. Lu Wang and Ding Dafang's poultry were also sold out.

Everyone had a bowl of noodles at the market. Zhang Guangdao paid for the meal and then parted ways.

Before leaving, Zhang Guangdao cupped his fists and said, "If you two have figured it out, go to the village to find the Tian brothers, and Tian Er will take you into the mountains."

"Keep this in mind, little brother." Zhu Ming cupped his hands and said.

After sending the three people to the ferry to board the boat, Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang went to the pawn shop.

Zhu Guoxiang stood outside the shop watching the horses, and Zhu Ming went in with a brush.

This is a comprehensive store that not only does pawn business, but also sells rice and exchanges money and grain.

In the Song Dynasty, the two-tax law was implemented, that is, summer grain and autumn grain were collected.

When collecting taxes on summer grain, cloth was often collected.

If you are a fifth-class lower-class household, you do not pay taxes individually. Instead, seven households are grouped together and collect a piece of silk cloth to hand over to the government. The families of the lower households are very poor and may not be able to afford silk cloth or money. They can only sell grain to exchange for money and then buy cloth to pay taxes. At this time, they have to find a money and grain exchange shop.

"A Hu brush, please give me a price." Zhu Ming took out the brush.

The pawn shop owner obviously had never heard of the name Hu Brush, so he took the brush and asked: "Pawn to death or alive?"

"What if you die? What if you live?" Ju Ming asked.

Because Ju Ming's clothes were in tatters, the shopkeeper was originally careless. But after carefully tasting it, his eyes lit up quickly, and he put down the brush without saying a word: "A bald brush with messy hair is worth five coins."

In a big city like Kaifeng, the most rubbish brushes cost about ten cents.

In this white market, prices are much lower, and you can indeed buy a writing brush for five cents. However, a better-quality writing brush also requires dozens of writing brushes.

The price for a Hu pen was five cents, and Ju Ming almost laughed out of anger.

Zhu Ming took the Hubi back and left. The shopkeeper shouted: "Wait a minute, I'll take a look again."

Ju Ming did not put the brush back on the counter, but held it in his hand and approached the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at it for a while and said, "I made a mistake just now. This pen is of decent workmanship and is worth twenty copper coins!"

Sichuan belongs to an independent economic zone, including the Hanzhong area, and iron coins are used instead of copper coins.

The pawn shop was too dark and had no reference value, so Ju Ming picked up his brush and left.

"Thirty Wen...Fifty Wen...Oh, don't leave!" The shopkeeper's tone became anxious.

Zhu Guoxiang, who was watching horses on the street, saw his son walking out of the shop and asked, "How is it?"

Ju Ming shook his head: "It's not ordinary black!"

The shopkeeper has already chased him to the door of the store: "Seventy coins, this is worth seventy coins!"

Ju Ming turned a deaf ear and walked further and further away with his father.

The store clerk chased him out and asked, "Is that valuable?"

The shopkeeper said: "This is a good pen, but I don't know how to price it."

The waiter actually had evil thoughts in his mind and came up with an idea: "It looks like we are two strangers. Why don't we ask Brother Bai to lead someone to follow us? We can go and grab the horse and pen at night!"

The shopkeeper shook his head: "Don't mess around. The horse's buttocks have been scalded, which may have erased the official seal. That young man still has weapons on his body. He looks like a desperado at first glance."

"What are you afraid of? When we come to Baishitou, the dragon will be coiled and the tiger will be squatting." The waiter said, sticking out his tongue and licking his lips.

The shopkeeper turned around and went back to the shop and said: "The pawnshop business is not about robbing houses, and don't rob people at every turn. These two strangers seem to be at the end of their rope. If they starve them for a few days, they will come to pawn them with their brushes." .”

The man muttered something, seemingly unwilling to do so.

He thought about it, but he couldn't help it, so he secretly left the pawn shop and came to the street, running towards a thatched house outside the market.

The shopkeeper saw this and sighed: "Alas, young people still don't have enough character. They have to suffer a little in order to make progress."