Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 559

Two days later, Fan Ning entered Beijing on a medium-sized paddle boat of three thousand shi. The three thousand shi boat can go directly to the capital without changing ships, but there are teams of sea-going ships along the way. After the opening of the port, Xingang has become the largest port in the Song Dynasty. The original Guangzhou Port has been ranked second, and the trade with Japan and Korea is mainly in Mingzhou, so Quanzhou and Fuzhou have become transit ports. A large number of Nanyang materials and wealth Ship to Quanzhou or Fuzhou, and then go to Yangzhou by sea from Fuzhou and Quanzhou.

Along the way, there will always be teams of Wanshi sea boats going south. At this time, the sea turns to the north wind. Except for paddle boats, ships relying on the trade winds can no longer go north. After the spring of next year, Quanzhou and Fuzhou The materials will continue to go north.

The biggest problem with paddle boats is that they consume a lot of manpower. For example, Fan Ning’s 24-stone ship needs [-] paddles, and each paddle requires three people to step on it at the same time. The paddle boats rowed by people, the paddle boats in the Song Dynasty were also called chariot boats, with small windmill-like paddles installed on both sides of the boat, and the sailors stepped on the bottom of the boat with a wooden pole like a waterwheel, and the boat moved forward by the rotation of the paddle blades. .

The 24 oars are [-] wheels on the left and right sides. When turning around, if the paddlers on the left do not step on them, but the paddlers on the right step on them vigorously, the boat will turn around.

Fanning's 72 stone paddle boat alone requires [-] paddlers to step on it. Not only is the labor cost high, but also the consumption of fresh water and food is quite large. Like Fan Ning's [-] stone boat to Australia, there are [-] paddlers on board. Stampede, half of the storage space of the ship is used to hold food and fresh water.

The problem of power for ocean voyages must be solved, otherwise it would be unrealistic to have hundreds of sailors on each ship. Fan Ning remembered that he saw a spinning wheel part in Mingren Workshop at the beginning of the year, which was a connecting rod. One rod drove the other. Rod movement, which is a basic part that must be used in various mechanical movements, originally appeared in the Song Dynasty.

The two largest iron-rich mines in the Southeast Asia region are both in Luzon. One is in the east of Luzon Island, which is already being mined, and the other is in the northernmost part of Mindanao, which is an open-pit iron mine that is easy to mine.

If enough pig iron is produced, they can build iron-hulled ships.

On the way to find new lands in Nanyang, there is one thing that Fanning has been lingering in his mind, and that is steam.

Whether steam can replace manpower and become a new power source for seagoing ships is crucial for ocean transportation.

At noon that day, the ship arrived in Yangzhou.

The Zhujia Wharf in Yangzhou is very lively. A fleet of hundreds of tankers is busy loading supplies. The supplies are mainly frosting sugar, cotton and cotton cloth. The cotton cloth is imported from Dashi and is made of cotton. The woven fabric.

Previously, the imperial court arranged for Xiangzhou government to plant cotton in Gaochang State, but the effect was not good, mainly because of the low yield, and the need to peel the seeds and loosen the cotton, which took too much time and energy, and was not suitable for small workshops. It is a substitute for fine hemp The nature is not obvious, and the court's mind is not on it, so it was not promoted later, and now only a small amount of planting is still carried out in Xiangzhou and Kaifeng.

But if cotton spinning machines such as elastic cotton vertebral arches and multi-spindle pedal spinning machines are invented, that kind of cotton will definitely be popularized.

Mumian Ryukyu Prefecture and Luzon Prefecture transported millions of tans. Frosted sugar is white sugar, which also has millions of catties. Items such as rice and spices have been continuously transported into the capital, plus a large amount of silver and gold. With luck, Da Song became more and more prosperous.

Fan Ning did not go to Zhu Xiaolin, the boat went directly northward along the canal, and when he arrived at Yingtian Mansion by boat a few days later, Fan Ning let the boat dock for a day to rest, he was going to visit his sister Fan Jing.

Fan Jing married Zhu Qi at the beginning of the year. After Zhu Qi passed the Jinshi examination, he served as a teaching assistant in Yingtianfu Guozijian. The couple lived in Yingtianfu. I heard that the younger sister was pregnant. They hadn't seen each other for nearly a year. Fan Ning really missed her little sister. sister.

Zhu Long had been to their residence before, so he brought Fan Ning into the city, Ying Tian Mansion was as lively as before, and there were as many stalls and hawkers as a cow's hair.

"Selling sweet corn and pumpkin cakes!"

Fan Ning's attention was attracted by the cries of a little girl. He stopped Zhu Long in front of him, walked up to the little girl and asked with a smile, "How much is a piece of corn?"

The little lady carried a bamboo basket on her arm, and she said to Fan Ning crisply, "This is corn grown in Yangzhou. The water quality is good there, the sunlight is sufficient, the corn is very sweet, and it costs ten cents a piece."

"What about the native corn?" Fanning asked again.

"The local corn is worthless, five cents a piece."

Fan Ning thought that when corn first came into the market the year before last, it was sold for ten cents a piece, and now it has dropped to a few pennies a piece in just two or three years. It can be seen that the promotion is rapid. Miscellaneous grains ensure that the people at the bottom of the Song Dynasty can afford to have three children.

"Where's the pumpkin cake?"

"My family grows the pumpkin. It's delicious. It costs three yuan a piece."

Fan Ning said with a smile to the four subordinates: "Each person takes one piece of corn and two pieces of pumpkin cake."

The little lady was very happy, she lifted a layer of cloth, underneath was pumpkin cake, cut into squares, she took out ten pieces, put them on the small bamboo slices and handed them to Zhu Long, and took out five corns from the bottom of the basket, and handed them to Zhu Hu.

"Official, a total of eighty Wen."

Fan Ning took out a silver coin and handed it to her, "No need to look for it!"

"Thank you officer!"

The five of them ate the pumpkins, and then started eating corn. Both pumpkins and corn were good. From the poor business of the little girl, it was obvious that these two kinds of food had become popular, so they were not interested in selling them cheaply.

Fan Ning's younger sister's home is next to Yingtianfu Guozijian. It is a five-acre mansion, which is the property of the Zhu family. Of course, Fan Ning also gave her sister a generous dowry, 1 taels of gold plus [-] acres of land, two boxes of jewelry, and various Dozens of boxes of silk and satin were married from Wuxian to Wujiang by boat, which once caused a sensation.

But the life of the two after marriage is very low-key, and both of them are nerds, so going to the bookstore together on the rest day has become the greatest joy for the young couple.

Although Fan Jing's house is not big, it is very cozy. There are three maids, two cooks and an old housekeeper. Because of her pregnancy, Fan Jing's mother-in-law also lives with them so that she can take care of her daughter-in-law.

The arrival of her elder brother made Fan Jing very happy. She took Fan Ning's hand and asked, "Did elder brother pass by Yingtian Mansion when he came to Beijing?"

Fan Ning saw that his sister's belly was already showing signs of pregnancy, at least six or seven months old, so he nodded with a smile, "I'm indeed in Beijing for business, so I'll leave after a while, isn't there a midwife at home?"

"Yes! I specially invited an experienced midwife, whose home is nearby, who will come to accompany me for two hours every day."

"Your husband hasn't come back yet?"

"Aqi will come back later, he's been busy recently."

"Forget it then, see him next time! Ah Duo, mother will come over in a few days."

"That's great. With my mother by my side, I can sleep a little longer. It's really painful to get up every morning, but I have to get up again."

The two siblings chatted for a while, at this moment, Zhu Long said at the gate of the courtyard: "Your Majesty, there is something important."

Fanning got up and walked out of the room, went up to meet him and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhu Long handed Fan Ning a copy of the "Letter" in his hand, "This is yesterday's "Letter", which has just been delivered to Ying Tianfu, so you can read the first news."

Fan Ning quickly took over the "Letter", and in an instant, he was struck by lightning and was stunned. The headline on the front page of "Letter" was just one line: "Empress Dowager Gao passed away last night!" '

The night was already deep, the boat was moving slowly in the river, and Fanning was lying on the deck staring blankly at the night sky.

When he heard that Gao Taotao was seriously ill in Quanzhou, he had a bad feeling in his heart, so he hurried back to the capital, but he never dreamed that Gao Taotao would pass away so soon.

Fan Ning was very sad. After all, Gao Taotao was his lover. It would not be entirely correct to say that he had no feelings for her. He did have feelings, but he knew that there would be no result between him and Gao Taotao.

But in any case, he hoped that Gao Taotao would have a good ending.

It's just... such a famous woman in history died early because of her arrival.

It made Fan Ning infinitely sigh and sad.

(End of this chapter)