Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1026 [Era of the Yellow Emperor]

"Beep beep..."

There was also a telegraph room in the harem, which was ringing non-stop at this moment.

This is the private chat frequency band created by Zhu Guoxiang. It was initially used for private chats within the palace, but now it connects the palace and Wangchuan Valley.

The person in charge of sending and receiving telegrams was Queen Zhang Jinping.

She likes strange and weird things, and often sends messages to Li Qingzhao to chat about family matters, but today she is helping Zhu Ming contact them.

The cause was that Zhu Guoxiang sent a telegram to his son: "What are you crazy about? Lantian County is in chaos. They said they want to pay tribute to the best Lantian jade. The officials who are looking for jade have all found their way outside the Wangchuan Valley."

Zhu Ming directly asked Zhang Jinping to reply to the telegram and told him about his idea of ​​making the imperial seal.

Not long after, Zhang Jinping handed over a piece of paper, which was a reply from Zhu Guoxiang.

The content is just three words: "Psycho!"

Zhu Ming laughed and said to Zhang Jinping, "Reply to the Emperor: The great Ming Dynasty should also create one or two wonders."

Zhang Jinping slapped his hands again, and then received a call back from Zhu Guoxiang: "Be careful of officials in various provinces who may take the opportunity to harass the local areas. Those diplomatic envoys will also harass the vassal states."

Zhu Ming said: "I have ordered restrictions, but it is unavoidable. We just need to control it."

Zhu Guoxiang replied: "Shenfu sounds like a shaman."

"The seal specifically refers to the imperial seal, which is different from the emperor's seal or the emperor's seal. Every dynasty, whether it was passed down from the previous dynasty or forged by themselves, had to have one. Previously, the Song Dynasty's seal was used, but now both Liao and Song seals are in use, so it's not appropriate to use either one. The divine seal means the supreme and sacred imperial seal, not some Taoist seal that pretends to be a god."

"You decide. I don't care. I just want to ask you one question. Isn't it agreed that an emperor can only use one reign title?"

"It's not officially stipulated. After the divine talisman, I will not change the era name. Future emperors are also not allowed to change the era name repeatedly. They can only have one era name in their lifetime."

"You might as well ask the Astronomical Museum to come up with a Gregorian calendar. The birth of the Yellow Emperor, or the founding of the Zhou or Qin dynasties, would be the first year of the Christian era."

"If Zhou and Qin don't work, where should we put Xia and Shang? Huangdi is still the most suitable."

"You can choose anyone, it's just a matter of setting a standard. Why not just change it all at once and change it to Shen Kuo's Twelve-Climate Calendar. I know all the ministers are against it, are you still afraid of this?"

"It's mainly a question of holidays. If we keep New Year's Eve and Lantern Festival, we have to use two calendars at the same time. And the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, you can see by looking at the moon. A purely solar calendar will make people very uncomfortable."

"Use both. The new calendar makes it easier for ordinary people to master the farming season, which is good for agricultural production."

"You are an agricultural expert, so of course you think it is useful, but farmers may not agree."

"As you wish."

"..."

Zhang Jinping turned off the telegraph and rubbed her sore wrist. "My dear, such an important matter as the calendar and the era was decided just by chatting in a telegram?"

Zhu Ming said, "We've discussed this a long time ago. What do you think of the Twelve Qi Calendar?"

Zhang Jinping said: "New Year's Day, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival... these festivals are all in the old calendar. Adopting the new calendar conflicts with customs and traditions, and using both the old and new calendars seems a bit cumbersome."

"That's why I haven't changed it yet," Zhu Ming sighed, "Alas, the emperor took it for granted. Some things need to be done step by step."

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty promulgated the Taichu Calendar, China has always used a solar-lunar calendar, with the solar calendar used to determine the 24 solar terms and the lunar calendar used to determine the months.

The disputes thereafter were nothing more than a struggle between the method of settling the qi and the method of calming the qi.

During the Sui, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a fierce debate between the method of calming the qi and the method of calming the qi.

Before the Chongzhen Calendar came out, the result of the dispute was often a compromise, with the Pingqi method (backward) being used to compile the calendar and the Dingqi method (advanced) being used for astronomical calculations.

The Qing Dynasty also went through several twists and turns, and finally Emperor Kangxi decided to adopt a more advanced method of determining the weather - the modern Chinese lunar calendar.

The Ming Dynasty's Hongwu Calendar, promulgated during Zhu Guoxiang's reign, naturally used a more advanced method of determining the qi, which should have been adopted in the Sui Dynasty. However, due to too much political resistance, when the astronomers proposed calendar reform, both Yang Jian and Li Longji chose to back off.

Shen Kuo was even more radical. He not only wanted to use the method of determining qi, but also wanted to completely use the solar calendar.

That is, the orbit of the earth is divided into 24 parts, which are the 24 solar terms. Then 12 of them are selected to determine the 12 months of each year. Not only are New Year's Eve, Lantern Festival, and Double Ninth Festival all messed up, but the first and fifteenth day of each month also don't match the moon.

Zhu Guoxiang supported Shen Kuo's idea, but Zhu Ming felt it was unnecessary.

Using the Dingqi method to compile a lunar-solar calendar is already a huge improvement. Why should we disrupt the people's rhythm and use the solar calendar?
If the old farmers in the countryside could buy a calendar, they could use two calendars in parallel. But the problem is that the social economy has not yet developed to that point, and using two calendars in parallel would easily confuse the farmers.

Returning to Chuigong Hall, Zhu Ming thought carefully and wrote down two imperial decrees:

"I order the Imperial Academy Astronomical Museum to compile a new calendar based on Shen Kuo's twelve-qi calendar. This calendar will not be used for the time being, nor will it be deliberately hidden. It will be left for astronomers and future generations to refer to."

"Order the Hanlin Academy's Literature and History Museum and Astronomy Museum to calculate the year of Huangdi's birth and use the Huangdi era as the AD calendar." ...

That group of Goryeo nobles have already settled down.

Like the King of Western Xia, you can choose a title or study for the imperial examination.

The royal family and clan members of Goryeo all chose to lie low. Wang Gou was awarded a dukedom and a house in Luoyang. But he was not awarded shops or land. After all, a duke can receive a salary, and the title can benefit several generations. Wang Gou also brought some treasures with him. As for his descendants, they had to find a way to make money.

Wang Gou's brothers and uncles were granted the title of Earl and Viscount, but they could only receive the salary of the title. Moreover, all the houses granted were outside the city of Luoyang, and the land granted was not even an acre.

These guys live a very frugal and comfortable life!

Their usual diet is similar to that of the well-off families in Luoyang, and they eat meat every now and then to satisfy their hunger. Surprisingly, they are very satisfied with this kind of life.

Wang Gou, in particular, often wandered around the city with his wives and concubines.

He had been under house arrest for so many years that he could move around freely in Luoyang and felt that his life was free and easy.

He did not go to high-end places of consumption, but preferred to visit common people's houses, watch magic and acrobatics performances, and listen to popular songs in Luoyang. Occasionally, there would be rich people who would buy calligraphy and paintings, hoping to collect the calligraphy of the fallen king of Goryeo.

There really are such boring people who have too much money and nowhere to spend it!
There was a wealthy businessman named Liu in Kaifeng who collected one or two copies of calligraphy and paintings by the last emperors of the Song, Jin, and Xia dynasties at home. He even sent people to Liaodong and Hebei to try to buy calligraphy and paintings by Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Dynasty.

As soon as Wang Gou arrived in Luoyang, people soon came to him, hoping that he could write or paint.

No matter what your artistic level is, just write one yourself.

It was another day. Wang Gou and his three younger brothers who had returned to secular life made an appointment to go to Tianwang Temple to worship Buddha, and to visit the Buddha Tooth Pagoda to pay homage to the Buddha.

They strolled leisurely in the city, feeling more cheerful than in Goryeo.

Wang Shu, who had regained his original name, had four-inch-long hair and was wearing a hat. "Luoyang is still the best. When I was in Kaesong before, I could only hide in Xuanhua Temple to chant sutras and eat simple meals every day. Now the food is more abundant and I can play everywhere. Why didn't Your Majesty send troops to Goryeo earlier?"

Wang Gou showed no resentment of a king who lost his country. He actually sighed with relief, "Your Majesty is too kind and insists on having a legitimate reason. You can walk around freely in Xuanhua Temple, and there are many monks to talk to you. I was placed under house arrest in Puxian Temple, with only a few eunuchs around me. Later, even those eunuchs were sent by treacherous officials to monitor me. I was trapped in the house all day, and I had to be careful when talking to people around me."

"Dang-dang-dang!"

Some officials beat gongs along the way and shouted loudly: "Victory news, victory news from Korea, the Ming Dynasty soldiers have completely recovered Jeolla Prefecture! The treacherous Korean Yi family refused to obey the king's will and rebelled. Our Ming Dynasty soldiers won three battles and three victories in Jeolla Prefecture, killing more than 4,000 bandits in battle, capturing more than 7,000 bandits alive, and defeating more than 10,000 bandits!"

The people of Luoyang gathered one after another and watched under the notice.

The word used in the victory report was "recovery" rather than "capture." Because the King of Goryeo had already surrendered his country, the entire Korean Peninsula was the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and all the rebels were traitors and bandits.

Wang Gou also ran to the notice, which even had a simplified administrative map of Korea drawn on it, with all the place names of Goryeo changed to the place names of Ming Korea.

Wang Di, who was also a monk who returned to secular life, said: "Brother, the Li family of Quanzhou has invested a lot of money and gathered 20,000 soldiers to resist the Ming Dynasty."

Wang Gou, the little fat man, is not stupid, but very smart: "It is definitely not just the Jeonju Lee family, all the powerful families in Jeolla Province should have a share. They don't want to lose their power and wealth by dividing their clans and land, so they tried their best to join forces to resist the heavenly soldiers. The weak soldiers they recruited couldn't even beat the treacherous minister Zheng Zhongfu, so what chance do they have of winning against the Ming Dynasty soldiers?"

Wang Shu smiled and said, "If I were the Li family of Quanzhou, I would honestly submit to the Ming Dynasty."

Wang Gou said, "They are different. Although we are born into the royal family, we have never been free. Those local nobles are uncontrollable and tyrannical. How can they be willing to share the land they have accumulated for hundreds of years?"

As he spoke, Wang Gou raised his arms and shouted: "Long live the emperor of the Ming Dynasty! May the Ming soldiers win forever!"

Someone immediately recognized him and shouted in surprise: "This man is the King of Goryeo."

Wang Gou was able to communicate in Chinese and quickly corrected him: "Don't call me the King of Goryeo, I am the Duke of Shunyi of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Hahahaha!" Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Wang Gou shouted again: "Long live the emperor of the Ming Dynasty! The Ming soldiers will win!"

The people of Luoyang laughed and made noise for a while, then started shouting as well.

They had no idea about the Korean Peninsula. They only knew that the Ming Dynasty's army had won again and that the Ming Dynasty's civil and military officials had expanded the territory.

Anyway, there were victories one after another, unlike the early Song Dynasty, when news of defeats came from time to time.

Every time the Song Dynasty fought a big war, not only did the frontiers have to mobilize troops, but even the people of Kaifeng and Luoyang were affected, and they often had to conscript civilians from the two capitals to transport grain. There was even a "surrogate service" profession, where those young and strong people in the two capitals who could not survive were arranged by intermediaries to work as civilians to earn money for their families.

And now?
Even though Goryeo was about to be completely annexed, the people of the two capitals did not feel anything. They did not have to serve as laborers, nor did they have to die on the battlefield. There was not even a tax increase. They only learned from the victory report that another country had been destroyed.

In the past, they were afraid of fighting, both winning and losing.

Now they are happy to see wars. Although they did not participate in them, victory after victory gives them an inexplicable sense of pride.

(I recommend a modern novel: "Reforming the Late Qing Dynasty". Traveling through the Opium War, I don't know how to reform it, so let's wait and see.)
(End of this chapter)