Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1031 1026 [The Curiosity of Second Generation Officials]

After only three years of study, Lu You graduated early from the Imperial College.

This speed was very fast, but it was not comparable to those of the top students in the Imperial College. He did not obtain the qualification of being directly awarded as a Jinshi by the Imperial College students, but just graduated successfully.

Even so, he was still far ahead of most scholars of the same age.

Because the Imperial College graduation exam was difficult, the pass rate was only slightly higher than the provincial exam. Even if you could not be directly awarded the title of Jinshi, as long as you successfully graduated, you would automatically have the status of Juren.

This juren status can be retained for nine years. One does not have to go through the trouble of taking the prefectural examination or the provincial examination, but can directly participate in the joint examination held by the Ministry of Rites.

After the graduation celebration, the graduates of Taixue went their separate ways.

Some stayed in the capital to continue their studies, some went to local academies to study, some chose to go home and study hard, and some chose to travel around in groups... to prepare for the next imperial examination in the capital.

In fact, they can become high-level clerks, and as long as they don't make mistakes, they will definitely be promoted to the lowest-ranking officials within three years.

After all, he is a graduate of Imperial College!

However, the development prospects of officials becoming government officials were limited, and the graduates of the Imperial College disdained this and would rather continue to study hard and pass the imperial examination.

Lu You's biological father was already the Minister of Rites, and in order to avoid suspicion, he did not plan to take part in the imperial examination the following year.

Well, these are just excuses.

Although the examination was organized by the Ministry of Rites, officials from the Ministry of Rites had to avoid it since the Northern Song Dynasty. That is, officials from the Ministry of Rites were only responsible for organizing the examination and were not allowed to participate in setting questions, supervising the examination, and marking the papers. It was impossible for Lu You to cheat from his father.

Lu You just wanted to travel around and travel around the country with his sword.

This trend started after the fall of the Jin Dynasty. Rich kids who were not sure of passing the imperial examinations but had plenty of money to spend invited each other to travel around with their entourage.

Lu You had four companions on this study tour.

They all come from prominent backgrounds.

One is called Wang Lianqing, the son of the great painter Wang Zhi. His grandfather was a student of Ouyang Xiu, and his mother was the granddaughter of Zeng Bu.

One was Qi Qi'an, the son of Qi Chongli, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. His cousin was Li Qingzhao, and his teacher was the retired Prime Minister Zhai Ruwen.

One was named Bai Shihou, the second son of Bai Sheng, the head of the imperial palace guards.

One was called Fan Chengda. He was from the same hometown as Fan Zhongyan's family, and the two families were collectively known as the "Two Fans of Suzhou". His father, Fan Yu, was a student of the Imperial College during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, and nominally a student of Zhu Ming, who was the principal of the Imperial College. Therefore, Fan Yu had a good life in the Ming Dynasty and was an official of the "Imperial College School".

The Ming Dynasty civil service factions included the Qianchen faction, Sichuan faction, Jiangxi faction, Shandong faction, Imperial College faction, and Tongnian faction.

The latent ministers faction was composed mainly of Zhu Ming's old acquaintances or subordinates before he started the rebellion.

The Sichuan faction refers to the officials who defected to the Zhu family during the period when the Zhu family occupied Sichuan.

The Jiangxi faction was originally formed around Prime Minister Zhang Gen.

The Shandong faction was initially formed around Prime Minister Zhai Ruwen, but later split into two factions. One faction was composed of Zhai Ruwen's disciples and old friends, and the other faction was led by Qin Hui, who had been in Shandong for many years.

The Taixue School, headed by Chen Dong and Wei Liangchen.

The same-year faction was centered around Zhu Ming's fellow Jinshi students, and Qin Hui was also a member of it.

Some factions are declining rapidly, and new factions are emerging.

Generally speaking, the Qianchen School, Sichuan School, and Taixue School are the strongest now, and they are intertwined with each other!

……

It is said that five people traveled together, and there were more than ten followers.

Bai Shihou alone brought five followers with him. His mother couldn't stop her son, so she had to send bodyguards to him, three of whom were retired soldiers.

Other scholars traveled far away with swords, and chose to visit famous mountains and rivers. Those who liked border areas went to Ningxia, Liaodong, and the northern grasslands.

Lu You and his companions each held a copy of "Arabian Nights", so it was obvious where they wanted to run to!

Of course, these guys were all from famous families and didn’t dare to tell their parents the truth. They claimed that they were going to the southern provinces, and their travel route was to go south along the Grand Canal to the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, then go up the Yangtze River to the two lakes and Sichuan, and finally go north along the Shu Road through Shaanxi and back to Luoyang.

Actually?

Outside Shangqiu City, on the Bian River, on a passenger ship.

Qi Qi'an said: "There is a flood in the southeast, and I don't know if the flood has receded. We can sail from Denglai Prefecture, go to Goryeo first, and then go to Japan. When the wind and water are favorable, we can go from Japan to Fujian and Zhejiang, and then take a ship to Southeast Asia. My home is in Shandong, and before I go to the sea, I can also visit Mount Tai with you."

Wang Lianqing didn't care: "It's all good, you decide."

"We'll go to Shandong next time," Fan Chengda said. "In Arabian Nights, there is no story about Goryeo, and only one story about Japan. It's best to go directly to Southeast Asia. When we pass by Jiangnan, I'll take you to Suzhou for a tour."

Lu You asked Bai Shihou, "Where do you want to go, Brother Xuepu?"

"Anything is fine," Bai Shihou said with a smile, "Except for Hanzhong, Hubei, and the two capitals of the East and West, I have not been to other places. This time I travel far away just to broaden my horizons, so any route is fine."

"Then let's draw lots." Lu You said.

There are ten paper balls, with the words "North" and "South" written on them respectively.

Five people grabbed the paper balls and spread them out, three facing south and two facing north.

The next day, they took a boat along the Bian River to the southeast, traveling around the mountains and rivers and visiting famous people along the way.

After passing Linhuai, they encountered a large lake called Hongze, and invited local scholars to visit. The five of them also left some poems. The Hongze Lake at that time was to the east of the Hongze Lake in later times.

Huaiyin City is on the north bank of Hongze, where there are several sections of canals built in the Northern Song Dynasty: the canal from Yangzhou to the north relies on Shahe River, Guishan Canal and Hongze New River to connect with the Bian River, avoiding the dangerous areas of the Huaihe River, and passing through Huaiyin City, Hongze Town, Guishan Town and other towns.

The northernmost end of the Yangzhou Canal is Shanyang (Huai'an), the capital of Huainan Province in the Ming Dynasty.

Li Zuqia, a local scholar and nephew of Prime Minister Li Hanzhang, said to them while touring the lake: "If you are not in a hurry to go south, you can follow me to Lianshui and climb the Haidai Tower. Along the way, there are rice fields and frogs, and it is a land of fish and rice. This year, the south of the Yangtze River is flooded, and the transportation of grain to the north depends entirely on Huainan!"

Bai Shihou asked, "Is there a port where the Lianshui River meets the sea?"

Li Zuqia said: "There is a small seaport, but it is not used for maritime trade, but for collecting salt ships. The two governors of Huainan both requested to open a port in Lianshui Outer Port, but the court never approved it."

At this time, Huainan was also a land of fish and rice.

The Huai River and the Si River meet to form the Lian River, which flows eastward into the sea.

The estuary is in the Wugang Town of Lianshui in later generations. As for the cities and counties such as Binhai, Sheyang and Xiangshui further east, it is still a vast ocean.

From the Huaishui area to the estuary, the two banks are densely networked with waterways, including natural rivers, canals, irrigation canals, and numerous lakes. Most river sections are free of floods because there are too many lakes to discharge floodwaters.

Nowadays, it is prohibited to enclose lakes to create farmland in all lakes, and irrigation canals have been dug based on the Northern Song Dynasty.

Irrigation canals were also divided into three levels according to the standards of the Northern Song Dynasty. One more canal was dug for the first-level canal, four more canals were dug for the second-level canal, and hundreds of more canals were dug for the third-level canal.

As long as the Yellow River does not come to take over the Huai River, Huainan and Jiangnan can protect each other. If grain production in one area decreases, there is another area to support it.

Hebei's water network is still under management, and the population of Hebei and Hunan is also increasing.

It is estimated that in another ten years, Hebei and Hunan will also become major granaries, especially the Dongting Lake area.

In addition to the two major grain-producing areas of Henan and Sichuan, as long as there is no natural disaster that spans several provinces, the food supply of the entire Ming Dynasty will be guaranteed.

At that time, the control of cotton fields can be relaxed, and farmers in Shandong and Jiangnan can grow cotton freely - Shandong cotton is the highest quality, followed by Zhejiang cotton.

Bai Shihou was curious about everything he saw. He pointed at the row of boat houses by the lake and asked, "Do those fishermen usually live in the lake?"

Fan Cheng laughed and said, "They are all fishermen, and there are more of them in the south of the Yangtze River."

Although Bai Shihou came from a family of military commanders and had practiced martial arts since childhood, he was a true scholar: "How do those fishermen pay their taxes?"

Li Zuqia said: "The fishing tax in the pre-Song Dynasty was very chaotic. The Ming Dynasty now has a baojia system to collect the fishing and salt taxes. The number of fishermen in Hongze is actually less than before. In the late pre-Song Dynasty, some fishermen joined Song Jiang to rebel, some joined Fang Ge Lao (Fang Mengqing) to become soldiers, and some joined the salt smugglers to fight against Fang Ge Lao."

The Northern Song Dynasty imposed relatively light taxes on fishermen, but the actual taxation made it impossible for fishermen to survive.

Especially during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, the government contracted large tracts of water to powerful people through the form of buying and selling. Then the powerful people occupied the waters and exploited the fishermen there crazily. At the same time, the government also illegally collected miscellaneous taxes from the fishermen. For example, a large number of fishermen in Liangshan Lake surrendered to Song Jiang, and it was already to the point where they would die if they did not rebel.

Li Zuqia smiled and said, "Now that the Holy Emperor is in power, even the children of fishermen can take the imperial examination. Because taxes have been reduced, there are indeed fishermen's children who go to village schools. Huaiyin County has produced a fisherman scholar. After the results were announced, fishermen from various lakes in Hongze sailed to his home to propose marriage. At that time, thousands of boats gathered together, creating a spectacular sight."

"A poor fisherman's son can become a scholar. I think he is a natural born scholar." Lu You couldn't help but admire him.

Li Zuqia said with a smile: "This scholar from a fisherman's family got married last year and became the son-in-law of a fish farmer."

"I don't lack money for studying anymore," said Fan Chengda.

Many industries in the Song Dynasty experienced explosive growth, one of which was aquaculture.

There is a special fish barrel for selling fish fry, which is made of bamboo and covered with lacquer paper. The water is changed several times a day to prevent the fish fry from dying of lack of oxygen. It is also necessary to stop and stir from time to time so that the fish fry can be transported to far away places for sale.

Anyone who can engage in fish fry breeding business must be a big landowner who owns his own fish fry pond.

The offshore fishing industry in the Song Dynasty also experienced explosive growth.

During the fishing season along the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang, fishermen went out to sea to fish, with as many as one million fishing boats. This prosperous situation of offshore fishing gradually declined in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. Because a large number of boat owners were forcibly conscripted into the navy, they died in batches during the anti-Jin war. Then pirates emerged everywhere, and fishermen turned into bandits and attacked each other, and even ran to plunder coastal villages, and were eventually surrounded and suppressed by Southern Song soldiers.

At this time and space, the offshore fishing industry in the coastal areas of Huainan, Zhejiang and Fujian was not only not hit hard, but continued to prosper and develop.

Moreover, the fishing areas are getting larger and larger, farther and farther from the coast, and the tonnage of fishing vessels is also increasing.

The industrial chain has become richer.

For example, the by-product fish maw is an essential material for making bows and crossbows. Now its price has become lower, and there are many workshops in coastal areas that make fish maw.

Because salt is a monopoly, each salt-producing area has its own exclusive sales area. And the areas with developed offshore fishing industries happen to be the production areas of sea salt, so they use salt to pickle salted fish like crazy, giving you a pound of salted fish and half a pound of salt to sell to other places.

This disguised practice of selling private salt was strongly resisted by officials in other salt-producing areas.

Therefore, the sale of salted fish across provinces would be subject to heavy taxes at customs along the way.

Li Zuqia introduced the fishery and salt industry in Huainan, and said in a joking tone: "For the people in the counties east of Huaidong, fish and salt are cheap, and every household can afford to eat salted fish. Even the well-off families can eat salted fish three times a day. It is probably the place with the most meat in the whole Ming Dynasty. It's a pity that it can't be shipped out. The tax for shipping out of Huainan is higher than the price of local salted fish."

"This tax is a bit heavy." Qi Qian'an sighed.

Li Zuqia laughed and said, "Not at all. Those who sell salted fish across provinces, what they sell is not fish at all? You can't even tell that it looks like fish. One pound of fish can shake out more than half a pound of salt. You have such merchants in Shandong too, who are trying to exploit loopholes in the Ming Dynasty Law."

After a few people chatted for a while on Hongze Lake, Li Zuqia took them to Lianshui to climb the Haidai Tower.

A month later, the team continued to move south and expanded again.

Li Zuqia, the nephew of the then Prime Minister Li Hanzhang, actually decided not to take the imperial examination for the time being, and went south with his entourage to study.

Six second-generation officials, all hid the truth from their families and went to commit suicide regardless of the dangers at sea.

It’s all because of that book “Arabian Nights”!
(End of this chapter)