Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 106 0101 [Communicate with the people]

Zhu Ming didn't know anything about Kaifeng's mess, he was busy studying stir-fried tea with his father.

"The fried tea stove in the video seems to be built so high." Zhu Ming compared to his crotch.

Zhu Guoxiang bent down to experience the feel: "Don't guess blindly, just do it as you like, and adjust the height slowly in the future."

Ju Ming recalled the tea frying video he saw on the Internet, and said: "I remember the pot used for frying tea, it seems to be shallower than the frying pan."

Zhu Guoxiang has never operated it before, and only knows a little theory, guessing: "The shallow pot may be more easily heated, and the tea in the pot is heated more evenly."

In fact, that kind of shallow pot is called "Guangdong pot", which was only invented during the Anti-Japanese War.Moreover, deep pots and shallow pots have their own advantages. For example, Longjing tea is not suitable for frying in shallow pots.

A mason is building a hearth.

The three frying tea pots need to be joined together. The pots are not ready yet, and have been ordered by a blacksmith.

After watching for a while, Zhu Ming strolled to the tea steaming room next to him, and some tea pickers came back with tea leaves.

"Pick such tender tea leaves?" Zhu Ming couldn't help reaching out to touch them.

The tea worker hurriedly stopped: "Village chief, you can't touch it. If you touch it, you won't be able to sell it. These are waxed tea buds, and only a small amount can be picked every year. The price of a catty of waxed tea can be worth more than ten catties of first-class tea. I can’t touch it, so I can only pick it with my fingernails, and I have to throw it into the water to soak it.”

Zhu Ming didn't do anything anymore, the tea worker is a professional.

Zhu Guoxiang also came to watch the steamed tea, and said while watching: "Last year, I planned to tidy up the abandoned tea mountain, because the construction of water conservancy was delayed. But tea can also be picked from the abandoned tea mountain, and some can be picked casually, specially for the test of fried tea. As for the tea in Daming Village The tea mountain is still steamed in the old way. After the fried tea method has an effect, the production of fried tea will be gradually expanded. It cannot be changed all at once, and time must be left for the tea craftsmen to practice their skills.”

"That's for sure, otherwise if something goes wrong, there will be problems with our funds." Although Zhu Ming is impatient, he also knows that some things cannot be rushed.

Staying in the village until the Lantern Festival, Zhu Ming took Bai Sheng and Shi Biao down the mountain.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he had already gone down the mountain to have a drink with Bai Sanlang who had returned home for the New Year.The two made an appointment, and set off on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and went to Yangzhou City by boat together.

I didn't sit for a long time by boat. At the confluence of Han River and Yang River, I went ashore directly and changed to walking.

Ahead is the swift Golden Gorge, with 24 dangerous shoals.The helmsman of the Bai family has no ability to pass, and the ship will be destroyed if he is not careful.

"This place is steep," Ju Ming said to Bai Chongyan, observing the situation of the mountains and rivers. "In case of war, build a fort at the confluence of two rivers to block water and land traffic, and even a hundred thousand soldiers and horses will not be able to get through."

Bai Chongyan said with a smile: "Da Lang knows how to fight, no wonder he was able to break through the bandits."

They advanced under the cliffs by the river, and the cliffs stood tall on both sides, and the cries of apes could be heard from time to time.

Zhu Ming kicked the weeds under his feet: "There is a road here."

Bai Chongyan explained: "These trails are stepped on by the trackers. Without the trackers pulling the boat, even the best helmsman would not dare to cross the Golden Gorge."

Not far away, they met a group of trackers.

Dressed in tattered clothes, some were wrapped in sackcloth blankets.Either lie down or sit, rest in a relatively open place, and wait for a ship to arrive here to pick up the work.

There is not much arable land here, and few grains of grain can be grown here, so they must rely on pulling fiber to survive.

Zhu Ming actually stopped, took out some dry food from his bag, and immediately distributed it to the trackers.

The trackers were quite surprised and happily stood up to take the food.

A 50-[-]-year-old man with gray hair seemed to be the leader of the group of trackers. He bent down and clasped his fists and said, "My name is Gong Da. Thank you for the reward from the officials."

Although Bai Sheng didn't know Zhu Ming's intentions, he helped to brag: "This is Zhu Dutou of Xixiang County. He killed the rebel Zhu Zhu and the bully Xiaobai, and broke the black wind that has been entrenched for decades. stronghold."

Gong Da was immediately in awe, and quickly saluted again: "I have heard of Zhu Dutou's name from the passing merchant ships. They all said that there was a hero in Xixiang County called Zhu Dutou, the winged tiger. His subordinates There is also a fierce general, Zhang San, the former mountain patrolman. Zhu Dutou is going to cross the Golden Gorge by boat? Our ancestors have been pulling rope for generations, and we are very familiar with the dangerous shoal here."

Ju Ming sat down next to the trackers, ate dry food together and said, "My family used to run sea boats, and some ports also used boat pullers. Seeing you makes me feel very close."

Gong Da asked, "What kind of ship is a sea ship?"

Zhu Ming said: "A sea ship is a ship that runs in the sea?"

"What is the sea?" Gong Da asked a very outrageous question.

Ju Ming said: "The sea is boundless, and it is full of water as far as the eye can see. Sometimes, it takes several months by boat to dock to do business."

"Take a boat for a few months? How much water does that have?" Gong Da couldn't imagine. He had lived in the mountains all his life and had never heard of the sea.

So, Zhu Ming began to talk about ancient times, and made up overseas stories again.

All the trackers gathered around, gnawed on the dry food and listened to surprises, and exclaimed from time to time.

After getting to know each other thoroughly, Zhu Ming asked, "How are you doing?"

Gong Da shook his head and sighed: "I can't. My grandpa's generation couldn't finish the work of stretching, and there were merchant ships coming from the Han River every day. Later, the government banned the private sale of tea, and there were fewer merchant ships. Many If the fiber workers can't fill their stomachs, they will stop doing this, and either go to the mountains to open up wasteland and farm land, or try their luck to pan for gold sands."

"How much do you earn a day now?" Zhu Ming asked again.

Gong Da still shook his head: "It's hard to say, and it's not possible to pick up jobs every day. If I don't come to the boat for a month, I have to rely on my brothers to support me. My mother-in-law and my brothers are all farming in the mountains, and they can't harvest a few dollars a year. food."

Zhu Ming continued to inquire and got some general information.

If they have jobs every day, compared to farmers, these trackers are very profitable.Although it was hard work and dangerous, he could earn sixty or seventy wen a day.

It's a pity that the business in Hanzhong area is in decline, and the number of merchant ships has dropped sharply. They often have no work for ten and a half months.

Even the government doesn't bother to take care of them, these trackers are all hidden households.

There are so many hidden households escaping these days. No wonder the three counties of Yangzhou have a registered population of less than 25.

After chatting for a while, Zhu Ming got up to say goodbye, and the trackers saw him off one after another.

They are also idle when they are idle, and Ju Ming will give them dry food and tell them strange stories as soon as he comes.The trackers liked such a small official very much, and thought Zhu Dutou was a very good man.

The trackers didn't stop until they had been sent for two miles.

Zhu Ming asked: "You said that you can pan for gold sand here, but do you do it casually, or is there someone in charge?"

Gong Da said: "There are a few bosses, and they have set up territory. When they cross the border, they will fight and kill! There are also individual visitors, just like rats stealing rice. They dare not let others know."

"Won't the government come to collect the gold rush tax?" Zhu Ming asked again.

Gong Da said: "In the past, there was a lot of gold to be collected. Now I don't collect it, and I can't find a few. Those gold diggers are also suffering. They dare to fight with the officials! More than [-] years ago, my eldest son When they were born, there were short-sighted officials who came to collect gold taxes. None of them could go back, and they were all killed and sank into the river. They were so frightened that the officials dared not come again."

Fuck, it's awesome!
Like miners, these gold diggers are born rebels.

Zhu Ming asked again: "Is everyone panning for gold in the Han River?"

Gong Da said: "There are dangerous shoals in the Golden Gorge, and there are also many shoals. We pan for gold in those shoals. There are several small rivers coming out of the mountains on both sides, and those small rivers can also pan for gold. There is also a gold mine in the mountain. It was managed by the government, and then it was abandoned. It was abandoned, and it was still able to dig gold, but it was taken over by a good man."

It is estimated that the gold mines have been exhausted, and the official management agency is bloated, resulting in the gold being panned out is not enough for administrative expenses, so it was ordered by Changping to abandon it.

But in private hands, waste gold mines can also be profitable.

Zhu Ming asked, "What's the name of the hero who occupied the gold mine?"

"What is it called Gong Xiu, who chopped the big tiger? I haven't seen it before. I only heard that he is very strong and killed a tiger with a knife." Gong Da said.

What splits a big tiger?

Obviously it is Pi Dahu, the common name of Pixiu!

It is rumored in the world that a hero who is nicknamed "Pixiu" has become a tiger who has hacked to death in a daze.

After asking some more information about the gold diggers, Zhu Ming bowed his hands and said goodbye: "If you have any difficulties in the future, you can go to Daming Village to find me. Daming Village is the former Heifeng Village. If you go there, you will not be hungry."

Gong Da said happily: "Zhu Dutou is really a righteous man!"

The trackers also enthusiastically waved their hands, asking Zhu Dutou to come and play in Huangjinxia more often in the future.

When the two sides said goodbye, Bai Chongyan was quite puzzled: "What do Dalang and the tracker say you are doing?"

Zhu Ming asked, "What is the purpose of reading?"

Bai Chongyan said: "Cultivate one's self, regulate one's family, govern the country and the world."

"How to govern the country? How to pacify the world?" Zhu Ming asked again.

Bai Chongyan said: "Being an official in the imperial examination, promote benevolent government and enlightenment. Benefit one side outside, and assist the emperor inside. If the inside and outside are orderly, the world will be peaceful and the inside will be prosperous."

Zhu Ming asked: "Do you know how much grain is in one mu of land? How much is the upper field? How much is the middle field? How much is the lower field? If you don't know these things, how can you collect taxes? If the taxes are insufficient and the treasury is empty, how can you govern the country? If taxes have been collected If the people are poor, how can the country be rich?"

"To collect taxes, you only need to have officials," Bai Chongyan said, "For officials, they only need to control subordinate officials and subordinate staff, so why do they need to do everything by themselves?"

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "You don't even know how many buckets of grain are harvested in the field, how do you know that the officials under you are not cheating secretly? You even go to the countryside to extort money in your name!"

Bai Chongyan was silent and began to think seriously.

Zhu Ming asked again: "How much grain does Sanlang's family harvest every year?"

Bai Chongyan said: "My elder brother is taking care of the property."

"That is to say, you don't even know how much food is in your own field," Zhu Ming said with emotion, "Don't talk about governing the country and the world, I'm afraid you won't even be able to feed your family."

Bai Chongyan said: "If you ask about everything, how can you still have time to study? How can you have time to study?"

Zhu Ming said: "An insight into the world is knowledge, and understanding of human feelings is an article. You don't have to find the world's avenues in books. I went to suppress bandits for learning, and talking to trackers is also learning."

Bai Chongyan argued: "If you give good courtesy, the people will not dare to be disrespectful; if you give good righteousness, then the people will not dare to disobey; if you give good faith, then the people will not dare to be merciless. Well, how can we use crops?"

This is the original words of Confucius, the superiors only need to abide by the propriety, righteousness and trustworthiness to gain the support of the common people, without having to study how to farm.

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Have you only read half of your studies? Confucius said that farming is not as good as an old farmer, which means that special personnel should be assigned to do special tasks, and the superiors only need to control these special personnel. A person in politics may not know how to farm, but he must Know how much grain is harvested per acre of land. Otherwise, how to control? How to prevent Xiaoxiao from cheating? In addition to grain, you also need to know about industry and commerce, and you also need to know about these trackers and gold diggers."

Bai Chongyan fell silent.

Zhu Ming also said: "Confucius and Mencius said that benevolent government should be implemented in the world. But the real situation is different in different places. The good government here is the bad government elsewhere. If you don't understand and communicate with the people, how will you know whether you are implementing good government or not?" Evil government? You want to be kind to the people, but when the government orders come out, the people are forced to flee into the mountains. Is this what a gentleman does?"

Bai Chongyan stood there for a long time, then suddenly bowed and bowed down: "You have been taught!"

(End of this chapter)