Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 107 0102 [Yangzhou Academy]

On the bank of the water, the mountain road is steep.

In some road sections, there are even only narrow plank roads.

Those plank roads have been in disrepair for a long time, and the few decayed wooden boards were replaced by new ones by the trackers.And it is very casual to change, just saw a few thick branches and nail them on.

The trackers can only do this, and the government must lead the overhaul.

However, the government turned a blind eye.

The situation is embarrassing. This place belongs to the boundary of Zhenfu County, but it is Xixiang County that is eager to use the plank road.

Perhaps when something happens to the plank road, the county magistrate of Xixiang will come forward and ask Yangzhou to allocate funds.At that time, it will be impossible not to allocate, because the taxes in Xixiang County will have to be transported from here.

Zhu Ming stepped on the plank road, trembling, afraid that this thing would suddenly collapse.

On the contrary, Bai Chongyan behaved calmly, because he has walked through it many times.

On the way, I met two groups of gold diggers, all gathered in the shallows of the river.The turbulent river current carries gold sand, washes it down from the upstream, and slows down when encountering shoals, and the gold sand also precipitates.

From the gold rush in the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, no matter how much gold sand there is, it should be empty.

Ju Ming stood on the shore and watched, and there were several gold diggers in front of him, standing in the water in ragged clothes.At this time, the Lantern Festival had just passed, and the river water was so cold that it was easy to catch a cold and have a fever.

The cold river water is nothing, what is more difficult is that there is no harvest.

These people have been scouring for a long time, but it seems that there is not even half a grain of gold sand.

They appear numb, and all movements are mechanical.Constantly fetching sand, constantly sifting, day after day, year after year, just to satisfy our hunger.

"Take a rest." Zhu Ming couldn't help but said.

The gold diggers turned a deaf ear and continued to repeat the action.

After a while, someone finally picked up the broken porcelain bowl and took out a grain of gold sand from the bowl. The smile on his face was like a flower blooming.

Perhaps Zhu Ming and the others stayed for too long, a man came ashore and took the opportunity to rest by talking: "Do you two scholars want to buy gold? We haven't found much gold sand in the past few days."

Bai Chongyan brought a school boy, and Zhu Ming also brought two followers, carrying books and dry food in large and small bags, and was mistaken for a scholar who was going to study abroad.

Iron money is too heavy, and it is inconvenient to travel far, but it is much more comfortable to exchange it for gold.

Zhu Ming took out the dry food again, and handed the other party a piece of wheat cake: "My name is Zhu Ming, what's your name?"

The man took the wheat cake and replied, "My name is Liang Jin, the gold of gold."

"Are you their leader?" Ju Ming pointed at the other gold diggers.

Liang Jin said: "There is no leader here, they are all brothers and sisters."

Ju Ming inquired carefully and quickly understood the basic situation.

These gold diggers, living in the nearby mountains, have opened up wasteland and multiplied for several generations.The food grown is not enough to eat, and they have to pan for gold to subsidize the family. They elected a leader to resolve disputes internally and compete for gold panning sites externally.

They are all poor people, and the leader has no privileges, and if he cannot convince the crowd, he will be replaced.

Well, electoral system.

Zhu Ming inquired: "I heard that there is a good man named Pi Dahu Gongxiu nearby?"

"Why are you asking Big Brother Gong?" Liang Jin immediately became vigilant.

Bai Sheng immediately said: "I, Brother Zhu, is also a good man. He was nicknamed the Winged Tiger and once served as the head of Xixiang County."

Liang Jin only knew about panning for gold all day long, and he was not as well informed as the tracker. He had never heard of Zhu Dutou's name.But when he heard that he was from Xixiang County, his vigilance was greatly reduced, because this place belongs to the boundary of Zhenfu County.

Zhu Ming said: "I like to make friends with good men. I heard that Gong Xiu is also a good man, so I want to drink with him and eat meat."

Liang Jin pointed to the northeast: "There is a small river ahead that flows into the Han River. If you follow the small river, you will be there in two or three days."

Zhu Ming asked, "Are you all Gong Xiu's subordinates?"

"No, Brother Gong will send someone to collect the sand." Liang Jin explained.

After chatting for a while, I probably figured it out.

Gong Xiu was guarding an abandoned gold mine, took the gold he mined, and went to Zhenfu County to exchange for money and food.He brought money and food in exchange for the gold sand in the hands of the gold diggers.

All gold diggers rely on Gong Xiu for food, this Pi Dahu has a high prestige.

Gong Xiu is a bit stingy, not generous, he cares about things, but he wins in fairness.

After walking for a long time, I finally saw the tributary.

Bai Chongyan obviously didn't want to visit Gong Xiu, and persuaded him, "I don't have much dry rations, so I gave some to the trackers. The gold digger said that it would take two or three days to go to the abandoned gold mine. I'm afraid we don't have enough dry rations." eat."

"Then forget it."

Zhu Ming had to take into account Bai Chongyan's thoughts.

As for this Gongxiu, he definitely wants to visit, and we can wait until he comes back to talk about it.

After traveling along the Han River for another two days, we finally arrived at Zhenfu County.

The size of this county is extremely small, and it doesn't even have a decent city wall. It is far inferior to Xixiang County.It is located on the banks of the Han River, surrounded by mountains, but the surrounding area of ​​the county is relatively flat, which belongs to the lowest level of poverty-stricken counties in the country.

Bai Chongyan said: "You can stay here first, and wait for the boat to Yangzhou."

So they went straight to the inn, and Bai Sheng was sent to inquire about the news of the ship.

After leaving the luggage at the inn by the river, with Bai Chongyan and Shutong watching, Zhu Ming took Shi Biao into the city.

The city wall is made of rammed earth, short and broken, and has collapsed in many places.

Inside and outside the city, there are a lot of thatched cottages, so fucking poor!

I didn't go far and came to the county government office, which was also dilapidated.There is not even a county magistrate here, only a county magistrate who is eating and waiting to die.

Zhenfu County used to be called Huangjin County, which was established because of its rich gold.

With old gold mines exhausted and new ones undiscovered, its decline was justified.If this continues for a few more decades, it is estimated that the administrative division will have to be cancelled, and it will be directly merged into the neighboring Xingdao County.

There is nothing to do in the county town, so Zhu Ming returned to the riverside and asked the innkeeper for information about mountains and rivers.

The shopkeeper pointed to the north and said: "There is a river there, called Golden Water, and the valley is called Golden Valley. The biggest gold mine is in the Golden Valley, and there is not much gold to be mined. It is estimated that it will be abandoned in a few years. The mine supervisors there don’t rely on gold to make money, but rely on merchant taxes to make a living.”

"Business tax? What are the caravans doing there?" Zhu Ming asked.

The shopkeeper smiled and revealed a well-known secret: "The private tea is transported from the Golden Valley to Yulu (Zhouzhi County)."

Hundreds of years later, the golden water has long since dried up.

But at this time, they can follow the Golden Valley to the north, climb some mountains, and then enter the Luo Valley, and go straight to Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi along the Luo Valley for hundreds of miles!

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Shuang's conquest of Shu took this Tangluo Road.Shu general Wang Ping led his army to block and stationed his troops at Xingshi Mountain in the Golden Valley.

The former marching route has now become a commercial road for selling private tea. The mountains are high and the valleys are deep, the mountains are blocked, and bandits are rampant.

To the east of Tangluo Road is the more steep Ziwu Valley.

After hearing the news from the innkeeper, Zhu Ming hired a small fishing boat and went to the Golden Valley the next day.

After rowing for two hours, Ju Ming was observing the terrain along the river, but the fisherman refused to go any further.

"Little official, there is a column in front of you, and you have to collect money when you pass by," said the fisherman.

Zhu Ming asked, "Official column or private column?"

The fisherman said, "It's a private fence set up by the government."

The answer is very interesting. The gold mine supervisor under the Changping Division has openly set up a private toll booth to collect taxes from the tea smugglers, clearly robbing the Tea Horse Division of their jobs.

"I'll pay the money, you continue to go." Zhu Ming said.

But the fisherman shook his head: "It's been almost half a day of rowing. If we go any further, it will be dark when I return to the county town. If I encounter bandits, I will be in a bad position."

What is wrong with the world?

Bandits everywhere!

It is estimated that they are also farmers in the mountains, who occasionally work part-time as bandits.

Bai Chongyan was still waiting in the inn, and Zhu Ming didn't force him, he would wait until he came back from Xingyuan Mansion.

Another day later, they boarded a merchant ship bound for Yangzhou.

Yangzhou is the real "Little Jiangnan", which belongs to one of the essence of the entire Hanzhong Basin, second only to Xingyuan Mansion (Hanzhong).

There are large tracts of fertile soil along the river. Ju Ming is standing on the boat, and there are rape fields and wheat fields everywhere on both sides.The stretch of paddy fields near Zhoucheng alone is equivalent to the area of ​​paddy fields in the entire Xixiang County.

Moreover, the city wall is so tall, even with city bricks.

Zhu Ming almost shouted in his heart: This is my dragon's place!
Bai Chongyan said quite proudly: "In terms of taxes on Lizhou Road, Xingyuan Mansion is the first. But our Yangzhou is the place where Lizhou Road is rich in literature. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, more than [-]% Lizhou Road Scholars are all from our three counties in Yangzhou. Yangzhou Academy is the best academy on Lizhou Road.”

In the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, there were only 22 scholars in the Hanzhong Basin, of which 19 came from the three counties of Yangzhou...

Yangzhou Academy is not in the city, but in the foothills outside the city.

After landing, Bai Chongyan introduced while walking: "Yangzhou Academy was originally founded by the Min family, and now there are other gentry and merchants donating money to run the school. But the head of the academy has always been held by the Min family. The Min family of Yangzhou is The most prosperous family on Lizhou Road."

Four of the 22 Jinshi in Song Dynasty and Hanzhong had the surname Min.

"Is anyone in the Min family serving as an official?" Zhu Ming asked.

Bai Chongyan shook his head and said: "Uncle Min Yuwen died of illness a few years ago, and he was the highest grade official. Now there is a Min Zishun in the academy, who is the most knowledgeable and has traveled to Guanluo. In time, he will definitely go to high school. The Min family has a long history. It's incomparable."

What Bai Chongyan was talking about was a non-commissioned officer, and the Min family was temporarily dead.However, although the ranks of Yin officials and donated officials are not high, there are still several of them in the Min family.

This is a real family of officials and eunuchs. If Zhu Ming wants to rebel in Yangzhou, he must either win over the Min family or kill the Min family directly!
Climbing up the mountain along the stone steps, the road is lined with lush trees.

Between the branches and leaves, the building was soon revealed.

This is a building complex with high walls and at least dozens of houses inside.

When Bai Chongyan entered, he even had to take out a wooden waist card, which was probably equivalent to his student ID card.

"Yangzhou Academy also imitated the official school and practiced the three-house method. I am already a student in the upper house," Bai Chongyan said, pointing to the buildings in front of him. There are all kinds of classics and history, and you must be a student in the dormitory to borrow them. There is a dormitory over there, and a canteen over there. As long as you are a dormitory student, board and lodging are free.”

Free board and lodging for students in the dormitory?
Zhu Ming immediately dismissed the idea of ​​killing the Min family.

Over the past few decades, the Min family has attracted countless scholars by relying on the academy.Once the Min family is killed, Ju Ming's reputation in Yangzhou will be ruined, and he must be wooed and beaten at the same time.

Bai Chongyan took Zhu Ming to his dormitory, where a student was reading a book.

"Da Lang," Bai Chongyan introduced, "this is my roommate Ling Guxu, named Zi Nuo."

Linggu, a very uncommon surname, most of them have been changed to Linghu, and few still keep their original surname.Linggu and Linghu are interlinked in most cases, and these two surnames have a common ancestor.

"I've met Brother Zi Nuo!" Zhu Ming greeted with clasped fists.

Bai Chongyan said: "Zinuo, this is Zhu Chenggong, who has mastered the three classics and has outstanding poetic talent."

Ling Guxu's eyes lit up, he got up and bowed and said, "I have admired your name for a long time, and it is like thunder piercing my ears!"

Bai Chongyan smiled and said, "Da Lang, you are already famous in Yangzhou Academy."

(End of this chapter)