Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1166 Epilogue : The Ming Dynasty City That Never Sleeps: Luoyang

The normal speed of trains in the Ming Dynasty was about 25-30 kilometers per hour.

The 400-kilometer journey should have been completed in 15 hours, but 10 hours had passed and more than half of the distance was still left.

Every time the train arrived at a county town, it would stop to wait for passengers, and each stop would take more than half an hour. The most torturous one was a full 70 minutes.

Meng Shu seemed to be used to it. He took out his pipe and tobacco and asked, "Do you smoke, brother?"

"No." Xie Yan shook his head.

Meng Shu said, "How can one study without smoking? You can try it someday. It can help clear your mind."

"Thank you for your kindness. I'll try it another day." Xie Yan smiled perfunctorily.

Meng Shu held his pipe in his mouth, stood up and stretched: "Let's get off the car and walk around. My waist is sore from sitting."

Xie Yan was also tired of sitting, so he followed them out.

The platform was busy with people coming and going.

There were even people pushing carts and carrying poles to sell snacks, operating at night with lanterns. The station staff did not care, and they probably had already paid the entrance fee.

"Oh, there are rice noodles for sale," Xie Yan walked over and said to the stall owner, "Give me seven bowls of rice...Is this called rice noodles?"

The stall owner naturally did not refute the customer, and said while busying himself: "You can call it rice noodles. We call it rice noodles here."

A more elegant name is "can". Literati call eating rice noodles "eating can".

Xie Yan called all his followers over. Since they were sitting in a high-class carriage, no one would dare to steal things from there.

Of course, we still have to be on guard.

Two strong servants stood guard at the door of the carriage. When the rice noodles were cooked, they would take them over and eat while standing, so as not to interfere with their duty of guarding the luggage.

After cooking seven bowls, Meng Shu and his followers were also called over.

Meng Shu puffed away for a while, used the stall to knock on his pipe, and then sat down to smoke some rice noodles.

"Three big bowls of noodles, plus two boiled eggs!" a loud voice rang out.

Xie Yan turned his head and saw a burly man coming.

This man was at least 1.8 meters tall, wearing a short brown robe and a scarf on his head. He had an unstrung bow on his back and a long sword on his waist.

The two strong servants accompanying Xie Yan instantly became alert and kept a close eye on his movements.

The sturdy man glanced at the followers of Xie Yan and Meng Shu, grinned, stretched out his toes to hook the stool, moved the small stool three feet away, and then sat down.

Before the noodles were cooked, the strong man said, "Don't be afraid. I have studied before, and this time I am going to take the entrance exam for Luoyang Military Academy."

Meng Shu sipped his rice noodles and said, "There are military schools in the south too. Why did you travel all the way to Luoyang?"

The strong man said, "Luoyang Military Academy is the most difficult to get into."

"You have great ambition." Xie Yan praised.

The strong man said, "No match for you gentlemen."

Neither side spoke again.

The attendant observed carefully for a while, then leaned over to Xie Yan's ear and whispered, "Liu Lang, this man is strange. He is dressed like an ordinary citizen, but his bow and sword are very valuable, and he has money to take the train."

Xie Yan asked, "What's your name, brother?"

The strong man said, "Don't bother, my last name is Yang, Yang Boyan. Don't be afraid, my ancestor was the top general who followed the King of Qian (Bai Qi) to destroy Dali. Eighty years ago, the Shan barbarians rebelled, and my great-grandfather led his army to fight them. The army was infected with an epidemic and suffered too many casualties. They were suddenly attacked by the barbarians and suffered a great defeat. My family declined because of this, and my father could only be a low-level officer. But the family's skills are still there, and I will definitely restore the glory of my ancestors!"

Meng Shu immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "So you are the descendant of Lord Yang."

Yang Boyan chuckled and said, "You have some knowledge. My generation has been reduced to the point where I have no more titles. I must kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions to restore my ancestors' titles."

"No matter how poor the descendants of the county lord are, they shouldn't be like this, right?" Meng Shu said.

Yang Boyan smacked his lips and said, "My grandfather was born out of wedlock, so he didn't get any inheritance."

"Sir, the noodles are here." said the vendor with a smile.

Yang Boyan picked up a large piece of noodles with chopsticks, stuffed most of it into his mouth, finished the whole bowl of noodles in no time, and then started eating the second bowl without stopping.

Meng Shu exclaimed: "What a brave man, he is worthy of being the descendant of Lord Yang!"

Yang Boyan laughed and said, "Who doesn't know how to eat noodles? The coolies at the docks know how to eat better than me."

Meng Shu felt that this person was worth making friends with, so he introduced himself: "Come to think of it, my ancestor might have known Lord Yang."

Yang Boyan put down his chopsticks and asked, "What's your name?"

Meng Shu said: "I am Meng Shu, from the Meng family of Gong County. My ancestor was a disciple of Emperor Taizu, and served as a cabinet minister for several years during the reign of Emperor Taizong."

Yang Boyan stood up in awe, bowed and said, "My apologies."

As their ancestors were both civil and military leaders who founded the Ming Dynasty, the relationship between the two men was instantly brought closer. Meng Shu even invited Yang Boyan to visit Gong County.

Meng Shu introduced Xie Yan: "This is the brother Xie Yan and Xie Chaozong, the second 16-year-old Jade Scholar since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

Yang Boyan quickly bowed and said in surprise: "He is a great scholar."

Everyone carried the flowery sedan chair, and Xie Yan smiled and said, “Brother Meng is also a royal scholar.”

Yang Boyan was not stupid, on the contrary he was very smart, and he quickly saluted Meng Shu again: "Today I have met two literary stars."

The three of them sat on mats and chatted until the train whistle blew, then they hurriedly got up to catch the train.

There was an empty seat in their premium carriage, so Xie Yan invited Yang Boyan to go over. Yang Boyan politely declined the offer, saying he was worried that someone else might have bought a premium ticket halfway through the journey.

After returning to the carriage, Xie Yan asked, "Who is that Mr. Yang?"

Meng Shu said: "The most powerful general of the surname Yang who followed the King of Qian to conquer Dali was naturally Yang Zaixing, the county lord of Emperor Taizong. The Yang family has not produced any good generals for several generations. Not only did Yang Zaixing's son lead his troops to a great defeat, but his grandchildren were also punished by the court for taking human lives."

Yang Zaixing?
I'm familiar with this!
As a history illiterate, Xie Yan didn't know many historical figures, but he did know Yue Fei and Yang Zaixing.

"Who is that King of Qian?" Xie Yan asked curiously. Meng Shu was quite surprised: "Brother, you don't even know the King of Qian? You must be so absorbed in studying that you don't care about the mundane things in this world."

"I never paid attention to those things before." Xie Yan continued.

Meng Shu said: "The Prince of Qian is the stepson of Emperor Taizu and the half-brother of Emperor Taizong. Their family has ruled Yunnan for generations, and although their titles will decrease, they will not decrease any further once they are downgraded to the rank of Marquis. Their descendants can rise back to the rank if they win a few battles. The current head of the family is a Duke of a County."

Xie Yan thought, isn’t this just a replica of Prince Mu’s Palace?
Meng Shu didn't seem to regard Xie Yan as an outsider, and even talked about some secrets: "When the late emperor reorganized the army, the descendants of the King of Qian were given special care, and the power of the Bai family in Yunnan was not as strong as before. The descendants of Yang Zaixing declined so quickly, which was actually related to the late emperor's reorganization of the army."

This is purely the mess left behind by Zhu Ming.

But there are disadvantages and advantages.

In order to regain their titles, Bai Qi's descendants often deliberately provoked border conflicts, and then took the opportunity to fight and expand their territory.

But we can't strike too hard all at once. We must always leave some opportunities for meritorious service for the sustainable development of our descendants.

This is a blessing in disguise.

The newly expanded territories were too poor, the terrain was too complex and isolated, and the language and customs were very different. Expanding too quickly would be difficult to digest. The practices of the Bai family for several generations were the most in line with the local conditions in Yunnan.

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Eat away and digest little by little towards the south!

It has now expanded to Kengtung, Lashio and Jesa in Myanmar.

In the darkness, the train moved slowly forward.

Xie Yan fell asleep on the table and when he woke up again it was already early morning.

He turned his head and looked out the window. The villages on both sides of the railway kept receding. Rural houses were mainly made of mud walls and tiled roofs, while the rich families had brick-walled houses. Thatched roofs were rare.

From time to time, you can see farmers working in the fields, all wearing short brown clothes, which is the clothing style of ancient working people.

Imagine yourself sitting on a train and feeling the magic again.

The train refueled with coal in Ye County and did not go to Pingdingshan, but went straight to Xiangcheng, and then arrived outside Yingchang (Xuchang).

The railway has a fork in Yingchang.

To the northeast is Tokyo Kaifeng Prefecture.

Heading due north, you will reach Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province.

Xie Yan asked: "Which city is more prosperous, Luoyang or Kaifeng?"

Meng Shu said, "Of course Luoyang is more prosperous, but Kaifeng is not much behind. The court said that both cities have more than one million people, but if those who stay for a short period of time are included, the public estimates that the number is likely to be two million."

Xie Yan found it hard to imagine a city with a population of two million in the Middle Ages.

If coal had not been used early on, the vegetation near Luoyang and Kaifeng would have been cut down and burned long ago.

Zhengzhou is in a very bad situation.

Sandwiched between the two capitals, the city is particularly affected by the siphon effect. It is a provincial capital city with a train service, but after many years of development, it has only a population of 300,000.

Although also a provincial capital, Xiangyang has a population of over one million.

The train stopped in Zhengzhou for more than an hour and continued to Xingze County in the northwest.

Xingze County is located on the bank of the Bian River.

The two were exhausted after taking the train, so they found an inn in Xingze and stayed there for one night. The next day, they took a boat along the Bian River into the Yellow River, and the boat soon turned into Luo River.

"Brother, do you have a place to stay in Luoyang?"

Meng Shu was going to disembark in Gong County: "If you have no relatives or friends in Luoyang, you can go to my house first. After a few days, I will accompany you to Luoyang for a meeting."

Xie Yan said, "Brother is already waiting in Luoyang. Are all members invited to this meeting of the Royal Society?"

Meng Shu smiled and said, "How can we accommodate so many people? Only the top three scholars are invited. You are a specially invited scholar."

"So that's how it is." Xie Yan said.

Meng Shu clasped his fists and said, "The passenger ship is about to dock. See you in Luoyang. Hehe, it's such a grand event, I want to join in the fun. Even if I can't enter the venue, walking around outside will also count as participation."

Xie Yan also clasped his fists and said, "Then we'll meet again later."

The passenger ship stopped steadily, Meng Shu stepped down on the pedal, and after getting ashore, he turned around and clasped his fists again.

Xie Yan returned to the cabin to sleep, and when he woke up he had arrived in Luoyang.

His attendants woke him up.

In the darkness of the night, you can see thousands of lights from afar.

Even though it was already dark, Luoyang City was still as lively as ever, and the dock area was even bustling with people.

The four followers behind Xie Yan were also coming to Luoyang for the first time.

They were stunned with shock!

In fact, this is just the outer area of ​​Luoyang City.

Over the past 100 years, the city wall of Luoyang has not been expanded. However, the area of ​​the suburbs has continued to expand. The White Horse Temple in Zhu Ming's time was in the suburbs, but now it is almost included in the city.

While several followers were asking for directions, Xie Yan was observing the buildings along the way.

"Most of them are five- or six-story brick and wood structures. They build the houses so high probably because the land is too expensive and they want to accommodate more people."

"Are these not commercial properties? Or are they privately built for rent?"

"Fuck, it feels like we've suddenly returned to modern times. The Ming Dynasty is too fragmented. Luoyang and other places are completely two different worlds."

"It's already dark, but it's still so lively. Luoyang people have a rich nightlife."

"Even if a steam robot suddenly pops out, I won't be surprised..."

(End of this chapter)