Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1167 Epilogue : The Seventh Rank Official in Front of the Prime Minister
Xie Yan walked to a street lamp and stood on tiptoe to find out what kind of fuel was used.

Not gaslighting!
With the current level of chemistry in the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to produce the high-temperature resistant gauze required for gas lamps.

This is a kerosene lamp, which, like traditional oil lamps, relies on a wick to burn for illumination.

It is brighter than traditional oil lamps, but as a street lamp its brightness is limited and it can only barely meet the lighting needs of urban roads. The first street lamp in Chinese history was a kerosene lamp that was lit in Shanghai in 1843.

The Ming Dynasty was already mining oil and had a primary oil refining industry. Its main uses were: lighting, washing, lubrication, ink making, anti-corrosion, traditional Chinese medicine, building materials, military, etc.

Most of these uses actually appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty, and petroleum was even used for lighting as early as the Han Dynasty.

"Excuse me, what kind of lamp is this?" Xie Yan asked the vendor near the street lamp.

The vendor's eyes revealed his disdain for the bumpkin, but he couldn't afford to offend potential customers, so he smiled and said, "This is a kerosene lamp, it burns kerosene. What would you like to eat, sir?"

Xie Yan asked again: "Do the people in Luoyang also use kerosene lamps for lighting in their homes?"

The vendor replied, "The price of kerosene has dropped a bit in the past two years, and more and more people are using kerosene lamps. What would you like to eat, sir?"

"Thank you." Xie Yan bowed and said goodbye.

When he was far away, the vendor muttered, "An ignorant foreigner has come to Luoyang again to show off."

If Xie Yan was born in the 70s, he would have definitely seen this kind of kerosene lamp, which was still used by many rural families in the 80s.

The address my father gave me is in the city, and we definitely can’t get in so late at night.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not have a curfew policy, the city gates had to be closed at night. The nightlife of Luoyang people was also divided into inside and outside the city. No one was allowed to enter or leave the city gates. Not even the royal family members!

That night, they found an inn outside the city to stay in.

This inn is also a six-story brick and wood building, with stairs and floors made of wooden boards. The stairs, in particular, sink when you step on them.

Xie Yan climbed all the way up to the fifth floor, playing on the wooden planks along the way.

He thought about visiting the cement factory one day to learn about the current cement process and see if he could improve the cement.

Perhaps, the building can be built to more than ten floors!
There is also a kerosene lamp on the table in the guest room.

The shop assistant was afraid that they would not know how to use it, so he demonstrated it himself: "Look, sir, this knob can adjust the wick. When the light gets dim, adjust the wick to be longer. Kerosene and wicks are limited, and we can only burn so many for free every night. If you want to read by lamplight, you can also go to the counter and pay for kerosene and wicks."

"Got it." Xie Yan nodded.

It seems that kerosene is not cheap, and the inn has to limit its supply.

But it’s not particularly expensive, otherwise some of it wouldn’t be provided for free.

There is also a toilet in the guest room, which also has a ceramic wooden ring flush toilet. However, because the floor is too high, there is no running water, and there is a water tank hanging above the toilet, which must be filled with water manually.

There is no separate bathroom, and if you want to take a shower, you have to go to the bathhouse on the first floor.

With a high-precision scale by his side, Xie Yan did not go to the night market, waiting to settle down in the city tomorrow.

Nothing happened all night.

He got up early the next morning, had a quick meal on the street, and then called a carriage to go straight to the city gate.

"Young man, are you the nephew of the Minister of Works?" The driver took the initiative to talk, because the address Xie Yan gave was exactly where the Minister of Works' official residence was.

Xie Yan answered ambiguously: "I am considered a junior."

The driver made small talk: "My dear husband, is this your first time in Luoyang?"

Xie Yan asked with a smile: "How do you know?"

The driver said, "The young master looked around the streets before he got on the carriage, and after he got on the carriage he lifted the curtain to look again."

"Has your family lived in Luoyang for generations?" Xie Yan asked.

The driver said proudly, "My family is from Luoyang. We used to live in the suburbs, but later the land was occupied and the business that built the house paid us two houses as compensation."

Xie Yan was surprised and asked, "So those buildings outside the city were built by merchants to sell?"

The driver said, “Some people build their own and rent them out.”

"When businessmen buy land to build houses, does the government intervene?" Xie Yan asked.

The driver replied, "At first, no one cared, as long as they paid the tax. A few decades ago, something went wrong, and the farmers in the suburbs thought the compensation was too little, and they refused to move out. The merchants hired hooligans to go door to door and cause trouble, and in the end, people died, and more than one person died. Many farmers were scared and moved out obediently. But there were a few who were not afraid of death and went together to beat the drum to report the incident."

Xie Yan asked: "Did the court take action?"

The driver said, "The late emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. The prefect of Luoyang was imprisoned. I heard that he accepted bribes from merchants. After that, the rules were changed. Building houses for sale in the city and suburbs required government approval before buying land, and the deed tax on real estate transactions was also increased."

Xie Yan asked again: "Is there a common area in the house?"

"What is a common area?" the driver was puzzled.

Xie Yan explained: "It means taking the external walls, corridors and stairs into account and spreading them into the size of the house so that the buyer will bear the cost."

The driver laughed and said, "Isn't that a lie? It would be a wonder if the house could be sold."

Xie Yan continued to ask: "If I can't afford to buy a house, can I go to the bank for a loan?"

The driver thought for a moment and said, "There may be such people, but I have never seen them. There are many people who borrow money from relatives and friends to buy houses."

Xie Yan asked again: "Are there any merchants who, when they are short of money, first borrow money from banks to buy land? When they start to build houses, they pre-sell them to the people, and then use the money from the people to repay the loans?"

"The house isn't even built yet, only a fool would buy it." The driver thought Xie Yan was mentally ill.

After listening to this, Xie Yan felt that the real estate market in the Ming Dynasty was still a sea of ​​​​green leeks.

Ah, forget it.

I want to be a great scientist who will be remembered throughout the ages. This kind of profiteering business will bring me a bad reputation, so I'd better leave it to those shrewd businessmen.

The carriage drove into the middle gate of the East City and headed west along the main road.

The buildings in the city are different. There are also five- or six-story brick and wood buildings like those outside the city, but the number of such buildings is obviously much smaller.

It is probably because demolition in the city is too difficult, so businessmen would rather invest in real estate in the suburbs.

"Hey, there are more buildings in this area." Xie Yan said in surprise.

The driver explained: "This area is the residence of officials in the capital. It was built during the reign of Emperor Taizong and rented to officials at low prices. Later, many officials did not move out after retirement, and their entire families stayed in the houses and occupied them directly. More and more people occupied official residences, leaving new officials with no place to live, and they had to rent houses from local residents." "Was it demolished later?" Xie Yan asked.

The driver spoke like a story, "Several decades ago, there was a young official in the capital who repeatedly petitioned to be transferred to a distant place, and even sent a secret petition to the late emperor. The late emperor was so annoyed by him that he summoned him to the palace for questioning. The late emperor asked, 'You are a Beijing official at such a young age, why do you always want to be transferred to a distant place? Are you going to make money in the countryside?' The young official replied, 'The rent in the capital is too expensive, and there is not much left after paying the rent. I am as honest as water and dare not embezzle or accept bribes. I want to be transferred to a distant place because I can't make a living anymore.'"

"Is the late emperor angry again?" Xie Yan asked with a smile.

The driver nodded and said, "The late emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. All those who had long ceased to be officials but had been occupying official residences were driven out. The original two-story official residences were demolished and rebuilt into six-story ones. Finally, those officials in the capital have a place to live."

Xie Yan said: "The late emperor was a really good emperor."

The driver shook his whip violently: "Isn't it? The late emperor did a lot of good things! People often say that the late emperor was incompetent in his later years, but that bit of incompetence is actually nothing. We ordinary people know it very well... Hey, we're at the front!"

The place where important officials of the cabinet and the government lived was the official residence. No one dared to occupy it. They had to move out immediately after leaving office. Because the front hall was the office area and the backyard was the living area, the crime of occupying the official residence could be punished by death if it was seriously investigated!
Xie Yan came to the side door of the backyard of the official residence of the Minister of Works, handed out his business card and said, "Please tell everyone that Xie Yan is here to see you."

The doorman was a little old man with a nose in the air. He put down the business card without even looking at it and said, "Come back another day."

Xie Yan knew that this person wanted to take money, but he refused to give it: "My brother is currently living in your house."

Menzi finally remembered this matter, looked at the business card carefully, and said unhappily: "Wait a minute, I'll have someone report it."

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Having said that, he closed the door tightly.

Xie Yan waited for more than an hour, and the gate was finally opened again: "Your brother is out, come back another day."

Hearing this, Xie Yan became a little like the former emperor and couldn't help but get angry.

The attendant stopped Xie Yan and said, "Liu Lang, you are a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. You need to give him a few silver dollars to get the job done."

Xie Yan said: "I can give it, but he can't ask for it!"

"He didn't ask for it either." said the attendant.

When Xie Yan was delivering takeout in the past, whenever he was stopped by the community security guards, he would smile and offer cigarettes to ask for leniency.

After traveling through time, his identity changed and his temper worsened.

In other words, he had long been fed up with the security guard and now had the right to throw a tantrum.

Just outside the side door of the Minister of Industry's residence, Xie Yan sat down cross-legged and said, "Just wait!"

We waited from morning till evening, and during the time one of the followers went out to buy food.

Xie Yan was not idle either. He sat on the street reading a book for entertainment and reciting "The Analects of Confucius" by the way.

During this time, some people came in and out of this door. They looked at Xie Yan curiously, and then reminded him not to get too close and block the way.

Just a reminder, not a scolding.

Because Xie Yan was not like an ordinary citizen, he was accompanied by four armed servants.

As the sky got darker, the gate opened again, and the old man at the gate said in a much softer tone, "Come in and wait."

"No need." Xie Yan knew that his brother would be back soon, and most likely with the nobles of this mansion.

The old man at the door smiled and said, "Sir, why do you have to be angry with an old man like me?"

Xie Yan was too lazy to pay attention to him and turned to recite "The Analects of Confucius".

The old doorman began to get anxious.

Naturally, he didn't take Xie Yan seriously. Even Xie Yan's elder brother stuffed money into his pocket when he first entered the door.

The real problem is that Xie Yan's elder brother went out today to attend a literary gathering with the son of the Shangshu family!
The old man at the door said, "Come in soon, my dear. I have asked someone to make some good tea."

Xie Yan continued to read "The Analects of Confucius".

The old concierge tried to persuade him for a while, but became more and more anxious, and in the end he could only stand there with him.

After a while, a carriage drove up, with attendants in front and behind.

Two young men got out of the car, one of whom was Xie Yan's elder brother Xie Hong.

Xie Hong was quite surprised to hear the voice reciting the Analects. Before he even got close, he saw four strong servants coming forward to greet him: "How are you, Dalang!"

Xie Hong nodded in response, finally recognizing his brother: "Liu Lang, why are you sitting here?"

The old man at the door said quickly: "The young man from the Xie family insisted on waiting outside the door."

Xie Yan put away the Analects and said with a smile, "I have been waiting since this morning, and finally I get to see you, brother."

After these words were spoken, Xie Hong's expression remained unchanged, he just glanced at the old doorman.

But the young man behind him looked a little angry.

Xie Hong laughed and began to introduce: "Sixth brother, this is the grandson of Minister Chen, the tenth son of the Chen family, Chen Duan (Zi) Brother Zongli. Brother Zongli, this is my sixth son Xie Chaozong."

Chen Duan bowed and said, "I have long heard of your great name. Today I finally meet you, the sixteen-year-old Jade Scholar."

Xie Yan bowed in return: "I don't deserve it. I will have to bother Brother Chen Shi for a while."

Chen Duan smiled and said, "We are all brothers, so let's not talk about that. My dear brother, you have been traveling all the way, please go inside and rest."

A group of people went in, talking and laughing.

The old concierge looked miserable, as if he had eaten a fly.

Xie Hong came here half a month ago. He was extremely polite and stuffed ten silver dollars into the doorman's pocket, and was let in very smoothly.

The old man at the gate asked around and found out that the Xie family was just an ordinary gentry, and they had some connection with the Chen family in a roundabout way. This relationship was not close, and they were not considered big shots.

Since he is not a big shot, you can control him.

However, he didn't expect that meeting a stubborn and naive young man like Xie Yan would obviously make Chen Shilang lose face.

The old man sat there anxiously for a while, and suddenly a servant from the inner courtyard came over and said, "Pack your bags and go back to your hometown. You are old enough to go back and hug your grandchildren."

The old concierge had a dry mouth and wanted to say something but couldn't.

(End of this chapter)