Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1180 Epilogue : The Grand Princess's Invitation Letter Arrives
The shopkeeper accompanied Xie Yan downstairs, and kept flattering him to attract customers: "Master Xie, our shop can accept monthly or annual settlement. With Master Xie's status, he can record the accounts with just a word. Why bother moving your feet elsewhere?"

Xie Yan smiled and said, "I really don't have money, I'm afraid I can't pay it back. When I have money in the future, I will definitely come to your store to spend money."

Xie Yan really had no money, as the bonus from the Ministry of Industry had not yet been paid out.

As for the status of Royal Bachelor, not only is there no salary, but also an annual membership fee must be paid.

When he left Huangzhou, his parents only gave him 300 guan. With the prices in this clothing store, buying a few more clothes would have covered all his living expenses!

The shopkeeper's attitude was very good. Even if Xie Yan didn't buy anything, he would personally send him all the way out of the store.

The female clerk who accompanied him the whole time watched Xie Yan go away and muttered, "Although this scholar Xie is handsome, he is not a straightforward person. He has been shopping for a long time but didn't buy anything."

"It's good to have a good relationship with him," the shopkeeper returned to the store and taught his niece, "He is a sincere and free-spirited person. He is not short-tempered because of financial difficulties, but speaks out openly. People with such a temperament are not ordinary people, not to mention that he is a 17-year-old Furong Bachelor."

The female clerk smiled and said, "I don't care what his personality is. I just know that he is handsome and talented. If I were the eldest princess, I would definitely choose him as my consort."

"Don't say that casually." The shopkeeper warned, but he didn't really take it seriously.

As common people in Luoyang, how could we not talk about royal gossip?
When they brag, each one is more impressive than the other.

On the carriage.

Li Dunshi confirmed again: "Really not buying it in a good store?"

"No money." Xie Yan said.

Although Li Dunshi was an honest child, he was also deeply influenced by his father. He felt that when a person's status rose, his food, clothing, housing and transportation should also match accordingly, and a young genius like Xie Yan should wear good clothes.

They took a bus out of the city and chose a store in a nearby street. The price was cut in half, half, half, half, and half again compared to the previous store, until it finally became something he could afford.

With small profits but quick turnover, this store obviously has more customers.

Daiyu and Baochai each chose two sets of ruqun, and chose one set for each of the four followers. They also went to the cloth shop next door and bought a roll of silk and a roll of cotton so that the two girls could sew their own underwear.

There was also a jewellery stall in the adjacent market, and Xie Yan picked out a few pieces of accessories.

Neither is expensive.

Eight sets of clothes, a piece of silk cloth, a piece of cotton cloth, and four pieces of jewelry cost only 75 strings of cash in total.

Compared to wealthy families, it’s really not expensive.

However, during the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty, when Zhang Fangping was the Chief Censor, he commissioned Yang Yi, the judge of the Ministry of Revenue, to hire a maid, and he spent one hundred strings of cash just to buy clothes for the maid.

Why did this matter spread?
It's not because the maid's clothes are too expensive.

Instead, Yang Yi paid for everything, from hiring a maid to buying clothes for her. Zhang Fangping, the Chief Censor, refused to pay the maid after receiving her.

This guy is the head of the censors and the boss of the Censorate!

During the Xuanhe period of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, a pair of socks and a scarf bought by a wealthy woman in Kaifeng city was equivalent to more than two months' salary of a senior soldier of the imperial guards.

Go home.

The four male followers quickly put on their clothes and walked around in the yard showing off.

Daiyu and Baochai also went back to their rooms to change into their new hairpins. Unfortunately, they didn't have their ears pierced, so they couldn't wear the earrings they had just bought.

"My dear, do I look good?" Baochai jumped and turned in the yard, her skirt swaying like a fluttering butterfly.

Xie Yan smiled and said, "It looks good."

Daiyu was calmer and quieter. She interlocked her index fingers and hung them at her waist. She lowered her head and eyes shyly, standing two steps away from Xie Yan without saying a word. After standing there for more than ten seconds, she secretly raised her head again, wanting to know if her lover was looking at her.

Alas, I took the 300 guan with me when I left Huangzhou. I spent it on traveling by car, boat, food, hotel, renting a house, hiring a maid, and today I went shopping and spent a lot of money. I have almost used up half of it!

If the Ministry of Industry doesn't give out the academic bonus, Xie Yan will have no choice but to write a letter back to Huangzhou and ask his two elders at home...well, ask them to send the money.

Li Dunshi stood outside the yard hesitating for a long time, and finally couldn't help but knock on the door.

Seeing that he was having trouble speaking, Xie Yan asked, "If you have something to say, just tell me."

Li Dunshi stammered, "Two of my good friends learned that Master Xie was staying here, and they wanted to visit him to ask for advice. I didn't dare to agree, so I came here to ask..."

"What do they do?" Xie Yan asked.

Li Dunshi said: "They are both sons of gentry in the suburbs of Luoyang. One is studying in the inner dormitory of the Imperial College, and the other is working hard to pass the imperial examination."

When he heard that he was the son of a nearby gentry, Xie Yan guessed that Li Minqiu was bragging everywhere.

Xie Yan said: "Since they are all scholars, let's invite them."

Li Dunshi asked: "How about tomorrow?"

"Okay." Xie Yan nodded.

Li Dunshi felt a little embarrassed and wanted to do his best to make amends: "Master Xie, have you ever visited the Longmen Grottoes? I'm very familiar with that place, and it won't take long to walk there."

"Let's go shopping in the afternoon." Xie Yan was also bored staying at home.

After lunch, the two little girls were left at home, and Xie Yan asked them to practice writing numbers from one to ten.

After everyone left, Daiyu practiced writing seriously.

Baochai, however, could not calm down. While writing, she ran to look in the mirror and was completely bewildered by herself.

Daiyu reproached, "How could you do this?"

Baochai asked back, "What's wrong with me?"

Daiyu was very angry: "My husband is so good to us, buying us new clothes and jewelry, we should just listen to him. My husband asked us to practice calligraphy, but you just looked in the mirror."

Baochai knew she was in the wrong and had no power to refute, so she went back to practice. As she was writing, she stopped again, leaning on the table. She held the pen in her right hand and supported her chin with her left hand, muttering to herself, "I really want to go out and play with my husband. It would be the happiest thing to be with him all day."

Daiyu ignored her and practiced calligraphy seriously.

"You are such a taciturn person, not fun at all." Baochai muttered.

After writing for a while, Baochai suddenly ran out.

Daiyu shouted, "Where are you going?"

Baochai stopped at the door and said, "Go wash the clothes you changed yesterday."

Daiyu said, "The Li family's maid can wash the clothes."

"Tsk, they have rough hands and feet, please don't ruin my husband's clothes. I can wash clothes at home, and I will wash my husband's clothes from now on." After saying this, Baochai ran out without looking back.

Daiyu commented in a low voice: "This idiot!"

……

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Li Dunshi took Xie Yan to the Longmen Grottoes, but after visiting them for two or three hours, they felt it was boring.

"There is a Longmen Academy over there, which was established when the Ming Dynasty just moved its capital," Li Dunshi introduced. "After graduating from the official school, if they fail to get into the Imperial College and fail in the imperial examination, many Luoyang scholars will enter Longmen Academy."

Xie Yan asked: "How does it compare to the Meng family's Yuxiu Academy?"

Li Dunshi shook his head: "Of course it's not as good as the Yuxiu Academy."

Li Dunshi continued to walk with Xie Yan: "There used to be a garrison there, a group of imperial guards stationed near the ancient Yique Pass. Later, the garrison moved south, but there are many descendants of the imperial guards in Longmen Town."

Xie Yan pointed to the east and asked, "Is the village over there also yours?"

Li Dunshi said: "They are all from the Li family, but some of the clan members have split up and their household registration has long been separated from my family. They also have land, but not much."

"Does your family have a factory?" Xie Yan asked.

Li Dunshi said: "It can't be called a factory. There is a quarry, which has been reducing production in recent years and is not far from stopping. After all, it's not a big mountain. There is also a cement factory and a ceramic factory."

Xie Yan smiled and said, "Not bad, they are all building materials. With Luoyang as our backing, we don't have to worry about sales."

"It's too small, so we can only say it's OK," Li Dunshi said. "It's called a ceramics factory, but in fact it mainly produces pottery. We can only produce some coarse porcelain. The pottery bowls, porcelain bowls and water jars in many people's homes in those high-rise buildings outside Luoyang are made by my family."

"Let's go and take a look." Xie Yan suggested.

There was only one Diaoyao Village in the area of ​​Liuyao, Diaoyao and Liyao in later generations. Liyao Village was the place where Zhu Yuanzhang moved to during his great migration.

The ceramic firing here can only be described as a small-scale operation.

The real ceramic production area in Luoyang is in the area from Beimang Mountain to Gong County, where there is even kaolin.

If villagers from Beigezhao Village and Diaoyao Village want to work, their first choice is the three small factories of the Li family. Although small in scale, they support many people.

The cement factory is at the foot of the mountain.

Not only is the scale small, but the technology is also primitive.

The patent period for cement technology has long passed, and Li Dunshi did not hide it: "In the past, limestone and clay were mixed and calcined. This technology has regional restrictions, and not all limestones contain clay."

"Later, someone improved the technology by mixing clay and limestone in a ratio of 1:2, adding water and stirring it into mud, then letting it settle, and then putting it into the kiln for high-temperature firing."

"The buildings outside Luoyang use this kind of cement. But this kind of cement with artificial ingredients is actually not as good as the cement made from limestone that naturally contains 20%-25% clay."

Xie Yan visited all the manufacturing links of Lijia Cement Factory and squatted outside the lime kiln to ponder.

Civil engineering students’ compulsory course “Civil Engineering Materials” covers the preparation of various types of cement.

Xie Yan still remembers some.

Although I haven't actually tried it, it should be pretty close.

It was already very late, so let’s talk about it another day. Xie Yan strolled back.

Li Dunshi asked, "Master Xie plans to improve cement?"

"I have this idea." Xie Yan said.

Li Dunshi shook his head and sighed: "Alas, many scholars and craftsmen have been trying to improve cement, but there has been no major progress."

It was already dark when we returned to Li's house.

As soon as he entered, Li Minqiu came running over with great interest: "Xie Xueshi, the servants of the Princess's Mansion have been waiting for a long time. They came all the way from the residence of the Minister of Works to ask."

Princess?

It won't really develop in that direction.

Xie Yan was a little nervous, but more excited.

He soon met the servant sent by the princess. He asked a few questions and the servant handed him a letter.

Xie Yan was very poor and was still waiting for the bonus, so he only rewarded the messenger with 100 coins.

When he returned to the study and read the letter, it was the princess who asked him about the theory of molecules.

She also said that the hot summer was coming, and while it was not too hot in early summer, the princess wanted to organize a polo match and asked Xie Yan if he had time to participate.

Xie Yan had never ridden a horse before, but when he heard that he could play polo, he immediately wrote back to the princess.

(End of this chapter)