Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 149 0144 [The Eve of Lantern Festival]

Zhu Ming rode back to the city, it was already dark, but he was not afraid of the city gate being closed.

From today until the end of the Lantern Festival, the gates of Tokyo are always open.There is also no curfew in the city, and you can play all night long-Tokyo has a curfew system, but the time is postponed to the second half of the night, and citizens are allowed to play as much as they want in the first half of the night.

As night falls, the lights are brilliant.

Lanterns from all over the country, starting today to test the lights.Especially around the imperial city, there are large Aoshan lanterns, which were donated by various state capitals.

"I've also seen the Lantern Festival in Xixiang County. Compared with Tokyo, it's really a rural place." Bai Shengfa sighed from the bottom of his heart, he has really learned a lot now.

Shi Biao was so shocked that he couldn't speak, his mouth was half open all the way, looking at everything in amazement.

Zhu Ming led the horse forward, his eyes reflected the lights of the city, but in his mind was the stretch of shacks on both sides of the Cao River.

Comparing the two, the impact is too strong!

Adjacent to the southern city wall of the inner city, that area is full of Goulan tile houses, and it looks extraordinarily lively tonight.

Many Wazi can watch performances without paying tickets. They mainly make money from booth fees in the venue. Vendors rent booths to sell various goods, and the nature of their business is more like a large comprehensive shopping mall.

But during the Lantern Festival, the main event is not at Washe, but a stage is set up in front of Xuande Building.On the wide Royal Street, a 500-meter-long stage is set up, extending from the outside of the imperial city to the inner city wall. Kaifeng citizens can stand on both sides of the Royal Street to watch the performance.

Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and it has already begun tonight.

The two sides of the Royal Street are already crowded, densely packed with people, and those who can't squeeze in can only go to other streets to watch the lanterns.

"Little Jianer, little Jianer!"

The audience suddenly shouted wildly, "Xiao Jianer" is a big star recorded in "Tokyo Menghualu".

I saw a young man in bunt clothes, somersaulting to the center of the stage, accompanied by several stars.

After a fight, Xiao Jianer suddenly spewed fire, and the fire light was also divided into different colors.

Seeing him turn around and bow his head again, he took a deep breath and spewed out flames again.A ball floats in the flames, spinning in the air non-stop, as if practicing alchemy with Samadhi real fire.Moreover, this flame lasted for more than half a minute, unmatched by the stars in Tokyo City.

"it is good!"

Countless spectators burst into applause.

Even Zhu Ming temporarily forgot about the bad things and applauded along with the crowd.

"Li Wai Ning, Li Wai Ning..."

On the stage next door, there were also big stars on stage, and they seemed to be even more powerful, so the audience crowded towards that side.

Zhu Ming and the others couldn't squeeze through, so they could only watch from a distance, and there seemed to be fireworks faintly.

Li Waining is a puppet master who is good at using medicine puppets, that is, using gunpowder to drive puppets.

The entire Imperial Street had different programs and was crowded with people, fascinated.

Zhu Ming couldn't help sighing: "Just looking at this place, it really is a prosperous and prosperous city!"

Among the crowd, there are many foreign costumes.

Chen Dong pointed not far away: "Those are the envoys of the Liao Kingdom, and next to them are the envoys of Korea. Every New Year's Day, missions from various countries come to Beijing to participate in the Yuanhui. In the Yuanhui, the envoys come to congratulate, only Liao and Korea The envoys can get a banquet, and the envoys from other countries will do their own activities. On the second day, the envoys went to Xiangguo Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. On the third day, the envoys went to Nanyu Garden to shoot arrows. The envoys of the Liao Kingdom liked to shoot crossbows, and all the warriors of the Song Dynasty used bows and arrows. If a Song warrior hits the bull's-eye, the officials will reward him heavily, and he will ride a horse through the streets for the common people to admire."

Zhu Ming asked: "Isn't the relationship between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom getting worse day by day?"

Chen Dong said: "But there are always envoys between the two countries. The Aoshan lantern in front of the Xuande Building is often lit in advance for the envoys of the Liao Kingdom. It stays on until the Lantern Festival, so that the envoys of the Liao Kingdom can have more than half a month to see the lanterns. "

"Which country are those envoys from?" Ju Ming pointed further away.

Hou Xuan said: "The Khotan envoy from the Western Regions."

"I've heard of that." Zhu Ming nodded.

The Kingdom of Khotan, in Hotan, Xinjiang.

Then there are the Arabs, the messengers of the Great Food.These guys don't come often, and most of the time, they are disguised as Arab businessmen, and their main purpose is to come to Tokyo to sell goods at a high price.

Envoys from Southeast Asia such as Sanfo Qi and Japo often come here and often present elephants, rhinos, peacocks, parrots and the like.This led to more and more animals in Tokyo. There were dozens of elephants alone. The Emperor Song opened the Royal Zoo in Yujin Garden outside the city.

Foreign envoys also offered Kunlun slaves.

The Kunlun slaves presented by the Three Buddhas are probably natives of Southeast Asia.But the Kunlun slaves presented by the big food merchants are very likely to be real black slaves.

After watching the performance for a while, Zhu Ming went to drink with his friends.

On the way, I also met a blue hat selling goods at a stall. Just by looking at the pattern on the hat, I knew that it was a Jew living in Tokyo.

……

The emperor was not idle tonight, and went to the Five Sacred Mountains Temple in his imperial chariot. All the attendants wore big hats with flowers on them.The guards in the palace were wearing red brocade lion shirts, and the gold-plated Tianwang belt matched Zhu Ming's Tianwangjia belt. The gourd in his hand had several heavy bones.

The military officer of the imperial guard and the sergeant in front of the palace were equally festive and exaggerated, dressed like a general on a stage.

The emperor's entourage held all kinds of gadgets, such as golden chairs, spittoons, water jugs, fruit plates and so on.These are the emperor's imperial objects, and they are carried with them wherever they go, even for spitting, ordinary spittoons are not used to it.

The palm fan behind the emperor has a handle made of colored glaze and jade, and there is a wick in the colored glaze that can be ignited.

It is the lanterns in front of the road to illuminate the road, all wrapped in the best red gauze, and adorned with jeweled necklaces.There are four hundred such lanterns, all of which are illuminated with top-quality white candles.

All kinds of things are either gold or jade, and the rest are gems and pearls.

It reflects four words: luxury and extravagance!

Before the Yujie stage was set up, Song Huizong sat on the imperial chariot, came out of Xuande Building, joined the civil and military officials waiting there, and the huge team headed south.

"Look at the driver!"

With the shout of the imperial guard, the Sanya Taiwei cleared the way and marched forward.

Passers-by along the way dodged one after another, and no one dared to speak in an instant, the noisy street became dead silent.To use the original text of "Tokyo Menghualu", it means "those who make loud noises will bleed." Those gourd guards are not decorations.

First, pass by Jiucheng Palace, where there is Jiuding cast by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a shortage of money, and many edicts were issued to prohibit the outflow of copper coins.At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the shortage of money affected people's livelihood, and Cai Jing had to mint large copper coins.

However, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty melted away the copper coins and bronze wares and cast Jiuding to show his destiny. Jiuding was later snatched by Jin soldiers.

Next to the Jiucheng Palace where the Jiuding is placed is the Yingxiang Pool for tonight's banquet.

There are willows planted by the pool, and there are water lilies in the pool, with pavilions and pavilions, and the scenery is beautiful.

Under the reflection of [-] imperial lanterns and many lanterns, Yingxiang Pond at night is as bright as day.The lights are reflected in the pool water, and they complement each other, which is really beautiful.

Song Huizong sat on the golden chair, the music was played, and the officials paid homage.

After the music, offer auspiciousness.

Bai Shizhong, Minister of the Ministry of Rites who had just been demoted to the third official, took the list and began to read: "A white tiger auspicious beast is presented on Jingdong Road, and it has been sent to Yujin Garden..."

Every time a kind of auspiciousness is read, all civil and military officials congratulate.

While thinking about it, Bai Shizhong said: "Lizhou Lujin offers fairy food, one hundred catties each of corn and sweet potato!"

Hearing the word "immortal", Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty became energetic and asked, "What is corn and sweet potato? Can it be called immortal food?"

Bai Shizhong said: "Peng Xi, the transshipment envoy of Lizhou Road, said that there was a strange man who was looking for immortals overseas. He met an immortal and gave him corn and sweet potatoes, both of which could yield several stones per mu. And he didn't choose the land, even in barren mountainous areas. arable."

Song Huizong did not pay attention to the yield per mu, but only asked: "Can immortal grains have miraculous effects?"

Bai Shizhong replied, "I don't know."

Liu Zhengfu left the table and bowed his hands: "Officials, if they can really produce several stones per mu and can be cultivated in barren land, these two things will be of great benefit to the world. Your Majesty will work hard to govern, and my Song Dynasty is unparalleled in prosperity and prosperity in the world. , and now there is immortal food, it is really favored by immortals!"

Therefore, all the ministers rushed to congratulate each other, saying that the emperor bears the mandate of heaven.

Song Huizong suddenly became happy, and said: "I ordered the Lizhou Road Transit Envoy to send a stranger to Beijing, and I will ask about overseas immortals."

Then, the Minister of Rites continued to recite auspiciousness, with various contents, even including folk women giving birth to quadruplets.

After the auspiciousness was finished, the waiter began to bring the food and wine.

There are also opera troupes performing Zaju, and the monarch and his ministers cooperate with each other to share the grand occasion.

After the performance of the two dramas, the imperial poets of Dasheng Mansion began to write poems that eulogized their virtues.

Song Huizong personally commented, ranked the top few, and rewarded tens and hundreds of guan.

……

Ju Ming was half drunk and rode back to the inn outside the city, but no one came to check him for drunk driving.

Bai Sheng and Shi Biao lay on the floor. They were tired from walking today, and fell asleep when they lay down. The loud snoring made it difficult for Zhu Ming to fall asleep.

Turn over and get up, light the oil lamp.

Zhu Ming pulled out his sword and started wiping it. After wiping the sword, he went to wiping the iron gun and mace.

He came to the window with a mace in his hand, opened the window and looked out.Although the outside of the city is not as prosperous as the inside of the city, there are still lanterns everywhere, and a gust of night wind blows, accompanied by the smell of burning coal.

The trees near Tokyo have long been insufficient to support the city's firewood.

Every household, even officials, use coal to light fires for cooking.

Only the royal family and the top dignitaries burn high-priced charcoal, which is shipped all the way.

From time travel to now, Ju Ming has been clamoring for rebellion, but his desire to rebel was not as strong as it is today.

This is Tokyo, the capital of the Song Dynasty, and it already looks like this.

How miserable should the people everywhere be?

Zhu Ming originally planned to start the uprising after Jingkang, but now he wants to advance it.

When should it be advanced?

Wait for Fang La to rebel, or is the Song army defeated in the Liao Dynasty?
Anyway, it's not now, the elite of the Western Army is still there, and the rebel army can't hold it in the early days.

Feeling resentful, Zhu Ming brandished his mace in the room, and there was a buzzing sound of piercing the air in the darkness.

Shi Biao slept soundly, but Bai Sheng was woken up, opened his eyes to look, and went back to sleep.

Only Ju Ming was left there alone, going crazy!

(End of this chapter)