Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 228 0223 [Glass Cave Sky]

Glass blowing technology appeared in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties at the latest, and blown glass bottles from the Northern Wei Dynasty were unearthed.

In the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Song Dynasties, the glass manufacturing industry was quite prosperous.

Especially in the Song Dynasty, many daily utensils were also made of glass, and "glass" appeared in a large number of poems.

"Fragrant cheese glass bowl, the habit of tasting new things every year. Nothing is better than the spring breeze, and the lips of the singer are a little red. The dream of the rivers and lakes is broken, and the palace of bright light in the emerald cage. Ten thousand pieces are written lightly and evenly, and I am ashamed of the savages."

This poem was written by Xin Qiji when he was eating cherries.

Xin Qiji knew how to enjoy it. He used a glass bowl to hold the cheese, and then mixed the cherries in it. It was probably chilled.

Hmm, cherry ice cream?
A newly built house is built in the garden of Yanfu Palace, the area is not large, only about [-] square meters.

The building structure is also very simple, no different from ordinary houses.But a large number of glass sheets are used, embedded in walls or windows.

Due to technological limitations, those glass pieces are very small, just bigger than a palm.And mostly green and translucent, it is difficult to remove the impurities inside.

Greenhouse, greenhouse!
Song Huizong was pacing in the greenhouse, besides hibiscus, there were also some other exotic flowers and plants, all of which were brought from the south and were hard to survive the winter.

Due to the favorable temperature, the hibiscus has bloomed in advance.

Caressing the red flowers, Song Huizong admired from the bottom of his heart: "Aiqing is really a god and a man, this greenhouse is so ingenious, how can ordinary craftsmen do it?"

On the wall hung a thermometer, also glassblown, thick and heavy.

Mercury is sealed in the glass tube, with ice water as zero and boiling water as Baidu, and then marked with finer scales according to the length.

At the bottom of the four walls in the greenhouse, there is a hot water circulation system made of tin pipes.

Zhu Guoxiang pointed to the mercury thermometer and said: "Ice water is zero, boiling water is hundreds, and the temperature can be known. But all flowers and trees have their own characteristics. When the temperature is suitable, flowers and trees can grow well, and even bloom and bear fruit against the season. Of course, some flowers and trees are not suitable for indoor cultivation."

Song Huizong looked at the thermometer for a while, then looked at the ugly appearance of the greenhouse, and said with disgust: "Although Aiqing is good at nursery, she is not good at construction. I plan to leave a piece of land in Genyue and build a magnificent and elegant greenhouse. Flowers and trees are all planted in the greenhouse, so that those flowers and plants can also dominate the world."

Zhu Guoxiang remonstrated: "Glass is not easy to manufacture and is fragile when transported. It is enough to have this house."

"Otherwise," Song Huizong shook his head and said, "I want to design the greenhouse myself, and there must be mountains and rivers in the room. Once you enter the greenhouse, it will be like entering a paradise, and it must be made into a place that is warm in winter and cool in summer. Aiqing's greenhouse can only be used in winter. The hot water supply is warm, and the summer sun must be unbearably hot."

Zhu Guoxiang hesitated to speak.

A greenhouse of [-] square meters obviously cannot satisfy the emperor.

He wants to turn the greenhouse into a paradise, which is estimated to reach [-] square meters. He also needs to make various decorations, and even put a rockery pool into the greenhouse.Not only does glass cost a lot, but also a lot of coal is used to boil water and heat in winter.

To build such a large greenhouse, giant trees are indispensable.

Song Huizong took a pen to calculate carefully, and quickly said to the eunuch accompanying him: "Draft the decree and order the kilns in the north and the south to offer 20 pieces of glass. Each piece of glass is half a foot square. Then offer glass tiles. The bigger the better, The more transparent the better. Let Zhu Xi be in charge of the glass in the south, and supervise and urge the glass in the north.”

Zhu Guoxiang rolled his eyes.

The Huashigang is not just about transporting flowers, plants and strange stones, but also includes all kinds of wonders in the world, and even fruits such as lychees, longan, olives, and coconuts.

The location is not only in the south of the Yangtze River, but also from Shandong in the north, Sichuan in the west, and Hainan Island in the south, all of which have their own specialties to offer.

Now, there are 20 more pieces of glass.

After thinking about it, Zhu Guoxiang gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, you can't lose your mind with playthings, let alone disturb the place. If you need to use 20 pieces of glass for a greenhouse, you must be a sinner in the world!"

Song Huizong frowned, his face was very ugly.

He received too many similar remonstrance memorials last year, and now it annoys him to mention them.

Because of the construction of Genyue, Hua Shigang has become crazy since last year, and the prefects from all over the country have tried to persuade the emperor not to mess around.

"Why do you come to persuade me?" Song Huizong reprimanded, "I am rich in Song Dynasty, and there are only 20 pieces of glass in the area. Could it be that I will kill ordinary people? If you continue to persuade me, I will be angry!"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I really don't want to disturb the place. Planting flowers and trees in the greenhouse is just to cultivate sentiment. A house of two feet is enough. Why do you need to build it so big?"

"That's a bad word!"

Cai You walked in suddenly. He was summoned early in the morning, and Song Huizong asked him to come to the greenhouse to accompany him to enjoy the flowers.

Cai You said with a smile: "The sea is rich and the people are happy. This is an unprecedented prosperity. Not to mention 20 pieces of glass, there are 100 million pieces. I can easily make it in the Song Dynasty. It just needs to be fired for a few more years in the kilns in the north and south. The two-foot-long house is cramped and narrow, how can it appear royal?"

Song Huizong said happily: "This is the truth."

Li Bangyan has already made the Hanlin Chengzhi and is writing a new script for the emperor. Today's living man is someone else.

Living man stood beside him, earnestly recording the words and deeds of the monarch and his ministers.

Although Zhu Guoxiang hadn't received his son's letter yet, he didn't want to bear the blame and immediately scolded him: "You traitor, you are used to bewitching your lord, you should be exiled for three thousand miles!"

Cai You sneered and did not refute.

He knew Song Huizong, the more he was scolded, the more the emperor had to protect him.

Song Huizong was in a very happy mood today, and he thought it was a genius idea to turn the conservatory into a paradise.Since you are happy, why should you get upset, and immediately stop it with words: "Don't talk too much, you are all close ministers, don't spoil your friendship because of a small incident. Aiqing has contributed to building a greenhouse, what reward do you want?"

Zhu Guoxiang cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty promised last year that as long as I ordered the hibiscus flowers to survive the winter, I would allow me to return to my hometown to reunite with my wife and daughter."

Song Huizong was a little bit reluctant, because Zhu Guoxiang could always come up with novel gadgets, so he said immediately: "I will give you half a year's holiday, and you must return to Beijing before the Double Ninth Festival."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It takes two or three months to go back and forth."

"Then come back before it snows," Song Huizong said, "and I'll give you a few sea bugs, a piece of strange stone, and three paintings and calligraphy. You can pick whatever you want."

Song Huizong felt that Zhu Guoxiang was an elegant man who was not greedy for money, so he no longer rewarded gold and silver, but instead rewarded him with things he liked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I don't want rewards, I just ask the officials for one thing."

Song Huizong clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Aiqing actually has a time to ask for it? Tell me quickly!"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "When Gouzi came to Beijing to rush for the exam, he met a soldier from Tokyo. For food, he had exhausted all the money on his body, so he could only sell the knife for money to eat. There was a group of rascals who wanted to snatch his precious knife, but he accidentally killed one person. Now, he has been assassinated and sent to Weizhou, please forgive this person's crimes."

"It's just such a trivial matter?" Song Huizong was a little disappointed. "Since he committed a crime for escorting Hua Shigang for me, what's the point of killing a rascal? This person is a soldier of the Imperial Army?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It's not the forbidden army, it's just the Xiang army."

Tokyo also has Xiangjun.

Song Huizong said: "I have to escort Hua Shigang to escort me, and I have to assassinate him. Wouldn't the hearts of the soldiers in the world be chilled? Not only will I pardon his crimes, but I will also promote him to be a general in front of the palace for the time being!"

Zhu Guoxiang: "..."

Many times, Zhu Guoxiang couldn't keep up with the emperor's thinking.

He just wanted to save Yang Zhi, and then throw him to Daming Village, or he could follow him or his son.

Song Huizong promoted Yang Zhi from the Xiang Army to the Imperial Army, and also gave him the title of military officer.

The "general" in the Song Dynasty is not literal, it is a kind of rankless military officer.Just a few years ago, his name was officially changed to Deputy Lieutenant Jinwu, but he was still called General. (This is the same as civil servants, such as judiciary joining the army, which has been renamed Facaojian, but everyone still uses the old name.)
If someone is promoted, he only needs to make a contribution casually, and the general will be promoted to Cheng Xinlang (from the ninth rank military officer).

This is a springboard official title, which is the only way for a white warrior to become an official and general.

Yang Zhi has become a general in front of the palace, and he has the salary of a military officer.But there are no specific responsibilities, and they have to be dispatched separately. They are often responsible for escort work (escorting military supplies, ordnance, etc.), and to put it bluntly, they are still running errands.

Cai You rolled her eyes, and she already had an idea.

He knows the emperor too well. Song Huizong's memory is very good, and at the same time it can be very bad.As long as it is something that the emperor is not interested in, the relevant personnel are easily forgotten.

After a while, Yang Zhi can be dispatched, which is the kind of escort work that is difficult to complete.Once something goes wrong, you have to guarantee compensation, and you can't even afford to lose your fortune.

Cai Jing focused on the big picture and didn't bother to pay attention to the little people. In Cai Jing's eyes, Ju Ming was just a little guy.

Cai You is different. He is now a close minister and needs to compete with other close ministers for favor. Zhu Guoxiang is a thorn in his side.And Zhu Guoxiang seldom pleaded for others, but now he actually speaks for Yang Zhi, so he must value Yang Zhi very much.

Whichever Zhu Guoxiang values, Cai You will suppress!

Song Huizong felt that this matter was too small to show his generosity, and said: "If Aiqing finds talented people, he can recommend some."

Zhu Guoxiang hesitated for a few seconds and said: "Gouzi's fellow Jinshi Min Zishun and Bai Chongyan are both talented and virtuous, and now they hold low positions in the Ministry of Industry."

"Elevate them to one rank each, and let them out as county magistrates." Song Huizong was quite satisfied.

This makes sense, if your close ministers don't recommend a few cronies, what do you want to do in your heart?
To be honest, Zhu Guoxiang was very uncomfortable. It would be too nonsense to openly promote a private person, but it happened to be popular in the Song Dynasty.

Cai You kept Min Zishun and Bai Chongyan in mind without saying a word, and when he turned around, he greeted the officials and threw the two of them to the poorest remote county.

After watching flowers and trees in the greenhouse for a while, Zhu Guoxiang retired from the palace.

He sent someone to call Sun Li: "The matter of Yang Zhi has been settled. The officials pardoned him for his crimes and promoted Yang Zhi to be a general in front of the palace."

Sun Li was overjoyed, knelt down and kowtowed to Zhu Guoxiang: "I thanked Mr. Yang on behalf of Brother Yang. If there is any order from now on, Mr. Mr. just let me know. Our brothers can go through water or fire."

They used to say that they were small officers of the Xiang Army, but they were bad boys.

Although the general of the Dianqian Division has no rank, he still has official status.Using civil officials as a metaphor is equivalent to jumping out of the subordinate staff class and stepping into the ranks of officials.

It's a pity that Cai You will make a move in the end, I'm afraid Yang Zhi will face a big crime.

(End of this chapter)