Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 411 0406 [Popcorn]

In March of Yangchun, the first batch of refugees had opened up wasteland in Nanyang Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture.

Soybeans are mainly planted, and the third month of the lunar calendar is just suitable for spring sowing.After the summer harvest, there will be another summer call.Follow-up refugees can even broadcast in autumn.

Leguminous crops are extremely suitable for opening up wasteland and can also accumulate fertility for the soil.

As early as last autumn and winter season, Zhu Guoxiang was hoarding beans, and the newly occupied land was transported in the winter and spring.

Before Zhu Ming raised his troops, Sichuan was violently expropriated by the imperial court.

It took up to a year and a half to rebel and deal with the encirclement and suppression, and a lot of food was consumed during this period.Now there are still [-] soldiers being raised, and rations and seeds are still being distributed to the refugees. The granaries in all prefectures and counties are all empty.

Fortunately, when all the officers and soldiers were defeated, a large amount of enemy food and grass were seized, otherwise this year would be even more stretched.

At present, the war bonds issued by the Chuanxia Economic and Strategy Office still owe the people more than 30 shi of grain.

This year, it is necessary to prevent rich households from running on bonds. Zhu Guoxiang plans to issue a batch of "bonds for rich people".People who bought "war bonds" last year, if they don't come to cash this year, they don't need to buy "rich bonds".

Dean Zhu can only delay in this way, delaying for a year or two, and then he can get through the difficult period smoothly.Especially corn and sweet potatoes, after the promotion of the whole Sichuan!

The gentry and landlords could only bear it, fearing that Mr. Zhu would be pushed into a hurry, so they would tear their skins apart and directly engage in apportionment.At that time, the food will have to be handed over, and even a bond certificate will not be obtained.

"Marshal, it's from the Jinglue Mansion." Bai Sheng held out two small pots as if offering treasures.

Zhu Ming patted open the sealing paper of the cans to check. There was a can of rock sugar and a can of brown sugar. He couldn't help but ask, "Where did my father get it?"

Bai Sheng explained: "The tribute from Suizhou was originally not wanted by the Xianggong, but was returned last year. But the icing farmers in Suizhou sincerely donated, and this spring they entrusted the government to send it. The Xianggong accepted it and canceled the local tribute. system, no officials are allowed to collect tribute.”

Suining was the main producing area of ​​rock sugar in the Northern Song Dynasty. After it was listed as a tribute, most of the sugar frost households there were forced to go bankrupt.

Zhu Ming raised his troops to occupy Sichuan, and the Tanghuang households instantly had hope for life.

It's a pity that the craft of rock sugar is too primitive, and the annual output is only so small, which is a by-product of making brown sugar.

The method of pouring sugar with yellow mud and water in "Tiangong Kaiwu" is [-]% based on hearsay and nonsense.

With Ju Ming's poor knowledge of science, when he read this for the first time, he subconsciously felt that it was impossible.Because charcoal can be used to adsorb impurities, and the yellow mud water cannot undergo chemical reactions, and the yellow mud water has no physical or chemical effects.

So I searched for videos and materials, and sure enough, no one recovered successfully.

Later, Zhu Ming went to search for historical papers. Some scholars conducted research on ancient white sugar and came to the conclusion that it is a kind of brown sugar that is lighter in color than brown sugar...

Ju Ming also researched the production process of modern white sugar, and found that centrifuges are easy to solve, mainly because it was difficult to prepare phosphoric acid or sulfurous acid in ancient times.

After get off work in the evening, Zhu Ming returned to the back house with two cans of sugar, only to find that Zhang Jinping had already returned from Chengdu.

"Why don't you send someone to tell you?" Zhu Ming said happily.

Zhang Jinping said Wanfu: "My husband is busy with business, so it's inconvenient to disturb him in the front hall."

Ju Ming came on a whim: "I happened to get a can of icing sugar and a can of brown sugar, so I called them all over to make delicious snacks for my husband."

Not long after, Zheng Yuanyi, Zhao Fujin, and Zhao Fujin arrived.Li Shishi and Pei Yueli Chang'e also moved in two days ago.

Zhu Ming felt that Pei Yueli's Chang'e name was too long, so he directly changed it to Pei Chang'e.

The relationship between the girls can't be said to be harmonious, nor can it be considered tense, anyway, that's how it is.

On the contrary, Zhao Fujin was innocent and innocent, making people unsuspecting. Everyone thought this little girl was pretty.

I saw Zhu Ming brought some corn and crushed the brown sugar into powder.

Then move the iron pan and the stove. After the iron pan is heated, add a little lard, stir-fry the corn evenly, then cover the pot and draw firewood to fry slowly over low heat.

When you hear a bouncing sound in the pot, shake the pot until there is no sound when frying.

Zhu Ming lifted the lid of the pot, and a scent came over his face.

The brown sugar has been ground and added to the low heat, mix well, and the brown sugar melts and wraps on the popcorn.

"Come and taste it," Zhu Ming stretched out his hand to grab it, then pulled it back suddenly, blowing on his fingers and said, "Huh, it's so hot!"

When the temperature dropped slightly, Zhu Ming grabbed two of them and stuffed them into his mouth. It was the smell in his memory.

He is very satisfied with his "cooking skills". He used to only watch people make popcorn, but he didn't expect that he would succeed the first time he did it.

Zhang Jinping asked the maid to bring a few pairs of chopsticks, picked one up to taste, nodded with a smile and said, "It's delicious."

The wives and concubines tried it out one after another, and even the maids were given some.

Corn finally has a new use. Zhu Ming said to Zhang Jinping: "Please invite a few family members of officials to come and show them. This thing can be spread. Today's rich people only eat tender corn. Let the rich also taste it." Popcorn."

Zhang Jinping said with a smile: "Is this called popcorn? It is very appropriate. After the officials and women taste it, they will definitely go home and let the cook fry it. It will appear on the street in a month or two."

Li Shishi immediately complimented: "The marshal and his wife really care about the common people, if there is something good, they should share it with all the people."

This flattery made Zhang Jinping feel comfortable, and his impression of Li Shishi changed a lot.

Zhang Jinping said: "The ancestors occasionally learned the copper smelting method, and after improving it, they never kept it private and dedicated it to the imperial court to promote the world."

Li Shishi didn't know what copper smelting was, but he continued to praise: "Unexpectedly, the art of copper smelting was offered by my wife's ancestors. This benefited all people, which is really admirable."

Zhu Ming glanced at Li Shishi. This singer is good at creating atmosphere, and Zhang Jinping was in a good mood when they met for the first time.

The next day, Zhang Jinping went to Mrs. Yan's place to dedicate the popcorn recipe to the old lady, and then invited several family members of officials to visit.

When Zhu Ming took his whole family to Xiangyang, popcorn had already spread among the upper class in Hanzhong, and quickly spread to the middle and lower classes.

Ordinary people at the bottom can't afford brown sugar, so don't mix it with sugar.

Anyway, the price of corn is cheap, and children from poor families finally have an extra snack to eat.Usually, if I am hungry, I will ask my mother to copy some popcorn, and I will immediately have happy childhood memories.

In fact, popcorn already existed in the Song Dynasty, which was made from rice.The official name is Bolou, commonly known as glutinous rice flower, which was first recorded in the early Southern Song Dynasty.

The official ship sailed eastward and stopped at Yangzhou.

The rich families here came to visit one after another when they got the news, and they automatically arranged the order.

Zheng Lan dragged his old body and bowed to each other: "I'm not old, I pay my respects to the Generalissimo!"

Zhu Ming personally supported him, and said with a smile, "You don't have to be polite, Aunt."

The old man stood up straight with a smile on his face, and deliberately glanced at the other clans.

Min Wenwei immediately made a bow: "I, Min Wenwei, pay my respects to Your Excellency Generalissimo Chuanxia!"

Zhu Ming nodded and asked again: "Brother Min (Min Zishun) hasn't returned home yet?"

Min Wenwei said: "Reporting to the Generalissimo, my nephew was sent to Guangnan by editor-in-chief. Although the court promised to release him, it will take at least a month before he can come back."

"After I come back, I will definitely use it again." Zhu Ming promised.

Min Wenwei was overjoyed when he heard the words, and tentatively said: "Nowadays, all the government schools are closed, and the number of students in private academies is decreasing. I don't know when the Minister of Economics will resume the imperial examination?"

"Three years later." The Zhu family's father and son have already discussed it, and it will be announced to the public soon.

Now the government under Zhu's rule mostly employs old ministers of the Song Dynasty and old officials for many years.

Old officials over the years are more popular than scholars, because the work can be done directly.But there are also flaws. Corruption is more serious than that of scholars. They are all old fried dough sticks who can take advantage of various loopholes to make money.

Although young scholars have no political experience, they still have some ideals and ambitions.On the whole, it is not like the large-scale corruption of old officials.

Zhu Guoxiang has set up a procuratorate, and Chen Dong, an angry young man, is the censor of the capital, responsible for picking up all kinds of corruption and malfeasance.

From last year to this year, more than [-]% of the corrupt officials who were sentenced to death were from senior officials.

More than a dozen were executed one after another, and more than 40 were exiled to southern Sichuan, four of whom were at the level of government officials and county magistrates.

Every time a person was executed or exiled, Zhu Guoxiang sent the case to the government offices of various prefectures and counties in the form of official documents.Now the trend of corruption has finally subsided, at least it is no longer so blatant, and they are all quietly taking advantage of loopholes to make money.

Min Wenwei was ecstatic: "Is the imperial examination really going to be resumed in three years?"

Zhu Ming disclosed the information in advance: "Students from all counties first go to the government to take the imperial examination. This is a government test. Those who pass the exam will go to Hanzhong to take another test, and those who are admitted can become officials."

Thanks to the flood of Jinshi in the Song Huizong era, the Zhu family and his son did not need to reform much.

Anyway, like the imperial court, it is not easy for Xinke Jinshi to even be a county magistrate.

Only those who rank high can be the county master, and those who rank low are all low-level officials, who have to accumulate a little bit of experience and political achievements.

In the future, when a new dynasty is established, only the number one scholar, the second place in the list, and Tanhua can be directly awarded the county magistrate.

When elders from other families came to visit, Min Wenwei took a step back, thinking about how to expand his influence.

In today's territory, Chengdu has the most cultural context, followed by Yangzhou.

And the Yangzhou Academy run by Min Wenwei has the best teaching quality. He can definitely train students to become officials and become Wenzong of that generation in the future.

After meeting with the local nobles, Zhu Ming said to Min Wenwei: "The imperial examinations in Hanzhong require examinations in mathematics, law, famine relief, and water conservancy, and the official documents will naturally be preserved. As for the Confucian classics, my annotated "University Chapters and Sentences" and "The Doctrine of the Mean Chapters and Sentences" Righteousness, and the revised Dao Yong Strategies, these are all compulsory. Master Min Shan, I'm afraid you need to read more books."

Min Wenwei was taken aback, and said bravely, "The knowledge of the Generalissimo is naturally the best knowledge in the world. Not to mention the various roads in the Chuan Gorge, even the scholars from the Song Dynasty should learn from it."

"Hahaha," Zhu Ming laughed, "Master Min is indeed very knowledgeable, and can tell the good from the bad."

Min Wenwei didn't seem to be able to hear the irony. His future teaching content will be whatever Zhu Ming said, and he must achieve the first grade in Hanzhong!
(End of this chapter)