Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 759 0754 [Imaginary Ming Dynasty]

The Seljuk Empire, of course, also had large cities.

Its old capital, Baghdad, has a population of more than 300,000.

Its new capital, Nishapur, has a population of two to three hundred thousand.

But there are not many such big cities. Like Kanpu Town, Waigang, Hangzhou, due to the increasingly prosperous maritime trade, it can indeed be called a city in Seljuk.

They took the boat all the way north, and there were countless towns along the way, which turned Abu from shock to numbness.

When he arrived at Chenliu, Abu finally couldn't help but ask: "How many cities like this are there in the Ming Dynasty?"

Jian Xun also opened his mouth and said: "Thousands."

"With so many cities and people, how should your monarch rule? Will the local nobles not rebel?" Abu asked.

Jian Xun said: "Our monarch is called the emperor. He serves the people and governs the country. The country is divided into many provinces, and each province is divided into many prefectures and counties. The emperor sends officials to the prefectures and counties in each province to govern the place."

Jian Xun continued to brag: "The central government has the Privy Council and the Ministry of War, which are responsible for recruiting, training, and mobilizing the army. The emperor appoints and dismisses generals to lead these armies. Our Ming Dynasty has two million soldiers!"

While waiting for the boat to be changed, Abu secretly looked at it for a while, and then asked: "Is there food in it?"

The envoys from the Seljuk Empire were taken by Jian Xun to transfer to another official ship.

Abu was startled by the two million troops and pointed to the cavalrymen on the ship: "Are they all armies like this?"

That is, Persians and nobles from various places helped the Seljuk rulers in governing.

Abu tasted it carefully and asked, "Are there so many officials available?"

Jian Xun smiled and said: "These are the Cao army, which are responsible for transporting food and other supplies. They generally do not fight. When fighting, there are soldiers, and each soldier is wearing iron armor. The armored soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are also There are millions of them.”

After this sentence was translated by Kamayo, it completely changed its tone.

He is a scholar himself!
Seljuk is a country established by nomadic people. Although it is powerful in fighting, its ability to govern the country is not enough.

Abu was shocked when he heard this, and then felt envious, thinking that this place was a paradise for scholars.

They relied on the conquered native nobles to govern the place, and the sultan would also send some officials. Most of the officials in the capital and those sent out were Persians.

Jian Xun nodded and said, "There is food and other supplies."

Both sides of the Bianhe River are densely packed with warehouses, and they are heavily guarded by soldiers wearing iron armor.

Jian Xun stood with his hands behind his hands and said proudly: "The Tang Dynasty was destroyed and now it is scattered into more than ten countries. Except for the Jin Kingdom, the rest are all vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. Even the Jin Kingdom was also defeated by the Ming Dynasty and lost its city and territory. Within three years They will be destroyed by my great Ming Dynasty!"

Abu was doubtful, subconsciously feeling wet, but the prosperous towns along the way made him inclined to believe it.

The next day, the tanker docked at the warehouse outside the eastern suburbs to unload its cargo.

"The countries in the Peach Blossom Stone regard the God of the Sky as the supreme god. The kings of each country are called emperors, and each emperor is blessed by the God of the Sky. The emperor sends officials to govern various places in the name of the God of the Sky."

Jian Xun replied: "Every three years, the emperor will elect hundreds of new officials through the imperial examination."

Translated by Pu Mawu: "Each country in Peach Blossom Stone has an examination called the imperial examination. In the examination, the emperor asks some questions and asks the scholars to answer them with paper and pen. All scholars can participate. As long as they are selected in the examination, they can be appointed For officials.”

After being confused for a long time, Abu asked again: "Who will lead the local army?"

Abu swallowed secretly, how much food would he have to store? He said to Pu Mayu: "Ask again, how many countries are there in the Peach Blossom Stone?"

"XX Stan is also called Peach Blossom Stone. Is it also a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?" Abu asked again.

Jian Xun didn't understand at all, and he didn't know that he was talking about the Black Khanate in the historical materials of the former Song Dynasty, but he blurted out: "Of course it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty!"

Abu still didn't know that Sultan had forced the Eastern Kara Khanate to surrender, so he decided to go back and report to Sultan, saying that the Western Kara Khanate had two ends, surrendering to both the Sultan and the Ming Emperor.

The official ship available for transfer finally arrived, and everyone boarded the ship and continued moving forward. After the Cangchang area, there are residential areas on the outskirts of Beijing. There are more and more buildings and the population is getting denser.

For ten miles, both sides of the Bianhe River are full of residential areas, and there are also streets along the river.

Three or four miles closer to the city wall, the streets are no longer linearly distributed along the Bianhe River, but radiate in sheets with the city wall as the center.

There are boats everywhere, cars everywhere, people everywhere, and goods everywhere!
Abu once lived in Baghdad for a long time and also lived in Neshapur for nearly ten years. They were both cities with a population of 200,000 to 300,000 people.

But he was definitely not as shocked as the Kaifeng in front of him!
"Borrow the road, borrow the road!" a driver shouted.

This is a large flat car, pulled by more than 20 mules in the front, with a cargo load of about two to three tons.

This type of vehicle first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty and was used until the Republic of China.

In "Water Margin", the heroes outsmart the birth date and rob the merciful car.

Tokyo also uses this kind of flat car to transport pigs into the city every morning, and one car can pull dozens of pigs.

Except for Guangzhou, Ai Bu did not enter any city along the way, only stopping at seaports or river docks.

Jian Xun deliberately took him to go in from the south. As soon as he entered the city, he saw the Qingfeng Tower Hotel in the distance, and then the bell tower with four clocks.

Abu was dazzled and gradually shifted his attention from large buildings to passers-by.

A lot of people wear silk here, and even if they don’t wear silk, the colors are very diverse.

Silk is a favorite of the Seljuk people. In history, their sultan was defeated by Yelu Dashi. In order to show that the Sultan's enemy was wise and powerful, he described Yelv Dashi as "beautiful and handsome, wearing only silk"!
After taking a quick tour, we arrived at the Sifang Pavilion. After taking a short rest, Abu couldn't wait to take out a pen and paper, string together the scattered records along the way and write:

"Peach Blossom Stone was once unified and then divided into more than ten countries... Now there is a country called Daming, which is the richest in the land of Peach Blossom Stone. The king of Daming is called the Emperor, and he is the king of the kings of Peach Blossom Stone..."

"When I passed through India, there was a powerful country called Chola. After another thirty days of sailing, I arrived at a big country called Angkor. There were also some small countries along the way. Finally, I docked in Guangzhou of the Ming Dynasty and joined the Ming Dynasty. officials.”

"Guangzhou is a city as big as Neshapur and Baghdad. I happened to encounter a wedding. The slaves who carried the bride's dowry were all wearing silk clothes. This is simply unbelievable..."

"The Ming official who took me to see the emperor was called Jian. He was a very talkative scholar. He even knew the empire's mortal enemy, Rome. According to the information he provided, the Roman Caesar decades ago had sent people to the Ming to request reinforcements... "

"The Ming Dynasty does not believe in our religion, nor does it believe in Zoroastrianism, but believes in the God of the Sky, who is their supreme god. Including the Ming Dynasty, every king of the Peach Blossom Stone Land claims to be the son of the God of the Sky. So they You can gain the obedience of your subjects, and there won’t even be any rebellion, because rebellion will arouse the wrath of the God of the Sky..."

"The Ming Dynasty has many seaport cities, each with hundreds of thousands of people living in them. But the royal city of the Ming Dynasty is not by the sea. They dug a long canal, and you can go directly from the sea to the royal capital along the canal. I heard that the Ming Dynasty and Ser The territory is as vast as the pillars, but canals can lead to every city. Therefore, their shipbuilding industry is very developed, and the emperor can send troops by ship to any village in the empire..."

"If anyone wants to start a war with the Ming Dynasty, I do not recommend a water war, because it is bound to fail."

"There are many scholars here, and the officials of the Ming Dynasty are all selected from among the scholars. They have a kind of examination. The emperor will ask questions in person, and the scholars will write the answers on paper. Every three years, a group of the best scholars will pass Examinations are taken to be selected as officers.”

"The selected scholars all have profound knowledge and the highest moral character. They are loyal to the emperor and at the same time treat the people well. So the people here are very rich and very happy, and virtuous officials will not impose heavy taxes... …”

"The emperor built schools in every town in the country to cultivate more scholars. Every child here can go to school, so the Ming Dynasty will never be short of scholars. And the wealth of the Ming Empire made the emperor Have enough money to build schools in every town..."

"Jian told me that not only the emperor was willing to build schools, but also wealthy nobles, businessmen, and scholars would selflessly spend money to run schools. Emperors built schools in towns, and rich people built schools in villages. Schools are everywhere here, even Street vendors are also literate.”

"So there are a lot of books here. Before I entered the city, I saw shops selling books, paper and pens outside the city."

"I heard that the prince of the Ming Dynasty was the most knowledgeable scholar in the country. His talent was admired by all people, his poems were widely praised, and countless great, intelligent and noble scholars surrounded him. The emperor also liked this eldest son very much, and Let him command the army of the whole country, and there is no fear that the eldest son will usurp the throne."

"This wise and knowledgeable prince once commanded an army of 300,000 and defeated the same number of barbarians in the north. Those barbarians were brave and good at fighting, and even destroyed the Peach Blossom Stone Liao Kingdom, which was as powerful as the Ming Dynasty, and established a country called the Jin Kingdom. . The barbarian army of the Jin Kingdom also invaded and occupied the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but they could not defeat the great prince in the end."

"It was a battle of 600,000 men. The prince led his most heroic and loyal army, personally put on armor and rode on horseback to charge. He defeated the enemy from the front and won a decisive victory. The barbarians of the Jin Kingdom were forced to sue for peace and cede their land. Offer your wealth and ask the prince not to pursue you anymore..."

"Because the Ming Dynasty had countless scholars, they admired elegance, even the poorest people. They ate with two slender wooden sticks, and any food was only brought into their mouths with wooden sticks called chopsticks They will never touch it with their hands. Their chopsticks are very beautifully made. I heard from Jian that there are chopsticks made of gold, silver and ivory..."

"There is also a very large vehicle here, which is specially used to transport goods. It requires fifty mules to pull it, and no matter how much goods it is, it can be hauled away at once..."

"The royal city of the Ming Dynasty is surrounded by canals, and there are densely packed merchant ships in each river. Even the boatmen wear silk, and the dock coolies eat meat every day..."

(End of this chapter)