Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 9 0009【Exposing wealth】

Seeing Zhu Ming inquiring about the big family, Zhang Guangdao smiled: "There are only two high-class households in Baishitou, with a radius of twenty miles, and they all have the surname Bai. One lives in Shangbai Village, and the owner is Lao Bai Yuanwai; the other lives in Xiabai Village. The head of the family is Xiaobai Yuanwai."

"Which surname Bai has a better reputation?" Zhu Ming asked again.

Zhang Guangdao said: "The one in Shangbai Village has to show some face, at least he didn't force the neighbors to death."

Zhu Ming understood in an instant that the two surnamed Bai were not very good, but the family in Shangbai Village at least had a bottom line.

Ju Ming clasped his hands and said, "Brother Zhang, please help lead the way."

Zhang Guangdao was very enthusiastic, threw the bought salt to Lu Wang and Ding Dafang, and took Zhu Ming and his son upstream empty-handed.

As for Lu and Ding, while helping to look after the salt, they continued to stay in the market town to sell chickens and ducks.

The farther away from Baishitou, the less fertile fields along the river, and more barren mountainous areas.Residential houses are scattered at the foot of the mountain, all of which are thatched houses with earthen walls. Not only do they live in poverty, but they are also sparsely populated.

During Wang Anshi's reform period, the population peaked in Hanzhong, and it has declined year by year since then.

Take Yangzhou as an example, there are three counties under the jurisdiction of Xingdao (Yangxian), Zhenfu and Xixiang.At its peak, the prefecture had a population of about 30, and most of them lived in Xingdao County. Today, the total number of main households and customers is exhausted, and there are still 25 people left.

Xixiang County is the poorest, with a maximum population of 6 to [-].

Of course, the above data do not count the fleeing households hiding in the mountains.

After walking for about 40 minutes, the terrain opened up again, and a large tile-roofed house suddenly appeared.Those are all the houses of the Bai family, the largest mansion belongs to the main family, and the nearby houses are from the same family.

"That's the old white member's family," Zhang Guangdao said, pointing to the mansion. "He has enmity with the younger white members downstream, but the ancestors of the two families are brothers."

Zhu Ming couldn't help but glance at Zhang Guangdao, thinking that I'm a stranger, why are you telling me about this grievance relationship?
Zhu Guoxiang asked: "I see that there are many tea mountains here. Did the Bai family make their fortune by growing tea?"

Zhang Guangdao's smile became weird: "In the past few decades, relying solely on tea planting can only ruin the family, how can it be profitable? Back then, the imperial court canceled the errands in Lizheng and replaced them with errands in Luncha Yaqian. No one dared to go to other houses. There are two courageous brothers in the family. Since they went to serve as Changming Yaqian, they were appreciated by the county magistrate, and within a few years they have flourished."

The long-named Yaqian also works for the government, but the nature is completely different, and it belongs to the initiative to sign up to do things.

They are not considered officials, but they are like officials. They do not get paid and cooperate with the government for a long time.Including the collection of taxes and the arrangement of corvee, they are all assisted by the long name Yaqian. If something happens, they don't have to pay compensation, and they can get money together with the government.

Zhang Guangdao continued: "Besides the old white member, the grandfather and Lao Tzu both have long names in Yaqian, and the family is very familiar with the government. He worked as a gray official when he was in his teens. Later, he went to Xinzhi County and became a serious writer. An official, and gave her daughter to the county magistrate as a concubine, and became the master book of Xixiang County."

The county magistrate, from a ninth-rank official, seems to have no sense of existence, but to the people in the countryside, he is already a great big shot.

Moreover, many county masters in the Song Dynasty were born as Jinshi, or were served by academic officials.If you want to be promoted from a civil official to the master book, you must get the support of high officials. I am afraid that in addition to marrying your daughter as a concubine, you will also give a lot of money in private.

In addition, many of the county masters in the Song Dynasty also served as county captains and were also responsible for catching robbers and the like (in order to save wages, the master book and county lieutenants were often the same person, and they only needed to pay the salary of one official position).If the county magistrate doesn't like to be in charge, the trial of many daily cases will also be handled by the county magistrate and the master book.

Taxation, judiciary, and law enforcement, the three major powers are integrated into one body, and for the villagers, they are the emperor of the land!

Zhu Ming has already understood that the trade partner he is about to face is a retired county magistrate, a powerful figure who must be respected in all directions.

"If you can trust me, I'll show you the horse, and you can sell the pens yourself," Zhang Guangdao said.

Zhu Guoxiang cupped his hands and said, "Thank you."

Zhang Guangdao pointed to the side of the mansion: "Go through the side door, don't go through the main door to make yourself uncomfortable."

"Thank you for reminding me." Zhu Ming thanked.

After the father and son walked a few steps, Zhang Guangdao shouted: "If you can't get in, you can go back to the mountains with me. My brother likes to make friends with good men."

Zhu Ming turned around and bowed, with an ambiguous attitude.

The father and son came to the side door of the Bai family mansion, a high-walled courtyard, and the door was closed.

Zhu Ming said: "The packing box cannot reveal the stuffing. Although it is printed in traditional Chinese characters, it contains the manufacturer's information."

Zhu Guoxiang stuffed the box back into his backpack and asked his son, "Only one?"

"Things are rare and precious," said Ju Ming.

There are a total of six Hu pens, all of which are New Year gifts for relatives and children.The workmanship is fine and the value is high. Although it is not top-grade, a pen is worth hundreds of dollars.

Just as he was about to knock on the door, Zhu Ming suddenly asked, "In which dynasty did Hubi become famous?"

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head: "I don't know."

Things are a bit embarrassing, what if Hubi was not famous in the Northern Song Dynasty?
Zhu Guoxiang thought about it carefully: "When I bought a pen, the salesperson in the mall seemed to say that Hubi was very famous in the Tang Dynasty. He also quoted Bai Juyi's poems, picking a cent out of ten million. Hey, how could I remember this poem? ?”

Zhu Ming said: "After we traveled, it seems that our memory has also improved. I have done video research before, and I can blurt out many details."

"Whatever, let's try it." Zhu Guoxiang said.

In fact, Hubi was not really famous until the Yuan Dynasty, and it was not fully developed in the Song Dynasty.

"Ahhhh!"

Zhu Guoxiang knocked on the door of the house.

Not long after, the door of the house opened, and the gatekeeper was an old man.

Seeing that the father and son were dressed in rags and smelled bad, the old man took them as beggars and closed the house door again without saying a word.

I had no choice but to keep knocking on the door.

Probably because the old man knocked on the door was annoying, when the door opened again, there was an extra servant holding a stick.

The young servant scolded: "Beggars, stay away, and don't even look at whose house this is!"

Zhu Guoxiang was forced to take two steps back by the stick, held the Hu brush and said: "We are not beggars, we are businessmen passing through this place. This writing brush is a top-grade Hu brush, worth a hundred guan, and the old white staff will definitely like it when they see it."

The old man at the gate and the young servant obviously didn't know what to buy, and they didn't believe that a brush was worth a hundred dollars.

Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang, father and son, turned from beggars to liars in an instant.

The young servant swung his stick and said viciously: "If you don't leave, I will beat you to the future!"

Zhu Guoxiang turned his head to look at his son, Zhu Ming shook his head and sighed, and retreated all the way.

"Oh!"

The door of the house was closed again.

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "What should I do?"

Zhu Ming said: "Watch it, there will always be someone who knows."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I see that there are pawnshops in the market, why don't you go to the pawnshop and ask the price."

"It's also a way." Zhu Ming nodded.

The two turned back, Zhang Guangdao still stayed where he was, and did not take the opportunity to take the skinny horse away.

Zhang Guangdao smiled and asked, "Can't you go in?"

Zhu Ming said: "The gatekeeper doesn't know the goods, so he has to contact the old white man face to face."

Zhang Guangdao smiled even more happily: "Go back to the mountains with me to count the ball, how can the old white people see it easily?"

Zhu Ming said: "It's really strange. My father and son are down to this point and have nothing to own. Why does Zhang's elder brother invite you over and over again?"

Zhang Guangdao said: "The way you talk and do things is different from ordinary people. You must not be ordinary people. Most of them are educated people who have read books. There are many good men in our village, but there is a shortage of people who can read and write. Brothers will definitely like it when they see it. .”

"Brother Zhang fell in love with the wrong person." Zhu Ming was still noncommittal, he didn't want to go to the mountains to become a bandit for the time being.

Zhang Guangdao accompanied the father and son back to the market, and Lu Wang and Ding Dafang's poultry were also sold out.

Everyone ate a bowl of noodles at the market, Zhang Guangdao paid for the treat, and parted ways after filling their stomachs.

Before leaving, Zhang Guangdao clasped his fists and said, "If you two figure it out, go to the village to find the brothers of the Tian family, and Tian Er will take you into the mountains."

"Little brother, please remember." Zhu Ming cupped his hands.

After sending the three of them to the ferry and boarding the boat, Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang went to the pawn shop.

Zhu Guoxiang stood outside the shop watching the horses, and Zhu Ming went in with a brush.

This is a comprehensive shop, not only doing pawn business, but also selling rice and exchanging money and food.

The Song Dynasty implemented the two-tax law, that is, harvesting summer grain and autumn grain.

Taxes on summer grain are often collected from cloth.

If it is a fifth-class low-level household, instead of paying taxes individually, seven households are grouped into a group, and a bolt of silk cloth is collected and handed over to the government.The families who have settled down are very poor, and they may not be able to afford silk cloth or money. They can only sell grain for money and then buy cloth to pay taxes. At this time, they have to find money and grain to exchange for shops.

"One Hu brush, please make a price." Zhu Ming took out the brush.

The shopkeeper of the pawn shop had obviously never heard of the name of Hubi, so he took the brush and asked, "Dead pawn or live pawn?"

"How about death? What about life?" Zhu Ming asked back.

Since Ju Ming's clothes were torn, the shopkeeper was careless.But after tasting it carefully, his eyes lit up soon, and he put down the brush quietly: "A bald brush, without any mess, is worth five cents."

In a big city like Kaifeng, the most rubbish brushes cost about ten yuan.

But in this Baishitou, the prices are much lower, and you can indeed buy a writing brush for five cents.However, brushes with better quality also need dozens of pens.

Zhu Ming was almost laughed out of anger when the price of a Hu pen was five cents.

Zhu Ming took back the Hubi and left, but the shopkeeper shouted, "Wait a minute, I'll take another look."

Zhu Ming didn't put the brush back on the counter, but held it with his hands and brought it to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at it for a while: "I missed it just now, the workmanship of this pen is acceptable, and it is worth twenty coins of iron money!"

Sichuan belongs to an independent economic zone, including the Hanzhong area, where iron coins are used instead of copper coins.

The pawnshop was too dark and had no reference value, so Zhu Ming picked up his brush and left.

"Thirty Wen... Fifty Wen... Oh, don't go!" The shopkeeper's tone became anxious.

Zhu Guoxiang, who was looking at horses on the street, saw his son walking out of the shop and asked, "How is it?"

Zhu Ming shook his head: "It's not ordinary black!"

The shopkeeper has already chased to the door of the store: "Seventy Wen, this is worth seventy Wen!"

Zhu Ming turned a deaf ear and walked further and further away with his father.

The store clerk chased him out and asked, "Is that worth a lot?"

The shopkeeper said: "It's a good pen, I don't know how to make a price."

The clerk actually had evil thoughts in his heart, and came up with an idea: "It seems that they are two strangers, why don't you ask Brother Bai to lead someone to follow, and even grab the horse and the pen at night!"

The shopkeeper shook his head: "Don't mess around. The horse's buttocks have been scalded, I'm afraid it will erase the official seal. That young man is still wearing a weapon, so he looks like a desperado."

"What are you afraid of? When you come to Baishitou, the dragon must coil up, and the tiger must squat." The man said, sticking out his tongue and licking his lips.

The shopkeeper turned back to the shop and said: "Pawnshop business is not about robbing houses. Don't just steal guys. These two foreigners seem to be at the end of their ropes. Starve them for a few days, and then they will obediently take the brush to pawn." .”

The guy muttered a few words, as if unwilling to do so.

He thought about it, but he couldn't help it anyway, so he sneaked out of the pawn shop and went to the street, and ran towards a thatched cottage outside the market.

The shopkeeper saw it, and sighed: "Oh, young man, you still don't have enough character, you have to suffer a little to grow up."

(End of this chapter)