unclear

Chapter 742 Three Travelers
"Your Majesty, I am returning to the capital with two of my dear friends. They are all great men when it comes to traveling."

Hearing the emperor's order, Liu Shimin quickly reminded the two people standing in the yard. It was so cold, and he had food and drink, so it was too rude to let his friends starve and freeze.

"Zhang Ran, let them go to the side hall to rest and also send them some snacks. Okay, start talking, and focus on the key points!" Today is really an eye-opener. He is the only one in all these years who dares to be so true to his nature in front of the emperor in the palace.

But it doesn't matter. Hong Tao doesn't care much about etiquette, so it's fun to meet a straightforward person who speaks his mind. He tried his best. It's worth losing a few hours of sleep just to hear more truth!

It turned out that Hong Tao had miscalculated. The lecture took more than several hours. It was not until dawn outside, when the eunuchs and palace maids on the day shift got up to clean up, that Liu Shimin's adventures were hastily finished.

Talent is something that is hard to explain. Some people like quietness, some like movement, some like reading, and some like playing with swords and clubs. Liu Shimin must have a talent, which is to run around everywhere, going wherever he has never been. He can't believe it just by hearing about it, but must see it with his own eyes.

In order to achieve this goal, they are not afraid of hardship, fatigue, money, or even risk. They walk for a month despite all difficulties and arrive at the expected place. Even if they don't see anything, they feel very happy. There are also such people in later generations, who are called hiking enthusiasts, commonly known as donkey friends.

But Liu Shimin was even more reckless than other hikers. Apart from taking cars and boats, he basically relied on walking. It took him ten years to travel from Beijing, along the canal and the seaside, through states and cities, all the way to Yunnan.

If he had not encountered robbers, lost his money and luggage, and the environment was too harsh, he might not have returned.

According to his plan, after visiting Yunnan, he would continue northward to Guizhou and Sichuan, and then return to Beijing via Shaanxi and Shanxi. Only after visiting the two capitals and thirteen provinces could he return to Beijing to report to the emperor.

Oh, yes, he is not alone, yes, he is not alone, but three. When Hong Tao heard the names of the other two people, his heart beat faster again. One of them was named Xu Hongzu, with the courtesy name Zhenzhi, from Jiangyin.

Jiangyin had a famous person in the Ming Dynasty, named Xu Hongzu, with the courtesy name Zhenzhi and the pseudonym Xiake. Later generations used to call him Xu Xiake. Now that the name, courtesy name, and native place are all correct, it must be Xu Xiake.

Liu Shimin left the capital in the autumn of the fourth year of Jingyang (1608). His family was not poor. His father had been a subordinate of Li Chengliang and served as a deputy general. Although his son had castrated himself to become a eunuch, he was ordered to leave the palace this time. It sounded like he was highly valued by the emperor, so he would naturally have money for his trip.

After hiring a donkey outside Chaoyang Gate, Liu Shimin set off on his journey. His first stop was Tongzhou, then Tianjin, and then he followed the canal south, arriving in Hangzhou Prefecture two years later.

Why did it take two years to get from Tianjin to Hangzhou, given the convenience of the canal? The reason is simple: Liu Shimin was not on a journey, but on a mission. So he could not just take a quick look at the prefectures along the way, but had to visit some villages in detail, do a good job of mapping, and then record the results clearly.

Although Hangzhou in the Ming Dynasty was not as prosperous as Suzhou, it was still a large city with a lot of history. Going further south, there were no larger cities to pass by until Fuzhou.

So Liu Shimin planned to stay in Hangzhou for a while, not only to rest but also to sort out the surveying records in his hand. This stop allowed him to meet a fellow traveler, Xu Xiake. Xu Xiake was 24 years old that year, and it was his first time to travel far away from home. Liu Shimin was 19 years old. The two met by the West Lake. After telling each other where they came from, they immediately hit it off and began to travel together. It took almost a year to travel around all the prefectures in Zhejiang.
At this time, the money that Liu Shimin and Xu Xiake had brought with them was almost used up. After discussing, the two decided to return to Xu Xiake's hometown Jiangyin to rest first, and then go to Fujian together after they had enough money.

I don’t know if it was fate, but when they were staying in a hotel in Wenzhou, they met a like-minded partner, Zhang Xie from Fujian.

Zhang Xie was born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, and was born into a family of officials. He passed the imperial examination in the 1594nd year of the Wanli reign (). However, he did not enter the official career. Instead, he followed his father, who had been a county magistrate, to form a poetry club near the Kaiyuan Temple in Zhangzhou, making friends with literati and scholars, and taking pleasure in writing.

In addition to writing, Zhang Xie also has a hobby, which is traveling. This time he came to Wenzhou on his way back to Zhangzhou from visiting poet friends in Hangzhou. As a result, he heard Xu Xiake and Liu Shimin talking about their experiences along the way at the dinner table, and he was immediately interested and couldn't help but join in.

As the ancients said, birds of a feather flock together. When three ancient travel buddies met, they were bound to spark off their interests. Zhang Xie's family was not short of money, but they lacked like-minded friends. When he heard that Liu and Xu were going back to Jiangyin to collect money, he immediately patted his chest and stopped them.

He dare not guarantee other places, but in Fujian, the tour must be home, what kind of money is needed, the three of us are going together, all the expenses are covered by Zhang! It's not a waste of money, you can tell me in detail about the places I haven't been to, and that's fair.

Liu Shimin's family was not short of money, but the distance was far and it was difficult to use, so he didn't want to owe this favor. But he really had no money, so what should he do? He was generous and took out his map-making skills.

Zhang Xie had never seen such exquisite craftsmanship before, so he immediately wanted to become an apprentice. Well, there was no need to talk about money now. Liu Shimin taught Zhang Xie how to draw maps with a sextant, Xu Xiake was responsible for recording anecdotes along the way, and Zhang Xie was responsible for all travel expenses. This was called showing off one's talents.

The three of them also agreed to travel to every prefecture and county in the Ming Dynasty, and then publish a book together called "Da Ming Travel Notes", which Zhang Xie would then find someone to print and publish. This was exactly the eighth year of Jingyang (1612), when Liu Shimin was 21 years old, Xu Xiake was 26 years old, and Zhang Xie was 38 years old.

They took a boat back to Zhangzhou and prepared for more than a month before the three of them began their expedition. Starting from Zhangzhou, they spent six years traveling through Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and a small part of Yunnan.

"Fortunately, I handed over the surveying points and records along the way to Zhang Xie's family in Yunnan and took them back to Zhangzhou. Otherwise, if we encountered bandits, the losses would be too great.

Your Majesty, please look, except for Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Zhili and most of Yunnan, the mountains, rivers and villages in other provinces all have specific coordinates.

If Your Majesty thinks that I am still useful, please grant me another waist badge and allow the three of us to continue to travel the remaining places. In ten years at most, or five or six years at least, we will be able to return.”

In addition to the people, Liu Shimin also brought back two wooden boxes filled with various papers. A small part was the travel notes written by Xu Xiake, and most of them were densely written with Arabic numerals, which looked like a heavenly book.

(End of this chapter)