Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Before winter, the weir pond halfway up the mountain had been dug, and all that was left was to continuously consolidate the bottom and walls of the pond.

Most of the workers were transferred down the mountain. Some were laying foundations for the high-roller trucks, while others were digging aqueducts at the foot of the mountain.

Especially the water diversion canal needs to pass through the fields of many villagers along the way. If placed elsewhere, this is a difficult point in water conservancy projects, and many canals will be abandoned halfway because of this - land acquisition is required!

Instead of forcibly expropriating the land, Ju Ming adjusted the land ownership and allocated a piece of wasteland elsewhere to fill it up for them.

As long as this canal is dug and combined with high-rotation trucks, half of the paddy fields in the village can be irrigated.

This winter has been extremely cold, with temperatures dropping sharply at the end of September on the lunar calendar.

In order to finish the work before it snowed, Ju Ming hired more young people. The wages can only be owed first and then be deducted from taxes or land rent next year.

The villagers were dubious about this, but they still came with their hoes. As long as Ju Ming fulfills his promise and really repays their wages in the future, he will definitely gain a high degree of trust from the villagers.

In mid-October, when the ditch was still dug, it suddenly started to rain with sleet.

Construction can no longer continue, but fortunately more than half of the excavation has been completed, and the high-rotating drum car has been completed.

"Test the car!"

Following Zhu Guoxiang's order, the two cattle began to work, using gears to drive the tall bobbin cart. At the same time, the river water, which is not turbulent, is also exerting a little momentum on the trolley.

There are two modes of high-turn waterwheels. One is driven entirely by water power and does not require gear devices. It is only suitable for places with turbulent water flow. The other type requires the use of animal power. The large carts painted in the "Agricultural Book" of the Yuan Dynasty obviously have wooden gears.

Under the watchful eyes of many villagers, a ten-meter-high large-tube truck took the river water into the diversion tank.

Those diversion channels are all in the air, made of wood, and supported by many brackets below.

The reason why the barrel cart and diversion channel are built so high is purely due to the poor terrain. The high-rotating drum truck was invented for the purpose of irrigating high-lying acres. As for the lower acres, when water is needed, the gaps in the field ridges can be opened and the water will naturally flow down.

From now on, maintenance will be required every year, with tung oil brushed on the drum car and water diversion channel, and seriously decayed wood will be replaced directly.

At this moment, the river water passed through the paddy fields from high altitude and fell into the canal at the foot of the mountain.

Huge and ingenious!

Even the villagers who did not have paddy fields also cheered.

Not to mention seeing it before, they had never even dreamed that there was such a magical machine in the world.

The faces of the villagers who owned paddy fields were full of excitement. Next year, we no longer have to work hard to carry water. With the help of big trucks, we can irrigate by paying some water money.

The new village chief Zhu is indeed more effective than the bandit leader!

Ju Ming smiled and said to his father: "If this is a strategy game, there will probably be a message: Tee, your village has built a large cart, agriculture +3, free labor +3, and village chief prestige +10."

"It's easy for you. This big cart makes me very tired." Zhu Guoxiang said angrily.

Dean Zhu used to play video games in his spare time.

At first it was Red Alert and World of Warcraft, but later his wife took him to steal food, and he could understand what his son said.

The weather is getting colder and the canal work has been completely stopped, and the remaining work will continue to be dug next year.

More than ten days later, a few light snowfalls followed by heavy snowfall.

"This damn weather is worthy of the Little Ice Age!"

Ju Ming sat in the main room, throwing wooden blocks into the brazier from time to time, looking at the snowflakes floating outside with emotion.

Zhu Guoxiang rubbed his hands and turned to the fire: "There is no air conditioning or heating, so it is very difficult. The villagers in the mountainous area are okay, there are trees everywhere, and there is enough wood to keep the fire for the winter. It is difficult for the residents in the city. It has been snowing for so long, and there must be no woodcutter." When my husband went to sell firewood, the stored firewood was burned out and he had to carry it."

Ju Ming kept stamping his feet: "It has to be ten degrees below zero, and it's still cold even if it's roasting on the fire."

"That's because you didn't close the door!" Zhu Guoxiang went over and closed the door, and he felt much warmer in an instant.

Zhu Ming dragged a bench and lay down on it: "The doors and windows are closed, so you can't enjoy the snow. Dean Zhu, do you still have a cigarette?"

"Where's yours?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

"It's done." Ju Ming said.

Zhu Guoxiang took out a pack of Huazi from his arms and counted the last five and a half pieces carefully. He handed the half cigarette to his son and lit a full cigarette himself: "Did tobacco come from America?"

"Yes." Zhu Ming didn't mind it either, he picked up half a stick of Huazi and smoked it.

Zhu Guoxiang stuffed the four remaining cigarettes back and said whimsically: "If our rebellion succeeds, is it possible to send troops across the Pacific to get some tobacco from the Americas and plant it?"

Ju Ming was amused: "Then the history books from now on will probably write like this: The founding emperor and his father were addicted to tobacco and couldn't stop it, so they recruited soldiers, built giant ships, crossed the ocean, and went on expeditions to barbarians to obtain tobacco and return it."

Zhu Guoxiang also laughed and bent down to fiddle with the firewood in the brazier.

In the next room, several women were joking and talking about interesting things while collecting shoe soles for their family members.

The children were at Meng Zhao's house. Meng Xiucai taught the children in person, teaching them new characters and Arabic numerals.

The name has also been changed accordingly: "一" is a positive number, "一" is a complex number, and "1" is a simple number.

Deng Chun, who was already married and had children, heard that Meng Xiucai was teaching children, so he sneaked in and studied with him. He recognizes more than 80 commonly used characters, and he also knows that "kao" means dead father and "妣" means dead mother, and he is familiar with the size and proportion of regular script and official script.

"Puff puff puff!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Bai Sheng's voice came from outside: "Ms. Zhu, Brother Zhu, there is something good!"

Ju Ming stood up and opened the door, but was suddenly hit by a blast of cold wind.

Bai Sheng carried a goat on his shoulders and said with a smile on his face: "I went down the mountain and bought a goat. I will treat all my brothers to a good meal today."

This guy is also a cheerful person, he likes to make friends when he is a naughty guy, and he likes to be generous even if he doesn't have much money.

It has been snowing in the past few days, which made Bai Sheng feel so depressed that he simply ran to buy a goat and bring it back for a dinner party.

Ju Ming turned to look at his father: "Eating mutton hot pot?"

"good idea!"

Zhu Guoxiang was also suffocated by the heavy snow, and arranged: "You kill the sheep and skin them, and I will get the vegetables and dipping sauces."

When the women in the neighboring house heard about the cooking, they all put down their sewing and came over to help.

Zhu Guoxiang braved the light snow and went to the field to cut white cabbage.

White cabbage is an evolved species of cabbage and is the ancestor of Chinese cabbage.

The form of cabbage evolved into the form of cabbage, which was first recorded in "Qing Yi Lu" in the early Northern Song Dynasty. It was not until the Ningzong period of the Southern Song Dynasty that there was finally a more clear record: the big one is called cabbage, and the small one is called wok.

At this moment, the white cabbage that Zhu Guoxiang cut back was only covered with two or three leaves in the middle, while the surrounding leaves were all growing outward. Moreover, the stems are narrow, the leaves are broad, and the color is green and white. The appearance is between pak choi and Chinese cabbage.

In the middle of winter, these are the only vegetables left.

Dean Zhu went to pick vegetables, while Village Chief Zhu was sharpening his knife on the goat.

Holding the butcher knife, Ju Ming stood for a long time without making a move. He had already learned how to kill people, but he had no experience in killing sheep.

"Let me come!"

Zhang Guangdao pinned the goat down in the snow, bent his knees to press the goat's body, pulled the goat's horns with his left hand, and stabbed it with the knife in his right hand.

Bai Sheng handed over a wooden basin, and the sheep's blood could not be wasted.

Everyone was busy in full swing, and even the children came out to have a snowball fight, sweeping away the depression that had been pent up in the house for the past half month.

It's snowing lightly today, so I can finally move around. The heavy snowfall in the past few days was so helpless.

There is snow on the ground, reaching up to my knees!

Move the clay stove into the main room, set up the iron pot and start boiling the soup base. There weren't many condiments, and there was no chili, so I had to make do with it.

Meng Zhao rolled up his sleeves and looked on from the side: "Sir, are you making shabu-shabu?"

"right."

When Zhu Guoxiang heard the name, he knew it was the ancient name for hot pot.

The other name of rabbit meat hot pot in the Song Dynasty is elegant: Baxiagong.

It comes from two poems, "Snow surges over a clear river, and the wind blows and illuminates the clouds at night - the rolling white soup is like a surge of snow from a clear sky." He picked up the white rabbit meat with his chopsticks and poured it into the soup pot. It immediately turned red, as if the sunset was shining on Feng Zhaozi.

The sheepskin was peeled off, and several grown men cut the bones and meat, cutting the goat into eight pieces in minutes.

Remove the big bones and throw them into a pot to make soup.

Ju Ming cut a large piece of fat and thin meat, put it in a wooden basin and took it to freeze in the snow. After a while, when it got a little firmer, I went back inside to slice the mutton.

In the middle of the afternoon, everyone sat around three tables, including the village leaders and their families.

"Dad, please say a few words." In front of outsiders, Ju Ming was very respectful to his father.

Zhu Guoxiang raised the wine cup and said: "Thank you for your hard work this year. There are still two days of winter solstice, so let's celebrate in advance. When new tea is sold next year, corn and sweet potatoes are planted, and the water canals are completely dug, Daming Village will definitely be even more prosperous. Drink this bowl full!”

"Done!"

Ju Ming shouted with a smile.

"Dry!"

Not only were the men chanting, but the women were also shouting, but they didn't cheer directly.

Three small stoves were placed on the table, and earthenware pots were placed on the stoves.

No one needs to teach you how to cook this stuff. There are only mutton, offal, blood and cabbage, seasoned with ginger, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper, but it tastes extremely delicious at this moment.

The large bones that were not shaved were taken out of the soup and thrown to the children to chew slowly.

Shi Biao was having a lot of fun eating mutton. It was so fun here. Not only did the village chief take care of him, but he also made many friends, and he could even eat meat and drink wine occasionally.

Zhu Ming rinsed the mutton and said, "Deng Chun, Deng Xia, Shi Biao, after spring comes, you should come over more often and practice martial arts with everyone. You can share some of the fields allocated to you with the villagers, so you don't have to work so hard."

"I listen to the village chief!" The three people agreed quickly.

After the Zhu family and his son finished speaking, Zhang Guangdao raised his glass again: "What I enjoy most is making friends with many good men. As long as brothers work together, we can go anywhere in the world from now on. I drank this bowl of wine, and I respect all brothers!"

"Drink!" Bai Sheng responded with a toast.

At the main table, people kept urging people to drink and toast, but Shi Biao and Meng Zhao just sat there stupidly.

Yu Shanwei was sitting at the next table, pretending to stand up to add firewood to the small stove, and took the opportunity to secretly pat her husband on the back.

Meng Zhao is not stupid, of course he knows how to toast. But most of the people here are reckless men who have nothing in common with him. Since they can't get in the conversation, they just bury their heads in the meat.

After being reminded by his wife, Meng Zhao finally stood up: "Thanks to Mr. and Dalang for taking them in, I offer you a bowl. I wish Daming Village will prosper!"

"Okay, done!" Zhu Ming smiled.

Zhu Guoxiang also raised his wine bowl.

Yu Shanwei heard another movement and felt a little speechless. After paying respects to the village chief and his son, the husband actually continued to eat meat in silence without communicating with other people at all.

There is a lot of wine in the village, most of which were left behind by the bandit leaders.

There were also some who came from Xiaobai's aunt's family. Zhu Ming didn't take any money at that time, but he emptied the wine store.

You have a bowl and I have a bowl. The wine is full and the atmosphere is more harmonious.

Bai Sheng drank too much and had to urinate urgently, so he walked out crookedly.

Zhu Ming also followed him, holding hands and supporting each other, and when they arrived at the hut, they poured water together: "After the Chinese New Year, you come down the mountain with me. First, go to Shangbai Village to find Bai Sanlang, and then go with him to Yangzhou City and Xingyuan Mansion. I will Take Shi Biao with you too, you have a good brain, keep an eye on him the whole way."

Bai Sheng shook his head and became a little more awake: "I remember."

I went to Yangzhou City to find Fatty Zheng and Li Hanzhang.

When he went to Xingyuan Mansion, he sent corn and sweet potatoes to Lu Tixue.

By the way, bring back the custom-made weapons for free!

Lifting up his pants and tightening his belt, Zhu Ming looked outside and saw that the snow seemed to be getting heavier again.

He didn't know yet that just these days, the Central Plains region was experiencing severe white disasters.

Heavy snow fell for more than ten days in and outside Kaifeng City, with more than eight feet of snow covering the plains. The doors of houses and shops in the city were all blocked by snow, and the government mobilized people to clear the snow every day. The ground was frozen and horses could not move. Song Huizong ordered all officials to enter the court in sedan chairs.

A large number of beggars froze to death, and there are dedicated personnel collecting the bodies every day!

This was the largest snowfall ever recorded in the entire Huizong Dynasty.

Lu Tixue's letters of recommendation and personal letters were delayed due to some matters and were not delivered to Kaifeng until the road was blocked by heavy snow.

(I recommend "Kangxi, Your Qing Dynasty is Fallen" by Da Luoluo. Just by listening to the name, you will know what it is about. This book has already ranked first on the all-time new book list. If you like it, you can read it.)