Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The Deer Ming Banquet was officially held, and the scholars themselves also wanted to celebrate.

Wang Chang, the recommended student, served as the host and invited everyone to go to the lake - Jinsha Lake (reservoir) in Yangxian County in later generations. Today, the area is much smaller, and the ancestral home of the Wang family is nearby.

"Second brother, sister-in-law, hurry up!" Zheng Yuanyi was already urging.

"I'm coming."

Fatty Zheng actually didn't want to go. The people attending the appointment today were all top students, and he didn't have the talent to recite poetry.

Ju Ming didn't care about this and just went to the lake to relax.

Everyone left Dezhou City, came to the Han River Pier, and boarded a passenger ship belonging to the Zheng family.

Crossing the Han River and heading west, you enter its tributary Jinsha River.

Both sides of the Jinsha River are paddy fields, and most of the rice has been harvested.

Zheng Hong said: "These are the fields of the Wang family, which have been managed for more than a hundred years by generations. The paddy fields alone include nearly 10,000 acres."

"Great landowner." Ju Ming sighed.

Although my own Daming Village has thousands of acres of land, its paddy fields only cover two to three hundred acres, and most of the rest is mountainous.

After going upstream for several miles, we arrived at Jinsha Lake.

Zhu Ming couldn't help but ask: "Is it possible that gold sand could be mined in this Jinsha River and Jinsha Lake in the past?"

Zheng Hong said: "The ancestors of the Wang family made their fortune by mining gold, and became a scholarly family after becoming a Jinshi. Now there is no gold to mine, but the Wang family has stood firm and saved a lot of land to become a wealthy family."

Sure enough, many local wealthy families have dark histories, and the ancestors of the Wang family must have been the "Golden Ba" who mined gold sand.

There are already more than ten small boats parked in the lake, all of them are scholars taking their families to visit the lake.

There is also a large boat, a lake boat belonging to the Wang family, and scholars are invited to have boat parties from time to time.

When we got on the lake boat, Wang Chang greeted us warmly.

There were more than twenty scholars in total, most of whom had not passed the examination. They were just here to have fun for free.

Wine and food have been laid out, and we can chat while swimming around the lake.

Gradually, the drinking order began, and the female relatives also participated. All of them were masters of wine. Even Zheng Yuanyi raised his glass and drank.

Perhaps they thought that Ju Ming's poetry skills were too good and everyone was too lazy to compare with him, so they actually skipped the on-site poetry writing session.

After getting drunk, Wang Chang started to get down to business: "The provincial exam is in early February. We can leave after the Chinese New Year. It's still too late to hurry up and hurry up. But there was heavy snow last year. I heard that the snow in Tokyo was eight feet thick. Now that spring has started, there is no snow in the suburbs." Finished."

"So, I'm waiting to discuss setting off early. It's best to arrive in Tokyo before the heavy snowfall." Min Zishun said.

A scholar from a relatively poor family said: "If this is the case, we may have to stay in Kaifeng for more than three months, and the cost of food and accommodation will be too high."

Wang Chang said: "The two families of King Min and King Min will help as much as possible, so there is no need to worry about food and accommodation."

This is because the number of candidates in Yangzhou is small, and they are willing to help each other.

Yang Zhizhou and Li Tongpan recommended two additional recommended students, but they were not all doing things for money. There were eight candidates, plus two recommended candidates. When they arrived in the capital, there were exactly ten people who jointly guaranteed the exam. Otherwise, they would not even be able to get together the sponsors for the exam.

In other words, the ten people who are about to go to Beijing to take the exam are each other's sponsors, and it is normal for them to help with some living expenses.

"When will we set off?" Zhu Ming asked.

Wang Chang said: "September is just right, early October at the latest."

Fatty Zheng joined in the fun and said, "Take the winning number and set off at the end of September."

"Can."

Everyone agreed with this suggestion.

After talking about business, we had fun again and went ashore for dinner at noon.

In the afternoon, he went fishing by the lake. Ju Ming was not interested in this and wandered around the village near the lake.

After walking around in a circle, Ju Ming climbed up and looked into the distance, and saw a large area of ​​dry land in the northeast. He wandered back to the lake and asked, "Why are there dry fields in the northeast, so why can't we build a diversion canal to get there?"

Wang Chang explained: "The tens of thousands of acres of land over there are high in the middle and low on all sides, so there is no way to draw water."

It’s strange that it can’t be attracted!

Ling Guxu, who was fishing, walked silently to Ju Ming and motioned for him to talk alone.

The two of them used the excuse to change fishing spots and chose a remote location.

Ling Guxu said: "My family lives over there. We have more than 2,000 acres of land, but only a few dozen acres of paddy fields. We all rely on ourselves to dig ponds and store water for irrigation. This time, my article will be used to explain the current affairs policy in the exam. It is a river dam and canal, and although the state officials are quite fond of it, they can never actually dig the canal.”

"Why?" Zhu Ming asked curiously.

Ling Guxu said: "The river dam land is 30,000 to 40,000 acres, with two sides bordering the Han River and one side bordering the Jinsha River. It is extremely difficult to obtain water. In fact, it is very simple to build canals, but we must rely on Jinsha Lake to build weirs and dams. The paddy fields on the edge will be flooded to some extent, and all the paddy fields will be flooded."

Ju Ming asked: "How many paddy fields need to be flooded, and how many dry fields can be irrigated?"

Ling Guxu said: "My family asked a gentleman who knows water conservancy to see it. It only takes hundreds of acres of Wang family's paddy fields to be flooded, and the dams and canals built can irrigate more than 30,000 acres of dry land. Even 10,000 acres of dry land can be irrigated." Many acres of dry land have been transformed into paddy fields that can grow rice!”

"It's really difficult." Zhu Ming shook his head and sighed.

The hundreds of acres of paddy fields around Jinsha Lake are all fertile. How could the Wang family agree to build a dam?

Any talk of compensating the Wang family for their losses after the water conservancy is repaired is all false, and wrangling and accidents will inevitably occur.

The water conservancy here was not promoted until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty by Li Yuzhi, a water conservancy expert who resigned from office and returned home, relying on his extremely high influence.

Moreover, there was a disaster at that time, and the government could not deal with the victims. Li Yuzhi persuaded the government to provide work relief. But the resistance was still too great, and a canal was hastily built and then abandoned. It could only irrigate a few thousand acres of land.

The next time we build water conservancy projects, we will have to wait until the founding of New China to completely solve the irrigation problem of tens of thousands of acres of land.

Ju Ming kept this in mind, as it was related to his future military rations.

Ling Guxu added: "My family's land accounts for about one-twelfth of the land there, and the construction of water conservancy projects is the biggest beneficiary. But there are countless neighbors who can benefit. For decades, we have been communicating with the Wang family We negotiated, but there was not even the slightest solution. My family even promised to compensate Wang's family for the amount of land they flooded, and after the paddy fields were transformed into paddy fields, they would compensate his family for that amount of land, and give him an additional fifty acres of paddy fields. They also asked Zhizhou to be the surety and sign the deed. Even if I show my sincerity, the Wang family won’t listen at all.”

Ju Ming just smiled and put himself in the Wang family's shoes. If he were the Wang family, he would definitely not agree because there were too many variables during the period.

It must be pushed forward by force!

Ling Guxu continued to elaborate on his hometown reconstruction plan. He pointed to the west and said: "Irrigation can also be built over there, which can irrigate thousands of acres of land. It has nothing to do with my family. But building weirs and dams will also need to submerge the Wang family's fertile farmland, and it will also need to flood the Wang family's farmland." We have to pass through the fields of the Wang family. The main and minor sects of the Wang family have almost occupied all the water sources of the Jinsha River."

It was useless to talk about this at this time. Zhu Ming asked: "Brother Linggu, does he know about water conservancy?"

Ling Guxu said: "I have learned it, but I only read books randomly without any practical experience. Mr. Zhu's mathematics is of great benefit to water conservancy, and I am studying it seriously. Agriculture is the foundation of the world, and water conservancy is the foundation of agriculture. Ben. If I can be named on the gold medal list one day, every time I go to a place as an official, I will definitely repair the local water conservancy!"

Ju Ming asked again: "What do you think of the current imperial court?"

Ling Guxu said: "The treacherous ministers are harming the country. If the treacherous ministers in the court are not eradicated, it will be difficult for the country to revitalize."

"Why are there so many traitors in the court?" Zhu Ming asked.

Ling Guxu said: "The official family has been deceived by traitors."

Ju Ming couldn't help but laugh: "Why don't the officials want to do something, but those treacherous ministers just do what they want?"

Ling Gu Xu is silent.

Ju Ming stopped talking and went fishing seriously.

When I pulled the lever, I saw that all the bait had been eaten.

Ling Guxu also pulled the rod to change the bait, stared at the buoy for a long time, and suddenly said: "If there is a foolish king in power, we should start with the prince."

Ju Ming curled his lips, that prince was not even as good as his father.

"Brother Zhu, it's cool here." Zheng Yuanyi came over with the fishing rod and brought some snacks to Zhu Ming.

Ju Ming lay on the grass, covered his eyes with a leaf to block the light and began to take a nap.

This day is really pleasant.

Zheng Yuanyi sat next to him, throwing the fishhook into the water and ignoring it, watching Ju Ming sleep with a smile on his face.

Ling Guxu was patient, staring at the lake quietly, and soon caught a grass carp.

In the evening, a fire was lit by the lake. The servants were busy cleaning the fish and threading them with bamboo branches. The gentlemen and ladies set up a fire to grill the fish.

I stayed in Yangzhou for another half month, and also paid a visit to the magistrate and Tongpan.

After the Zheng family's merchant ship went to Daming Village to ship autumn tea, Zhu Ming and Bai Chongyan left on a smooth sailing boat.

Zheng Yuanyi sent them all the way to the riverside, and the look of reluctance in leaving them made Ju Ming feel a little soft-hearted.

Fatty Zheng stood on the bow of the boat, blowing the river breeze, feeling full of ambition.

His eldest brother was so unconventional that his grandfather made up his mind last night to train Fatty Zheng as the heir to the family.

Zheng Hong, who likes to have fun, has an inexplicable sense of responsibility and is even more active in doing things.

When we go to Daming Village, we not only have to transport autumn tea, but also some corn. When the matter is settled, he will take over the green tea business with full authority, and gradually take over the entire family business.

"Goodbye, both of you!" Bai Chongyan disembarked at Shangbaicun.

The merchant ship continued to move forward until it docked outside Daming Village.

On this ship, there were hundreds of poor people from Yangzhou, who landed with their families and their families, and were placed in the wasteland between Feicha Mountain and Daming Village.

A lot of food and daily necessities were moved off the ship and replaced with corn and autumn tea.

Why does Daming Village need to buy food?

Because corn is in short supply, and one pound of corn can be exchanged for fifteen pounds of rice, large landowners in Xingyuan Prefecture and Yangzhou are all buying corn seeds at high prices.

It's a pity to eat it, so of course I have to sell it.

The village has a bumper corn harvest this year. If all were replaced with miscellaneous grains, there would be too much food to eat!

But with just one sale, corn will spread next year, and corn seeds will no longer be scarce and valuable.

Baskets of corn were brought up, as well as a lot of autumn tea, filling the merchant ships. The Zheng family could make a fortune by selling grain and making a profit from the price difference.

Also making money is Lao Bai, who also planted a lot this year.

Looking at the villagers carrying goods, Ju Ming could feel their joy.

Moreover, everyone is much stronger and not as good-looking as last year.

Seeing Ju Ming, the villagers stopped to greet him. The fear is reduced a bit, the respect is increased a bit, it is support from the heart.

Zheng Hong has a sense of responsibility, and Ju Ming's situation is similar.

He must be responsible for these villagers who sincerely support him, and he cannot mess around. If he is not careful, it will be a road of no return.

Zhu Ming looked up at the sky. The autumn wind was blowing and the sky was clear.