Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Bai Chongyan brought two followers, a bookboy and a bodyguard.

The bodyguard was none other than the ancient San Gu Shusheng. He looked at the former Pao Ze with multiple blood marks on his face. He was holding the stick tightly in both hands and wanted to smash it out.

Bai Sheng and Shi Biao were similar. They both glared at the official.

Ju Ming, with a smile on his face, extended an invitation: "We are about to have a meal, why don't you have a drink together? Call your brothers!"

"Official Zhu is so generous!" The official was so happy that he even changed his title.

Perhaps because it is deep in the mountains and there are villages nearby, the delivery shops here also provide catering services.

Ju Ming didn't have much money with him, but he was very generous at this moment. He threw out a pile of gold and silver coins and said: "If you have any good wine and food, take them all out and go kill chickens and sheep quickly!"

The soldiers at the delivery shop were overjoyed. Ju Ming paid for it himself. They could make extra money, so they immediately went to find nearby farmers to buy sheep and chickens.

Even the official ship that sent them here and several stewards on board were invited by Ju Ming to drink.

Li Hanzhang, a military-loving scholar with tattoos on his body, was also a generous person. He was afraid that the money given by Ju Ming was not enough, so he grabbed the silver and threw it out, called all the scholars, and wanted to give him a good beating today - he had lived on a boat before, and the food was really not complimentary.

As a result, those officials and stewards called them "Zhu Daguanren" and "Li Daguanren" one after another.

In an instant, the two of them went from going to Beijing to raise a son to becoming heroes who spared money and were generous.

The prominent "elites" were eating and drinking, while the tea-carrying soldiers and tea-carrying laborers had to continue to work.

It was no longer possible to sail the boat ahead. Whether they were rushing to take the exam or the tea transporters, they could only get off the boat and walk along the plank road. The peasants are moving all the tea leaves on the ship to the shore.

After finishing the work, the tea delivery shop still didn't care about the food, so they had to chop wood and make a fire to make food.

The tea mover's food was severely deducted. It was all old grain mixed with sawdust, and he cooked a large pot of gruel. Just sprinkle a few grains of coarse salt in, and there won't even be any vegetables. They have to go into the mountains to dig wild vegetables themselves.

Before, you could also take a boat, which was a little easier.

Next, they had to travel over mountains and ridges. Everyone carried tea on their backs and hurried exhaustingly. Malnutrition was definitely a problem. No wonder the mortality rate was so high.

The Ocha soldiers ate slightly better, but it was still gruel. These people belong to the rank of rural soldiers and are also the targets of exploitation. Only their officers can go drinking with them.

The soldiers and civilians in Hanzhong are not actually the worst off. The real ones are the counterparts in Yazhou.

Yazhou is the farthest away and has to cross the Shu Road, so the death rate is easily over half. The biggest commotion was when 500 Yazhou soldiers were recruited to move tea. Most of them died within two years, and all the rest fled.

The impact of that incident was so bad that it directly led the imperial court to change the way Sichuan tea was transported. Instead of letting rural soldiers transport tea, local officials instead asked local officials to recruit civilian husbands.

"You four, come and eat together!" the soldier in charge of serving food ordered.

Four civilian husbands from Xixiang County, thanks to Ju Ming's care, instantly had the food and treatment of soldiers.

The rest of the people are envious.

A village soldier also said with emotion: "This Zhu Daguan is really benevolent and righteous, and he is willing to pay real money for you."

The blood stains on the face of the civilian husband were not gone. He had cried bitterly before, but now he sounded proud and patted his chest and said: "Tou never treated us badly. When I was an archer, I withheld the rations and made us unable to eat. I was full. Without saying a word, Du Tou led us to make a big fuss at the county government office and beat up the county government official. Later, I followed Du Tou to suppress the bandits, and I received more than ten pieces of reward money, all of which Du Tou gave out with his own hands. of."

Another soldier asked: "You have received more than ten guan reward, why do you have to be sent around to carry tea?"

The citizen sighed and said, "Well, after taking back more than ten thousand pounds of reward money, I spent most of it to pay off the old debts of the landlord's family. The county government secretary couldn't hold his breath and changed my family to a fourth-class household. I have paid a lot of taxes in the past two years. . This year, I have been transferred again. How can I still have the money to hire someone to replace me?"

"The public servants are not very good!" The rural soldiers actually scolded the subordinate officials. They were local troops with established structures.

Another civilian husband said: "When I returned to Xixiang, I no longer tolerated the bird's anger, and the whole family went to join Zhu Xianggong. Zhu Xianggong was Dutou's biological father. I heard that he was also very righteous, so if he went there, he would be able to If you divide the land, you won’t have to pay much in taxes, and you won’t need round labor.”

"Really? How come I don't know?" The person who asked the question was also a civilian who had been an archer.

The man before said: "Your place is too far away from Daming Village, so you don't know the news. My home is close to Daming Village, and Heifeng Village has long been changed to Daming Village. This year, the village has planted fairy grain, and one acre of The land can harvest several acres of food, and every household there will not be short of food.”

One of the soldiers was actually tempted: "I am from Xingyuan Prefecture, can I go and vote for Mr. Zhu?"

"How do I know this? I can probably go, Mr. Zhu is benevolent and righteous." The citizen replied.

Hundreds of tea-carrying men were sitting not far away eating, listening to their chat.

Many people were moved, thinking that if they did not die and returned to their hometown alive, their families would move to Daming Village.

The four archers began to brag again, talking about how powerful they were when they suppressed the bandits. Zhu Ming, Zhang Guangdao, and Chen Ziyi were all described as having the courage of a million men.

Drilling and suppressing bandits were the only highlight moments in their lives. The four archers would never forget them in their lives and would tell others about them again and again whenever they had the chance. There are many stories that are made up and told several times before they themselves believe them.

Sometimes when they are bullied, they always imagine how great it would be if the archer team had not been disbanded and they could have followed Zhu Dutou all the time.

Thinking about it, I started to laugh while taking pleasure in the pain.

In the delivery shop, the "elites" drank heavily and left with arms around each other and support.

The tea officer could hardly stand still, but he patted his chest and promised: "Zhu Daguan is my brother, and Zhu Daguan's soldiers are my own soldiers. If the four of them die, I will cut off their heads to make amends to Brother Zhu!" "

"It's easy to say, they are all brothers!" Zhu Ming was completely reassured.

Zhu Ming was also drunk and walked to the river to enjoy the wind. Bai Sheng followed closely, fearing that Brother Zhu would fall into the river.

Seeing him passing by, the four former archers all knelt down to thank him. The rest of the country soldiers and civilians also looked at him with admiration, viewing Ju Ming as a good man who was considerate of soldiers and kind to the people.

That kind of look and expression made Ju Ming's heart feel like needles pricking his heart, and he almost woke up from the drunkenness.

Even though he has done nothing, he can be admired and loved by a group of strangers.

All I can say is that it’s not how good Ju Ming is, but how bad others are!

Especially those rural soldiers who guarded the tea. After hearing about the treatment of the archers in Xixiang County, they wished that Ju Ming would immediately go to Xingyuan Mansion as an official. If they joined Ju Ming's command, they would have enough to eat every day.

The rural soldiers really have no other requirements, they just want to have enough to eat every day.

It was getting dark, and Ju Ming sat by the river in a daze.

At some point, Chen Yuan and Xue Daoguang strolled out and stood behind him.

Chen Yuan asked: "Is Dalang worried?"

Ju Ming pointed at the village soldiers and civilian husbands and said, "It can be seen that they like me very much. Some of the village soldiers even bowed to me."

"Isn't this bad?" Chen Yuan asked again.

Zhu Ming shook his head dizzily: "I only benefited four people today, why are there hundreds of people who admire me? It shouldn't be like this."

Chen Yuan was thoughtful and stopped talking.

Xue Daoguang said: "My little friend has the heart of a benevolent person, which is quite rare."

Zhu Ming suppressed the sadness in his heart and grinned: "Taoist Master's inner alchemy method only cares about becoming an immortal, but can it save the world?"

Xue Daoguang shook his head: "We can't save him. Pindao still has some medical skills. At most, he passes through the countryside and saves a few rural patients."

Zhu Ming was drunk and mentally stimulated. He wanted to talk nonsense at this moment: "Taoist Master, in Daming Village, you talked about a lot of the inner alchemy sect. In fact, it can be summed up in just four words, " Returning to one’s roots and restoring one’s life in the Tao Te Ching.”

Just four words, like Hong Zhong Da Lu, shocked Xue Daoguang on the spot.

The Ziyang Sect didn't even have a name at this time, and its theory hadn't yet matured, but its basic framework had been finalized.

Xue Daoguang wanted to accept Ju Ming as his disciple, and often tried every means to spread the idea of ​​inner alchemy. Luo Liba talked a lot, which to Ju Ming's ears was just the word "return to one's roots and return to life."

Such a concise summary had to wait ten or twenty years later, when Xue Daoguang became successful in cultivation and compiled it in his own Taoist scriptures.

Ju Ming continued: "The Taoist poems you talked about are a lot of clouds and fog, but you just refuse to explain them clearly. I will simply help you summarize them into three points: First, everything in the universe is real, not illusory. This is Shape; second, the laws of the universe are orderly, that is, existence and non-being, yin and yang, order and reverse, this is God; third, the existence of the universe, the laws of the universe, are natural, this is nature!"

"When you cultivate the golden elixir, you are cultivating the form, spirit, and nature. You are returning to your roots and restoring your life."

"The cultivation method and state you mentioned are nothing more than refining essence to transform into qi, refining qi to transform into spirit, refining spirit to return to emptiness, and refining emptiness to combine with Tao. Is that true?"

Xue Daoguang was dumbfounded. He understood everything Zhu Ming said. But being in this mountain and not knowing the true face, it is difficult to explain it as clearly as Ju Ming.

These words can be used as the general theoretical outline of the Ziyang Sect. Among them, the three theories of cosmology were summarized by later Taoist researchers, but even Bai Yuchan did not seriously summarize them.

"Taoist Priest, have you cultivated Yang Shen?" Zhu Ming asked.

Xue Daoguang shook his head: "According to what my little friend said, I am still refining the energy to become a god. As for the Yang Shen, I can only cultivate it by refining the god and making it empty again."

"The Taoist priest always said that the three religions are unified into one, but you only understand one thing and the other. What about Confucian benevolence and righteousness?" Zhu Ming shook his head and said, "Benevolence and righteousness are the foundation of Confucianism. Even if you combine benevolence and righteousness, you are still a small benevolence and a small righteousness, not a small righteousness." This is great benevolence and righteousness. The three religions you combine into one are not quite right."

Xue Daoguang frowned.

Zhu Ming continued: "The Taoist Master said that he was refining Qi and transforming into God. Great benevolence and righteousness are also in the Qi. The Taoist Master said that he had been in Tokyo for several years, living in the bustling city and living in the same light and dust. He must have been realizing this kind of Qi. Have you ever experienced this? Have you realized the great benevolence and righteousness? Without great benevolence and righteousness, the form will be missing after all. If there is a missing form, how can you transform into a spirit? How can you refine the spirit and still cultivate the yang spirit?"

Xue Daoguang knew very well that Ju Ming was sophistry.

What Ju Ming said was in conflict with the Taoism he practiced.

But the sophistry was so reasonable that it was enough to shake his moral heart.

Ju Ming chuckled: "So, Taoist priest, please follow me in practice. Save the world and save the people, be benevolent and righteous, and make up for the missing piece of the alchemy method."

Xue Daoguang felt like vomiting blood after hearing this. His practice in the world was just to experience the "being" of the secular world, that is, the social part of "form", which would eventually fall into "nothing". His ultimate goal was to be born into the world, but Ju Ming made him enter the world, and it was so deep that he couldn't pull it out if he wasn't careful.

But it does make sense. If you don’t follow Ju Ming’s words, the “shape” seems to be missing a piece!

Chen Yuan laughed when he heard this. He wanted to say something: Welcome Taoist Master to join the Confucianism School Luo Xueyong Sect.

Zhu Ming pointed at the rural soldiers and civilians: "Look, they also have 'existence' and 'form', and they also exist in real ways. How can the Taoist priest turn a blind eye? Only by helping the world and saving the people can we truly practice cultivation!"

Xue Daoguang's scalp was numb at the moment, and his mind was really unstable: "I need to meditate for a while and think about some things before talking about it. Farewell!"

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't refute it and had to think about it first.

Under normal circumstances, Xue Daoguang would not be so slow. The main reason was that today Ju Ming perfectly summarized the theory of the Ziyang Sect, which suddenly confused his mind.

Xue Daoguang left, and Chen Yuan stayed where he was.

Chen Yuan sighed: "Rescuing the world and saving the people is the only way to practice true cultivation. This is a very good thing to say, but it is not easy to do it."

Ju Ming said: "Now that you know it, you can do it. Knowing and doing are one."

Chen Yuan murmured to himself: "Knowing and doing are one, knowing and doing are one..."