Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

By the Guangji River, friends from Beijing and China were bidding farewell to Ju Ming.

It rained heavily all night last night, and the water in the Yellow River in the north has swelled so much that it is no longer suitable for boating. This is the case in summer, and the Yellow River often floods. Otherwise, it would be more convenient for Ju Ming to walk along the Yellow River.

The Guangji River side is better, but you have to get off the boat and take the land route to Puzhou.

Branches of willows were broken off and delivered to Ju Ming, along with more than ten farewell poems.

Dark clouds were gathering, there was thunder, and it was raining lightly.

Zhu Ming also picked up a writing brush and wrote down Xin Qiji's "Partridge Sky": "I sang through the Yangguan Pass before my tears were dry. I have nothing left to do but eat. Floating water from the sky sends endless trees, bringing rain clouds to bury half of the mountain. Hatred of the past and present, how many times Of all the things, only separation and separation are joys and sorrows? The river head is not in trouble, and it is difficult to travel in the world!"

The same poem, written in different environments, naturally has different meanings.

The difficulty of traveling here refers to the rampant traitors in the DPRK, making it difficult for upright people to express their ambitions.

After Bai Chongyan read this poem, he was filled with emotion and raised his glass: "Cherish it all the way!"

Ju Ming picked up the wine glass and said to everyone: "Please take this seriously."

"Boom!"

The raindrops became heavier, and Ju Ming turned around and boarded the ship.

Wang Jie, the prefect of Xingren, stood on the deck and looked at the lively scene on the shore. The more people who saw off Ju Ming, the more lonely Wang Jie seemed. There were no friends to see him off today.

"Why don't you go into the cabin?" Zhu Ming boarded the deck and saw that Zheng Yuanyi was soaked.

Zheng Yuanyi smiled and said: "Waiting for Mr. Lang."

Wang Jie took the initiative to bow and greet him: "I, Wang Jie, the magistrate of Xingren, have long admired the name Zhu Tanhua."

"Each other, each other." Ju Ming symbolically handed over his hand, his attitude neither salty nor cold.

Wang Jie curled his lips, said no more, and returned to the cabin silently.

This guy belongs to Cai Jing's party. When Cai Jing was dismissed as prime minister for the second time, Wang Jie and Zhao Ting were also dismissed from office - both of them were not very lucky. Historically, they clung to Cai Jing and were dismissed from office before they got any benefits. . Later, he was finally reinstated. Wang Jie encountered Song Jiang's uprising, while Zhao Ting encountered Fang La's uprising.

A pair of unlucky guys!

In the evening, the official ship docked in the southern suburbs of Dongming County.

The sky has cleared, the sunset is like fire, and smoke is curling up everywhere.

Ju Ming stayed at a posthouse in the suburbs and said to the postman: "Just give me some food, no wine, just bring some meat."

The postman waited on him carefully, and gradually realized that Ju Ming had no official airs, and everything became much more efficient in an instant.

Ju Ming asked: "Are you a jobber or are you employed?"

The postman replied: "Hired, my family is nearby. Although I am a little tired, my life is not bad."

Guangji River was one of the four major rivers in the Northern Song Dynasty. The posthouses along the river were booming in business. They did not need government funding at all and could operate normally by making extra money.

Liangshanshuibo is a large lake through which the Guangji River flows.

Song Jiang's rebellion spread all over the country, marching along the Guangji River, causing chaos in the Cao River.

Ju Ming continued to ask about local conditions, and the postmen all answered seriously.

Wang Jie, who was on the same boat, did not stay at a posthouse outside the city. Instead, he went to stay in a hotel in the city.

The county government hotel was much more upscale. I heard that a magistrate was staying there, and the magistrate of Dongming County personally came to receive him. He ate a lot of fish and meat and even called a singer to accompany him to drink and have fun.

The next day, noon.

Ju Ming urged: "Why haven't you sailed yet?"

The officer in charge of the official ship said with a grimace, "The prefect is still in the city, we have to wait until he gets on the ship before leaving."

Ju Ming asked: "If he stays in the city for a few days, we have to wait all the time?"

The military officer didn't know how to answer.

"You guys wait here, I'll come as soon as I go!"

Ju Ming took the cornucopia off the boat and rode straight to the city gate.

When passing through the door, Zhu Ming showed his official badge and asked, "Where is the county government hotel?"

The city guard quickly saluted and said, "Follow the main road to the north. When you see the county government office, go east."

"Thanks for the directions!" Ju Ming rode away.

The servant became happy and showed off to his companions: "This is a magistrate. Please tell me thank you."

The companion muttered: "I didn't give you any money, so why should I be happy?"

"I have received reward money, but I have never been thanked by an official." The more the servant said, the more excited he became. He planned to go home from get off work and tell his wife and children that he could brag about this for the rest of his life.

Ju Ming rushed to the door of the hotel, showed his official badge and walked straight in, asking: "Is the prefect Wang Jie here?"

The hotel guard said: "Prefect Wang is still resting."

"Take me there!" Ju Ming scolded.

The officer hesitated to speak and had no choice but to lead the way.

When he came outside the guest room, Zhu Ming didn't bother to knock on the door and kicked the door open.

The prefect was lying naked on the bed, with two singers lying beside him.

The three of them were instantly awakened. The singer hurriedly covered her body, and Wang Jie was looking for pants everywhere.

"You, you..." Wang Jie pointed at Ju Ming and shouted angrily, not knowing where his pants were, "Sweep the floor politely, sweep the floor politely, how is this inappropriate? Close the door quickly!"

Ju Ming closed the door with his feet, but he stood inside.

Wang Jie didn't care about swearing, and randomly picked up a pair of pants. After putting them on, he realized that they belonged to the singer. He could only wear the singer's obscene pants, crawling around on the bed, and finally found that all his clothes were on the floor.

There were many officials who clung to Cai Jing at the beginning, and Cai Jing was dismissed as prime minister, but he lived in Tokyo and refused to leave. His power was still there, and very few of Cai's party were implicated in losing his official position.

Wang Jie was dismissed from office because he himself had left behind the excuse - "Welcome to the Northern Envoy and be charged with sexual immorality." That is, he entertained the Liao envoy privately and even played with women with the envoy.

A few years ago, Wang Jie was blocked in bed, but today it happened again.

Before the guy could fully put on his clothes, Ju Ming grabbed his belt and dragged him out.

Several of Wang Jie's followers had already received the news, and they were all standing outside the door at this moment. I saw the door of the room opened, and my husband, disheveled, was being carried away by Zhu Zhizhou, who was on the same boat.

"Let go, it's insulting to gentlemen!" Wang Jie shouted in a panic.

Ju Ming turned a deaf ear and grabbed the man to the door of the hotel, put him on the horse's back very roughly, then turned over and rode away.

Wang Jie's followers were all dumbfounded and chased him wildly.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The hotel staff were stunned for a long time, and then burst into laughter.

This thing is so interesting. The prefect was captured by the magistrate and he didn't have any clothes on. He could gossip for a whole year.

The horse's back was too bumpy and kept pushing against his stomach, making Wang Jie want to vomit. He no longer dared to speak and covered his face all the way for fear of being recognized.

When they reached the river, Ju Ming put him down. The guy lay there and retched.

After waiting for a long time, Wang Jie was finally helped up by his attendants, only to find that Zhu Ming had already boarded the ship.

He put on his clothes and rushed forward, angrily asking: "Er'an dares to treat his colleagues like this, I will definitely impeach him!"

Ju Ming said: "It's already past noon. How long will the official ship wait for you? You just passed through Dongming County and stayed at the hotel according to the regulations. How could you go to the county government hotel against the rules and ask a local singer to accompany you? Who has it? You were wrong first, think about it yourself!"

Wang Jie's face turned red with anger, but there was nothing he could do about Ju Ming.

He did violate the rules. The county government hotel is a place to entertain distinguished guests. He is not an official here, he is just passing by, and in principle he cannot disturb the place.

"Set the boat!" Ju Ming shouted.

The military officer in charge of the official ship immediately ordered the anchor to be weighed, turning his back and snickering. He had long disliked Wang Jie because he was doing too many things, and he was happy to see Ju Ming teach him a lesson.

The official ship continued sailing until it arrived at Wanting County. Wang Jie finally started to tremble again, because this place was under the jurisdiction of Xingren Prefecture.

As the magistrate of Xingren, Wang Jie swaggered to the county government hotel and deliberately asked the magistrate to call a bunch of singers.

Before getting off the boat, Wang Jie also said: "If it is too late tomorrow, you can just sail away. I am the prefect of this place, so I will pay a private visit incognito."

Zhu Ming was too lazy to pay attention. Since it was still early, he put Zheng Yuanyi in the post house and rode alone to visit nearby villages.

It was probably because he was wearing a royal robe, which looked very expensive at first glance, so he was spotted as soon as he came out of the first village.

I saw more than a dozen men blocking the front, holding various weapons in their hands, and the leader even rode a horse.

Zhu Ming was quite puzzled and asked aloud: "This is not far from the county seat. In broad daylight, you actually plan to rob the road? Didn't you see me carrying weapons?"

"Leave some money and let you go without harming your life!" the leader shouted.

Zhu Ming was speechless for a moment. It was indeed Shandong in the Song Dynasty.

Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, Shandong was far ahead in the country in the number of rebellions.

The Song Dynasty's written descriptions of Shandong, except for words such as "simple" and "vulgar", were all "violent", "fierce knights", "strong beams" and "many thieves".

"There are gangs of thieves in the wild, but there are many arbitrary heroes in the wild." This means that the wild is full of robbers, and the urban and rural areas are full of underworld.

"Two thousand stones are rarely bullied." This means that there are few magistrates in Shandong who are not bullied by local powerful people.

In the final analysis, the business in Shandong is underdeveloped, land annexation is very serious, and a large number of surplus laborers cannot find jobs. This place is very close to Kaifeng, and there is also the Guangji River for water transportation. The exploitation from the government is very heavy. Kaifeng Prefecture has been sucking the blood of Shandong people.

A combination of factors will result in a large number of refugees once a natural disaster occurs.

The imperial court could only recruit refugees as soldiers, but the refugees still did not have enough to eat as soldiers. Instead, they learned military skills, fled back home with weapons, and became more professional as thieves.

Ju Ming took off his bow and arrow, mounted the arrow, and shouted: "Get out of here!"

The thieves were a little scared, but they were reluctant to let the fat sheep go. They didn't know whether to advance or retreat for a while.

Ju Ming drew the bow half full and shot an arrow, killing the bandit leader.

The group of thieves fled in panic. Not only did they help the seriously injured bandit leader, they also took the horse with them.

Zhu Ming chased him on horseback, and the thieves scattered and ran wildly.

The bandit holding the horse panicked and climbed onto the horse's back, but because of his poor riding skills, he was soon overtaken by Ju Ming.

With a slash of the sword, the thief fell off his horse, and Ju Ming snatched the horse away.

With the spoils of war, he was too lazy to continue chasing. Anyway, this was not his jurisdiction, so let Wang Jie have a headache.

I rode back for a stroll and saw Deng Chun bringing someone over.

Shi Biao stayed in the capital to protect Zhu Guoxiang, while the remaining Bai Sheng, Deng Chun and others followed Zhu Ming to Puzhou.

"Why are you here?" Zhu Ming asked.

Deng Chun replied: "I heard from the postman at the posthouse that there are many robbers around here, so I asked Bai Sheng to protect my wife, and I brought someone over to pick up the man."

"Go back," Ju Ming said with a smile, "I picked up a horse for nothing. I'm lucky today."

Ju Ming is not looking forward to his future work and even has a headache.

Puzhou is next door to Xingren Mansion, and it is also full of thieves.

There is no end to the killing, and the employment problem must be solved. However, the imperial court exploited Shandong excessively, and the land annexation was serious, and the number of unemployed people would only increase.

We have to find a breakthrough!