Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

After Yuanfeng's restructuring, some road divisions were merged.

Guizhou is the capital of Guangxi, so the magistrate wears many hats.

Guangnan East Road Transfer Representative and Guangnan West Road Transfer Representative were merged into one Guangnan Road Transfer Representative, with their office located in Guangzhou.

However, someone still had to be responsible for the transshipment work in Guangxi, so the governor of Guizhou was asked to concurrently serve as the transshipment judge of Guangxi (the Fushu Road branch could not serve concurrently, such as Jiangxi Road, which had a dedicated Jiangxi transport judge).

Cai Yi's responsibilities are very important. He is also the governor of the state, the transportation judge, and the economic and strategic envoy of Guangxi.

But he just couldn't bring himself to be interested. It would be more comfortable to travel around the mountains and rivers.

He took the punishment envoy Shang Yongzhi and came to visit Ju Ming excitedly. It was just because Ju Ming was "good at poetry" and was also managed so that he could be recruited as a traveling companion.

They bowed to each other to reveal their identities.

Cai Yi smiled and asked: "It has been two or three days since I came to Guizhou successfully. Are you still accustomed to the soil and water here?"

"Thank you so much, Grand Administrator, for caring about me, taking off your sins, and taking things easy." Zhu Ming said.

Shang Yongzhi laughed: "You are so easy-going, you are indeed one of my generation. When spring comes, the scenery will be more beautiful. If the weather is good, you can go to visit famous places with us. I have also written poems about Success in Guangxi I heard that the imperial court even sent an official document requesting a ban. Hahahaha!"

Shang Yongzhi was from Yangzhou, and he was very thorough. He left no political achievements in Guizhou, but he left a lot of poems to be passed down to future generations.

And, his own bones and tomb.

This man has been demoted for more than ten years and has been living in a remote area.

His last post was in Yongzhou, and his poem "Wandering on the Danshan Rock" was quite depressing: "I came to train a fox and heard nothing about it. The old man teased me and I am immovable. I feel ashamed and modest, and I am as discouraged as an ordinary person... …”

Because of his despair, Shang Yongzhi fell in love with Buddhism.

Historically, he refused to be transferred elsewhere and lived directly in the temple. He also told the monks that if he died, he could find a place to bury him in Guilin.

Ju Ming personally made a pot of tea and poured it for the two of them.

Cai Yi did not ask why Ju Ming was edited, but asked: "Are there any good poems in Tokyo recently?"

Zhu Ming raised his hands towards the north: "The emperor had a masterpiece last year. Guizi is fragrant in three autumns and seven miles, wheat clouds are beautiful in nine summers. Chicken tongue has a thousand years of jujube in five years, and chrysanthemums are yellow in nine days. The emperor and his ministers, swallows and swallows, rise to the world, a genus sentence essay Le Weiyang."

"What a 'lord and minister, Yan and his disciples rise to the level of peace', the world will really be prosperous and peaceful!" Shang Yongzhi said with a strange yin and yang aura.

Cai Yi said, "It's really disappointing. Why mention his poems?"

These two people are governors of Guizhou Province. Ju Ming is now "resident" and has to report to the government every month. Naturally, he wants to make friends with them according to their wishes.

"I came across a grumbling poem recently, and I should share it with you two," Ju Ming said to Zeng Xiaoduan. "Bring me a pen and ink."

Zeng Xiaoduan quickly fetched pen and ink and stood beside him to watch the teacher write poetry.

Zhu Ming wrote with a brush: Li Shen is haggard in the south of the city, and his passionate black hat is stained with yellow dust. If you read nothing about life, you will die after reading the world in vain. When the sun sets over the mountains and rivers, it’s time to call for wine; when the west wind blows, the heaven and earth are sad. Let the bees, butterflies and yellow flowers grow old, the bright moon garden is like spring.

After Monk Cai Yi read it, they all sighed in silence. This poem was written in their hearts.

Compared with Li Shen, he was frequently demoted and relegated, and his ambition was hard to realize. I can only drink in front of the sunset and spend my days in sorrow in the west wind. Too lazy to think about all the troubles, just enjoy the life in front of you.

Isn't this a portrayal of half their lives?

After a long time, Cai Yi shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The sentimental black hat is stained with yellow dust. We people are indeed sentimental. The black hat stained with yellow dust is entirely our own fault."

Shang Yongzhi sighed and said: "Success is worthy of being a master of rhetoric. This one poem is enough for me to write a hundred poems in Guizhou. Let the bees, butterflies and yellow flowers grow old, and the bright moon garden is like spring. There is no need to say anything else. Come to me Let’s go drink at home!”

Ju Ming was dragged away like this and had to have another drink. Guizhou officials seemed to like drinking.

Zhang Boring savored the poem and said to Li Bao: "My husband seems to be free and easy, but in fact he is depressed in his heart. He just induces it but does not express it."

Li Bao put his hand on the handle of the knife: "When the new king takes the throne, my husband will definitely return to the capital, and we will do something good by then. Those treacherous villains will not let them have an easy time!"

Clang!

Zhang Bor unsheathed his sword and looked at the face reflected by the sword: "It's time to shave, don't keep it slovenly."

When they arrived at De Shang Yong's house, before the food and wine were put out, Cai Yi shouted, "Go and invite Fan Tuan Lian."

Ju Ming asked: "Which Fan Tuanlian?"

Shang Yongzhi said: "Fan Zhiming, courtesy name Huishu, was ranked second in the rankings 20 years ago. On the basis of his crimes, he was appointed Prime Minister Zhang (Zhang Shangying) by Cai Jing and was in charge of Qizhou for three years. He was later demoted to Yuezhou less than a year after he was reinstated. Collect alcohol taxes. Last year, Shangshu impeached the traitors and advised the emperor not to impose alcohol taxes. He was demoted to Guizhou as deputy envoy for regiment training."

Ju Ming said with a smile: "We are both from the end of the world, so we should call him when we drink."

Shang Yongzhi asked his servant to buy two fresh fish, which were just caught from the Li River. After preparing some meat and vegetables, the meal was almost ready, and Fan Zhiming finally arrived.

"Uncle Hui, come quickly," Cai Yi greeted, "This is Zhu Ming, Zhu Chenggong. You are the second best and the third best. It is not easy to get together here."

Fan Zhiming was in his early twenties when he was admitted to the second place, and he is only forty-three now. But his temples were gray and he looked quite haggard. He was not in high spirits and casually bowed to Ju Ming.

Not only was he demoted, but his brother Fan Zhijun was also demoted. Both brothers had a very difficult time.

When collecting wine taxes in Yuezhou, Fan Zhiming remained calm and wrote "Yueyang Customs" to record Yuezhou's historical evolution, changes in mountains and rivers, historical sites, customs, etc. Now that he was thrown to Guizhou to serve as the deputy envoy for team training, he really couldn't stand it anymore. He seemed to have aged ten years in one year.

By the way, Fan Zhixu, the Minister of Punishment, who went home for the funeral, was the younger brother of Fan Zhiming and Fan Zhijun. The former is Cai's party, and the latter two are Zhang's party. Brothers are political enemies of each other.

Shang Yongzhi took out the poem and said, "Uncle Hui, please take a look. This is a successful new work."

Fan Zhiming read it and felt the same, shook his head repeatedly, and actually joked: "This is not a successful new work, it is obviously my new work. All my experiences in the past ten years have been written down in this poem."

"Hahahaha!" Shang Yongzhi laughed when he heard the words.

Cai Yi picked up his chopsticks and said, "Eat fish, just caught."

After Ju Ming ate two pieces of fish, he clinked glasses with everyone and suddenly started drinking again.

Guizhou is too remote, and news reports often lag for several months.

Fan Zhiming asked: "I heard that Cai Jing has resigned as prime minister?"

Ju Ming said: "Now that Wang Fu is the prime minister, even Zheng Juzhong has been transferred to the Privy Council to make way for him."

Cai Yi wondered: "Zheng Juzhong has always been favored. Why did Cai Jing retire as prime minister and he also went to the Privy Council? The snipe and the clam were fighting, but Wang Fu benefited."

Zhu Ming explained: "Zheng Juzhong opposed the alliance with Jin to conquer Liao."

"I see." Everyone was understanding and understood immediately.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the power of the privy envoys was greater than that of the prime ministers. In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, both were similar and relatively balanced. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the prime ministers had completely overshadowed the privy envoys.

But Song Huizong liked to fight, and the power of the privy envoys also increased.

Letting Zheng Juzhong be the privy envoy was to force him to agree to conquer Liao. If Liao was not conquered, the power of the Privy Council would not be fully exerted and would always be suppressed by Prime Minister Wang Fu.

Fan Zhiming found it unbelievable: "Fang La is not at peace, the Song River is not destroyed, and there are big bandits in the north and south. How can your majesty still think about conquering Liao?"

"It's unbelievable, but that's what the emperor thought." Ju Ming slowly picked at the fish bone.

Cai Yi said: "How do I feel, this country of Song Dynasty..."

Shang Yongzhi said: "What is there that I dare not say? The country of the Song Dynasty is in imminent danger. What can we do? No matter how well we govern Guizhou, we can only send more money and food to the court, and hand over the people's wealth to the Privy Council to fight the war. What else can we do? It is better to practice the old-fashioned way and spend the whole day traveling around the mountains and rivers without disturbing the people. If you hand in less food and gifts, you will not be promoted at most. Where can we people get promoted?"

Cai Yi nodded: "That's true. When spring comes, I will go hiking to enjoy the flowers."

These two brothers actually have some sense of having their bodies laid bare, and they claim to be lying down for the sake of the people.

Fan Zhiming shook his head: "When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs be intact? Although I don't know much about the Jin Kingdom, but it can defeat the Liao Kingdom and lose its city and territory, how can it be easy to compete with others? I have only heard of uniting the weak to fight against the strong. , there is no reason to unite with the strong to attack the weak."

"Once the Liao Kingdom was destroyed and Song and Jin were bordering each other, how could our beleaguered army of the Song Dynasty resist the wolf-like Jin soldiers? It would be okay if the Jin people did not go south. Once they go south, Shandong and Hebei have been exhausted for a long time, and they will definitely not be able to stop the Jin soldiers. We are here to play and drink. Can Kaifeng City still be able to withstand the enemy's army?"

Zhu Ming couldn't help but put down his chopsticks and looked at Fan Zhiming a few more times.

"What can be done?" Cai Yi asked.

"well!"

Fan Zhiming slumped down on the chair.

Ju Ming smiled and said: "It's a pity that we were demoted too far, otherwise we could still lead troops to serve the king."

"King Qin? That's not the case." Cai Yi said in surprise.

Fan Zhiming said: "I have served as a servant and as the magistrate of Fuguo County in Shaanxi, and I know what the army of the Song Dynasty is like. Even the elite border troops desert countless soldiers every year. Because there are so many deserters, the court dare not punish them Military attache, according to the law, there are not many people who can lead troops. In recent years, there have been constant natural disasters, and there are giant bandits in the southeast. How much money is left in the treasury? If we join forces to attack Liao, we may not even have enough food and grass."

Ju Ming said: "I'm afraid that if Tong Guan really defeats Fang La, then he will be in the same position, and he will definitely be promoted to a higher position. How could he give up his plan to conquer Liao in order to become the king?"

Snapped!

Shang Yongzhi slapped his chopsticks on the table and said depressedly: "I didn't drink this wine very well. I wasted two fresh fishes."

Ju Ming raised his glass and said with a smile: "Everything is just speculation. Maybe because of the lack of food and grass, the officials may no longer attack the Liao Dynasty. Drink!"

"Yes, yes, let's drink and have fun." Cai Yi suddenly became a man of the day again, regardless of the flood in the north.

Ju Ming said: "I want to give lectures in Qixing Mountain. Can you help me?"

Cai Yi said: "This matter is easy to hear. I will contact the rich families in Guizhou and ask them to pool money to build the academy and then let their children enter the academy. The state academy has not given out the quota for imperial education for two years and free meals. Accommodation has also been cancelled, and there are fewer and fewer students. There is no good place for them to go, but they just go to the successful academy."

Fan Zhiming was so busy every day that he said: "After the academy is built, I will also give lectures, otherwise I don't know how to live."