Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Bai family, study room.

Li Hanzhang compared the scriptures and meanings he had just written with a copy of "Selected Editions of Shi Wen", shook his head and sighed: "For the same scripture meaning, the Shi Wen I wrote is just not as good as those of Jinshi. I'm afraid the provincial examination (National Conference) will be held the following year. (Test), I failed again."

"No matter how hard you work, you can always make progress." Bai Chongyan was not only motivating his friends, but also cheering himself up.

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, not only did there not be eight-part essays, but even the classics and meanings lacked a fixed format.

After Wang Anshi's reform of the imperial examination, poetry and Fu were cancelled, and Jingyi became the focus of the examination. The imperial court published some model essays, and scholars summarized several routines based on those essays. Candidates can generally write according to the routine, but they can also express themselves freely, and the marking officers will treat this equally.

The routines of classic essays in the Northern Song Dynasty became more standardized in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the marking became more and more strict, so the prototype of the eight-legged essay appeared.

If Ju Ming took the imperial examination, he could directly copy the eight-part essay!

"How come Fatty Zheng hasn't come to cause trouble these days?" Li Hanzhang suddenly asked.

Bai Chongyan said: "He listened to Zhu Dalang telling stories."

Putting the brush on the pen holder, Li Hanzhang stretched and said, "Let's go too. It's time to have some fun after studying for a few days."

The two of them went out together to Mrs. Shen's house, followed by several servants.

Zhu Ming and Zheng Hong were located in the corner of the courtyard, one sitting on the bench and the other on the chair, both eating snacks brought by the little fat man.

Tell stories while eating.

They went over to listen, and it happened to be about Monkey King fighting against Erlang Shen.

Li Hanzhang suddenly said: "Isn't Erlang Shen's surname Li? He is the son of Li Bing, the prefect of Shu County."

Bai Chongyan said: "If the surname is not Li, it should be Zhao."

The Erlang Shen of the Song Dynasty was not Yang Jian?

Ju Ming really didn’t know, so he could only lie: “Over there in Guangnan, Erlang Shen’s name is Yang Jian.”

Li Hanzhang did not doubt that he was there, and suggested: "It would be better to change it to Li Erlang. After all, he is the official Lang Junshen."

"Okay." Zhu Ming followed the good advice.

Jiro God, originally a Buddhist deity, Dokken Jiro, the son of King Bishamon. In the legend, he not only helped Li Shimin fight the war, but was also summoned by Li Longji to help Anxi.

By the Five Dynasties period, the statue of Du Jianerlang had appeared in Guankou Tianwang Temple.

The Taoist priests in Qingcheng Mountain were not happy, so they organized and launched "Zhao Erlang" (the prefect of the Sui Dynasty, who killed dragons and eliminated harm) to compete with the Buddhist "Du Jian Erlang". Another "Li Erlang" was born among the people. According to legend, he was the son of Li Bing. He quickly gained recognition from the people, so "Li Erlang" was also absorbed by Taoism.

As it developed into the Song Dynasty, chaos arose.

First, Song Zhenzong named "Zhao Erlang" the true king. Then it was Song Renzong who named "Li Erlang" the God of Langjun. In a few years, Song Huizong will also take action and make "Zhao Erlang" a real person.

Taken together, the Erlang God officially recognized by the Song Dynasty should undoubtedly be Li Erlang.

Zhu Ming replaced Yang Jian with Li Erlang and continued to eat snacks and tell stories. The three young masters gathered around him and listened carefully.

Time passed slowly, and in the afternoon, Zhu Guoxiang suddenly shouted: "Come here and help!"

Zhu Ming immediately ran over and came to the eaves of the thatched house.

Zhu Guoxiang pointed to the compost pile and said, "It's almost time to turn the fertilizer. Use a shovel to turn it over."

"How long will the compost pile last?" Zhu Ming asked as he took the shovel.

Zhu Guoxiang explained: "Composting is divided into two stages. The first stage is to decompose organic matter and kill insect eggs and germs; the second stage is to generate more fertile humus. The whole process takes 45 to 60 days, and we can't wait that long. It will be ready for use after the first phase is completed.”

The three scholars all came over to watch Ju Ming gain weight. They seemed to find it quite interesting.

The "Qi Min Yao Shu" of the Southern and Northern Dynasties recorded a primitive composting method. By the late Northern Song Dynasty, aerobic composting had been basically mastered, but in terms of ingredients, it was not as scientific and comprehensive as Zhu Guoxiang.

Li Hanzhang asked: "You two are using compost to plant flowers?"

"Grow food." Zhu Guoxiang said.

A few days passed like this, and Mrs. Bai's birthday party was approaching.

The rice-growing field had been plowed and exposed to the sun. Lu An came to inform him of the situation, and Zhu Guoxiang asked him to call two tenants.

On the day of Pingping Momo, not only Zhu Ming, Li Hanzhang, Bai Chongyan, and Zheng Hong were present, but even Bai Chongwen, the eldest son of the Bai family, came to watch. A few villagers who were not busy with farm work also came to watch the fun.

"Drain the water in the fields. Stop when I tell you to stop."

Zhu Guoxiang's first sentence stunned the two tenants because it did not conform to their common sense.

Bai Dalang watched from a distance with a sneer on his face, thinking Zhu Guoxiang was a liar and just waiting to see the next joke.

The tenants opened the gap in the field ridges and watched the water drain out little by little.

After a long time, Zhu Guoxiang shouted: "Stop, seal the hole!"

The field water has not been completely drained, and there is still a bit left.

Then, Zhu Guoxiang directed the tenants to pour the cooked farmyard manure evenly into the fields.

Under the gaze of everyone, Zhu Guoxiang rolled up his trouser legs and went to the fields in person, holding a hoe and pole in his hands and stepping on the fields splashed with manure.

The dignified Prime Minister Zhu refused his daughter the king's offer to marry him, but he picked up a hoe in the manure and dug out the mud from the field to build a seedbed. He put the hoe aside, smoothed the seedbed with a pole, and occasionally picked out some debris and threw it away.

After leveling a section of the seedbed, Zhu Guoxiang turned around and asked the tenant: "Have you seen it clearly?"

"See clearly," said the two tenants.

Zhu Guoxiang then returned to the field ridge and said, "Follow this, the width of the seedbed will be exactly that."

The two tenants took action immediately, without any difficulty, and did not even need Zhu Guoxiang to correct them.

After the seedbed was finished, Zhu Guoxiang turned around and left, saying: "Let it dry for three to five days, then you can sow the seeds."

The tenants looked at each other. The water in the fields was almost drained, and the seedbeds were raised above the water. If they were left to dry for a few more days, wouldn't there be little moisture left in the soil?

How can we sow seeds?

Lu An hurried back to report the situation and said, "The person named Zhu is messing around. I'm afraid the seedlings will not grow well."

Old Bai said thoughtfully: "He's not stupid. He probably has other methods. Just follow his instructions. From the beginning to the end, you should remember everything he did. If he can really increase rice production, next year Farm the fields his way.”

"Yes!" Lu An bowed and stepped back.

Zhu Guoxiang soaked the grain seeds and called the two tenants to sow the seeds on the day before Mrs. Bai's birthday party.

"Go to the fields and level the seedbed."

"Go and fetch water, not dung water. River water or well water is fine."

Zhu Guoxiang gave instructions one after another until he asked the tenant to water the seedbed thoroughly. The tenant finally couldn't help it: "It's draining again and drying again. The water is almost dry. Now it's soaked with water again. Zhu Xianggong is Are you entertaining me?"

Unable to explain the scientific principles to the tenants, Zhu Guoxiang could only rebuke: "Just do as I'm told. If you have any complaints, take them to Mr. Bai!"

The tenant immediately shut up and picked up the water ladle.

The rice-growing field is not far from the Bai family's mansion. Tomorrow is the old lady's birthday, and many villagers have already come to help in advance.

Those who slaughtered pigs killed pigs, those who slaughtered sheep slaughtered sheep, and there were still people standing there, hoping to get some offal and blood.

Some people who were watching the excitement spread the news about Zhu Guoxiang's farming methods, and many villagers came to watch the show with laughter.

They thought that Mr. Zhu might be good at fighting pirates, but farming was just nonsense.

"It's time to sow seeds, sow them thinly the first time..."

"Okay, spread it again for the second time..."

"The third time... use a wooden board to press lightly, press the grain seeds down a little, don't use too much force..."

"Has the soil been sifted? Spread the soil on the seed bed, and cover the grain seeds tightly with soil... pour the manure on the covering soil..."

Riverside.

Since noon, passenger ships have been arriving one after another.

Celebrating ninetieth birthday was not easy in ancient times. Many squires and tyrants from all over the country, as well as officials promoted by Lao Bai and prominent figures in the county, were invited to the birthday banquet.

Moreover, guests from far away arrived a day in advance. The guest rooms in the Bai family were not enough, and the tile-roofed houses in the neighboring village were also packed up to accommodate the guests.

"Master, master, here comes the magistrate!"

Old Bai was surprised and muttered: "I just sent out the invitation casually, and he actually came. Please help me out to greet him."

Xiang Zhixian had already disembarked from the boat with his entourage, and before walking far, he saw many villagers watching the excitement around the nearby paddy field.

He sent someone to inquire about the situation, and his entourage asked carefully and explained all the steps of Zhu Guoxiang's farming.

Xiang Zhixian laughed loudly after hearing this, and said to his entourage: "This pedantic scholar is ignorant, industrious, and indifferent to grains. Maybe he found an ancient book somewhere and felt that he was the reincarnation of Shennong. Bai Yuanwai actually believed in it. ”

Everyone started laughing, and they all thought that Mr. Bai had looked away.

Even Grandma Yan felt it was unreliable, and said to Zhu Guoxiang that night: "Ms. Zhu, I don't think your field method is good. The grain seeds have just been sown, but they can still be picked up and used tomorrow. Just sow the seeds according to the old method." Okay. If you find it troublesome, I will help you pick up seeds in the fields early tomorrow morning."

However, Shen Yourong had confidence in Zhu Guoxiang: "Aunt, Mr. Zhu has a cautious temperament and will never miss the target. His method will definitely work."

Grandma Yan said: "You have only planted on dry land, and never on paddy fields. But I have, and I can transplant rice very quickly."

Shen Yourong said: "In the past, the county asked rapeseed and rice to be planted in rotation, and farmers at that time didn't believe it, but now many people use this method."

Grandma Yan was speechless, but she still thought Zhu Guoxiang had made a mistake.

Except for Shen Yourong, no one in the whole village was willing to believe it.

Except for Lao Bai, who can count half of it, he is doubtful.