Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

One thousand of Ju Ming's three thousand heavily armored guards were taken to Huainan by Wang Yuan to check and reorganize the newly recruited troops in Lianghuai.

The remaining two thousand guards, together with the musketeers, temporarily serve as imperial guards.

Bai Shengzhan is the commander of the palace guards, Gu San is in charge of the heavy armored soldiers, and Hua Rong is in charge of the musketeers.

Zhu Guoxiang also had hundreds of guards, but their combat effectiveness was not high enough. The military power of the imperial city was in Ju Ming's hands.

On that day, Zhu Guoxiang moved to the harem, and Zhu Ming moved to the east palace.

The eunuchs and maids are still the same as those left over from the old Song Dynasty. They are all homeless people who had no way to escape when the city was destroyed, but now they have jobs again.

As for the royal family and clan of Zhao and Song Dynasties, they were transferred to Yanfu Palace for custody, and their farming will be arranged after the beginning of spring.

After chatting for a long time, the father and son realized that they had thought too simplistically before.

Within ten years, no matter who becomes the emperor, they may raise a butcher's knife against the meritorious officials.

Because factions emerged so quickly and were too deeply involved in the officialdom of the old Song Dynasty, in the long run, regardless of personal will, interest groups, large and small, would inevitably form.

Once there are interest groups, political strife will follow and begin to threaten the existing system and affect the emperor's policy communication and implementation.

Politics is an art of compromise, and compromise is born out of struggle. Until the emperor and his ministers have long-term friction and reach a certain delicate balance, the court will truly stabilize.

Whether they will kill the heroes depends on how well they get along.

The established monarchs used regular means to get along, but the founding emperor didn't have so many scruples. He just cut melons and vegetables if he couldn't stand it.

Nowadays, there are four factions in the Sichuan team alone.

One is the Hanzhong faction, which is dominated by the gentry and powerful gentry from Hanzhong and Yangzhou. Many people here are relatives and friends of the Zhu family and his son, and they also have great influence in the military.

The second is the student faction, which is mainly composed of students from Taizhou and Jinzhou, but also mixed with students from Lizhou and Guizhou, as well as gentry and powerful people from Jinzhou. They are also influential in the army, mainly among the group of blacksmiths who migrated from Xuzhou to Jinzhou. Many of them became officers at the beginning of the army.

The third is the Shuzhong faction, with the gentry and wealthy families in the Chengdu Plain as the main body, and the gentry from other places in Sichuan as dependents. They have nothing to do with the military, but a large number of them serve as middle- and low-level bureaucrats. These people are very close to Gao Jingshan.

The fourth is the demotion faction, which is mainly composed of local officials from the old Song Dynasty who surrendered to the Zhu family. These people are very close to Zhang Gen.

Of course, there are no strict boundaries between factions, and many people form unintentional cliques. Purely based on the distance of the relationship, more communication will naturally occur. At present, it is completely fine, because the cake is constantly getting bigger.

But as time goes by, the cake can no longer grow bigger, and it will be hard to say at that time.

Ju Ming took a carriage back to the East Palace. This was his first time visiting this place.

There are also offices in the East Palace. Bai Sheng, Gu San, Bai Chongwu, Ye Mengde and others are all getting familiar with their office environment.

Fu Bi's grandson Fu Zhirou was recommended by Zhu Dunru and temporarily worked under Ju Ming, doing some document drafting and copying work.

The competition for official positions in the Huizong Dynasty was fierce, and even a descendant of a wealthy family like Fu Zhirou, who had the status of a Yin official, was unable to fill the vacancy. It was not until Zhao Huan ascended the throne that he went to Beijing with his reputation as a virtuous man and was sent to Zhongshu Province as a secretary.

Fu Zhirou also heard some rumors. His family was in Luoyang, so he naturally wanted to move the capital to Luoyang.

Seeing Ju Ming come back, Fu Zhirou immediately went to report on his work. After rambled on a lot, he said tentatively: "Marshal, the Tokyo Imperial Palace is closed and not as magnificent as the Xijing Imperial Palace."

"Is the Luoyang Palace even bigger?" Ju Ming asked in surprise.

Fu Zhirou said: "Not only did Zhao Ji build a lot of construction projects in Kaifeng, but he also renovated and expanded the Luoyang Palace. The area was more than three times the size of Tokyo. The construction was not completed until the year before the marshal launched his army."

Ju Ming said: "I know about the rebuilding of Luoyang Palace, but it shouldn't be three times the size of Tokyo. Zhao Ji doesn't move there himself, so why does he build it so big?"

"I don't know what Hunjun is thinking," Fu Zhirou said, "but the area of ​​the Luoyang Imperial Palace is indeed more than three times that of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Of course, Tokyo's inner and outer Jingfu Palace and Genyue are not included."

The Luoyang Palace of the Song Dynasty was originally built on the order of Zhao Kuangyin. The overall architectural layout basically coincides with the Luoyang Palace of the Tang Dynasty, and the area was originally larger than that of the Kaifeng Palace.

It is obvious that Zhao Kuangyin wanted to move the capital, but Zhao Guangyi canceled it.

After Song Zhenzong, the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty no longer visited Luoyang regularly, and the Luoyang Palace gradually fell into ruins.

More than ten years ago, Song Huizong suddenly suffered from seizures and ordered the Luoyang Palace to be rebuilt.

Song Sheng, Cai You's uncle, was accused of killing cattle and burning their ashes to plaster the walls. He even stole human bones to use the ashes to plaster the walls. This was what he did when building the Luoyang Palace.

The area of ​​Luoyang Palace expanded again, reaching more than three times that of Kaifeng Palace.

Among them, the palace city covers an area of ​​about 1 million square meters (the Forbidden City is 720,000 square meters), and the imperial city covers an area of ​​about 6.03 square kilometers (the imperial city of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is about 6.87 square kilometers).

An imperial city with an area slightly smaller than that of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a palace city that was much larger than the Forbidden City, was built in Luoyang. It is almost equivalent to reconstruction, because Luoyang Palace has long been abandoned and collapsed.

However, Song Huizong never lived there for a day. This is even more nonsense than building Genyue!

Of course Ju Ming knew about the rebuilding of Luoyang Palace, but he always thought it was just repairs and why the hell was he expanding it?

If you decide to make Luoyang your capital, wouldn’t you be able to just move in with your bags?

Song Huizong was not a bad person. He considered everything and gave away all kinds of resources for free.

"We will discuss the matter of establishing the capital later. You don't need to worry about this." Ju Ming warned.

"yes."

Fu Zhirou immediately shut up, he knew that Ju Ming was tempted.

Kaifeng, a poor place, is not suitable for being a capital city. Not to mention the military aspect, there are also floods from time to time, and the Yellow River dams often need to be reinforced.

The palace is as big as Luoyang, and it is ready-made. Anyone with a normal mind knows where to move it.

Fu Zhirou never expected that the wealthy family was also on the list of forced evictions. And it must be divided into eight at least, scattered and thrown into the counties of Hebei and Shandong. At most, one remnant is allowed to be retained in Luoyang.

After getting familiar with the office area of ​​the East Palace, Ju Ming strolled back to his inner chamber.

The wives and concubines have already allocated residences, and Zhang Jinping is responsible for the arrangements, including the palace maids and eunuchs.

The number of palace maids and eunuchs is very small, and most of them are servants brought by them to work.

"Happy husband!" The wives and concubines bowed and saluted.

Several children also ran over, like little adults, politely bowing and saying hello.

Zhu Ming picked one up and asked with a smile: "Are you still used to it here?"

"Everything is fine," Zhang Jinping whispered, "It's just the middlemen (eunuchs) who look a little awkward."

"Just get used to it." Ju Ming said.

Neither the Zhu family nor his son thought about changing the eunuch system. In ancient times, all countries with huge territories seemed to use this thing, but small countries didn't pay much attention to it.

Zhu Ming took his wives and concubines in and chatted for a while about the current family situation, but saw that the Zhao brothers and sisters were hesitant to talk.

"But you want to see your relatives?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhao Fujin bowed and said, "Husband, please be accommodating."

"Go, they are in Yanfu Palace." Ju Ming didn't care.

"Thank you husband." The sisters were overjoyed.

Immediately the eunuch led the way, accompanied by the maid from Xiangyang, and was escorted by a group of guards to set off.

The royal family and clan members were expelled from the palace at noon and were all taken to live in Neiyanfu Palace. Moreover, men and women are no longer separated, and couples and fathers and sons are allowed to reunite. At this moment, everyone is reminiscing about the past.

When I heard that Zhao Fujin and Zhao Fujin were coming, everyone immediately mobilized to try to establish connections.

As the emperor of the old Song Dynasty, Zhao Huan naturally walked at the front. He immediately bowed and said: "Huan, pay homage to the two empresses!"

"Don't take it seriously, brother, don't do this." Zhao Fujin was so frightened that he quickly backed away.

In the palace of the Song Dynasty, only when the emperor met the queen mother, or when the princes and princesses met the queen, they would use the title "empress".

Sometimes they are also distinguished by size. The Queen Mother is called Da Niang and the Dowager is called Xiao Niang.

Zhao Huan calls his sister his mother when they meet!

"It's been a long time since I last saw the fifth sister and the fourteenth sister. I really miss them." Compatriot Zhao Chu is much more relaxed now. He thinks that he is stable and will probably receive preferential treatment.

Zhao Fujin and Zhao Fujin returned the greeting: "Bag is well."

Zhao Kai couldn't wait to ask: "Have you been relieved that Marshal Zhu allowed you to come over to visit?"

Zhao Fujin shook his head: "No."

Zhao Yu, the eldest daughter of the emperor, asked, "Marshal Zhu really wants us to farm?"

Zhao Fujin said: "I can only help as much as possible, but whether the money can be sent to her needs her husband's consent."

Zhao Jinnu, the second daughter of the emperor, said with emotion: "The fifth sister and the fourteenth sister are still blessed. It is not like we are reduced to prisoners. We will have to rely on these two sisters more in the future."

"Try to help as much as possible." Zhao Fujin didn't dare to say too harshly.

Zhao Huan was very anxious: "When will Mr. Zhu ascend the throne? I can write an imperial edict on the Zen throne immediately!"

Zhao Fujin shook his head: "I don't know."

"Does the Zen position require your consent?" Zhao Kai retorted mercilessly and asked, "Fifth sister, does the marshal have any intention of accepting a side wife? Those girls of mine have admired the marshal's reputation for a long time, and they just want to be able to Serve at the side of the couch."

"I don't know," Zhao Fujin said, "I don't dare to ask about these things."

Zhao Kai said: "Then please ask Fifth Sister to ask."

In addition to these people, Yanfu Palace also guarded many women of Song Huizong.

Song Huizong fled all the way to the southeast, taking with him about forty concubines, all with titles above Chongyuan. As for the women he left in the Tokyo Imperial Palace, there were more than a hundred titled women, not to mention those untitled prostitutes.

Ju Ming really has a headache, and he doesn’t feel good no matter how he handles it.

In the end, it was decided to let them get married. Officials and generals from Sichuan who were willing to marry these women and were single and unmarried could give priority to Zhu Guoxiang for marriage.

Then came the officers and soldiers who had made meritorious service, and those who were single were given priority in marriage.

None of the civil servants were willing to sign up and asked them to marry them as concubines. Everyone would be positive, but they would prefer to marry a well-matched wife.

There are even elders of Song Huizong under custody now. The youngest concubine is only 42 years old (Zhao Ji’s sister-in-law)...

Zhu Ming was too lazy to take care of these women anyway, leaving them to Shen Yourong and Zhang Jinping for negotiation.

Sisters Zhao Fujin and Zhao Fujin originally wanted to visit their relatives, but the atmosphere here made them uncomfortable. Regardless of brothers, sisters, sisters-in-law, younger siblings, or brothers-in-law, everyone is too polite and almost treats them as a Bodhisattva.

When he spoke, he also kept his body low, for fear of bumping into them.

"Brothers and sisters, it's getting late. Come visit another day." Zhao Fujin made excuses to leave.

"I'm sending the fifth sister and the fourteenth sister away!"

Everyone stepped forward and surrounded the sisters as they left.

The unmarried princesses watched the two of them go away with envious eyes.

More than one book friend mentioned the British Magna Carta and said that the king is under the law. If that thing is to be realized, the prefecture and county system must regress back to the feudal system. A bunch of feudal lords will lead their troops and beat the emperor until he is forced to accept the charter. There must also be a state religion whose leader has the power to crown the emperor, otherwise there is no way to stop the lord from committing regicide and usurping the throne. Next, there will be several emperors who want to violate the charter and be beaten by the lord, or even killed by the lord. In the end, the emperor was completely seized of military and financial power by the lords, and could only retain the royal army, and the Magna Carta was finally retained. The UK has gone through such a process. Just imagine if it could happen in China?