Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The civilian workers summoned were mainly responsible for dredging the open channels. They had to wait for the army to arrest the people before entering the culverts for systematic cleaning.

Within two or three days, the effect was noticeable, and the smelly ditches and puddles in every corner of the city gradually became clean and refreshing.

"It's time to eat!"

“Line up in groups!”

A few bad horses drove the cart, and there were some large barrels on the wooden planks.

Security guard Xu Li quickly shouted: "Group A will finish work first and come over to get food!"

The clerk asked the handyman to move down the barrel. After opening the lid, it was steaming, and the fragrance of the grain instantly dissipated in the air.

"Check whether the food is in compliance with regulations!" the clerk said.

Security guard Xu Li nodded and bowed: "It must be in compliance with the regulations, no need to check."

The official said: "Stop talking nonsense!"

Xu Li apologized with an embarrassed smile, walked to the front of the barrel, picked up a big spoon and started stirring.

The porridge is a mushy porridge mixed with corn and rice. It is quite thick when stirred, and you can see tiny oil splashes.

There is vegetables next to it, which is tempeh shipped from Nanyang and Xiangyang. The resettlers planted a large amount of beans, and it was not expensive to transport Sichuan salt. The excess was made into black beans and sold to the army. Now shipped to Tokyo in bulk, they have become temporary strategic materials and can provide both salt and soy protein.

Xu Li checked it, put down his spoon and said, "They are all in compliance."

"Sign and print!" the clerk said.

Xu Li signed the document with a pen, dipped his fingerprints in red mud, and then called on the peasants to come over and receive the porridge.

Since it is a physical job, each person can eat three large bowls of thick porridge. But I was only given a small spoonful of tempeh, which was only about twenty or thirty beans.

The folk squatted or sat, regardless of whether the porridge or rice was burning their mouths. They blew air to cool down while sucking the rim of the bowl. They were reluctant to eat black beans, so after biting off half a piece and chewing the taste, they could drink several mouthfuls of hot porridge.

Xu Li said with a smile: "The management is very strict now. Every time you put in some porridge, you have to sign and seal it."

"Who says otherwise? Mr. Zhu has strict rules," the civil servant couldn't help complaining. "All the ministers in and around Tokyo were brought by Mr. Zhu from Hanzhong. They do things with a certain sense of death. If they miss a signature, they will be held accountable. . If you didn’t sign just now, everything will be checked from top to bottom another day.”

Xu Li was speechless and said: "How can we do anything like that?"

The clerk sighed: "Anyway, it will be very difficult to make money in the future. At most, I can just hang out with a few mouthfuls of food. Fortunately, our salary has increased a bit. Let's not talk about it anymore. The bucket is left here. I have to go to the next place in a while. I’ll come back to you to collect the bucket.”

In the Tang Dynasty, the city system was implemented. The city was a residential area and the city was a commercial area. The two were separated by walls and could be opened or closed according to the time.

In the Song Dynasty, it was changed to the Xiangfang system, and the walls of residential and commercial areas were demolished. The city was divided into several areas, namely "such-and-such compartments", similar to the "such-and-such districts" in later generations.

The "Xiang Guanzhang" is the "district chief" and is directly under the management of the government or state government, while the Fuguo County government can only manage rural areas.

"Xiangong Office" is the "district government", responsible for civil affairs and justice.

"Tour shop" is equivalent to "police station", there is probably one per workshop, and it also does fire alarm and other services.

"Baojia" is similar to "street office" or "neighborhood committee".

These urban management systems were all pioneered in the Song Dynasty.

The "Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division" created by Zhu and his son established a police station and five sub-bureaus on top of the police station.

Nowadays, the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, Kaifeng County, and Xiangfu County are all selected from the old Song Dynasty bureaucrats. However, the eight district chiefs and police chiefs inside and outside Tokyo are all confidants brought by Sichuan. The father and son are gradually able to control the grassroots of the city.

In particular, the eight district chiefs were all disciples of Zhu Guoxiang, three of whom were from Yangzhou, three from Hanzhong, and two from Shuzhong.

After serving as district mayors in Tokyo City, their next transfer must be to county magistrate.

And the average age is only about 20 years old, with the youngest being only 17 years old!

Just like what the civil servant said, these district chiefs accept death. I know that I can't defeat the cunning old officials, and everything must be carried out according to the regulations, because this set of regulations has withstood the test and has been repaired repeatedly in Hanzhong, and the loopholes that can be filled have been almost filled.

Xu Li also took a bowl of thick porridge and sat down. He wanted more black bean sauce.

Several acquaintances came over, sipping their porridge and said, "Xu Da, you are getting a good job. How did you become a security guard?"

Xu Li said angrily: "What's going on with this chief security officer? He just wants to see if you can eat an extra bowl of porridge and a few extra beans when you're on official business, and he doesn't even give you a salary. If you make a mistake, you'll be in trouble." fall."

"Just be good," one of the peasants said with a smile, "Who doesn't know? When the Bao Zhang's family goes to buy food, each person can buy one more bucket. They can buy vinegar, salt, cloth, charcoal... they can buy everything. , unlike us who have to wait in line slowly."

Speaking of this, Xu Li became happy and said proudly: "After all, we are half of the public family. We naturally have some benefits when we work for the government."

Another farmer asked: "When will this food be available for sale?"

Xu Li comforted him: "Don't worry. I heard from the superiors above that before Zhu Xianggong left Sichuan, he was already mobilizing grain. Before the river froze, it was only the first few batches. When the spring thaws, there will be two more batches. It can be shipped in batches. It will definitely last through the spring, and when the wheat is harvested in the summer, it will be open to eat!"

"That's great," said another civilian husband. "A few days ago, I saw a young husband who didn't even have a full beard. I heard he was the chief of the second wing on the left. Is this true or false?"

Xu Li began to show his knowledge: "The official's surname is Tian, ​​and he is only seventeen years old this year. I heard from people that when Zhu Jinglue and Marshal Zhu fled, they didn't even have enough to eat. It was Chief Tian's father who took them in as food. When Chief Tian was studying with Zhu Jinglue, he was not even ten years old. Even though he is only seventeen years old now, he has been an official with Zhu Jinglue for several years."

"Is it possible that Wenquxing came down to earth and became a public official at the age of twelve or thirteen?" the people said in wonderment.

Xu Li said with a smile: "But when the two husbands started the army, they didn't have enough scholars under their command, so the matters of opening, reading and copying official documents were left to the disciples who were more than ten years old. These disciples are now getting older. , so he was arranged to be the chief of staff in Tokyo City."

As he said that, Xu Li said mysteriously: "I have also heard from people that the eight ministers in Tokyo now may produce several prime ministers in the future. They are only about twenty years old and are still disciples of the emperor. As long as nothing goes wrong, they will I'm afraid I can be the magistrate of the state at the age of thirty. When I reach the age of forty or fifty, I will definitely join the court and become a high official. Isn't it natural for me to become prime minister?"

"The sky is filled with wealth and honor, and smoke is rising from the ancestral graves!" Everyone was filled with envy.

Xu Li whispered: "Many officials from the old dynasty are asking about those eight officials. I heard that there are two officials who have not married yet, and the matchmakers who come to visit them every day have to line up outside their homes. It’s even harder to catch a son-in-law than before. There was a fight between matchmakers two days ago!”

"I know this. Sun Sanniang's face was scratched badly. She said it was scratched by a cat. All the cats in the city have been eaten long ago. How can there be any cat to scratch her?"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Are there still shortages of maids in the houses of the eight officials? My second mother is almost fifteen years old, and she is very good at sewing, starching and washing."

"Are you still thinking about making your daughter a concubine? I want to be the prime minister and an official, and I like your clumsy girl? I want to take a concubine, and also choose someone who can sing."

"..."

Xu Li stood up, glanced at it, and urged: "Group A has not finished eating yet, so hurry up and start working. Group B, don't wait too long. Finish your work early and go home early. Don't think about messing around to eat. The boss only gives you these few Heavenly work period.”

After everyone ate and worked for a while, the clerk came back with the helpers to collect the buckets.

Suddenly, a group of soldiers emerged from the nearby culvert outlet, escorting dozens of underground poor people.

Those poor people need to go to Xianggong Office first, where they will be interrogated by Xiangxunpu soldiers (policemen from the police station) and asked to confess the gang situation in their respective underground areas. Then some living necessities were given and handed over to Kaifeng and Xiangfu counties, and the county government organized them to go to the suburbs to select houses and allot fields.

The allocated houses and fields are still sold at low prices, and the government provides free loans.

As long as you are willing to work and are free from illness and disaster, you can repay it in installments in a few years. If you encounter a disaster, you can apply for an extension. It doesn't matter if you lose some money in the end. Anyway, you don't really expect them to pay back the small amount.

The working men turned to look at the poor people underground, with endless contempt in their eyes.

The people of Tokyo are very disgusted with the underground world. Everywhere a baby is lost or a woman is abducted, they all think it is the rats in the ditch.

Especially in recent times, public security cases have emerged one after another, and the fear and anger of the people have been attributed to these people.

The Zhu family and his son clean up Wuyou Cave, and the people of Tokyo applaud with both hands!

One after another, some underground poor people were escorted out, until more than half an hour later, the escorted people began to become gang members.

There was also an officer standing at the exit of the culvert and shouting: "Captain, please bring someone here to move the body. I can extend the construction period for you by one day!"

"Come right now!" Xu Li responded.

The civilian workers were also very happy. Moving a few corpses could extend the construction period by one day, which meant they could eat two more meals for free.

Xu Li left a group of people to continue cleaning the ditch outside, while the rest of the people went into the ditch to move the corpses.

An hour later, these peasants came out of the culvert, their expressions not normal.

The civilian husband working outside asked: "What's wrong with you?"

"Ugh..." Suddenly someone vomited.

Another farmer said with a mournful face: "Don't ask, I vomited all the three bowls of porridge I ate."

The officer asked Xu Li: "I asked you to pile up firewood and make a fire. Is that done?"

Xu Li hurriedly said: "Firewood is hard to find, so I got some charcoal as a base and went to pick up some rotten wood outside the city."

The officer turned to the civilian husband and said, "Everyone, move out."

First, there were complete and emaciated corpses, and then baskets of broken corpses were carried out...

Xu Li only stepped forward and glanced at it, and felt his stomach churn. He covered his mouth to resist vomiting.

Not only the visual impact, but also the strong taste.

Du Ping walked out of the culvert, scratched his forehead and said, "Who is the security chief? Go to the Xiang Office to apply for extra meals. I will say hello to the Xiang Officer and I can give you a few more pieces of meat tomorrow."

Xu Li was about to thank him when he suddenly heard the word "肉" and couldn't help but turn around and bend over: "Ugh!"

(Alas, it’s really time to keep in good health. I was hospitalized a few days ago and did various tests. Hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, high uric acid... there were a lot of data problems. On the second day after being discharged, I experienced a drop in temperature and caught a cold every minute. My cough is not severe, my tonsils are swollen as much as my brain, and my lungs make a sound every time I breathe.)

(I also recommend a new book, "The Divide of Dusk" by the old ghost from Montenegro. I am also reading this book, and I am not recommending it blindly.)