Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Ju Ming put down his brush and looked up at Liu Yao: "Are you here to get someone?"

Someone who can open a casino has some background. Zhu Ming had already guessed that a minister would come to plead for mercy, but he didn't expect that the first one to come forward would be a cabinet minister!

Liu Yao was an old Song Dynasty official who was captured and persuaded to surrender when the Zhu family and his son conquered Hanzhong. His qualifications are very deep and his contribution is not small. After Gao Jingshan died of illness, he became a cabinet minister.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I am not interceding for the criminal," Liu Yao explained. "There is a man who opened a gambling house. This time, he was found guilty and deserved to be hanged. The whole family was exiled to the northwest. His brother did not separate from him. His Highness also said Exile according to the household registration. The daughter-in-law of this man's brother is the daughter of a friend of the minister. Please be accommodating and allow this woman to return to her parents' home with her young child."

The daughter-in-law of the brother of the casino owner, because the family has not been separated, has to be exiled with her according to her household registration... Well, she can be let go if she is given some face, and she does not necessarily have to be exiled to the border area.

Ju Ming asked: "Which family does this girl belong to?"

Liu Yao replied: "It comes from the Zhang family."

"Zhang Dun's descendants?" Zhu Ming asked curiously.

Liu Yao said in detail: "He is a descendant of his nephew Mr. Zhang Heng."

Zhang Dun and Zhang Heng's uncle and nephew took the imperial examination together. Zhang Heng's exam ranking was higher. Zhang Dun was so angry that he gave up the Jinshi and went home to take the exam again.

Liu Yao is Zhang Dun's grandson-in-law.

The Zhang daughter who was implicated and had to be exiled was Zhang Heng's great-granddaughter.

Zhang Heng has more than ten grandsons in total. Who knows which grandson married his daughter to the nephew of the casino owner.

Ju Ming frowned and said, "Who owns the gambling house?"

"The Shen family," Liu Yao added, "are the descendants of Shen Lun, the founding prime minister of the former Song Dynasty."

Shen Lun was the prime minister in the early Northern Song Dynasty. He had a daughter who was also a concubine.

Ju Ming said: "The Shen family seems to be the second batch of large families to be split up and relocated, right?"

Liu Yao replied: "Indeed. They took the initiative to present the house deeds and land deeds, so they were favored by the court and allowed more than 30 of their main members to stay in Kaifeng. The Shen family's free money and shops were not searched, but their land and properties were confiscated. "

Zhu Ming couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "When Shen Lun was the prime minister, the founding nobles of the Song Dynasty built mansions and beautiful houses one after another. But Shen Lun lived in a shabby house, which was leaking and was reluctant to spend money to repair it. Zhao Kuangyin sent people to build a new house for him. Shen Lun also proposed to make the house smaller. Will future generations of such an honest and selfless prime minister actually open a casino? "

"They are indeed unworthy descendants." Liu Yao agreed.

Ju Ming curled his lips: "After the Shen family experienced the dismantling and relocation of the clan, they still turned a blind eye to the notice posted by the court prohibiting gambling. Does this mean that they don't believe that I will really ban gambling, or do they not take me seriously at all?"

Liu Yao thought to himself, everyone would rather offend the emperor than the prince. Who dares not to take your old man seriously?

Liu Yao said: "Your Highness, please calm down. Although gamblers died in "Song Xingtong", gambling was not allowed for hundreds of years in the Song Dynasty. Everyone has become accustomed to it, so they turned a blind eye to the official notices."

"It is still due to the lack of prestige of the new dynasty." Ju Ming said.

Liu Yao was terrified, fearing that the prince would bring up another case to establish his prestige.

Ju Ming waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. The Zhang girl can return to her parents' home with her young child without being implicated in being exiled together."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Liu Yao breathed a long sigh of relief.

Zhang's father and Liu Yao were classmates, and the two families were related by marriage, so he came to intercede because he couldn't help but save face.

After Liu Yao left, Ju Ming ordered Fu Zhirou: "The parents, brothers, wives, and children of the principals of each gambling house who are in the same household registration will not be forgiven. The wives of the principal's brothers, nephews, and those who are willing to reconcile with their husbands can bring minors with them." The young child returns to his parents' home. This is a fixed rule and will be included in the "Da Ming Code"."

He also said to Bai Sheng: "If anyone comes to plead for mercy again in this case, they will be blocked outside and not allowed to come in."

"yes!"

Bai Sheng and Fu Zhirou accepted the order in unison.

Any legal provisions are improved step by step, and the same is true for confiscation of homes and exile.

The "Da Ming Law" published this year made adjustments to the exile of the whole family: everything will be handled according to the household registration book, forcing the big family to analyze the property by themselves. Otherwise, as long as someone in the family commits a major crime, hundreds or even thousands of people will be They have to be exiled together.

Exiling the whole family is not the goal, forcing them to separate the family is!

Not long after, Shi Yuangong brought people to pay homage.

"Your Highness, the merchants have been selected." Shi Yuangong bowed.

Several businessmen behind him quickly knelt down and kowtowed. Ju Ming didn't bother to say that there was no need to kneel. He was tired of saying such things and just asked them to stand up and sit down.

One characteristic of these businessmen is that their eye sockets are sunken, and you can tell at a glance that they have foreign ancestry.

However, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs dispersed and migrated. The weaker ones could not go too far, so they settled in poor areas of Shaanxi, and everyone learned to speak the Han language.

According to records in "Songmo Jiwen", these Uighur women from Shaanxi often have fornications with Han people before they are married. There are even Uighur women who are nearly thirty years old and have given birth to several children but are not yet married. When it came time to talk about marriage, her parents showed off to the matchmaker how many men their daughter had slept with. Those Uighurs with sunken eyes and no beards were probably the result of fornication with the Han people.

There are many such Uighur hybrids among Li Yanxian's cavalry team.

"Have you ever been to Gaochang for business before?" Zhu Ming asked.

A mixed-race merchant said: "We are all doing small business. Let alone going to Gaochang, we don't even dare to go deep into Xixia. We only dare to trade with Xixia people on the border."

Ju Ming said: "The officials have sent envoys to enthrone the Xixia lord. From now on, Ming and Xixia are the kingdoms of father and son. You can go from Hexi to Gaochang for trade, and record the climate, geography, cities, customs, and sects along the way. If the financial resources are insufficient, the imperial court can take a stake and provide you with some goods that are in short supply in the Western Regions."

Another mixed-race merchant said: "I heard from the Uighurs and Sogdians that business travelers in Xixia were often intercepted and killed. We really didn't dare to go too deep into the Xixia border."

Ju Ming's expression turned cold: "If Xixia dares to intercept and kill Ming merchants, the imperial court will send troops to suppress the border!"

Maritime trade needs to develop, and the land Silk Road should also be restored.

Even in the age of steamships, the overland Silk Road still made a lot of money.

In recent decades, the situation of the Silk Road has been relatively complicated, intermittent and unstable, which caused the Liao Kingdom and Xixia to lose a lot of commercial tax revenue.

Especially the Silk Roads of Xixia, Song and Liao countries all passed through the territory of Xixia.

For the Xixia court and officials, they hated the interception and killing of business travelers. After all, it was best to have a steady flow of water. Most of the Xixia bandits who intercepted and killed merchants were officers or tribesmen pretending to be soldiers.

After the Silk Road passed through Xixia, it was the Gaochang Uighurs, followed by the two Kara Khanates in the east and west.

The two khanates were divided due to different sects, and they were at odds with each other, often intercepting and killing merchants sent by each other. Not only did it reduce the commercial taxes of the Gaochang Uighurs, Xixia, and Liao, it also seriously affected the Gejining (Ghazni Dynasty) in the west.

Gochinin was once a Central Asian empire spanning Persia and India. It was also the first country to use the title of Sudan as its monarch.

The Seljuks established the Seljuk Empire by defeating the Gekinin army.

Today, the center of Gojinin's rule has been compressed to Punjab, India, and the Silk Road west of the Karakhanate is controlled by the Seljuqs.

Seljuk merchants originally often traveled overland to the Song Dynasty, but because they were intercepted and killed by Xixia in the early years, they gradually turned to maritime trade.

In order to open up the Silk Road, the Liao Kingdom even made their daughter a princess and married Prince Ge Jining.

Central Asian countries such as Gokinin and Seljuk seem to be far away from China. In fact, commercial exchanges were once very active, but now they are mostly disrupted by the two Kara Khanates in the east and west.

In the future, the Kara Khanate must be destroyed, firstly to open up the Silk Road, and secondly to obtain the bloody horse.

The land of Dawan was now half occupied by the two Kara Khanates.

Seeing that Prince Zhu had a clear attitude, those mixed-race businessmen did not dare to refuse after all. They could only choose to do business in partnership with the imperial court and were responsible for exploring the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions for the imperial court.

It may take ten or twenty years to conquer the Western Regions, but preparations must begin now.

After several mixed-race merchants retreated, Shi Yuangong took out a few books and said: "Your Highness, this is what the King of Gaochang sent to collect when Ma Kuoqian was on his way to the grassland as an envoy to Gaochang. The King of Gaochang was quite attentive. He even sent a literate Sogdian scholar with his books.”

The Gaochang Uighurs are a settled nomadic people who now rely on agriculture and commerce to build their country, and the Sogdians specialize in helping them with trade. (The Uyghur word for businessman is pronounced very close to the word Sogdiana.)

As for the Sogdians, they were from Anlushan, and in the Tang Dynasty they were called Zhaowu Jiu.

Ju Ming took the thickest book and asked, "What book is this?"

Shi Yuangong replied: "According to the Sogdian scholar, this book is called "Turkic Dictionary" and it was written only twenty or thirty years ago. There are many transgressive words in the book, which can be used to fight against the Black Khanate in the future. (Karakhanate) goes to war.”

Zhu Ming smiled and asked: "What kind of arrogant words are there?"

Shi Yuangong replied: "For example, the whole of China, the Black Khanate called it 'Qin'. It was also said that the land of Qin was divided into three parts. The former Shang Qin was in the east, and it was called Peach Blossom Stone. In fact, it was talking about the Song Dynasty. The middle Qin Dynasty In the north, we are talking about the Liao Kingdom. The lower Qin is in Barhan (Kashgar) of the Black Khanate."

"Interesting!" Zhu Ming smiled instead of getting angry.

The Kara Khanate divided China according to the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and divided China's legal system into three: Song State, Liao State, and Kara Khanate.

This view is mainstream among the upper-level rulers of the Karakhanate.

In other words, Ju Ming has obtained Chinese legal authority, so there is reason to annex the Kara Khanate!

Shi Yuangong said: "The more arrogant thing is still to come. The division just now is outdated. The current Black Khanate calls the Song Kingdom Ma Qin and the Liao Kingdom Qin, and actually regards the Liao Kingdom as China's orthodoxy. In this case, doesn’t it mean that the Jin Kingdom is the orthodox one, while the Ming Dynasty belongs to the Southern Dynasty?”

The more Shi Yuangong talked, the angrier he became: "What's even more abominable is that the Khan of the Black Khanate called Emperor Song his uncle in his credentials, but in private he called himself Peach Blossom Stone Khan (Chinese Khan), Lord of the East and Qin (King of the East)!”

Ju Ming shook his head and said: "Don't be angry. Instead, you should appreciate it. After all, the king of the Black Khanate has always regarded the Chinese legal system as authentic. Let him steal it for another ten or twenty years, and then I will send troops to get it back."