Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

midsummer.

When an official ship arrived in Beijing, there were already eunuchs and guards waiting at the dock.

I saw the official ship docking, first a few official officials came down, and then an old Taoist priest appeared.

The eunuch hurriedly stepped forward, bowed in greeting and said, "On orders from the officials, I respectfully welcome Mr. Chen to the capital!"

The old Taoist priest returned the greeting and said, "Thank you."

There was a carriage next to it, which was a royal chariot. The old Taoist priest was actually invited to sit on the chariot.

Immediately, the palace guards cleared the way for the eunuchs to follow on foot, and the group headed straight towards the imperial city.

Business travelers on the pier felt extremely strange.

Today's Holy Emperor does not believe in Buddhism and does not like auspiciousness. He even says that the earth revolves around the sun.

Why do you suddenly receive a Taoist priest with high standards?

People can't help but think of Song Huizong. Is there another "Lin Lingsu" in the capital? Could it be that the emperor was getting older and began to pursue immortality?

I heard that the official family had a new concubine a few days ago. Maybe the concubine had some pillow wind.

The people of Tokyo were worried about the appearance of the old Taoist priest, and the news soon spread throughout half of the capital.

When the royal chariot drove into Donghua Gate and got off the bus at the north side of the cabinet, carrying the old Taoist priest, even several cabinet ministers quickly received the news.

They heard that the emperor personally went outside the side hall to greet him!

Li Bangyan was overjoyed when he heard this. He had experience in making friends with Taoist priests.

If the emperor really wants to cultivate immortality, Li Bangyan can help recruit Taoist priests and use the original means to cater to Song Huizong.

"Old sir, please come in." Zhu Guoxiang smiled warmly.

Chen Min was so flattered that he quickly bowed like a Taoist priest in return: "On the mountain trails, I don't dare bother the officials to welcome me personally."

"You and I are people of the same religion, so there is no need to be polite." Zhu Guoxiang took Chen Min's hand and dragged him into the side hall.

This old Taoist priest was familiar with Confucian classics and studied various schools of thought. He knows all kinds of yin and yang magic, and usually makes a living by growing medicinal materials. However, he was recommended by local officials because he wrote a "Farming Book" last year.

Entering the side hall, Zhu Guoxiang introduced: "In order to facilitate discussions with the cabinet, I usually stay away from the Chui Gong Hall, but work in this side hall. There are also beds here. When you are tired, you can lie down and take a nap."

Chen Min sincerely praised: "Your Majesty is concerned about the affairs of the country, and you are truly an unparalleled wise king!"

"Please sit down quickly." Zhu Guoxiang sat on the edge of the couch and asked Chen Min to sit on the couch as well.

Sitting across from the emperor?

Chen Min felt a little guilty, fearing that he would be disrespectful.

The eunuch came over with a stack of manuscripts, and Zhu Guoxiang said: "The magistrate of Yizhen (Yizheng) presented this book, and I couldn't put it down while reading it. Sir, he has done a lot of research on farming."

Chen Chang said hurriedly: "I don't dare. Pindao wrote the agricultural book and was also inspired by His Majesty."

This is not a polite statement. The historical "Agricultural Book" by Chen Min only has a total of 12,000 words. The current "Nongshu" has more than 50,000 words, and most of the content is influenced by Zhu Guoxiang.

Not only does it have more pages, it covers a wider range of fields, but it is also written in great depth and detail.

Take "land preparation" as an example. He talked about it in more detail than Zhu Guoxiang.

He divided the cultivated land in Huainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang into different types such as high field, lower field, slope land, Fengtian, lake field, early field and late field. It also analyzed and elaborated on different types of land, and also summarized the dams of slope ponds for planting mulberry, raising fish in the ponds, and irrigating fields with the pond water. The details of the development of these agricultural, sideline, and fishery combinations were clearly explained.

There are also how to raise and manage buffaloes, how to prevent and control buffalo diseases, and mulberry and hemp interplanting techniques, etc.

They even teach farmers how to manage farmland and advise everyone not to seek perfection blindly. No matter how much financial resources your family has, you can farm and manage it according to your actual situation.

He also classified soil into different types, calling depletion of fertility "soil failure" and hardening of soil "qi decline", and explained how to rejuvenate such "depleted fields".

Chen Min also conducted in-depth research on the "baked fields" that Zhu Guoxiang directed when he was in Shangbaicun, and his technology surpassed previous generations of agricultural books.

If Zhu Guoxiang had not appeared, then Chen Min's "Agricultural Book" would have represented a new level of ancient Chinese agriculture.

The emperor and the old Taoist priest had a great conversation, and the topic all revolved around how to do farming.

While chatting, Chen Min suddenly asked: "I heard from the agricultural officer that your Majesty wants to implement the 'three dry and one wet method'. Why can cotton and rice alternately planted in dry and wet conditions improve the soil and prevent pests and diseases?" Pindao observed that the dry and wet rotation of rice and rape seems to have this effect."

Zhu Guoxiang explained with a smile: "Let's talk about the prevention and control of pests and diseases first. One kind of crop diseases and pests comes from bacteria, and the other comes from insects. There are differences in the diseases and insect pests of different plants, especially paddy and drought crops. Suddenly paddy fields turned into dry fields. , the pathogenic bacteria and insect eggs that originally relied on the moist environment will become very unadaptable to the new soil environment. Vice versa."

"So that's it," Chen Min asked again, "I know about insects, but what are those germs?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I gave Mr. a microscope, and he can observe it by himself. The Department of Agricultural Development and the Medical College also have microscopes. Even the Department of Agricultural Development at the provincial level always has microscopes on hand for research."

Chen Min couldn't understand it at all, so he decided to visit the Agriculture Department first.

Zhu Guoxiang added: "The alternation of dryness and wetness in paddy and drought rotation will also be accompanied by various oxidation-reduction reactions in the soil. Well... how to put it, the soil contains many substances, each of which has different effects, and they play different roles in the soil. The humidity environment will react with the air... The alternation of dryness and wetness will inhibit the emission of a substance called methane, and will also promote the production and emission of another beneficial substance... When the soil is in an area where aeration and anaerobia coexist, or aeration When anaerobic and anaerobic conditions alternate, the activity of certain bacteria in the soil will increase..."

Now Chen Min was completely confused and stared at the emperor blankly.

When Zhu Guoxiang finished speaking, Chen Min sighed sincerely: "Your Majesty is a scholar of heaven and man, but a poor Taoist is not as good as a fool. Your Majesty has almost become a Taoist in agriculture, but a poor Taoist cannot understand it and cannot sit down and discuss Tao with Your Majesty."

Zhu Guoxiang is also very distressed: "This involves chemistry. There are many things that I can't explain clearly, and I can't demonstrate them to the agricultural officials for the time being."

Chen Min curiously asked: "What is chemistry?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The science of biochemistry of all things."

Chen Min was familiar with the "Book of Changes" and suddenly became excited: "All things are transformed and regenerated due to the interaction between heaven and earth. Is the avenue of agriculture actually the avenue of heaven and earth? That's right. Without the interaction between heaven and earth, how can all things be transformed and reproduced?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It is said that all things come from the transformation of yin and yang into the five elements. Without proving whether it is true or not, I feel that there are many elements between heaven and earth. Some of the scholars who failed this year are willing to sign up to study agriculture. Several of them, were I selected them as the first batch of students to study chemistry. If the old gentleman is interested in this, you can go and have a look."

"I have been practicing Taoism for half my life, but I have not mastered the Taoism. I can only grow some medicinal materials and crops," Chen Min said with his hands in hand. "If you can get a glimpse of the life and transformation of all things before you die, you can really be said to have learned the Tao in the morning and died in the evening." That’s it.”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I have already had people build various instruments for chemical research, and they are probably ready in the next few days. Sir, please stay in the capital, and everything will start when you are fully prepared."

The two chatted for a while, then Chen Chang bowed and resigned, and was led by the eunuch to his temporary residence.

He worked until mid-afternoon and there was nothing important to do today, so Zhu Guoxiang simply left work early.

Li Qingzhao, who had just been named Concubine Chen, was playing circus with the Queen, the Imperial Concubine, and the Imperial Concubine. This game was probably a Monopoly game made with a chess board.

In addition to playing, Li Qingzhao occasionally returned to the Hanlin Academy to take out the academic materials he had recently studied.

The three concubines Shen Yourong, Wen Xiaomei and An Niang also often consulted Li Qingzhao to improve their lyrics, music and rhythm.

"Can the officials see the old Taoist priest?" Shen Yourong asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "He was originally good at farming, and he studied the farming books I wrote and made great use of them in many details. Especially in farming and breeding in the Jiangnan area, this person can be called the best in the world. Agricultural science is a miscellaneous Science involves meteorology, biology, chemistry, geography, etc. I have always wanted to form a system, but it is too difficult to do, and the agricultural officials can only be blind to the elephant."

The four concubines didn't quite understand it, but they felt it was very powerful.

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "I will take you to see new things another day. I have made some chemical instruments and collected many chemical substances. Although it is far from enough, simple research can be carried out."

Li Qingzhao said: "I still don't understand what the officials say about the transformation of all things."

"You will know then that Taoist priests' alchemy actually contains the secret of chemistry," Zhu Guoxiang said.

Miss Wen asked: "Do officials also make elixirs?"

Zhu Guoxiang laughed loudly: "I don't know how to make elixirs, but as long as you let me know the materials used in making elixirs, I can probably guess the chemical principles of their refining. Come on, I also made a periodic table of elements. Many representatives The characters for the elements are all newly created.”

A periodic table of elements opens, no different from a heavenly book.

Li Qingzhao read: "Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, and boron... are like the Alchemy Book and Taoism, and the officials are indeed proficient in Taoism."

An Niang covered her mouth and said with a smile: "Maybe the official family can live forever. Since I served the official family, more than ten years have passed, and the official family's appearance has not faded."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "If you look carefully, you still have wrinkles. In recent years, I have been sick from time to time."

Zhu Guoxiang has not yet named the institution that studies chemistry.

There are only a few students, and they are all selected from the students who failed the imperial examination this year.

Moreover, Zhu Guoxiang also invited several Taoist priests to help collect various chemical experiment materials.

News gradually spread, and everyone thought that the emperor wanted to make elixirs, and the ministers in the court were thinking about whether to dissuade him.

Please advise, the emperor did not go out of his way. He did not reward Taoist priests lavishly, nor did he build Taoist temples lavishly. Now, hiding out and refining alchemy is just a private hobby of the emperor.

Don't dissuade me. It has long been a consensus that the elixir is poisonous.

Zhai Ruwen, as the first assistant, said at the cabinet meeting: "The pill is erysipelas. It is known to the whole world. If you don't do it well, you may cause trouble. We, the cabinet ministers, should work together to advise and not let the officials be involved in danger!"

"Of course, I will remonstrate with you. If the officials don't listen, I would rather be dismissed than remonstrate to the end!" Zhong Shidao was the first to respond.