Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Ya Po brought several Silla maids. Li Bangyan looked at them and shook his head.

For those with rough hands and feet, being a servant is fine, but taking concubines and giving birth to sons is not enough.

Yapo said: "There are three grades of Silla maids. The upper grade is good at singing and dancing, the middle grade is beautiful, and the lower grade is hardworking and hardworking. The upper grade Silla maids are bought by brothels as soon as they arrive in Hong Kong. The middle grade Silla maids are also competed by rich people. , that’s all that’s left in Hangzhou.”

"Can these be considered average?" Li Bangyan was quite disdainful.

Yapo added: "When the next boatload of Silla maids arrives, I will come over immediately to report to the Prime Minister."

Li Bangyan asked: "Is it available on every ship?"

Yapo said: "Not necessarily, but it has become more and more common in the past two years."

Goryeo was first plundered by the Jin Kingdom, and food was also compensated. Pyongyang and the areas north of it were starved to death.

The Ming army occupied Pyongyang and asked Goryeo to provide military rations, which they had to pay every year.

How can there be enough food in Korea?

They tried every means to use local products to pay for food, and even captured rural women and sold them to Han bachelors who migrated there.

There was a Zhejiang maritime merchant who had read books and was inspired when he purchased goods from Korea. He knew that Silla maids were popular in the Tang Dynasty, so he collaborated with Goryeo officials to engage in human trade, and then asked Hangzhou scholars to promote the trade.

"Silla Maid" became popular all of a sudden!

When Goryeo's important ministers learned the news, instead of blocking it, they also joined in, and the Silla maids they provided were of higher quality.

Rich people are willing to buy even low-grade Silla maids.

Because they were beaten, scolded, worked hard, and even gave them a meal, they were grateful.

This is not just an act, but comes from the bottom of my heart.

Think about the life of the people of Goryeo. In China, cloth can only be used to wear linen and mourn, but in Goryeo it is a "currency" in the market.

The lower-class Silla maids were all girls from the lower class of Goryeo. They were sold to Hangzhou to work as servants. They were better fed and clothed than they were back home, and of course they were willing to work diligently.

Li Bangyan is now in a state of disbelief and is cautious in everything he does. He couldn't help but ask: "Is it illegal for the court to not allow private slaves to keep Silla maids at home?"

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, slavery was basically abolished, and even the female relatives of prisoners were no longer accepted as official slaves.

The Ming Code went a step further on this basis, explicitly stipulating that private slaves were not allowed and strictly regulated servant employment contracts. Although there are big problems in implementation, the legal loopholes have been closed and it will be illegal once discovered.

Ya Po said with a smile: "My lord, please be at ease. I am also a public ya, registered with the government. Since I am a public ya, I should abide by the law. Those Silla maids will register with the government first, and then sign a five-year employment contract when they buy or sell." , you can just re-sign the deed and renew it when the time limit is up.”

"That's okay." Li Bangyan nodded.

There are really no relevant legal provisions on this. How could it be possible to restrict cross-border immigration in ancient times?

Moreover, not long after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the settlement policy was very tolerant to encourage concealed settlement.

When a Silla maid enters the port as a maritime merchant attendant, she only needs to pay an entry tax. Then the maritime merchant went to the government to apply for the Ming Dynasty household registration for the Silla maid, and filled in the Ming Dynasty employment contract. When trading, the contract is also transferred.

All legal!

Ya Po asked again: "My husband mentioned the Kunlun slave that day, but do you want to buy one?"

Li Bangyan said in surprise: "Can I buy Kunlun slaves in Hangzhou?"

Yapo explained: "There is no ready stock in Hangzhou, but you can contact the maritime merchants and ask them to bring the goods with them from Guangzhou."

There are so many black slaves in Guangzhou!

During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Zhu Yu wrote a book called "Pingzhou Can Tan", which contains records of black slaves in Guangzhou: "The rich people in Guangzhong have many animals and ghost slaves. They are extremely powerful and can carry hundreds of kilograms. They are addicted to words. Those who have blocked desires, are pure in nature and do not run away, are also called savages. Their color is like ink, their lips are red and their teeth are white, their hair is curly and yellow... After a long period of time, they can learn to speak to others, but they themselves cannot speak..."

Most of the black slaves in Guangzhou, except for a few black Africans brought by large food merchants, were dwarf blacks from Indochina and the Southeast Asian islands.

Dwarf black people are also called Negritos, and they look similar to black Africans. But from a DNA perspective, it belongs to the branch of Asians. It was just in order to adapt to the climate and environment that they became like that.

Most of the Kunlun slaves in the Tang Dynasty were dwarf blacks.

Their most outstanding advantage is that they are good at swimming!

The Tang Dynasty legendary novel "The Ballad of Gan Ze" contains a story about a governor with a bad taste. Whenever he came to a new body of water by boat, he would throw the sword into the water and let the Kunlun slaves fish it out to show how awesome his black slaves were. In the end, the Kunlun slave was torn apart by a crocodile...

"Pingzhou Ke Tan" written during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty also records the main use of black slaves: as sailors.

When there is a big storm, let the black slaves reef and set the sails.

When there was a leak in the cabin, the black slaves were asked to repair the leak.

"Are there any Bodhisattvas?" Li Bangyan suddenly asked.

Yapo smiled and said: "I was a singer when I was young, and I can also sing ditties. I can sing twenty or thirty songs of "Bodhisattva Man"."

Li Bangyan said: "Bodhisattva is quite a human being."

Yapo asked doubtfully: "Isn't Bodhisattva a cipai?"

Li Bangyan found that he had found a business opportunity. Kunlun slaves had always existed, and now they had Xinluo slaves, but they still lacked a Bodhisattva man.

There are different opinions on the origin of the Bodhisattvas. One theory is that they are white people from Central Asia, another is that they are barbarians from the southwest, and another is that they are Fan women from Southeast Asia.

You can almost ignore the white man's theory, because that thing is called Hu Ji.

It is also unlikely that the southwestern barbarians were involved because, based on the analysis of classic records, the small southwestern political power during the Tang Dynasty did not have such advanced textile technology and lacked that kind of belief and wearing customs.

The Bodhisattva should come from Thailand and Myanmar!

Of course, Li Bangyan did not have such a clear geographical awareness, but in order to please Song Huizong, he liked to read various miscellaneous books.

The book only said that the Bodhisattva Man came from the Numan Kingdom, and detailed the clothing and jewelry. The rest of the details were all vague, so he could have created a new Bodhisattva Man.

Li Bangyan took out a bunch of copper coins (one hundred wen), put it into Ya Po's hand and said, "Who in Hangzhou is the most familiar with overseas foreign countries?"

Yapo happily put the money into her arms and said: "The maritime merchants in Hangzhou mostly go to Korea and Japan to trade, or transport goods to Fujian and Guangdong."

Li Bangyan said: "Many envoys from Korea and Japan have come to Beijing, and it is no longer unusual. I am talking about countries that are further away. They are not far away, but they must be unfamiliar to the Chinese people."

Yapo thought carefully and said, "I really don't know about this. Maybe my husband can visit Mr. Zhu."

"Which Mr. Zhu?" Li Bangyan asked.

Ya Po said: "Zhu Yu, he wrote "Pingzhou Can Tan". It was printed in Hangzhou two years ago. Many people rushed to buy it and read it. The book is very interesting."

Li Bangyan asked: "Is he also in Hangzhou?"

Ya Po said: "Mr. Zhu is from Huzhou and has lived in Guangzhou all year round. In the past two years, he bought a house in Hangzhou."

Li Bangyan then inquired about Zhu Yu's residence.

Before leaving, Yapo asked: "My husband, would you like to pre-purchase a high-quality Silla maid to be your concubine?"

Li Bangyan said: "No, I'd better find a matchmaker."

The reason why he mistakenly asked Yapo to take a concubine was purely Li Bangyan's habitual operation. Where had he found a matchmaker before to take in concubines? They all let their cronies buy people directly.

After Ya Po left, Li Bangyan called his loyal servant: "Go buy a copy of "Pingzhou Ke Tan"."

This book was written several years ago and was first printed in Huzhou. It only appeared in Hangzhou in the past two years.

The first volume describes the court rules and regulations, the words and deeds of the monarch and his ministers; the second volume describes Guangzhou's business, local customs and customs; the third volume describes monks, Taoism, divination, and supernatural things.

Li Bangyan finished reading the book quickly and already guessed that the author was a figure of the New Party, or a junior of a certain New Party.

The book records a large number of anecdotes about Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Su Shi, Su Che, Huang Tingjian, Shen Kuo and others. When describing the new party, they are all good, while when describing the old party, they are secretly satirical.

The next day, Li Bangyan took his servant and rented a donkey cart to Phoenix Academy.

A few years ago, it was called Baoen Temple.

Ju Ming ordered the closure of temples across the country, and each county had a temple quota. The Baoen Temple in Fenghuang Mountain in Hangzhou was banned.

Led by the gentry of Hangzhou, merchants also donated money, and with further encouragement and guidance from the government, Baoen Temple was finally transformed into Phoenix Academy.

When Bai Chongyan was the magistrate of Hangzhou, he also standardized the academy curriculum, that is, the knowledge of Zhu Guoxiang and Ju Ming was a required course. As for the teachers who want to teach other things, that’s okay, but they can’t delay the compulsory content.

Today, it has become the most famous academy in several southern provinces, because the principal is the prince’s Bole Lu Rong!

After Lu Tixue resigned from office in the Northern Song Dynasty, he was unwilling to serve as an official in the New Dynasty and chose to open a school in Yuezhou (Shaoxing) to teach apprentices.

The story that he recommended Prince Zhu in the former Song Dynasty spread, and more and more people came to become his disciples. Four years ago, he was hired as the mountain chief by Hangzhou Phoenix Academy.

Zhu Yu, the author of "Pingzhou Ketan", was also a teacher at Phoenix Academy. His father was Zhu Fu, an official of the New Party. Due to party strife, he spent half his life as a prefecture magistrate. He was repeatedly transferred here and there as an official, and finally died of illness while serving in Guangzhou.

Zhu Yu took the imperial examination several times, but gave up after failing every time and spent his days hanging out with gentry, merchants, monks, doctors and divination, and sorcerers.

Li Bangyan knows how to gain a foothold in Hangzhou. He stopped by today to donate a thousand dollars directly to Phoenix Academy.

Zhu Ming ransacked his house and returned 100,000 guan to Li Bangyan. The long-distance money order was swindled by merchants, and he spent nearly 20,000 guan on buying a mansion and land. He also hired many servants again, and now donated money to the academy. Li Bangyan spent money like water.

So he is eager to make money!

"Is it you?" Lu Rong looked at Li Bangyan with disgust.

Li Bangyan smiled and said: "Chief Lu Shan, I am here to donate to the academy."

Lu Rong rolled his sleeves and said, "Your Excellency, please leave. Phoenix Academy does not want dirty money!"

Li Bangyan asked: "Master Lu Shan, do you know why I can serve as a cabinet minister in the Ming Dynasty?"

Lu Rong sneered: "It's just betraying the old master and making contributions to the new dynasty."

"The old master is a foolish king. Should he abandon the country and the people?" Li Bangyan asked again.

Lu Rong said: "Everyone in the world can betray a foolish emperor, but you, a treacherous jester, are not qualified."

Li Bangyan said: "Compared to other traitors, I have never committed any serious crimes. I was a former Song Dynasty official and then prime minister, but I only made two to three million yuan. Moreover, I did not own any land or build a mansion or a beautiful house. This How incorruptible it is. A foolish emperor needs a jester, so I became a jester. Why can't I repent and join the new dynasty?"

"If you really repent, you will not come to Hangzhou now, but will assist the Holy Lord in the cabinet." Lu Rong said sarcastically.

Li Bangyan looked depressed: "After the promulgation of the Ming Dynasty Law, I have not been greedy for any money, and I have not even accepted gifts. Otherwise, when the prince ransacked his house, he would not have left me any money."

"Huh!" Lu Rong believed this was the truth.

Li Bangyan said: "The money I embezzled in the previous dynasty has been taken away by the new dynasty. The remaining money is from my meritorious service to the Ming Dynasty. It is not dirty money and will not insult Phoenix Academy."

Lu Rong waved his hand to see the guest off: "That's not necessary, please go."

Li Bangyan knew that the money could not be donated, so he settled for the next best thing and said, "I have little knowledge. Now that I have lost my official position, I want to study at Phoenix Academy. Confucius said that there is no distinction between teachings. Can sinners learn from me?" "

Lu Rong said: "If you want to study at Phoenix Academy, there are thresholds. First, those with bad moral character will not be admitted; second, those who fail the entrance exam will not be admitted."

"Then I kindly ask you to listen and just stand outside the door so as not to disturb the students." Li Bangyan said.

"It's up to you." Lu Rong was too lazy to argue.