Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

It took the father and son a total of ten days to walk from the crossing point to Tian Er's home, overcoming obstacles along the way.

Now we are going there on the bandit's main battleship, and we found the tributary that afternoon. After resting on the shore for a night, around nine o'clock the next morning, Ju Ming suddenly ordered the ship to dock.

Based on the shape of the peaks on both sides of the strait, he already had an impression.

Zhang Guangdao led others to follow him off the boat, not knowing what they were doing.

Over three months, the weeds have grown back. Ju Ming drew his sword and chopped for a while. After about twenty minutes, he finally saw three piles of stones.

That was the mark left by the father and son. On the cliff directly above the stone was Dean Zhu's newly bought BMW.

Ju Ming looked up and couldn't see the car at all. It might be that the newly grown leaves and vines completely blocked the car body.

"I had a dream the night before yesterday."

Ju Ming sheathed his sword and said, "One day the king asked me in a dream that he had left a treasure armor in the world. After I woke up from the dream, I was doubtful, so I took you and others to look for it."

After saying this, everyone looked at each other in shock.

"Bai Sheng!" Ju Ming shouted.

"I'm here." Bai Sheng stepped forward quickly.

Ju Ming ordered: "You lead three people and stay here. I will use a rope to drop the treasure armor. In addition to the treasure armor, there are other things. If you find anything falling, untie the rope after receiving it. .”

"Okay... okay!" Bai Sheng felt that Brother Zhu was asleep.

"The rest of you, come with me on the boat." Ju Ming said.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the boat reached a river bend. Ju Ming quickly recognized that this was where he threw branches to determine the direction of the river.

Take out the dry food and rest on the shore before leaving tomorrow.

The bonfire was lit and the sun set.

Zhang Guangdao came close to Ju Ming and asked in a low voice: "Brother Zhu, is there really something on the mountain?"

Ju Ming nodded and said, "Maybe."

Zhang Guangdao didn't believe in the dream of the king. He guessed that it was probably the treasure hidden in the mountains by the father and son.

There were a lot of mosquitoes, so everyone found some mugwort and threw it on the fire to make smoke to drive away the mosquitoes.

They took turns keeping vigil and slept all night.

After waking up in the morning and continuing on the road, Zhu Ming held a sword to clear the way ahead. Tian Er, Tian San and Lu Wang held hatchets and joined him in chopping thorns. Zhang Guangdao followed with a large bundle of ropes on his back, and behind him were more than ten people holding spears and darts.

Two people also held gongs and would ring them when they encountered a tiger, which would probably scare the tiger away.

Nearly twenty people working together can go up the mountain much faster.

In the afternoon, the mountain was already extremely steep, and Zhu Ming figured out the direction to go east.

"Hey, what is this?" When Tian Er was chopping the branches, he saw a white thing with some patterns and words printed on it.

Ju Ming looked happy.

It was a plastic bag used to hold snacks. When the father and son left the cliff section, they tied it to a tree to mark it.

"You guys just stay here. Brother Zhang San comes with me...forget it, it's getting late. We'll go tomorrow."

It was getting dark, only around three o'clock in the afternoon.

But at this time, I went to pick up the armor. It was probably dark when I encountered the car.

After another night's rest, a tiger came out in the middle of the night. He was frightened by the sound of a gong and fled in panic.

morning.

Zhang Guangdao followed Ju Ming and climbed the cliff and walked sideways. He became more and more confused. The Zhu family and his son were too cautious in this treasure hiding place.

Moreover, how were the treasures transported there?

Ju Ming was familiar with the road, climbed for a while, and quickly jumped to the raised stone platform. He once peed here and encountered a king snake. There were even melon seed shells on the moss on the stone platform.

"Have a rest." Zhu Ming sat down to rest.

Zhang Guangdao couldn't restrain his doubts and asked again: "Is there really a treasure armor?"

"Yes!" Zhu Ming nodded.

Zhang Guangdao asked again: "Brother Zhu plans to rebel?"

Ju Ming smiled and said, "You can't talk nonsense."

Zhang Guangdao, on the other hand, was very positive: "If Brother Zhu rebels, I will definitely follow him and be the first to rush into the county government office and kill the bird official!"

"Why do you have to rebel?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhang Guangdao's idea is extremely simple: "There are all bird officials in the government, and there are also bird emperors in Tokyo. I used to want to rebel and let Brother Yao be the emperor. Brother Yao is dead, and Brother Zhu is also benevolent and righteous. If Brother Zhu becomes the emperor, , the people’s lives will definitely be easier.”

Ju Ming asked: "If you were given thousands of acres of land and made a wealthy landowner, would you still want to rebel?"

Zhang Guangdao sneered: "My ancestors were also landlords. What can we do if we encounter corrupt officials?"

Ju Ming was silent and thinking hard.

The specific situation in the Northern Song Dynasty seemed to be different from what he imagined.

The biggest contradiction here is not the contradiction between people and land, but the contradiction between the government and the people. Government exploitation was so severe that large areas of wasteland along the river were left uncultivated. The peasants at the bottom also had to rely on the big landowners in order to barely resist the government's exploitation.

Many times, although big landowners also exploit small people, they play another role: the protector of farmers!

Customers and small people, in villages as units, defend one or several large landowners. The big landowners used this power to outwit the government, try their best to escape taxes and exorbitant contributions, and control the peasants while protecting them at the same time. In addition, when resisting natural disasters, they also hold together to keep warm.

A... very peculiar rural political ecology.

Of course, there are also evil gentry like novice members, who really squeeze the peasants to death.

The specific situation was more complicated than Ju Ming imagined.

For example, on Kuizhou Road, the feudal slave manor system even existed widely. A manor owner maintains dozens or hundreds of private soldiers and controls a large number of serfs for farming. There is an agreement between us that if my serfs escape to you, you should send them back.

Facing the government, big landowners are also an exploited class.

To give a simple example, after Zhao Gou established a foothold in the south, the first thing he did was not to use force to regain the lost territory, but... to occupy the land!

The emperors, concubines, clan members, and dignitaries who fled south forcibly occupied the land of the large southern landowners in a manner that was almost a horse race. The land occupied by the royal family is called Yuzhuang, which extends from near Hangzhou to the Taihu polder area and even to Anhui.

Even the land of Wang Anshi's family was occupied by the royal family.

Wang Anshi's descendants owned a large amount of land in Xuancheng and Wuhu, all of which were "bought" by eunuchs sent by the emperor. The eunuch's name was recorded in history books as Chu Yi.

To the Jiangnan landlords, Zhao Gou was not an emperor, but the number one bandit in heaven!

Every time there was a war, money was collected, bought, and purchased frantically, forcing the landlords to go bankrupt. Then, the royal family and the powerful took the opportunity to buy land and frantically expanded their land area.

What Northern Expedition?

What to regain lost ground?

When the Jiangnan landowners heard these two words, they were so frightened that they could not sleep. Before the Jin soldiers are destroyed by the imperial court, they will be killed by the imperial court first!

Landowners who were far away from the Jiangnan area and encountered Jin soldiers and bandits also had a difficult life. For example, Lu You's father-in-law, Tang Zhongjun, was a man whose family fought against the Jin Dynasty. His grandfather also served as deputy prime minister, but he starved to death in his hometown in Hubei.

"Let's go, let's talk about the rebellion later." Ju Ming stood up and said.

Zhang Guangdao followed Ju Ming and continued climbing, but he was very tired even with his physical strength.

Suddenly, Ju Ming split the vines with his sword, revealing something strange - a BMW headlight.

Continuously swinging his sword to split the vines and leaves, Zhang Guangdao's mouth opened wider and wider: That monster can actually move on its own!

Well, the rearview mirror automatically opened when the car key was detected.

It seems that the battery is still charged.

Ju Ming opened the car door and got in. He turned around and shouted, "Bring the rope!"

Zhang Guangdao was still in a state of shock and subconsciously handed the rope forward.

Ju Ming chose a slightly thicker tree branch and threw out one end of the rope. It took two attempts before he succeeded. He leaned out again, used the scabbard to pull back the rope, and used the branch as a fixed pulley.

The Heavenly King Armor was packed in a cardboard box. Ju Ming tied it with a rope and said to Zhang Guangdao: "Pull the rope steady, it weighs dozens of kilograms!"

Zhang Guangdao finally came to his senses, grabbed the rope tightly, stepped on the cliff with one foot, and stepped on the tree trunk in front of him.

Zhu Ming pushed the cardboard box out of the carriage and it fell suddenly. The pulling force was so strong that he almost pulled Zhang Guangdao off the cliff.

Ju Ming quickly went over to help, and the two of them worked together to pull the rope and lower the armor bit by bit.

"Brother Bai, something is coming down!"

Under the cliff, Bai Sheng looked up, and sure enough, something black was falling.

Then, it got stuck in a tree branch and stopped moving.

It was still more than ten meters high from the ground, and Bai Sheng did not climb up stupidly. He picked up the ax and climbed only two or three meters before swinging the ax and starting to chop down the tree.

As the tree fell, the cardboard box containing the armor continued to fall.

After falling to four or five meters, the rope was no longer enough. too short.

Bai Sheng asked people to cut branches and tie them to the spears to make hooks. Then he climbed up, hooked the box over, opened the slipknot, and the treasure armor fell to the ground with a bang.

Zhu Ming and Zhang Guangdao above felt that there was no tension, so they retracted the rope.

Not long after, another bunch of messy things came down.

Bai Sheng did not open the carton, but picked up a rectangular carton with transparent paper of unknown material on it. He also knew a few characters and read them carefully: "China... Smoking is harmful to health..."

Picked up another long box: "Kweichow Moutai..."

What the hell?

Staying here, Bai Sheng waited for a day and a night, and Ju Ming finally brought his people back.

There is no way to dismantle the car, and even getting the Heavenly King Armor off is difficult enough.

Seeing everyone's curious faces, Ju Ming didn't hide it.

The transparent tape on the carton had been torn off before crossing. Ju Ming opened it quickly and took out the helmet of Heavenly King Armor first.

"What a treasure!" Bai Sheng was trembling as he spoke.

Zhang Guangdao was surprised and happy. He thought that Ju Ming had been prepared and secretly hid the armor for rebellion.

The parts were taken out one by one, perhaps protected by the cardboard box. The cardboard absorbed the moisture in the air, and the whole set of King Armor was as bright as new.

Ju Ming was lost in thought. He and his father had become stronger, and the swords were incredibly sharp and tough. So, will the set of Heavenly King Armor in front of me, as well as the corn and sweet potato seeds, also mutate?

"Brother Zhu!"

"village head!"

When Ju Ming heard the shouting, he came to his senses instantly.

He took off his shoes, put on his combat boots and greaves, then his body armor, then his belt and helmet.

The person standing in front of everyone does not look like a general leading an army to kill the enemy, but looks like a king!

Real practical armor would not have such eye-catching shoulder armor and belt - the shoulder armor has two animal heads, and the belt has a ghost face in the middle. Even in modern times, it is very visually impactful, let alone in ancient times.

There is a temple on the mountain in the eastern suburbs of the county. Tian San has been there and seen what the statue of the King of Heaven looks like. His knees weakened, and he knelt down and shouted: "The King of Heaven is above me, I kowtow to the King of Heaven!"

"Brother Zhu is the king of heaven descending to earth!" Bai Sheng also knelt down.

The title Heavenly King was originally from Taoism. For example, Pangu, named Yuanshi Tianwang, eventually evolved into Yuanshi Tianzun.

Later, Buddhism was introduced, and the king of heaven was also used in translation.

By the Northern Song Dynasty, the four heavenly kings had become independent of Buddhism and Taoism. They were both Buddhist protectors and Taoist heavenly kings.

They all knelt on the ground, Zhang Guangdao grinned, and he also knelt down: "If King Zhu Tian goes to Tokyo, I will be the vanguard general!"