Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Zheng Zhongfu is 36 years old this year, but he has been a soldier for 20 years.

When the king succeeded to the throne, the imperial guards needed to be adjusted, and the clan took the opportunity to put people in. Cui Shi stuffed Zheng Zhongfu into the imperial guards as a soldier.

In theory, he should belong to Cui Shi.

But because he beat Jin Bu Shi's son, he became a fugitive and hid in the Ren family. After that, all his official positions were promoted by Ren Shi.

From another perspective, Zheng Zhongfu is the product of the compromise between Ren Shi and Cui Shi.

At that time, there was also a Jin family who raised troops to "go to Luoyang". After everyone joined forces to kill Jin Bu Shi, another Jin family controlled the military power of the capital. Ren Shi and Cui Shi supported Zheng Zhongfu to take office and joined forces to take back the military power of the capital.

Such a person with a large number of troops was not valued after helping the clans to seize power, but was treated like cattle and horses.

Are the aristocratic families all fools?

They just don't treat military officials as human beings!

From the founding of Goryeo to the present, the aristocratic families have always had the final say, and the military men had to obey no matter how many troops they had.

In history, Zheng Zhongfu suffered all kinds of humiliation from civil officials, and was forced to rebel at the age of over 60. If there was no way out, why would an old man take such a big risk?

Dragon Boat Festival.

The Goryeo king and his ministers feasted in Puxianyuan. The king was under house arrest twice here, and it was like going home when he arrived at Puxianyuan.

The king and the civil officials ate and drank inside, enjoyed singing and dancing, opera, and recited poems, while the military officials were all outside as security guards.

Goryeo military officials were not allowed to go to the palace to discuss state affairs, and they were not even allowed to attend the banquet given by the king!

Zheng Zhongfu's beard was burned off at a New Year's Eve banquet. The king and the civil officials ate and feasted, and he stood stupidly beside them as a security guard. The civil officials became even crazier when they got drunk, and Jin Dunzhong actually set his beard on fire in public for fun.

The other civil officials did not stop them when they saw it, but were amused and laughed.

At this moment, Wang Gou pointed to the kimchi soup without cabbage and said: "The cabbage from the Ming Dynasty is very delicious when made into kimchi, but it's a pity that winter has passed. This year, farmers should grow more cabbage so that all officials can taste such delicious food."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Ren Yuanhou immediately flattered with the civil servants.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, kimchi technology had been passed on, and bamboo shoots, ferns, and radishes were the main ingredients at that time.

During the Goryeo Dynasty, leeks, water celery and other things were added to kimchi, and kimchi soup for bibimbap appeared.

Now, there is cabbage kimchi again!

This thing was brought to Pyongyang by the agricultural officials so that the people there could eat cheap vegetables in winter. Gradually spread to the south, it was also planted in the Gyeonggi region of Goryeo, and was loved by the king and dignitaries.

Cui Yunyi pointed to the wine jar and said, "This is corn wine shipped from the Ming Dynasty. It is very strong and only a brave man can drink it. You guys try it and see if you can get used to it."

Immediately, two guards were called in, each holding a jar of white wine, and each civil official was given half a bowl.

Goryeo also has wine, called Shixi.

After steaming rice, malt yeast water is added, and the taste is similar to fermented glutinous rice, and it can even be said to be a kind of fermented glutinous rice.

The Korean monarchs and ministers who are used to drinking fermented glutinous rice will drink white wine as soon as they catch it.

Cui Yunyi hurriedly said, "Everyone, wait a minute, this wine is very strong!"

So everyone only took a small sip, and suddenly felt their mouths and tongues burning. The taste of drinking white wine for the first time was not pleasant.

But since it came from the Ming Dynasty, it must be a good thing. If you can't get used to it, it must be your own problem.

Ren Yuanhou tasted it carefully for two times, and said with all his heart: "It tastes strong at first, and tastes sweet after a while. Isn't this how people are born in this world? Only after suffering hardships and setbacks can they taste sweetness."

"Ding'an Gong said it very well!" The ministers praised.

After all, it was a banquet given by the king. No matter how shabby it was, it couldn't be all vegetarian. There were meat, fish, and shrimp.

Wang Gou took a bite of pork belly, took a sip of white wine and said: "This wine is very delicious with meat. I think the emperor of Ming Dynasty also eats this way."

The ministers immediately agreed.

The ministers who had been on diplomatic missions to Kaifeng or Luoyang were silent at this moment.

They didn't dare to reveal their meals in Ming Dynasty, fearing that they would arouse the jealousy and gossip of others.

Goryeo's economy is now very deformed, and the influx of a large amount of cheap cloth has solved the clothing problem of Goryeo people. But Ming Dynasty banned the export of grain, and Goryeo was still short of food.

The trade between the two sides is as follows--

Ming Dynasty exports: cloth, ironware, books, coins, daily necessities, and luxury goods.

Goryeo exports: fur, medicinal materials, dyes, seafood, minerals, Goryeo paper.

Because fur, ginseng and pearls are valuable, Goryeo's aristocratic families specially arranged people to hunt, collect ginseng and collect pearls.

Especially sable, leopard, otter and green mouse skins, these things can be sold at high prices, and more and more mountain people make a living by hunting. By the way, see if you can find ginseng.

Goryeo paper is a special paper for calligraphy and painting, made of mulberry bark and cotton cocoon (inferior silkworm cocoon), probably invented in the Northern Song Dynasty. The output is not high, the price is expensive, and it is very popular among Ming Dynasty literati.

Due to the large number of goods in Ming Dynasty and the high overall added value, Goryeo simply cannot provide enough goods for exchange.

So all kinds of seafood are also used to make up the number, especially dried sea cucumbers and dried abalone.

Goryeo fishermen risked their lives, worked hard and tired to fish day and night, but they were not well fed and clothed, and the profits were all earned by Goryeo nobles and Ming Dynasty merchants.

After drinking half a bowl of white wine, Wang Gou was a little drunk and asked, "The Cui family is in Haizhou and trades a lot with the Ming Kingdom. Is there any strange news about the Ming Kingdom recently?"

Cui Hongzai immediately took out several newspapers, presented them and said: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty turned Di Bao into the "Da Ming Yue Bao", and even ordinary people can buy and read it. These "Da Ming Yue Bao" are the products of the Ming Dynasty Maritime Business From now on, there is no need to waste money on sending envoys. You can find out the truth of the Ming Dynasty by reading the "Da Ming Yue Bao".

Wang Gou started reading the newspaper with eyes half drunk. After reading a few lines, he discovered that Min Zishun, the general minister of the Ming Dynasty, was hanged for corruption. There is also a list at the back. More than ten officials involved in the case were executed, more than fifty were exiled, and more than one hundred were imprisoned.

He quickly read the second newspaper. The result was that Qin Hui, the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, was executed, as well as Qin Hui and his wife's family.

After reading several copies in a row, the first version was all about killing corrupt officials!

Wang Gou was horrified: "The Emperor of Heaven has killed so many corrupt officials, isn't he afraid that the big families in the country will cause chaos?"

In fact, the important ministers of Goryeo had already read the newspapers, because Kaizhou Port outside the capital was the first port of Goryeo for trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Not only officials have read it, but also some poor people.

Those poor scholars were greatly shocked and yearned for the Ming Dynasty even more. It turns out that those high-ranking officials who are eating away at the country can really be executed according to the law!

No wonder the Ming Dynasty was extremely powerful and could easily destroy the Jin Kingdom. This was because the civil servants and military generals of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to corrupt.

Whoever dares to commit corruption will be executed by the Emperor!

Civil servants are not greedy, so the people are rich. The general is not greedy, so the soldiers are brave.

The poor Korean scholar with no future prospects copied the "Da Ming Yue Bao" word for word, read it from time to time, and talked about it at gatherings. While cursing the officials of Goryeo, they praised the Ming Dynasty and regarded the Ming Dynasty as their spiritual home.

Ju Ming never expected that "Da Ming Yue Bao" would spread to Korea and become a foreign propaganda publication.

At this moment, many Goryeo ministers glared at Cui Hongzai.

Why are you showing this to the king?

Do you still want to kill corrupt officials in Goryeo?

Cui Hongzai was smiling, he knew what would happen today.

Outside the palace, Zheng Zhongfu was ready to take action.

However, the composition of the troops of the Controlling Crane Army is complicated. The soldiers come from all over the country and are sent by noble families, representing the interests of different families.

Not to mention that he, the number one military minister, could not control him. Even the powerful minister Ren Yuanhou could not completely command him.

Zheng Zhongfu nodded secretly to Li Yifang, and Li Yifang walked towards a young general.

The young general was Ren Yuanhou's confidant and the commander of the imperial guards of the Goryeo Palace. He immediately scolded: "Don't take another step forward, don't disturb the nobles in the palace!"

Li Yifang smiled and said: "The nobles are eating and drinking in the palace, but we are hungry. General Hong, do you want to eat something? I will send someone to get it right now."

The young general lowered his guard and swallowed: "Let's have a bowl of pine nut porridge."

"good."

Li Yifang was still walking forward and continued to ask: "General, do you want any more cakes or preserved fruits?"

"I want a pastry." The young general turned his head and looked into the palace, thinking of an excuse to escape and go to Meimei outside to have a bowl of pine nut porridge.

Clang!

Li Yifang suddenly drew his sword and struck the neck with great precision.

The young general was defenseless. He covered his neck and tried to struggle, but was pushed to the ground by Li Yifang and slapped hard.

At the same time, Zheng Zhongfu and several of his accomplices also drew their swords and started killing one after another, and unexpectedly eliminated the trusted generals of the Cui, Li, Jin, Liu and other clans who had been deployed in the He Controlling Army.

Seven or eight of the leaders were killed, and the rest were so frightened that they fled randomly.

Li Gao led his troops in from outside, blocked the escape route, and shouted: "If you don't want to die, just be obedient!"

Facing the rebels who were blocking the passage and wearing strong armor, the Imperial Guards soldiers who had lost their leaders were so frightened that they dropped their weapons and chose to surrender.

A chamberlain came out of the palace and shouted before he could see the situation clearly: "What's the noise? All the nobles inside heard it!"

Zheng Zhongfu raised his arms and shouted: "Those aristocratic families are rich and well-off, but we warriors are impoverished. What kind of world is this? I want to eradicate evil spirits today, and those who are brave can join me. The civil servants in the palace usually bully you. You can all go and kill them with my sword!”

"kill!"

Under the threat of Li Gao's soldiers, the forbidden soldiers picked up their weapons and rushed into the palace bravely.

Before the officials could react, the King of Goryeo ran away. The king had been under house arrest twice and was very familiar with mutinies and coups. He immediately ran out of the side door of the palace.

"Don't kill poor families, only kill noble families!" Zheng Zhongfu shouted.

The officials fled in fear, and the warriors slaughtered wildly.

Even the uncle and nephew Cui Hongzai and Cui Yunyi, the instigators, finally felt that something was wrong. Their original plan was to use military men to control the officials and arrest Ren Yuanhou and his party, but they did not let the military men kill wantonly.

"Don't kill poor families, only kill noble families!"

As the warriors shouted one after another, a few low-ranking civil servants hid aside and showed their identities: "I am from a humble family, I am from a humble family!"

Sure enough, they saved their lives, and the warriors specially caught and killed high-ranking officials.

You can tell who is a high-ranking official from their hats and clothes. The warriors usually have enough resentment, and today they can finally vent their grievances.

The civil servants rushed to the two side doors. When they ran out, they found that the outside was blocked.

Wang Gou, the leader of the Goryeo Kingdom, was also blocked there, begging for mercy: "If you have something to say, if you have something to say..."

Cui Yunyi angrily scolded Zheng Zhongfu: "You are causing trouble and will be executed by the clan! Put down your weapons early, and I will spare your life if you find your way back."

Zheng Zhongfu laughed loudly: "Why are you pretending to be a good person? You are the one who instigated me to cause chaos. If you use me as a spearman, I can also attack you. Except for Your Majesty, all the people who escaped here will be killed!"

Ren Yuanhou said in horror: "Put down your weapons, I can give you a civil service, and you will no longer be a military man from now on."

"kill!"

Under the leadership of Zheng Zhongfu, a group of warriors rushed forward and hacked at the defenseless civilian officials.

Wang Gou was so frightened that he squatted in the corner of the courtyard, protected by several eunuchs.

Cui Yunyi ran away in panic, but was caught up by a soldier who controlled cranes. He shot him in the lower back and knocked him down. Another soldier from the Dragon Leading Team slashed Cui Yunyi on the back of the neck with a knife.

The powerful minister Ren Yuanhou was killed by Li Yifang with a knife, slashing him more than ten times.

However, Zheng Zhongfu found his old enemy. He grabbed Jin Dunzhong by the collar and said, "You burned my beard for fun and then hunted me down. What did I do wrong?"

Jin Dunzhong cried and said: "General, spare your life, it's because I am young and ignorant. If I can live today, I am willing to marry my niece to the general. The general only needs to divorce his first wife and marry my niece. From now on, he will be Jin's son-in-law."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Zheng Zhongfu laughed angrily: "At this time, you still want me to be a dog for the Jin family? After becoming your Jin family's son-in-law, will I obey your Jin family's orders in everything from now on?"

Zheng Zhongfu slashed Jin Dunzhong's legs with a knife and watched him crawl on the ground in fear.

Crawling, he slashed again.

Jin Dunzhong cried and screamed, and under the control of fear, he continued to crawl out involuntarily.

Climbing to the door, Zheng Zhongfu dragged the man back with a smile and slashed him with a knife.

After being slashed seven times, Jin Dunzhong was still not dead, but he had given up running for his life and lay there crying, waiting to die.

Many civil servants were tortured to death because they bullied military officials too harshly.

Finally, Zheng Zhongfu went to Wang Gou and killed all the eunuchs who were protecting the king.

Wang Gou looked at the corpses on the ground and fell into despair that he had never experienced before. Although he was under house arrest twice, those coups were relatively civilized. Not to mention the random killing of civil servants, even powerful officials were simply exiled.

How could it be as bloody as now?

Zheng Zhongfu sighed: "Your Majesty treats me well. When the Jin family wanted to hunt me down, it was your Majesty who sent someone to inform me."

Wang Gou saw the hope of survival and quickly asked: "What does the general want? I will definitely satisfy you."

Zheng Zhongfu said: "Every time Your Majesty is imprisoned, someone will rescue you. Look at these eunuchs, they would rather die to protect Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not abdicate, I am really worried."

Wang Gou said: "General, don't worry, I will abdicate immediately and pass the throne to the prince!"

Zheng Zhongfu added: "My daughter is about the same age as the prince."

Wang Gou said: "Please ask the general to marry his daughter to be the princess... No, I am asking the general to marry his daughter to be the queen!"

Zheng Zhongfu said with satisfaction: "Very good, Your Majesty will write the edict of passing the throne now."