Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Shaanxi Province, Lantian County, Wangchuan Valley.

When he came to the valley in person, Zhu Guoxiang finally understood why Wang Wei's villa could stretch for more than 20 miles.

Because the entire valley is in Zhongnan Mountain, there is not much cultivated land along the way, and there would not be many people there under normal circumstances.

Land is cheap.

The Wangchuan River flows out from Zhongnan Mountain, goes all the way north, and joins Ba River in Lantian County.

In many parts of the valley, the road is very difficult to walk.

During the wet season, you can barely take a boat, but during the dry season, it turns into a stream. Wang Wei was walking along this river and wrote a famous line that has shocked the ages: "Walking to the waterless place, sitting and watching the clouds rise."

"Your Majesty, Wang Wei's tomb has been found!" The leader of the guards came to report.

Zhu Guoxiang immediately set off to go south. Because the distance was too far, the children all stayed in the village. He walked with only his four wives, stopping from time to time to admire the scenery.

In the afternoon, we encountered another village. Many villagers had moved away and were given land outside the valley for resettlement.

We simply packed up the house, stayed here that night, and continued our journey the next morning.

At noon, they climbed onto a flat field and saw a large area of ​​foundation covered by weeds.

The wood and stone used in the original building had long been demolished, probably by the villagers in the valley and used them to build houses.

Li Qingzhao observed for a while and said: "This may be the ruins of Luyuan Temple."

In his later years, Wang Wei donated his property in Wangchuan and built Luyuan Temple here. The entire valley has become temple property.

Incense was relatively strong during the Tang Dynasty, but became dilapidated after the Five Dynasties.

Because it’s too remote and the roads are difficult to walk!

Perhaps due to war or other reasons, Luyuan Temple ceased to exist in the early Northern Song Dynasty.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "On the site of Luyuan Temple, a building can be rebuilt and a school can be built. There will be a library, a teaching building, a dormitory building, and a pavilion for leisure and entertainment."

"Husband, look at that tree." Miss Wen shouted.

It was a tall ginkgo tree, planted by Wang Wei himself, hundreds of years ago.

Li Qingzhao said: "If a school is built here, it can be called 'Wangchuan Academy'. The attic where the husband relaxes can be called 'Wenxing Pavilion'. Wang Wei also has a Wenxing Pavilion."

"These two names are very good." Zhu Guoxiang said happily.

Everyone continued to climb the mountain, and under the leadership of the guards, they finally arrived at Wang Wei's cemetery.

The tomb had long been covered by weeds, and the guards cleaned up the area around the tombstone.

In addition to the incomplete tombstones, there are also several stone tablets with poems engraved on them. Those stone tablets and poems should have been left by future generations to pay their respects.

Zhu Guoxiang arranged: "Repair the tomb later."

There was no grand memorial ceremony. Zhu Guoxiang only laid out a few plates of preserved fruits and took his wives to toast Wang Wei.

When going down the mountain, they even took away the preserved fruits and gave them to the children in the valley as snacks.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said to the children: "This is what Wang Wei has eaten. You will become smarter after eating it, and you can pass the Jinshi exam in the future."

Children in the mountains don't know what Jinshi is. They only know that preserved fruits are delicious.

Everyone continued to wander around. Shen Yourong still held a picture of Wangchuan in his hand, opening it from time to time to compare the scenery in front of him.

"That should be the Zhuli Pavilion." Shen Yourong pointed to a bamboo forest and said.

There was also a family near the bamboo forest. When they saw the guards behind Zhu Guoxiang, they came over to greet him in fear.

Zhu Guoxiang said to those farmers: "Since you are willing to stay here, it will be easy to farm in the future. The bamboo on the outside can be harvested, but you cannot enter at will inside. There is a period of time every year, and you can regularly enter the forest to cut bamboo."

Bamboo forests also need to be taken care of, and if they are cut down regularly, they will grow better.

Several farmers quickly thanked him.

An old farmer asked: "I heard from the official that in the future, the children can study and they won't charge a penny?"

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "All children born in the valley will not be charged tuition fees, and will also be given pen, ink, paper and inkstones."

The farmers were overjoyed and hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "There is no need to kneel down. You can treat me as a neighbor. If you have any difficulties, feel free to come to me."

Two small rivers intersect in the mountains, forming a lake in the low-lying areas.

The width of the lake is only two to three hundred meters, but it is three to four miles long, and it is divided into two parts.

The scenery is extremely beautiful!

Several women gathered around the "Wangchuan Picture". Wen Xiaomei pointed to the other side and said: "That should be the lakeside pavilion. You have to take a boat to get there. Standing in the pavilion, you can enjoy the lakes and mountains on both sides."

Li Qingzhao picked up the telescope and observed, and said: "There are many willow trees on the east side, which should be where the willow waves are. But these willow trees are not tall. Maybe the willow trees planted by Wang Wei have been cut down by the villagers."

Everyone walked back slowly, rested for a night on the way, and returned to Wangkou Village the next day.

It has the second largest flat land area in the entire valley, and one of the villages is also located here.

But once large buildings are built, good farmland will be occupied.

Zhu Guoxiang still wants to farm, and he does not plan to build it as Wang Wei's villa is: "The peaks on both sides are not very high, and the slopes are not steep. The attic courtyards where you usually live can be built on the hillsides on both sides. As for the villagers in the valley , move to the south where there is the most cultivated land, and let them build houses near the mountains."

For those villagers who are unwilling to move away, Zhu Guoxiang will leave land for them.

At the same time, Zhu Guoxiang himself had a large area of ​​arable land and asked farmers in the valley to help with farming, while Zhu Guoxiang only provided farming guidance.

Zhu Guoxiang returned to the valley entrance, pointed to a mountain col and said: "Building a fort here can guard the entire valley."

This mountain depression is called Mengcheng Au. There was a castle and garrison in the early Tang Dynasty, because Wangchuan Valley was Li Shimin's hunting ground at that time.

Shen Yourong asked, "Where do the guards live?"

After Zhu Guoxiang thought carefully, he said: "You can live partly in the valley and partly outside the valley, and you can quickly gather in the castle. I plan to move some of the villagers out of the two or three villages outside the valley, and then reward the vacated land to the guards. Let the guards They brought their wives and children, settled here, and multiplied."

After Lao Zhu passed away, it was impossible for Ju Ming to allow a large number of guards to exist. At most, he would reserve a hundred royal guards for his younger brothers.

The rest of the guards will definitely be transferred, but their place of origin will remain here.

For the next period of time, Zhu Guoxiang lived in the valley. He personally observed on the spot, drew a map of the entire valley, and marked where to build what.

As for the specific architectural design, it can be left to the professionals from the Ministry of Industry.

When the design drawings came out, Zhu Guoxiang proposed modifications, saying that colorful black was not impossible.

Just as Zhu Guoxiang was enjoying the mountains and rivers, a fast horse came galloping from outside the valley.

After reading his son's letter, Zhu Guoxiang was furious: "This bastard, how long have I rested? You want me to go back to Kaifeng again!"

No matter how scolded, things have to be done.

Zhu Guoxiang took his wife, concubines and children with him and quickly ended his more than one month trip.

They were still several miles away from Lantian County, so the county magistrate rushed to greet them. If Zhu Guoxiang didn't want to be disturbed, the Lantian County Magistrate would have liked to live in the valley.

The Ba River meanders northward, and Zhu Guoxiang travels by boat along the way.

When passing by Baqiao, I got off the boat and took a look. I wanted to take pictures and post them on WeChat.

Then it followed the Weishui River to the Yellow River, and then changed to the overland route.

The disadvantage of making Chang'an the capital is that the section of the Yellow River from Tongguan to Shaanzhou cannot be navigable to transport goods all year round.

As the capital city, Chang'an consumes too much materials.

If grain is transported from Shandong and Zhejiang, only 30% of the total transportation cost will be transported to Luoyang. The remaining 70% of transportation costs are wasted on the section from Luoyang to Chang'an.

Therefore, if there was a shortage of food in Guanzhong in the Tang Dynasty, it would be more convenient for the emperor to go directly to Luoyang for dinner with his civil and military officials.

When Zhu Guoxiang returned to Kaifeng, all civil and military officials came to greet him outside the city.

They knew that the emperor wanted the Supreme Emperor to be regent, so they completely dispelled their doubts. Father and son are of the same mind, so what are we thinking about?

Zhu Guoxiang got angry when he saw so many people. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone goes back to the Yamen to work. Today is not a holiday."

The ministers respectfully bid farewell and then entered the city laughing and joking.

Zhu Guoxiang did not enter the city immediately. Instead, he went to the nearby Agriculture Department and took a walk in the large experimental fields.

It was almost evening, and Zhu Guoxiang slowly returned to Kaifeng City before the city gate closed.

Ju Ming had already prepared food and wine, and brought all the queens, concubines, princes and princesses to accompany Zhu Guoxiang to dinner.

"Isn't there a war yet? Why are you calling me back in such a hurry?" Zhu Guoxiang picked up his chopsticks and asked.

Zhu Ming poured wine for his father himself: "Go out for inspection in advance. In the past few years, there was not enough money and food, and the Yellow River project was messed up. It was only taken seriously last year. I went to see the Yellow River and Cangzhou by the way. It has been difficult to recover. You What are your thoughts on governing Cangzhou?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "What else can you think of? Let's heal the Yellow River first, and don't break its banks in Cangzhou every year."

At this time, the Yellow River flowed directly through the urban area of ​​Cangzhou in later generations, and flowed north to Tianjin and entered the sea...

No matter which direction the Yellow River bursts its banks in the lower reaches, the boundary of Cangzhou will be flooded anyway.

Ju Ming said: "I'm asking how to manage saline-alkali land."

Zhu Guoxiang looked around, leaned close to his son and whispered: "In addition to not needing to prevent wind and sand, we can copy Jiao Yulu's method of managing Lankao County. Of course, I can also provide some crop suggestions. The main thing is to irrigate the crops over time. The salt and alkali are poured into it."

"I understand." Zhu Ming nodded.

"It's too early to govern Cangzhou now," Zhu Guoxiang said. "The first is that the Yellow River has not been cured yet, and it may break its banks at any time. The second is that Cangzhou has become so vast and sparsely populated that there are not many people available to control the salt. Alkalinization. By the way, can the Yellow River be slightly diverted so that it enters the sea in Tianjin? That’s nonsense.”

Zhu Ming said: "The Ministry of Industry is studying the plan and sent many officials to Cangzhou to inspect. The Yellow River has been diverted for more than 30 years, and the sedimentation of the river bed in the lower reaches is very high. It is time to find a new channel into the sea. Especially from Qingxian County to Tianjin This section was the old course of the Yellow River nearly a hundred years ago, and it was sedimented for decades before. In recent years, the banks have burst at every turn, but fortunately there is no population there."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Anyway, we cannot let the Yellow River take over the Huaihe River. Huainan is now a prosperous land. Once the Yellow River takes over the Huaihe River, it will be completely destroyed. It will be difficult to recover if it goes on for a thousand years."