Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"This is the reconstruction plan of Luoyang Fangxiang. Please take a look at it."

Fatty Zheng used to be the prefect of Kaifeng, but now he has become the prefect of Luoyang.

In normal urban reconstruction, local officials can make the final decision.

But this is the capital, and Zheng Hong even bypassed the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs and came directly to report the matter to the emperor.

In terms of writing official documents, Zhu Guoxiang has actually set the rules.

First, the writing cannot be difficult to understand.

Second, you can’t write in a boring and long way.

Third, daily official documents must be written on formatted paper. If there are too many specific contents, they must be submitted as attachments.

Zhang Guangdao could not understand the official documents of the Ministry of War because his educational level was too low.

Even if it were Zhu Guoxiang, he would definitely be able to understand it and wouldn't find it a problem. Because after the official document system was established, even the use of allusions was very common.

After all, the Ministry of War is also a civilian agency!

In comparison, the Privy Council's official documents are even more simple, because there are a lot of bigots in them.

Ju Ming read the plan briefly and frowned: "In Luoyang City alone, there are thirty-three temples?"

Zheng Hong replied: "Exactly. Two or three years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the prefect of Luoyang was ordered to clean up the temples. At that time, they had been reduced to five. Monks who did not have ultimatums were ordered to return to secular life and arranged to allocate land for farming in the suburbs. Farmers.”

"But there are too many monks and monks in Youdu, and the five temples that are concentrated together are very crowded, so some people sneak back to the original temple. In recent years, the number of temples that are still receiving pilgrims has returned to nine. "

"Due to the lack of population in Luoyang before, it was difficult to deal with the vacant temples, and most of them were left idle and became abandoned."

"Among them, the northeastern urban area has the largest number of temples. I plan to convert Lide Square and Qinghua Square into Taixue. The shops and houses in these two squares will be moved to the vacant spaces left after the temples are demolished in nearby squares. . Of course, Lide and Qinghua can also retain some shops specializing in selling pens, inks, paper and inkstones, books and paints, etc. "

The Imperial Academy hasn't moved here yet, so there's no need to worry about this.

Ju Ming read the official document carefully again and was so amused that he almost sneered.

The northeastern urban area of ​​Luoyang is the wealthiest, and most of its residents are dignitaries. The southeastern urban area is followed by wealthy businessmen and businessmen. The southwest urban area is the poorest and belongs to the lower-class settlements in Luoyang.

The distribution of temples and temples in Luoyang is also consistent with the distribution of power and money.

The northeastern urban area has the most densely populated temples, followed by the southeastern urban area, and the southwest urban area has the fewest temples.

Moreover, the only two temples in the southwest city are all located in areas where retired ministers live - retired ministers from the former Song Dynasty who wanted to retire in Luoyang often settled in the southwest city where land prices are the cheapest. But they do not mix with the lower-class civilians, and live concentratedly in two squares in the northeast of the city.

Regardless of whether it is the Buddha or the Heavenly Lord, it seems that they can only save "beings".

There is not even a temple in the real lower-class civilian community!

Zhu Ming carefully looked at the location of the temples and said, "Can't poor people believe in Buddhism? Move the Xingjiao Temple in Yanfufang to Datongfang in the southwest city! It doesn't need to be too grand, and the Buddha statues and monks who have been moved there , just have a house to shelter from the wind and rain.”

The corners of Zheng Hong's mouth twitched: "Guan family, that place used to be a cemetery."

"Is there a cemetery in Luoyang City?" Zhu Ming felt that it was outrageous.

Zheng Hong explained: "During the Five Dynasties, Luoyang City was desolate. Later, with the establishment of the Song Dynasty, the northeast and southeast urban areas gradually became prosperous. However, the southwest urban area was still sparsely populated, and some people even farmed in the city. Since the Five Dynasties, some people have taken the dead They were buried in the southwest city, and this burial habit continued in the early Song Dynasty."

Ju Ming was quite curious: "Didn't the former Song Dynasty court and officials just ignore it?"

Zheng Hong replied: "It wasn't until the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty that Luoyang was clearly divided into quarters. The tombs with owners buried before were difficult to demolish. This was when the Ming Dynasty was about to move the capital, so Bai Sanlang ordered the demolition of the tombs in the city. Without an owner, The tombs were flattened directly, and the government arranged for them to be moved to the suburbs. There were scattered tombs in the entire four squares, and the people living nearby were all poor people."

Ju Ming had a very bad taste: "The tomb area is just right. There may be innocent souls, and let the monks go and pray for them. That's it. It's decided that the entire Xingjiao Temple will be moved there."

Zheng Hong had tried very hard to hold back his laughter, but he still couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The imperial court ordered the Xingjiao Temple to be relocated, and it would certainly not give much money to rebuild the temple. The wealth accumulated by Xingjiao Temple had already been confiscated by Han Shizhong at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. In recent years, they have to pay taxes honestly, and there are too many monks who have been relocated centrally. Xingjiao Temple really has not saved much money.

Now we have moved to a cemetery, surrounded by poor people. The monks can only live in very simple houses with Buddha statues...

Moreover, there are temples to worship in wealthy areas. The Xingjiao Temple has been moved to the corner of the corner. How many faithful men and women are willing to donate money to build the temple?

Zheng Hong said: "In the past, when the temple was demolished to house the monks, the number of monks in the Xingjiao Temple became very large, and the daily food consumption was very large. After the relocation, the money will definitely be used to build houses. I am afraid that within a year and a half, we will be poor. Go around for alms.”

Ju Ming said: "If Buddhism is profound, it will definitely be able to turn money into money. If you really can't survive, you can still return to secular life and become a farmer. Farming is not difficult to learn. If the monks are willing to return to secular life, the court will allocate fields to them."

Zheng Hong continued to talk about the urban construction plan: "Several main streets in Luoyang are too narrow, and I plan to widen them all."

"All kinds of illegal buildings have been demolished, and the court can allocate appropriate compensation. Remember, don't cause trouble." Zhu Ming reminded.

Due to the lack of management by the officials in the Northern Song Dynasty, the houses and shops on both sides of the street continued to occupy public areas and were built illegally.

Take Dingdingmen Street, which extends from the Imperial City, as an example. It is now renamed Zhuque Street.

In the Tang Dynasty, the width of this main street was more than 120 meters. During the Song Dynasty, people gradually occupied the space, and only 90 meters remained at the narrowest point.

It is sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, intertwined and crooked. There are illegal buildings on both sides of the street, and there are even tree houses built by poor people.

Where does it look like a royal street?

This is the main road extending from the imperial city!

When he learned that Ju Ming was moving the capital, Bai Chongyan hurriedly rectified the street and made it uniformly wide and narrow. But it still could not restore the width of the Tang Dynasty, and finally remained at 110 meters.

Except for this main road, Bai Chongyan did not renovate other streets because he had a more important job at the time - dredging Luoshui and Yishui.

These two rivers pass through the city from Luoyang and are connected to the Yellow River.

Due to serious siltation, there was a flood during the Yuanfeng period, drowning thousands of residents in the city.

In addition to flooding, shipping is also affected.

During the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, dredging was carried out vigorously, and embankments were built for flood control. However, it has become seriously blocked in recent years and must be dredged before the capital can be moved.

In addition to farming acres, Bai Chongyan's main focus is on dredging rivers.

Today's Luoyang still looks chaotic, especially those tree houses that are too eye-catching. Not to mention seeing it with his own eyes, Ju Ming felt outrageous when he thought about it. How could there be a tree house in the capital of the Ming Dynasty?

…

Zhu Guoxiang stood on the wall of the imperial city and looked around with a telescope.

The entire city of Luoyang has turned into a large construction site.

Within the palace city, an area has been set aside for the construction of the East Palace.

Several buildings outside Donghua Gate are being demolished and built to build Imperial College. The relocated citizens and businesses were resettled in the vacant lots left by the nearby destroyed temples, which were also being demolished and constructed.

There are also illegal buildings being demolished everywhere in the streets and alleys.

Some haphazardly built shacks and tree houses are also being dismantled one after another. The poor people concerned were relocated to the southwest end of the southwest city, where many tombs were moved and remained empty.

The government compensated some money, which was enough for the poor to build rammed earth thatched houses.

Now that Luoyang has become the capital, it will definitely develop very quickly, and poor people can save money if they work harder. Maybe in a few years, with the money they have accumulated, they can convert the thatched house into a tile-roofed house.

Especially during this period, the whole city is undergoing construction, and the poor have no need to worry about finding work.

Many poor citizens whose illegally built houses were demolished moved directly to the former cemeteries to build shacks. They are not in a hurry to build thatched houses for themselves. Instead, they are hired as small laborers at other construction sites to take advantage of this construction trend to earn some hard-earned money.

These days, Zhu Guoxiang also visited the countryside.

The suburbs of Kaifeng have mature supporting facilities for urban development, with some specializing in growing grain, some specializing in growing vegetables and fruits, and some specializing in breeding... Luoyang still needs planning, otherwise free development will be too slow and chaotic.

Zhu Guoxiang sent agricultural officers everywhere and visited eight townships and dozens of villages, including Jingu Township, Pingle Township, and Xianxiang Township.

Based on the local soil, water system, transportation, etc., the future development direction will be roughly divided. Then he convened a meeting with the district chiefs and businessmen, asking them to discuss and cooperate in the future to establish a basic daily necessities supply system as soon as possible.

"Aren't you tired enough during this period?" Zhu Ming walked behind his father.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It's okay. I only visited a few villages in person, and the rest were just people trying to persuade the farmers."

Ju Ming said: "After this year's work is over, Luoyang should look good. Bai Chongyan actually did a good job. He dredged the two rivers extremely well and helped the court solve the flooding and water transportation problems in the capital."

"Alas, Luoyang is the Xijing of the Song Dynasty after all, and it has developed into such a horrible state." Zhu Guoxiang couldn't help but sigh.

Ju Ming smiled and said: "If you don't look at the southwest city, Luoyang is still very rich and prosperous."

Zhu Guoxiang said angrily: "How could you not see it? Beyond the main entrance of the Imperial City is the southwest city!"

This is the crux of the problem. Outside the main entrance of the imperial city, only a few buildings near the river are relatively wealthy.

The rest is a fucking ghetto!

Where does this put the Ming court’s face?

Luoyang was the back garden of relatives, retired ministers, and distinguished families in the Northern Song Dynasty. The central court was too lazy to take care of it, and the local officials could not take care of it. The entire city gradually became extremely deformed.

A wealthy urban area comparable to Kaifeng.

Poor urban areas are worse than remote small counties.

Especially after the Yuanyou Party was imprisoned, Luoyang's nobles collectively lost power, and the consumption of the entire city was downgraded, making life even more difficult for the poor at the bottom.

Without severely punishing the wealthy Luoyang families and redistributing land, real estate and other resources, the city will not be able to develop normally.

Ju Ming looked at the houses in the streets to the south: "Within five years, the southwest city will be prosperous, at least all of them will be turned into large tile-roofed houses!"