Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

In February of the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu.

Wandering among the deep ravines and towering ancient trees in the Changshan Mountain of Zizhou, it is an unpleasant spring.

Looking around from the top of the mountain, as far as the eye can see, there is still a winter scene covered in silver.

In this kind of cold weather, those who would go up to the mountain to beg for this cold crime, I am afraid that apart from the hunters who have to check the traps they have set up from time to time, and the monks who live in Liquan Temple, the only ones who are studying in Nandu Academy are left. students.

Since three years ago, Lu Ci, who moved to this area with his widowed mother, is one of the few students who return home every day.

As soon as he walked out of the gate of the academy, Lu Ci's ears were already red from the cold. Seeing the dark sky, the ruthless howling wind, and the dark clouds that were about to fall, he couldn't help tightening the hemp rope that tied the bamboo basket, feeling very regretful.

Not long ago, it was clear that the sun was shining outside through the window, how could it become so gloomy in just a short while?

If I had known this, I should have said goodbye to my wife earlier, or I would not have turned down the boy with a very strong head from the neighbor's house early in the morning, but asked the other party to help carry the basket home.

No matter how bad it is, I can ask the other party to send a message to my mother, and I can choose to stay overnight.

It's a pity it's too late to say anything.

Lu Ci sighed weakly.

In fact, nearly two hours have passed since the end of the academy.

The main reason for the delay for so long is that Master Li heard the news from nowhere and wanted to find a way to recommend him to participate in some boy's test, so he stayed for a long time to talk.

He knew the details of his own family, and never thought that he was a genius, so he was definitely unwilling to take this eye-catching shortcut.

What he is trying to do is to live a stable life, he would rather be steady and steady, no matter what step he takes.

However, Mrs. Li has a good eye for him and has always been extremely kind. It is not easy to politely refuse his selfless kindness.

When Master Li saw that he was determined and hard to persuade, he couldn't help but waved his hand and sent him away with a sigh. Lu Ci just put his back on his back and went out with a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, he caught up with the bad weather.

Along the way, the rain clouds became more and more gloomy, and the extra weight of the basket slowed down his pace more or less, which made him feel a little anxious.

In this era when rescue teams cannot be called and all kinds of wild beasts are active, being trapped in the snow-covered mountains is no fun.

Lu Ci hurried all the way to the halfway up the mountain, his shoulders ached from being strangled by the hemp rope, and the soles of his feet were so cold that he felt numb. He couldn't hold on any longer, so he had to put down his basket and rest next to the big tree for a while.

——In the back basket today, there are not only books used in class, but also the food allowance that the college distributes to students on a monthly basis in accordance with national laws and regulations.

This subsidy is quite generous. Not only is it more than enough for Lu Ci alone, but he can always save some of it. The subsidy is mainly for his mother who is currently relying on the Yaren and looking for short jobs from time to time to make ends meet.

Lu Ci only vaguely remembered that there was a saying in later generations that "the most prosperous and happy dynasties were the Song Dynasty".

He has never been too interested in history, especially the main impression left by the Song Dynasty is that the territory is small, the army is weak, and he has to spend a lot of money every year to buy peace.

Now that I have realized how low the cost of living is, I realize that there is a lot of truth in those words.

Even the poorest civilians, as long as they work hard every day, they can earn at least 100 yuan, and they live in low-rent housing provided by the government. The rent is only four or five yuan a day. It can also be delayed for an additional nine days.

So much so that Lu's mother can maintain the basic household by doing odd jobs alone, and even the pens, inks, papers and inkstones that he must consume when he is studying.

Because of this, his strong resistance to the inexplicable coming here has been reduced a lot.

Of course, it is impossible for Lu Ci to rely on a weak and wealthy woman to support himself to study comfortably, so after inquiring about the current policy, he went to do a little business every holiday to subsidize his family.

Thanks to the fact that the imperial court attached great importance to education, not only did it provide generous subsidies to students, but the admission fee was as low as two pennies a day.

Just as Lu Ci was thinking endlessly, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew past and poured into his thin collar.

He couldn't restrain himself until he was excited, so he didn't take any more rest, but he pulled himself together and continued to go down the mountain with his legs numb from the snow.

When passing by Liquan Temple, Lu Ci's steps did not slow down at all, but he continued to walk steadily without looking sideways.

Although he traveled from later generations, and his understanding of the Song Dynasty was not good, he also studied in this Nandu Academy for three years. He passed by every day, and he naturally saw countless scenes of monks, big and small, gathering in the courtyard to practice martial arts. all over.

Coupled with the lively temple fair held at least three times a month in Liquan Temple, the mystery of this place is gone, and it is no longer novelty.

Another strong wind blew, Lu Ci's eyebrows twitched, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace a little.

Whenever this difficult time, he especially misses the incomparably cute electric heaters, down jackets, and snow boots in the distant modern times...

It's a pity that in the Song Dynasty, it was already a small luxury to have Tang Pozi and a simple version of thermos.

"Ok?"

Although the whistling wind overshadowed the subtle noises, out of the corner of Lu Ci's eyes, he caught a glimpse of a familiar white robe not far away that seemed to be drilling into a hole in a wattle tree covered with ice and snow...

Why is there still someone here?

Lu Ci's footsteps subconsciously stopped, and he suddenly looked in that direction.

Although the man turned his back to him, he took a closer look at the robe, the style was the same as his, obviously he was also a student of Nandu College.

It's freezing cold, how could such a strange person stick his head into a tree hole instead of going out for a walk?

Lu Ci hesitated for a moment, then walked closer, and reminded the strange man who was concentrating on pawing at the edge of the tree hole and peeping in: "If you fiddle with it like this, you will easily startle the snake."

The man was completely unaware that there would be someone coming behind him, and he was startled by the sudden sound of a human voice.

He was shaken all over, and hastily pulled out his disheveled head, revealing a face that was flushed red from the cold, embarrassed and handsome and refined.

Lu Ci looked at him with a smile, and joked kindly: "There is a golden house in the Book of Humanity, and there is also Yan Ruyu. Could it be that there is even a tree?"

The other party took two steps back before standing firm with lingering fear. The moment he saw Lu Ci's recognizable and handsome face, he recognized that this was none other than the one who was known as the most popular among the teachers and students of the academy. There are dragons and phoenixes among those who have excellent reviews.

He breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously, and the blushing color on his face faded a little bit. Although he was still a little uncomfortable, he quickly recovered, and immediately gave a small bow without losing his courtesy: "Thank you, brother Lu, for reminding me."

"You're welcome." Lu Ci remembers Yiqun, and after bowing back, he easily recognized the person's identity, blinked, and said hesitantly, "Is it Brother Zhu?"

If he remembered correctly, the person who had accidentally broken through the "eccentricity" of peeping into the tree hole, and inevitably looked a little embarrassed, was Zhu Shuo who was transferred from nowhere last month.

However, unlike his mother who chose to relocate independently after careful consideration, Zhu Shuo's mother remarried early on, and his adoptive father, although rich in his family, did not treat him normally.After he accidentally learned of his real life experience, Fang moved away from his adoptive father's house alone, and came to this temple to practice and study.

Lu Ci glanced at the tree hole indiscriminately, smiled slightly, and patted off the remaining snow residue on Zhu Shuo's shoulder, and said casually and intimately: "Master has mentioned you to me many times, and I have indeed said that you seem to be I live in this temple temporarily, but I always pass by this place on my way to and from home every day, but I still don’t see you, so I thought it was just a rumor and didn’t think it was true.”

After all, they were of the same generation, and when they talked about the masters they were familiar with, and because of Lu Ci's good reputation, Zhu said that he naturally had a good impression of him, and immediately relieved Cai's little embarrassment.

He smiled back, pointed to a secluded cave in the south of the temple, and said embarrassingly: "After all, the temple is a place for monks to clean up. Even if there is a friend from the foster father, it is not too disturbing to be accepted by the host. I live here alone. Just now I was cooking porridge and reading a book, why don't the two mice jump in, and chase them into the tree hole without knowing it..."

In the place Zhu said he couldn't see, Lu Ci, who saw how simple the cave was, frowned indistinctly.

I'm afraid that the young monks collectively ostracized Zhu Shuo, and Zhu Yue moved out on his own initiative in order to calm things down.

Buddhism is supposed to be the most pure place, and it should not hinder people from studying, so moving it to the cave is not an unnecessary effort, is it asking for trouble?

Zhu said that in his opinion, it is impossible for him to be a critical and difficult person.

Even Zhu said he couldn't bear it, and would rather take the trouble to move out to live alone, there must be a lot of trouble.

Although Lu Ci guessed the facts in the blink of an eye, but Zhu said that since he does not pay attention to foreign objects and is content with the status quo, as an outsider, he certainly does not have to expose it sensibly. He only joked: "Since the porridge is already Being disturbed by that big rat, Brother Zhu went out in person to arrest the rat offender, and then I might as well be the Secretary of Quan to interrogate the rat offender."

"That's very good," Zhu said with a smile, no sense of restraint anymore, and he agreed with kindness: "Wei Si, the Tui Si tool is here, only the judiciary and the rat offender are missing."

Lu Ci smiled brightly: "In that case, the only option is another day. Now it's getting late, so we might as well talk about it tomorrow, let Brother Yu take his leave now—" Before he finished speaking, he sensitively smelled a faint murky smell. If you pay more attention, you will find that it came from the cave.

He couldn't help but pause, and the ending sound rose subtly: "Wait a minute, you seem to have said just now that you were cooking porridge, did you turn off the fire before you came out?"

Zhu said he was taken aback.

His face was blank for a moment, and then he reacted quickly. He didn't even have time to say anything, turned around and ran away.

Lu Ci followed naturally.

Sure enough, the bottom of the pot was burnt and pitch-black.

"..."

Juveniles living alone, as expected, are mostly disasters.

The author has something to say: The new article has finally been published, and I am really sorry for making you wait so long.

The main reason is that the Song Dynasty was much more difficult than I imagined. Why did I choose such a difficult background when I got into SHI, instead of just making things up (desperate)

The following is a brief note:

*Fan Zhongyan lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried to the Changshan Zhu family, so he changed his name to Zhu Shuo. (ps Lu Ci didn't know that Zhu Shuo was Fan Zhongyan)

*Fan Zhongyan was squeezed out by young monks when he was studying in Changbai Mountain. He lived alone in the south cave of the temple. When he was cooking porridge, two mice jumped into it. When he was chasing the mice, he found a hidden gold.Many years later, the Liquan Temple caught fire, and the abbot was notified just now, and asked to take out gold to repair the temple.

*In the Song Dynasty, the person in charge of arrest was called Weisi, the person in charge of trial was called Tuisi, and the person in charge of judgment was called Fasi (also called Qiaosi).Powers do not coincide.

*According to Fubi's statement in the Northern Song Dynasty: "The husband who has a burden is insignificant. He asks for the grain of the millet to live his wife and children, and pays a dime or two a day to make Juezi go to school. It is called learning lessons. I also want to Reward Jue Zi for reading and literacy, which will help him a lot.” It can be seen that the tuition fees of primary schools in prefectures and counties are about one or two yuan a day, and judging from the income level of one hundred yuan a day for the lower class in the Song Dynasty, the tuition fees are extremely cheap

*The state also provides students with accommodation and food subsidies. For example, during the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, students in the outer dormitory of Taixue could receive 850 Wen per month, and students in the inner dormitory and upper dormitory could receive 1100 Wen per month.Schools in prefectures and counties also have food subsidies. For example, an education decree in the Zhenghe period stated: "All elementary schools over the age of eight will be admitted. . . Half of the county school; I am willing to listen to the extra students, but not to give food." It means that children who enter the school at the age of eight will be provided with food by the government; those who are over 15 years old or under the age of eight, the food cost will be halved; , no food expenses.The food provided by the government may be relatively generous, because some students can also "save their funds for their support", and save part of the subsidy to support their mothers. (Excerpt from "Song Modern Dawn")

Although this decree was made during the time of Song Huizong, it did not say that it was established during Song Huizong's time. I think it also existed during Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong's time.

*The government provides low-rent housing, some are the mansions of the sinners, and some are built by the government itself.The rent is much lower than the rent on the market, and in case of natural disasters and man-made disasters, you can still be in arrears for several days.