Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Even the young, mature and prudent Zhu Yue couldn't help feeling fond of the Liquan temple fair's wealth and interest.

In contrast, Lu Ci was much more sober and calm, and had no intention of letting the two of them go to the market to sell poems.

It's not because I was frightened by the passionate pursuit of the girls who abandoned their reserve that day.

It's just that there are mixed scholars in the market, and the scholars are more reserved, which means that apart from making some small fortunes, it is difficult for them to get corrections with virtue and ability, and they cannot get practical training effects.

What's more, he suddenly remembered that the poet Liu Yong, who was unfavorable in the imperial examination and his official career was not smooth, but was well-known in later generations, seemed to have made mistakes in filling in pornographic lyrics for the singing girl.

Even Lu Ci, who doesn't know much about Song history, still remembers the phrase "Let's fill in the lyrics" that came from Song Renzong's mouth in the unofficial history.

And those who will go to the temple fair are not only Jasper and famous ladies from good families, but also bright and beautiful singing girls.They have no taboos in speaking, and when they meet a young gentleman who suits them, they can't help but make fun of them, so that they can appreciate the shy appearance of the other party and get a lot of fun from themselves.

Zhu said that at the moment he is just a handsome young man with little experience in the world, writing lyrics and prose, it is hard to guarantee that he will have some young people's unique freewheeling, maybe one day he will accidentally step on the thunder pool of mainstream refined scholars who pretend to be noble.

If it is because he likes to take Zhu Shuo to experience life in the market place (playing blindly), and because of Liu Yong's bad luck, he has frequently failed the rankings, and Song Shi, who is called Mingzhu, has lost such a talented person to shine in the court. ...

Then his crime is not ordinary.

Regarding Lu Ci's decision, Zhu said that he still has no way of knowing.

During the seven-day vacation, whether it was long or short, he didn't let go of the scrolls. He simply read all the old books he picked up from the temple fair, and then started from the beginning again, preparing to read them carefully over and over again. Read it a few times and carefully absorb the essence, which is really called reading.

In his opinion, this little day can be described as a happy and self-contained immortal.

In his spare time, he not only appreciates Lu Ci's kindness to him, but also has endless aftertaste for the fun in the lively temple fair. The combination of the two makes him write like a fountain, and write like a spirit.

Therefore, without Lu Ci's knowledge, Zhu said that he was born with the help of a god, and it was another wonderful travel note of about [-] words that would make the students of later generations so painful to memorize——"Together with Brother Lu" Tour Liquan Temple Fair".

The bright spring is fleeting, and when the face recognized by the people of Micheng as "Little Brother Zhu of Lu Lang" is well known by the bosses of the major shops, Micheng has also ushered in the midsummer.

With Lu Ci's insistence, Mother Lu finally stopped relying on Yaren to do odd jobs.

Instead, he followed the advice of his only son, took part of the family savings, and with the help of his neighbors, he successfully built a bamboo shed near his home.The products sold are also very simple: charcoal cakes in winter and slush in summer.

This was a decision made by Lu Ci after thorough consideration.

He also has a relationship with the government-run coal yard. It may be cumbersome and costly for others to obtain a small amount of cheap and high-quality charcoal cakes as a source of supply, but it is not difficult for him.

In summer, people in the city are sweating like rain, even if there are green shades and umbrellas, and ice and snow cold drinks to cool off, there is no need to worry about being unpopular.

The most important thing is that on the whole street, there are people selling flowers, toys, snacks, tea, fabrics and jewelry, but Mother Lu's shop only sells ice, and only ice.

Lu Ci knew in his heart that he was in business, even though his neighbors had received some small favors from him on weekdays, he had a good impression of him, but when it comes to money, there are many people who don't recognize his relatives. How can an outsider who has a little bit of good relationship have more face?

Instead of taking risks to test human nature, it is better to plan ahead and minimize the threat of products to surrounding shops, so as to ensure that when he is away, no one will make things difficult for Mother Lu, and will not hesitate to take care of her occasionally.

As for the profitability that Mother Lu values ​​most, he actually put it last.

With the increasing amount of income from various sources in his hands, he is actually ready to accept even a small loss for this stall.

As far as he is concerned, as long as Mother Lu no longer runs around in the hot sun or cold winter, and can feel at ease because of the busy work at hand.

In order to prevent Mother Lu from noticing this, he had to manage the books early in the morning.

Lu's mother was only careful in her work, but she didn't know much about it, and she couldn't understand the accounts. He was willing to take over, thinking that it wasn't too much trouble, so he didn't object or doubt it.

A few streets away, there are actually groups of stalls making ice, snow and dew. They gather not because they are close to each other, but because the ice that needs to be taken at any time is stored in the same ice cellar. To reduce the distance of running back and forth, they had to be sold on the same street not far apart.

However, the cost of building an ice cellar is too high to be afforded by an individual. Usually, it is hosted by the guild that sells ice, and everyone contributes to build it.

Lu Ci didn't get involved at that time, and of course it's not good to join in rashly at this time.

After all, what they use is the natural ice from last winter stored in cellar households, which can be said to be less than one piece.

Lu Ci didn't expect to use ice pits, but bought a small batch of saltpeter materials that were discarded after the government made gunpowder, and used the large amount of heat absorbed when saltpeter dissolved in water to make large pieces of solid ice.Then use the cooling crystallization method to extract the saltpeter for repeated use.

There are not many people who know the method of making ice with saltpeter, and even if they know, there is no way to obtain saltpeter.

Neither of these two obstacles was an obstacle to Lu Ci, and naturally progressed smoothly.

He also ingeniously modified the existing "Kongming bowl", carved simple patterns on the outside of the cheaper bamboo tube, and filled the gap between the large and small tubes inside with fine ice.

In this way, the coldness of the iced drink can last longer, even if it is only held in the hand, it is also a kind of enjoyment.

Naturally, Lu Ci would not do the fine work of carving by himself, but handed it over to Zhong Yuan, who had more spare time.

Seeing this, Zhu said that he also quietly used his rest time to help, and secretly mixed the finished products into the pile of finished products, and was careful not to let Lu Ci see.

Lu Ci was very clear about the number of bamboo tubes, and immediately noticed that there were a lot more, so he paid close attention for a while, and he could clearly see the behavior of this snail girl.

Zhu said that after finishing the bamboo tube, he secretly helped the carpenter to pick up the discarded sawdust - Lu Ci used it to isolate the ice cubes he had made to increase the storage time.

Lu Ci didn't make it clear, but after observing for a while, he was sure that this would not delay Zhu's business, and Zhong Yuan was too busy alone, so he simply turned a blind eye, acquiescing that the two of them worked together to invest in the shares.

Lu Ci didn't intend to sell such a 'Kongming tube', but only planned to let Mother Lu keep it at the stall, and provide it to customers who want to take it out for free, so that it can be recycled.

The cost of the Kongming tube including labor is only [-] Wen, and the fine ice is the leftover material from making cold drinks. Customers only need to deposit [-] Wen to take the Kong Ming Tong away.

When he brings it back next time, Mother Lu will return all the money.

It is so convenient that all guests are happy.

After making these arrangements, Lu Ci handed over all the business of the mat shop to Mother Lu, and took Zhu Shuo to specialize in poetry.

The shop has been officially opened for two months without knowing it. When the summer is coming to an end and Qiu Lie hits, Lu Cicai, under the tactful reminder of Lu's mother who is also very busy, remembers to look through the account book. stubble.

He was thinking about how much money to put in, but as soon as he opened it, he was shocked by the unexpected profit.

After deducting all the costs together, Mother Lu's two months of hard work earned her a whole 25 taels of silver ingots!

For Lu Ci, who currently has a total of 27 incomes in total, and can quietly save a fortune every month that is enough to make most people envious, it is definitely not too small.

After discussing with Lu's mother who was also extremely shocked, Lu Ci took six liang of it, went to the gold and silver exchange shop, and exchanged it into a heavy six-coin copper coin, which was divided into two parts and three guan as dividends. I gave it to Zhu Shuo and one to Zhong Yuan.

Zhong Yuan was used to the style of Lu Ci's brothers who were still clear about accounts, and considering that they were about to get married, he readily accepted it and forgot about it.

And Zhu said that he didn't know that his secret help had already been exposed. When Lu Ci put the three pennies of money on his table, his entire face was blank.

Zhu said of course he was unwilling to accept it.

Lu Ci has a lot of ways to take him.

He didn't force himself, he just put on a serious face, and calculated an account for him in detail. Taking advantage of Zhu's words being confused, he put the big hat on the opponent's head one by one with a cold face, and finally forced The other party had no choice but to accept this seemingly generous reward.

Anyway, all the bureaucrats in the Northern Song Dynasty were good at labeling things indiscriminately, and using small things to get on the line. In Lu Ci's view, this could be called helping Zhu Shuo get used to it in advance.

When Qiuhu came, the iced drinks were still selling well, and Lu's mother was already at her fingertips, knowing that the profit was huge, she was even more motivated.

After Lu Ci spent a small amount of money to hire Zhong Yuan's friends to act as 'bodyguards', he completely relaxed and stopped following the situation of the shop himself.

Until one day, Lu Ci received a letter from the Sun family in Suzhou delivered by the postman, and the little peace was broken.

When he received the letter, Lu's mother was busy in the mat, while Lu Ci and Zhu said that they were having breakfast while reading.

Zhu said that he noticed keenly that from the moment Brother Lu saw the name of the messenger, he raised his eyebrows with interest and the corners of his lips slightly raised.

Before Lu Ci crossed over, Mother Lu, who was at a loss for being a new widow, was carrying a baby in her arms, and returned to her natal home with her dowry. However, she had only lived for half a month, and was almost forced to marry a younger woman. A squire in his seventies will do the sequel.

Mother Lu had no choice but to threaten her with death and chose to leave Mizhou.As the price of escape, the twelve mu of land belonging to her part of the dowry was taken by her brother and sister-in-law.

Firstly, Mother Lu was heartbroken by her parents' connivance of her brother and sister-in-law to bully her, and secondly, she has a lot of backbone. No matter how hard these years have been, she never thought of going back to ask for help.

The party that took advantage of it also naturally ignored them, as if they had died outside.

Due to the distance between the two places, even if Lu Ci had the intention of revenge before, it was difficult to implement it.

He really didn't expect that the other party could shamelessly send it to his door.

Lu Ci read the letter a few times, then asked Zhu with a smile: "In the next two months, I don't know whether Brother Zhu will stay here to look after my house, or if he wants to take advantage of the clear autumn and come with me on that ship. How about heading south to the beautiful Suzhou?"

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. The difficulty of Liu Yong's official career is really hard to describe in one word. At present, I will only briefly say a few words:

Because he lingered in singing houses and prostitution halls and created obscene music, he failed the Jinshi examination many times. Even if he managed to pass once, the official department was not awarded an official.According to unofficial history, Song Renzong criticized him as "let's write lyrics", and Yan Shu, who wrote the lyrics of boudoir fun, also thought he was not elegant enough and looked down on him.

In all fairness, Liu Yong's words can be called both refined and popular. This comment is obviously a bit biased, but if we really compare Yan Shu's boudoir love poems with Liu Yong's, one is an implicit allusion, and the other is a straightforward prodigal son. Still obvious.

Yan Shu's 'yan' words:

In March, the forest is full of gentle breeze, and the peonies are delicate and beautiful.Annoying weather and spring cloudy.Turn back to the red face for me, to whom to give the red sandalwood heart.If you are in love, the wine glass must be deep.

Look at Su Shi's "yan" words again:

Ice muscles and bones, self-cooling and no sweat.The wind from the water hall is full of fragrance.The embroidered curtain is opened, and a bright moon peeps at people. People are not sleeping, and the pillows and hairpins are in chaos.Get up and hold plain hands, the court is silent, and sometimes you see sparse stars crossing the river.How about the night?It's already three o'clock at night, the golden wave is light, and the jade rope is turning low.But when will the westerly wind come?I don't know that fleeting time secretly changes.

A slightly more dignified version of Liu Yong's 'yan':

The stunner in the world.Slender waist.The incense curtain wakes up, the hair and makeup are drunk, the red face is apricot blossom spring.Jiao Duo loves to fan Qi Wan and cover her vermilion lips with a smile.The heart is gentle, the character is elegant, and it is not called the wind and dust.

Cough, in my opinion, Liu Yong is probably very honest and flamboyant.

Because of this, Liu Yong has also become the favorite of singers, because singers not only need to be outstanding in sex, but also need to be the first singer of popular songs. It is said that Liu Yong's funeral expenses after his death were also funded by them. ("Yi Zhongtian Pin Three Kingdoms-Great Song Innovation")

2. Kongming Bowl: A heat-retaining vessel invented by the Song people. It is made of two bowls set one after the other. , Eat in the winter, the food will not be so easy to get cold.

3. Ice and snow cold drinks: "Tokyo Menghualu", "Old Things in Wulin", "Menglianglu" and "West Lake Old Man Fanshenglu" all record various cold drinks that Song people can buy in midsummer, such as "ice and snow cold water" and "ice and snow cold water". Refreshing things", "Snow Soaked Bean Water", "Snow Soaked Spleen Drink", "Snow Soaked Plum Blossom Wine" and so on.

4. Ice making method:

Yang Wanli, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, once wrote: "Northern people make their living in ice and snow, and live in a cellar of ice and snow. In the imperial city, at noon in June, the city's people are sweating like cooking and raining. When the ice is sold across the water, passers-by don't take it easy." That is to store natural ice in winter and wait until summer to take it out and sell it as a commodity.

There are also materials that the Song people have mastered the technology of artificial ice making.Around the end of the Tang Dynasty, people mined a large amount of saltpeter when producing gunpowder, and found that when saltpeter dissolves in water, it will absorb a large amount of heat, which can cool the water to freeze.With this technology, it is not difficult to make ice cubes in summer.

5. Exchange ratio of gold, silver, copper and iron:

The exchange rate of gold, silver, and copper coins has been relatively stable. However, in the Song Dynasty, copper coins were used exclusively in some areas, iron coins were used in some areas, and copper and iron coins were used in some areas. Therefore, the exchange rates of copper coins and iron coins in different regions in different periods There is a big difference. Later, the historians adopted a unified standard, and 1 copper coin can be exchanged for 10 iron coins.

即：1两金=10两银=10贯铜钱=10000文铜钱=100000个铁钱

There are many forms of silver currency in the Song Dynasty, including silver nuggets, silver cakes, silver medals, and the most important one is silver ingots.Large ingots are 50 taels, and small ingots are 25 taels, 12 taels, 7 taels, 3 taels, etc.

6. Posts in the Song Dynasty were government-run, but they also delivered letters for ordinary people for a fee.Messenger is generally acted by the Xiang Army (not one of the worst types of military).The slowest is walking, and the speed is two hundred miles a day.