Chapter 145: The New Year’s Luck

Zhao Xing relaxed his pocket and let out a long breath, straightened his body, looked at Zhang Dun, waiting for Zhang Dun to explain.

"In the seventh year of Xining (1074 AD), the Goryeo envoy proposed to the court that Dengzhou was too close to the border of Liao, and the tribute envoys were vulnerable to attacks, so he asked the envoys to land in Mingzhou Port instead. Shenzong approved it. Since then, both tribute envoys and trade exchanges must go through Mingzhou Port.

However, at the beginning of this year, the imperial court officially approved the establishment of Goryeo Interchange Affairs at Mizhou Port (an organization with a specification lower than that of the Maritime Bureau can perform customs management functions) and was in charge of all matters with Goryeo Maritime Bureau. Dengzhou Port will only be the jurisdiction of the navy in the future. This change still comes from your teacher. When Su Laopo was the prefect of Mizhou, he asked to strengthen the Dengzhou navy to defend against the Liao Kingdom.

In my opinion, Mizhou will sooner or later have a Maritime Warrior Division, and there is a Maritime Warrior Division in its location but no water army monitoring, which is convenient for you? Only the group of people in Mizhou has five fast ships, but unfortunately they are all unbearable. However, when the Goryeo Maritime Warrior Division was first established, everything was invented, and the only way to monitor the merchant ships going to sea was to report it by the waterman on the ship.

I just saw that your crew members are all vassals. Others are afraid that the crew members will give their heads, so you are not afraid! I banned weapons from going to sea in the Song Dynasty, but firecrackers and fireworks are not weapons. Isn’t this thing like the medicine-haired puppet that children play in the New Year (Song Dynasty fireworks)? Why don’t you just make its appearance into medicine-haired puppets?”

When Zhang Dun said this, he looked at Zhao Xing meaningfully and continued to add: "I know the situation of the naval army in various places. There is no threat of strong enemies on the waters of the Song Dynasty, so the navy is lax - most of the warships are done, and the militia navy is even more like this: the ships are corrupt and useless. The water husband just sits in the port every day to count the stars, which is also considered practice, hum!

Although I have stepped down from the position of Privy Councilor, my remaining power is still there. I am leaving for Mizhou. I will help you get these five ships. With these ships, you don’t even need to pay attention to the Maritime Bureau. If you want to go to sea, you will go to sea. How about it? My idea is to thank you for your willingness to heal my son. How about it?"

Zhao Xing was overjoyed.

If the five ships do not leave the port normally, then under dynamic balance, the number of five ships in the port will be maintained. How many armed merchant ships can be maintained under the name of cleverly... This is a good deal.

Zhao Xing bowed: "Thank you, Lord Zhang. I promised to train a fire army for Lord Zhang in Mizhou. When the Lord recovers, the fire army will be dispatched by the Lord."

Zhang Dun is a ruthless man. Su Shi once recorded an anecdote about traveling with him in his youth. He could climb the cliff and write inscriptions without changing his expression. Su Dongpo said to him: "Zihou will definitely kill people" because he didn't even know how to cherish his own life, nor would he cherish other people's lives.

How big a matter of training the army privately. If it is leaked, it will be confiscated and exterminated. However, Zhang Dun is now a idle position, so he dares to make an agreement with Zhao Xing privately. Judging from this agreement, Zhang Dun has strong confidence in his future recovery. He even trains the army privately, which also shows that the resentment hidden in his heart is indecent.

The workers on the dock were loading and unloading giant trees, with the assistance of the trolley. At this time, the wood on the paddle boat was unloading quickly, and the deck had begun to be cleared. The people on the boat began to unload the cabin and retrieve items from the cabin.

Zhang Dun was shocked by the efficiency on the dock. He stood up and squinted his eyes to look at the dock. Zhao Xing handed over a gold monocular telescope. Zhang Dun had just seen Cheng Azhu fiddling with him. He was originally bitten by curiosity and wanted to reach out, but now he finally got a pair of them. He immediately followed suit.

The cabin was lifted up, and the first one to jump onto the deck were two teams of Hu people wearing shackles. They were handcuffed and had long chains between their hands. One end of the chain seemed to be tied to the main mast of the ship. A man dressed in foreman held the key and opened the chains around their necks for them in turn. Then, under the threat of the supervisor's whip, the Arab slaves lined up in two rows and put anklets on their anklets and walked towards the shore.

Zhang Dun observed for a while and was very curious. He turned to ask Zhao Xing for his opinion: "Go and see, who are these?"

Zhao Xing nodded, Zhang Dun took a step, then turned back to look at the box containing the firearms on the ground, and sighed: "It's a self-defense weapon."

Zhao Xing winked and quickly handed over two short guns with ivory handles, and then matched the gunpowder horns and marbles to Zhang Dun. Then he called the servants to carry the box of firearms away and save them.

The dock area is very wide. Two fort walls extend from the manor to the riverside, holding the entire dock area in your arms. Once the gates of the fort walls on both sides are closed, people will not see any movement in the dock area at all.

Three large ships were parked in the harbor that was dug deep. The long harbor in the shape of U-shaped looks very large, but Zhang Dun walked up to him and found that when a large ship like this stopped, there was only one spare berth left in the entire dock.

Seeing that the Qiantang River tide was coming, the workers at the dock worked very hard, and there were already people preparing the lights. It seemed that they were planning to fight at night.

There are two tower cranes with steel brackets above the three pier area, and a huge pulley set is suspended above the tower crane. People on the ground are manually manipulating the pulleys, lifting them five meters long. The three of them hugged each other to hug the giant wood. The light is a little darker now. Zhang Dun can't see the original color of the wood, but he feels the wood is a little red. He pointed to the big thick wood and asked: "I heard that you can get the dragon blood tree. Is this wood a dragon blood tree? It's so thick?"

"This is Jiaozhi mahogany", Zhao Xing looked quite proud. The Ma Yi dragon blood tree is his now, can he be willing to cut it down at will? Now the dragon blood tree produced by Ma Yi has been cut in limited quantities, and there is no limit on Vietnamese mahogany, and it is not his thing, so it can be cut hard.

Mahogany is a large exchange commodity for the Song Dynasty in Vietnam, and using mahogany to make furniture is also the most fashionable furniture style that has just emerged in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Xing looked at Zhang Dun's face with a fascination and immediately added: "This thing is too hard, thick and difficult to transport. When the wood is sawed open, Lord Zhang can take away a few pieces and ask Suzhou carpenters to make some Su-style furniture."

Zhang Dun heard that Zhao Xing was generous to his friends, so he was not polite. He nodded and accepted Zhao Xing's gift, and then said kindly: "Li Ren, I will not be an official anymore. Lord Zhang can stop calling me 'Zhang Laozi'."

In the Song Dynasty, "Laozi" was not a self-proclaimed word with an insulting meaning, but a respectful title. For example, Fan Zhongyan liked others to call him "Laozi". Zhang Dun asked Zhao Xing to call him this way, just like Su Che asked Zhao Xing to call him "Zhang", which showed that the two had a close relationship.

Zhao Xing immediately changed his name: "Zhang Laozi, the night is coming, and I can't see clearly. Why don't we go back? I guess our family has prepared the wine and food!"

Zhang Dun did not mean to stop. He walked to the gates of the fort gates on both sides and curiously looked at the five-meter-high, thick and heavy wooden door. The color of the wood was dark, and there was a metallic sound when knocked. Zhang Dun asked curiously: "What material is this?"

Zhao Xing blurted out: "It's African Utan."

He immediately realized his tongue and quickly explained: "That is the ebony produced by a country called Laiba (the meaning of the black country, on the east coast of central Africa) at the end of the sea... It is said that this wood is stronger than steel and stone, and it can be immortal for thousands of years to make furniture, so it is more expensive than gold.

I thought, I am sailing now, but I also have to leave some property for my descendants. Using this kind of sandalwood as a door seems a bit extravagant, but when my descendants are poor in the future, I can sell it for a lot of money even if I remove this door."

Zhang Dun smiled and nodded in appreciation: "It's far-reaching to people's considerations! Do you still have such wood? I will also make a gate for my descendants."

Zhao Xing frequently made movements to guide Zhang Dun into the room, and he agreed quickly. But Zhang Dun was about to take a step, and was attracted by a rectangular stone pillar at the door. He walked to the edge of the stone pillar and pushed the stone pillar curiously...

The fort gates on both sides of the pier are now closed. A stone pillar with a thick and sharp upper tip erected beside each door. It seems a bit trembling when it stands there. When the wind blows a little bigger, the stone pillar will sway, making people frightened. Zhang Dun pushed the stone pillar gently, and he was panicked.

Zhang Dun was a ruthless man. Although he was frightened, his face did not appear. He turned around and looked at Zhao Xing. While pushing the stone pillar with his hands, he asked, "What is this?"

Zhao Xing looked a little embarrassed, and he answered evasively: "Incisor!"

Zhang Dun was very surprised: "Incisors? How could they be the top door bar? I thought they were two stone men. I thought it was because you were young and didn't dare to stand up stone tiger, stone man, and horses. So I first stood up these two stone men and wait for later to carve them - how could they be the incisors?"

Zhao Xing no longer dodged, and he asked calmly: "Does Zhang remember the thousand-jin stone at the gate of the city? This is my thousand-jin stone. Once these two tumblers are put down, the two doors can be locked tightly and solidly."

Zhang Dun pushed the stone pillar under his hand hard, and the stone pillar tilted more than 30 degrees, but when he loosened his hand, the stone pillar shook and returned to its upright state. Zhang Dun slapped the stone pillar and asked in surprise: "Bending down the stone pillar? If these two stone pillars are to be knocked down, it will take a lot of effort? It's not more laborious than hanging it on the city gate? After it is knocked down, how can you not let it stand up by itself?"

Zhao Xing seemed to disagree with this problem and explained: "The stone pillar does not fall because it is thick at the bottom and pointed at the top, and the center of gravity is extremely low. As long as two counterweights are added to the top of the stone pillar, the stone pillar will automatically lie down; if the counterweight is removed, the stone pillar will naturally stand up - it doesn't take too much effort."

When Zhang Dun got this prompt, he immediately searched on both sides of the stone pillar. Sure enough, there were two Ω-shaped stone piers standing next to the stone pillar, lying on the ground like two pairs of stone hats.

Zhang Dun's eyes blinked and immediately understood - the pulley. Zhao Xing used the pulley to lift goods from the dock to hang the two stone mortars in the air, covering the top of the stone mortars like a hat for the stone mortars. Then, everything was as Zhao Xing said, the tumbler lying down automatically; when the stone mortars were taken off, the tumbler would automatically stand up, and the whole process was completely effortless.

There are two huge thousand-pound stones behind the door. When Zhang Dun came, he found two iron fences outside the front fort gate. At the end, there were two stone stairs one person wide leading to the gate tower...

Zhang Dun, who has been the Minister of National Defense, knew that Zhao Xing was the construction method of military fortresses, and this kind of military fortress is stronger than the military fortresses that the Song Dynasty now has. In some design ideas, it even tastes a bit vicious. Whoever wants to attack here will definitely taste Zhao Xing's viciousness.

However, it was this cruelty that made Zhang Dun happy.

In the Song Dynasty, where gentlemen were all over the country, being cruel to the enemy was not in line with benevolence, righteousness and morality. Zhao Xing's design was afraid that the attacker would die too easily, and such a way of not leaving room for the enemy was exactly what Zhang Dun praised.

While following Zhao Xing, Zhang Dun pondered the feasibility of this kind of military fortress in his mind, but once he calculated the huge amount of funds needed to build such fortress, he shook his head gently and gave up.

"I only regret that this stone wall is built without any straight... In theory, it is built according to the mountain and can be completely neatly built. Why do you build it so ugly?" Zhang Dun finally added in an extravagant way. But it was this sentence that made Zhao Xing completely look down on him.

As for the Minister of National Defense, a whole layman. Can the castle wall be straightened? Well, it seems that this civil servant who "knows the army" has achieved repeated defeats on the Shaanxi front line. In other words, there is no victory!

There were only three guests in Zhao Xing's living room, one was Zhou Bangshi and the other was Chao Duanyou. He was Chao Buzhi's father and lived in Hangzhou New City. The other was a local official and gentry Yangchong.

The surname "Yang" is very rare, but it is said that it originated in the Zhou Dynasty and is also a local aristocratic family in Hangzhou. Yang Chong passed the imperial examination six years ago and served as a minor official. He was impatient to welcome and send him off, so he simply went home to be Anle Gong. He had no much contact with Zhao Xing, but he was only close to Zhou Bangshi.

Zhou Bangshi was a new party figure. When he saw Zhang Dun coming in, he seemed very friendly. When he met with his teacher, Zhang Dun calmly accepted the other party's etiquette, then sat in the first seat, drank tea and chatted.

Taking advantage of Zhang Dun's conversation with Yang Chong, Zhou Bangshi asked Zhao Xing in a low voice: "How can there be fewer customers today? If I had known that I would have invited a few more tribe members to fill you with the scene."

Zhao Xing whispered: "I have notified Jishu and Sun Feng, two adults... Please wait, I'll go and ask."

Zhou Bangshi shook her head gently: "No need to ask, these two are old party members, and they won't come."

When Zhang Dun heard the words, a hint of anger flashed across his face. Zhao Xing retorted unhappily: "Nan Boxiu is talking nonsense. I am still a Shu party. Isn't this a fierce fight with your new party?"

Zhou Bangshi smiled with a concealment and said, "It's different from my brother. I'll make friends with you, regardless of the party. I heard that Wang Jinggong and Sima Xianggong also made friends without distinction between political views..."

Zhao Xing rolled his eyes and replied: "Then you have no party when dealing with Jieshu. Do you have to ask about your political views first when you interact with others?"

Zhou Bangshi was speechless and just laughed. Zhao Xing got up and left his seat, quietly asked the servant, but after a while he returned embarrassedly and ordered uneasy: "Let's go to the table."

Zhang Dun seemed to have expected this result, and continued to chat with Zhou Bangshi without caring about it. He looked at Chen Yiyi instructing the servants to set up the banquet.

Chen Yiyi prepared a formal official banquet. Jie Shu, who was originally a local official, should have sat in the chair and hosted Zhang Dun. But now, in order to avoid suspicion, Jie Shu has gone to the countryside to inspect and escape. Such a heavy official banquet seems abrupt. Zhao Xing picked up the first glass of wine and explained to Zhang Dun: "Zhang Laozi, the plague in Hangzhou has not stopped. Lord Jie has worked hard for several months and has to go to the countryside to inspect the disaster. I really can't be present today. I hope Lord Zhang will forgive me. I will apologize for Lord Jie."

Zhang Dun's face was as calm as water. He picked up the first glass of wine and replied disdainfully: "Jie Shu, every man! Li people don't need to explain it to him. I am now without an official position and don't want to find trouble. Let's drink it! I wish Li people a lifetime!"

In the official official banquet, the first cup was to congratulate the guests on their birthday and sang slogans of congratulations. However, Zhao Xing was not good at these, and instead Zhang Dun turned his back on the guest.

After drinking the first cup, the second cup was to congratulate the guests on their birthday. Zhao Xing brought the modern toasts, such as auspicious words such as longevity, longevity, and a hundred years of life, and adding official positions to the fortune. No matter whether it is suitable or not, he was bombarded and swallowed the glass of wine.

Yang Chong met Zhao Xing for the first time. When he saw this scene, he whispered to Zhou Bangshi: "Is this Zhao Liren really a Jinshi?"

Zhou Bangshi was a little embarrassed, and Zhang Dun rescued the situation and said: "Su Laopo once said: Zhao Liren's talent is not in poetry, but in helping the world and the people. I believe that although Su Laopo can't make friends, I am not as good as him in choosing disciples."

Yang Chong smiled awkwardly and covered his face with wine. Chao Duanyou glanced at him and curled his lips dissatisfiedly.

What to congratulate with the third glass of wine... Zhao Xing forgot, and he took the opportunity to tell Zhang Dun the news he had just found out: "Wen Gu is awake, so I can rest assured that I should recover in a few days and Wen Gu will be able to go to the ground. Come, I wish Brother Wen Gu a smooth recovery."

The third cup should be congratulated by the host, but although Zhao Xing said it inconsistent with the etiquette and law, Zhang Dun liked to listen. He praised him with a word of praise, "A true genius doctor", and then drank the wine all over.

In the official banquet of the Song Dynasty, the first three cups were not served. We had to wait until the third cup to serve the wine and dim sum.

When raising the third glass of wine, Chen Yiyi had already directed the Japanese girl to put white meat (clean water mutton, this dish is popular because of the high price of salt), salty fermented beans (fermented black beans, eaten with meat), fried meat (fried mutton with oil pan, still without salt), and double-lower hump horns (camel-shaped dumplings made according to two cooking methods, such as boiling and steaming).

After drinking the wine, everyone picked up the dishes and ate a few bites. The side dishes for the fourth cup of wine came up, including: roasted bones (barbecue crispy bones, similar to the bone-to-metal connection of KFC today), souvenir (twigs, etc.), white meat, and Hu cakes (sauce cakes).

The mohua made in Zhao Xing's mansion was willing to use oil, pepper, and salt, and the fried stuffed food was crispy and crispy. Several people dipped mohua in wine and had a great time. The whole banquet was like a rat meeting, with a crisp chewing sound.

When the side dishes of the fourth wine became a pile of leftovers, the dishes and snacks of the fifth wine were served, including: Quxian roast (various meat and vegetable skewers), ceiling cakes (seed cakes), Taiping Biluo (a kind of pie), dry rice (fried rice), shredded soup (shrimp soup, which is today's West Lake beef soup), lotus meat patties... Then, there was another sound of a rat meeting.

At the sixth cup of wine, fake turtle (pasta made into a turtle fish-shaped pasta), honey turtle (tear) flowers...

Modern people may not know the name "Mi Floating and Shrimp Flower", but when it comes to Japanese dishes "tempura" or Korean dishes "sweet or not", everyone knows it. This dish is actually the "Mi Floating and Shrimp Flower" of the Song Dynasty.

It is too troublesome to describe the dishes that each wine is accompanied by. In short, after nine wines, the guests and hosts were full of wine, and then there was a wonderful singing performance. At night, Zhang Dun was still unsatisfied with someone holding a light, moving the main battlefield to the stone pavilion in the half mountain, lighting up the lights in the yard, and then listening to the singing of the Japanese girls, looking at the brightly lit and busy dock, he seemed excited.

"The courtyard of Liren is too empty." Zhang Dun drank high and spoke without any scruples. He pointed to the flower garden under his feet and said, "We should build more pavilions to rest so that people can rest when they are tired of walking... You have been to the West Garden. You should have arranged several pavilions and towers under the shadow of flowers and trees, so that the courtyard will look lively."

What does a Song-style courtyard look like? Ah, it is now called the "Ming and Qing-style courtyard". The construction of rockery flowers and plants in the courtyard originated in the Song Dynasty. This architectural style reached its peak in the era of Emperor Huizong of Song. For example, the flower and stone gang is the stone for making rockery. Later, this technology was spread to Vietnam. When Beijing was built in the Ming Dynasty, it was passed on back to China by Vietnamese craftsmen.

Zhao Xing agreed with Zhang Dun's opinion and replied: "I had the same plan as before, but I had moved in, so I was impatient to make the yard look like a construction site. When I waited for it, I would slowly rectify it everywhere."

The banquet was eaten until midnight before Zhang Dun resting. Zhou Bangshi and Yang Chong said goodbye. Zhao Xing called Chao Duanyou.

Because of the friendship with Chao Buzhi, the two of them are considered to be in harmony with family background, so Zhao Xing invited Chao Duanyou to rest here that night.

"Uncle, how many months have I been there? How is the situation in the court?" Zhao Xing settled Chao Duanyou and asked casually: "I see you didn't say a word on the table today. Could it be that you have any worries?"

"Alas, the imperial court... In May, in the Western Xia, the Tubo coalition forces defeated the Song army, and the chief supervisor Wu Meng died in his country. Guozhuang 70,000 surrounded Nanchuanzhai (now west of Hezheng County, Gansu), burned more than 25,000 houses in the area, seized 30,000 stones of Song army rations stored in Nanchuanzhai, and coerced some Tubo tribes to guide the Western Xia army and launched an offensive to Dingxi City, Lanzhou (now Dingxi County, Gansu).

The court ministers were still obsessed with it. They ordered the pacification of Tubo troops many times, and at the same time ordered Liu Shunju, a clerk in Xihe Lanhui Road, to quickly send troops to rescue the besieged Song army in Nanchuanzhai. Later, the Tubo army plundered and then evacuated Nanchuanzhai.

Buzhi's letter said that even merchants in Qingtang knew about Guozhuang's intentions and risked their lives to report them, but the court still "appeased and comforted again". As a result, most of the Tubo tribes who had surrendered to the Song Dynasty surrendered to Qingtang again, became the inner supporter of Guozhuang, and jointly attacked Song with the Qingtang army...

What are the ministers doing when such a big incident happened in the court? In June, Han Wei was expelled and demoted to the governor of Dengzhou (now Deng County, Henan). In July, Cheng Yi was expelled and deposed back to his hometown."
To be continued...