Chapter 1166 Epilogue 22 The Ming Dynasty City That Never Sleeps: Luoyang

The 11th Ming Dynasty: Luoyang, the city that never sleeps

The normal speed of trains in Daming is about 25-30 kilometers per hour.

The 400-kilometer journey should have been completed in 15 hours. But 10 hours have passed, but there is still more than half the distance to go.

Every time it reaches a county town, the train must stop to wait for passengers, and the stop time is more than half an hour. The most torturous one lasted for 70 minutes.

Meng Shu seemed to have been used to it for a long time. He took out his pipe and tobacco and asked, "Does my dear brother smoke?"

"No." Xie Yan shook his head.

Meng Shu said: "Who can study knowledge without smoking? You can try it another day. It can refresh your mind."

"Thank you for your kindness. I'll try it another day." Xie Yan smiled perfunctorily.

Meng Shu held his pipe in his mouth, stood up and stretched: "Get off the car and take a walk, my waist is sore from sitting."

Xie Yan was also very tired from sitting, so he followed him out.

The platform was quite busy with people coming and going.

There are even people selling snacks from carts, and they operate there at night with lanterns. The station staff didn't care, as the vendors had probably already paid the entrance fee.

"Hey, there's someone selling rice noodles," Xie Yan walked over and said to the stall owner, "Here are seven bowls of rice...is this called rice noodles?"

Naturally, the stall owner would not refute the customers, but said while busy: "You can also call it rice noodles, we call it rice noodles here."

The more elegant name is "can", and literati call eating rice noodles "eating can".

Xie Yan called all his followers over. Anyway, they were riding in a high-end carriage, and generally no one would dare to steal things in a high-end carriage.

Of course, you still have to be on guard.

Two healthy servants stood guard at the door of the carriage. When the rice noodles were cooked, they took them over and ate them while standing, without delaying them from guarding the luggage.

After cooking seven bowls, Meng Shu and his entourage were also called.

Meng Shu puffed on the cloud for a while, tapped his pipe at the stall, and then sat down to smoke rice noodles.

"Three large bowls of noodles, plus two hard-boiled eggs!" A loud voice sounded.

Xie Yan turned around and saw a burly man coming.

This person is at least 1.8 meters tall, wearing short brown clothes, and his head is wrapped in a cloth scarf. On his back was an unstrung bow, and at his waist was a long knife.

The two healthy servants who accompanied Xie Yan were instantly vigilant and were always paying attention to this person's movements.

The strong man glanced at the entourage of Xie Yan and Meng Shu, grinned, hooked the horse with his toes, moved the little horse three feet away, and then sat down again.

Before the noodles were cooked, the strong man said: "Don't be afraid. I have also studied, and this time I am going to Luoyang Military Academy."

Meng Shu sucked the rice noodles: "There is also a military academy in the south. Why do you go all the way to Luoyang?"

The strong man said: "Luoyang Military Academy is the most difficult test."

"Have ambition." Xie Yan praised.

The strong man said: "I can't compare to you brothers."

Neither party spoke again.

The attendant observed carefully for a while, then whispered into Xie Yan's ear: "Liu Lang, there is something strange about this man. He is dressed like a common man, but his bow and knife are valuable, and he still has money to take the train."

Xie Yan asked: "Brother, what's your surname?"

The strong man said: "My surname is Yang, and my name is Yang Boyan. Don't be afraid. My ancestor was the number one general who followed the King of Guizhou (Bai Qi) to destroy Dali. Eighty years ago, the Shan barbarians rebelled, and my great-grandfather led his army to kill them. The army suffered many casualties due to epidemics, and suffered a huge defeat due to barbarian raids. As a result, my father could only serve as a low-level officer when he died, but I will definitely be able to restore the glory of my ancestors!"

Meng Shu immediately stood up, bowed and said, "It turns out she is the queen of Mr. Yang."

Yang Boyan chuckled: "You have some knowledge. My generation has been reduced to the point where there are no titles. I have to kill the enemy and perform meritorious service to restore the title of my ancestors."

"No matter how destitute the descendants of the county prince are, they can't be like this, right?" Meng Shu said.

Yang Boyan smacked his lips: "My grandfather was born as a commoner, so he didn't get much of the family property."

"Sir, the noodles are here." The hawker said with a smile.

Yang Boyan picked up a large pile of noodles with chopsticks, opened his mouth and stuffed most of it in. He finished the first bowl of noodles in three strokes, and then started eating the second bowl without stopping.

Meng Shu praised: "What a strong man! He deserves to be a descendant of Mr. Yang!"

Yang Boyan smiled and said: "Who doesn't know how to eat noodles? The dock coolies are better at eating noodles than me."

Meng Shu felt that this person was worth making friends with, so he announced his family status: "Speaking of which, my ancestors may have known Mr. Yang."

Yang Boyan put down his chopsticks and asked, "What's your surname?"

Meng Shu said: "My dear Meng Shu comes from the Meng family in Gong County. My ancestor was a direct disciple of Emperor Taizu, and he also served as a cabinet minister in the Taizong Dynasty for several years."

Yang Boyan was in awe, stood up and cupped his hands and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Their ancestors were both civil and military founders of the Ming Dynasty, and the relationship between the two was instantly drawn closer. Meng Shu also invited Yang Boyan to Gong County as a guest.

Meng Shu introduced Xie Yan again: "This is Xie Yan, brother Xie Chaozong, the second 16-year-old Jasper scholar since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

Yang Boyan quickly saluted and said in surprise: "That's a scholar from the university."

Everyone carried the sedan chair, and Xie Yan smiled and said, "Brother Meng is also a royal bachelor."

Yang Boyan was not stupid, on the contrary, he was very smart. He quickly saluted Meng Shu again: "Today, I met two literary stars."

The three of them sat on the horse and chatted until the train blew the whistle, and then they quickly got up to catch the train.

There was still an empty seat in their premium carriage, so Xie Yan invited Yang Boyan to come over. Yang Boyan politely declined the offer, saying he was worried that someone else had bought a premium ticket along the way.

Back in the carriage, Xie Yan asked, "Who is Mr. Yang?"

Meng Shu said: "The number one general of the Yang family who followed the King of Qian to destroy Dali was naturally Yang Zaixing, the county lord of the Taizong Dynasty. The Yang family has not produced any good generals for several generations. Not only did Yang Zaixing's son lead his troops to a great defeat, but his grandchildren were also punished by the court for taking human lives."

Yang Zaixing?

I know him well!

As a history illiterate, Xie Yan didn't know many historical figures, but he knew Yue Fei and Yang Zaixing.

"Who is the King of Qian?" Xie Yan asked curiously.

Meng Shu was quite surprised: "Brother, you don't even know the King of Qian? You must be so focused on studying that you don't care about the mundane things in this world."

"I didn't pay attention to those before." Xie Yan continued.

Meng Shu said: "The King of Qian is the adopted son of Emperor Taizu and the half-brother of Emperor Taizong. Their family has been in Yunnan for generations. Although their titles will decrease, they will not decrease again after they are downgraded to the Marquis. Their descendants can get their titles back if they win a few battles. The current head of the family has the title of Duke of the County."

Xie Yan thought, isn't this just a replica of the Mu Palace?

Meng Shu didn't seem to treat Xie Yan as an outsider, and even talked about some secrets: "When the late emperor reorganized the army, the descendants of the King of Qian were given special care, and the power of the Bai family in Yunnan was not as strong as before. The rapid decline of Yang Zaixing's descendants was actually related to the late emperor's reorganization of the army."

This is a mess left by Zhu Ming.

But there are both disadvantages and advantages.

In order to get their titles back, Bai Qi's descendants often deliberately provoke border conflicts, and then take the opportunity to fight and make merit to expand the territory.

But they can't fight too hard at once, and they have to leave some opportunities for merit to make merit for their descendants to develop sustainably.

This is a lucky coincidence.

The newly expanded territories were too poor, the terrain was too complex and closed, and the language and customs were very different. Expansion too fast would be difficult to digest. The practice of the Bai family for several generations was the most in line with the local conditions in Yunnan.

Erosion and digestion bit by bit to the south!

Now it has expanded to Jingdong, Lashio, and Jiesha in Myanmar.

In the dark night, the train moved slowly.

Xie Yan fell asleep on the table and woke up again in the early morning.

He turned his head and looked out the window. The villages on both sides of the railway kept retreating. Rural houses are mainly earthen walls and tiled roofs, while rich families have brick walls and mansions, and thatched roofs are rare.

From time to time, you can see farmers working in the fields, wearing short brown clothes, which is the clothing style of ancient workers.

Thinking about sitting in the train, I feel a magical taste again.

The train refueled once in Ye County, and did not go to Pingdingshan, but went straight to Xiangcheng, and then came to the outside of Yingchang (Xuchang).

The railway has a fork in Yingchang.

To the northeast, you go to Kaifeng Prefecture, the capital of Tokyo.

To the north, you go to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province.

Xie Yan asked: "Which city is more prosperous, Luoyang or Kaifeng?"

Meng Shu said: "Of course Luoyang is more prosperous, but Kaifeng is not much inferior. The court said that both cities have more than one million people, but if those who stay for a short time are counted, the public speculates that it is likely to reach two million."

Xie Yan could not imagine a city with a population of two million in the Middle Ages.

If coal had not been used long ago, the vegetation near Luoyang and Kaifeng would have been cut down and burned.

Zhengzhou is very miserable.

Sandwiched between the two capitals, it is particularly affected by the siphon effect. A provincial capital city, and a train has been opened, but after many years of development, it has only 300,000 people.

It is also a provincial capital city, but Xiangyang has a population of more than one million.

The train stopped in Zhengzhou for more than an hour and continued to the northwest of Xingze County.

Xingze County is on the bank of the Bian River.

The two were so tired from the train ride that they found an inn in Xingze to stay for one night. The next day, they took a boat along the Bian River into the Yellow River, and the boat soon turned into the Luo River.

"Do you have a place to stay in Luoyang?"

Meng Shu wanted to get off the boat in Gong County: "If you have no relatives or friends in Luoyang, you can go to my house first. After a few days, I will accompany you to Luoyang for the meeting."

Xie Yan said: "Brother is waiting in Luoyang. Are all members of the Royal Society invited to this meeting?"

Meng Shu smiled and said: "How can there be room for so many people? Only the top three bachelors are invited, and you are a specially invited scholar."

"I see." Xie Yan said.

Meng Shu clasped his fists and said, "The passenger ship is about to dock. See you in Luoyang. Hehe, such a grand event, I want to join in the fun. Even if I can't enter the venue, walking around outside will also count as participating."

Xie Yan also clasped his fists and said, "Then we'll meet again."

The passenger ship stopped steadily, Meng Shu stepped on the pedal and went down, and after getting ashore, he turned around and clasped his fists again.

Xie Yan returned to the cabin to sleep, and when he woke up, he was already in Luoyang.

The attendants woke him up.

In the night, thousands of lights can be seen from a distance.

Even though it has been dark for a long time, Luoyang City is still bustling, and the dock area can even be said to be bustling with people.

The four attendants behind Xie Yan are also coming to Luoyang for the first time.

They were shocked!

In fact, this is only the outer area of ​​Luoyang City.

In the past 100 years, the city wall of Luoyang has not been built. But the area of ​​the attached city has been expanding. The White Horse Temple in Zhu Ming's time was in the suburbs, but now it is almost included in the city.

Several followers were asking for directions, but Xie Yan was observing the buildings along the way.

"Most of them are five- or six-story brick and wood structures. The reason they built the houses so high is probably because the land price is too expensive and they want to accommodate more people."

"Are these commercial houses? Or are they privately built for rent?"

"Fuck, it feels like we've suddenly arrived in modern times. The Ming Dynasty is too fragmented. Luoyang is completely different from other places."

"It's already dark, but it's still so lively. The people of Luoyang have a rich nightlife."

"Even if a steam robot suddenly pops out, I won't be surprised..."