Chapter 595 0590 [President Zhu's Limerick]

The emperor of the Song Dynasty gave a banquet to the newly-appointed Jinshi, which was called "Qionglin Banquet" because it was held in Qionglin Garden.

But when Zhu Ming passed the imperial examination, Qionglin Garden was undergoing large-scale construction and expansion. From then on, the Jinshi banquet was held in a different place, and the name was changed to "Wenxi Banquet" by Emperor Huizong of Song.

This year, it was officially restored.

The Jinshi did not ride horses or cars, but walked out of the city to chat all the way, and they could enjoy the spring scenery outside the city.

When they arrived at the destination, they found two plaques.

The upper one was "Qionglin Garden" hung in the old Song Dynasty.

The lower one was "Quannongsi" hung in the Ming Dynasty.

"The famous Quannongsi Yamen is actually located in Qionglin Garden!" Someone was surprised.

"More than that. I heard that there is still a house here, and officials often come here to rest on holidays and instruct the officials of the Agricultural Promotion Department on farming."

"I am a local of Kaifeng, and I am quite familiar with this place. The three hundred acres of land to the west of Qionglin Garden are all owned by the Agricultural Promotion Department, and all kinds of grains and fruits are planted there."

"..."

An official of the Agricultural Promotion Department stood at the door and said: "You can enter Qionglin Garden to enjoy, or go to the suburbs for a picnic, and come back in the evening to attend the Qionglin Banquet."

Hearing this, the Jinshi quickly split into two groups, each with an official of the Agricultural Promotion Department to lead them.

Some wanted to appreciate the scenery of Qionglin Garden and couldn't wait to go in and play, such as Hu Quan, Yang Ji, Li Yi and others.

Others were interested in the experimental fields of the Agricultural Promotion Department, and called their friends to see what was being planted there, such as Li Dong, Li Gongmao, Zhang Jiucheng and others.

Soon, they came to a field, but saw that all the small trees had been cut down, and two agricultural officials were grafting them.

Zhang Jiucheng couldn't help asking: "What are they grafting?"

The agricultural official who was responsible for guiding them explained with a smile: "Grafting mulberry trees. Mulberry tree grafting is very good, and mulberry can be harvested after a year. In the past, in Hanzhong, several kinds of trees have been tested and summarized for grafting mulberry trees, but now the experiment is to graft mulberry trees with Gou trees."

"How is it?" Li Gongmao asked.

The agricultural official said: "In the past, Gou trees were used for grafting in Hanzhong, and the survival rate was not very high, but some survived. This shows that mulberry and Gou can be grafted, but there are still some techniques that have not been explored. Once the tricks are understood, it will be of great benefit to the people. Gou trees grow fast and are not picky about the land. Grafting mulberry trees on them can grow into a large mulberry forest in one or two years."

The Song Dynasty was a period of explosive growth of agricultural technology in China, and various agricultural books appeared like mushrooms after rain.

Tree grafting has existed since ancient times, but more attempts appeared in the Song Dynasty.

By the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, four methods of mulberry grafting appeared. By the Yuan Dynasty, six methods of mulberry grafting had been summarized.

The scholars watched for a while and had a plan in mind.

Next, they stayed in Tokyo to observe politics and visited the Agricultural Promotion Office to see if there were any technologies worth promoting. In the future, they could develop agriculture when they were sent to local areas as officials.

They watched and asked along the way and soon came to a paddy field.

The Agricultural Promotion Officer took the initiative to introduce: "Friends from the south should have seen the head of the rice ( Wild Rice ), but your majesty wants to grow the annual head of the rice in Kaifeng!"

The rice was listed as one of the six grains in the "Zhou Li". It was often eaten in the Tang Dynasty and was called Diaohu in Chang'an. The rice with rice, also called Diaohu rice, was the food for entertaining guests in the Tang Dynasty.

With the development of wheat and rice, the yield of rice with rice was hit hard, and the planting area gradually decreased.

Its pathological form, the rice with rice, has also existed for a long time.

However, everything is produced in natural pathological changes, and it often takes more than three years for large-scale pathological changes to occur.

In the north, it is difficult for Chinese foxtail millet to survive the winter. Only foxtail millet can be harvested, but it is difficult to harvest wild rice. Even if wild rice can be harvested, the yield is relatively low and the size is not very large.

Therefore, many people in the south grow wild rice, but almost none in the north.

The agricultural promotion official said: "Your Majesty said that the growth of foxtail millet is not due to the accumulation of stagnation. It is just like the mushroom, which is parasitic by fungi. Foxtail millet is born from diseased foxtail millet and can be inoculated by humans. If this can be cultivated in Kaifeng, the best vegetables in the south can appear on the tables in the north, and there is no need to transport them from far away at a high price."

The scholars nodded repeatedly after hearing this. There are indeed not enough varieties of vegetables in the north. It is naturally great to be able to buy cheap foxtail millet (wild rice) in Tokyo.

Everyone became more and more interested as they looked at it, and felt it was extremely rare.

Soon they came across a large wheat field, and the wheat seedlings were obviously uneven.

A Shandong scholar squatted down to take a closer look, pointed to a row of wheat seedlings in the middle and said, "Is this shriveled wheat?"

The agricultural official smiled and said, "Brother, you have a good eye."

The scholar said, "If you mix wheat with shriveled wheat, aren't you afraid that they will all be ruined?"

The agricultural official said, "This is to allow them to hybridize naturally. After years of continuous breeding, perhaps a better quality wheat variety can be cultivated. There are also oats interplanted over there, which is also to allow wheat and oats to hybridize."

Everyone walked over and saw some oats planted in the wheat field.

At least shriveled wheat is a traditional Chinese medicine, while oats are closer to weeds. This thing is only useful in years of famine.

"Brother Yanzhi, why are you here?" The Shandong scholar who recognized the shriveled wheat suddenly shouted in surprise.

But in the experimental field, there was a young man dressed as a farmer, who was listening carefully to the agricultural official's explanation of knowledge.

"Congratulations, Brother Yuanji!"

"Didn't you return home?"

"I was going to leave, but when I saw the Agricultural Promotion Department was recruiting, I stayed."

"You're not taking the imperial examination?"

"It's the same when I'm an agricultural promotion official in the future."

"..."

This year, the Agricultural Promotion Department posted a recruitment notice specifically to recruit failed candidates as apprentices.

Once you become a regular official, you will no longer be allowed to take the imperial examination!

Very few people are willing to sign up. After all, it is tiring to persuade agricultural officials, and the development prospects are limited, which is far less glamorous than taking the Jinshi examination.

The South failed to take the exam and not a single person was hired.

However, more than ten people from the north signed up, half of them from Shandong Juzi.

The two Shandong scholars went to the side to chat alone.

"Brother Yan, you Jin persuaded the agricultural secretary to become an apprentice. Have you written to your family to tell him?"

"I've already written it and asked my fellow countryman to take it back."

"Will Shibo agree?"

"If the rice is cooked, can my father still ask for help from the Agriculture Department?"

"Han Chuang has studied hard for more than ten years, isn't it in vain?"

"How can you say it was in vain? Although the Agricultural Advising Department is farming, it also needs to be educated and literate. Otherwise, we can just recruit old farmers, so why recruit those who failed to pass the examination? It was a fluke that I was admitted to the Juren Examination. I no longer have the extravagant hope of being able to do the Advising and Agricultural Examination. The agricultural officers are also excellent.”

"After all, it's not the right way to take the imperial examination."

"Haha, but you don't know that the people around me respect the agricultural officer very much. They know that I am an apprentice of the agricultural officer, so they will avoid me and salute when they meet me on the road."

"Common people avoid officials when they see them."

"It's different. No one blows the gong here to clear the way, and the people respect it from the bottom of their hearts."

"..."

After walking around for a while, everyone returned to Qionglin Garden together.

The Jinshi who wandered around Qionglin Garden before also gained something. By persuading agricultural officials, they learned how to understand the characteristics of plants and how to care for and cultivate those exotic flowers and trees.

In Qionglin Garden, there are a large number of exotic flowers and trees collected by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and now they have all become experimental products for agricultural officials.

Before the emperor and the prince arrived, the scholars had already begun to take their seats.

Li Tong and Zhang Jiucheng chatted very well. They engaged in academic debates every day. Sometimes they argued so much that they wanted to start a fight. After the argument, they felt sympathetic to each other.

The two did not sit down, but squatted by the pool and chatted.

Li Tong sighed with emotion: "These agricultural officials are all the disciples and grandsons of the official family. The agricultural achievements of the official family are truly amazing."

Zhang Jiucheng said: "In the old Song Dynasty, the emperor of the Song Dynasty built a lot of construction projects, so that the people of the world had no life. The sage emperors of the Ming Dynasty focused on farming, and what was good at the top was effective at the bottom. In less than 20 years, agriculture will be the leading science of the world, with abundant grains and prosperous livestock. Just around the corner.”

"We still need to upgrade the agricultural officers." Li Tong said.

Zhang Jiucheng said: "When the number of agricultural officers increases, they will definitely be promoted. In the end, they should be high-grade and low-ranking. Recruiting the failed candidates as agricultural officers will also leave a way out for the scholars. Wait for those who are willing to learn farming. If there are too many people who fail the exam, I’m afraid a special exam will be held.”

Li Tong said: "While we are taking a break from watching the government, we should come more often to persuade the agricultural officials. When we become local officials, we should also ask the agricultural advisers for advice on which crops should be promoted in a certain state or county. The new dynasty When we were first established, the people were exhausted, so we should still focus on agriculture so that everyone in the world can have enough to eat. "

"This is absolutely true." Zhang Jiucheng nodded in approval.

The two chatted for a while, and suddenly a courtesy officer came to remind them, so they quickly returned to their seats.

"The emperor has arrived!"

"The prince has arrived!"

Amidst the sound of ritual music, lanterns were lit everywhere in Qionglin Garden, and the emperor's guard of honor moved from far to near.

The Jinshi quickly stood up and greeted him with salutes and salutes.

Zhu Guoxiang sat down with his son, said some words of encouragement, and then said: "I am not good at eloquence, and I don't like others to take my place. Today's imperial poem is a work of oil, I am afraid it will make the magnanimous people laugh. Bring me the pen and ink!"

The eunuch served him with pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and the next step was to give imperial poems to the Jinshi.

When Zhu Guoxiang finished writing, the eunuch recited on the spot: "The imperial dynasty planted a sacred tree, the first one this spring. When the Haiyan River is clear, the Qionglin is full of fruits."

The Jinshi were stunned when they heard this, and many of them lowered their heads immediately, fearing that they would laugh out loud at the limerick.

Ju Ming couldn't help but smile. His father really didn't copy poetry, and he was too lazy to let a knowledgeable person do it for him, so he actually wrote a limerick by himself.

Although it is difficult to reach the level of elegance, this poem has a lofty intention, and it is very convenient for Jinshi to write poems in response to it.

The Jinshi wanted to laugh at first, but they soon got used to it and were in awe of the emperor.

The emperor's limerick compared the imperial examination culture and education to the sacred tree of the country, and all the Jinshi present were the first branches of the sacred tree to grow. Encourage everyone to be good officials and create a prosperous age where the sea, rivers and rivers are clear.

The first three, second and third grade Jinshi, represented by the top three, wrote poems on the spot to express their gratitude to the emperor, expressing that they would live up to the emperor's ardent expectations.

The king and his ministers get along well with each other, and they enjoy themselves drunkenly.

At the end of the banquet, each Jinshi received 10 silver coins, 10 silver coins, 10 silver coins, and 10 copper coins.

The five-cent silver dollar and the one-cent silver dollar were both newly minted this year in order to facilitate the replacement of silver coins.

Among them, the silver dollar contains less silver, but more copper.

Nowadays, the three types of silver coins have common names, namely one yuan (one tael), five jiao (five coins), and one jiao (one coin).

Zhang Jiucheng put the silver coins in his arms, wrapped the heavy copper coins around his waist, and walked back to the city happily and drunkenly.

The next day, the emperor's limerick spread and became the talk of the town throughout Tokyo.