Chapter 484 Set Sail and Go to Sea!

"So today's responsibility does not lie with others, but with our youth."

"If the youth are wise, the country will be wise; if the youth are rich, the country will be rich; if the youth are strong, the country will be strong; if the youth are independent, the country will be independent; if the youth are free, the country will be free; if the youth are progressive, the country will be progressive; if the youth are more powerful than the earth, the country will be more powerful than the earth."

"The red sun rises, its path is bright. The river flows out of the underground stream and pours into the ocean. The latent dragon soars into the abyss, its scales and claws flying. The young tiger roars in the valley, and all beasts are frightened. The eagle tests its wings, and the wind and dust flutter. The exotic flowers are born, shining brightly. The dry generals are sharpened, and they have their edges. The sky is blue, and the earth is yellow. Even if there are thousands of years, there are eight wildernesses. The future is like the sea, and the future is long."

"How beautiful is my young China, which will never grow old with the sky! How magnificent are my Chinese youth, who will have no boundaries with the country!"

The next day.

The Bianliang Daily published this "Youth China".

Countless people who saw this article applauded and praised Mr. Lu Xun's writing style and ambition.

This is also a microcosm of the Song Dynasty today.

In terms of culture, the rise of science and the collision of ancient people's thoughts will inevitably bring about changes in concepts.

As the capital, Bianliang was at the forefront of science. Because the emperor was obsessed with it and the court promoted it, officials began to become supporters of science under their influence.

After all, science does not conflict with Confucianism, nor will it shake the foundation of officials.

The wind of science soon prevailed among the people, and various kinds of ideological cultures were derived.

The new school of thought was noisy, like an ideological enlightenment movement, which began to take root in the Song Dynasty and spread to major cities across the country.

So Zhao Jun criticized feudal ethics, bureaucracy, and some bad ideas in the newspaper. He also praised the development of science, the advocacy of new learning, and good ideas.

Articles like this can also be accepted by the world.

In contrast, the vast rural areas and county areas are still conservative in this regard.

It is the core area of ​​feudal ethics and traditional old-fashioned thinking. Many people cannot accept it and look down on new learning and science.

But the new cultural wave will not stop because of the rejection of backward and conservative regions.

As long as the emperor is still obsessed with science, the court still holds high the banner of science, and science continues to bring new changes to people, then the new cultural movement will continue to develop unchanged and deeply affect every generation.

In another ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred years.

When such thoughts surge across the country like a wave, sooner or later, the backwardness and ignorance of the Song Dynasty will be eliminated, and the scientific outlook on development will begin to take root in the hearts of the people and look at the world rationally.

In May, Di Qing returned to the court.

The court began to plan a railway from Chang'an to Dunhuang to make it easier to control the Western Regions. The Southern Fleet of the Song Dynasty began to officially occupy Mayit Island and expand southward to Java Island.

The rubber and cinchona trees originally planted in Guangzhou, Hainan, and Guangxi also began to continue to be transplanted southward and officially took root in Southeast Asia.

The fleet even explored Australia as far as possible.

It was just that it was too far away for the time being, so the court did not even regard it as a place of exile for criminals, but regarded Mayi Island as the new Lingnan.

In the past, criminals were exiled to Lingnan, but now Lingnan has been fully developed, and criminals are exiled to Mayi.

In the same year.

The Song Dynasty as a whole still maintained a positive and progressive spirit.

The political system was stable, the military was strong, the science and technology flourished, the education was universal, and the economy and agriculture were booming.

In particular, the price of goods was commendable, except that the housing prices in the city centers of economically developed cities such as Bianliang, Hangzhou, and Chengdu were too high.

The prices of other living goods were very low, and it could even be said that the low price of grain hurt farmers.

The simplest example is the price of rice.

In the downtown area of ​​Bianliang, a chicken butcher or fish butcher could earn about 200-300 coins a day, and excluding rest days, it was about 6-9 guan a month.

However, the price of rice has remained at around 200 wen per stone in recent years, which means that 200 wen can buy about 60 kilograms of rice.

Basically, one day's work is enough for a family of five for two months.

The salary of other female workers in Bianliang Textile Factory is about 6.1 guan per month, and the salary of male workers in the steel factory is about 9.4 guan.

Even the salary of the yamen runners who maintain public order in the county is about 5 guan, and the monthly salary of the civilians in Shaanxi responsible for transporting materials to the Western Regions is about 8 guan.

Among daily necessities, the price of salt and rice is very low, only the price of oil is slightly expensive, but with the emergence of a large number of pressed vegetable oils such as soybean oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, and rapeseed oil, the price of oil has gradually dropped.

After all, this kind of pressed oil has already appeared in the Song Dynasty, and there are special tools for pressing oil.

The emergence of steam engines makes it more efficient and squeezes out more oil. There are more vegetable oils on the market, and the price naturally drops slowly.

It can only be said that this is the best era for the people of the Song Dynasty.

Correspondingly.

But it is also an era of skyrocketing housing prices.

By the 12th year of the Qingli reign, the price of an ordinary house of 300 square meters in the inner city of Bianliang could soar to 30,000 guan, almost 10,000 guan for every 100 square meters.

Calculated at about 770 wen per guan, that means that every square meter in the inner city costs about 77,000 wen, which is basically equivalent to more than 40,000 yuan per square meter in terms of purchasing power.

And this is a house in the inner city close to the outer city. If it is a house in the inner city close to the imperial city, it will be even more expensive.

Like the house that Zhao Zhen bought for Zhao Jun, it only cost more than 10,000 guan for 2,000 square meters. If it is put in the present, because it is close to the imperial city, it is equivalent to the second ring road of Beijing, and the value is at least 300,000 guan.

The outer city is slightly better, but not much better. It is still an ordinary house of 300 square meters. The location is not good. It is on the edge of the outer city. It is easy to sell it for 7,000 to 8,000 guan.

For a male worker in a steel factory, he would have to starve for seven or eight years to save up for a house on the edge of the outer city. As for the house in the inner city, don't even think about it. Except for the original residents of Bianliang, only very wealthy businessmen can afford it.

So many officials don't have their own houses. Even if their salaries are still very high, they can only live in the staff compound or public rental housing set up by the court.

Zhao Jun built a lot of public rental housing at the beginning. The rent is about 3-4 guan per month. It looks expensive, but compared with the rent of a house in the inner city, which is dozens of guan, this price is already very conscience.

The number of officials with ranks in Bianliang has exceeded 8,000 this year, which has doubled compared with the Jingyou period. Most of them are minor officials below the seventh or eighth rank, with monthly incomes ranging from more than 10 to more than 20 guan, and they basically live in public rental housing.

However, the housing prices of newly built tube buildings in the suburbs outside the city are much lower.

After all, it is far from the city center, and the housing prices are generally around a few hundred guan, and the rent is also very cheap, with a few hundred wen everywhere.

Grit your teeth and spend a few guan to buy a bicycle, which is quite convenient for commuting to get off work.

Therefore, many people buy houses in the outer city. Now the speed of real estate developers' construction can hardly keep up with the speed of house purchases, and the housing prices outside the city are also rising every day.

For a time, Bianliang was prosperous.

The outer city of the Eastern Capital is more than 40 miles in radius, and the Hulong River is ten feet wide. Willows are planted everywhere, white walls and red doors, and red sleeves are waving.

There are four rivers running through the city, and the canal transportation is prosperous. All things in the world enter the capital from here.

Looking around, you can see brothels and painted pavilions, embroidered curtains, BMWs racing on the imperial road, gold and jade shining in the sun, tall buildings, silk and silk fragrance, and countless bicycle bells.

It was also in this year.

When the national strength of the Song Dynasty was much stronger than in previous years, the Emperor Zhao Zhen of the Song Dynasty decided to hold an unprecedented grand court meeting during the New Year of the 13th Year of Qingli in order to show the world the strength of the Song Dynasty.

This time he will invite more than 60 countries that have had some intersections with the Song Dynasty to come to the Song Dynasty to let them see the prosperity and strength of the Song Dynasty.

For this reason, at the suggestion of Zhao Zhen, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Rites have selected personnel since the beginning of the year to send invitations to various countries.

From last year to March this year, the two ministries prepared more than ten envoys to go on missions.

The first to set off was of course the envoys to the Western Regions.

Li Tao, Sun Youtong, Liu Bingyan and others set off in the second half of last year to go on missions to Gaochang and Heihan, and finally helped Di Qing successfully take over the entire Western Regions.

The news came back and was exciting.

Although an accident occurred during this period, causing Li Tao to die, it is not to mention how much the court would reward Li Tao after his death, and how much help it would bring to his descendants and family.

Just the fact that this name was recorded in history was enough to make many people who sought fame yearn for it.

Therefore, many of the other envoys were very excited. They all signed up voluntarily, and they all knew that this trip might be full of dangers.

However, danger also presents opportunities.

Or they can come back and be promoted. Or they can come back after death, which doesn't matter, so that their descendants can benefit from the family.

In the past, among the tens of thousands of officials in the Song Dynasty, the imperial examinations with more than 100 Jinshi each year were naturally the most valuable, but for the majority of middle and lower-level officials, the family was the main channel for promotion.

However, now that the Song Dynasty has opened more channels for selecting scholars, such as the system, official, and academic, the number of candidates selected through family is decreasing.

Everyone knows that the court is increasingly favoring the system, official, and academic, which is what is commonly known as the civil service examination. The system can be understood as the civil service examination for professionals, the official examination for temporary workers, and the subject examination for university graduates.

Smart people have already thought that the Song Dynasty is likely to abolish the system of family ties in the future. Since then, the imperial examination has become the highest level examination, and the system, official examination, and subject examination have become slightly lower level examinations.

In addition, the Song Dynasty has attached more and more importance to academic qualifications. For elementary school, junior high school, high school, university, especially higher university diplomas, basically, the subject examination is often a sure thing, and even the imperial examination has extra points.

Therefore, family ties will only disappear in the long river of history, except for its huge contribution to the Song Dynasty.

The envoys themselves are only lower-level officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They have limited room for advancement, and their descendants may not be able to pass the examination. In order to win a future for themselves and their descendants, they naturally have many followers.

Among them, Tan Wenxue, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Youwei, the doctor of the Ministry of Protocol, became representatives of the Middle East.

Don't think that their official positions are very low.

In fact, the Ministry of Rites is a first-level department, and the Minister of Rites is a second-rank official, and the two assistant ministers are second-rank officials.

Then the lower-level departments are only the four departments of ancestral sacrifice, host and guest, food department, and ritual system.

Each department has one doctor, two assistants, and four principals, who are of the fifth rank, the fifth rank, and the sixth rank respectively.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a second-level department, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the third rank and two assistants of the third rank.

The lower-level departments are the six departments of state affairs, foreign affairs, protocol, consulate, law, and security, which also have one doctor, two assistants, and four principals.

But the level has not been reduced, and it is also the fifth rank, the fifth rank, and the sixth rank.

The Ministry of State Affairs mainly studies the country's foreign policy. For example, the policy towards Liao is temporary peace and actual hostility.

The Foreign Affairs Department is responsible for diplomatic negotiations, the Protocol Department is responsible for diplomatic etiquette, and the Consular Department is responsible for foreign garrisons, such as the Song Dynasty consulates in Japan and Vietnam.

As for law and security, there is no need to say much. They study the laws of other countries and foreign security, especially the Security Department, which is ostensibly the Security Affairs Department, but actually investigates the internal situation of other countries.

So whether it is the Ministry of Rites or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Langzhong and Yuanwailang are not low-level officials. They are senior managers second only to Shangshu and Shilang in their own departments.

And in the entire Song Dynasty system, they are also middle-level officials, responsible for etiquette and diplomatic affairs.

Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei are the main personnel of this trip. Naturally, there are several sixth to ninth-rank attendant officials and clerks such as the chief, case chief, signature, Kongmu, Yasi, and Gou Dang.

In early March, the group arrived in Guangzhou, Guangnan East Road with the king's order.

It was late spring, the sun in Guangzhou was hot, the temperature was very high, and people felt a little stuffy.

However, when they arrived in Guangzhou, they saw a scene that was even more bustling than the weather.

The city of Guangzhou in the Song Dynasty was naturally not as large as in later generations. Its actual location was centered on the Yuexiu District Government in later generations, extending north to Dongfeng Middle Road, west to Renmin North Road, east to Donghaoyong Elevated Road, and south to Kangtai Road.

Generally speaking, compared with the Guangzhou City in later generations, it was just a very small area. Even Yuexiu Mountain was outside the northern suburbs of the city. Since Zhao Tuo, it has been the oldest urban area in Guangzhou.

Although the city walls of Guangzhou City have not been demolished at this moment, a large number of high-rise buildings have been built outside the city.

There are countless ships parked at the Pearl River Wharf. Some of those ships are small sailboats, while others cover the sky like towering ships.

There are at least thousands of ships coming and going in the port, stretching for miles along the wharf outside Guangzhou City.

Countless dock workers come in and out, constantly unloading and loading goods. The wharf was bustling with people, all kinds of goods were shuttling back and forth, and there were a large number of government officials maintaining order.

These people included customs, government offices, Changping warehouse managers, and even local soldiers.

Tan Wenxue and others came here by water. During the Qingli period, the imperial court dredged the Lingqu Canal many times, and it had already become the main freight channel.

After the fleet arrived at the local area, because it was already afternoon, there was no time to visit the entire wharf. After the ship stopped, dozens of people got off the ship.

"Tan Langzhong, Zhang Langzhong!"

"Wang Caosi, Su Zhizhou."

After they got off the ship, they sent someone to notify the local government.

People from the Guangnan East Road Transportation Office and the Guangzhou Zhizhou Mansion soon came.

The team was led by Wang Han, the transportation envoy, and Su Yan, the Zhizhou.

Wang Han was the Zhizhou of Tanzhou at that time. Later, he had good political achievements and was promoted many times. Now he is a transportation envoy.

This Su Yan is Su Song's cousin, but his age is about the same as Su Song.

In history, when he was the governor of Yingzhou, he led troops to assist Guangzhou in fighting against Nong Zhigao and defeated him. Later, he was the governor of Yongzhou and died in the invasion of Vietnam.

However, this kind of thing will probably not happen again at this time. If Vietnam dares to invade, it must ask the Song Dynasty garrison in Vietnam whether it agrees.

At this moment, the two came to greet them in person.

Su Yan was fine, his position was one level lower than Tan Wenxue and others, but Wang Han was a fourth-rank official. Logically speaking, for normal official business, sending a deputy transport envoy would be enough.

However, this was an important task for the court envoy, and this time, the Guangzhou navy had to be mobilized, so it was naturally not sloppy.