Chapter 1166 Postscript 22: Luoyang, the city that never sleeps in the Ming Dynasty
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 later, more than half of the distance was still left.
Every time it reaches a county town, the train must stop to wait for passengers, and the stop once lasts for more than half an hour. The most excruciating time was that it stopped for a full 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 will 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 pushcarts and carrying lanterns, operating there at night with lanterns. Station staff don’t care, as those vendors have probably already paid the entrance fee.
"Hey, there is also a rice noodle seller," Xie Yan walked over and said to the stall owner, "Here are seven bowls of rice...is this called rice noodle?"
Naturally, the stall owner would not refute the customer, 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 entourage 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 careful.
Two healthy servants stood guard at the door of the carriage, waiting for the rice noodles to be cooked, and then brought 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 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 a cloth scarf on his head. He has an unstrung bow on his back and a long knife on his waist.
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 Xie Yan and Meng Shu's followers, 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 rice noodles: "There is also a military academy in the south, why did 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, my husband."
Neither party spoke anymore.
The entourage 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 sword 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 contracted diseases and suffered too many casualties, and was attacked by barbarians and suffered a huge defeat. As a result, my family declined, and I could only be a low-level officer when my father died. But the skills inherited from the family are still there, and I will definitely be able to restore the glory of my ancestors!"
Meng Shu immediately stood up, bowed and said: "It turns out that 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, here comes the noodles." The vendor 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 know how to eat noodles better 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: "I, Meng Shu, come 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 named Yang who followed the King of Guizhou to destroy Dali was naturally Yang Zaixing, the county magistrate of the Taizong Dynasty. The Yang family had not produced any good generals for several generations. Not only did Yang Zaixing's son lead an army to a great defeat, his grandchildren
He was also punished by the court for disregarding human life."
Yang Zaixing?
I'm familiar with this!
As a historian, Xie Yan didn't know many historical figures, but he still knew Yue Fei and Yang Zaixing.
"Who is that King of Guizhou?" Xie Yan asked curiously.
Meng Shu was quite surprised: "My dear brother, you don't even know about the King of Guizhou? You must be devoted to studying knowledge and don't care about the many common things in this world."
"I haven't paid attention to those before." Xie Yan continued.
Meng Shu said: "King Qian is the stepson of Emperor Taizu and the half-brother of Emperor Taizong. Their family origin is in Yunnan. Although their titles will decrease gradually, they will not be lowered to marquis. The descendants will be slightly different.
After winning the battle, the title can be promoted back. The current head of the family has the title of Duke."
Xie Yan thought to himself, isn't this just a replica of Prince Mu's Mansion?
Meng Shu didn't seem to regard Xie Yan as an outsider, and even told some secrets: "When the late emperor reorganized the army, the descendants of King Qian were taken care of, and the power of the Bai family in Yunnan was not as good as before. The descendants of Yang Zaixing declined so much
Come on, it actually has something to do with the late emperor’s reorganization of the army.”
This is purely the mess left by Ju Ming.
But there are disadvantages and advantages.
In order to be promoted back to the title of nobility, Bai Qi's descendants often deliberately provoke border conflicts, and then take the opportunity to fight wars and perform meritorious services to expand their territory.
But we should not hit him too hard all at once. We should always leave some opportunities for meritorious deeds for future generations to develop sustainably.
This is a mistake.
The newly expanded territories are too poor, the terrain is too complex and congested, and the languages ​​and customs are very different. Expanding too quickly is not conducive to digestion. The practices of successive generations of the Bai family are most in line with the local conditions in Yunnan.
Eating and digesting it southward little by little!
Now it has expanded to Jingdong, Lashio and Jiesha lines in Myanmar.
In the dark night, the train moved forward slowly.
Xie Yan fell asleep lying on the table and woke up again in the early morning.
He turned to look out the window. The villages on both sides of the railway continued to recede. Rural houses were mainly built with earthen walls and tile roofs, while wealthy families had large houses with brick walls, and those with thatched roofs were rare.
From time to time, you can see farmers working in the fields, all wearing short brown clothes, which is the clothing style of ancient workers.
To be continued...