The weather in Henan this year is good, and it actually started raining very early in the spring.
This is the first normal spring rain in Henan after six consecutive years of severe drought in the province.
Tragic Henan can finally return to normal this year. Except for Runing Prefecture, which was occupied by Zhao Han, there is no drought in other places in Henan.
It's nonsense, God seems to be against Zhao Han.
He only occupies two prefectures in Henan, but the prefecture with the most immigrants is about to experience a severe drought this year. On the contrary, the Manchu Qing territory in Henan will have good weather this year.
In addition, Shaanxi, which has been experiencing drought for more than ten years, is also experiencing good weather this year, and only some areas in Shanxi are experiencing drought.
The "Chongzhen Drought" began to fully shift to the south.
However, the Qing Dynasty was not in favor. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians from Liaodong moved collectively to Beizhili. But this year, Beizhili was a drought-stricken area.
To be more specific, several of the drought-stricken areas this year are located in the core areas governed by Dorgon and Zhao Han.
Come on, let's hurt each other!
…
When Hu Dinggui was plundering the population of Shenyang and Huang Yao captured the Chengdu Plain, the frontal battlefield also began to take action.
Farmers in northern Hubei, northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, Nanyang Prefecture, and Runing Prefecture were mobilized. The grain harvested by Zhao Han last fall has been continuously transported to the north.
The Civil War was about to break out.
At this critical moment, the focus of the people of Nanjing was not the upcoming Northern Expedition.
No one thought that the Datong Army would be defeated, and it seemed that it was normal to sweep across the Central Plains. Their eyes turned to the officially published "Datong Almanac", "Twelve Qi Calendar", "Datong Zhengyin" and "Datong Dictionary".
"Datong Almanac" is an adaptation of "Chongzhen Almanac", with only some obvious errors deleted, such as the geocentric theory.
The Hou family and his son were under surveillance in Shandong, but Zuo Liangyu was still wavering.
Just last winter, Hou Fangyu received the news of his mother's death. He left the Manchu Qing Dynasty and almost returned to Henan to attend the funeral. Then he entered Anhui from his hometown, wandered around for several months, and finally arrived in Nanjing.
As soon as I entered the city, I saw guards carrying burdens selling "Twelve Qi Calendars" to shops along the street.
It’s not a forced purchase or sale, you don’t have to buy it, but the store tax collection date in the future will be based on the New Year calendar time.
"How do you sell almanacs?" Hou Fangyu asked.
The guard smiled and replied: "Colored ones cost one yuan, and colorless ones only cost a dime."
Hou Fangyu came all the way south and already knew the southern currency system.
A few years ago, the Datong silver dollar, which was mainly used for merchant trade, has now become a very common currency in circulation. One silver dollar is equal to one tael of silver, commonly known as "one dollar".
Moreover, Datong copper coins were added, which were divided into five jiao, two jiao and one jiao.
Traditional square-hole copper coins are still in use, about 800 to 1,200 Wen, which can be exchanged for one yuan, which is equivalent to ten cents.
However, only Datong copper coins can be used to pay taxes.
The rest of Jiajing Tongbao and Chongzhen Tongbao will not be recognized by the government or banks. Although they can be exchanged at banks, they are "waste coins" and can basically only be exchanged for the cost price of copper materials.
"Let me take a look first." Hou Fangyu said.
The colorful and painted version is a wall calendar, with simple paintings of flowers, birds and landscapes. The colorless version is a desk calendar.
Hou Fangyu didn't bring much money, so he bought a desk calendar.
He found that the old and new calendars corresponded up and down, and there were Tianzhu numerals (Arabic numerals) next to the Chinese characters.
The first year of the Republic of China, the year 4339 of the Yellow Emperor calendar.
The first day of the first month of the New Calendar (the Beginning of Spring) corresponds to the ninth day of the first month of the Old Calendar (the Beginning of Spring).
Continuing to read, I found that there are 24 solar terms in the lunar calendar. Each solar term is the 1st or 16th of the new calendar. The big month has 31 days and the small month has 30 days.
However, due to the uneven motion of the sun, May has 32 days, November has only 29 days, and the summer solstice is May 17.
Hou Fangyu smiled and said: "This calendar is easy to remember."
Hou Fangyu took the newly purchased desk calendar and first asked his old friend to inquire about the situation. He learned that Fang Yizhi was quite popular with Zhao Han, so he asked Fang Yizhi to deliver the message on his behalf.
Zhao Han was about to go on a personal expedition, and he really didn't have much time. Hou Fangyu was arranged to do it in the morning the day after tomorrow.
The founding emperor led the expedition in person, not just because he was full.
Due to backward communication technology, military information cannot be transmitted back and forth quickly. Moreover, the battlefield may involve four provinces. Zhao Han must move his headquarters to the front line because no one except him can independently suppress the generals.
There was still a whole day left for Hou Fangyu to wander around Nanjing.
He traveled north to the three provinces of Shandong and Henan, and then came to the south again. The gap between the north and the south was so great that he liked the atmosphere of Nanjing.
Moreover, it seems that every time I go south, many new things appear.
Arriving at the street selling cultural supplies, Hou Fangyu passed by a watch shop and suddenly heard the sound of "dang dang dang".
He walked in curiously and was immediately greeted by a store clerk with a smile: "Sir, our store has the latest self-ringing clocks, as well as pocket watches that are exclusive to Nanjing..."
Hou Fangyu asked strangely: "I remember this store used to sell calligraphy and paintings. How come it changed to sell clocks?"
The shopkeeper smiled and answered: "The nobles of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty collected many epigraphs, calligraphy and paintings, and they were stored centrally in the Hanlin Academy. There were so many that even the bachelors of the Hanlin Academy couldn't take care of them. The previous owner of this store was
I bribed the disabled soldiers and eunuchs who managed the warehouse to bring out one or two items every day. I was so courageous that I dared to take out orphaned calligraphy and paintings without being discovered."
"Beheaded?" Hou Fangyu asked.
The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "It's not like they were beheaded. The merchants and their families had their property confiscated, the disabled soldiers took back their fields, and all of them were thrown away to reclaim the wasteland on Dongfan Island. I heard that if you live next to the bandits like Zhang Xianzhong, you have to deal with trouble on the island."
There are two types of people who go to Taiwan to farm. For example, the sailors and soldiers of the Zheng family were laid off in half, and they farm next to the farmers in Taiwan. As long as they can adapt to the climate, there is no danger for this kind of people, and the land is relatively fertile.
As for Zhang Xianzhong and the subsequent exiles, they had to face the Shengfan headhunters.
Nowadays, the death penalty is reduced as much as possible. Unless the crime is extremely heinous, felons can choose to stay with Zhang Xianzhong.
Hou Fangyu walked to a big clock: "Is this the one that was ringing just now?"
The store manager personally introduced it: "I want you to know that this is a self-ringing clock, and it can tell the time on the hour. In Nanjing, there are only two companies that sell self-ringing clocks, and it is difficult to purchase them. For the time being, only Suzhou and Guangzhou craftsmen can make them."
The watch workshops on both sides are still fighting patent lawsuits, and I don’t know who can win.”
Hou Fangyu continued to observe the goods and found a small clock as big as a palm: "Is it so small?"
The shopkeeper said proudly: "This is a pocket watch. The smaller it is, the more valuable it is. As small as this, only two or three craftsmen in the entire south can make it."
"How much is it worth?" Hou Fangyu asked.
The shopkeeper smiled and pointed out three fingers: "This is the number."
"Thirty taels?" Hou Fangyu thought it was very cheap.
The shopkeeper laughed loudly: "Three hundred silver dollars!"
Hou Fangyu shook his head after hearing this. Ordinary people couldn't afford such an expensive price.
Comparing grain prices alone, grain prices in ancient China have always been relatively stable. From the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, only grain prices in the Yuan Dynasty were underworld prices. Grain prices in the Qing Dynasty were slightly more expensive, and the prices in other dynasties were similar.
As long as it is not a famine year and there are no wars or natural disasters, the price of rice per kilogram is about 2 to 8 yuan (copper coins of normal quality).
After Zhao Han stabilized the currency value, although food is now tight, the price of rice in Nanjing is only around 10 cents, and the price fluctuation will not exceed 2 cents.
This pocket watch alone can buy 30,000 kilograms of rice!
Of course, the north will definitely not be able to exchange for so many meters.
The price of rice in Beijing this spring was 80 Wen per catty, eight times that of Nanjing. Ordinary people continue to starve to death.
Hou Fangyu visited the watch store for a while, and then went to the bookstore next door.
There are all kinds of novels, and there are even many pornographic novels. Zhao Han has no control over such novels for the time being.
"How can there be such phonetic notation?"
"I think it's very good."
"Of course you said yes, you are from Anhui!"
"Anhui is also divided into north and south. My ancestral home is Fengyang. Datong Zhengyin is very different from Fengyang dialect."
"The difference is not big. I am from Fujian, so the difference is big."
"..."
A group of readers were discussing around the dictionary.
They have no objections to some "simplified characters" in the dictionary, because they are all common characters that have already appeared and are often used in calligraphy works or when writing letters.
I have great opinions on Datong Zhengyin!
Hou Fangyu opened the dictionary out of curiosity. There is a pinyin table in the appendix of the dictionary. Moreover, the pinyin symbols and diacritical marks are marked with Chinese characters for their pronunciation and usage, and they can be learned instantly using the traditional phonetic syntax method.
At least, for Hou Fangyu, he understood the pinyin in a few minutes.
Based on the Pinyin spelling sentences, we found that this Datong Zhengyin is very similar to "Hongwu Zhengyun", except that the pronunciation of some Chinese characters has changed.
However, it conforms to the traditional reading pronunciation rules.
As long as a traditional scholar has learned the pronunciation of Shu, no matter where he is, he will definitely be able to understand the authentic pronunciation of Datong.
Hou Fangyu also tried to use a dictionary to search for Chinese characters. Whether it was pinyin search or radical search, it was countless times faster than traditional word search tools.
Hou Fangyu sighed: "This is a sharp tool for education, and its merits will last forever! If I had stayed in Jiangnan, I would have been able to participate in the grand event. It's a pity that I returned to Henan when I was compiling the dictionary."
Hou Fangyu was helpless. He first went to Beijing to spend money to get his father out of prison. After returning home, he helped his father build a stronghold to defend himself against rogue bandits in Henan. Then his grandfather died, and then the stronghold was breached.
, father and son were forcibly taken away by Li Zicheng to serve as officials.
Facing the direction of Zhao Han's "Imperial Palace", Hou Fangyu sighed with inexplicable emotion: "Writing and calendar have such merits, they are already signs of a prosperous age. When the Holy King comes to the dynasty, how can we, the scholars, not join in it?"
Another day later, under the leadership of Fang Yizhi, Hou Fangyu was received by Zhao Han.
When they passed by the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, they saw dozens of scholars kneeling on the ground to petition, hoping to abolish Datong Zhengyin.
"A bunch of rotten scholars can only do bad things!" Hou Fangyu said with disdain.
Fang Yizhi smiled and said: "It's pretty good, there are only a few dozen. The number of scholars who petitioned last time was one or two hundred."