Today is the Qingming Festival, the Qingming Festival in the Song Dynasty is known as the "Cold Food Festival", on this day, you can't raise a fire to cook, you can only eat cold food. It is necessary to wait until the evening to light a "new fire", and the elders of the clan will divide the "new fire" into each household, which is called "dividing the new fire".

Generally speaking, there are no visitors on this day. Because the fire could not be raised, the host could not entertain the visitors.

The custom of the "Cold Food Festival" developed to its peak in the Song Dynasty, but after the Song Dynasty, this festival officially died out, mainly because the Song Dynasty was a commercial society, and the people of Bianliang City even bought the water they drank from the porters. "Cold Food Festival" can't cook on the fire at home - it's simple, go to the street to eat.

After the Song Dynasty, China returned to an agrarian society, or to a primitive, self-sufficient small-scale peasant society. Economic power and business model all determined that the dynasties after the Song Dynasty could not afford to consume festivals like the "Cold Food Festival".

When Zhao Xing entered the room, gambling was being carried out in the courtyard, in addition to Su Shi's family, there were also Su Shi's younger brother Su Zhe, Su Zhe's eldest son Su Chi, second son Su Shi, third son Su Yuan, and the daughters of the two families.

Zhao Xing was able to enter the house at this time, but he actually took Su Shi as his own family. Su Shi also received Zhao Xing with the attitude of a family member and introduced him to Su Zhe's family - this was the first time Zhao Xing met Su Zhe, this little Su bachelor is now a household servant, that is, a senior official similar to the "director of the Ministry of Finance".

Zhao Xing had inquired about Su Zhe before, it seems that this Su Shi brother is not as good as Su Shi in literature, but he is famous in accounting, last year he and Hubu Shangshu Li Chang and others edited the "Yuanyou Accounting Record" 30 volumes, should be regarded as the "grandfather" of Chinese accounting.

Compared with Su Shi's aggressive attitude, Su Zhe seemed very modest, he greeted Zhao Xing with a smile, and solemnly thanked Zhao Xing for the boots he sent.

Originally. Su Zhe and his brother used the same boot shop, and Zhao Xing only said that he asked Boss Tang to make boots for both men and women in Mr. Su's family. It's unfortunate. Su Shi's family, his father is "Old Su Bachelor", Su Shi himself is "Su Bachelor", and his brother is "Xiao Su Bachelor". Someone paid, and the boss of the boot shop Tang happened to ask Zhao Xing, so he self-righteously wrapped up the boots of Su Zhe's family.

Afterwards. Zhao Xing didn't look at the accounts at all, he handed over this kind of small money to Ma Mengde for review, and Ma Meng was able to think that this was Zhao Xing's original intention, and paid the money in full with a big stroke. That's why I thank you today.

Su Shi's family didn't mind Zhao Xing's gift too much. Because they often receive small things from Zhao Xing. For example: Not long after Su Dun returned home, she was still not used to the taste of Su Shi's home, Cheng Azhu sent some side dishes, marinated meat, and fruits every day, and even she couldn't forget to buy some small things for Su Dun when she went shopping, so Su Shi received the boots from Zhao Xingfu, and accepted them without making a fuss. But Su Zhe is different there.

Su Zhe and Zhao Xing have never met, although he has heard Su Shi talk about this person, but he still doesn't feel that the two sides are familiar enough to accept each other's boots. It was not good for him to ask Zhao Xing directly. Instead, he inquired to Madame Wang. After that, although he accepted the boots under the persuasion of Mrs. Wang, he always remembered to thank Zhao Xing in person.

"Leave people. The boots are very good, it happened to receive your boots after the snow, my whole family is very grateful to you, to tell you to bother, come. The children. Thank you Uncle for leaving", Su Zhe beckoned his child to come forward and thank him in person.

Su Shi laughed. He lifted the leather boots on his feet and proudly showed off: "I was in the Gongyuan that day, and suddenly the pavilion chief Tong Guan sent a pair of boots, but he didn't have time to say who asked him to send them, so he left in a hurry. But as soon as I looked at the novelty of the boots, I knew that they must have come from the hands of Liren - lo and behold, the Mayi Dragon's Blood Tree made the soles of the boots, and only Liren had such a big deal. ”

What Su Shi didn't say was: At that time, the snow had melted, the ground was muddy, his shoes were soaked, and the soles of his feet were cold. When he was worried, Tong Guan, who was out of the palace to run errands, dropped a new pair of boots, which made him feel warm from the heart.

This kind of hardwood shoes, even the soles of the boots are carefully carved with corrugated non-slip teeth, and the hard soles of the boots have a crisp sound when they step on the ground, which makes him envious of his colleagues, and he feels that this care is very face-saving.

Su Zhe also had a deep understanding of this, he nodded, and admitted honestly: "Yes, this kind of boots with hardwood soles are not slippery when stepping into the mud." In those days, the snow melted, and I wore these boots to work, and I walked with a crisp sound. And there are lace holes on both sides of these boots, and a leather rope is perforated and tied, so that you can walk with wind on your feet. Not bad!

Haha, the people in the household department are also very envious, and then they went to the Tang family boot store to order this kind of boots, and I heard that the boot shop ordered the goods, and the delivery date was scheduled for September...... Well, the spring flowers have been shining lately, and I'm afraid they're going to miss it,"

The word "going to work" was born in the Song Dynasty, and its full name is "Shangchao class". When the prime minister goes to work, it is called "going to work", and other cabinet officials are not qualified to go to court, so they are called "going to work". In particular, the officials of the three divisions and envoys, their work is commonly referred to as "going to work".

The three of them continued the topic of boots, and Mrs. Wang walked over with Su Yidi's hand, followed by Chaoyun, as well as Cheng Azhu and Chen Yiyi. Mrs. Wang casually handed Zhao Xing a wooden box and explained with a smile: "Uncle Liren, this is the new fire assigned to you, you can use it at home." ”

Wood for fire? Don't smoke yet? What a novelty!

Zhao Xing looked at the wooden box curiously, this wooden box is exquisitely made, and the paint can show the shadow of a person...... But no matter how delicate the wooden box is, it shouldn't be used to hold fire?! He took it in his hand and shook the wooden box slightly, and there was a slight noise from the wooden box.

"This is a magic candle, haven't you ever seen it before? This thing is used to ignite a new fire in Bianliang City, and I won't let you go home with a torch for today's cold food", Su Shi explained with a smile.

Su Dun rushed up at this time and hugged Zhao Xingdi's legs, and shouted in his mouth: "Ah Da, money, I want to throw copper coins, you play with me." ”

Chaoyun hurriedly rushed forward, scooped up Su Dun and hugged him in his arms, and hurriedly explained: "Uncle Liren, don't pay attention to this child, give him ten copper coins today, he threw them all indiscriminately, and he lost." Children's homes, don't let him develop the habit of despising money. ”

Zhao Xing casually took out a handful of fragmentary coins, including gold, silver, and copper. He stuffed it into Su Dun's hand and said with a smile, "It's okay." Whoever loses to it loses to his own family - the left pocket is smashed into the right pocket, why care. Besides, children have the concept of money, and it is only right to teach them how to manage their finances slowly. Go ahead. Go play, Dad has something to do with Ah Da. ”

Chaoyun hugged Su Dun and scolded him a few words, Su Dun had a handful of new money, and he had already achieved the purpose of his coming, shouting that he would gamble again.

Su Zhe shook his head honestly on the side. Repeating Chaoyun's reason just now: "Although it is a small gamble, the child is too young to let him get into the habit of profligacy." ”

Su Shi was also shaking his head, and he wanted to lightly condemn a few words. Zhao Xing had already pushed open the lid of the wooden box and looked through the contents inside.

In ancient China, it was extremely rude to look at a gift in person. However, Su Shi was worried that Zhao Xing didn't know how to use the magic candle and had an accident when using it. So he didn't blame, but waited patiently for Zhao Xing to ask questions.

No wonder it was packed in such a large box, and in the box lay several wooden sticks shaped like rod needles, and the sticks were wrapped in some yellow objects. It seemed to be a powder packet. Zhao Xing vaguely guessed something, he curiously picked up a wooden stick, and brought the powder package to the tip of his nose - suddenly, a sulfur smell rushed into his nose.

Match, this turned out to be a match. Ancient matches!

Zhao Xing was holding a wooden stick - no. With this ancient match (fire stick), he looked at Su Shi in astonishment. Su Shi pointed to this match (fire stick) and explained: "This is called a magic candle." It is also called a candle, can it be used when leaving people? ”

"This ...... When was this thing invented — ah no, I mean when it came out? ”

Su Zhe replied: "This thing appeared in the Five Dynasties. Tao Gu once wrote in "Qing Yilu": There is a hurry at night, and it is difficult to make a lamp. There are wise men who approve the fir strips to dye sulfur yellow, put them aside, and when they meet with fire, they get flames. As a god, call the light slave. Now there are those who have goods, and they have changed their names.

In addition, in the sixth year of Zhou Jiande (that is, in 577 AD), the Qi Dynasty died, and the concubine fell into the people, and there was no way to make a living, so she made candles and sold them to make a living. As a result, the practice of candles flowed into the people. Sima (Guang) Xianggong had researched and recorded this incident in the "Zizhi Tongjian...... This thing should have existed in the fifth generation, but it took a lot of effort to make and was easy to spontaneously combust, so it was not circulated much. ”

Su Shi added: "Maybe it was earlier - there are records that it was made by the monks of Liu An, the king of Huainan, but this statement is a bit false, except for the occasional mention in "Huainanzi", no one has recorded it in the past dynasties, and no one has mentioned it. At present, it can be confirmed that the magic candle was made by the concubines of Qi, perhaps it has been used in the palace of Qi, and the concubines have fallen into the people, so they make a living from what they learned in the palace. ”

Zhao Xingtou was a little confused: Could it be that the book is wrong again? Could it be that matches were originally invented by the Chinese?

Looking at the match (fire stick), he suddenly felt a sense of excitement - sulfur match! When I used to watch movies, I always felt that the western cowboy picked up a match and swiped it on the sole of his boot - ah, very stylish, very cowboy, and then I tried many times with a safety match, but I couldn't realize the scene in the movie. Now, I can do it in the Song Dynasty, isn't that what sulfur matches do?

Zhao Xing raised the soles of his feet, pinched a match very handsomely and gently swiped it on the sole of his shoe, watching the flames jump, it was very warm, and his heart was full of the picture of "little match girl", and the little girl was also holding a match like this......

At this time, if there is a cigarette, then everything is gone.

What is chic?

Chic is to draw a "match ancestor" in the Song Dynasty - at this moment, just like a Prometheus.

The match burned to the end, and the flame jumped, from brilliant to dark.

"Ten cents", Su Yu said with a sigh: "Brother Xing, this time, the ten cents are gone." The people of Bianjing buy charcoal and water every day, not counting food, and the daily needs are only ten yuan. ”

It turned out that this match was ten wen each, cheap, and he took out a Japanese pearl with him, 50,000 yuan, which could buy millions of matches.

"This is a good business", Zhao Xing said in a deep voice: "A box of twenty French candles, plus the box sells for 300 Wen, the cost is some sulfur, nitrate, and firewood." No wonder the Qi Dynasty Diaspora Palace Maid did this to earn money, well, well, this is not manual work, women can also do it......"

It is important to set up such a field to legally hoard sulfur and saltpeter.

Su Zhe smiled, and his eyes were fixed on the coins in Su Dun's hand: "What, people will do this thing?" Ha, that's a gadget. One money and two dollars earned, can people look at it? ”

Of course, what Zhao Xingsai gave to Su Dun was the money of the domain. These gold, silver, and copper dollars are beautifully crafted. But it's a pity that it's fake money. As a household servant, Su Zhe was extremely sensitive to money, and he watched Su Dun exchange gold coins with his brothers for copper coins like a little adult, and also picked the quality of copper coins one by one until he was satisfied.

Su Zhe smiled when he saw this.

Su Shi was very fond of his children, and he glanced at Su Dun. Hurriedly avoided his gaze, and said to Cheng Azhu behind Zhao Xing: "Azhu, don't worry, the matter of leaving people is my business, and when you two got married, I presided over it, and I was still wondering at that time." Why did you only get half of the ceremony, since you have to make up for it tomorrow - I will go in person and call your brothers and sisters to watch the ceremony...... By the way, the provincial test is on the list, have you gone to see the list? ”

The Song Dynasty has not yet reported the custom of "Honglu", which should have started in the Ming Dynasty. So in the Song Dynasty, I didn't go to the list. No one else will tell you.

Zhao Xing looked very leisurely, he shook his head: "Ma Mengde sent someone to Xuande Building, it is estimated that he has already reported the news back to the house, and he will go home in the evening." Will you know the result? ”

Su Shi was furious.

Su Zhe didn't know Zhao Xing's temper, and when he heard this, his eyes widened sharply. After living for such an age, in Su Zhe's memory, he never remembered anyone who was so indifferent to whether he could be on the list. Of little consequence. He raised his hand and pointed at Zhao Xing in disbelief. His lips trembled, and he couldn't say a word.

Su Shi was helpless about Zhao Xing's superb attitude. He waved his hand, beckoned a servant, gave a few orders, and when the servant took the order, he turned to Zhao Xing and explained: "This place is not far from Xuande Tower, and you will know it soon...... I remember you at the bottom of the list, if nothing else, it should be. ”

Cheng Azhu only interjected at this time, she thanked Su Shi with a groan, and ran down excitedly, Chen Yiyi didn't leave, she pouted and looked at Zhao Xing, Zhao Xing hurriedly took out a big bag of popcorn from her body, handed it to Chen Yiyi, and said flatteringly: "This is what I bought for you in Nanxunmen, and Granny Cao's meatloaf......"

Chen Yiyi grabbed a large handful of popcorn without any image, put it in his mouth and chewed it with a rattling sound, as if he wanted to chew her resentment, Su Shi saw her strong hostility, and hurriedly interrupted: "Haha, people also like to use rice for divination?" I've heard; The ladies and ladies of Bianliang City like to blow up the glutinous grain in the kettle on the occasion of the New Year's Day, this name is Lou, also called rice flower, in order to divinate the major events of life......"

Su Shi means that this popcorn was originally used by noble ladies and ladies to divinate good fortune in the Song Dynasty, and later became a petty bourgeois food in the Song Dynasty, and was very popular among rich girls and noble ladies. Of course, the ladies used popcorn for divination because they wanted to test their marriage.

"Divination is a lifelong event" - Chen Yiyi understood Su Shi's hint, her mouth suddenly chewed lightly, she grabbed a handful of popcorn, and was about to ask how to divinate the marriage, the servant who was sent out to see the list had returned to the hall and reported: "If you go back to the bachelor, Zhao Daguan is indeed in the third list." ”

Su Shiqi said: "So fast? Have you walked to Xuande Building? ”

The servant shook his head: "No, I met Cheng Xia Chengsheren's person at the door, he said that he didn't have to go, Ma Mengde had already informed them: the last place on the list is Zhao Xing." ”

Su Shi was even more curious, he glanced at Zhao Xing, and then at Su Dun, who was throwing money with his brothers after exchanging the copper plate, and asked suspiciously: "Leaving people, how did you educate yourself?" Such a big event, not only are you not flustered, but even your students are not surprised or happy! ”

Zhao Xing smiled faintly, casually handed the box of magic candles to Chen Yiyi, and asked her to put it back in the carriage. Then he put his hands behind his back and smiled at Su Dun playing with his brother, thus avoiding Su Shi's question.

Su Shi's home is another way to play, this family has a relatively large number of copper plates, and they are all scattered and played. If more copper plates are sprinkled on the same side (word or meat) facing upwards than others, the winner is awarded. Su Dun's capital was small just now, but now he has a lot of money, and he is very happy to win his brothers.

Su Zhe saw the strings of brand-new feudal money rolling on the table, and couldn't help it anymore, and asked, "Zizhan, why do you have so much feudal money in your family?" I saw that all the money was new, as if it had never been used before. Is that rumor true? ”

Su Shi was a little embarrassed. Before he could come up with an explanation, Zhao Xing interjected: "Zi Yougong, has the imperial court made a conclusion on the matter of feudal money?" ”

Zhao Xing's title is an honorific title for an official by ordinary people, Su Zhe nodded and replied: "Liren is not an outsider, you can call me Sanzhang directly...... The matter of the feudal money has been discussed in the political affairs hall: my Great Song Dynasty has flowed out countless copper coins every year. Recently, these feudal coins have flowed in backwards, although the imperial court has not minted interest. But I don't need to make a little effort, so I can get these countless silver coins for nothing, so let it be.

Recently, the Goryeo envoys are about to enter Beijing, and Moon Xianggong has decided: when they meet, they will not mention the money of the feudal domain. This is the attitude of the imperial court. ”

"Zhang" is the honorific title of the elderly in the Song Dynasty. "Three" is Su Zhe's ranking. Zhao Xing didn't remember that Su Shi had a brother, but why did Su Zhe call himself "Sanzhang", and Su Shi was called "Erzhang". However, this is the detail, and Zhao Xing has no intention of pursuing it. He asked naively: "Sanzhang, why did the imperial court prohibit the outflow of Song money before?" ”

Su Zhe smiled: "My Great Song Dynasty copper coins are not enough, and then flow into the border vassal countries, isn't this because we minted money for them and cheapened them for nothing...... Zhao Xingdi's expression became more innocent, and he asked again: "Did someone bring these Song money to the vassal kingdom and then give it to those vassal kingdoms for nothing?" ”

Su Zhe was choked. He patiently explained: "Of course not, the merchants are very profitable, they take my Song money to the feudal domains, and they just want to sell goods to make a profit." ”

"Since my Song money was transported to the vassal country, it was not given in vain. Instead, they bought things from the feudal kingdom and came back, so why did they ban the outflow of copper coins? Zhao Xing continued to ask innocently.

Su Zhe smiled helplessly, how come this famous maritime merchant with strong family resources still doesn't know the truth of currency operation, he opened his mouth, and just wanted to say. But Zhao Xing obviously has his own landlord opinions. His opinion completely confused Su Zhe.

"Since my Great Song Dynasty copper coins are beautifully minted, they are very popular among the vassal states. So, why do you want to restrict my Great Song merchants from using Song money in the vassal states? The peasants of the vassal kingdoms have worked hard for a year - the grain grown, the cloth woven, and the porcelain made to raise horses, as long as I spend a handful of copper coins in the Great Song Dynasty, I can buy them all back, so that as long as we can't help but flow the copper coins, won't the people of the feudal kingdom become the production of my Great Song Dynasty? Such a thing that benefits the country and the people, why can't the princes of the court and the central government see it clearly?

The more valuable my Great Song money is in the vassal countries, the more we can use very little money to buy back the hard work of the people of the feudal kingdom for a year, and even let the household department of the feudal state count the money for my Great Song Dynasty - copper coins, hunger can not eat, thirst can not drink, with a bunch of copper coins in exchange for the war horses, grain and grass, cloth we urgently need...... If you don't take it, how stupid!

I heard that the ground on Jingdong East Road (Shandong) is so tense that even the rocks are exposed. There are many people and few land, and the land is exhausted and the people are poor, so why should we prohibit the outflow of copper coins when all this money is flowing in? It is better to collect these feudal money, let the landless farmers on Jingdong East Road come to mint money to earn interest, and then use this batch of copper coins to go to Western Xia, to Liao, to Jiaozhi to go to Goryeo, buy all their war horses, buy up their grain, isn't this more cost-effective than farming? ”

Zhao Xing's words are actually the truth of "currency war", but it is a pity that even Su Zhe, the originator of accounting, is difficult to accept for a while. The first thing he thought of was the issue of the local feudal money in front of him: "In this way, the inflow of this batch of feudal money is also unfavorable to our dynasty......

Zhao Xing was choked unconscious, he was patient, and explained to Su Zhe how this batch of feudal coins was different: "This is pure copper copper coins, I guess this batch of copper coins is not made by the imperial court of the feudal kingdom, but a personal act." There must have been a man who had the copper mines, and he wanted to turn copper directly into money, into cash, and put it in his pocket, so he came up with this method.

Because of the direct input of copper ingots to my Great Song Dynasty, the imperial court of the vassal kingdom may restrict it, and the copper ingots have to be exchanged for money once, and the realization speed is too slow and there are too many links, so he directly cast fake Song money. In this way, the vassal kingdom looks at the face of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is not easy to prohibit it.

But this is good for my Great Song Dynasty, just melt this batch of pure copper coins, add lead and tin to cast into new money, my Great Song Dynasty can get a white minting interest, two feudal money inflow, my Great Song Dynasty can renovate three Song coins, if my Great Song Dynasty can't help but flow out of their own copper coins, then the two feudal coins come in, in my Great Song Dynasty roll, we will roll out more feudal money, go to the feudal country to shop, under the teaching, who benefits? ”

Su Zhe was attracted by Zhao Xingdi's novel theory, he thought for a moment, and then asked: "What you said may be a guess, how did my Great Song know that this was done by the court of the vassal state, or by the feudal people themselves." ”

"It's very simple – I'm a maritime merchant and I know the situation overseas, so I'm guessing. If the imperial court wants to confirm this, send two or three merchants out to record the date of the appearance of the feudal money in the feudal country, and check it with the date of its appearance in our Great Song Dynasty, and it will be clear immediately.

If this was done by the court of the vassal state, then the vassal money must first appear in the vassal state, and it must be circulated for a period of time before it can flow into the hands of the Song merchants. If, on the contrary, it flows directly into the Great Song Dynasty, and it is not seen within the vassal state, it can only be that someone in the vassal country discovered the copper mine, but refused to let the king know......

However, this is where the investigation comes to an end. Because my Great Song officials are unscrupulous in their words and deeds, if this news is revealed to the vassal state in the Goolan Washe, so that the vassal state can find out who did it, my Great Song Dynasty will cut off an income ......"

"Don't check it", Su Zhe said categorically: "I can trust the divorce, since the divorce guesses that this is the private behavior of the feudal people, then this matter will end here...... As soon as the matter is in the political hall, how can you keep it a secret? I won't talk about it, I will only talk about it privately with the key personnel, and remember to keep my mouth shut when I leave people in the future...... Well, let's talk about what you said about Song Qian's ban, let's just talk about this! ”

The rest of the time, Su Zhe was discussing the theory of currency with Zhao Xing, but he put Su Shi aside. When the night was hazy, Su Shi was about to call a takeaway to entertain Zhao Xing, but Zhao Xing got up and said goodbye: "There is still half of the wedding tomorrow, teacher, I need to go back to the house to clean up first...... I promised to send a horse to the teacher, and the teacher would pick it up. ”

"It's okay, Tong Daguan said that your horses are good, you can do anything", Su Shi replied politely. Su Dun is still young, and the actual user of this horse can only be Su Shi.

Looking at Zhao Xing's back, Su Zhe asked softly: "You once said: Cheng said in private that he was the widow of Wuhou?" …… Show me your secret "Thorn Cow"! What he talked about today is unbelievable but reasonable, and I really want to see what Wuhou's suicide note is written when I have the chance. Ah, brother, what a blessing, this man must not be a thing in the pool. ”

Su Shi shook his head: "Looking at today's situation, he is extremely unconcerned about the imperial examination, I am afraid that this person has no intention of pursuing a career and intends to be a wealthy businessman...... It's a pity, we have to think of a way not to make them nostalgic for the rivers and lakes and run between the grass. ”

Zhao Xing returned to the mansion, and the people in the mansion were full of joy, and the widows who had returned home earlier came there to greet them again, and even the orchids congratulated Zhao Xing in unison. It's just that Qin Guan and Chen Shidao ran away without a shadow, and only Chen was still there in the backyard, and he was still practicing the skills of cutting straw mats according to Zhao Xing's explanation. The chopped straw mats were thrown all over the yard, and Jin Fuji pointed out beside him. "I heard that your ship has returned to Hangzhou today, and I plan to return to Hangzhou in three or five days, and take Yuan Yeping back by the way—is there such a thing?" Chen asked.

Zhao Xing looked up at the hazy night.