Medicine jade, neither medicine, nor jade, the real name is colored glass, that is, colored glass, in later generations, rotten street things, but in the Ming Dynasty is different, people think that medicine jade "compared to the real jade, light is not different", exclusively for the use of the court, ordinary bureaucrats can not get, unless you get the fourth grade official, or the top prize in the examination can be rewarded, think about the pride of the sky who only came out in three years, holding a piece of stained glass and grateful, it is also funny enough!

In fact, as early as the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the ancient alchemists made glass, but as a by-product of alchemy, perhaps the so-called refining stone into gold, that is, using sand to refine yellow glass, at that time, the price was indeed higher than gold.

Not just for some reason, perhaps because of the distortion of the technology tree, China has always been able to make opaque lead barium glass, and its function is limited to ceremonial utensils, ornaments, and substitutes for some jewelry, because of the high price, and very fragile, tableware is rarely used.

Especially after the Qin Dynasty, the ruler's aesthetic concept and tradition are different, resulting in the loss of many traditional skills, although the Great Song Dynasty has recovered some, but the production process of glaze is still backward, making the medicinal jade more and more precious.

Until the last few years, Western merchants brought some glass, no, it should be said that glass products, many wealthy families rushed to buy, a palm-sized mirror, and even sold for hundreds of taels of silver.

The "Immediately Fenghou" in front of him weighs at least dozens of pounds, and the color is gorgeous, the shape is perfect, and the luster is rich, even if there is no such good ornament in the palace, how can Han Qi not be excited. I circled around the table several times, up and down, inside and out, and looked carefully.

"Good things, good workmanship, good medicine, better intentions!"

He kept rubbing his hands in admiration, and the meaning of salivation couldn't be clearer, so he almost wrote the words "I want" on the door of his head.

Ye Sheng stood up with interest, bowed down and said: "Lord Qiqi Qincha, this ornament is made by hundreds of skilled craftsmen in Taicang Liulifang, and it took countless efforts to make it, and it is specially dedicated to Lord Qincha, are you still satisfied?" ”

It's quite good, Zhao Wenhua happily accepted it, but listening to Ye Sheng's words, he frowned again.

"What's the matter, Taicang can make medicinal jade? As far as this official knows, this is a unique skill of the Inner Court Silver Bureau, how did you know it? ”

Ye Sheng said with a smile: "Lord Hui Qincha, speaking of which, my China has been making glaze since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which has been passed down for thousands of years, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties have gone against the grain, making the secret skills lost, and everyone regrets it." My father was in the world to read the ancient books, search for methods, after months of hard work, finally succeeded in firing, not only colored glass, but also transparent as crystal-like wonderful products. ”

Sima Guang once remembered that Ye Sheng mentioned that he wanted to burn glass, make transparent wine utensils, cooperate with wine, market the world, and make huge profits.

Sima Guang only thought he was bragging, and now he knew that this kid was playing for real, and he made it out quietly. How much did he still hide from himself, Sima Guang became more and more confused,

Just when he was late, Han Qi believed it and hurriedly asked: "Brother Junshi, your disciple has received it well, and you can actually make medicinal jade, and what other good things are there, but let me have a good experience." What is insight,

It was clear that he was asking for a bribe, Sima Guang could see that whoever caused the trouble would clean it up, so he simply looked at Ye Sheng and let this kid solve it.

Ye Sheng was not in a hurry, and with a wave of his hand, a maid walked up with a tray, and among the trays, there were all kinds of glass products, transparent wine glasses, bracelets, zodiac signs, vases, and dozens of kinds. Seeing that everyone's eyes were spent, not only Han Qi, but even Fan Zhongyan was interested.

"Ye Jieyuan, don't say anything else, you can sell me a set of that wine glass, no matter how much it is!" Bao County Ling is the home of a wealthy businessman, and he is rich and wealthy when he speaks.

Ye Sheng hurriedly smiled and said: "Lord Ye Sheng is polite, my father spent effort to study the craftsmanship of the glaze, not for himself. As you all know, at the beginning of the year five years ago, tens of thousands of refugees gathered at the foot of Mengjin City, waiting to be fed, and the government treasury was short of food. My father couldn't bear the suffering of the people, so in order to find a way for the big guy to make money, he studied Liuli. Who knew that his father died before he finished it, and the kid was not talented, and he stepped up the experiment to succeed in a few months, and God forbids him. ”

What Ye Sheng said was reasonable, but Sima Guang felt that he was simply fooling people, his father didn't study it and no one knew, and Ye Sheng, this kid, didn't see it and didn't put much effort, it was purely self-boasting, sticking gold on his face. But when he said this, it must make sense, Sima Guang was vague, and he could guess a trace of Ye Sheng's plan, so he simply listened to him.

Glass is one of the seven treasures of Buddhism, gorgeous and unparalleled, infinite use, how dare the boy monopolize it. Moreover, it was given by God to the people affected by the disaster, so that they could survive the disaster year with this thing. The kid felt that the glass should be sold everywhere, but this thing was extremely fragile and inconvenient to transport, so the kid was at a loss. It just so happened that Chen Chong, the commander of the Imperial City Division, came to Luoyang on an errand, and after passing through Meng Jin, he was very happy when he heard about it. Saying that the Imperial City Division could help transport the provinces and open a shop to sell, the kid promised to ask them to help in all the provinces except for the south. ”

This Ye Sheng didn't tell a lie, about five days ago, Chen Chong had a drink with him. At that time, Ye Sheng offered two large barrels of wine, and sent a lot of glassware for Chen Chong to bring into the capital and present to the emperor, and promised to cooperate in the sale of glassware according to the model of alcohol.

Let's take a look at the Imperial Castle Division

No matter which dynasty or generation in Chinese history has its own unique, directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor of an institution, their main responsibility is to protect the emperor, monitor hundreds of officials, the most famous of which is the Ming Dynasty, the East Factory, the West Factory, Jinyi Guard, in fact, the Song Dynasty also had a secret agency, his name is the Imperial City Division, but there is no Ming Dynasty those fierce famous!

The Imperial City Division is a civil bureaucracy, not under the management of the three ya, but directly under the emperor's close ministers, and most of its heads are eunuchs. His duties were twofold, spy and escort.

The predecessor of the Imperial City Division was the Wude Division established by Taizu, and at that time he sent people to spy everywhere, even as far as Sichuan. Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty changed its name to the Imperial City Division, and later issued an edict prohibiting the Imperial City Division from going out of the capital to carry out activities. The personnel of the Imperial City Division are also divided into two parts, one part is called a personal subordinate officer and is in charge of the guards; The other part is called the family officials, also known as the chazi, these people are in charge of all parts of the capital, down to the flower street and willow lane, up to the government ministers, to listen to the big and small news. The number of people has also grown from a few dozen at the beginning to more than 7,000 at the maximum.

The scope of the investigation by the family officer is roughly divided into the following types:

1. Monitor the army. Usually, there are spies from the Imperial City Division in the garrison and even in the squads in front of the palace in Beijing, who record the daily activities and report them in detail, and take emergency measures when necessary.

2. Reconnaissance of civil discussions. Song Shenzong changed the law, the court was turbulent, and there were many people who slandered the government. Anyone who heard anyone talking about the government was immediately arrested, and tens of thousands of people were imprisoned for this purpose.

3. Reconnaissance of the activities of officers. There are many officials in this part, from the king's relatives to the warehouses of the various departments, there are fixed people responsible for monitoring. Sometimes, the emperor would also give some temporary tasks.

4. Guard against enemy countries. The Song Dynasty was weak, and the Northern Song Dynasty had diplomatic relations with the Western Xia, the Liao State, and the Southern Song Dynasty with the Jin State, and there were many cases of mutual infiltration and spying. The Imperial City Department is responsible for security in this regard. In the Song system, officials who went to Liao or Jin accompanied by officials from the Imperial City Division; When the envoys of the Liao or Jin kingdoms came to the Song Dynasty, they were also received by the Imperial City Division. As seen in the records, there is a Zhenzong time when the Imperial City Division once discovered that a merchant was a spy of the Liao State, so he was arrested and brought to justice. There must be many more similar situations.

Another role of the Imperial City Division is to guard, first of all, the gates of the Imperial Palace are guarded by the Imperial City Division, and the tokens and door numbers entering and exiting the Imperial Palace are also issued and managed by the Imperial City Division. In the imperial palace, there are generally five cordons from the emperor's side, which are distributed by the intersection of the imperial city division and the classes in front of the palace, and the innermost one, that is, the closest to the emperor, are the guards of the imperial city division (called the personal servant officer). The Imperial City Division itself is not an army, but there are many talented and brave people in it, and some officers are also used to lead it. This setting is to let the Imperial City Division and the Imperial Front Division restrain each other and prevent changes. While defending the Imperial City, the Imperial City Division also undertook the security duties of some government agencies. For example, Wensi Yuan is responsible for the manufacture of utensils in the palace, most of which are gold and silver, so there have always been four relatives of the Imperial City Division under their guardianship.

In the Song Dynasty, the imperial power was far less concentrated than in the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor and his close ministers acted with a lot of scruples, and the Song Dynasty had an ancestral system, so it was easy not to kill ministers, so the Imperial City Division was only responsible for reconnaissance, and generally did not care about specific cases, so that it could not infringe on the relevant judicial organs. The criminals it arrests are generally transferred to Kaifeng Mansion for processing, and they have no jurisdiction and prison, so the possibility of perverting the law is much smaller, so although the responsibilities of the Imperial City Division are similar to those of Jinyiwei, they are not so well-known in history, and the harm caused is much smaller!

And why did Ye Sheng know the Imperial City Division?

This also starts with Fan Zhongyan, when Fan Zhongyan took over the canal, he reported everything together to His Majesty today, Zhao Zhen, who is known as Renzong in history. Zhao Zhen has a generous temperament, is not luxurious, and can restrain himself, treat his subordinates leniently, and is very interested in Fan Zhongyan's send, so he ordered the Imperial City Division to closely observe Ye Sheng's every move. So Ye Sheng sent everything here to His Majesty Renzong's desk in every detail. Ye Sheng's series of actions stunned His Majesty the Emperor, and Zhao Zhen felt that things could be done for the first time. was always amazed, so Ye Sheng's actions became a pastime when His Majesty the Emperor was dealing with complicated official duties.