The emperor of the Song Dynasty gave a banquet to the new branch of Jinshi, because it was held in Qionglin Garden, so it was called "Qionglin Banquet".

But when Zhu Ming was admitted to the Jinshi, Qionglin Yuan was building a lot of construction and expansion. Since then, the Jinshi banquet has changed the place, and the name has also been changed to "Wenxi Banquet" by Song Huizong.

This year, it is officially restored.

The Jinshi did not ride horses and cars, chatted all the way and walked out of the city, and when they arrived outside the city, they could enjoy the spring scenery.

When I came to my destination, I found two plaques.

The top piece is the "Qionglin Garden" hung by the old Song Dynasty.

The next piece is the "persuasion of agriculture" hanging by Daming.

"The well-known Yamen of the Persuading Agricultural Division is actually located in Qionglin Garden!" Someone was surprised.

"What's more. I heard that there is still a mansion here, and the official family often comes here to rest on the rest day to guide the officials of the agricultural department on the way to harvest crops. ”

"I'm a native of Kaifeng, so I'm quite familiar with this place. The 300 acres of land to the west of Qionglin Yuan are all owned by the Quannong Division, and all kinds of grains, vegetables and fruits are grown. ”

“……”

An official of the Department of Agriculture stood at the door and said: "You can enter the Qionglin Garden to enjoy, or you can go to the suburbs to go out, and come back in the evening to participate in the Qionglin banquet." ”

Hearing this, the Jinshi quickly divided into two groups, each persuading the officials of the Agricultural Department to show them the way.

Some want to enjoy the scenery of Qionglin Garden and can't wait to go in to play, such as Hu Quan, Yang Ji, Li Yi and others.

Others were interested in the experimental fields of the Quannong Division, and called friends to see what was being planted there, such as Li Tong, Li Gongmao, Zhang Jiucheng and others.

After a short time, he walked to a field, but saw that the small trees had been cut down, and the two persuading agricultural officials were engaged in grafting.

Zhang Jiucheng couldn't help but ask: "What is this doing?" ”

The agricultural officer, who was in charge of giving them a tour guide, explained with a smile: "Graft mulberry trees. The mulberry tree is grafted so well that it can be harvested after a year. In the past, in Hanzhong, several kinds of trees have been tested and summarized to marry mulberry, but at this time, the experiment is to graft mulberry trees. ”

"How?" Li Gongmao asked.

The farmer said: "In the past, in Hanzhong, the survival rate was not very high, but some survived. This shows that Sang and Gou can marry, but there are still skills that have not been discovered. Once you understand all the tricks inside, you can benefit the people. If you graft the mulberry tree, you can grow into a large mulberry forest in one or two years. ”

The Two Song Dynasty was the explosive period of China's agricultural technology, and various agricultural books sprung up.

Tree grafting has been practiced since ancient times, but more attempts have appeared in the Two Song Dynasty.

By the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, four kinds of mulberry grafting methods appeared. In the Yuan Dynasty, six mulberry grafting methods have been summarized.

The scholars watched for a while, and they had a plan in their hearts.

After staying in Tokyo to observe the government, we should persuade the agricultural department to move around and see if there are any technologies worth promoting, so that in the future, if you go abroad to become a local official, you can develop agriculture.

Watching and asking along the way, I soon came to a paddy field.

The farmer took the initiative to introduce: "Friends from the south should have seen the mushroom head (cocoon), but Your Majesty wants to plant the annual mushroom head in Kaifeng!" ”

Wild rice is listed as one of the six grains in the "Zhou Li", and it is often eaten in the Tang Dynasty, and it is called Diaohu in Chang'an. Mushroom rice, also known as carved hu rice, was the food of the Tang Dynasty to entertain distinguished guests.

With the development of wheat and rice, the yield of wild rice was beaten, and the planting area gradually decreased.

Its lesions are pale, and they have long been there.

However, everything is produced in natural lesions, and it often takes more than three years for large-scale lesions to occur.

In the northern planting, it is difficult to survive the winter, and it is difficult to harvest the wild rice, and it is difficult to harvest the white mushroom. Even if it can be harvested, the yield is relatively low, and the size is not very large.

Therefore, there are many kinds of cocoon white in the south, and almost none in the north.

The peasant officer said: "Your Majesty has a saying, the life of the head of the mushroom is not the accumulation of depression. Rather, like the mushroom, it is parasitized by the mushroom, and the mushroom head is born from the diseased mushroom, which can be inoculated by humans. If this thing can be cultivated in Kaifeng, then the vegetables of the south can appear on the table of the north, and there is no need to travel all the way to the expensive price. ”

The jinshi nodded their heads again and again, and there were indeed not enough kinds of vegetables in the north, and it was naturally excellent to be able to buy cheap mushrooms in Tokyo.

The more people watched, the more interested they became, and it was extremely strange.

Soon they came across a large field of wheat, and the wheat seedlings were obviously uneven.

A Shandong scholar squatted down to take a closer look, pointed to a ridge of wheat seedlings in the middle and said, "This is a wheat, right?" ”

The farmer smiled and said, "Brother Tai has good eyesight." ”

The scholar said, "If you mix wheat with wheat, you will not be afraid of all evils." ”

"This is to let them cross naturally, and after many years of selective breeding, they may be able to breed better wheat seeds." Oats are also planted here to allow wheat to be crossed with oats. ”

The people paced to it, and sure enough, they saw some oats planted in the wheat field.

Wheat is still at least a traditional Chinese medicine, and oats are closer to weeds, which are only useful in famine years.

"Brother Yan, why are you here?" Shandong Shizi, who recognized the wheat, suddenly shouted in surprise.

However, in the experimental field, there was a young farmer dressed as a young farmer, who was listening carefully to the explanation of the knowledge of the agricultural officer.

"Congratulations to Brother Motoyoshi High School!"

"Haven't you already returned to your hometown?"

"I was going to leave, but when I saw that the Agricultural Division was recruiting, I stayed again."

"You're not participating in the imperial examination?"

"In the future, it will be the same as a persuading agricultural officer."

“……”

This year, the Department of Agriculture has posted a recruitment notice to recruit unsuccessful recruiters as apprentices.

Once you become a regular, you are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination again!

Very few people are willing to sign up, after all, it is very tiring to persuade agricultural officials, and the development prospects are limited, and they are far less beautiful than those who are admitted to the Jinshi.

The South has fallen off the list, and no one has been hired.

In the north, more than a dozen people signed up, of which Shandong Juzi accounted for half.

The two Shandong scholars went to the side alone to chat.

"Brother Yan, you are persuading the agricultural department to be an apprentice, have you written to your family?"

"It's already written, let the townsfolk raise their sons and take them back."

"Will Sebo agree?"

"Raw rice is cooked and ripe, can my father still find someone to persuade the agricultural department?"

"Isn't it in vain to study hard for more than ten years?"

"How can it be said in vain? Although the agricultural department is farming, it must also be literate and literate. Otherwise, you can directly recruit old farmers, so why bother recruiting unsuccessful children? It was a fluke that I was admitted to the exam, and the Jinshi no longer had extravagant expectations, and it was also excellent to be a persuading agricultural officer. ”

"After all, it is not the right way to take the imperial examination."

"Haha, you don't know that the surrounding people are extremely respectful of the peasant officials. They knew that I was an apprentice to persuade the agricultural division, and they would avoid saluting when they met them on the road. ”

"The people should avoid seeing officials."

"It's different, no one here sounds the gong to open the way, and the people respect it from the bottom of their hearts."

“……”

When it was almost time to stroll, everyone returned to Qionglin Garden together.

The Jinshi who had been wandering around in Qionglin Garden before also gained something. Through the advice of agricultural officials, they learned how to understand the characteristics of plants, how to care for and cultivate those exotic flowers.

In Qionglin Garden, there are a large number of exotic flowers and trees looted by Song Huizong, and now all of them have become experimental objects for persuading agricultural officials.

The emperor and the crown prince had not yet arrived, and the scholars had already begun to take their seats.

Li Tong and Zhang Jiucheng chatted very well, engaged in academic debates every day, and sometimes quarreled so much that they wanted to fight, and after the quarrel, they felt sorry for each other.

The two didn't go to sit down, but squatted by the pool and chatted.

Li Tong said with emotion: "These persuading peasant officials are all apprentices and grandchildren of the official family. The agronomic attainments of the official family are breathtaking. ”

Zhang Jiucheng said: "The old Song Dynasty built a lot of construction, so that the people of the world were not able to make a living. In less than 20 years, agriculture will be the manifestation of the world, and the harvest of five grains and the prosperity of six animals are just around the corner. ”

"It is still necessary to promote the agricultural officials to the higher grades." Li Tong said.

Zhang Jiucheng said: "When the number of persuasive agricultural officials increases, they will definitely be promoted, and in the end, they should be of high quality and low quality." Absorbing the unsuccessful people as persuading agricultural officials can be regarded as leaving a way out for the scholars. When there are more people who are willing to learn the crops, I am afraid that there will be special exams. ”

Li Tong said: "After watching the government and resting, we should come to persuade the agricultural department more. When you become a magistrate, you should also ask the agricultural magistrate for advice on what kind of crops should be planted in a certain state and county. At the beginning of the new dynasty, the people are exhausted, so we should still take agriculture as the foundation, so that the people of the world can have enough to eat. ”

"That's a lot of truth." Zhang Jiucheng nodded in approval.

The two chatted for a while, and suddenly a courtesy officer came to remind them, and they hurried back to their respective seats.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

"The prince has arrived!"

In the sound of ritual music, lanterns were lit everywhere in Qionglin Garden, and the honor guard of the Son of Heaven was from far and near.

The jinshi hurriedly stood up and greeted them with a salute.

Zhu Guoxiang took his son to sit down, said some words of encouragement, and then said: "I don't have a good speech, and I don't like others to replace me." Today's imperial poems are oiled works, and I am afraid that they will be laughed at and generous. Take pen and ink! ”

The eunuch held the pen, ink, paper and inkstone to serve, and the next step was to give the imperial poem to the jinshi.

I saw Zhu Guoxiang finish writing, and the eunuch recited on the spot: "The national dynasty planted the sacred tree, the first branch this spring." When the Haiyan River is clear, the fruits are full of Qionglin. ”

The Jinshi were stunned when they heard this, and many people immediately bowed their heads, afraid of being amused by this limerick poem.

Zhu Ming couldn't help but wonder, my father really didn't copy poems, and he was too lazy to let a well-educated person replace him, so he really made a limerick poem by himself.

Although it is difficult to get into the hall of elegance, this poem has lofty intentions, and it is very convenient for Jinshi to compose poems.

The jinshi wanted to laugh at first, but they quickly got used to it and were in awe of the emperor.

The emperor's limerick poem compares the imperial examination literature and education to the Shenmu of the National Dynasty, and the Jinshi present are the first branches of the Shenmu to germinate. Encourage everyone to be a good official and create a prosperous era of Haiyan River.

The first, second, and third class jinshi, each of whom was represented by the top three, wrote poems on the spot and the emperor, saying that they would definitely live up to the emperor's ardent expectations.

Gentlemen and ministers get along, drunk and happy.

At the end of the feast, each jinshi was given 10 taels of silver, 10 pieces of five silver dollars, 10 pieces of silver dollars, and 10 copper coins.

The five coins and the silver dollar were both newly minted this year, in order to facilitate the use of silver dollars.

Among them, a silver dollar has a lower silver content, but more copper.

Nowadays, the three types of silver dollars have common names, namely one yuan (one tael), five jiao (five coins), and one jiao (one coin).

Zhang Jiucheng put the silver dollar in his arms, wrapped a heavy copper coin around his waist, and walked back to the city drunken with joy.

The next day, the Emperor's limerick spread and became a joke throughout Tokyo.

(End of chapter)