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In April of the twelfth year of the Qingli reign of the Song Dynasty, a passenger ship drifted in from outside the city of Xiangyang, Xiangzhou, southwest of Beijing.
After stopping at Xiangyang Wharf, a family of five got off the passenger ship.
The man was about forty years old, with a stubbled beard, red eyes, and a slightly haggard face.
The hostess was dressed simply and without makeup. She was between thirty and forty years old. I don’t know if she was tired from the journey, but she was covered in dust and fatigue.
However, the one daughter and two sons were in good spirits. The eldest daughter was about eighteen years old, with a pretty face, and looked around curiously.
The eldest son should be about sixteen years old, with a heroic appearance, standing at the bow of the ship, also looking out.
The youngest son is about fourteen years old, tall, and his features are slightly precocious.
This family of five is none other than Su Xun's family.
The host was Su Xun, the hostess was Mrs. Cheng, their daughter was Su Banniang, and their sons were Su Shi and Su Zhe.
This time, Su Xun and his family set out from their hometown of Meizhou, Sichuan, took a boat down the Yangtze River, then followed the Han River to Xiangyang, and finally took a train to Beijing.
This trip to Beijing is to conduct an inspection and selection.
After getting off the boat, I saw construction sites everywhere outside Xiangyang City, with some high-rise buildings being built.
The ancient city is well preserved and has not been demolished.
Even though the Song Dynasty now had cement factories, brick factories and steel mills in various places, it advocated expanding outside the city, and the original city was used as the old city area.
This has nothing to do with protecting historical relics. It is simply that local finances are limited and most of them are used to build basic industries. There is no extra money for demolition.
Just like the large-scale demolitions in my country in later generations could not be implemented until after the millennium, when the country's fiscal revenue increased significantly.
In the past, when we had no money, we could only develop industry first and increase income before we could engage in development.
Su Xun looked around and saw that the dock was crowded with people. Various large cargo ships were docked and countless workers were busy moving the goods onto some rubber-tired carts and heading towards West City.
"Father, that's the train station."
Su Shi asked someone and then told Su Xun: "I heard that the train built a bridge from Changshou Island in the upper reaches of the Han River, so the station is on the west side of the city."
Su Xun looked towards the distant bank of the Han River. At this moment, a construction team was pouring cement pillars on Taohua Island in the center of the river.
Apparently, since the Song Dynasty had mastered the technology of building bridges on rivers, Xiangyang was now planning to build a large bridge across the Han River. This way, trains would no longer have to take a long detour from Changshou Island upstream where the river was narrowest.
"Should we go to the train station today to buy tickets to Bianliang, or should we rest in Xiangyang for a day first?"
Su Che asked, "I've almost lost all my energy on the boat."
"Then let's take a day off before continuing on our journey."
Su Xun said, "After arriving in Xiangyang, it will be quick to get to Bianliang. It is said that we can get there in one day, so one day is not a big deal."
"Then we can go shopping in Xiangyang."
Su Shi said happily, "I heard that the court is still continuing to build a railway southward, going through Jiangling to Guangzhou. In two years, perhaps we won't have to take a boat to Xiangyang, and we can take a train from Jiangling to Bianliang."
"Not only that, the railway from Chengdu to Chang'an has also been built. It's a pity that the railway from Chang'an to Bianliang hasn't been built yet. Otherwise, why would we have to go down the river?"
Su Che said, "In a few years, I'm afraid we will be able to take a train directly from Chengdu to Bianliang."
"Um."
Su Xun nodded and sighed, "I've wasted five years at home. Although I often read in the newspapers about the changes in the Song Dynasty, it's only when I see them in person that I understand what is truly magnificent."
Su Shi smiled and said: "Although my father has been at home for five years, the court has not forgotten him, not to mention..."
He looked at Su Banniang and said, "Sister, you've come back from the brink of death and are now safe and sound. Isn't this a good thing?"
"good."
Su Xun glanced at Madam Cheng and his daughter, smiled and said with relief: "It's best that the family is safe."
Then he said to the crowd, "It was the help of the Zhiyuan that helped me with this matter. Zhiyuan is like my Su family's second parent. You must remember Zhiyuan's kindness, understand?"
"Yes, father."
Su Shi and Su Zhe responded.
Su Banniang smiled slightly and responded in the same way.
Compared to the year before last when she was nearly dying of illness and almost had lost her breath, she now looks much more radiant.
It all started when the Cheng family proposed to her.
Twelve years ago, Su Xun went to Beijing to take the imperial examination and passed it with one stroke, ranking fourth in the first class, only behind the number one scholar Wang Anshi, the third place scholar Su Song, and the second place scholar Huang Shu. For a time, he brought honor to his family and enjoyed great fame.
He was first granted the title of Guangning Supervisor, which was equivalent to the Guangning County Magistrate, in charge of the local copper industry. Due to his outstanding political achievements, he was transferred to Mizhou Tongpan in the third year of the Qingli period.
In the sixth year of the Qingli period, Su Xun, who had done a good job as the Tongpan of Mizhou, was transferred to Daozhou as the prefect.
As a result, less than a year after arriving in Daozhou, I heard the bad news.
His father Su Xu died of illness at the beginning of the seventh year of the Qingli period. For this reason, he and his brother Su Huan had to resign from their official positions and return home to mourn for their father.
In ancient times, the mourning period was not three years, but twenty-seven months, which is two years and three months.
Under normal circumstances, he could continue to serve as an official by the beginning of the ninth year of the Qingli period.
For example, after Su Huan finished his mourning period, he returned to Bianliang to report. However, in March of the ninth year of the Qingli period, he was taken away by Zhao Jun as soon as he arrived in Bianliang and was taken to inspect the country.
But Su Xun, like Bao Zheng, was quite filial. In addition, when the Cheng family came to propose marriage, Mrs. Cheng's brother, Su Shi's uncle Cheng Jun, hoped that Su Banniang would marry his son Cheng Zhicai.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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