Huang Gou took a little of each from the dishes on the table, first tested the poison with a silver needle, and then began to taste.
Zhao Mengqi was a little helpless. He knew that the silver needle was not actually testing poison, but just testing sulfur. Many poisons may not contain sulfur, and those containing sulfur, such as eggs, may not be poisonous.
But the most easily obtained highly toxic substance in this era is arsenic, also known as the famous 'Hedinghong'. The poisoning occurs very quickly and is usually difficult to rescue. Due to technical reasons, it contains a lot of sulfur, so silver is used. You’ll know once you try the needle, so you can’t say it’s useless.
Even if you try it, it may not work, and you cannot prevent some chronic poisons, but as long as it is not fatal immediately, there is always a chance of rescue, and this is already the most practical daily anti-virus method.
Zhao Mengqi was almost given poison when he first arrived, but he didn't dare to have any confidence in his living environment. With Huang Gou's insistence, he could only let it go.
While waiting, Zhao Mengqi simply looked at the scenery outside the window.
In the market river, boats are constantly coming and going, most of them are carrying goods, heading to various markets, or just coming out from there.
There are many more rivers in Lin'an City than in later generations, and they are criss-crossed. Two rivers in the west connect to the West Lake, two rivers in the north connect to the canal, and two rivers in the southeast connect to the Qiantang River. So there are six or seven Guangshui Gates.
Through the Grand Canal and westward along the Yangtze River, you can reach the two lakes areas and Tianfu Sichuan. Going up the Qiantang River, you can also reach prosperous Wuzhou, Quzhou, Huizhou and other places.
In addition, there are the West Zhejiang Canal and the East Zhejiang Canal, which connect Beiguo and Zhenjiang of Lin'an Prefecture respectively, as well as the Qiantang River and Yao River, making Lin'an and other prefectures and counties unimpeded.
To a certain extent, waterways are the main mode of transportation for Lin'an residents.
There are many rivers, and there are countless bridges in the city. Arch bridges, flat bridges, wooden bridges, and stone bridges are not only ingenious, but also strong and durable. At this time, the construction technology of the Han people is unparalleled in the world.
Zhao Mengqi glanced across the bridge not far away and happened to catch a touch of light blue.
Master Wanwan and the two of them were walking in the carriage. When they reached the high point of the bridge, they seemed to feel something. Wanwan stopped, leaned on the railing and looked up at the five-room building.
Seeing her stop, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but smile back.
There was a distance of about fifty feet, and Wanwan saw him, but she couldn't see his smile. She vaguely felt that he was looking at her, and after wishing her a blessing, she continued to move forward.
What a beautiful woman, but she is too cold.
Seeing her gradually disappearing into the crowd, Zhao Mengqi felt lost.
"Alang, it's time, you can have your meal." Huang Gou's voice called him back.
The food in these five buildings is indeed very good, not much worse than that in the palace, but Zhao Mengqi is a bit bland, perhaps lacking some beauty to accompany the food.
It should be because of this body. Teenagers in adolescence are more likely to be attracted to the opposite sex.
Zhao Mengqi could only explain it this way. After all, he had gone through many vicissitudes in his previous life and had become much indifferent in this regard.
Regardless of whether it tastes good or not, he still eats a lot, otherwise he would not be able to grow taller without nutrition.
After breakfast, Zhao Mengqi took a carriage and headed outside the east city.
Lin'an City is only fourteen miles long and only about five miles wide, but the city has a population of nearly one million. With such a density, how can one easily find a place to build a new school.
Besides, the school area planned by Zhao Mengqi was quite large, so he had no choice but to go outside Dongcheng to have a look.
Passing by a majestic but somewhat dilapidated house, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but be curious when he saw many Taoist priests coming and going.
"Alang, this is Yousheng Palace. It was originally the latent residence of Emperor Xiaozong. Both Guangzong and Ningzong were born here. After Xiaozong ascended the throne and entered the palace, this place was abandoned. Xiaozong simply changed it into a Taoist temple for worship. It has been almost 110 years since the construction of the North Pole Zhenwu Youshengjun, so it is inevitable that it will be dilapidated."
Huang Gou was used to being the explanation for Zhao Mengqi. Seeing that he was confused, he explained the origin of the house.
Arctic Zhenwu? Isn't that Xuanwu?
No wonder the Song Dynasty, which had always followed a policy of defensive retreat, turned out to be such a believer in Xuanwu.
Zhao Mengqi complained, looking at this Taoist palace that seemed to cover an area larger than the Sifang Pavilion. It really disrespected the common people and ghosts and gods. There was nothing wrong with such a big place. Even if he built a house and sold it, he could make a lot of money. For national use.
It is said that there are quite a lot of Taoist palaces in Lin'an City, such as Kaiyuan Palace, Longxiang Palace, Wanshou Temple, East Taiyi Palace, Deshou Palace, Jingling Palace... there are a lot of them, each one is bigger than the other.
Zhao Song believed in Taoism so much that at the last critical moment, the bull noses in Longhu Mountain turned around and surrendered to the Mongols.
Thinking of this, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but feel a little bored, but he couldn't do anything, so he had to put down the car curtain and keep out of sight.
Huang Gou saw that his master seemed to be in a bad mood, so he stopped talking for a while and quietly left the city through Chongxin Gate.
The area outside Chongxin Gate is not a wilderness, because an outer city with earthen walls more than eight miles long and two miles wide was built east of Lin'an City to accommodate the excess population.
Apart from the relatively small number of wealthy mansions, it doesn't look very different from the city. It's relatively less crowded and you can also find some open space.
Seeing that there were not so many people on the road, Zhao Mengqi simply got off the carriage and walked, with only Huang Gou, Chang Geng and Zeng Ba beside him, and the carriage and others hung behind.
After walking for a while, Zhao Mengqi saw a vast construction site where a group of ragged people were building houses. At a glance, there were at least several thousand people.
Among them, there are many subordinate officials and government officials who are directing and supervising the work, and there are many sergeants guarding the surroundings.
Zhao Mengqi thought that the imperial court was building some project, so he used so many laborers, but these people were obviously very poor, and it was too much to ask them to serve, so his face darkened and his heart seemed to fall. Weighing weight.
In feudal society, in addition to paying taxes, ordinary people also had to perform various labor services. To put it bluntly, this service was to serve as a free labor force for the court.
This is a very heavy mountain for the people. Once the imperial conscription comes to an end, they have to give up their own livelihood and even provide their own food to work for the imperial court for free.
If you are just a farmer, the impact of being drafted during off-farm time will be relatively small. However, with the development of society, more and more people rely on handicrafts and commerce to make a living, so this draft law has become a big malpractice.
In order to eliminate this bad government, there have been many reforms in the past dynasties. Gradually, the people provided money to hire people to work, and the court spent money to hire people to work. The most famous one is Wang Anshi's immunization method.
This immunity money is naturally added to the original taxes, but often as time goes by, when the people get used to the increased taxes, the imperial court often requires free service, and a situation arises where they have to pay and serve at the same time. .
This starts a cycle again, and the tax exemption money is added... In this way, the service exemption money becomes a disguised tax increase.
Zhao Mengqi read the bypass book and knew that the money for exemption from labor at this time was already included in the total economic system. Even if the court would inevitably use labor in some places, on such a large scale, it was still the spring plowing season to recruit these peasant-like people. Serving in the military has delayed the farming season, so how can they survive if they have no income this year! ?
Sure enough, this feudal society is absolutely evil!
"What's going on!? At this time, the conscription is not going to give these people a way to survive!?" Zhao Mengqi gritted his teeth and his tone was a little cold.
Huang Gou was also confused about what was happening in front of him. He knew that his master was angry, but he didn't know how to explain it.
At this time, Chang Geng said, "Ya Nei, you may have misunderstood. This is not a conscription."
"No? Then what is this?"
"It's like this. Last year, when Taihu Lake was flooded, many people's fields were flooded and washed away, and they became refugees trying to make a living. There are tens of thousands of people near Lin'an. Ma Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue also serves as the pacifier of Western Zhejiang and Lin'an Prefecture. A while ago, I wrote to the officials to arrange a living for these victims and build houses in the east of the city. So they are actually working for themselves, and the court also distributes money and food to them appropriately, which can be regarded as work-for-work. Relief."
"In that case, why are there so many sergeants?"
"When there are so many people here, there will inevitably be mixed results. This is Lin'an. If something happens, it's no joke. You have to be prepared."
"Oh, I see, I misunderstood."
"The Yamen's heart cares about the people, which is also a blessing to the Song Dynasty."
"Haha, I couldn't tell that you, a big old man, can also flatter me."
Knowing that he had misunderstood, Zhao Mengqi's mood improved. The Song Dynasty finally had some hope. At least there were some conscientious officials in the court.
After a few more glances, I thought that these tens of thousands of disaster victims were ready-made labor force, and I started to have a vague plan.
"Ya Nei, it's too dusty here, let's go somewhere else to look." Huang Gou advised.
After leaving the construction site, we saw several open spaces along the way, but they were either low-lying and filled with water, or were small and oddly shaped, not very suitable.
It seems that the available resettlement land for the victims is available nearby, and Zhao Mengqi is not very satisfied with the environment and is not suitable for the school.
Zhao Mengqi and the others walked and arrived at Nantumen City. Although the densely packed shops here were a little shabby, the business seemed to be very good and the people coming and going were very lively.
Seeing the crowd, Huang Gou became nervous and said, "Ya Nei, if we go further, we will reach Nantumen. I think there won't be a suitable place anymore. How about we turn around and find another place."
Chang Geng also advised, "Ya Nei, I think these earth cities are all about the same. The ones that can meet your requirements are probably around Genshan."
"Yamenei, if we don't insist on staying in the city, the area around West Lake is actually not bad. Geling and Nanping Mountain are not far from the city." Zeng Ba also made suggestions.
Zhao Mengqi thought for a while, and estimated that there really wouldn't be any suitable place in Dongtucheng. He also thought about the affairs of the Imperial City Division when he came out today, so he nodded.
"Okay, I've been walking all morning and have no clue. I'll go to the West Lake in the afternoon to have a look..."
As he was talking, there was a sound of chasing and beating in the alley next to him, "Thief hozen! Don't run away! ... Straight bitch! See if I don't chop off your dog's paws..."
