People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 525 Scenery Along the Way
There are not many people coming and going at Bianliang West Railway Station.

After all, Guanzhong was over-exploited during the Tang Dynasty and experienced the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and its economy and population declined significantly.

Although the Song Dynasty has been working hard to improve this situation in recent years, Chang'an's progress is still far behind the construction progress of other major cities.

However, the reason why Zhao Jun first built the railway system from Chengdu to Chang'an and from Chang'an to Bianliang was to promote the development of Guanzhong.

Therefore, once the Guanzhong region is well governed and the population density increases, the economy will naturally prosper rapidly.

At the beginning of the morning, the convoy arrived at the West Station, surrounded by guards.

The guard that Zhao Zhen brought with him on this trip was not large, with a battalion of 500 people in the personal guard of honor, and 2,000 people in the surrounding guards.

Including Empress Cao, two princesses and some serving palace maids and eunuchs, there were about two thousand six hundred people.

It is exactly the maximum number of people that can be accommodated in a train with twenty-four carriages.

Zhao Jun and his wife also went.

But the children were not brought with them.

In fact, Zhao Zhen only brought two younger princesses, who were only four or five years old.

The rest of the children are studying in Bianliang. The eldest, Zhao Fang, is 16 years old this year and has just been promoted to the first year of high school in Bianliang No. 14 High School. The second child, Zhao Xin, is years old and was promoted to the third year of junior high school last September.

Zhao Zhen now has three sons and five daughters. Compared with his father, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng, he has a house full of children.

Zhao Jun had only one son and one daughter. His son Zhao Tan was born in August of the second year of the Qingli period. He was four years younger than Zhao Fang, who was born in July of the fourth year of the Jingyou period, and one year younger than Zhao Xin, who was born in the first year of the Qingli period. He is also in the second grade of junior high school in Bianliang.

Apart from the son, the daughters are basically all of school age. Whether it is Zhao Jun's daughter Zhao Qingyun or Zhao Zhen's daughter Zhao Qinghan, they are either in elementary school or junior high school.

Therefore, at this age when everyone is studying, it is naturally impossible to do anything special. Going out for inspection with children who are in junior high school and high school is the only way for the time being.

It was school time and there were many students in school uniforms near the train station.

Zhao Zhen got off the carriage. Due to his special situation, the people around him were separated. However, although he was far away, he could see from afar many students heading towards a junior high school in Bianliang outside the west city gate, like streams converging into a river.

Nowadays, except for Bianliang First Center, which was the first school in the inner city established by the Political System Institute when Zhao Jun came, all other schools are outside the city.

There is still no high school or junior high school in the outer city.

no way.

Basic education in the Song Dynasty developed relatively late.

The first school was built in the third year of Jingyou, and the second one was not established until seven years later in the third year of Qingli.

Today, there are three high schools, twelve junior high schools, and more than fifty primary schools in Bianliang. These schools were established due to the rapid development of education in recent years.

However, after the Qingli Year, housing prices in the inner and outer cities of Bianliang rose too rapidly.

In order to build a junior high school, at least ten acres of land are needed. In order to build a better junior high school or high school, at least hundreds of acres of land are needed.

For example, when Zhao Jun went to school, he went to Changsha with his parents. His parents worked in Changsha. He did very well in elementary school and went to the best junior high school in Changsha. His alma mater covers an area of ​​115 acres, which shows how much space is needed to run a school.

Given the housing prices in the inner and outer cities of Bianliang, if the Ministry of Education wants to apply to open a school in the city, let alone whether the Constitutional Yuan will agree, the Ministry of Finance will not agree first. How many schools can be built outside the city with this money?
So every time they go to and from school, the children from the city run outside the city to study.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Education also took this into consideration, and several important schools were built outside the city gates, closer to the city.

Students in the inner city are also supported by the No. 1 High School and its affiliated No. 1 Middle School. Students do not take exams specifically for any particular school, but rather a unified joint exam. If they pass, they go to the school closest to their home.

In addition, the majority of the population of Bianliang lived outside the city rather than in the city, so the distance to school was basically within two or three kilometers.

As for the small number of schools, the question of whether they can cover the entire Bianliang population of more than five million is also a simple one.

It is not easy to go to school and study in this era. The threshold is very high. Only the top students can have a chance, so I can cope with it.

The court's focus afterwards was to continue to develop basic education, to extend universal education to the grassroots, to build more primary schools, and to give priority to literacy work.

Once there are enough primary schools, we will then improve junior high school education, and finally vigorously develop high schools and universities.

The same is true in my country in later generations. Many people born in the 60s and 70s basically only have primary school education. The problem is that at that time, there were few junior high schools, high schools, and universities, and the threshold was very high.

It was not until the 80s that the number of junior high schools and high schools increased, and it was not until the 90s, that is, after the millennium, that universities began to expand their enrollment.

Otherwise, why is it said that in the 70s-90s, even a diploma from a technical college was more valuable than a diploma from a first-tier university in later generations?
But even so, compared with the former Song Dynasty, the current Song Dynasty is already full of vigor and vitality. With these students as the cornerstone of the country, the future is limitless.

“I am so happy to see these children.”

Zhao Zhen got off the carriage, then helped Queen Cao down and sighed with a smile.

Empress Cao also glanced at the students in the distance, but she did not show much joy. She just shook her head and said, "It's Fang'er and Xin'er."

"Ugh."

Zhao Zhen sighed.

At this time, Zhao Jun also came over and said, "Let's go, Your Majesty."

In public, you still have to use the official title.

"Ah."

Zhao Zhen nodded and walked towards the station.

Zhao Jun followed beside him. Empress Cao stood side by side with Zhao Zhen, with Zhao Jun on Zhao Zhen's right, while he was on Zhao Zhen's left, slightly behind by half a body length.

The two of them walked and chatted, and he asked, "Your Majesty, I saw you sighing just now, what happened?"

"When I saw those students, I thought of Fang'er and Xin'er."

Zhao Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "Compared with your Tan'er who got in with real talent and knowledge, my two useless ones are really..."

"This is normal. We can't expect all our children and grandchildren to be geniuses."

Zhao Jun laughed awkwardly.

Zhao Fang and Zhao Xin did not perform well in school, but they were admitted to the school through connections.

Zhao Fang has been doing a little better in recent years. With his guidance since he was young, although his grades are not outstanding, he works hard and now finally ranks in the middle and lower reaches of the class, barely being considered a top student.

Zhao Xin was amazing. When he was in elementary school, he could rank in the top 20 in his class. But when he entered junior high school, he was always ranked last, and the gap between him and the second to last student was very large.

In contrast, Zhao Tan, who was basically never taught by Zhao Jun, was admitted to the affiliated junior high school of Bianliang High School with the excellent result of second place in Bianliang.

After entering, he was very dissatisfied with Lu Dian, who ranked first in Bianliang in the joint examination, so he competed fiercely with him and often defeated Lu Dian to take the first place.

You should know that Lu Dian is Lu You's grandfather, who was the fifth among the first class of the Jinshi exam in history.

In other words, with Zhao Tan's intelligence and talent, even if he took the imperial examination, he would have been at the level of a first-class Jinshi, which was a far cry from the two brothers Zhao Fang and Zhao Xin. However, due to Zhao Jun's busy work, Zhao Tan did not teach him much. Instead, he would teach Zhao Fang for more than an hour during his lunch break in the early years, and later Zhao Xin also joined in.

As a result, the son who was not taught well got the first place in Bianliang, while the two princes who were taught patiently performed quite poorly.

Doesn’t this mean that his teaching level is not very good?

If Zhao Zhen were to pursue the matter, Zhao Jun would really feel guilty.

"Ugh."

Fortunately, Zhao Zhen didn't think about it. He sighed and walked into the train station.

The train station was blocked today.

The Minister of Railways, along with several entourage members, as well as the West Station Master and some employees lined up outside the station to welcome them.

There was also a banner hanging on it that read "Your Majesty, welcome the Minister to visit and provide guidance."

It was also the first time that Zhao Zhen encountered such a scene, but arrangements had been made in advance and everyone applauded along the way.

Zhao Zhen walked over with Queen Cao. They were not wearing robes, just ordinary youth clothes. They went up to shake hands with the employees and nodded to express their affirmation of their work.

The station staff, regardless of gender, age or status, were extremely excited and had excited expressions on their faces. Among them was a station cleaner who nervously wiped his body several times before shaking hands with Zhao Zhen, with an ashamed expression on his face.

Zhao Zhen did not say anything until he got on the train, then he said to Zhao Jun with emotion: "The cleaner wiped his body for a long time before shaking hands with me, but I saw that his hands were very clean, just a little rough, which means that he had washed them for a long time before coming here."

"The working people are simple, but the emperors in feudal society never cared about them. Throughout history, only the emperors were willing to stand with them, which was beyond all the emperors."

Zhao Jun seemed to be answering a question that was not relevant to the question, but this sentence was actually the answer.

Compared with the ancient powerful class who treated the lower class people as grass, Zhao Zhen not only clearly put himself in the right position, but also had some insights. This understanding was enough.

Therefore, he did not need to feel any psychological burden about this matter, because as a feudal emperor, being able to take this step, meet with the working people at the bottom and understand their sufferings, wasn't it a huge progress?
"Ah."

Zhao Zhen nodded.

Led by the conductor, the group arrived at the first carriage at the back of the middle section of the train.

This is the safest carriage on the entire train. Now the entire carriage has been converted into Zhao Zhen's temporary residence. The entire carriage is occupied by Zhao Zhen and his wife, accompanied by several palace maids.

The second carriage was occupied by Zhao Jun and his wife. They did not bring any servants, so Zhao Zhen assigned two palace maids to serve them.

The train was filled with the noise of children.

Zhao Qingwu and Zhao Qingfu were the children of Concubine Zhou and Concubine Dong Shu, one five years old and the other six years old. They were not yet old enough to go to primary school, and were just playing around, running around in the carriage.

"Slow down, don't fall."

"Don't lean on the window, don't open the window."

"Do you still have any rules?"

The task of taking care of the baby was given to Queen Cao. At first she was a little patient, but later she gradually became irritable.

I really didn't expect these two kids could be so naughty.

Perhaps it is because although Empress Cao is the mistress of the harem, she does not interfere in the management of the concubines. She is relatively selfless, that is, she does not care about things but is not afraid of things either.

"Take them to the next car."

Zhao Zhen picked up the teacup and took a sip. Seeing that the two children were making a fuss, he felt a little unhappy.

Zhao Jun winked at Cao Miaoxin, and Cao Miaoxin took the hands of the two children and said, "Come on, come on, go play over there with auntie, I have candy."

When the two children heard that there was candy, they immediately followed Cao Miaoxin.

Empress Cao also tactfully went to the next carriage with several palace maids, and soon only Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun were left in the carriage.

"Boom!"

"woo woo woo woo!"

"Beep beep beep beep!"

Just at this moment, the train started moving.

As the wheels slowly roll, you can feel the car moving even from inside the car.

However, after it gained speed, it quickly disappeared, as if it was sitting on flat ground.

Zhao Zhen originally wanted to chat with Zhao Jun for a while, but when the car started, he sat by the window, staring out the window intently.

The carriage was separated in the middle by a curtain. The back was the bedroom of Zhao Zhen and Queen Cao, with a bed and clothes rack, and the front was a living room-like area with a table, chairs and a stove.

Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun sat on the edge of the chairs, watching the train moving outside the window. At first, they could see the wall of the train station, but soon it slowly drove out of the station. They could see high-rise buildings on both sides and the green grass on the slope surrounded by iron fences.

The track is not very high, so you can't see much scenery. But once the speed increases and you drive out of the city in just a few minutes, you will see a completely different scene.

They saw the vast countryside, the lush forests, and the rolling mountains in the distance. The train moved along the northern bank of the Zheng River. Sitting in the train, the morning sun was shining, and the water was sparkling, as if gold was covering the earth.

There were villages farther away, with smoke rising from cooking fires, and farmers carrying hoes into the fields. When they heard the roar of the train, they stood there and watched for a while, then buried their heads in the fields again.

Zhao Zhen just stared blankly, and he didn't know when his mouth opened slightly.

Even though the car was not going very fast, only forty or fifty miles per hour, for him, this was a scene he had never seen before, a scene that he would never be able to see even if he stood at the highest point of the Bianliang Palace with a telescope.

“I have never taken a train.”

After a long while, Zhao Zhen said softly, "I only knew it was fast before, but now I know that sitting on the car and looking outside are two different things. Being overwhelmed is what it means."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "In our later generations, there is a saying to describe trains."

"What?"

“Life is a journey. What matters is not the destination, but the scenery along the way.”

“The scenery along the way?”

Zhao Zhen seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhao Jun looked at the scenery flashing outside the car window and said softly, "Just like you shouldn't look at how old a person is, but what he has done in his life. This period in the middle of life is the most meaningful time."

Zhao Zhen turned his head and saw the mountains in the distance getting closer and closer. The morning sun shone from the east, illuminating the entire Songshan Mountain. There seemed to be a ray of light on the top of the mountain, which made people feel happy.

(End of this chapter)