I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 233 The Rules of the Harem

...

Zhang Chun knows how to win people's hearts.

On the day of Li Shishi's "wedding," Zhang Chun personally led the people in her palace to dress up Li Shishi, not only showcasing her beauty, but also giving her a set of Luoshen-themed fashion that she had prepared to use to kill Zhao Yu, and lending her her best jewelry necklace.

After Li Shishi put on this outfit, the game costume that should have only existed in the pixel world now awakened on Li Shishi with visible luxury.

Layers of moon-bright brocade, embroidered with a thousand cranes in gold thread, seemed to come alive as Li Shishi swayed, as if they were about to burst through the fabric and take flight at any moment. The silk gauze at the hem shimmered with a deep blue luster, as if it were made by crushing and weaving together the stars of the entire deep sea.

The jadeite vine necklace was the finishing touch. The icy jadeite shimmered with a watery light under the candlelight, and the coral beads and lapis lazuli were arranged in a star-like pattern, resting precisely on the most vulnerable hollow between Li Shishi's collarbones, making her look like a goddess who had stepped out of a Dunhuang mural.

Looking at the exquisite plaything he had created, Zhang Chun was somewhat dazed. 'Such a stunning beauty has once again benefited the emperor. Was I being too good to him? He's not my son.'

Then, Zhang Chun imagined what she would look like wearing this outfit.

Looking at Li Shishi's more beautiful face, better figure, and more charming temperament, Zhang Chun couldn't help but feel a little guilty. 'I absolutely cannot wear the same clothes as Li Shishi and humiliate myself!'

That evening, after Zhao Yu had decided where to rest, Zhang Chun personally escorted Li Shishi to the bridal chamber.

After escorting Li Shishi into the bridal chamber, Zhang Chun told her, "Don't be nervous or shy. Use all your skills to please the Emperor, make him unable to resist you and linger there forever..."

Although Zhang Chun had his own selfish motives, wanting to use Li Shishi to seduce Zhao Yu and thus gain more opportunities to be favored, it must be said that as a master, Zhang Chun really did a good job.

What moved Li Shishi the most was that Zhang Chun did not stay to serve Zhao Yu in bed with her. Instead, after explaining everything, he left, giving her the opportunity to serve Zhao Yu alone.

Don't underestimate this.

wrong.

Big mistakes.

This was a very rare opportunity for the women in Zhao Yu's harem.

Zhao Yu was particularly fond of women and also had a penchant for novelty.

Some people have summarized that after Empress Dowager Xiang died, Zhao Yu would have sex with virgins every three to five days, at least three at a time.

This is a Taoist practice of replenishing yin and yang, which is very beneficial to the body.

To be conservative, Zhao Yu must have consumed at least three hundred virgins a year.

By now, Zhao Yu has been on the throne for seven years, and Empress Dowager Xiang has been dead for almost six years. Zhao Yu has already completed the "killing of a thousand people," and is even close to completing a second "killing of a thousand people."

Moreover, this data is constantly being updated.

It is easy to see from this that Zhao Yu had no shortage of concubines.

Whenever Zhao Yu favored a new concubine, he would have the female attendants prepare ten new women. He would then randomly select a few from them.

Crucially, these new concubines were always accompanied by experienced imperial concubines or female officials when they served the emperor. Very few new concubines were able to serve the emperor alone.

After all, if new concubines were to serve the emperor alone, there would be some things that Zhao Yu would have to teach them personally, which would be a waste of Zhao Yu's precious time.

Once a new concubine gets the opportunity to serve him alone in bed, it's practically a guarantee of her advancement. This not only means that Zhao Yu has begun to approve of her and is willing to waste more of his precious time on her, but it also indicates that she may become a unique figure in Zhao Yu's heart, standing out from among three thousand beauties.

This was an absolute honor, and the first night that countless women in the harem dreamed of.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhang Chun secured the best possible start for Li Shishi.

Moreover, Zhang Chun promptly reminded the inexperienced Li Shishi to use all her skills and not to miss this rare opportunity due to unnecessary negative emotions such as nervousness or shyness.

The rules of the imperial harem were that if a woman was favored by the emperor once, she would be granted a title; if she was favored again, she would be promoted one rank. If she could conceive Zhao Yu's child as a result, it would be considered like winning the lottery.

This is absolutely the fastest way for a woman in the imperial harem to climb the social ladder, bar none.

Therefore, if Li Shishi fails to seduce Zhao Yu this time, it will be extremely difficult for her to climb the social ladder.

It is easy to see that everything Zhang Chun taught Li Shishi was invaluable advice.

Li Shishi was determined to demonstrate all her knowledge and skills today and firmly capture Zhao Yu's heart.

……

With the help of Song Jiang's rebel army, many gentry in the Central Plains were eliminated, and most of those who remained dared not oppose the court's reforms anymore.

Crucially, with the implementation of the new policies, a large number of laborers in the Central Plains region were freed up.

This means that the Central Plains region is now almost ready to proceed with the next stage of reforms.

According to the pre-arranged plan, Zhao Yu issued an edict ordering relevant departments to hire local people to plant crops such as cotton, sugar beets, and sweet sorghum on unclaimed land to support industrial development.

— Zhao Yu dared to use the land in this way because Yuan Qingcheng had almost doubled the grain production.

Meanwhile, the newly established Ministry of Commerce, established three years ago, plans to select sites in the Central Plains region to establish factories such as textile mills, steel mills, cement mills, bearing mills, alkali mills, sugar mills, alcohol mills, machinery mills, paper mills, glass mills, ceramics mills, and soap mills. This aims to provide more job opportunities for the people of the Central Plains region and supply core industrial products to other regions. Furthermore, relevant departments will employ local residents of the Central Plains region to dredge waterways and strengthen infrastructure development such as bridge and road construction, providing guarantees and support for the upcoming large-scale industrial development.

It is worth mentioning that Zhao Yu specifically issued an imperial edict, requiring the Ministry of Works to strengthen the construction of Bianliang Port, Dengzhou Port, and Banqiao Town Port in Mizhou.

Bianliang Port, relying on the Grand Canal, was an important inland port at that time. The Grand Canal connected the Yellow River, Huai River, and Yangtze River systems, enabling goods from the Jiangnan region to be transported to the Central Plains by waterway. Therefore, Bianliang Port became a crucial transportation hub for the distribution and transshipment of goods in the Central Plains and even the entire Zhao Song Dynasty.

Therefore, given that the Central Plains region is about to enter an era of great industrial development, it is understandable to strengthen the construction of Bianliang Port, after all, it is currently the economic center of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Dengzhou Port, located in the Penglai area of ​​northern Shandong Peninsula, was one of the important coastal ports in the north of the Zhao Song Dynasty. It faced Nanjing Road and Tokyo Road of the Liao Dynasty across the sea, and was also the closest port to Goryeo and Japan for the Zhao Song Dynasty. It was an important port for maritime trade and exchanges between the Zhao Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty and the Northeast region. In addition, it was relatively close to the Central Plains region via land from the Shandong Peninsula.

As for Banqiao Town Port in Mizhou, it is located on the coast of Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong. In the third year of the Yuanyou era, the Maritime Trade Office was established there, making it an important foreign trade port in the north. Backed by the Shandong Peninsula, it was also relatively convenient to travel to the Central Plains by land.

Clearly, Zhao Yu strengthened these two seaports because the court wanted to vigorously develop maritime transport and trade.

Mizhou Banqiao Port, due to its unique geographical location, was not only an important node on the Maritime Silk Road, but also a bridge connecting the inland and overseas. Zhao Yu planned to develop it into a comprehensive port integrating cargo distribution, cultural exchange, and technology introduction, making it the forefront of the Song Dynasty's opening up to the outside world.

He ordered the expansion of port facilities, the addition of berths, and the improvement of cargo throughput capacity. Simultaneously, he strengthened the port's defenses, constructed fortifications, and increased naval forces to ensure the safety of maritime trade. Furthermore, the court encouraged overseas merchants to trade there, offering them preferential policies such as tax breaks to attract more foreign businesses and promote economic exchange and integration between China and other countries.

As for Dengzhou Port, the imperial court focused on its unique geographical location with the Liao Dynasty, Goryeo in the Northeast, Japan, and the soon-to-rise Jin Dynasty, and planned to develop it into the northern maritime gateway of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

At the same time, the imperial court also encouraged fishermen to go out to sea to fish, develop deep-sea fishing, enrich the national diet, and enhance maritime awareness.

To be honest, Zhao Yu originally preferred to do these things in the south.

After all, the southern coastal areas have natural deep-water ports such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou, and Hangzhou, which are suitable for large merchant ships to dock and for cargo distribution. While the best deep-water port in the north, Banqiao Port in Mizhou, has a certain scale of trade, its shipping conditions are not as good as those in the south due to the shallow waters of the Bohai Bay and the problem of ice formation in winter.

Southern ports are also closer to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean shipping routes, allowing for the use of stable monsoons (such as southwest winds in summer and northeast winds in winter) for long-distance ocean voyages, shortening the voyage and improving efficiency.

The southern coastal areas have also developed the cultivation of cash crops related to foreign trade (such as sugarcane and citrus), which further supports overseas trade demand.

Crucially, although Zhao Yu and his companions traveled to the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Jurchen invasion of the south had not yet occurred and could not have happened, leading to a large-scale southward migration of Han Chinese from the north, the economic center of the Zhao Song Dynasty actually shifted southward for various reasons. This made the Jiangnan region a major production area for export commodities such as porcelain, silk, and tea, providing abundant sources of goods for maritime trade.

Furthermore, the Song Dynasty established multiple Maritime Trade Offices in the south to manage foreign trade taxes, issue trade licenses, and set up "Fanfang" (foreign quarters) for foreign merchants to reside in, thus forming a mature trade management system. The various ports in the south were also core nodes of the Maritime Silk Road, maintaining close trade ties with Southeast Asia, Arabia, and even East Africa. The "Fanfang" in Guangzhou and Quanzhou attracted a large number of Arab and Persian merchants, forming stable international trading communities and further promoting trade prosperity.

Furthermore, Quanzhou and Guangzhou were shipbuilding centers of the Song Dynasty, capable of constructing large ocean-going vessels with a carrying capacity of 5,000 liao (a unit of weight), employing advanced technologies such as watertight compartments and balanced rudders, making them suitable for long-distance ocean voyages. Southern navigators were also the first to use navigational equipment such as compasses, greatly improving the safety and efficiency of ocean voyages.

In conclusion, the advantages of maritime trade in the south were the result of a combination of geographical, economic, policy, and technological factors. Southern ports, relying on mature international trade networks, advanced navigation technology, and open trade policies, could have easily become the core of the Song Dynasty's maritime trade, while the north lagged far behind.

This pattern also laid the foundation for the historical trend that China's maritime economy was dominated by the south after the Southern Song Dynasty.

Originally, Zhao Yu wanted to go with the flow.

However, because the south was monopolized by the Jiangnan gentry group, they resolutely resisted the two new policies, which made Zhao Yu unwilling to implement all of this in the south now, so as not to benefit those greedy gentry.

Crucially, historically, the reason the South developed faster than the North was due to the confrontation between the Song Dynasty and the Liao and Jin Dynasties. Northern ports, being close to enemy territory, were often subject to trade bans. To guard against the Liao and Jin, the Song Dynasty strictly restricted maritime trade in the North, even prohibiting merchant ships from going to Goryeo, thus limiting the scale of trade in the North.

After Zhao Yu and his people traveled through time, they not only did not have this worry, but also strengthened trade with Goryeo, Japan, and even the Liao Dynasty in order to develop the economy.

This means that, at present, the volume of maritime trade in the north is not much less than that in the south.

Therefore, Zhao Yu ultimately decided to temporarily focus development on the north, especially the Central Plains and coastal ports, in order to break the historical inertia and create a path of economic rise different from the past.

That's the case, at least for now.

This could also, to some extent, change the economic situation of the south being stronger than the north, slightly balance the economies of the north and south, and lay a solid foundation for the long-term development and lasting stability of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

To ensure the smooth progress of industrial construction in the north, Zhao Yu specially transferred a large number of experienced craftsmen and related talents from the south.

Today, Zhao Yu was discussing with Zhang Dun and Zhang Shangying, who were in charge of this matter, what kind of treatment would make these talented people willing to stay in the north.

By the time Zhao Yu and the others finished their discussion, it was already dark.

Back in the palace, Zhao Yu remembered that he was supposed to open Li Shishi's bag today.

The thought that he was about to become the first and only man to be the first courtesan in history still excited Zhao Yu.

The only regret is that because these time travelers rewrote history, Li Shishi will never have the chance to become the number one courtesan in history.

Zhao Yu had no intention of making amends for this regret. He did not have the strange habit of cuckolding.

Upon arriving at the pre-arranged accommodation, Zhao Yu randomly selected one of the nine rooms, entered it, and then sent someone to bring Li Shishi over.

Before long, Li Shishi, wearing a cloak, walked gracefully in from outside the door.

The flickering candlelight illuminated Li Shishi's beautiful face, adding a touch of gentleness and grace. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with anticipation and shyness, and her steps revealed a hint of nervousness, yet she could not conceal the unparalleled elegance unique to the first courtesan in history.

Li Shishi gracefully approached Zhao Yu, removed her cloak to reveal her battle robe, and then bowed to him with a sweet, melodious voice, more beautiful than a nightingale's, saying, "This servant... Your concubine Li Shishi has come to serve you in bed..."

……

(End of this chapter)