Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 207 Arrival in Kaifeng

The group traveled down the Yangtze River from Chibi, passing through Ezhou to Jiangzhou, crossing Poyang Lake without entering, and finally arriving in Yangzhou.

The Grand Canal and the Yangtze River converge here, creating an unprecedentedly bustling scene.

The docks were piled high with goods, including not only grain, but also firewood, animal feed, bamboo and rattan handicrafts, general merchandise, copper and ironware, tea and other bulk commodities. In addition, there were rare treasures from overseas such as ambergris, ivory and coral, and the atmosphere of prosperity and wealth was overwhelming.

Here, they met Zeng Gong's family members who were waiting for them, and then together they transferred to a flat-bottomed passenger boat that traveled on the Grand Canal to continue northward.

Unlike the mighty and surging Yangtze River, the Grand Canal has a gentle flow, with solid man-made embankments on both sides, offering a wide view.

After several days of sailing, they arrived at Huaiyin, the confluence of the Grand Canal and the Huai River, an important hub for grain transport.

After passing through Sizhou and entering Suzhou, the scenery along the Grand Canal gradually changed from a watery landscape to a more open plain, where winter wheat had sprouted new green shoots and stretched as far as the eye could see.

The villages along the banks of the Huai River are mostly made of adobe, with thick thatched roofs and straight plumes of smoke rising from the chimneys.

To Lu Beigu's surprise, shepherds could be seen driving their flocks to graze on the gentle slopes of the embankment from time to time.

After passing through Yongqiao, a famous ancient bridge in Suzhou, you soon enter the territory of Yingtianfu in Nanjing.

The Song Dynasty was different from the Ming Dynasty. The Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture of the Song Dynasty referred to Shangqiu. This place was called Suiyang during the Former Tang Dynasty and Songzhou during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

The reason why it became one of the five capitals of the Song Dynasty was that Zhao Kuangyin served as the Commander of the Palace Guards and concurrently as the Military Governor of Guide Army in Songzhou. After the Chenqiao Mutiny, he changed the name of the country to "Song" because he rose to power in Songzhou.

That's how the name of the Song Dynasty came about, and Songzhou naturally benefited from Zhao Kuangyin's influence.

Although this place is not as prosperous as Yangzhou, it has its own majestic atmosphere. The proportion of official ships at the dock has increased significantly, and the city walls are heavily fortified with complete defensive works.

Leaving Nanjing Yingtianfu, the boat entered the Bian River, which leads directly to Tokyo Kaifengfu. The current was still gentle, but the river was obviously extremely busy. All around, there were huge cargo ships with deep drafts, fully loaded with goods. The fleet was lined up end to end, a mighty and magnificent sight, like a long dragon floating on the water.

In addition to the Bian River waterway, the official roads on both banks were also bustling with vehicles and pedestrians, all heading in the same direction.

"Look! Look!" Zeng Bu, with his sharp eyes, pointed excitedly at the horizon ahead and shouted.

Following the sound, the group looked and saw in the far distance where the water met the sky, the outline of a seemingly boundless and breathtakingly vast city was slowly rising from the horizon, like an ancient behemoth lurking at the edge of the earth under the clear and distant autumn sky.

What is most breathtaking is the stretch of water where the Bian River flows into the city. Countless towering masts, densely packed, resemble an endless forest that suddenly grows from the bottom of the water, obscuring a large part of the distant sky.

From a distance, these boats, one after another, formed a slowly flowing barrier made of wood, ropes, and sails, almost filling the entire river surface.

"A hub where all nations converge, the center of the world."

Cui Wenjing's words were filled with the emotion of a long-awaited reunion: "This city is the crown of the Song Dynasty and the pearl of the world."

That's absolutely true. In this era, no city could compare to Kaifeng.

At this moment in the world, in terms of the population size of capital cities, the first place is Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, with a population of about 15 million; the second place is Nanjing Xijinfu (also known as Yanjing) of the Liao Dynasty, with a population of about 150; the third place is Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire, with a population of about 30; the fourth place is Cairo of the Fatimid Caliphate, with a population of about 20; and the fifth place is Baghdad of the Abbasid Caliphate, with a population of only 10.

However, when discussing population in relation to a city, it is inappropriate to ignore its area; population density is a more accurate indicator of the city's actual situation. According to the "Geography" section of the "History of the Song Dynasty," Kaifeng's circumference was fifty li (approximately 25 kilometers). Based on modern archaeological surveys, Kaifeng's area is estimated at approximately 52.5 square kilometers, meaning a population density of 28,600 people per square kilometer.

What is this concept?

Compared to modern Beijing's Xicheng District, which is very close in area to Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty, Xicheng District has an administrative area of ​​50.70 square kilometers and a resident population of about 109.5 million, with a population density of 2.16 people per square kilometer. Only when the population commuting to work during the day and tourists from other places are included can the population density be barely close to that of Kaifeng during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Therefore, although Kaifeng was a large city in ancient times, due to the limited building height and population size, the actual experience of living in the city was quite crowded.

Before long, the passenger ship, like a drop in a torrent, inevitably slowed down, and a large number of riverside shops, warehouses, and residences began to appear on both banks.

The crowded Bian River was filled with merchant ships laden with goods, and there were also "foreign ships" with strange flags and different shapes. Their unique ship shapes clearly indicated that they came from Goryeo, Jiaozhi, or even more distant overseas countries.

The air was filled with a complex array of aromas—the damp, fishy smell of the river, the fragrance of new grain, the tung oil scent of the boat wood, the freshness of fish and shrimp, and the aroma of food.

After queuing for a long time, their passenger ship finally arrived at the famous Rainbow Bridge.

A huge single-arch wooden bridge, like a rainbow lying across the water, spans the Bian River.

The bridge was bustling with people and vehicles, while boats shuttled back and forth beneath it, passing through the arches, creating a vivid scene reminiscent of the famous painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

“This is the finest arched bridge in the world,” Cui Wenjing explained. “Even large ships carrying thousands of stones can pass under it.”

Their passenger ship slowly passed through the arch of the Rainbow Bridge, where a brief shadow fell, and then the view opened up before them.

—Dongshuimen!

This busiest city gate in Kaifeng is not a single gate, but a complex defense and passage system consisting of huge gates, barbicans and waterways.

At the entrance to the waterway, the current becomes noticeably rapid, and several thick iron chains lie across the river, controlled by winches on the bank, to block the waterway if necessary.

Soldiers clad in lamellar armor, wielding spears or long axes, stood solemnly on either side of the high sluice gate and atop the barbican walls, their sharp eyes scanning the endless stream of ships below.

Outside the city, the "unloading and shoveling" on the huge stone-built wharf was extremely busy. Countless bare-chested porters shouted work songs and carried sacks taller than a person, heavy wooden boxes, and bundles of goods, moving swiftly between the ships and the warehouses and oxcarts on the shore.

On the shore, tax officials, holding abacuses and ledgers, directed merchant ships to dock for inspection in front of rows of sheds, before they came in to pay commercial taxes and city entry taxes.

The cacophony of sounds—the porters' chants, the tax collectors' shouts, the merchants' arguments, the hawkers' cries, the neighing of cattle and horses, the rolling of wheels, the clatter of planks, the rushing of water—reached its climax. Countless sounds converged into a deafening wave of sound, crashing against the eardrums of every newcomer as if it were a tangible force.

Under the direction of the tax collector, their passenger ship slowly approached a dock inside the East Water Gate. Lu Beigu gripped the side of the ship tightly, his eyes sweeping over the bustling, almost boiling scene before him.

This is Kaifeng Prefecture, the capital of the Eastern Capital!

The heart of the Song Dynasty, the center of the world!
Before this colossal behemoth, seemingly constructed from endless human habitation, wealth, and power, a sense of individual insignificance arises spontaneously, yet it also evokes a thrilling excitement of being at the heart of the historical torrent!

(End of this chapter)