The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Zheng's house is at the entrance of a secluded alley at the corner of Nancheng Street. Qingshiban Road can only accommodate two cars. Going out of the alley, not far to the south is the Nancheng Gate. It is far from the bustling main streets and is basically a residential area. Tall trees protrude from the courtyards of every household, and the alleys shaded by the canopy are quiet and cool to dissipate the heat.

The ancestor of Zheng Daguan was a family of officials. In his generation, he was not high enough, so he did not get a good reputation after more than ten years of book examinations.

The failure of books has developed his bad habits. He needs to eat carefully, drink deliciously, wear brocades, and drive cars. The quality of life is messed up; As soon as his father died, the family gradually declined. The money accumulated by his ancestors was exhausted, so he rented out the house and moved to the north of the city. Gou’an’s big house was rented out for some money. It is also good to barely force ri.

Early this morning, a few people from Bianliang inquired about rented houses in the Nancheng area. Mrs. Huang, a neighbor, brought these people to her house. Unexpectedly, the other party immediately took a fancy to them. The rental price was trembling in my heart, for fear that it would be too expensive, turn my ass and leave, but I didn't expect the other party to agree to it. Mr. Zheng regretted it at the time. It turns out that these people are rich and young people who don't understand the market at all; so he changed his way to take advantage. Three months of payment in advance, and then you have to pay for the wells and flowers in the yard. Unexpectedly, those people agreed and added [-] more monthly rent out of thin air.

Mr. Zheng racked his brains and couldn't think of any other way to increase the money. Could it be possible to charge rent for beds, tables and chairs?In case the other party is not happy, tell yourself to pull these nuts out. There is no place for you to put these junk things.

So Mr. Zheng had no choice but to sit down with those people and make a rent certificate. He had just written two copies and placed it on the table. Just as the two parties were about to sign the deposit, they heard the noise of people outside the courtyard. Come into the yard.

Aunt Zhao winked at Mr. Zheng from afar, Mr. Zheng hurriedly put down his pen and walked over, but Aunt Zhao staggered and dragged him into a corner to mutter.

Su Jin waved his folding fan and stepped into the house, regardless of the other party. The four or five people stared at him, then looked around and looked around, and kept praising: "It's not bad, the yard has flowers, grass, a well, and a grape trellis; it's really good! The house is also beautiful. A house that is big enough, bright and double-entry is good enough to live in together.”

The white-robed man who scolded himself yesterday was still sitting still. Seeing Su Jin look like his master, the owner was pulled aside by a fat woman again, and even said with sensitive gestures, feeling that things were going to be bad. Give a wink to the maid beside her.

The maid knowingly shouted: "Mr. Zheng, please don't waste your time and draw quickly. According to us, we are still waiting to move things in. This room also needs to be cleaned up. There are spider webs everywhere."

Officer Zheng hurriedly said, "Don't worry, I'll come later."

Su Jin secretly laughed at you, today you can count on your ability.

Sure enough, after a while, Zheng Daguan walked into the room, rubbed his hands and smiled, and said to the young man in white: "Mr. Xia... I'm going to this house... I can't rent this certificate or sign it, so please forgive me."

That Mr. Xia raised his eyebrows and scolded crisply: "How can you go back and forth? Seeing what you wrote, I think it's a person who has passed the book. You can't even keep the promise. No wonder you failed the imperial examination. Isn't it the court?" disaster."

Zheng Daguan smiled apologetically and cupped his hands: "Yes, you taught me a lesson. Whatever you say, I can't rent this house to you."

Mr. Xia said angrily: "There are many houses in Yingtian Mansion that belong to other families, and I can rent them too, but I just don't feel angry at you for turning your back on you. If you don't tell a reason today, don't blame me for taking you to an official to judge me. My lord doesn't believe in Ying Tian Mansion." Yin will tolerate such unreasonable tricks from the people under his jurisdiction."

Zheng Daguan was startled and hurriedly said: "My lord, why do you have to force others to make things difficult? Naturally, you have something hard to say. Why do you need to force me? As you said, there are many vacant houses in Yingtian Mansion. You just need to pick up a lot of houses outside."

"My lord forced you? Are you joking about who broke the promise first? I don't care what secret you have to explain to me today, why don't you say this now and pretend to be pitiful? The young master folded his hands on his chest, as if he would not give up without giving an explanation.

Seeing that the flames of war were on his own head, Su Jin didn't intend to bear it. He first stared hard at the flat chest of the young man in white, thinking how much effort it would take to keep the two little white rabbits restrained from being seen by outsiders, and then walked around. Going up the porch and shaking the fan, he said, "Someone accuses Sang and scolds Huai. In this world, if you stay in the house, you will also be rained on. The city gate catches fire, and the fish in the pond will suffer. It is really hard to understand."

Mr. Xia already knew that Su Jin was playing tricks, but he just couldn't find an excuse to want Su Jin to fire. Seeing him take the initiative to show up, he naturally wanted to turn his head and glared at Su Jin. What other people say must be a ghost in your heart."

Su Jin chuckled and said, "The saying that you are not afraid of the shadow slanting is good. Has this young man heard the saying that flies don't crawl on seamless eggs? Why do I want to make trouble with you when I don't make trouble with others? I'm that fly, we recognize you as that rotten egg, your smell offends me, and I'll crawl on top of you."

"Shut up, you bastard."

"Should the little thief be more respectful?"

"Shut your beak..."

Su Jin's sentence "I'll crawl on top of you" made people think about it, and several companions behind Mr. Xia yelled and scolded repeatedly, and some even clenched their fists and tried to move forward.

Zhao Hu, Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, and Zhao Hu finally had a chance to show their skills. Clenching their fists as big as sand bowls, they moved forward twice, and their swords were about to strike when they saw it.

Mr. Zheng was so frightened that he ran to the corner of the table and Aunt Zhao was also nervous. The two of them are not like scholars who start a fight when they disagree with each other. Compared with the street ruffian who collects the dish fee, the worried heart is pounding and the throat is pounding. His eyes were dry and he tried to stop him, but he couldn't make a sound.

"Back off!" Mr. Xia blushed and reprimanded his companions to back away. After Su Jin waved his hand, the four heavenly kings also stepped back.

Xia Gongzi frowned and said: "It seems that this young master is going to do something wrong with this young master on purpose?"

Without any warning, Su Jin suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed imitating the tone in Hong Kong and Taiwan TV dramas: "Don't speak so harshly. The most important thing when going out is to make money with peace. I don't want this kind of thing to happen."

Mr. Xia was very angry, laughed and cursed secretly, turned his head and said to Zheng Daguan who was shrunk aside: "How much monthly rent will he give you?"

Zheng Daguan muttered without saying a word, and a tall companion behind Mr. Xia shouted: "Say! Don't say that I will tell you that you will not live in peace in the future."

Officer Zheng glanced at Su Jin and saw that Su Jin didn't even look at him, so he said, "Aunt Zhao said that this son is willing to pay twice your rent price, that is, Jiuguan is renting a house every month to ask for money, so Mr. Xia Don't blame me."

Mr. Xia glanced at him contemptuously and said with a smile: "It's so great that the price is higher than this aunt...Your master's price is twice as much as this son's Him?"

Zheng Daguan was dumbfounded and didn't know whether to be happy or worried.

"Twenty for one month. Pay half a year in advance." Su Jin said with his nose turned to the sky.

"You..." Mr. Xia stomped his feet angrily, "I'll give you 25."

"thirty……"

"35..."

"forty……"

"Fifty..." Mr. Xia's voice changed into a shrill one.

"Deal..." Su Jin chuckled, "This dilapidated house is rented for [-] yuan a month, and it will cost [-] yuan in advance for six months. Mr. Xia is really a rich man! For [-] yuan, this son can buy a house that is bigger than this." I won’t accompany you, Mr. Xia, if you live in the house, we can’t afford it anymore.”

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Mr. Xia was going crazy, this guy didn't want to ask for a price, he rented this house for fifty pennies a month, it's no wonder he wasn't called a fool and took advantage of it.

Seeing Su Jin walking out swaggeringly, heard the timid voice of Zheng Daguan: "Mr. Xia... Shall we establish a certificate for the fifty pennies a month?"

"Let's compare with your mother!" An angry companion gritted his steel teeth and lifted his big fist to seal Daguan Zheng's eyes. The others behind hurriedly grabbed him. As soon as he arrived at Yingtianfu, he made trouble and grabbed him to eat flesh and blood. Little delay. Young Master Mingri's entrance into school will be troublesome.

That Mr. Xia was smoldering in his heart and had nowhere to vent, finally stomped his feet and even lay on the maidservant's shoulder beside him and began to cry.