The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

On the [-]th afternoon of October in the first year of Qingli, a group of soldiers in bright armor rode out of Xuande Gate on tall horses and headed straight for Yulin Lane in the left second compartment. After the team passed by like a gust of wind, the common people pointed and talked.

Some familiar people recognized the two people running side by side at the front of the line. One was Long Zhen, the deputy commander of the guard Sima Jun with a short stature and fair complexion, and the other was Eunuch Huang, the emperor's chief servant.

It didn't take half an hour for the soldiers to arrive outside Yulin Lane. The soldiers dismounted one after another to disperse pedestrians and onlookers. Long Zhen helped Eunuch Huang off the horse, and the two of them led a dozen soldiers into the alley.

Eunuch Huang walked into the courtyard with the imperial decree in one hand. Su Jin and everyone in his family had already lined up in the courtyard to greet him. Eunuch Huang stood still proudly and shouted loudly in a shrill voice: "Su Jin of Luzhou accepts the decree." ..."

Su Jin took out a futon from behind and put it on the ground as if conjuring, lifted his robe, and knelt on the futon. All the members of the Su family knelt behind him and shouted: "Long live my emperor."

Eunuch Huang rolled his eyes and said in his heart: I have passed the decree hundreds of times, but I haven't seen the person who receives the decree get a futon and kneel down. Who doesn't receive the decree with a 'plop', even if there are mud puddles and shit on the ground Thorn didn't even frown, this guy is good, he even put a futon on it, it's really speechless.

"The emperor's edict said: Su Jin, a student from Luzhou, shared the worries of the country and offered a good plan to raise food. I am very happy; after my inspection, it can be used to great effect. I am specially appointed as a special envoy for grain affairs to go to various states to raise food and relief. I hope that Su Qing will work hard to serve the country's grace. I respect this!"

"Long live my emperor!" Su Jin shouted loudly, reaching out to receive the imperial edict.

Eunuch Huang smiled all over his face, cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, the Special Envoy of Su has been reused by the imperial court at such a young age, I am very happy and congratulated."

Su Jin chuckled and said, "We're both happy and happy. This is a hard job. The emperor is driving ducks to the shelves. The servant has worked hard. Let's go into the house and drink some tea."

Eunuch Huang said with a smile: "Nevermind, envoy, Your Majesty has something else to give, then."

After finishing speaking, he took out a precious and important item wrapped in yellow cloth from his arms and handed it to Su Jin. Su Jin knew it was the gold medal that Zhao Zhen promised, "Seeing the card is like seeing me". This thing is a good thing, something that can save lives at critical times, so it is also cherished and hidden close to the body.

Eunuch Huang stretched out his hand to Long Zhenyi and said, "Master Special Envoy, let me introduce you. This is Master Long Zhen, the Deputy Commander of Sima Jun, the inner guard. Please be close to me."

Su Jin hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Commander Long, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

With a snap, Long Zhen knelt down on one knee and saluted: "My subordinate Long Zhen, I have ordered you to come and wait for the envoy to send you."

Su Jin hurriedly stretched out his hand to help Long Zhen up and said: "Get up quickly, Commander Long has experienced many battles. The emperor sent you to help me, and I will be even more powerful. From now on, you and I will work together to handle errands. What subordinates are not subordinates?" , don’t mention it any more; if you can afford it, I’ll call you brother.”

Long Zhen said with a naive smile: "How dare you, to make adults succeed in youth, and my subordinates will learn more about Qingyun if they follow adults."

Eunuch Huang laughed at the side and said: "The Special Envoy, Long, directs straight people, and he is not very good at words, but in official affairs, one is one, two is two. With his help, the Special Envoy will surely succeed."

Su Jinxin said: I'm just being polite, do you think I really have a discussion with him?But this dragon really looked like a simple and honest person, the emperor was so cruel that he assigned all the deputy commanders of the bodyguard department to him, this time it was a waste of money.

Su Jin guessed right this time. Du Yan and Lu Yijian strongly opposed Su Jin's plan to lead the imperial guards in the capital. There was no precedent for this move.

The highest military authority in the Song Dynasty was the Privy Council, but in fact the Privy Council did not actually manage the army at all. The army was actually in the hands of the two divisions and three yamen, and even the Ministry of War was nothing more than a clerical agency.

The so-called two divisions and three offices originally referred to the Dianqian Division and the Guard Division; but later. The upper two divisions or the three government offices are only in charge of the army, and the power to mobilize the army is still very small, and the heads of the two departments and the three government offices should have been held by someone, but the emperor was worried, so he just let the post of commander be vacant, and transferred to the lower-level commander. Officials at different levels come to command respectively.

This led to a strange phenomenon. A regimental commander was transferred to command an army, but the regimental commander had no right to command other troops, and he was assigned more than a dozen regimental-level deputies, each in charge of a division; The head of the group can't interfere with the affairs of the long-term management, which is also a kind of strange work in the Song Dynasty.

Such an incident happened in the former Zhenzong Dynasty. In the third year of Zhenzong Dazhong Xiangrui, a fire broke out in Bianliang, the capital city. The fire was too large and there were not enough people to fight the fire. The army participated in the fire fighting, but the fire was extinguished, and Chen Qi was also unlucky. He was impeached by Yushitai and the two governments and almost lost his head. In the end, he was dismissed from office and sent back to his hometown. All were dismissed from office, and some were thrown into prison.

The Dianqian Division has no right to command the Guard Division, even to put out fires; this kind of thing is unbelievable, but it did happen. Once the Taizu gave up his military power with a glass of wine, the control and mobilization of the army has been imitated by the emperors of all dynasties , No matter what your purpose is, as long as you step outside the yellow line, you will be punished.

Zhao Zhen tried hard to persuade everyone, and almost knelt down to beg for it. Finally, he agreed to allocate two hundred guards Ma Jun to listen to Su Jin's call, and recommended the deputy commander, Long Zhen, to come to assist.

Even so, Lu Yijian, Du Yan and others still utter nonsense about the emperor's appointment of this stinky young man named Su Jin to handle such a big matter. In Lu Yijian's words, the emperor is playing with fire. It's completely against the rules for such an unknown person to do it, and there will definitely be mistakes; when they learned that it was recommended by Yan Shu, they were also unceremonious and attacked the third envoy.

Zhao Zhen was finally annoyed, and the clay figurines were also three-pointed. Zhao Zhen got angry with Lu Yijian for the first time, and warned them not to spread the matter, nor to entangle in it, to raise money. This matter is within the purview of the third division, and the two governments have no right to interfere in it.

It was the first time for Lu Yijian and Du Yan to see Zhao Zhen get angry. Although they were unwilling to do so, it was clear that the emperor had made up his mind on this matter. When the deal was done, they could only accept the reality. Even Yan Shu, and even this Su Jin, whom they had never met before, made a note.

Su Jin didn't know all this, and he was a little reluctant when he accepted the job, but he didn't know that he could be the special envoy for food affairs, and he would be heartbroken from the emperor to Yan Shu; , not only him, but even Yan Shu will not be able to turn over.

After Eunuch Huang announced the decree, he sat in Su Jin's small courtyard for a while, took a few sips of tea, and then left. Some sweet-scented osmanthus crisps from my hometown were brought into the palace for my father-in-law to taste.

Eunuch Huang knew very well that it didn't look like sweet-scented osmanthus crisps, it was probably something yellow and white; when he arrived in the palace, Eunuch Huang secretly opened it, and immediately beamed with joy. It was four gold ingots of yellow and orange. Even Eunuch Huang, who has seen the world, couldn't help but click his tongue. When he reported it, he praised Su Jin in front of Zhao Zhen, boasting that Su Jin was rare in the sky and unparalleled in the earth, just like a flower.

Su Jin happily held the blue official robe that was not among the four colors and was looking over and over again. The dragon sitting next to him seemed to be smiling but not smiling. He took a sip from the tea cup and asked: "Dare to ask, Mr. Special Envoy, let's go first To which state capital?"

Su Jin said without raising his head, "Go to Luzhou."

Long Zhen was puzzled and said: "Why do you want to go to Luzhou?"

Su Jin said: "My hometown is Luzhou."

"Oh, this subordinate understands that the clothes should be returned to the hometown, and the envoy is now the emperor's envoy, so naturally he wants to go back to his hometown to enjoy himself."

Su Jin laughed and said: "It makes sense, but it's not me, but you."

Long Zhen was stunned and said: "What? Isn't the special envoy going?"

Su Jin said: "I have my own place to go, and you go to Luzhou with one person, and when you arrive in Luzhou, you just follow her orders, and you take all the two hundred soldiers away, so they can be used."

Long Zhen shook his head and said: "That can't be done, the subordinates shoulder the responsibility of protecting the special envoy, so you can't leave him without authorization, and besides, how can the special envoy get so much pomp when there is no one around?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "What kind of ostentation do I want for a small envoy with no rank or rank? .”

Long Zhen thought for a while and smiled: "Since this is the case, the subordinate will obey the order, but what are you going to do? Can the special envoy reveal the truth first?"

Su Jin thought for a while and said: "It's better to go to Luzhou and someone will tell you, you go to clean up and prepare, and the brothers will go home and reunite with their families. I am afraid that I will not be able to return to the capital every two or three months. , I can’t help but give them time to say goodbye; gather here tomorrow morning, and I will walk with you for a while, after Bozhou you go south, I will go east to Yangzhou first, and then we will meet in Yangzhou Prefecture.”

Long Zhen got up and clasped his fists and said: "Follow the special envoy's order, but before leaving, please ask the special envoy to go to the household department of the third department to collect the salary. Brothers must go out without some pocket money."

Su Jin said: "Shouldn't you get the salary?"

Long Zhen apologized and said with a smile: "I heard that the special envoy is quite familiar with the third envoy, and this time it is a special case. In the past, the military salary was paid by the guard department. The subordinates are afraid of those cumbersome procedures. It's easier to get it."

Su Jin let out a sigh, thinking it was not a big deal, she agreed; Long Zhen left the house and flew away with all the soldiers.