The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

After driving for several days, they approached the territory of Bozhou in the evening of the third day. When they arrived in Bozhou, Su Jin was about to part ways with the brigade, so Su Jin ordered to stay at Majiayi, [-] miles north of Bozhou, for one night.

Majiayi is a small official post, so many officers and soldiers were ushered in at once, and the small officials in the station were too busy. Fortunately, everyone brought dry food, and the problem of food was not difficult to solve, but there was not enough accommodation. Crowded alone in a room with air leaks, how could these imperial guards suffer so much, they couldn't help complaining endlessly, scolding the little officials and several handymen in the post station bloody.

The weather in the early winter was very cold, and there was no good place to rest, so it was no wonder that they yelled. In the end, they had to cut down several trees and light fires in various houses, and then they settled down.

Su Jin didn't bother to take care of them, so he ordered someone to invite Long Zhen to come to his room to talk. When he parted, he naturally had something to say.

Long Zhen was really careful, he took a lot of firewood and set it on fire in the small earthen stove in the house, and then took out a small oil paper bag from his arms like a magic trick, and when he opened it, it turned out to be a roasted oily chicken .

Su Jin asked in surprise, "Where did you get this?"

Long Zhen smiled and said: "Passing by Fuliji in the morning, I heard that the local roast chicken is more delicious, so I bought a few, just to reassure my lord, two of them have already been sent to the distinguished guests in the carriage."

Su Jin laughed and said, "It's still Commander Long who is careful. With your help this time, we will get twice the result with half the effort."

Long Zhen said with a smile: "Where did the envoys come from? What is the difference between the emperor and the emperor? Come on, let's have a drink with this roast chicken? I thought the weather should be warmer as we go south, but unexpectedly It’s not much warmer than Bianliang, and people’s hands and feet are still numb from the cold.”

Su Jin said: "That's natural. This place is only three days away from the capital, and the weather doesn't change that much."

Seeing Long Zhen take out the wine cup and bring out another jug ​​of wine from his arms, Su Jin hurriedly said: "Didn't it mean that drinking is not allowed in the barracks? There is no such regulation in your imperial army?"

Long Zhen was taken aback, and smiled awkwardly: "Yes, yes, forget about this, but this is not a war, and tomorrow I will break up with my lord due to my low position. I'm afraid it will be harmless to drink two cups of this farewell wine."

Su Jin thought for a while and said: "That's right, let's drink less, but you have to promise me that you can't drink when you arrive at Luzhou Mansion and then Yangzhou Mansion. Don’t make mistakes, if it goes wrong, your and my heads will probably have to move.”

Long Zhen laughed and said, "I'm going to make you worry too much, and I'm going to make you young and talented. This job will definitely be a success."

Su Jin waved his hand and said, "Don't take it lightly."

A cold light flashed in Long Zhen's eyes, and then he was covered by a smile and said: "Okay, just listen to the special envoy's words, after tonight, until Yangzhou Mansion, the humble post promises not to drink anymore, come on, special envoy My lord, the wine is warming up, drink this cup first to warm up your body."

Long Zhen raised his glass to signal to Su Jin, Su Jin had no choice but to take a drink from the glass, and praised: "This wine is really strong, it's like burning your stomach after drinking it."

Long Zhen tore a steaming big chicken leg and handed it to Su Jin, saying, "What's the point? This was obtained secretly by the wounded soldiers of the Northwest Army when they returned to the capital to recover from their wounds. It is said that they used this wine to light a fire on the front line of Yanzhou to keep warm. Just think about how fierce it would be if the fire was lit."

Su Jin sighed in admiration, and said with a smile: "You have quite a wide range, and you have acquaintances in the Northwest Army."

Long Zhen chewed the chicken legs and said vaguely: "They are all the eight Qiu brothers who are holding their heads. How can we not know a few of each other? It's not easy."

Su Jin nodded and said, "That's right, being a soldier is really hard."

Long Zhen said: "If you meet a superior officer, your life will be easier, but if you meet some generals who don't care about life and death, the soldiers will be even more pitiful."

Su Jin laughed and said: "I think you are a good general, and your brothers treat you pretty well."

Long Zhen chuckled, and suddenly said: "By the way, there is something I almost forgot."

After finishing speaking, Xixi Suosuo took off a cloth bag from her waist, and with a heavy clattering sound, she stretched out her hand to pat Su Jin's face, and said, "Master Special Envoy, you take this."

Su Jin stretched out his hand and pinched it: "What is this?"

Long Zhen said nonchalantly: "Brothers, I will give it to the special envoy to buy some wine."

Su Jin asked in surprise, "What's the meaning? Where did the money come from?"

Long Zhen said: "Didn't the special envoy hand over the salary to the humble officer a few days ago and ask the humble staff to pay it on his behalf? Speaking of which, the special envoy may not know that there is an unwritten rule in the army. Whenever you receive the salary, you will be filial. Giving money and silver to Shangguan is done in accordance with the rules, so that you don’t want to be too small, there are only two hundred people in total, there is no way."

Su Jin said: "How many are there?"

"Each person contributes one hundred coins, a total of 200 people, and the salary for three months is exactly sixty guan." Long Zhen narrowed his eyes and said while drinking.

Su Jin said: "How do you get this money? This is the hard-earned money of the brothers."

Long Zhen said: "This is the rule, my lord must accept it, if you don't, it means that you don't take care of the brothers, and I'm afraid it will cause everyone to panic."

Su Jin frowned and said, "How can there be such a reason? It's an anecdote in the world."

Long Zhen said with a smile: "Master Special Envoy, it's not that he is humble and arrogant. I'm afraid you don't know much about it. In the army, there is a saying that generals are like Bodhisattvas. These money say I honor you, but in everyone’s hearts, I honor the Bodhisattva. If you spend the money, you can keep yourself safe. If it is returned, it will be a bad omen. money, but you feel uneasy if you don’t take them, and you can’t handle wars and errands, what do you think you can do?”

Su Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly, and such a statement is really incredible, but seeing Long Zhen's swearing, it doesn't seem like he is lying, so he threw the money bag to Long Zhen and said: "In that case, you can take it, I don't This little money is missing."

Long Zhen hurriedly waved his hands and said: "This money is absolutely unacceptable for a humble job. If my brothers know about it, don't you blame me for ruining their feng shui? Please don't refuse my envoy. Everyone will follow you to do things. Don't you feel at ease? By accepting the money, you can be regarded as reassuring the brothers."

Su Jin really has nothing to say. It is not true to say that he enshrined himself as a bodhisattva, but the intention of the soldiers to give him the money can be guessed somewhat. The so-called "When an official speaks, but the lower one breaks his legs", Shangguan will toss people in different ways when he is unhappy. Who wants to be tortured every day? This is the truth that everyone has learned through long-term suffering.

It’s fine to do this kind of errand. If it’s on the battlefield where the two armies are fighting, the treatment of soldiers who have filial piety and those who don’t have filial piety is a matter of life and death. In the first echelon, you basically lose half your life; if you are placed in the last row, with a little luck, you can escape unscathed, and the rest of the salary is meaningful to you.

Those who don't know how to be flattered become corpses with their salaries in their arms. What is the meaning of money to them?

Of course Su Jin understands this truth, what Long Zhen said is not without a reason, he does as the Romans do, although he doesn't want the money, but in order to make everyone feel at ease, it's okay to stay for now.

"In this way, I will keep the money for my brothers first, and I will return it to them when the errands are finished."

Long Zhen said with a smile: "That's the special envoy's business, I can't take care of the lowly position, drink and drink, it's almost one o'clock, after eating and drinking, don't delay the farewell between the adults and the female relatives."

Su Jin said: "Where are the female relatives?"

Long Zhen said: "Master Special Envoy, please don't lie to me. There are clearly two women in the car. Although their faces are covered, it can be seen that they are of heavenly fragrance and national color. Your Excellency is very lucky."

Su Jin frowned and said, "Just pretend you didn't notice something that you shouldn't be in charge of, and I won't agree to it if something goes wrong."

Long Zhen's face blushed, and he concealed it: "The special envoy is so tender-skinned that you can't make jokes, let alone a humble job."

Su Jin also realized that his words were too heavy, and also smiled: "Brother, I am young, and my words are a bit aggressive. Don't blame Commander Long."

After being polite, Long Zhen drank the last glass of wine and got up and said, "Master Special Envoy, please rest, I will go to make inspections in a lowly position, and at the same time arrange people to watch the night."

Su Jin nodded and said, "Go."

Long Zhen turned around halfway and then turned around and asked: "Master Special Envoy, we will split up tomorrow, can you tell me what I will do after I go to Luzhou?"

Su Jin thought for a while and said: "Forget it, I will tell you in advance that I have 50 shi of grain in Luzhou's mansion, and Yangzhou is in chaos because of grain, so you take two hundred brothers and hire a big boat to escort you to Yangzhou for the 50 shi of grain. Mansion, this matter is very important, I thought someone would tell you when you arrived in Luzhou, since you asked, it’s okay to tell you.”

Long Zhen smacked his tongue and said, "50 shi is a big deal, Mr. Special Envoy."

Su Jindao: "This is the food stockpiled by more than a dozen of my merchant friends. This time it is dedicated to the imperial court and used for relief."

Long Zhen said: "My lord, you can rest assured that even if you risk your life for a humble job, you must escort the food to Yangzhou safely."

Su Jin said: "Be careful, don't make a mistake, if something happens, your life and mine will be over."

Long Zhen said: "Don't worry, my lord, but does your lord mean to go by water?"

Su Jin said: "Wouldn't it be convenient to go down the river?"

Long Zhen frowned and said: "I'm afraid the waterway is a bit of a toss, not to mention the tossing of boats getting on and off, and you have to abandon the boat and go ashore when you reach Yangzhou. There is a severe drought in the south, and the canal can only pass through small wooden boats. How can there be a waterway to transport goods to Yangzhou?" What's more, I'm not familiar with the place where I live, so if I delay any longer, I'm afraid there will be troubles, this is all food, who doesn't look at the food with envy now."

Su Jindao: "It's even more unsafe to go by land. With 50 shi, the largest cart can only be loaded with a few hundred shi of grain. In this way, it may take thousands of vehicles. Small Luzhou has hundreds of vehicles. It’s okay, where are there so many bullock carts?”

Long Zhensi said: "There should be no problem in terms of safety. I have [-] cavalry galloping back and forth to protect them. Luzhou and Yangzhou are all official roads. The road is dry and easy to walk. The distance is only more than [-] miles, and I will arrive in Yangzhou within seven days; but We have to find a way to pull the grain carts, if it’s not possible, we can go to the nearby counties to collect them.”

Su Jin thought about it carefully and said: "If you are like this, you can send someone to detour Tianchang. Mr. Li, the county magistrate of Tianchang, is my friend. Tomorrow I will give you a letter. You can ask him to help you think of a way. There are also a lot of large vehicles on the road, so you can hire them, but you have to send them all together, if you can’t do it, you can use the waterway, although it is a bit bumpy, but the freight transportation to Yangzhou is well developed, and there should be no problem of insufficient transportation capacity.”

Long Zhen said: "Come on, I'll hand it over to a humble job. If I can't handle this matter, I won't be ashamed to see you. It must be done properly within fifteen days."

Su Jin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I'll go to Yangzhou to do some business first. When you arrive in Yangzhou, let's have a good drink."