The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Over the past few days, Long Zhen has been slowly collecting carts in Luzhou, but the result surprised him. Originally, he planned to artificially slow down, but the actual result is that even if he worked hard, it would be too late. Can't get up.

The major car dealers in Luzhou all said: approaching the end of the new year, the business of car drivers is busy queuing up. After the new year, it is impossible to have a free car to rent to him.

Long Zhen is very helpless, this is Luzhou, not the capital, this is not a place for him to play tricks, and even if it is an errand for the court, it can't be done by others, can it?

In three days, only [-] large carts were collected. This progress has exceeded the speed that Long Zhen originally planned to delay. If it continues like this, within a month, don't even think about sending out the grain; Slow down the shipment, so that there will be more troubles in Yangzhou City, but if it is not shipped for a month, it will be obvious at a glance that he is deliberately delaying.

Long Zhen is not a fool either, a lot of big cars in the car dealership are left in the yard every day to blow the wind, and the business is not as busy as the owner of the dealership said. It is obvious that they are not willing to accept his business at all. There must be a reason for the business to make money but not to make money.

But buying and selling is free, people just don't want to make money from you, so what can you do?Even after finding Zhu Zhifu, Zhu Shiyong only said politely: "Business is free and fair, how can you ask me to get ahead in such matters?"

Long Zhen was extremely helpless, Zhu Shiyong showed a spirit of cooperation when he was depressed, and vacated sixty carts used to transport grain and grass supplies in the camp of the Luzhou Baoxin Army and handed them over to Long Zhen for use. I've done my best.

At the beginning of the month, a heavy snow fell, and Long Zhen was mixed. Fortunately, he finally had a reason to prevaricate. It snowed heavily and the road was muddy. Even if it was ten days and a half months late, it was also God's problem. , has nothing to do with people.

But now it is not a question of whether to delay or not, but a question of whether this batch of grain can be transported to Yangzhou; there is a fundamental principle here: the grain is shipped, but because the road is muddy, the delivery time is late, this is the old man. The sky is not beautiful, he Longzhen is not responsible; but if a grain of grain is not loaded into the car, and Luzhou City is not even left, then he will have to bear full responsibility. Originally, he wanted to bring Su Jin down, so don’t burn it down in the end. If it falls on your own head, then you will lift a rock and drop it on your own foot.

The three giants of the Luzhou Chamber of Commerce are also very entangled with the heavy snowfall, and the plan has been carefully prepared. When Long Zhen delivers the grain, he can order someone to pretend to be a messenger to be captured by the bandits, and then the grain will be robbed; Perhaps the 50 shi of grain can be trapped in Luzhou without any risk at all, and Su Jin, who is far away in Yangzhou, is now over.

However, the 50 shi of grain was placed in Luzhou, which was a thorn in my heart. If it really couldn't be transported, even if Su Jin lost his official position and received training, he would still return to Luzhou if he failed to become an official. In business, once the 50 shi of grain starts to be sold in Luzhou, how much money will the chamber of commerce make from the 30 shi of grain?

This matter is really fucking difficult to weigh. The Big Three hid in the Chamber of Commerce and discussed for a long time, and finally made a decision to urge Long Zhen to ship the grain away. This batch of grain is not placed in the bandit den where it is now. Give them peace of mind.

Long Zhen, an ignorant person, actually begged his father to sue Nainai, obstinately forgetting the three Luzhou bosses, which was quite embarrassing for the Big Three, but he didn't come to him, but he wanted to talk to him, so Upstairs in Zuixian Tower, Long Zhen was once again invited to a banquet in Zuixian Tower.

Long Zhen, who was so annoying, didn't want to go to the banquet. Although the memories of that night were very good, the two singers swallowed and sucked, and they were as soft and lovely as two little goblins wrapped around their bodies. In the cloud, but this does not mean that as the deputy commander of the Ma Jun, he will buy your merchant's account; in Long Zhenxin's opinion, this favor is counted on Zhu Shiyong, and those guys from the chamber of commerce are at best called by the magistrate to pay the bill , is nothing at all.

However, since people invite each other, they are always very kind, at least there are people who value themselves on the ground of Luzhou, unlike the woman who came with the car, she didn't even have a meal except sending someone to urge her. please.

What's more, it doesn't help to sit in the barracks and feel sulking, shivering from the cold wind and snow. It's better to have a drink or two to relieve boredom.

Upstairs in Zuixian, it was the same time and the same place, but there were a few different people in the seat. Zhu Shiyong didn't come, but there were a few more strangers at the chamber of commerce. After the two sides introduced, Long Zhen knew These few strangers were all the owners of several major car dealers in Luzhou, which made Long Zhen's heart ignite with a flame of hope. It seemed that the chamber of commerce had a purpose for this meal.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Tang Jiyuan said: "Commander Long is honored again, and I will show my face. Commander Long has been in Luzhou for five or six days. Is the errand going well?"

Long Zhen sighed: "Don't mention it, everything is not going well, I am so anxious."

Tang Jiyuan smiled and said: "Commander Long, don't worry, why don't you come to me for help if you have difficulties? It seems that Commander Long didn't care about what he said that night. On the ground of Luzhou, our chamber of commerce can still do it." Do something."

Long Zhen concealed and said: "Have you said this? It seems that I drank too much that night, and I forgot everything I said and heard. However, I also thought about asking you for help, but I am on business, so I am really sorry to trouble you all." , so I held back."

Tang Jiyuan smiled and said: "So that's the case, I still look down on our brothers as Commander Long."

Long Zhenxin said: You are a ball!Also worthy of my father?But he said: "How can it be, everyone is hospitable and righteous. I, Long Zhen, like to make friends like you the most. Why should I look down on it? Everyone is just eating and clothing for a living."

Tang Jiyuan said: "Commander Long is quick to speak, straightforward and straightforward, and I admire him, but I don't know where there is a problem with Commander Long's errands, do you need help to clear it up?"

Long Zhen thought for a while and said: "Originally this is an official business for the court, so I can't say more here, but we are all good friends, so it's okay to say it; there are quite a few carts collected recently, and it really can't be used to transport grain. There is a heavy snowfall, the road is about to be muddy, and the errand has already lagged behind, which is really worrying."

Tang Jiyuan said in astonishment: "We haven't collected enough large carts? We have eight hundred if not one thousand carts in Luzhou. How come we can't even collect large carts?"

Long Zhen said: "I don't know too well, but every car dealer said that they were transporting grain to Yangzhou and immediately waved their hands and said they were not free, or that they were busy with business, so they all lined up to use the car, but afterwards they left the car frame in the wind and rain, It's really depressing."

Tang Jiyuan laughed and said, "There are such things? It seems that your price is low."

Long Zhen said: "Is the price lower by [-]%? I think it's because someone is obstructing it behind the scenes."

Tang Jiyuan said: "According to this, I am afraid that someone is obstructing your errand behind your back. If your lord can't complete this errand, shouldn't he be punished by the court?"

Long Zhen gritted his teeth and said: "That's natural. If you can't do the job well, the court will definitely punish you. If I find out who is obstructing behind the scenes, I will ask the brothers to kill him alive."

A sneer flashed across Tang Jiyuan's face, and he continued: "The old man can guess who is behind the scenes."

Long Zhen stared and said: "Who is it? Tell me, I will take someone to raid his home right now."

Tang Jiyuan laughed and said, "Commander Long is as fierce as fire, but you can't afford to provoke him."

Long Zhen said angrily: "Who is so lawless and dares to fight against the imperial court? Even if he has a first-rank official residence and delays the major event of grain transportation, he can't afford to go around."

Tang Jiyuan shook his head and said: "Even if he is against the court, you can't do anything about him, because his name is Shen Yaozu, and he was nicknamed 'Murdering Talent'. He is the leader of the bandits on Bagong Mountain three hundred miles away. Can you move them after several attempts to suppress them without success?"

Long Zhen said in astonishment: "Bandits? What does that car dealership have to do with it? Is the dealership run by bandits?"

The owners of several car dealerships in the seat looked embarrassed, so they coughed a few times to express their dissatisfaction.

Tang Jiyuan smiled and said: "Commander Long's words may send some of you to prison. How dare the car dealership collude with bandits, but the official road you take to transport grain to Yangzhou is a place where bandits haunt you. Say you pay [-]% more, even if you double the money, no one would dare to run this business; money is good, but you have to spend it with your life."

Long Zhen suddenly realized that the people in the car dealership were afraid of being robbed and lost their lives by bandits, so they refused him one after another, but he was wrong.

"Actually, Commander Long should give up the land route and take the water route, which would be much safer. However, if it is feasible a few days in advance, after this heavy snowfall, the river will be completely frozen, and the water route will probably be impassable. This matter will be very difficult. "

Long Zhen said: "So what if we go by land? My two hundred horsemen are still afraid that the small group of bandits will fail?"

Tang Jiyuan stared and said: "Small unit? I'm afraid there are thousands of people, and the weapons are well-equipped. It is said that there are some heavy-duty bed crossbows. Think about it, the five or six thousand troops in the two towns of Luzhou and Huainan have not been wiped out. This group Can there be fewer bandits?"

Long Zhen gasped, thousands of bandits, how the hell would they resist, isn't this courting death?