The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The reunion of old friends is naturally boundless joy, but this reunion does not come at an opportune time, it is at the end of time, and even the greetings between each other are tinged with melancholy.

Tianchang is not far from Yangzhou, and the people of the two places often come and go, and there are many contacts with relatives and friends. Yangzhou is short of food, and Tianchang is not much better, but Tianchang is a small county, and there are more farmers than the county. Many, the farmers always have a way to get some miscellaneous things to feed their hunger, so it is not as noisy as Yangzhou.

However, after the heavy snowfall, the days became more and more difficult. Some people secretly rumored that a porridge shed was opened at the gate of the Yangzhou government government to give alms to the refugees, so some people in Tianchang went to Yangzhou without hesitation, just for the porridge for two meals a day.

Li Chong, the county magistrate, soon got the news. After careful inquiry, he said that there was a grain envoy from Yangzhou named Su Jin, and it was he who was in charge of the relief. Li Chong was both surprised and happy. I deliberately found a free day and rushed to Yangzhou Mansion to meet him, but unexpectedly, when I arrived at Yangzhou Mansion, a ladle of cold water was poured on my head, and there were rumors everywhere that the food envoys transported to Yangzhou were robbed.

Although Song Xiang kept silent about this matter, Li Chong got confirmation from his anxious eyes and tightened brows; Hurry up and go back to the county government to organize people. Bagongshan bandits are famous for their ferocity. Su Jin doesn't know anything about military affairs. I'm afraid this trip won't get me any favors, so I have to help him no matter what.

After listening to Li Chong's narration, Su Jin was very moved; a friend in adversity sees the truth, the prison disaster in Luzhou and the disaster in front of him have fully proved that Li Chong is someone he can make friends with with all his strength. Ironically, Da The state government is indifferent, but the small county town has gathered a motley crew to rescue. I don't know whether to be happy or sad.

"Brother Zhao Ting, did you just say that the people of Yangzhou Prefecture already know about this?" Su Jin didn't want to cause Yangzhou to fall into chaos because of this matter.

"Yes, the people of Yangzhou are talking about it. When I arrived in Yangzhou, I was wearing casual clothes. There were people discussing this matter everywhere on the street. No wonder, how could such a big matter be concealed."

Su Jin frowned and said: "This is the last thing I want to see. If the food is not recovered right now, if the backyard becomes chaotic again, we will have to return to Yangzhou to maintain law and order, and that will be troublesome."

"The prefect of Song Dynasty has been doing a lot of explaining and guiding work, but I don't think there is much hope. Everyone knows that there is not much food in Yangzhou Prefecture." Li Chong has no good way.

Su Jin paced back and forth, and everyone looked at his slightly tired figure, anxious and helpless, the atmosphere in the tent was extremely dignified, and the air was a bit suffocating.

Su Jin stopped suddenly, looked at old shopkeeper Zhang and said, "Old shopkeeper, how much food do we have left?"

Zhang Rongqin said: "It has been sold at a low price and in limited quantities, and now there are about [-] shi."

Su Jin said: "Old shopkeeper, do something for me. Go back to Luzhou immediately and transfer [-] shi of grain to Yangzhou. The [-] shi of grain will buy me five or six days when it arrives in Yangzhou. This will make it easier for me to plan here. Otherwise, Yangzhou Once the city runs out of food, I can no longer hold on here."

Zhang Rongqin frowned and said: "But...Yangzhou is a bottomless pit, and the situation here has not changed. Luzhou and Shouzhou are unwilling to send troops to help. What should we do?"

Su Jin said: "Don't worry about it here. After you arrive in Yangzhou, you have to do a good job of explaining it. Just say that everything is going well here. The [-] shi of grain is part of the grain that was taken back by the bandits, and tell the people that soon I will have to buy it." Break into the bandit's nest and take back all the food, so that everyone can live in peace, and don't let me be distracted."

Zhang Rongqin was still hesitating, but Yan Biyun said softly: "Old shopkeeper, do as he says, Su Jin will definitely find a way."

Zhang Rongqin had no choice but to agree, without delay. Once the old shopkeeper agreed, he left in a hurry. Su Jin asked him to have lunch, but the old shopkeeper insisted on refusing, so Su Jin had to send a hundred soldiers followed by a captain. The old shopkeeper hurried back to Luzhou.

After seeing off the old shopkeeper, Su Jin's mood improved slightly. After lunch, Su Jin took Li Chong, Pan Jiang, and seven or eight heads to the front of the mountain to watch the situation. Observing the terrain of Bagong Mountain carefully, firstly, he doesn't understand military affairs at all, and secondly, he is counting on the arrival of reinforcements from the two prefectures, and let the generals leading the troops make up their minds.

Everyone came two miles away from the pass in the south of the mountain, and it was very dangerous to go any further. The two towering arrow towers at the pass could shoot arrows up to [-] paces away. If there was a bed crossbow, it would be at least a thousand paces away The course of the journey is close to the danger of life.

Everyone raised their eyes and saw a trail winding up the mountain pass and submerged in the dense forest and mist on the mountainside. Along the trail, there are many arrow towers. There are two or three arrow towers every few tens of steps. There are horizontal fortifications, and the big stones piled up above the fortifications are clearly visible. If you attack by force, you may be able to hide from the arrow tower, but you will not be able to hide from these rolling logs and stones.

There are either dense forests or cliffs on both sides of the trail. There is no other way. The pass occupied by the bandits is really easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is no wonder that several previous attacks have failed. Hundreds of bandits guard such a pass. Even if there are tens of thousands of officers and soldiers attacking, it will not help, and the formation cannot be expanded at all.

Li Chong sighed: "This terrain is really solid. If it was possible to besiege it in the past, it would last a year and a half to make them run out of food and collapse. But now, not to mention the lack of time, there is enough time. I brought 50 shi of grain into the mountains, and I’m afraid I won’t starve to death if I don’t come out in three to five years.”

Su Jin also scratched his head and asked, "I don't know if there is a back way to enter the mountain. If we go around and attack by surprise, it should be effective."

A Dutou said: "Master Envoy, there is a way out, but it is useless."

Su Jin said: "How do you say it?"

Nadutou said: "I have a relative who gathers medicine in the mountains. I asked him about the terrain of Bagong Mountain when the bandits were suppressed here a few months ago. He told me that the bandits occupied this mountain. Chengfeng, there are roads to enter the mountain from the north of the Shandong mountain, but they can only go to the foot of the cliff behind the bandit's nest. After passing there, I stayed on the cliff with a long rope for a long time, and the rocks on the cliff were as sharp as knives, and I almost cut the rope and died, so I am afraid that it will be even more difficult to take the back road."

Su Jin was in a depressed mood, silently looking at the pass in a daze, the bandits at the pass tried their best to tease the fortifications of the arrow tower, taunting and laughing wildly, they didn't take the officers and soldiers seriously.

Pan Jiang cursed angrily, and said to Su Jin: "Master Special Envoy, since the strategy is useless, why don't we work hard, I don't believe that more than 1000 of us can't break into this pass."

Li Chong hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No! The success of a strong attack is not big. If the casualties are too large, there will be no way out. Not attacking will still have a deterrent effect. Once defeated, there will be no chance."

Pan Jiang spread his hands and said, "Then what should we do? Don't everyone stare blankly here?"

Just as Li Chong was about to explain, Su Jin suddenly waved his hand and said, "Go back to the camp, don't engage in unnecessary disputes, I think I have some clues, I need to calm down and think about it, and I will discuss the plan with you in detail at night."

Su Jin locked himself in the tent and leaned on the quilt to think quietly. Li Chong's words of "deterrence" made Su Jin seem to have grasped something, just like lightning in the dark clouds that instantly illuminated the sky, but suddenly disappeared again. to darkness.

"Deterrence, if you don't fight, there is deterrence. If you fight, you will definitely lose, and there will be no chance." Su Jin repeated these words over and over again in his mind, searching for the slightest clues, and gradually a bold The plan came to mind, the boldness of this plan made him sweat on his brow.

If you can't fight, but you have to fight, if you can't get the food back, you will die, and the people of Yangzhou will die too. The Yan Shu family will also suffer, the Yan family and the Su family will suffer, even Song Xiang, Gou Dasheng and others will die. Following bad luck, the consequences are too serious, so you must not give up.

But if you can't fight hard, the consequences will be even worse, at least hundreds of lives will be lost in vain, so the only way now is——and!

Peace requires bargaining chips, without overwhelming deterrence, it would be strange if the bandits would make peace with you. With only a thousand officers and soldiers, it is impossible to scare the bandits. Without bargaining chips, peace talks are just jokes. The problem now is to have Enough chips made the bandits have to make peace with him.

Su Jin's eyes lit up, and suddenly he thought of a wonderful way.