The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Su Jin had no choice but to follow Qiu Dabao to the small house behind the Juyi hall. The two small stone houses are located in the northwest corner, seemingly clean, but in fact they are under the surveillance of the bandits on the wall of the village. In the small aisle next to the righteous hall, seven or eight bandits have already been arranged to stand guard in the aisle, which is equivalent to putting Su Jin and others under house arrest.

Qiu Dabao said slightly apologetically: "Special Envoy Su, the cottage is shabby, so you can only make do with it. In the evening, the head of the household will naturally call you back, so you can rest at ease for a while, don't just wander around, there are everywhere on the wall of the village." It's a dark whistle crossbowman, if you accidentally hurt you, it would be bad."

Su Jin frowned and said: "Second master, I'll keep my words in mind. If your village master doesn't answer me at night, I can't wait. At worst, I will take my two brothers down the mountain. Killing one is enough, killing two earn one."

Qiu Dabao said: "Special Envoy Su, don't think that way, the head of the family... still has a sense of propriety, but his temper is the kind of soft-tempered, and you don't need to be like that when you speak. aggressive."

Su Jin nodded and said: "The second leader is a sensible person. You might as well tell the second leader that you have gone too far this time. You even dared to rob the emperor's food. This time the court is determined to destroy you. The court An iron order has been issued, regardless of casualties, regardless of losses, I vow to wipe out all of you."

Qiu Dabao said: "I'm afraid it won't be that easy to destroy my Bagong Mountain."

Su Jin said: "This is the truth, but does the second leader really think that Bagong Mountain is unbreakable? This stronghold is indeed strong, but you are too confident. It is good to rely on the terrain for fighting, but in the end it is about strength. A group of hundreds of people Even if someone like me who doesn't understand military affairs comes to command, he will definitely be able to take it down."

Qiu Dabao said: "Special Envoy Su took it for granted, if anyone can take down my cottage, can we heroes of Bagong Mountain still stand here for many years?"

Su Jin shook his head and said: "That's because you haven't attracted the attention of the court. The war between the Northwest and the Xixia Army is the focus of the court. For example, diseases on people, scabies are irrelevant, and the serious ones should always be treated first."

Qiu Dabao remained silent, and Su Jin said softly, "I'll tell you one more thing, lest you think I'm bragging. Do you know what the biggest drawback of this cottage is?"

Qiu Dabao said: "The terrain of my cottage is majestic and dangerous, and the gates are magnificent. There is a tendency that one man guards the gate and ten thousand people cannot open it. I don't think there are any disadvantages."

Su Jin laughed loudly and said: "Second leader is self-confidence, but in my opinion, there are many flaws, and the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain have already responded, and it can be broken with just one word. Over there is - fire!"

Qiu Dabao was startled, and laughed immediately: "It's a joke, when the mountains are covered with snow, and even a piece of dry firewood can't be found all over the mountains, why worry about fire attack?"

Su Jin laughed and said: "Don't argue, even water can burn when poured with kerosene, not to mention pine wood with plenty of oil, but kerosene is precious and is mostly used in the northwest front, so the encirclement and suppression None of you have used this strategy; but this time is different. Once the court has made up its mind, everything can be handled easily. Let me tell you that nearly [-] barrels of kerosene have been assembled at the foot of the mountain. The tip of the arrow shoots into the woods, what do you think will happen?"

Qiu Dabao's heart turned cold. Fire attack is indeed the weakness of the cottage. The head of the family has mentioned this several times. Every month, he will order people to weed and log at the foot of the mountain to create a space between the fire. There is not much room to clear, and if the other party really uses rockets to burn the forest, there is absolutely no way to do it. We can only hope that when the fire spreads, it will stop when it encounters wet wood.

However, it is very unlikely to count on the fire to stop itself. As long as a few big trees burn, the surrounding forests will naturally be dried and ignited. If there is no rescue measure, it will inevitably lead to a fire. Once the fire spreads to the foot of the main peak of the cottage, it will be uncontrollable Yes, because of the steep terrain, the mountain fire is burning upwards, and the whole mountain will become a big torch.

Seeing that his words had worked, Su Jin continued to whisper in the ear of Qiu Dabao, who was masked with frost: "I was ordered to recruit everyone in Bagong Mountain when I went up this time, because I don't want to see this kind of tragic situation of human beings. In the fire attack, both sides will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, but the final result must be that there will be no vegetation left on Bagong Mountain."

Qiu Dabao doubtfully said: "Since the imperial court is determined to exterminate us and has full confidence, why did it promise you to come to ask for safety?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "You don't understand this. This year is a year of severe drought. The court's various taxes and finances are very tight. The Northwest War is pending. No one wants to spend a lot of time at this time. War is not just a war Fighting, wars cost a lot of money, people eat horse chews, pensions for soldiers who died in battle, and rewards for meritorious generals are all huge sums of money. Normal years are naturally nothing, but this year it is. It's a big burden."

Qiu Dabao thought about Su Jin's words carefully, but he still didn't believe Su Jin's words.

"And there is another important reason. The 50 shi of grain you robbed was life-saving food for the people of Yangzhou. The emperor ordered me to raise it from the merchants in Luzhou and transport it to Yangzhou. It’s nothing to worry about if you robbed other things. Now that the Song Dynasty is short of food everywhere, you just stretched out your hands at this time. How could the emperor not be annoyed? But I’m afraid that you will burn the 50 stones of grain in a fit of anger. At the moment, there is nowhere to raise food to ease Yangzhou's troubles, so I proposed the strategy of enlisting security, which is a best-of-both way that meets the emperor's wishes. First, it can avoid large-scale casualties and relieve the banditry in Bagong Mountain. Second, it can save the 50 yuan. Shi Liangliang, for you, from now on, you have a way out, and you don’t have to leave a bad name for your descendants, this is the strategy of killing birds with one stone, why not do it?"

Qiu Dabao began to waver. The Shanzhai's eyeliner had already got a general idea of ​​the situation in the nearby state capital. The lack of food was no longer a secret. All that Su Jin said was in line with what he knew, which showed that Su Jin was not I didn't lie to him, the amount of this batch of grain was so large that they were terrified to rob it, but because the temptation was too great, they took the risk and took the risk. They didn't expect to hit the court's pain.

"Second master, these words should have been clearly explained to your eldest master, but I think this person is not what you said, he eats soft and does not eat hard, but he does not eat soft and hard. Before I went up the mountain, I heard that this person was The Bozhou government killed Master Tongsan [-] people. In his eyes, he naturally regarded the imperial court as an enemy. He absolutely did not believe that the imperial court would let him go. He wanted to fight to the death, but the tired second master and a group of brothers followed him to his death. Hey! "

Qiu Dabao said angrily: "Special Envoy Su, are you trying to separate my brotherhood? When I was down and out in Luzhou, the chamber of commerce and the magistrate arrested me everywhere. If it wasn't for the head of the family to take me in, I would have been decapitated long ago. , what do you mean by these words?"

Su Jin hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "Don't be annoyed, the second in charge, we are just chatting in private, no matter what, we are all from Luzhou, after all, we have fellowship, although we have different positions when we are in Luzhou, but you There has never been any personal grievances between me. Until now, I am still searching for evidence from the Chamber of Commerce and others. The death of Hei Qi and others must be their actions. No matter whether this recruiting is successful or not, I, Su Jin, can come down the mountain alive. I will definitely still cooperate with Master Bao to investigate this matter and give you an explanation."

Qiu Dabao sat down dejectedly, rubbed his forehead and said, "There's no need to investigate, Hei Qi and the others were indeed killed by Tang Jiyuan, and I almost drank poisoned wine that night, but luckily I passed the kitchen when I went to the toilet and saw Zhu's official house. I put medicine in the wine and pretended to be dead. Later, they ordered people to take the bodies of me, Hei Qi and other brothers to the backyard and bury them. I took the opportunity to violently kill two servants and escaped over the wall. These dog thieves crossed the river and demolished the bridge , One day I will smash their corpses into thousands of pieces."

Su Jin only listened to his brief description, and was already standing upright. The scene of Tang Jiyuan poisoning Hei Qi and others seemed vivid in his memory.

"If this is the case, if the second leader can testify, I will bring Tang Jiyuan to justice."

Qiu Dabao shook his head and said, "How can I testify? Ten years ago, I should have been beheaded. Later, Tang Jiyuan rescued me and the others by some unknown means. Since then, I have helped him do some crimes under his name. If I went out to testify, wouldn’t I be seeking my own death?”

Su Jin smiled and said: "It's very simple. After recruiting security, everything will be solved. The court will let the past go, and will award you an official position. Then you don't have to hide and hide. From now on, you can be an upright person and you can even take revenge. Why? Enjoy it instead of doing it?"

Qiu Dabao shook his body, and immediately recovered and said: "Don't be joking, I can't be the master of this matter, I'd better wait for the boss to make a decision after talking with you, I've been bothering you for a long time, so I'll leave now, everyone be good Take a rest and have a separate lesson at night."

Su Jin got up and said: "Second leader, go slowly, let's find a chance to talk again."

Qiu Dabao seemed a little flustered, turned around and left quickly.