The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

While drinking, Li Zhong told Su Jin about the situation of summoning the four major car dealers in the afternoon with a little apology, and finally said: "Brother Su, is there something wrong with my judgment, or is there something wrong with the counts of the two hunters?" Mistake, there are not so many big cars at all, just the retail vehicles gathered in the city?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "Don't worry, drink first, eat well and then go to the owners of those car dealers. Update the novel as soon as possible."

Li Chong asked in surprise, "Brother Su means...?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "The Dynasty has told me all about the situation just now. Orion Wang Wu and Li Hu's estimates are not wrong, and your analysis is not wrong. It is also right to start looking for clues from the cart. There are some problems with the means."

Li Chongdao: "Oh? How to find out?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "Interrogation in person, of course there will be no results; think about it, hiring a cart to transport grain is a secret matter, how can it be publicized; if I am in a different place, if I am the one who hires a cart to transport grain You, I will definitely use some means to teach the owner of the car dealership to keep secrets, so if you ask such a question, not only will you not be famous, but you will startle the snake."

Li Chong frowned and said, "This... Could it be that the owner of the car dealership will deceive the official? Or they simply know that this matter is illegal, so they deny it?"

Su Jin said: "The conclusion has not yet been made, and there is no need to speculate randomly, everything is based on facts."

After eating and drinking enough, it was almost the beginning of the shift; Su Jin drank the wine in the cup, pushed the cup up and said, "Brother Zhaoting, it's time for us to set off. You ask some yamen servants to lead the way. Let's go to four houses in four ways." Check out the dealership."

Li Chongdao: "There are people who lead the way. You can talk about how to find out now."

Su Jin chuckled, and stretched out his hand to summon Dynasty Ma Han, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu and the others, and said, "Each of you will take a few brothers and follow Tianchang Tolerance to the four car dealers separately. You don't need to disturb the people in the car dealers when you investigate. Just find a place to park the car and a blah blah blah blah in the barn; don't screw it up."

Wang Chao and others took the orders, and each of them hurried away with four or five soldiers following the mission that Li Chong had arranged to lead the way.

Li Chong crossed his hands and said, "Brother Su, where shall we go then?"

Su Jin said: "What goes where?"

Li Chong was surprised and said, "Are we just sitting here? Let's go and have a look."

Su Jin laughed and said: "Brother Zhao Ting, no tea after dinner, is it the way to treat guests? After we finish eating and drinking, you always have to serve a cup of tea for my brother to drink a few sips."

Li Chong was stunned and said, "Should we just sit here and drink tea?"

Su Jin said: "Of course, it's not time for us to go out, don't talk too much, your wine is bad wine, your mouth is dry after drinking it, so hurry up to drink some tea to moisten your throat, you will have a headache and hoarse voice, how do you ask questions? "

Li Chong had no choice but to order someone to evacuate the banquet and pour two cups of clear tea. While drinking tea, the two of them chatted about household gossip. Su Jin seemed unhurried, but Li Chong was absent-minded and kept looking out. Glancing, looking forward to Wang Chao and others coming back soon.

For about an hour, Li Chong felt like he was on pins and needles, and asked Su Jin several times, but Su Jin talked about him from left to right; after drinking a cup of tea and going to the toilet several times, finally came the sound of chaotic footsteps outside. People came back one after another.

Su Jin got up and straightened her clothes, walked outside the door with her hands clasped, and said, "Tell me."

Wang Chao cupped his hands and said: "My son, I went to Jiang's car dealership in Dongcheng. I checked all the cars in the compound. They were covered with dust, and there were many broken cars. The mules and horses in the barn ate dry food. forage."

Ma Han said: "I went to Song's car dealership in Xicheng, and the carts were neatly lined up, very orderly, but the situation is similar to what the dynasty said."

Zhao Hu said: "I went to the Kong family car dealership in Nancheng. There are only a hundred or ten cars in the yard, and there are not two hundred at all. However, the livestock in this family eat quite well, and there are fine grains to eat."

Zhang Long was the last one to reply: "Young master, I am incompetent, and I didn't find a chance to go in at all. There is a lantern hanging in the yard of the Chen family car dealership in Beicheng, and there are a few guys walking around doing work. We have been messing around for a long time. There was no way to go in secretly, I was afraid that the young master would be in a hurry, so I rushed back first."

Dynasty Ma Han and Zhao Hu immediately cast contemptuous glances at Zhang Long. Zhang Long was ashamed and hurriedly said, "Master, I'll go again, and I will definitely go in and check it out."

Su Jin waved his hand and said: "No need, you've done a good job. I'd rather not go in than forcefully disturb the people. Besides, I already have a preliminary answer. This time, let's go to Chen's car dealership together."

Everyone didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Su Jin's gourd. Judging by his appearance, it was nothing to ask, so they could only follow behind him. A group of dozens of people left the Yamen and headed north on the cramped streets of the dark town. and go.

It didn't take long for Tianchang County to arrive at Chen's car dealership. Su Jin stopped, stood on a high place in the shadows and looked in over the wall. Sure enough, as Zhang Long said, there were more than a dozen clerks in the yard chattering. It was in full swing, and under the light of the wind lamp, it could be clearly seen that they were a group of carpenters repairing the cart.

Su Jin glanced at Li Chong and said, "Brother Li, do you understand now?"

Li Chong was confused and said, "This... I still don't understand."

Su Jin smiled and said: "Come with me, we will meet this Mr. Chen." After finishing speaking, he stepped out of the dark place, walked to the door of the car dealership, reached out to the courtyard door and knocked on the door, and said loudly: "There is someone here. Are you there?"

The ping-pong sound inside stopped, and someone shouted: "Who is it? What's the matter?"

Su Jin shouted: "I'm here to discuss business. I want to hire a cart from your car dealership to deliver a batch of goods."

The people inside were silent for a while and said: "Guest officer, our boss has fallen asleep, and we are all clerks, so we can't be in charge. Please come back early tomorrow morning?"

Su Jin said loudly: "Since that's the case, I'm going to find another house. I'm in a hurry to catch up with the goods, and I have a lot of cars, but I can't wait until tomorrow morning."

The guys inside heard that there were a lot of cars in use, and it seemed like a big business. If the business went to another house, the boss would have to fire them tomorrow. Although the boss ordered, don’t put anyone in the yard tonight, and hurry up. The car was repaired, but when the business ran away, the boss would definitely not admit that it was his own order.

So he hurriedly said: "Guest officer, go slowly, the younger one will go and wake up the master, please wait outside for a while."

Su Jin said: "Come on, hurry up, it's freezing cold outside."

The people inside agreed, and hurriedly lifted the broken car frame spread on the ground and placed it at the bottom of the wall, and cleaned up the wooden tools.

Su Jin and Li Zhong saw all this from the crack of the door, and Li Zhong said softly, "Brother Su, why don't you just go in?"

Su Jin whispered: "Go straight in, how can you tell why they are repairing the frame? You see, they put away the frame and hid it, obviously they don't want us to know that they are repairing the car. What does that mean?"

Li Chong blinked and said, "What does it mean?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "It means that you have a guilty conscience, and your attack in the afternoon has worked."

Li Chongdao: "You mean, this car dealer repaired the car overnight to cover up something?"

Su Jin nodded and said: "Maybe I'm still preparing something, I can't fully confirm it now, and there will be a division later."

Li Chong was still waiting to ask again, when footsteps were heard inside, and someone opened the courtyard door with a squeak. Sir Ling panicked immediately, bowed his hands repeatedly and said: "I didn't know the county magistrate arrived, so I'm so rude."

Li Chongdao: "Can we go in and talk? Tell your family, Mr. Chen, to come and talk."

The guy hurriedly said: "My boss is already up, please come in quickly, the county magistrate, and I will report to you now."

Su Jin turned around and said: "Security behind the courtyard gate and the back gate, no one is allowed to enter or exit."

The guy's face turned pale, he didn't know who this person was, but when he saw the two big men agreeing with each other, he led a dozen soldiers to go around the back door, his heart was pounding, he didn't dare to ask more questions, and led Li Chong Then go to the main house.

The lights in the car dealership hall were already on. As soon as he heard that the big business was coming, Mr. Chen left the warm bed, put on his clothes quickly, put on his hair in a bun, and rushed to the hall in spite of the cold weather; but when he saw Li Chong , Chen Dong's face immediately seemed to be hit by a hailstorm, his nose was not a nose and his eyes were not eyes, and he convulsed uncomfortably.

However, this expression quickly melted like the remaining snow under the bright sun, and a smile instantly piled up on his face, and he cupped his hands and said: "It turns out that the county magistrate Li is here, and it is really flourishing. The old man is negligent, negligent." also!"