The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

As Ouyang Xiu expected, the imperial decree came in the morning of the next day, and at the same time as the people who announced the decree came Zhao Fang, the two guards of the horse army, and 180 horse troops also arrived.

Different from the Yangzhou official administration case, this time Zhao Zhen’s words lacked a lot of angry words, appearing calm and calm; The criminals were escorted back to Beijing for trial.

At the same time, the original judge of Luzhou was appointed to act as the magistrate, and he was waiting for the appointment of the new magistrate by the Ministry of Officials; the emperor was also very tolerant of the behavior of Luzhou's Baoxin army soldiers, and only asked that the main participants be escorted to Beijing. The rest of the participating soldiers were all released and returned to the camp, and they were asked to continue to perform their duties of guarding Luzhou.

Su Jin secretly clicked his tongue. Compared with Yangzhou, the emperor was a little too tolerant of the Luzhou case. This just shows that Ouyang Xiu's judgment is correct, and Zhao Zhen's face is a bit lost; This dynasty has been hailed as the most prosperous Shengping rule since the founding of the country. At this time, there are even big mistakes. It is no wonder that Zhao Zhen feels troubled.

After the imperial decree was issued, Ouyang Xiu told Su Jin that he had to leave immediately; Su Jin's scalp was numb, and he was furious. Now he couldn't even spend the Lantern Festival with his family. The clothes don't stick to the body, and I don't know why?

But it’s time to go to prison, things have to be done, and there are still several important things to do when going to the capital this time, just like farmers planting crops. Fang Chang came to comfort himself and Mrs. Wang.

Mrs. Wang, who has experienced the bloody scene of life and death, can be considered to understand Su Jin's difficulties. This time, Zhu Shiyong and the chamber of commerce are taken away in one fell swoop, which is equivalent to avenging her ex-husband Su Moran. Mrs. Wang is also quite relieved, so He was calm as usual, and only taught Su Jin to think twice before acting. No matter what happened in the future, he had to remember to stand upright. No matter whether he was in business or an official, he had to be warned by Zhu Shiyong, Tang Jiyuan and others.

Before going to Beijing, Su Jin selected more than 30 elite buddies from Su Ji. After going to the capital this time, he will start an industry in the capital, and the matter of Yinzhuang can also be put on the agenda, so he must bring enough manpower.

When discussing the candidates for the accompanying shopkeeper, Zhang Rongqin volunteered, and the shopkeeper Zhao also recommended himself, but Su Jinjun vetoed it; Su Ji is now the only one, and it is necessary to expand its market share, reshuffle the chamber of commerce, and establish Su Ji's leadership core position. This matter must be done by the respected old shopkeeper Zhang and Zhao Da shopkeeper.

Su Jin remembered that when he was reforming Su Ji in June last year, he had a deep impression on a shopkeeper of Su Ji Dyeing Cloth Workshop. At that time, Su Jin asked him to recite the twenty rules of Su Ji's old store. Standing with his hands, he recited everything without missing a word, which made a good impression on Su Jin.

"How is this person? Is his conduct upright and prudent on weekdays?" Su Jin told the old shopkeepers about this person and asked for their opinions.

Shopkeeper Zhao patted his thigh and said, "Yes, his name is Qian Henian, and he can be regarded as an old man from Suji. He has a good reputation and has worked hard in Suji Dyeing Workshop for several years. The business is not big, but it is profitable every year, and the accounts are handled clearly. A few years ago, the old man mentioned to old shopkeeper Zhang that he wanted to promote him to be the shopkeeper of the newly opened clothing store in Xicheng."

Su Jin said: "So this person can be used?"

Zhang Rongqin nodded and said: "Yes, take it with you, bring Yang Xiaosi now, this kid has experienced well now, his brain is also flexible, very useful, the big boss can't go to the capital without a few clever errands."

Su Jin nodded and said: "Then bring the two of them. The old shopkeepers still need to worry about the family affairs, and the manpower needs to be recruited. If Yinzhuang can be opened this year, it will need a large number of manpower, and more manpower is needed. Reserve, don't panic when the time comes."

The people in Luzhou City were still unstable. Ouyang Xiu left the five capitals of the imperial army to maintain the stability of Luzhou City. Go to Bianliang in a mighty way.

Behind the army was Su Ji's convoy. Su Jin kept his promise and arranged for Bai Mudan and others who had been rescued from the prison in Luzhou to drive, and fell far behind the team; naturally, little Jasmine was not among them. Su Jin has not yet reached the realm of repaying grievances with virtue, but it is not his style to make it difficult for a prostitute; Su Jin did not make things difficult for him, on the contrary, he gave her some money to let her fend for herself in Luzhou City.

That little Jasmine also understands her own advantages. Although she can't lift her hands and shoulders, and she refuses to marry a dutiful woman, she naturally has to rely on capital to make ends meet. After a few years, she actually relies on the service she learned in Yangzhou However, this girl likes to tease and play tricks on piao customers. Finally, in the autumn of the fourth year of Qingli, two sons and brothers fought for her, which caused a fight among the servants at home. The little Jasmine mixed with her. Among them, he was accidentally injured and died, which can be said to be self-inflicted.

This is for a later story, so I won't show it for the time being.

The brigade was moving slowly, and the way back to the capital was exactly the way Su Jin left Beijing to come to Yangzhou last year. When he came last year, it was the early winter season. Although he was full of ambitions, Su Jin at that time was more worried than confident.

This time when I returned to Beijing, my mood was very different. After the new year, the temperature increased day by day, and the wilderness after the ice and snow melted seemed to have this touch of green in the distance. Especially these few days, the wind is beautiful, and occasionally Anxious bees and butterflies fluttered in the air, which was completely different from the scene at that time; what was even more different was the state of mind.

In any case, the matter of grain affairs was successfully completed. It can also be known from the imperial court's mansion report that since the announcement of the Yangzhou Mansion case, stubborn merchants from all over the world no longer dared to wait and see, and took the initiative to sell grain; Seeing the opportunity, he immediately wrote to the imperial court to increase the price of grain from the punitive three hundred yuan per stone to five hundred yuan, which comforted the grain households to some extent. Although the loss was still huge, at least they could get back three [-]% of the cost, on the premise of saving your life, this can be regarded as a surprise.

After walking for ten days, on the afternoon of the 23rd day of the first lunar month, the brigade finally saw the tall and majestic city walls of Bianliang City.

The Ma Jun who first entered the city to report the letter rushed back, and Zhao Du, who led the team, galloped to Ouyang Xiu's carriage and reported back: "Lord Zhongcheng, Lord Yan Shu, the third envoy, asked Lord Ouyang to wait five miles outside the south gate, and said yes. Prepare a guard of honor to welcome Your Excellency and Special Envoy Su."

Ouyang Xiu was taken aback. There was no reason for a guard of honor to greet an official on official business when he returned to Beijing. In the past, such a courtesy was only given when a large army returned from a victorious battle. Isn't it a violation of the rules for Yan Shu to do so?

Suddenly, Ouyang Xiu's heart flashed, and he almost rolled down from the carriage excitedly. He quickly ordered Su Jin, who was sitting in Yan Biyun's carriage, to come to the front of the team. He pulled Su Jin into the carriage and put it down. curtain.

Su Jin looked at Ouyang Xiu's chubby face, feeling disgusted in his heart, what is this guy doing?

"Special Envoy Su, just now there was news from Zhao Dutou from the city. The third envoy, Lord Yan Shu, asked me to wait five miles outside the city, saying that he would prepare a guard of honor to welcome me..." Ouyang Xiu whispered in Su Jin's ear mysteriously Said in a low voice, a foul breath made Su Jin gag.

Su Jin hurriedly moved away, and said nonchalantly: "What's the big deal, just come to welcome us. After all, we are also people who have made great achievements."

Ouyang Xiu rolled his eyes and said: "Welcome is one thing, and preparing a guard of honor is another thing. This is an act beyond the rules of etiquette. How can we bear it? Only when the army is triumphant will there be a guard of honor to welcome it."

Su Jin was confused, he didn't know these broken rules, but when he heard that this was an act of breaking the rules, he understood the seriousness of it, didn't he get caught as soon as he entered the capital?

"Don't Lord Sansi know that this is a Passover trip? He can't be so confused."

"Yeah, I think so too, so I judge that this matter must not be Lord Sansi's idea. I think it's the emperor who is coming."

"What?" Su Jin was taken aback, the emperor came to greet him in person?It's too much face to give, but after thinking about it again, I'm afraid it's true. Unless Yan Shu's brain was flooded, how could he make such a mistake.

"Then what should I do?" Su Jin didn't know anything about these things, how could there be such broken rules in later generations, but here, if the rules are not followed, people will even die.

Ouyang Xiudao: "Whether it's the emperor coming in person or sending someone to greet him, we have to be prepared. Of course, it doesn't rule out that Lord Sansi is confused, so we need to be more careful in dealing with it."

Su Jin said: "How to do it, you say it, everything is done according to your order, but I don't know anything about it."

Ouyang Xiudao: "It's easy to handle. We will wait on our knees five miles away from the city. If the emperor comes personally, we will not lose our etiquette; if someone is confused, we will not lose our etiquette and say that we dare not accept the ceremony of the guard of honor." , Kneel down and ask the guard of honor to return, wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone?"

Su Jin rolled his eyes and cursed secretly: "Damn it! You didn't enter the capital, and you bowed your knees and became a slave first. This is really fucking bad luck."