The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The plan for this matter has been decided, and all the officials breathed a sigh of relief, but this matter is like a sword hanging above their heads, it will fall down and cut off everyone's heads at some point.

Although there is a temporary countermeasure, everyone is still a little absent-minded; so that the earthquake in Jinghu discussed by several officials next, and the border friction between the border of Guangnan Road and the southern barbarians have not been mentioned to everyone. Interested.

Zhao Zhen, together with Lu Yijian and others, arranged a few difficult matters for the memorial, and looked at the low morale of the people below, and felt a little helpless.

"My dear friends, last year in the Song Dynasty was indeed an eventful year like what Su Jin said, and all the ministers worked hard, but what makes me gratified is that the food affairs of last winter were successfully completed. This is the fundamental matter; to fight against the outside world, we need to secure the inside, no matter how strong the foreign enemy is, as long as there is no chaos inside our Great Song Dynasty, it is enough to resist all attempts." Zhao Zhen tried his best to cheer up the ministers with a high-spirited tone.

"I ask Yan Aiqing to report the result to everyone. This is also the main purpose of today's court discussion."

Du Yan and Lu Yijian exchanged glances, and it was finally time to discuss meritorious deeds and rewards. Today, the matter of the Liao people has been delayed until now, and this moment is considered to be the topic; the two had agreed beforehand, and they just waited for Yan Shu's statement , and then attack. <Summer, the southern states were hit by a severe drought, and the main grain-producing areas in the south had almost no harvests. In October last year, the crisis became apparent, and all state capitals were in short supply of food, especially Yangzhou Prefecture on Huainan Road. It has caused a civil uprising, and you adults should know about it. "

"At a critical moment, our three divisions urgently sent people to various places to supervise the grain affairs. The Holy One also ordered Su Jin, a student of Tianfu Academy, to be the special grain envoy to Huainan Road to handle the grain affairs. From the beginning of October to this year's Shangyuan At the end of the night, the matter of grain affairs has been considered complete; in the past four months, the three divisions, together with various ministries and offices, have worked together to crack down on private grain merchants, confiscating and buying grain by the government. A total of more than 290 million shi , dealt with [-] households of grain merchants, involving more than [-] officials; it not only cleared up the corruption of officials colluding with officials and businessmen, but also ensured that the rations of the soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty were used. Praise, some officials have given severe punishment, to show the mighty grace of the emperor, and the majesty of heaven."

Yan Shu presented the memorial in his hand, and the servant took it over and handed it to Zhao Zhen; Zhao Zhen quickly looked through the list of food collected by the state governments listed above, as well as the roster of personnel who needed rewards and punishments, put the memorial on the case, and looked around. The ministers said: "The matter of food affairs this time has a lot to do with it. If you are not in charge, you don't know the price of firewood and rice. This time, even the capital is almost out of food; the food and grass of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the northwest are also difficult to sustain. It is really dangerous to the extreme; Fortunately, with the blessings of the ancestors, the grain affairs were finally completed, and as long as the current state-stock grain is carefully planned and dispatched, it can be ensured that the new grain harvested this summer will be on the market and handed over, and my worries will be eliminated.”

All the officials said in unison: "My emperor is as blessed as the sky, and God bless my Song Dynasty."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "Naturally, it is God's blessing, but it is also due to the best efforts of personnel, Su Jin, you come forward."

Su Jin quickly stepped forward and saluted, "My minister is here."

Zhao Zhen said in a gentle tone: "You have made great contributions this time, and the food affairs are tricky. It is not easy for you to live up to expectations and handle them properly."

Su Jindao: "It all depends on the power of the Holy Dragon, and all the adults work together, and this humble minister is just doing his best."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "You don't have to be humble. If you do well, you will do well. If you have meritorious service, you should be rewarded. What reward do you want?"

Su Jindao: "How dare I ask for rewards? I only ask the Holy One to reward the meritorious ministers drafted and submitted by my ministers, and comfort and comfort the horse soldiers and soldiers who died. Then I can feel at ease."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "It's rare for you to be sympathetic to your subordinates, but you can rest assured about these things. I will arrange for the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials to reward them for their merits. What I want to ask is what reward do you want?"

Su Jin scratched his head and said: "This... what the emperor gives is what it is, how can a courtier ask for a reward."

Zhao Zhen laughed and said: "If you are humble, if I give you less rewards, you are not allowed to mutter afterwards."

Su Jindao: "How dare I, but I know that the emperor will not treat me badly."

Zhao Zhen laughed out loud, and Yan Shu couldn't help but smile, Su Jin was trying to squeeze Zhao Zhen: the reward is too small, do you have the nerve to offer it?

Zhao Zhen turned to Lu Yijian and said, "Lu Aiqing, what reward do you think should be given to Su Jin?"

Lu Yijian got up slowly, cupped his hands and said: "Qi Zuo the emperor, the veteran thought that Su Jin should not be rewarded, but should be punished..."

The officials could hardly believe their ears. Lu Yijian's shocking sentence almost made everyone's jaw drop; what is Xiang Lu doing?Both the emperor and Yan Sansi hinted at Su Jin's great contribution in both inside and outside words, but when they came to Lu Xiang, they just summed it up in one word, and even said that they should be punished; what's wrong?When Lu Xiang went out, his head was pinched by the big iron gate of the Prime Minister's mansion.

Zhao Zhen didn't seem to be surprised, and the expression on his face didn't move at all; even Su Jinyan Shu was not surprised, his expression was as usual, as if he had expected this scene a long time ago.

"Lu Aiqing, what is the basis for this statement?" Zhao Zhen asked calmly.

Lu Yijian stroked his long silver beard, and said slowly: "How can an old minister talk nonsense, the special envoy of Su has indeed made merit in the matter of grain affairs, and it can even be said that he has made great achievements in hard work, so he should have been greatly praised; He also made several big mistakes during the process, and the credit is not enough to offset the mistakes, so in line with the principle of clear rewards and punishments, the veteran thought that it should be a small punishment, as for rewards, it is not feasible."

Zhao Zhen looked sideways and said, "What are the mistakes?"

Lu Yijian said: "One of the mistakes is that when Su Jin exterminated the bandits in Bagong Mountain, he used a coercive order to recruit security. Even if the bandits were to be suppressed to seize food, the coercive order would never be allowed."

When everyone heard this, it was still the same cliché, and it had already been used to talk about it last time, and it is still the same now; but Su Jin was relieved, he was afraid that Lu Yijian's first sentence would say: Su Jin opened a warehouse in Yangzhou privately , using military rations; if these words are spoken, Su Jin will be dead.

"Lv Aiqing, I know about this matter. Didn't I send Ouyang Aiqing to investigate this matter? Ouyang Aiqing, how is your case going? Will there be any results in Su Jin's coercion?"

Ouyang Xiu went out to salute and said: "Qi Zou the emperor, I have already made a clear investigation, and the minister Wang Qinian interrogated the captured bandit leader Da Lao Wang in Shouzhou and Huainan Road around the Yuan Dynasty, and he confessed , Su Jin did mention the matter of recruiting security on Bagong Mountain."

Su Jin was taken aback, what is Ouyang Xiu going to do?Yan Shu was also full of doubts, could it be that Ouyang Xiu was really unreliable, and finally took the opportunity to make trouble?

Yan Shu and Su Jin were surprised, and Lu Yijian was also surprised. Ouyang Xiu and Su Jin were fighting fiercely in Yangzhou. They thought they were already fighting each other, but they didn't expect that Ouyang Xiu would actually follow his own words. Lu Yijian raised this matter, which was just one of the reasons. The real reason is still In the back, I didn't expect that the first shot would hit. Once the crime of coercion is established, Su Jin's crime will be aggravated, and the original small punishment will be upgraded to a major punishment.

"So, did Su Jin really ask for peace?" Zhao Zhen asked with a frown.

Ouyang Xiu arched his hands and said: "Qizou Emperor, according to what the old king said, Su Jin did mention the matter of recruiting peace; but...he didn't say that he had this right, but said that he would return to the court to invite the Secretary of the Ministry of Rites He came here to discuss how to recruit security, and said that he is a little bit thin in front of the emperor, and he swore that if he recruited security, he would be successful; there is no coercion, but there is some disrespect to the emperor."

The ministers were uproarious again, and the situation took a turn for the worse. This Ouyang Xiu had tricked everyone and made fun of everyone; what Su Jinruo just patted his chest and bragged, it was just a trivial matter, don't say disrespectful words to the emperor, Even in the court hall, the stubborn old guys would scold their mothers in front of Zhao Zhen. If this is considered a crime, Zhao Zhen's men don't know how many heads will be beheaded.

Lu Yijian's face turned ugly, and he asked, "Ouyang Zhongcheng, have you really found out about this matter? Is that what the elder king really said?"

Ouyang Xiudao: "Mr. Lu, the confession and pictures are all in custody. At that time, Wang Lushi was also accompanying him during the interrogation. The case files will be submitted to the Judiciary for review. If Lu Xiangruo is interested, he can check them in a few days."

Lu Yijian wondered why Wang Qinian didn't say that in the letter. At that time, the old man said clearly that Su Jin patted his chest and said that he was the envoy sent by the imperial court to recruit them. He also said that he could arrange their positions after the recruitment. Why did he suddenly change his confession at this moment.

It's a pity that the bandit chieftain Shen Yaozu was taken away by Ouyang Xiu. The emperor has been asking about this matter, and he can't force him to interrogate him, otherwise he can get confirmation by asking Shen Yaozu.

Su Jin secretly raised his thumb, praising Ouyang Xiu for his ability to make the elder Wang overturn his confession. Wang Qinian must have been dumbfounded; If he can't deal with a small bandit leader, then his practice for so many years can be regarded as in vain.