The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Liu Liufu's injury was not serious. Although his head was bleeding, it was only a superficial injury. After some treatment and scrubbing, he recovered; but his head was full of damage and swelling, and he couldn't wear a hat, so he only took a white cloth Wrapped layer after layer, it looks like the Asan of the Western Regions that occasionally appears in Bianliang City. . .

After a whole afternoon, Xiao Temo couldn't sit still. Although he knew that Su Jin was avoiding him, but the matter was caused by himself, Su Jin was just making an excuse. Small, but broke into the brothel and was kicked out.

Full of smoldering and depressed anger, but nowhere to vent, it is not the time to be angry, you have to find the Song envoy to start negotiations.

Xiao Temo had no choice but to go to Liu Liufu's room to discuss with him. Seeing Liu Liufu lying on the bed with his head wrapped in white cloth, he just groaned. He threw off the quilt and scolded, "Don't pretend to be dead." Can it work? Look at you, it looks like a woman has given birth to a baby, are you going to just lie down and do nothing?"

Liu Liufu propped himself up and said with a bitter face: "What can we do now? He is clearly avoiding us, so why don't we still block his door?"

Xiao Temo patted his thigh, and said happily: "Good idea, it's because your brain hasn't been broken yet, let's go to block the door of his house, can he still run away from the temple after he ran away? I don't believe that he even ran away from home. No return."

Liu Liufu came to his spirits, got up and said: "Yes, I actually forgot about this, and it's not right for us to keep looking for Su Jin. After all, the chief envoy is the rich man, and the man looked at it. To be honest, we should look for him too."

Xiao Temo shook his head and said: "Can't you see that? Fu Bi has no control at all. Everything is arranged by this kid Su Jin. It's useless to find him. He must have said, 'If you want to talk, you need Deputy Su. If we agreed, then we were sent away. Didn’t you think about it? Or block Su Jin’s gate. As soon as he appears, we will hold him tight, and we will not leave unless we start negotiations, or we will Just live in his house, we eat and sleep with him, what can he do to us?"

Liu Liufu cursed in his stomach: What the hell is going on? The majestic special envoy of Daliao came here aggressively, but now he has come down to the point of begging for a meeting. If this matter is reported back to the Liao Kingdom, he will spit up and down. It's no wonder Xingzi didn't drown the two of them.

But right now, there is really no other way, I can’t leave, I don’t even have to worry about it, besides, Song people’s firearms are fierce, if you don’t find out more, you won’t go back; otherwise, the negotiation errands are not completed, and there is no reason to prevaricate, it is best It would be good to find Su Jin and others to reach any agreement, and then wait for the opportunity to find out how many firearms the Song people have. If they can find out how to make them by the way, it will be a great contribution.

The two of them had made a plan, and before the red sun set, they took four of the ten tigers of the Xiao family in disguise again, and went out of the posthouse by repeating the same trick, heading straight for Su Jin's mansion.

From the third quarter of Shenshi until it was dark in Xushi, Xiao Temo and others hid behind the ancient willows by the Bianshui River and looked furtively at the closed gate of the Su House in the alley not far away; the cold was also biting cold, The night slowly drew up like a curtain, and a few people huddled under the willow trees and saw the Chinese lights in Bianliang City just lit up, everyone was laughing and laughing, and the smell of food wafted from the vicinity, making these visitors from a foreign land hungry, full of sadness and resentment; recalling Hey, all kinds of things after Bianliang, especially the series of troubles after meeting Su Jin, Xiao Te couldn't wait to cry.

Just when Xiao Te was full of worries, the four tigers of the Xiao family suddenly said in a low voice: "My lords, there is movement."

Xiao Temo and Liu Liufu hurriedly turned their stiff necks to look, only to see the door of the Su residence opened, and the light shone out, and one could clearly see that Su Jin in a silver and white gown was standing at the door, bowing his hands to bid farewell to a man in a A man in official uniform.

Seeing that Su Jin took an envelope and handed it to the man, the man put his hand into his arms, and the two stood at the door and said a few more words, although the voice was not loud, it still floated over in the quiet night A few sensitive words come over.

"Firearms... Be careful... Strictly keep secrets... Ship to Waqiao Pass..."

The two of them just said a few words, so they didn't say much. The man bowed his hands and said goodbye, and went out of the alley and went straight to the Desheng Bridge on Bianhe Street.

The door of Su's house was closed again, Liu Liufu gritted his teeth and cursed: "It turns out that this kid is actually nesting at home, causing us to suffer from cold and starvation outside. Master Xiao, shall we break in now?"

Xiao Temo waved his hand slightly, frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly grinned and said: "We won't look for him tonight, let's look for someone else."

Liu Liufu said: "Who are you looking for? You've already seen Su Jin himself, so why don't you look for him?"

Xiao Temo grinned, and said triumphantly: "Don't ask any more questions, Erhu, you lead someone to catch up with the man who came out of Su's house just now, find a secluded place, take him down and tie him up, don't talk, You don't understand the official language of the Song Dynasty, and you will miss the bottom line as soon as you speak, and you will be fine if you are tied up. Deputy Envoy Liu and I will go to ask questions."

Liu Liufu was stunned and said, "Xiao...Master Xiao, what are you going to...? This is in Bianliang, if you do something like this, something big will happen."

Xiao Temo spat and said: "You are as timid as a mouse, I am not afraid of you being afraid of a bird? I will not forgive you if you keep talking."

Liu Liufu quickly shut up, Xiao Erhu quietly climbed up to the river bank with his three brothers, and chased them along the street; He glanced at the closed door of Su's residence, and said with a chuckle: "Boy, you never dreamed that I would be so bold, let you be proud, grandpa will let you go first."

The four tigers of the Xiao family did have some skills. After a cup of tea, the six tigers covered their faces and rushed back from the front. On one side of the river, a path of stone steps leads directly to the river beach, which is probably the step used by ordinary residents to wash their clothes and go down to the bottom of the river bank; a few people groped down the river beach, and saw the tied knot under two large willow trees growing intertwined. The sturdy man in official uniform was lying on the ground, his head and face were covered with blood, obviously he had suffered.

Xiao Temo stood still at a distance, and tore off his foot to tightly cover his face, only his eyes were exposed; Liu Liufu drew the gourd in the same way, but it was a pity that his hands were weak, and he couldn't tear off the corner of his clothes after pulling for a long time; Temo became impatient, and reached out his hand to grab a handful of black mud on the ground and wiped it on his head and face, making Liu Liufu's mouth and nose covered with mud, spitting out stinky mud.

"I brought someone here, you are the first to die." Xiao Temo cursed, and then signaled Erhu and others to look around.

At night, the reflections of the dots on the Bianshui River are brightly lit. Fortunately, the boats basically rest at the shore at night, and the boats in the river will not be seen. On the contrary, there are many people coming and going on the street on the bank. The sound must invite people to check.

Xiao Temo took out the dagger in the boot, walked under the old willow, saw the man with a thin face, two black beards, about [-] years old, full of fear and doubt, his body trembling slightly.

"I will pull out the grass in your mouth. If you dare to yell out, I will send you back to the west with a knife. Do you hear me clearly?" Xiao Temo stepped on the man's leg and stabbed the dagger He shook his eyes twice, and said viciously.

The man nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of panic.

Xiao Temo nodded in satisfaction, stretched out his hand and pulled out half of the messy grass in his mouth, after a moment he saw that the man was really silent, and then pulled out all of it.

"My good man, please forgive me. If you want money, just say it. I have some money in my arms, but please don't hurt my life."

"It's easy to say, I waited for the hero of Lutou Mountain just to ask for money, and my brothers don't have eyes, but they robbed the official's head, offended and offended." Xiao Temo laughed.

"It's not easy for brothers to wander in the rivers and lakes. Brothers are just errands. Since you guys have taken a fancy to brothers, it's nothing for brothers to give some money. If you have ten guns on your body, if you don't have enough, brothers go back to the house to get them." .”

"Hehe, the mouth is very sweet, but you are afraid that I will treat you as stupid donkeys and let you go back to get the money, and then you bring the officers and soldiers to take the old people out of the pot, right?"

"This... how dare you, definitely not!"

Xiao Temo slapped the man's eyes with gold stars, and cursed in a low voice: "Don't play tricks, men always commit crimes without leaving anyone alive, but you are an official, this time I will make an exception and kill you; but you took the money Later, the grandpas were afraid that you would report to the officials to take us after you were released, so you have to tell us your name, where you live, and which yamen you work in, so that if you play tricks, our Lutou Mountain Brothers can also kill your whole family to avenge us."

The official hurriedly said: "Definitely not, the good man, don't worry about 120. How can I be that kind of person?"

"Stop talking nonsense, tell me where you live and what kind of official you are."

The man was also straightforward, and hurriedly said: "In Xiawansong Mountain, he lives in Wuqi Temple in the corner tower of Liangmen. He is currently working as a supervisor of the Military Department of the Ministry of War."

Xiao Temo was overjoyed, but said calmly, "How to prove it?"

The man said: "There is a number plate on the lower waist, engraved with the name and signature of the official position, a good man can be recognized at a glance."

Xiao Temo reached out his hand to grope around the man's waist, and he found a small bamboo plaque. Looking through it carefully under the dim light, he saw that the front was engraved with the Firearms Supervision Department of the Song Dynasty, and the reverse was engraved with the words Wansongshan.

Xiao Temo was overjoyed, and pretended to be indifferent: "Firearms Department? This is a new name. I haven't heard of it yet. What is it for?"

The man opened his mouth for an explanation, and suddenly seemed to think of something, and said solemnly: "My good man, if you are waiting for money, just take it. It's better not to ask about things you shouldn't know, so as not to get angry "Brother will not talk nonsense, you will lose your head if you say it, and you will lose your head if you listen to it."

Xiao Temo was stunned and said: "If you don't say it, don't say it. The man is just curious. Who cares what the Firearms Department is doing? Brother Wan, offended, brothers are tight, and really need money. "

After speaking, he stretched out his hand and touched the man's arms.