The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Huizhou is located at the southernmost tip of Xixia. During the Li and Tang Dynasties, it was once Tang territory, and then it was occupied by Tubo, and later it was seized by Xixia. Huizhou has only Huining and Ulan counties under its jurisdiction, but the area is really not small. The entire Huizhou The boundary of the state capital is more than 510 miles from east to west and 330 miles from north to south, but the population is only more than [-], which is truly large and sparsely populated.

Most of the population is concentrated in the southeast of Huizhou. There are nearly 17 people living in Huizhou City, and the rest of the population is distributed in the surrounding counties of Huizhou City. Because it is located on the border of Song and Xia, it is an important town for trade in peacetime. During the war, it was an important base for the gathering and forwarding of heavy troops, food and grass, and the geographical location is very important.

After Su Jin and others trekked hard for two days and three nights, they finally climbed over the snow mountain and came to the north of Longshan Mountain. Before leaving the mountain, everyone washed in the mountain stream and put on clean clothes. Su Jin wore a brocade robe on his hands. Three or four huge gemstone rings, looking like an upstart rich businessman, Lu Laosan dressed up as the accountant, and the rest of the people were dressed as short-sighted entourages. All the long weapons were buried in the grass, and then Shi Shi ran out of the mountain pass. ..

Less than three miles to the north, they saw a small village on the side of a mountain. Su Jin and others did not avoid suspicion. They lied that they had lost their way and entered the village to ask for directions. I just found out that these families lived here from generation to generation. For them, it is also called Song and Xia, because their ancestors have settled here since the Western Zhou Dynasty, and now they still retain some of the customs of the Han people except for language and clothing. Except for this, the others have been assimilated by party members.

People in the village heard that Su Jin and others were merchants from the Song Dynasty, and they were all a little surprised. Although it was a closed place, they knew about the war between Song and Xia, but they didn't care about it. Wars are the affairs of the government. These people have been exploited by this long and protracted war. The people in this village are relying on the mountains to eat the mountains. They used to hunt for the fur of their prey in exchange for their livelihood, but now they have to turn to weaving rattan baskets from vines and selling them in the village. The military is moderately strong.

Su Jin spent a lot of money to buy more than a dozen pairs of rattan baskets and poles. First, he used this to build a good relationship with the villagers, and second, he just let Wang Chao and others pretend to be pilgrims. The villagers were naturally very happy. The merchants from the country were generous, and the price they paid for a pair of baskets was ten times that of the city army in Huizhou. Why didn't they make them very happy.

After asking the direction of Ming Huizhou City, the people continued to go north, walked a rough trail for more than ten miles, and finally got on the official road. After going north for less than a mile or two, they turned around a hill, and suddenly saw smoke billowing in front of them. A group of Xixia cavalry escorted a long dragon-like cart rolling in.

The crowd had no time to dodge, so they had to lower their hats and stand on the side of the road to dodge. When the motorcade approached, Su Jin squinted, but saw that the car was full of sacks, and grain grains were falling down with the bumps. It is a convoy transporting grain and grass to the Weizhou battlefield in the south.

Halfway through the convoy, Xia Jun, who was escorting food, noticed a dozen people standing on the side of the road. After walking past, he turned his horse back and looked up and down in front of Su Jin and the others and said, "What are you waiting for?" People? Hold your head up."

Lu Laosan had dealt with party members and spoke with a Northwest accent, so he hurried forward and saluted, "Master Jun, I'm a traveling merchant."

"Merchants? You are all dressed in Song people's clothes. What kind of merchants are you doing in the chaos? Could it be that the Song people sent them to work? Come, take it down." The Xixia general shouted.

Lu Laosan smiled and said: "Mr. Jun dare not say that. We have been doing business between Song and Xia for many years. Wars are wars. We businessmen still have to do business. To tell you the truth, Mr. Jun, there is nothing we can do. The business has stopped for more than a year, and the shop at home is about to close down, if we don’t take the risk and come to your country to buy some goods, we will all drink the northwest wind.”

The general was just bluffing. Although the two countries are at war, private smuggling of merchants is very common. Most of these merchants have backers in both countries. After blackmailing them, he didn't make it difficult for them, so he laughed and said: "You money dealers, masters who want money but don't want to die, the two countries are fighting fiercely, but you dare to take risks. If you kill you, you will kill a few of them. Like a lamb."

Lu Lao San hurriedly said: "What the military master said is that there is nothing I can do about it. Besides, fighting is a matter for the government. No matter what, your country still has to eat tea and pass on silk, and the people of our Song Dynasty also wear furs. Eat the green salt from your country of Xia, the battle will always stop, when the time comes, everyone will reopen the business, and the people have deep hatred, so there is no need to fight and kill."

The officer laughed and said, "That makes sense. I never thought you would be more open than the people above. Are you the shopkeeper here?"

Lu Laosan hurriedly said: "The old man is just the accountant, this is the young shopkeeper of our Su Ji." After speaking, he stretched out his hand and gestured to Su Jin.

The officer squinted his eyes and looked Su Jin up and down. He saw that Su Jin was dressed in a luxurious dress, and his oily hair and powder face looked like a gentleman of Guijie, but he could see the nervousness on his face, obviously very scared.

"Hey, you look so handsome. You should hide at home and let your parents love you. The ladies love you. Why did you come here to do business? Tsk tsk tsk, you look so cute, but don't Let's mess around in Daxia, otherwise the grandsons of the inspection department will be very happy, after taking you, you will feel comfortable, hehehe." The officer spoke frivolously and his eyes were treacherous.

Ma Han was so angry that his nose was thick, and he clenched his fists creakingly. Chao Chao quickly stepped on his feet and warned him not to be impulsive.

Su Jin cupped his hands and said: "Thank you for reminding me, the military master. How dare I make a mistake in your country. It is quite hard for the military master to perform official duties on this hot day. It is fate to meet you. Mr. Lu, please give this official some tea to cool off the heat." .”

Lu Laosan promised, took out a gold ingot from his bosom, quickly stuffed it into the hand of the general and said with a smile: "Master Jun accepts it with a smile."

The officer was startled, and then he was overjoyed. He was just chatting away, but he didn't expect a windfall. The gold ingots of the Song Kingdom are famous for their high quality. The merchant was unexpectedly generous, the gold ingot was 25 taels of high-quality goods, and he might not be able to save so much money even if he worked as an errand for a year, so he quickly glanced left and right, and put the gold ingot into his sleeve.

"You're welcome, how can this be done?"

"But please take care of the military master in the future. Although I, Su Ji, have contacts with important officials in the city, I don't have many friends in the army. If the military master doesn't dislike us, we can be regarded as friends." Su Jin smiled. .

"It's easy to say, I have urgent military affairs here, and I can't take care of you. After you enter the city, you only need to report the name of Po Chaolong, our military supply department, and no one will embarrass you." The general laughed.

Su Jin cupped his hands to express his thanks, and was about to inquire about the news in the city politely, but he heard someone shouting in front of him: "Piao Chaolong, what the hell are you doing standing there? Later, in front of the commander-in-chief, be careful that I will sue you!" It's like, Tianjie doesn't work well all day, your mother."

Po Chaolong cursed back with embarrassment: "Calling you sister, isn't I just talking to old friends? A dog will bark." Turning his head to Su Jin, he said: "Everyone, I am on business. Don't delay, see you later."

Su Jin smiled and bid farewell to him, and that Po Chaolong turned his horse's head and hurried to the front of the team; Su Jin smiled wryly, this guy is a cowhide, and if he goes to the city to report his name, he will be bullied miserably. But I just don't want him to cause trouble, so I can save money and avoid disaster, and I don't intend to borrow his name.

The convoy rolled over, the smoke cleared away, and everyone continued to move forward. After a while, they could see the city wall stretching for several miles in the distance. Judging from its scale, it was no less than the scale of Yangzhou City.

It was almost noon, and everyone was hungry. They saw a wine flag coming out of the lush trees on the roadside, so they decided to fill their stomachs first, and then went to the city in the afternoon. When entering Huizhou City, they must be careful If you show your feet, you must first find out where the Xixia Army is storing food, and then look for opportunities to start.

Although two days have passed, we don't know whether the battle in Weizhou City will resume or whether it will be able to survive. Everyone is very anxious and worried, but no matter how urgent it is, they must not act too hastily, otherwise it will be the opposite will backfire.