The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

"Mr. Su Taijian, a few months ago, I learned that my lord returned safely and was promoted to be the envoy of Jingyuan and Qinfeng in your country. I am really happy for my lord. Here, I wish you the best wishes from afar. My lord has a bright future, a prosperous career, high-ranking officials and beautiful concubines, rich and happy."

Su Jin smiled slightly, this Empress Ye Lidulan had a sweet mouth, and she flattered herself as soon as she opened her mouth.

"My concubine knows the details of the peace talks between Song and Xia. My lord led the peace talks. Although I was harsh on Da Xia in every possible way, my concubine said it was beneficial to our wild tribe. My lord would like to abide by the agreement between you and my state, and prohibit trade between the two countries. This move has really contributed a lot, and I would like to thank you again for your hard work."

"The Huizhou agreement was originally planned to be fulfilled when the road thawed in February next year. However, the situation in our Great Xia has changed recently. Since the heavy snow last year, there has been widespread famine in our Great Xia. The people are suffering from hunger and cold. Now that there is a tendency to rebel, in view of the critical situation, it is time for our Yeli tribe to show its talents. I beg to advance the transaction in exchange for food to alleviate the crisis. The disaster of famine must be valued by him, and our Yeli tribe can be expected to recover."

"Today I ordered Duanyun to send me a letter from my own handwriting. That's what I mean. Duanyun is now going to take full responsibility for contacting the lord. I hope the lord can understand the situation of my concubine, and I hope that I will accept it..."

After reading the letter, Su Jin stretched out his hand to light the candle, and when the fire was burning, he threw it into the brazier, watched it turn into ashes, and then raised his head and asked, "Your country Xia is really famine now. Is it?"

Ye Li Duanyun said: "Yes, but before the critical moment, there is still food in the country, but it is only for the army and the city, and it is impossible to help the people."

Su Jin said: "You tell me such important news, aren't you afraid that I will take the opportunity to attack you?"

Yeli Duanyun stared at Su Jin's face and said: "Afraid! Of course I am afraid. We are afraid that you are using our Yeli tribe to obtain important news about Daxia, and we are afraid that you will play us like monkeys; when writing this letter, aunt I was also worried, but I told him that although Mr. Su is not a decent person, his character is still trustworthy."

Su Jin laughed and said, "What do you mean by not being a decent person? Are you scolding me?"

Yeli Duanyun sneered and said: "You are still pretending, even your aunt knows about you and my cousin Ari, you lied to her innocent body, and then walked away, leaving my cousin thinking about it every day. You are so skinny, do you think you are a decent person?"

Su Jin blushed and said: "This...how could this be? Ari told me that she was just playing with me, and said that the girls of your party can be with whoever they like, not because they want to marry that person, but now they are Why?"

Ye Li Duanyun spat: "You men love to hear such words, it is best not to be responsible for eating, who told you that our party girls are so casual? In fact, our party girls are more self-loving than you Song girls, In our Dangxiang clan, if a woman is seen by someone, she must marry that person. If that person refuses to marry, then she can only live for the rest of her life; not to mention... let alone you and Ari are both... like that Now, who else can Ahri be with besides you? She said that because the two countries are hostile, and you have a wife, so you have to say that."

Su Jin was sweating like rain, and Ai Ai said: "This... If I had known this, I would not have provoked her."

Ye Li Duanyun sneered and said: "You can say the three words without provoking. It's natural for a man and a woman to be happy with each other. If she likes you, she just needs to keep her heart... On you, is it a question of provoking or not." Ye Liduanyun's face flushed, and his expression was a little weird.

Su Jin smiled wryly, "Then what should I do?"

Yeli Duanyun said: "I don't know, it's your business, but if you betray Ari, I will be the first to spare you. I will send someone to cut off your dog's head and take it back to Ari."

Su Jin stuck out her tongue and said, "It's amazing. Let's talk about it later. Let's deal with the matter in front of us first. Your aunt wants to trade the grain now. There is no problem with me. I have already prepared the grain. I have also built three post stations, but I don’t know how you have built them. Also, the price and quantity of the first batch of transactions have to be finalized, and the route needs to be inspected again. I don’t want to make trouble because of haste. If this matter is revealed, not only will your Yeli tribe be punished, but I will also be executed in the court."

Yeli Duanyun said: "Auntie said, everything is according to your request, as long as you promise to trade as soon as possible, there will be no waiting there, at most one month, and there will be food shortages and chaos in the country."

Su Jin said: "Then I will not be polite. I have 100 and forty shi of grain on hand. According to my purchase price and the cost of transporting it here, it is about 100 and 35, and the total is about [-]. Since it is a balance of goods, I will still set the price at seven hundred pennies per stone. Your war horses have a transaction price on the black market in Song Dynasty, which is about sixty pennies a horse, but you can't give it to me at this price, I want it The price is [-] guan a horse, that is to say, you can get a good horse with fifty shi of grain, if the quality of the horse is too low, the price will need to be lowered.”

Ye Li Duanyun opened his eyes wide and said: "You are so dark, my Northwest good horse is worth nearly a hundred taels of silver in your Great Song Dynasty, but you only gave us 35 taels of silver, you are a complete profiteer, no, we are too big It's a loss."

Su Jin's cowhide was pierced, and he said angrily: "Then what's the price?"

Ye Li Duanyun said: "One hundred shi of grain for one horse, this is a fair and reasonable price, and you can make a profit, we are all happy."

Su Jin shook his head like a rattle and said: "No, no, a hundred shi of grain is [-] guan. At this price, I have been working in vain, and even lost money; you must know that the price of grain I gave you is only [-] yuan." A hundred pennies and a stone, the price you sell to Li Yuanhao in Xia Kingdom may be doubled, I don’t make money to work for you, I’m a fool; besides, when these horses come, I have to spend food and grass to feed them, and it will cost a lot of money. And I can imagine that now you all don’t have to eat, and the horses must be short of concentrate, must be long-haired and thin, and must look terrible, and no one will buy them if they are killed for meat. I am not being taken advantage of. "[

Ye Li Duanyun stomped his feet and said, "Grandma is not to be fooled by you, you Song Guo thinks our horses are going crazy, don't say these are useless, will you agree or not?"

Su Jin shook his head and said: "No, no, the price is too expensive to afford, otherwise how about giving up?"

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The fierce little leather boots kicked Su Jin's expensive mahogany table, making dozens of small holes, making Su Jin grin his teeth in distress, but he didn't let go.

"Okay, then tell me, what price you can accept, I warn you, don't talk nonsense, even if we don't trade with you, we can also trade with Tubo and Uyghur, and it's not like we can't get things done without you."

Su Jinxin said: "The Tubo Uighurs are all horse-producing places, so it's no wonder you want your horses." But the transaction has reached such a point, it is naturally impossible to blow it off, the purchase of grain and the construction of the three transit stations have already been spent. Lost nearly 130 million guan, and now in the Song Dynasty, grain cannot be sold at a high price. If I embezzle the deposits of Huitong Bank for investment, I can't make a loss on the first investment.

"Fair and reasonable price, [-] guan for a horse, [-] shi for a horse, if it is higher, you can go to do business with Tubo, I don't have so much money to fill the pit." Su Jin said.

Ye Li Duanyun stared at Su Jin for a long time, and finally sighed: "Okay, I will follow your price, but this is only the price for this time, and the price may increase in the future."

"Maybe the price will drop too." Su Jin said reluctantly.

Ye Li Duanyun gritted his teeth and said, "One day, I will ask you to taste like an aunt."

Su Jin said with a pun: "I really want to taste your taste."

The price is finalized, grain worth a million guan, bartered at the price of 15 guan for a horse, can be exchanged for [-] war horses; this is a large amount, [-] war horses just stop there, It is a large herd that is overwhelming. It is impossible to complete the transaction of so many horses at one time. Although the Yeli Tribe currently raises more than [-] horses, they will provide tens of thousands of horses to the army of the Xia Kingdom and leave a considerable part The base number of horses is produced, so the [-] horses can only be traded in batches.

Su Jin did not object to this, but for the sake of caution, Su Jin decided to walk along the route of the horses himself. Although it would delay more than ten days, this transaction is too important, not only the transaction is sensitive, but also the time very sensitive.

It should not be too late, early the next morning, Su Jin only notified several trusted officials such as Wang Chao Ma Han, and pretended to go out of the city with a dozen of his entourage followed by Ye Li Duanyun.