The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Su Jin left the capital with his family on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month. Originally, Su Jin planned to stay in the capital until the end of the year, but the situation in the capital made Su Jin feel that if he stayed any longer, he might fall into it.

I don't know when, Su Jin also learned to hide his power and bide his time; there are quite a few people who are stronger than himself these days, needless to say, Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, once in power, they will behave differently from the past, and of course they cannot confront them head-on.

Even Fu Bi, who is a good old man in Su Jin's eyes, has changed a lot now. Since he became one of the leaders of the New Deal, he is in the high position of deputy envoy of the Privy Council, and he is also alienated from Su Jin because of the New Deal. Even with his father-in-law, Yan Shu, they became estranged due to political differences.

There is no doubt that power and status are enough to change a person's temperament, and Su Jin can understand that, who wants to live under others for a lifetime and not do something big?Who doesn't want to be famous and praised by Shi Wanmin?

For Su Jin, the current major task is to manage the two-acre three-point land in the northwest, so that the affairs of Jingyuan Road and Qinfeng Road will not go wrong, and the Su family's business will not be affected, so let's make a fortune in silence. [

The good news is that no matter what, the return on investment I have made is huge, and the operations of Baoshan Coal Yard and Oil Refining Valley are booming. This time I came to the capital and opened up the sales of Suji Baoshan coal cakes and fragrant cakes in the capital. After the experience, not only did the third division order 50 catties of briquettes to supply to the yamen in the capital for heating this winter, even the Imperial Palace Internal Affairs Office also ordered the supply of fragrant cakes throughout the winter. After flocking to them, [-] fragrant cakes were ordered.

Su Jin's next step is to radiate the use of briquettes from the capital to the southeastern state capitals. With the capital as a springboard, there will be a good publicity effect. The popularization of coal as fuel to replace firewood in major cities should be completed soon. , what needs to be considered now is not the issue of sales, but the issue of production output.

At present, ten excavation faces are excavated at the same time, and the speed is not fast. Only more than 10,000 baskets of coal are produced every day, and each basket is about [-] catties. In terms of fuel, a metropolis with a population of one million needs [-]+ catties a day. It is not popularized yet, so it can barely supply it. Once the people agree, the supply of such a small amount of production will be absolutely insufficient, let alone expand the market to The capitals of the southern states.

Of course, Su Jin also knows that the market in Song Dynasty is not his own. The success of Baoshan briquettes will inevitably drive the sales of coal in Shanxi, Henan and other places, and it is not that there is no high-quality coal elsewhere, and according to the invited coal mining master The Hebi Coal Mine in Henan has found a way to turn low-quality coal into high-quality coal with less smoke. It can be done by washing or sorting, and even breaking the raw coal into powder and mixing it with secret unknown things. Also reduces smoke.

But Su Jin is not worried. With the speed of coal production in the Song Dynasty, the supply will be in short supply for at least a hundred years. Besides, Su Ji is taking the brand route, and Baoshan coal cakes are the first to gain popularity. into a problem.

In the Oil Refining Valley, the refining of kerosene accumulates at a rate of about fifteen barrels per day. Although the output is not high, the specifications of kerosene are unquestionable. It seems to be a loss-making business, but Su Jin knows that kerosene is a thing, It is not certain when the situation will be reversed to obtain greater benefits, and Su Jin also has selfish intentions. Except for a part of the supply to Di Qing in Yanzhou, the rest will be hidden in the cave warehouse by himself. It is good to sell this stuff to the court. , but Su Jin was unwilling to do so, and besides, the imperial court also had several fire oil refining places in other places, so he didn't have to worry about that.

There is another thing that makes Su Jin happy, and that is the residue from oil refining. Su Jin knows that it is asphalt oil. In this era, what he sees every day is the official road with potholes. A bit of bluestone and blue brick road is too expensive, and asphalt can just be used to pave the road; in the few months from the beginning of oil refining to the present, the asphalt produced was ordered by Su Jin to be laid on the road opened for the entrance and exit of Baoshan. Half of this avenue has become an asphalt road, and it is still unblocked in rainy and snowy days, ensuring the entry and exit of briquettes and supplies.

Su Jin's goal is to use asphalt to pave all the official roads of Northwest Fourth Road. By then, whether it is transporting materials or marching to fight wars, the mobility will be greatly increased, and the entire Northwest Fourth Road will become smooth and blocked. God winked.

On the third day after Su Jin returned to Qinzhou, the censor Liang Jian and the censor Wang Gongchen followed Su Jin's footprints. The arrival of these two people surprised Su Jin , but obviously not for himself.

Su Jin didn't have a deep impression of Liang Jian and Wang Gongchen. Most of the admonishers in Yushitai were roles that everyone feared to avoid. Also chose the strategy of keeping a respectful distance, these two people will not come for no reason.

In the evening, Su Jin hosted a banquet in honor of the two. At the banquet, the two informed Su Jin of the purpose of their trip. On the morning of Su Jin's departure from Beijing, Liang Jian impeached Teng Zongliang, the magistrate of Jingzhou on Jingyuan Road. Officials above the state government road level will have the right to control a large amount of money, which is called "minister's money", which is similar to the money for entertainment expenses of later generations. The rewards of the government, as well as money such as dinners on holidays in the official government offices, all belong to the category of this envoy's money.

It’s not that Teng Zongliang, the magistrate of Jingzhou, pocketed the 16 envoy money allocated by the third department, but this gentleman spent the 16 yuan on things he shouldn’t have spent. He used the money to feast with his subordinates and was still in Jingzhou Several halls and pavilions were built, and I followed my staff who generally liked to sing the wind and enjoy the moon, feasting and swimming in them, and lived a leisurely life; I spent all the money of 16 envoys; Every year, various behaviors of officials are investigated throughout the year, including the account check of the envoy's money, but this gentleman destroyed the account books after the inspectors arrived, falsely claiming that they were lost during the turmoil of the war, and came to a deadly confrontation.

Such a trivial matter may not be considered a big deal in a prosperous year, but now that the whole Song Dynasty is tightening their belts, it is a bit inappropriate for Teng Zongliang to do so; not to mention that it is a sensitive period now, the court The New Deal is in full swing, and Teng Zongliang and Fan Zhongyan have a very good relationship. They are a pair of bosom friends who appreciate each other. At this time, their buttocks are not clean, and they will obviously be found out.

In the court hall, facing Liang Jian’s impeachment, Fan Zhongyan couldn’t defend Teng Zongliang at all, but cursed inwardly: Teng Zijing, Teng Zijing, it’s not good for you to make trouble, but this is the time to make trouble, I want to protect you, but I can’t protect you. To protect you, I can only add insult to injury.

So Fan Zhongyan had to second the proposal, proposing to demote Teng Zijing to Zhifengxiang Mansion. Although they are also at the state level, Fengxiang and Jingzhou must be small market towns compared with the big cities, and their power status has plummeted.

But how could Du Yan take advantage of Teng Zijing so much? When Wang Gongchen asked Wang Gongchen to discuss it again, Wang Gongchen suggested that Teng Zijing should be demoted to a commoner on the grounds that he was sitting too lightly, and would never be used again; The strategy of balance not only took care of Fan Zhongyan's face, but also showed Da's attitude towards the rectification of officials, so he ordered Teng Zongliang to be relegated to Baling County, Yuezhou. To the head of the township in the fringe mountainous area.

After listening to this, Su Jin suddenly remembered the masterpiece "The Story of Yueyang Tower" by Fan Zhongyan that he had learned in middle school: It's not very glorious, but this guy has a lot of ideas. When he arrived in Baling County, he rebuilt the Yueyang Tower to carry out the political achievement project, and invited Fan Zhongyan to write it down. If you leave a name, you can still earn money.

"Lord Su, the two of us are here to read the holy order to Teng Zongliang. Before leaving, the emperor specially asked me to come to Qinzhou to say hello to you. Jingzhou is your subordinate. Because Teng Zongliang abused the envoy's money in First of all, my lord's new envoy is here, and the emperor said please don't blame yourself, Mr. Su, and you are responsible for this person's fault." Liang Jian said with a smile that was not a smile.

Su Jin chuckled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding, but I've been negligent in my duties. I'll make an apology. Teng Zijing will be punished if he has done something wrong. It's already a favor of the Emperor to be relegated to Baling County."

Wang Gongchen said with a smile: "I have heard for a long time that Mr. Su understands righteousness, and seeing him today is indeed worthy of the name. Speaking of which, if Teng Zijing had no friendship with Fan Gong, I am afraid that this time he would not be so lucky; this matter has also been criticized by the court. The officials all said that Mr. Fan was unfair. During the new policy, many officials were dismissed from their posts because of minor faults, while his friend Teng Zongliang still retained his official status despite his fault.

Su Jin knew that they were talking nonsense, so as long as he echoed and said one or two bad things about Fan Zhongyan, soon the capital would be full of rumors that he was dissatisfied with Fan Zhongyan. Su Jin cheated.

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Su Jin smiled and said to him: "I only take care of the affairs of the two roads in the northwest, and I am so busy with my own affairs, how can I manage others. Besides, the matter of the New Deal is a matter agreed by the emperor and several privy officials. I'll wait for the talk; the two of you don't know, I've already ordered that all officials, big or small, in the jurisdiction of Qinfeng Road and Jingyuan Road who talk about the New Deal will be slapped [-] times."

Wang Gongchen hurriedly shut up, he had heard that Su Jin was a stunned young man, if he continued to speak indiscriminately, it would be embarrassing to be slapped twenty times by this stunned young man.