The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

"There is a city in the city, facing south and facing north. The situation in the middle chamber is different from that of the Forbidden City. There is a palace in the inner city, and the roads and yamen are set up in the palace. It looks like an emperor coming to court. I feel very frightened..."

On Zhao Zhen's case, there is a Gao Ruona memorial, and the above paragraph is part of the original words in the memorial.

This secret memorial was sent to the capital by Gao Ruona in August, but Zhao Zhen kept hesitating in his heart. Gao Ruona's meaning was obvious. Su Jin opened up a city within a city in the middle of the newly built city, and Looking at this posture, it looks like a small palace. In the etiquette system of the Song Dynasty, there are clear regulations on the residence and construction of the Yamen on Zhoufu Road. There are clear regulations on the face of the yamen, the size of the gate, and the height of the gate tower; if it is true as Gao Ruona’s report said, Su Jin must have violated the system, and he will be punished if he violates the system. What kind of thoughts, it is a matter of daydream.

Zhao Zhen did not act rashly. For such a big event, it is not appropriate to just listen to Gao Ruona's words. Once the judgment is wrong, it is a public expression of distrust for Su Jin. Zhao Zhen is not that stupid, and Not to mention that he still trusts Su Jin at present, no matter from which point of view, Su Jin does not look like a person harboring evil intentions, but there are always exceptions to everything, and the entire Northwest is handed over to Su Jin, which is equivalent to handing over the entire Northwest to Su Jin. The gates of Bianliang and even the Great Song Dynasty were entrusted to Su Jinzai to take care of them. Once there was a problem with the guards guarding the gates, it would be a catastrophe.

Zhao Zhen has always been like this, both employing people and suspicious people, using them for use, doubts for doubts, once this matter came out, Zhao Zhen always wanted to find an opportunity to send someone to see what happened, is it as Gao Ruona said, Su Jin built a small palace in the middle of the newly built Pearl City. [

Finally, when the new city was completed in September, Zhao Zhen sent his servant Zuo Daoying to the new city under the pretext of congratulating him and looking forward to knowing the appearance of the new city. He asked Zuo Daoying to go all over the city and record everything he saw. , especially the pattern of the middle compartment.

After Zuo Daoying arrived, he was led by Gao Ruona to live in his own mansion, and the two of them stuck together like glue, wandering around the city every day, Gao Ruona ordered a large number of soldiers to accompany him, hugging each other with a very flamboyant air.

The doubts in Su Jin's heart were still unresolved, so he would naturally pay close attention to these two people. It seemed that Su Jin was busy in various states every day, and even the yamen in Pearl City seldom sat in court, but Su Jin had already ordered people to secretly watch Zuo Daoying and Gao Ruona's every move is reported to himself at any time.

One day in late September, Su Jin and Liang Shi had just rushed back from Chengzhou at the junction of Lizhou and Qinfeng Road, because Liang Shi had discovered an iron ore belt in Heigou Mountain, Chengzhou, and it seemed to have rich reserves , It is worth investing in mining. Su Jin was naturally very excited, so he followed Liang Shi to check there for two days.

As soon as Su Jin returned to Mingzhu City, the people he sent to spy on Gao Ruona and Zuo Daoying came to report, saying that Deputy Envoy Gao and Director Zuo took advantage of the few days when Su Jin went out to circle around the middle compartment. , and pointed at the layout of the building in the middle compartment, the two not only watched from the outside, but also entered the newly built inner hall of the yamen, and the garden behind, and inspected the various public houses near the left, remembering as they talked, sneaking It's extremely suspicious.

Su Jin didn't think it was a big deal at all, but the words of Rou Niang at the dinner table that night shocked Su Jin into a cold sweat.

Rou Niang was feeding Hu'er, chatting casually with Su Jin: "Master, our Hu'er is getting more and more tolerant. Yesterday afternoon, I took Hu'er to play in the garden behind, and I met someone from the capital. Director Zuo, when seeing Hu'er, Director Zuo repeatedly praised him for his poise at such a young age, quite a bit like a dragon among people."

Su Jin frowned and said, "Why did you go to the back garden? How did he know you?"

Rou Niang said: "Who knows him? It wasn't General Gao who introduced him. Originally, the servants wanted to avoid them when they saw them. General Gao insisted on telling Chief Zuo that Hu'er is our child, and Chief Zuo stepped forward. Talking to me, I don't want to ignore you, what's the matter? Is the young master jealous of my family?"

Su Jin rolled his eyes and said, "What kind of vinegar are you eating? I was thinking, what are these two guys doing in the garden after they run away?"

Rou Niang smiled and said: "It is said that it is just a casual stroll, the left manager also praised the exquisite back garden of the Zhongxiang yamen, it is almost as good as the emperor's back garden."

Su Jin was startled and said, "He really said that?"

Rou Niang said: "That's right, General Gao still said 'That's right, the grandeur of the middle room is like a small palace', and then the two of them left with smiles on their faces."

Su Jin's back was cold, and he suddenly sensed the danger. Zuo Daoying's intention to come to Pearl City made Su Jin puzzled. This soft sentence meant that the listener had the intention. What will happen if you say a sentence in Zhen's ear?From this, we can think of Zhao Zhen's intention to send this person here. Could it be that someone deliberately made a fuss about this matter?

Su Jin thought about the layout of the central chamber carefully. At the beginning, he wanted to use the central chamber as the office area of ​​the government office. In order to appear solemn and solemn, he subconsciously adopted part of the layout of the imperial palace in the layout, because the buildings Su Jin had seen were limited. When designing the layout of the house, the subconscious will naturally use the most majestic and solemn palace I have ever seen as a blueprint.

Of course, there was also a part of vanity at work, the youthful success always wanted to show off, so the Lushi Yamen's courtroom was built into a palace to look like it, but completely forgot about the taboo.

Thinking about it again, I remembered that after the middle chamber was basically completed, all the subordinates praised it in unison, but at that time, Gao Ruona looked like Pi Liyangqiu. Now that I think about it, all the subordinates have never seen the palace. Naturally, the situation is understandable, but Gao Ruona, who had worked in the palace, must have seen the similarity. From this, it can be concluded that in all likelihood, Gao Ruona played Zhao Zhen, and Zhao Zhen sent people to inspect it on the spot. up.

Frightened, Su Jin told his wives and concubines about his doubts, and everyone was dumbfounded. Although all the wives and concubines had never been in the palace except Yan Biyun and Xia Siling, from the eyes of Yan Biyun and Xia Siling, they also understood I am afraid that the layout of the middle box is indeed a bit like a part of the layout of the palace.

"This... what should I do? Your husband is too careless. Why didn't you pay attention to this when you built it? You still... still built it according to the layout of the imperial palace, and now a catastrophe is imminent." Yan Biyun anxiously Rubbing his hands and smacking his lips, he walked back and forth. [

Xiao Sui'er said: "Tear it down, tear it down quickly, don't leave anything behind."

Xia Siling said: "It's too late, Director Zuo has already recorded everything, and now it's an attempt to dismantle it, and it's a real crime."

Huanniang Rouniang stomped her feet anxiously, looking at each other at a loss.

Su Jin leaned back on the chair and thought about the countermeasures. It is absolutely impossible to dismantle it, not only to cover up, but also because of the high cost. Su Jin is reluctant, but it is absolutely impossible to let this heresy go back and talk nonsense. Now I can only find a way to stop it. The mouth of Zuo Daoying, or to dissuade him from going back to talk nonsense, or to use tricks to turn bad things into good things.

……

Zuo Daoying has been in Pearl City for more than ten days, and he has almost read and memorized everything. Although Master Lu Shisu did not accompany him all the time, it seems that he does not respect himself enough; but Zuo Daoying doesn't care about it. Come on, Su Jin's good days are numbered.

Taking advantage of the few days when Su Jin left Pearl City, Zuo Daoying, accompanied by Gao Ruona, took a good tour of the middle chamber, ranging from the city walls and palaces to the interior decorations, trees and flowers, Zuo Daoying Ying looked at them one by one, and the more he looked at Zuo Daoying, the more he felt that it looked like a small forbidden city. Entering through the front door, the straight and wide road led directly to the Yamen. At the top, the open space on both sides is enough for more than a hundred officials to stand. As a third-rank official, the yamen can be bigger and more spacious, but it is so big and spacious that it can't help but make people think. Together.

If the Lushi Yamen Hall can be regarded as the Daqing Palace in the imperial palace, the rows of public housing courtyards next to it can be regarded as the office space of the two provinces, three departments and six departments, and the back garden is not the emperor. Is it the royal garden?In addition, the one in charge of protection in the middle room is the guard horse army next to Su Jin. At first glance, the attire and style, I really thought it was the forbidden area of ​​the palace. This Su Jin is too courageous.

Zuo Daoying got the evidence he wanted, and he didn't want to stay too long. Su Jin didn't know why he came, and if he understood, it would be a question of whether he could leave. It's better to run away quickly.

So on the morning of the second day when Su Jin returned to Pearl City, Zuo Daoying, accompanied by Gao Ruona, came to bid farewell to Su Jin.

The place of farewell was in the main hall of the Lushi yamen. When Zuo Daoying and Gao Ruona arrived at the yamen, Su Jin happened to be seated in the hall, and dozens of subordinate officials lined up on both sides, looking more and more like The style of the emperor ascending to the palace.

Zuo Daoying and Gao Ruona looked at each other, and stepped up to the lobby. When Su Jin saw Zuo Daoying, he quickly got up and left the case to greet him with a smile: "Oh, it turns out to be Director Zuo, and I am about to order someone to invite you Come here, I didn't expect you to have smooth ears, but you came by yourself."

Zuo Daoying was startled, and his heart suddenly became alert. Could it be that Su Jin noticed something?