The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

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Although the difficulties have passed, hidden worries still remain.

Throughout the New Year in the fifth year of Qingli, Su Jin was worried about this matter. This crisis was not so much caused by his own poor financial calculations as it was because he was forced to do so. Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen asked himself to be the envoy of Northwest Fourth Road. To put it nicely, it was because he had made some contributions and had some small skills, but Su Jin knew it very well. From Zhao Zhen crying to himself for being poor, he had to be independent From the beginning of trying to feed the millions of soldiers and civilians on the Northwest Fourth Road, Zhao Zhen used his psychological weakness to exploit himself; although he knew it was exploitation, Su Jin had to accept it, because Su Jin's psychological weakness was that he believed that he could Do it without seeing the people suffer.

The whole thing seemed to be a situation of willing to fight or willing to suffer. Zhao Zhen was a little more polite to Su Jin, and then put such a high hat on Su Jin's head, Su Jin had no ability to refuse at all. [

Of course, for Su Jin, he also has his own purpose. On the one hand, Su Jin thinks that he can accomplish this difficult task with his own ability, not for Zhao Zhen, but for the common people; That dream prompted him to do this, and that dream could not be realized in the capital or anywhere else. Only in this case, Zhao Zhen would not interfere with his behavior too much, and that dream could be realized.

In order to realize this dream, Su Jin was a little dizzy, so that he forgot what Zhao Zhen valued most in him. Once he went bankrupt and Yinzhuang lost its reputation, Su Jin would definitely be able to turn around again; The status of Su Jin with strong economic strength in Zhao Zhen's eyes will plummet, and the position of the Northwest Fourth Route Envoy will definitely be lost.

When she figured this out, Su Jin broke out in a cold sweat. This is the most dangerous part of this financial crisis. When she became the person to use in Zhao Zhen's eyes, it was obvious that she relied on her qualifications and those previous peace Zhao Zhen's bad deeds with blushing and thick neck, and those things that are not allowed by the law will all be found out to settle accounts, and the end can be imagined.

Su Jin finally understood that even though there was already a gap between him and Zhao Zhen, Zhao Zhen still handed over the Northwest to himself, not entirely because of Zhao Zhen's magnanimity, but more importantly because he still had something to take advantage of. Value, squeeze yourself dry, kick away at the right time, this is probably Zhao Zhen's real idea; but having said that, there is no need to make a fuss about the relationship between the emperor and his courtiers. The matter of Junzhilu being loyal to the emperor is just that he has been wronged very much. If he doesn't eat Junlu, but he still has to be used by him, it is really wronged.

Contemporary officials who are troubled by the idea of ​​​​loyalty to the emperor will never understand this. They will think that everything is justified, even if the emperor's exploitation is the emperor's trust, and they have never thought of the relationship between the two; Su Jin has no loyalty to the emperor. Concepts, maybe what he said was yyng to everyone, but he never deeply penetrated these concepts in his heart, and it was because of this that he was able to jump out of the fixed thinking mode and see the real situation here clearly.

After figuring out these things, Su Jin became cheerful instead. He suddenly found that he had grasped the key to control his own destiny in this era. It was very simple. He must always make himself an indispensable person in Zhao Zhen's eyes. Then he can maintain Zhao Zhen's tolerance for himself, just like the affairs of the palace in Xincheng yyng, his affectation seems to make up for it, but anyone who is not a fool knows that it is his afterthought, and Zhao Zhen not only did not because of this On the contrary, he sent people to comfort and show his kindness when he was weak. This is a clear proof.

Su Jin suddenly had some admiration for the wisdom of Ye Li Dulan, the Queen of Xia. In fact, Ye Li Dulan had already seen through what he realized. The earlier he understood the strategy of how to protect himself, that was to make Li Yuanhao feel that the Yeli Tribe was indispensable. It was ridiculous that he took this matter as someone else's matter, and he didn't expect that the same things were common, and these things were actually widely applicable.

Fortunately, it is not too late to wake up. As far as the current situation is concerned, I can still control the situation. In the current Song Dynasty, the way to prevent Zhao Zhen from abandoning himself like a shoe is to hold his lifeline. That is the economy.

……

After the New Year, Su Jin made two major decisions. The first one was that the iron ore field discovered by Liang Shi in Chengzhou must be mined as quickly as possible. The shortage of iron tools these days has led to high prices and huge profits. Zhao Zhen At the beginning, I promised myself the right to mine iron ore and share it with the court [-]-[-]. The big reason was that the court had no money to invest in mining and wanted to complete this matter with the hands of Su Jin; but Su Jin thought very clearly that in any country, the mines The resources will eventually be nationalized, and Zhao Zhen would not have allowed himself the right to exploit them if the situation had not forced him to.

It is hard to say that I am not making wedding clothes for others. When the domestic situation eases, I am likely to be kicked away, and then these mines will be taken back by the imperial court; In the past few years, it is still serious to act quickly, otherwise it will be too late for regret.

In order to put it into production as soon as possible, Su Jin personally followed Liang Shi to the new iron mine in Chengzhou. A large snow-capped mountain range surrounded a valley. The blast furnace has already stood on the flat ground, and the rock formations dug around the hillside look like a large terraced field, which is the iron ore deposit.

Liang Shi lived in the mine, and he didn't go to the capital during the New Year. When he saw Su Jin coming, he hurried out to greet him. Su Jin saw his unkempt appearance and a lot of dust on his face. A geological scientist, who has always been obsessed with mining, can give full play to his strengths. No matter how hard or tired he is, he will not say a word. At such an age, he will not even go to reunite with his family during the New Year. I have to say that his attitude in handling things is quite seriously.

Last year, Su Jin accompanied Liang Shi to various roads in the Northwest for several months. Although many ore veins were discovered, Liang Shi said that many places were not suitable for mining, the cost was too high and the reserves were too small, so it was not worth the effort.

Su Jin is an outsider in this matter, so naturally he listens to Liang Shi. This Liang Shi looks dull, thin and unkempt, but he is extremely serious in his work. Every day he mutters to himself some formulas with a sad face, what is "there is ocher on the mountain, There is iron under it; what is "there is a kind stone on the top, and there is gold under it"; in short, when he arrived in Dazhou, Liang Shi cheered for joy.

"My lord, there must be a big mine here." Liang Shi's beard trembled with excitement.

"How can you see it?" Su Jin didn't quite believe it, a barren mountain and ridge looked no different from other hills he had seen.

Liang Shi pointed to the small stream flowing out of the mountain and said: "Look at the color of this stream. It is slightly reddish in color. It must be brought out from the rocks. 'There is ochre on the mountain, and there is iron under it.' This is the law."

Only then did Su Jin understand that what Liang Shi was talking about meant this. In order to verify his theory, Liang Shi ordered people to select a place on the mountainside, chisel a rock opening with an axe, and move up and down the rock formation with a large magnet that he carried with him. , The magnet on the three-foot-high rock formation can be firmly attached to every place, which fully demonstrates that the iron content in this rock formation is extremely rich. [

Liang Shi introduced the mine's preparations to Su Jin: "Master Su, the coke for ironmaking that is most lacking at present has been sent to Lizhou Road and Qinfeng Road to buy it, but it's just after the New Year and it's winter. It's not easy to collect, and the amount obtained is very small. The lower officials are also worried about this."

Su Jin said: "It will take until the year of the monkey to buy the coke that burns the common people? How about the amount of coke?"

Liang Shidao: "The amount is quite large, because the coke not only acts as a heat source for combustion and melting, but also acts as a guide for iron. The specific ratio needs to be tested in detail when the furnace is opened, and it must be established."

Su Jin said: "Forget it, practice coking coal by yourself. After I go back, I will order Baoshan Mine to deliver ten vehicles for coking coal every day. If it is not enough, you can talk to them yourself."

Liang Shixi said: "That's a good relationship. If you can do this, you will have nothing to worry about."

Su Jin pointed to the tall stove and said, "Is this thing reliable? Why do I think it's a little unreliable? Hundreds of thousands of guns were thrown down to get these stoves."

Liang Shi cupped his hands and said: "My lord, don't worry, the officials are aware of such things, and the money and goods given by your lord are abundant. If I don't train high-quality pig iron, how can I be good to my lord?"

Su Jin himself didn't understand, and his confidence could only come from others. Seeing Liang Shi's confidence, Su Jin felt relieved; immediately left all the condolences he brought with him, and stayed in the iron mine for two days , everyone in the mine was busy, but Su Jin didn't know what to do, so he finally left.