The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The super large purchase of 400 million guan is in full swing in the Pearl City. The merchants in the Pearl City are doing good business. Unidentified people make a big purchase in the city, which makes them more motivated. In seven or eight days, the merchants in the Pearl City are almost Everyone benefited, and the materials in the warehouse were also bought out.

There were also a few merchants who wanted to play tricks and take the opportunity to drive up prices, but they were soon found out by the chamber of commerce, and they were immediately kicked out of Mingzhu City, and they were never allowed to do business in Mingzhu City; With a ghost in his stomach, he honestly carried on the business.

There are a wide variety of goods purchased, ranging from daily necessities such as grain, cloth, tea, to luxury goods such as gold and silver jewelry, rouge, gouache, fragrance, and mirrors. Knowing what this behind-the-scenes purchaser wants to do, he can only go downstream to the south after boarding the boat. The price of these goods in the south is lower, and they cannot be sold at all. Isn't this looking for a loss?

But these thoughts are in everyone's stomach. Since someone wants to be taken advantage of, why should I worry about it? In short, it is enough to sell the goods and make a lot of money. It seems that Mingzhu City is a treasured place of geomantic omen. Silly characters come here to throw money, as if bewitched.

A few days later, the frantic purchases came to an end, and everyone watched with reluctance as the four large boats piled up like hills slowly left the pier in the west. The direction they were going was not going downstream, but upstream along the Longshui River to the northwest. The church merchants were puzzled. [

Soon the mystery was revealed, and Li Chong convened the chamber of commerce to announce that the crazy purchases in Pearl City were actually caused by Master Su entrusting Weizhou to judge Wei Songhe. Weizhou lacked supplies, and Master Su allocated millions of dollars to Weizhou. The state's relief, of course, does not flow to outsiders, so the location of the procurement is chosen in Mingzhu City.

All the merchants suddenly realized, no wonder those unlucky merchants were immediately expelled by the government as soon as they raised their prices, and the Lord Lu Shi rescued Weizhou's procurement behavior. up.

Su Jin took the four major commanders of the dynasty Ma Han Zhang Long Zhao Hu with him, but there were not many soldiers, and only more than 100 people were carefully selected to accompany him as coolies.

Three days later, the ship arrived at the only pier in Weizhou and could not move forward. The Longshui River was a collection of snowy water. Originally, winter was the day when the water dried up.

The arranged convoy has long been waiting here. Boxes of goods are loaded into carts. The convoy stretches for several miles and slowly travels north, bypassing the foot of Longshan Mountain in the west of Weizhou, and driving from the Gobi wilderness along the passage for smuggling horses. Enter the territory of Xia Kingdom.

Before Yeli Duanyun came, he had already prepared manpower at the nearest post station. After the two sides met, the horses of the Yeli tribe replaced the ox carts of the Song Dynasty, and the speed of travel accelerated. Half a month later, they arrived at the center of the Yeli tribe. Walled City.

The rest needs to be taken care of by Su Jin. According to the purchase list provided by Su Jin, the Yeli Tribe began to purchase materials such as fur, green salt, beef, mutton, milk, ginseng and other materials in accordance with the principle of equivalent exchange, and transported them to the center of the Yeli Tribe. Walled City for delivery.

Su Jin didn't have the heart to wait here for the delivery of the goods. He left Su Ji's accompanying dozen or so masters and dozens of people here to wait for the goods to be traded. He told them to go back the same way after the delivery and return to Pearl City quickly. , handing over the goods to the mistress Yan Biyun is the end of the matter, and Yan Biyun will only properly arrange the sale of these goods.

The reason Su Jin was anxious was that the nearly 20-day delay had already reached the end of February, and March [-]th was the day when Li Ari was going to be sent to Liao to make a marriage marriage, and it would be too late if there was any further delay.

Yeli Duanyun understood Su Jin's mood, so he handed over the matter to the tribal elders, asked Su Jin and the accompanying people to wear Dangxiang people's fur coats and hats to disguise themselves as his followers, and led them away from the Yeli tribe. Go straight to Xingqing Mansion.

Along the way, he was starved to death, and the villages were lonely. The residents of Xia Kingdom he saw were also yellow and thin, and their eyes looked timidly at the people passing by. Su Jin knew that Xia Kingdom had suffered a lot, and the lives of the people must be sad. Very well, this can also explain why Li Yuanhao sacrificed his daughter for the favor of the Liao Kingdom. If he didn't do this, his subjects might all rise up to rebel.

It took about seven or eight days to travel from the central city of the Yeli Tribe to Xingqing Mansion, the summer capital. It took Su Jin and others five days to reach the outskirts of Xingqing Mansion. She actually survived these five days on horseback. As a weak woman, she has such a physique and perseverance that she taught the accompanying Wang Chao Mahan and others to give a thumbs up.

On the afternoon of February 23, Yeli Duanyun led Su Jin and others to enter through the Desheng Gate in the west city of Xingqing Prefecture. It can be seen that the Yeli tribe has a lot of face in Xingqing Prefecture, and everyone under the banner of the Yeli tribe's bison When entering the city gate, the party officers guarding the city all stepped forward to salute. When they saw the gorgeous wild Li Duanyun, these guys stepped forward to show their hospitality one by one like a chicken blood.

Yeli Duanyun told Su Jin that since the peace talks, the Yeli family has enjoyed a good reputation in all cities in Daxia by relying on the grain and cloth traded with Su Jin. Any store may have no food or cloth to sell, but Yeli There must be shops in the Li tribe; and Ye Lidulan is also quite scheming, taking advantage of this shortage of supplies to privately send high-quality rice and silk tea to the dignitaries in the court from time to time, and to win them over, it is better than giving gold and silver treasures. It also works; so the face of the Yeli family is even greater than when the two kings were alive.

Of course, all of this is under the acquiescence of Li Yuanhao. Li Yuanhao and Zhang Yuan also discussed in private where the Yeli tribe got these urgent supplies. Yeli Dulan said that they were hoarded supplies before, but Li Yuanhao didn't quite believe it.

There is no clue after checking, and the rebellion caused by the famine has sprung up, Li Yuanhao has no energy to pursue the matter, not to mention Ye Lidulan obediently handed over hundreds of thousands of shi of grain and supplies to help Li Yuanhao tide over the difficulties, Li Yuanhao was a little grateful to her.

The Yeli Tribe has more than ten properties in Xingqing Mansion. Apart from shops and warehouses, there are also several large houses. In order to keep a low profile, Su Jin chose a house in Nancheng, which is far away from the imperial palace. The man-made lake built a mansion, it’s good that this place is far away from the palace and away from the main street, it’s quiet and secret; there are sparse houses next to it, most of which are officials’ other courtyards, with side houses or concubine rooms, which are not seen on weekdays People, only at night will there be music and laughter.

After settling down, Yeli Duanyun quietly went into the palace to meet Yeli Dulan, and informed Su Jin that he had come to Xingqing Mansion, but did not mention the intention of coming according to Su Jin's request.

In the morning of the next day, Ye Li Duanyun quietly took Su Jin to Chengtian Temple in the east of the city. Chengtian Temple to meet. [

Chengtian Temple is the largest temple in Xingqing Mansion, where the royal family worships the Buddha. The fundamental method of the royal family's worshiping the Buddha is close to the idle people and others. But today, if there are people in the palace who come to worship the Buddha, they can naturally enter. The big box was full of alms offerings, so the Zhike monk had no reason to stop it.

The two of them put in a few incense sticks, knelt down and prayed for a while, when they heard drums and music outside, a monk hurried over and said: "Two benefactors, hurry up and avoid, the empress is here to burn incense and worship the Buddha, don't bump into it." , that's not right."

The two quickly hid in the meditation room at the back of the hall, waiting for the news ahead. After a while, the monk hurried over again and said: "The empress is coming to the meditation room in the backyard to take a nap, you two leave quickly."

Yeli Duanyun stretched out his hand and took out a piece of silver and said, "Little master, wouldn't it be a death if we bumped into each other when we went out now? We will stay here and not go out, and the queen will not enter this meditation room. We will wait until she leaves." just go."

The little monk looked at the silver and hesitated, Su Jin stretched out his hand and took out a large ingot of gold from his sleeve and said, "Please be accommodating, little master."

The little monk's eyes were shining, and he didn't care why this servant dressed in entourage made a bold move. He put his hands together and lightly folded the gold ingot into his palm and said, "Amitabha, you two must not walk around and bump into the queen." Empress is dead."

Su Jin smiled and nodded, "Thank you very much."

The little monk turned around and left, Ye Li Duanyun stared at Su Jin and said: "You are generous, this ingot of gold is worth seventy or eighty guan, enough to feed and drink for the whole family for four or five years."

Su Jin smiled and said: "Money can make ghosts grind, how can you be stingy with money when doing things, the empress knows we are doing this?"

Ye Li Duanyun said: "The appointment is in the meditation room in the backyard. My aunt enters the abbot's quiet room. Let's turn out from the back after a while. When there is a back room in the quiet room, knock three times, and my aunt will open the tether from the inside."

Su Jin smiled wryly and said, "It's like stealing someone."

Yeli Duanyun spat: "You don't know, the emperor secretly sent someone to investigate the matter of my Yeli tribe, and my aunt ordered everything to be careful, and your identity is sensitive, if you make a mistake and get caught, it will be over. "

Su Jin nodded and said: "Be careful sailing for thousands of years, what you said is true."

The two leaned together by the door and listened carefully. After a while, footsteps rustled in the courtyard, and an old voice said: "The empress is here, please, the old man has already ordered someone to clean the quiet room, and burn incense to soothe the gods. The empress can go to have a rest." .”