A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 76 Qinglou
In the Song Dynasty, horse archers were also grassroots positions in maintaining social order.

Affiliated to the county-level administrative unit.

Mainly patrolling and helping to catch thieves.

"Horse Archer~Song Xuan requests to go into battle?"

After Song Xuan read it out to himself, he immediately laughed out loud:
"Hahaha, very interesting, Magistrate Zhang, I'd like to be a horse archer."

Zhang Kang simply swallowed back the words he wanted to say to Song Xuan to persuade him to accept.

He didn't know why Song Xuan was so proactive?
Could it be that the title of timely rain is no longer enough to satisfy him?
That's it.

Genius ideas are always incomprehensible.

The rise of local tyrants.

This is also a common problem in the Song Dynasty.

The aristocratic families were eliminated, and the court's control over the local areas was not that good.

Power will not remain vacant for long; someone will inevitably take over.

I still have to guide Song Xuan onto the right path.

Giving him the title of horse archer today is not only to help myself, but also to prevent him from hurting others with arrows.

After all, it is true that when you have a sharp weapon, you will naturally want to kill.

Zhang Kang still understood.

He was very sure that based on Song Xuan's strength, he would not be satisfied with shooting at a stationary target.

Given Song Xuan's "extravagant" lifestyle, it was inevitable that he would be targeted by thieves.

No matter what disputes arise at that time, it will be beneficial for him to have official endorsement.

Anyway, the court would not give salaries to horse archers as they were temporary servants.

In addition to the dominant type of corvee labor in the Northern Song Dynasty, another type of corvee labor was official labor.

The government sent civilians free of charge to serve as clerks and grassroots administrative personnel.

More senior positions, such as state and county duties, were basically held by the children of officials.

They have certain powers and are an important source of local corruption.

Low-level servants were the burden of civilians. They had almost no power and could only obey orders from their superiors. The tasks were heavy, which was one of the biggest burdens on the people of the Northern Song Dynasty.

These were all corvee labor. It was not until Wang Anshi's reforms that the corvee labor for some people was reduced.

It just harmed the interests of the upper class and naturally encountered great resistance.

"Thank you, Magistrate Zhang."

Song Xuan quickly saluted with his arms crossed.

Zhang Kang immediately gave some support.

He thought Song Xuan would refuse, so he prepared a lot of excuses and wanted to express his concerns, but Song Xuan didn't care at all.

After all, few students are willing to do these corvee labors.

Many people paid money to have others perform labor service on their behalf.

Zhang Fangping also said excitedly: "Zhang Tuiguan, can you arrange a position for me as a horse archer?"

No matter what, as long as Brother Twelve takes the initiative to accept it, it will definitely be a good thing!
Song Xuan immediately shook his head and refused:

"No, I'm the only one who can be famous as a horse archer. No one should compete with me!"

"what?"

Song Xuan's words left everyone extremely puzzled.

"Hahaha."

Song Xuan couldn't help laughing again, looking a little nervous.

The book Romance of the Three Kingdoms has not been published yet.

No one knows about Guan Yu's "deeds" as a horse archer under Liu Bei.

"I like this name. I can shoot the arrow with dignity. You are not good at archery. Please don't ruin my reputation."

Everyone knew that Song Xuan was talking nonsense, but no one could understand what he meant. Only Zhang Fangping thought that Song Xuan had a hidden meaning, but he just didn't show it.

The case was solved and everyone was very happy.

Song Xuan returned home with five pounds of beef. Everyone continued to study until nightfall, then went to Qinglou to keep the appointment.

It is said that this place was modeled after Fanlou, but it is not as famous as Fanlou. However, it is unique in Songcheng.

When he walked onto the street, Song Xuan discovered that Zhang Kang, who was extremely happy today, was wearing a jasmine flower on his head.

He then fanned himself without saying anything.

This is the trend of the Song Dynasty, and a country boy like me can’t understand it.

The fashion of wearing flowers in hairpins in the Tang Dynasty continued into the Song Dynasty.

In spring and summer when flowers are in full bloom, you can see people wearing flowers in their hair everywhere.

In June, jasmine flowers were just coming on the market. A bouquet of flowers would cost several hundred coins, and a big meal at a restaurant would only cost a few hundred coins. However, the women in Tokyo, who loved beauty, did not think the flowers were expensive and rushed to buy them to put in their hair.

Flowers put in the hair are particularly easy to wither. In half a day, a bunch of blooming jasmine flowers will wilt.

Hundreds of coins were spent just for a moment of pleasure, but the beauty-loving women of the Song Dynasty did not think it was worth it, let alone the men.

Song Xuan remembered that many of the "evil guys" in Water Margin liked to wear flowers in their hair.

The little tyrant Zhou Tong and the short-lived Erlang Ruan Xiaowu both wore a tattered turban at an angle and had a pomegranate flower in their temples. The sick Guan Suo Yang Xiong loved to wear green hibiscus in his temples.

The prodigal Yan Qing always wears flowers of the four seasons in his hair.

Cai Qing, the flower of love, is an executioner, but he is born to love flowers.

In addition to Song Xuan and Bao Zheng, Zhang Fangping also envied the hairpin flower, after all, he had never really tried it.

Zhang Fangping had always imagined that after he passed the imperial examination, he would ride a horse and travel around Tokyo with flowers in his hair.

Bao Zheng was not interested in these things at all.

Even after he came out, his mind was still thinking about the questions and guidance Zhang Kang had given him when he reviewed his policy papers.

At this time, I was just following the crowd and walking casually.

When Song Xuan and others arrived at the gate of Qinglou, they heard loud drums and music.

Two welcoming attendants stood at the door and immediately bowed and saluted:
"Sir, please come in, four distinguished guests."

As the leader of the dinner party, Zhang Kang was the first to walk in.

He didn't go to any private room, but took Song Xuan to the window hall on the second floor overlooking the lake.

"It's cooler here."

"Sir, how much wine would you like?"

Listening to the bartender's question, Song Xuan and the other two refused to drink.

Zhang Kang naturally ordered two glasses of wine to be brought.

The bartender, also known as the wine measuring doctor, placed the wine jar, wine jug, spoon, chopsticks, cup and plate in front of Song Xuan one by one.

All silver.

The wine vessels used in the luxurious restaurants of the Song Dynasty were all made of gold and silver.

No porcelain is used to show the guest's nobility.

Song Xuan picked up the silver cup and looked at it carefully:
"It's easy to test whether this wine is poisonous or not."

"Hahaha."

Zhang Kang found Song Xuan's joke even more ridiculous. Ordinary people didn't know this point.

But which murderer would poison and kill someone during a banquet in a restaurant?
You can't run away.

After the bartender served the drinks, fresh fruits and the restaurant's signature dishes were all served.

He also filled a silver wine jar with two jars of wine and put a ladle in it.

Heat the wine, please drink it slowly.

Because the service in restaurants is thoughtful, the environment is beautiful, and the wine vessels used are very exquisite and noble, making you feel proud to use them, people in the Song Dynasty liked to entertain guests in restaurants.

"Twelve Lang, have a taste." Zhang Kang drank a glass of wine first.

"This is the best I can offer you. If you cook at my place, not only will the utensils not be as exquisite, but the taste won't even be as good."

"I'll always remember Magistrate Zhang's kindness. Although the food at home is good, it's only natural to go out and enjoy some meat occasionally."

Song Xuan picked up the dish and put it into his mouth. The stir-fried dishes at Qinglou were okay, not bad and they used a lot of oil, but they didn't develop many new tricks.

Just as Song Xuan was busy eating, he heard someone shouting:

"Dr. Wine, come and fill the wine."

(End of this chapter)