The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

All night, Su Jin didn't sleep. He got up from time to time to look at the falling snow, praying that the snow would stop soon, but his prayers were ignored by the gods and Buddhas. The snow continued to fall until the next morning, and the whole Yangzhou The snow in the city is knee-deep.

It cleared up after the snow, and the weather was several times colder than it was when it snowed. The rich people would naturally drink and chat around the stove. The snowy day is a time for families to reunite, have a drink and enjoy the fire, but most of the people in Yangzhou suffered It's a disaster.

In order to buy high-priced black market rice, many people pawned all the valuables in their homes. Some people even pawned quilts and cotton clothes because the weather was not too cold a few days ago, in exchange for the food for two meals. They have no choice but when to say something, what should they do when it is cold and snowing?This kind of thought basically never appeared in my mind, and the stomach in front of me couldn't be filled, so why talk about other things.

The snow-sweeping soldiers found more than 20 frozen corpses on the street at once. Those stiff corpses were lined up in the government office square, making Song Xiang at a loss, scratching with his hands, helpless.

Su Jin found Song Xiang again early in the morning and discussed with him about the use of military rations. Although Song Xiang had no solution, he still stubbornly rejected Su Jin. Su Jin angrily scolded the old man in front of him. Confused, the two finally tore off their faces.

After the snow, the hungry and cold people in the city began to leave their homes one after another. The heavily armed soldiers all over the street made them helpless, but the pressure of survival still forced them to slowly gather in the Fuya Square; body, and took his wife and children away from Yangzhou City where they were born and started wandering and fleeing aimlessly.

Su Jin was very anxious, he couldn't wait any longer, another civil uprising was brewing in the square, and with Song Xiang's temper, it meant another bloodshed.

As for the people who left Yangzhou City, their fate would be unpredictable. They either froze to death in the wilderness, or wandered to other places that were also short of food, or some people simply became bandits.

Su Jin made up his mind not to let this happen. He decided to use the last trick, which was to take out the gold medal Zhao Zhen gave him to force Song Xiang to submit. The only problem was that Zhao Zhen made it clear that this A gold medal cannot be shown unless it is absolutely necessary, and if it is shown indiscriminately, it is a serious crime, not to mention taking a gold medal is a violation of taboos and transporting military rations; but Su Jin has already ignored these things.

When Su Jin returned to the residence to take out the gold medal, an unexpected guest came.

The pale-faced Song Quan hurried to Su Jin's residence. When he saw Su Jin, he said loudly: "Brother Su, you have to take care of this matter. Dad is helpless. If this continues, Yangzhou City will be finished. The people and officers and soldiers in the square It has already started to quarrel again, seeing another conflict, if you don't think about it, everything will be over."

Su Jin said: "There is food in the warehouse of the government office, why don't you ask your father to open a warehouse to help?"

Song Quan said: "If he doesn't even listen to you, how can he listen to me?"

Su Jin sighed: "I didn't expect your father to be so stubborn. Doesn't he know how many people will die like this? The military salary of the imperial court is important, but it is not so important that even the lives of the common people are ignored. To say something that offends you, I really want to scold your father severely to wake him up."

Song Quan said: "It's not that he's not sober, he's too sober, that's why he did this. He sticks to the dogma and doesn't change it. The people of Yangzhou will be in great trouble."

Su Jin looked at Song Quan's anxious face, and suddenly his heart moved. It seemed that Song Quan really cared about the life and death of the people, and it didn't seem like a fake. A bold idea suddenly came to his mind.

Su Jin gently closed the door, pulled Song Quan to sit down and cupped his hands, and said, "Brother Shaoqing, I want to ask you something, or on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou. If you agree, the people will I will be able to survive this difficult time, and when my 50 shi of grain arrives, I will have plenty of time to attack the hoarding black market dealers, and then Brother Song will be the savior of Yangzhou City."

Song Quan asked suspiciously: "Brother Su, where do you start with this? What can I do to solve the current crisis?"

Su Jin smiled, and whispered into his ear: "Brother Song, if you are really thinking about the people of Yangzhou, I would like to ask you to do something for me. The military rations are stored in the official warehouse. I went to see them yesterday. , the soldiers are closely guarded, you must have your father's official document stamped with a big seal before you can open the warehouse, I mean..."

Song Quan opened his eyes wide and said, "You mean to forge official documents and open warehouses to release grain?"

Su Jin raised his finger on his lips, signaling him not to speak loudly, nodded and said: "At present, the only way to keep the people alive is in this way, otherwise the people in this city will all be ruined."

Song Quan rubbed his hands hesitantly and said: "This is a serious crime of beheading. If this matter is leaked out, my whole family will be ruined. Wouldn't I become an unfaithful and unfilial person?"

Su Jin patted him on the shoulder and said: "Filial piety and righteousness are difficult to achieve. If you fulfill filial piety, you will violate the righteousness of the people. As for whether this matter is loyal or not, it should not be decided by us. The purpose of forging official documents It is to save the people of Yangzhou, isn’t it loyal to the court? Although the methods are not in compliance with the rules, it is understandable to use some methods for good purposes in extraordinary times.”

Song Quan lowered his head in thought, raised his head for a while and said, "Even if I agree, the great seal is in the hands of my father. I can imitate my father's handwriting, but how can I get the great seal?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "You just need to tell me where the Great Seal was formed, and you don't have to interfere with the rest of the matter. After the incident, you also pretend that you don't know anything, so that you can do nothing about it. I, Su Jin, can bear it alone."

Song Quan thought about it carefully, and said with a straight heart: "Brother Su Xian is very responsible, since he is so stupid, he will gamble this for the people of Yangzhou, but even if you take the official documents, once the food is released, there will be a sensation in the city. Shall I not send troops to take you?"

Su Jin said with a smile: "Shanren has his own clever plan, which can make the magistrate ignorant of everything."

Song Quan said seriously: "Don't hurt a single hair of my father, otherwise you and I will be sworn enemies."

Su Jin also said seriously: "Brother Shaoqing, what did you say? Your father is the elder of the younger brother. How dare you disrespect him. If it weren't for the urgent matter this time, which was related to the lives and deaths of so many people, I would definitely not Talking nonsense to the magistrate, I will not do such a thing of forging official documents."

Song Quan said: "Okay, I will trust you this time. I will teach you the format and seal of official documents. My father has his habit of stamping. Don't make a mistake, otherwise you will be seen through."

Su Jin secretly called it a fluke, if Song Quan hadn't mentioned it, how would he know the format and the habit of stamping, if he was discovered by then, he would be in big trouble.

"It's Daddy's habit to keep his seal and ribbon on his body. His official seal is hung in the cloth bag on the back of his waist, and he puts it under the pillow even when he sleeps."

Su Jin said: "Okay, at noon I will go to the yamen to invite the magistrate to have a drink, and I will ask you to go with me when the time comes, and we will start after drinking."

Song Quan said: "It's a deal, I'll go back to the government office and talk to my father first, it's best not to use this method, if it's not possible, I will only be unfilial this time."

Su Jin bowed to the ground and said sincerely: "Brother Song's righteousness is a model that Su Jin worships. Su Jin thank you in advance. If it is useful to Su Jin in the future, please speak, and I will die. "

Song Quan hurriedly replied, "I'm not doing it for you, I'm just doing it for the common people."

……

After the two broke up, Su Jin ordered Wang Chao to buy some food and drink from the restaurants on the street. Most of the restaurants had already closed down, but there were still a few restaurants open near the government office due to heavy guards, but the people who went in were all High-ranking officials and nobles, the money in the pockets of the common people has long been absorbed by the high-priced rice on the black market, and no one has spare money to go to restaurants to eat wine.

Not a while after the dynasty left, he used a food box to get the wine and meat from the two big food boxes and came back. After returning, he put them on the table. The two big foodies thought that Su Jin was rewarding them. Su Jin hurriedly stopped : "Don't take it out, put it in the food box to keep warm."

Wang Chao was stunned and said, "My lord, is this a treat?"

Su Jin said: "Don't ask questions, and bring your anesthetic."

Wang Chao hurriedly said, "Where did I get the anesthetic?"

Su Jin reprimanded: "Don't fool me. You don't have anything on you. Do you think I don't understand? You should prepare some of these things when you walk outside. I didn't say anything to you. Give them to me. I will be useful."

Zhao Chao had no choice but to take out a pack of Mongolian sweat medicine and hand it to Su Jin. Su Jin opened the paper bag and saw that it was a handful of yellow powder. Come on, this kind of smell is afraid that only spirits can cover it up, no wonder everyone likes to put medicine in wine.

"What's the use of such a small amount, take two more packs." Su Jin said.

Wang Chao opened his eyes wide and said, "What? This medicine is very powerful. Don't look at this handful, it's enough to numb a dozen strong men."

Su Jin opened the seal of the wine jar and poured it in, suddenly tilted his head and asked, "Can this stuff eat dead people?"

Wang Chao said: "You can't die from eating, you just need to sleep longer."

Su Jin shook his hands when he heard the words, put a pack of Mongolian sweat medicine into the wine jar, picked up the wine jar, shook it twice, put down the lid and sealed it, clapped his hands and said, "You're done."

Wang Chao blinked, not knowing what Su Jin was going to do, could it be that the son-in-law had a crush on some girl, but she refused, was this going to pick flowers?