The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Su Jin greeted him out of the inn. As soon as Ouyang Xiu's sedan chair landed, Su Jin stepped forward to help Ouyang Xiu open the sedan chair curtain with his own hands.high-speed update

"Oh, Mr. Zhongcheng, what brought you here?" Su Jin smiled and cupped his hands into the sedan chair.

Ouyang Xiu was taken aback, then calmly lowered his head and got out of the sedan chair, and said with a smile: "What's the special envoy of Su? You are also an envoy of the emperor, and you help me to open the sedan chair curtain. If it is spread, isn't this killing me?"

Su Jin laughed and said: "Lord Zhongcheng is so polite. You and I are more than one year apart in age, and our official position is above that of junior officials. Shouldn't we be more respectful? Besides, it's not surprising that there are many polite people."

Ouyang Xiu stroked the black beard under his chin and smiled, "Hmm...it seems to be quite reasonable, but there is another saying that there must be a plan for being polite to others, and there must be a reason for being arrogant before and respectful later."

Su Jin secretly scolded: You are a shameless thing, but your face is blank, rolling your eyes and saying: "Being arrogant and respectful? Is this official disrespectful to your lord? I have forgotten when, Mr. Zhongcheng I remember it very clearly, my lord really has a good memory."

Ouyang Xiu's face froze, and he said in his heart: You pretended to be innocent and foolish, and even insinuated that the old man likes to hold grudges, what a tricky and lazy guy.

It's not easy to say much in the public, so we laughed and said, "Should we go in and talk."

Su Jin hurriedly bowed and led Ouyang Xiu into the lobby of the inn.

The table has already been set, the tea has been set, and even several plates of dried fruits and melon seeds have been placed on the table, Ouyang Xiu nodded slightly and said: "Special Envoy Su, the tea is ready, it seems that you know that this official is coming?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "Be prepared for any danger. Mr. Zhongcheng's car is luxurious, and it is very lively wherever he goes. The people below saw it and came to report it. I think it must be Mr. Zhongcheng who came to congratulate the humble official, so I called They prepared it in advance."

Ouyang Xiu was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Congratulations? Why should I congratulate you?"

Su Jin pretended to be surprised and said: "Why, didn't Master Zhongcheng come to congratulate the next official for successfully recovering the grain stored by the profiteers? 180 million shi of grain, isn't this a great event? To tell you the truth, I came back last night After arriving at the inn, I was so excited that I didn’t fall asleep all night.”

Ouyang Xiu had no choice but to cup his hands and said, "Congratulations, the special envoy of the Soviet Union has succeeded, and Yangzhou City has finally been defended so that the clouds will open and the moon will shine."

Su Jin returned the gift solemnly and said: "We are all happy together. With the help of Mr. Zhongcheng's luck, we will be at a loss before Mr. Zhongcheng arrives. As soon as Mr. Arrives, we will win immediately. In terms of writing, I must write this one down."

Ouyang Xiu rolled his eyes, this kid is obviously showing his merits to himself, it is nonsense that he came to Yangzhou to bring him luck, etc., the purpose is to tell him that he has made another great contribution, and at the same time took I am ashamed of myself with words, it seems that today's trip must be cautious, and a battle of wits and courage is indispensable.

Ouyang Xiu opened the teacup, took a sip of the tea, and praised: "This tea is good, and the envoy will enjoy the blessings. He rented an inn to live in, but he didn't live in an official post or yamen. Indeed, how can that place compare with this place?" compared to."

Su Jin smiled and said: "Your Excellency, I misunderstood. I don't live in this nice inn because I want to enjoy myself, but because my family members are here, so I naturally want to come and see them often."

"Family? Has Special Envoy Su already married?"

"That's not true, it's just that the maidservants in the family followed me to serve and study in Yingtianyuan. Later, the emperor summoned them and had to take them to the capital. Now they have come to Yangzhou under the emperor's order, and they also have to follow me. I came here after a while; but how can there be so many people in the yamen, so I rented this inn with my own money, and let them stay here temporarily."

Ouyang Xiu snorted, nodded and said, "The Special Envoy Su should have sent them back to their hometown long ago, so what should we do with you?"

Su Jin smiled and said, "I think so too, but I can't send them away."

Ouyang Xiu asked with a smile: "There is no reason why you can't send it away, can the person you order still not be able to order it?"

Su Jin said: "It's all right if it's just my maid, that's all, let's not talk about it." Su Jin suddenly kept silent.

Naturally, Ouyang Xiu would not ask about these things. These things are just foreshadowing and warming up, just like two people coming together to greet each other and shake hands. It has nothing to do with the previous politeness.

"Special Envoy Su, in fact, I have other important matters to consult here today, but congratulating Special Envoy Su on his arrival is also one of the purposes of this trip." Ouyang Xiu finally said.

Su Jin said with a chuckle: "Lord Zhongcheng, you don't have to be polite. The officials know that you are not here to congratulate you, so you just joked with the adults. It is my duty to run the emperor's mission well. The common people come to congratulate you." It’s because these things are good for them, or because they are grateful for the emperor’s kindness and can’t see the emperor, so they do it to me, the officials naturally understand that it is a matter of course to do a good job, how dare the officials ask for congratulations and praise?”

Ouyang Xiu said with a smile: "You see it very clearly. I seem to be saying that the officials are cold. The common people understand the world and the meaning of repaying favors better than the officials."

Su Jin hurriedly said: "Your Excellency is worrying too much, but the lower officials didn't say that."

Ouyang Xiu said: "I'm just joking, Special Envoy Su doesn't have to take it seriously."

Su Jin chuckled: "It turns out that the adults like to talk and joke as much as the lower officials. It seems that the lower officials can get closer to the adults. There may be a lot of common topics, and maybe they can learn some ways of being an official from the adults."

Ouyang Xiu burst out laughing, suddenly the laughter turned into a sneer, and said in a low voice, "I want to get close to Special Envoy Su, but unfortunately I'm afraid I won't be so lucky, Special Envoy Su, I ask you One thing, you have to answer truthfully."

Su Jin said: "Your Excellency, you can turn your face faster than you can turn your face. I can't learn this point. Please don't open your mouth and let the officials guess what?"

Ouyang Xiu sneered and said, "At this point, do you still have the mind to be sarcastic?"

Su Jin said: "Having fun while suffering, one day is happy, and one day is not happy. Anyway, there are only a few days in a lifetime, so why bother to pretend to make yourself uncomfortable?"

Ouyang Xiu said with a hey: "You can think about it, but I don't have the consciousness like you. If I see criminals who commit crimes, if I don't bring them to justice, it will be a day." Think about it, if you don't eat well and can't sleep, you always have to ask about it and then hurry up."

Su Jin said: "This habit is not good, if you feel unhappy, you will get sick."

Ouyang Xiu said angrily: "Stop circling around here with me, I'll ask you..."

"Are you going to ask me if I have used military rations to help the people?" Su Jin smiled.

Ouyang Xiu opened his mouth and said, "You...do you know the purpose of my visit?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "Although the envoy has only been in Yangzhou for two months, he has made many friends. To be honest, there is a disturbance in Yangzhou City, and some enthusiastic friends came to report to me; Your Excellency went to the government office in the morning. Putting Song Zhifu under house arrest, if I don't know, am I still worthy of being in Yangzhou City? Can I still fight against Feng Jingyao, who is as cunning as a ghost and as vicious as a wolf?"

Ouyang Xiu savored the meaning of Su Jin's words carefully, and suddenly shivered, and said in a trembling voice: "You are threatening me, Yangzhou City is your world, right?"

Su Jin shook his head and said: "Master Ouyang, you said such words that made me feel less fond of you. Could it be that those people you brought down in your hands were all accused of Luo Zhi and you put them to death?"

Ouyang Xiu said in a low voice: "Shut up, you are slandering the reputation of this official. Which one of the cases handled by this official is not well-documented? Have you ever framed others?"

Su Jin hurriedly pressed his palms and said: "That's the wrong meaning of the lower officials. You don't need to be so excited. There are people outside. It's not good for you to lose your temper. It will damage the official prestige."

Ouyang Xiu calmed down, he also felt puzzled, usually he would be furious at what others said, why did he turn it upside down today, and his face turned red when he was provoked by this kid's few words, this is not his style; and today he is here Xingshi asked why it seemed that Su Jin had the upper hand now, what the hell is wrong.

Ouyang Xiu drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, closed his eyes to concentrate, and said: "Then I ask you, is this true or not?"

Su Jin looked at Ouyang Xiu with raised eyebrows and said, "How does Master Zhongcheng want me to answer?