The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

From Hongshan Pass, [-] miles south of Shouzhou, to Luzhou City, there is still more than a hundred miles away. The horses Su Jin and others rode are well-trained horses, and they ran for nearly three hours. It wasn't until the end of the fifth watch that the tall and dark north gate of Luzhou City could be vaguely seen.

Running not far from the city, Su Jin and others got off their horses, but the three horses fell to the ground one after another, foaming at the mouth, and couldn't get up again.

Su Jin secretly rejoiced that the horse was quite human, and he struggled to reach the spot before collapsing. If he died halfway, he would cry without tears.

"Ma'er Ma'er, thank you for your hard work. I will build a tomb for you to bury later." Su Jin stroked the horse's mane and murmured a few words, then tiptoed down the city with two guards.

The color of the sky has gradually turned pale, and the tall gates of the city can be seen to be closed tightly in the dim light, and there are soldiers on duty and patrolling at the top of the city, and they are constantly coming and going.

Su Jin's heart tightened, and he thought: It's broken!In the past few days during the New Year, the cities of the major state capitals have been open all night to make it easier for the common people to come and go; even in normal times, the city gates are open after half past five, which are tightly closed like they are now, and they look heavily guarded. It is very likely that Zhu Shiyong closed the city gate and searched for himself.

Thinking of this, Su Jin's heart suddenly sank to the bottom of the valley, and the cold became bone-piercing. If it was as he thought, the people in the family might... Su Jin didn't even dare to think about it.

"Master Su, what should we do?" The two followers also felt that something was wrong, and asked Ji Yu Su Jin softly.

Su Jin thought for a while and said, "No matter what, I have to hurry into the city. I can't show up. You go up and try your luck. If you can open the city gate, I'll get some mud and blacken my face and get in."

A follower nodded and said: "That's fine, I'll try it, I'll say it was sent by Shouzhou to deliver the letter."

Su Jin looked at the official attire of the two, nodded and said, "You can try it."

The relative, in full clothes, swayed towards the city gate a hundred steps away. Before dawn, the sky was still dark. After walking twenty or thirty steps, he was found on the top of the city. Immediately, someone shouted loudly: "Who is that? Stay away."

"Master Jun, I'm going into the city. Please, Lord Jun, open the city gate. It's time to open the city gate. Why are you still closing the city gate?"

"Turn around quickly. Today, according to the order of your lord, the whole city of Luzhou Mansion is strictly prohibited. It is strictly forbidden for idlers to enter and leave. Leave quickly and don't bother me."

"Strictly forbidden? How strict is the prohibition during the New Year's Eve?"

"Why are you so nagging, you won't let in if you say no, and if you keep nagging, the brothers on the tower will treat you to a kebab."

The follower naturally knew what the meaning of 'kebab' was, and it was the meaning of a sharp arrow piercing the heart. He cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Brother, I am an official sent by Shouzhou City to deliver a letter. Look at my clothes." , I also came here on official business, can you accommodate me and let me go into the city?"

The soldiers in the city looked at him for a while, and said: "Brother, it's not the right time to come. The prefect Zhu has issued a strict order that no one is allowed to enter the city. The city is searching for death row criminals. If we open the city gate, If the fugitive is not caught, don't blame me and others; if you really come to deliver a letter on an errand, you will wait outside the city. After the handover, brother, I am willing to go to the government office to deliver a letter for you ; If the prefect let you in, you can come in again."

The entourage begged for a long time, but the soldiers on the top of the city refused to open the door. In desperation, they had to retreat. When they told Su Jin about the situation, the three of them were at a loss what to do.

Su Jin frowned and thought hard, forcibly breaking through is determined to fail, how could he think of a way to enter the city without knowing why, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he remembered that part of the Shushan Lake outside the west gate went deep into the city, maybe he could detour to the west of the city It is also unknown to enter the city by water; although it is a stupid way, it is better than being stuck here helpless.

After making up his mind, Su Jin and his two relatives walked westward around the city wall casually. After walking for a few miles, they heard a rustling sound in the long grass in the ditch and ridge in front of them, and someone hid in the grass in panic.

Su Jin just squatted down and before he had time to hide, he heard Ma Han's voice from the weeds on the ditch: "My lord...it's my lord...!"

Su Jin was taken aback, and hurried forward, only to see Ma Han, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, the dynasty in Changcao, walking towards him holding a large bundle of weeds.

Su Jin was so depressed that he was going to die. He thought that the four big foodies had already sneaked into the city after returning early, but he didn't expect that these four guys are still spending time in the grass outside the city. They are really angry , scolded: "You guys still have the mind to sleep in this barren grass, you really have a leisurely mind."

Wang Chao and the others were surprised that Su Jin came so soon with a playful smile. Hearing Su Jin's words, the smile disappeared immediately, and he said aggrievedly: "Master, why did we sleep so much?"

Su Jin pointed to the weeds in their arms and said, "Isn't this a woven straw curtain for a quilt?"

Ma Han quickly waved his hand and said: "My lord, I misunderstood. We arrived in less than an hour. When we were ten miles north of the city, our horses were all exhausted. We smeared and walked ten miles to get here, but the city The door was closed and there was no way to get in, so the four of us together used these weeds to make a rope ladder to climb up to the city, and you see, it was just woven."

As he spoke, he shook the wild grass in his arms, and it turned out that it was rolled tightly together and woven into a grass ladder.

Su Jin scratched his head and said, "My lord is anxious, I blamed the four brothers, can this thing work?"

Zhao Hu said: "Don't worry, Lord, it will definitely be done; when I was in the master's gate, there were thousands of feet of cliffs behind the mountain, and I made rope ladders, and I can still go up and down freely."

Su Jin said: "It's not too late, let's go and try."

Wang Chao said: "My lord, don't worry, the patrol team has passed by for a while, wait for a while, and wait for a new group of patrol soldiers to pass, then we will have about half a stick of incense time, which should be enough for us to turn over The walls are gone."

Su Jin secretly blamed herself for caring about chaos, and for messing up so quickly. Fortunately, Chao Dynasty and the others were experienced elites, otherwise they would return in vain.

Several people nestled in the grass and waited quietly. After a while, there was a patrol team of seven or eight people laughing and walking past the high city wall, and gradually disappeared into the distance; Wang Chao said softly: "Master, what should we do?" Moved."

With a wave of Su Jin's hand, the seven people jumped out of the grass and rushed straight to the base of the city wall; they didn't make more than twenty or thirty steps, and everyone was dumbfounded. What lay across in front of them was a moat more than two feet wide. thin ice.

Su Jin wished he could slap himself in the mouth, how could he forget this, the ancient city had moats that were either wide or narrow, and his family was so stupid that he couldn't deal with it.

"Master, what should we do?" Wang Chao asked.

With a blank expression on his face, Su Jin stretched out his hand to unbutton his cotton robe, quickly stripped off the clothes on his body, wrapped them up and held them above his head, and stretched out his feet into the piercing ice water.

Everyone secretly admired him, the young master seemed so weak, the result of this decision was absolutely unambiguous, even stepping into the ice water in the cold weather of April and September without even frowning, an ordinary strong man would definitely not be able to do it.

Dazed for a moment, Su Jin had already reached the middle of the river, and everyone hurriedly followed the gourd to draw ladles, all stripped naked, lifted their clothes, and swam across the river.

After leaving the water, the north wind blew, and everyone felt as if they were in an ice cellar. Su Jinwu said with blue lips: "You must wipe off the water on your body before you can wear dry clothes. Once you put on the clothes, you will be fine."

Everyone hurriedly wiped their bodies with their coats, and hurriedly put on their clothes. There were footsteps coming from far above the city. It was obvious that the delay was too long, and the patrol team came again.

Su Jin made a gesture, and the crowd lay motionless at the base of the city wall, when someone at the top of the city said: "Hey, Lao Ge, look at the water in the moat, how come there are so many bubbles, could it be that there are big fish?"

Su Jin was startled, and several of them crossed the river by stepping on the mud at the bottom of the moat. This turned the river upside down. Naturally, there were bubbles, but the patrolling people could see it.

Another voice said: "No way, those are the ripples blown by the wind, okay? Is your mother's mouth hungry again, and you want to eat a carp hot pot?"

The man at the front laughed and said, "Don't you want to eat? I heard that Mrs. Sun Er next door to the military camp cooks hot pot to eat you every day and night. It seems that you are tired of eating."

The rest of the soldiers giggled strangely, and someone echoed, "The hot pot is very warm. It can eat and drink and warm the birds. When you are thirsty, you can take a sip or two. It is so beautiful."

That old Ge said angrily: "You guys, grandsons, go find a concubine if you have the ability. Damn it, if I see God making fun of me, be careful if I turn my back on you, I will kick you down the city and kill you bastard!" .”

Everyone laughed and begged for forgiveness, and walked slowly by, Zhang Long nestled under the wall, and when the wind blew, his body shivered, his nose and eyes were itchy, and he opened his mouth wide suddenly, seeing an earth-shattering sneeze that was about to erupt.

With quick eyesight and quick hands, Wang Chao pressed his face into the messy rope ladder, and a muffled sneeze was still clearly discernible; Su Jin and the others held their breath in fright and listened intently; the patrol team on the city was obviously intoxicated in teasing Lao Ge In the fun, the laughing and joking gradually faded away without noticing it.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and when the patrol team was far away, Wang Chao slapped Zhang Long on the head and scolded: "It almost ruined the big thing, the young master can hold it, but you can't hold it; you are so cowardly."

Zhang Long was ashamed to death, and just as he was about to apologize, Su Jin waved his hand and said, "Go to the city quickly, the sky is about to dawn."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chao grabbed a rope ladder and drew it three or four feet long, with a bluestone the size of a fist tied to one end, swung his arms around a few times, and let go; The rope flew straight to the top of the city, and landed on the top of the city wall with a thud.

Chao Chao took the rope and stroked along the city wall, moving the rope to the crack between the two crenels, and then slowly pulled the rope down. After a while, he heard a click, and the bluestone was firmly stuck between the crenels. In the meantime, it became a climbing rope firmly.

Zhang Long made up for his mistakes, tightened his belt, held the straw rope with both hands, and pushed on the city wall with both feet, and he was already on the top of the city in the blink of an eye.

Everyone cheered and climbed up one after another, then quickly set up a rope on the other side and fell into the city.

When the patrol team passed by again, Su Jin and the other seven people had quickly disappeared into the streets.