The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

It was as if a huge earthquake had occurred in Luzhou City. In just a few days, the prefect Zhu Shiyong, who was considered to be very prestigious in Luzhou City, fell from the clouds to hell and became a prisoner in an instant.

Officials in the city took turns to accept Ouyang Xiu's cross-examination and interrogation. For a while, everyone was in danger, and the city was full of splendor.

The Luzhou Xiang Army was also completely disarmed, and all those who participated in the incident were imprisoned. The only exception was the more than 40 Xiang soldiers who had surrendered and followed Su Jin.

Chamber of Commerce Tang Jiyuan, the two vice-chairmen and some merchants were all detained, and all their family properties were sealed up. Soldiers of the imperial army on tall horses kept shuttling through the shops of the chambers of commerce at the entrances of the major cities, posting seals to seal up the shops involved.

Ouyang Xiu did have some skills in prison. Everything was complicated, but he was orderly. He picked up criminals, searched for evidence, and conducted the first trial; everything was carried out in an orderly manner.

His efficiency is not low, and the case basically came to an end two days later. Of course, all this has a lot to do with Zhu Shiyong's almost confession of crimes in order to forgive his family, such as the case of the bandit chief's execution ground swap case ten years ago. In the case of insufficient evidence, he also confessed, not to mention other cases with solid evidence.

As for the crime of collaborating with the bandits, he does not admit it, and the facts are the same. He has nothing to do with the bandits, but he just used the hands of the bandits to put Su Jin to death; and Ouyang Xiu also understands this. It was learned that Zhu Shiyong did not have anything to do with the bandits, so this crime was changed to the crime of 'revenging private revenge, setting up a bureau to frame the imperial court officials; damaging the important food affairs of the imperial court, ignoring the emperor's favor, and insulting the official system'; In the matter of grain affairs, there is naturally another serious crime waiting for him, that is the crime of 'colluding with merchants, harming public and private interests, tampering with the date of grain sale, and openly destroying grain affairs'.

The other charges are all petty crimes, which are nothing compared to these major crimes.

After the facts of the case were settled, Ouyang Xiu quickly wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital as an urgent matter, and announced the whole story of the case in the whole city to soothe the panicked mood of the people.

Zhu Shiyong hides deep enough in ordinary days, and his reputation among the people is not too bad. When the notice was posted, the whole city was in an uproar. The people never expected that the parent official in Luzhou was such a person; The announcement of the crimes of the three was another reaction. When Tang Jiyuan and others rose up ten years ago, they ordered Hei Qi and others to do a lot of outrageous things. . [.

On the night of the tenth day of the first lunar month, Ouyang Xiu and Su Jin held a banquet in Hefeng Tower to entertain the imperial troops who came here. The ten capitals were originally ordered to cut off the grain transportation between the states, but they followed Ouyang Xiu inadvertently to make this great contribution. Everyone was in a very happy mood, and they didn't rest until the middle of the night.

After sending off the heads of the imperial army, Ouyang Xiu remained in high spirits, and pulled Su Jin to open another table on the third floor of Hefeng Building, and had a good drink with Su Jin.

"Special Envoy Su, what do you think of the past few months?" Ouyang Xiu's face was reddish, and he smelled like alcohol, but it could be seen that he was extremely sober in his heart.

Su Jin stuffed a piece of foie gras into his mouth, chewed it slowly, swallowed it slowly, and said with a smile, "For me personally, it's like being in a dream."

Ouyang Xiu smiled and said: "It's not just you who feel this way, I also find it incredible that the imperial edict will come tomorrow, I guess it will require me to escort the prisoner to Beijing to return to his life, you and I will go to Beijing to report on our duties."

Su Jin nodded and said: "That's for sure. To tell you the truth, my heart is always a little uneasy. We have repeatedly caused shocking cases in Yangzhou and Luzhou. What do you think this report will be about?" In what kind of atmosphere?"

Ouyang Xiu picked up the wine glass and toasted Su Jin, drank it himself, and said with a smile: "Special Envoy Su is really different from others. If others have made such great contributions, they may not know how they want to go back to Beijing to receive the reward, but you have Worrying, it's weird."

Su Jin rolled his eyes and said: "My lord, can I tell lies in front of you? Some things still need to be maintained by you. Although the credit this time is not small, the loophole is equally big. I just hope that the merits and demerits can be offset. It is Amitabha if he is not punished, but he does not have extravagant hopes for being rewarded."

Ouyang Xiu nodded and said: "This statement is also from your heart. To tell you the truth, you are worried, and I am equally uneasy; you and I are in the same pot, and it is not good for anyone to make a mistake. We will never forget that matter. Don't mention it anymore, you haven't done it, I haven't seen it, it just disappears."

Su Jin smiled and said, "I'm afraid the matter won't be settled."

Ouyang Xiudao: "What should be done will naturally be done. If it shouldn't be done, you can't do it if you want to. Although the current sage governs the country benevolently and pursues the policy of governing by doing nothing, he has all the big and small things in his heart. If you want to hide it from those people in the two governments It can be done, but if I want to hide it from him, I don't think it is possible."

Su Jin was startled and said, "Wouldn't that be bad?"

Ouyang Xiu laughed and said: "Holy will is hard to predict, but don't worry so much. Although I, Ouyang Xiu, dare not say that I can guess it clearly, but I can still guess it [-]% to [-]%. Since I was in Yangzhou, the emperor promised me to wait for it." When Yangzhou committed crimes, the emperor's attitude has already become clear, but you are not good at guessing the meaning."

Su Jin asked suspiciously: "If that's the case, why did you send the deputy commander of the Dianqian Army Zhang Mei to obstruct it?"

Ouyang Xiu smiled and said: "This is the emperor's brilliance. Even if you don't propose to execute the prisoner immediately, I will arrange the execution of the prisoner quickly, because the gap in the middle is only two days, and the emperor specially left it for us at that time." Yes, if we are slower with our hands and feet, this opportunity will slip away; so there are quick hands and slow hands, and our game is to see who is quicker."

Su Jin felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. It turns out that there are so many twists and turns here. Today Ouyang Xiu is confiding in himself. When he was eager to cook his insider in Yangzhou, Ouyang Xiu pretended to say It was too hasty and so on, when Zhang Mei shouted to keep people under the knife on the execution ground, Ouyang Xiu deliberately held the command arrow so as not to drop it; It was obvious that he was just playing tricks on himself.

Thinking of this, Su Jin felt annoyed for a while. He thought that he had experienced enough practice, but he was caught in Ouyang Xiu's calculations.

And the emperor is even more unfathomable, every move has a deep meaning, if it is not for Ouyang Xiu's analysis, he would have a black eye and would not understand anything, no wonder people say that being with the king is like being with a tiger. To establish a foothold in the court, just the ability to push hands and relationship with Zhao Zhen, which is true and false, is already beyond the reach of him.

Ouyang Xiu didn't care about Su Jin's dignified face, and said to himself: "The Huainan Road officials have been involved in a series of major cases this time. Lu Zhuanyun Wang Qinian, like Wang Qinian, belongs to the Lu Party faction, this time we touched Lu Xiang's nerves, how he will react is unknown; of course, on the surface he must have praised him greatly."

Su Jin heaved a sigh of relief and said, "There's no other way, I've done everything, I'm afraid it's useless."

Ouyang Xiu said with a smile: "Actually, this is not the main thing. The most important thing about this matter is the emperor's reaction. The emperor must be unhappy."

Su Jin understood a little bit, and said softly: "Is it because the emperor feels ashamed because of the bureaucracy?"

Ouyang Xiudao: "You have just started. The dignity of the royal family is sometimes more important than the case. Why can Zhao Zongdan, the king of Teng, not die? It's not that the emperor can't kill him, nor does he dare to kill him. It's just about the dignity of the royal family; the emperor is fine with everything." , It’s just too good of face; so I have to remind you, after returning to Beijing this time, you must not be arrogant, keep a low profile and keep a low profile, especially in front of the emperor, you must not get carried away.”

Su Jin cupped his hands and said: "I've been taught, Master Ouyang is confiding in my heart to me, and they are all good words of gold and jade, I will remember them in my heart."

Ouyang Xiu waved his hands and smiled: "This is out of the question, you are the most courageous and smartest person I have ever met, and I, Ouyang Xiu, am not a villain as the outside world says, to me, In the Great Song Dynasty, Ji, Jiangshan and Jiangshan are still the first, and if there is no skin left, Mao will be attached to him. Lu Xiang, Mr. Sansi, Mr. Fan, Mr. Han and other ministers of the DPRK and China all understand this truth. There are conflicts, but when it comes to the state system, we must work together; it's a pity that there are always some people who don't understand this truth and blindly pursue their own interests, regardless of the state system."

Su Jin's eyes were bright and bright, and suddenly he seemed to understand the thoughts of these important officials in the court. Ouyang Xiu seemed to be gossiping, but he enlightened Su Jin politically, which was beyond Ouyang Xiu's expectation .

Su Jin suddenly boldly said: "These two major cases of official administration may have some ideas in the emperor's mind, or they may affect the direction of the imperial court's policy. It is unknown."

Ouyang Xiu asked doubtfully, "How do you say that?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "I'm just speculating casually. I heard that Song Qi wrote a book about the waste of money in the early years. The emperor has not made up his mind for so many years. This matter may prompt the emperor to think about it, or restart the reform of the bureaucracy and fee system. It is also unknown whether it will have a long-term impact on the Great Song Dynasty."

Ouyang Xiu was startled and said, "You mean the New Deal?"

Su Jin didn't answer in silence, thinking about it, thinking that in a few years, Fan Zhongyan and others would take the lead in carrying out the reform movement in the Great Song Dynasty Gang, what role did he play in this?These two major cases of official administration were earth-shattering, never before since the founding of the Song Dynasty, perhaps it was my own unintentional actions that led to the implementation of the New Deal in the future, but I am a person who traveled through thousands of years, but I have no understanding of history. Isn't this a muddled account?

Su Jin didn't speak, and Ouyang Xiu didn't ask any more questions. The two of them exchanged glasses and drank several glasses of wine, and finally passed out drunk on Hefeng Tower.

The first quarter moon lightly shines on the peaceful city of Luzhou, casting a faint brilliance; although the night wind is cold, it is not so cold to the bone marrow, and there is even the sound of knocking in the distance. Silently counting the sound, but it is already the fourth watch.

(At the end of the third volume, please read the next volume: Xiaoxiao is full of wind and rain in the capital)