The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

After listening to Lu Yi's statement quietly, Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "Everyone's evaluations are accurate, and I will issue an edict later to award them to the world; I know that I am rich and I love you, and after I retire from the court today, I will immediately draft a reward edict."

Fu Bi came out and bowed to promise.

Zhao Zhen continued: "Lu Aiqing, why didn't you get any results from Su Jin's award?"

Lu Yijian said: "Your Majesty Qizuo, the award of Su Jin should be decided by the Holy Majesty. I don't know how to give him the award."

Zhao Zhen said: "Why?"

Lu Yijian said: "When the old minister was discussing with all the adults, they all felt that Su Jin had done a lot of hard work and should have been rewarded heavily, but there was a problem lying in front of us, so I couldn't give any advice."

Zhao Zhen wondered: "Why, is there any major fault of Su Jin?"

Lu Yijian said: "That's not true, it's just that Su Jin's identity is really embarrassing. This person was born as a merchant in Luzhou. Although he studied in Yingtianfu Academy, he did not participate in the imperial examination screening. At best, he was a commoner. Promote him to handle food affairs; but my Song Dynasty has always attached great importance to the imperial examination to become an official. Although there are many people who have no merit and fame but receive ancestral or military merits as officials, they are still a minority, and the exception is limited to small officials in counties and counties. ; The ministers and others plan to grant Su Jin the official position above the sixth rank, but because of his status, this cannot be the case."

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Are there no exceptions?"

Lu Yijian said: "Your Majesty knows that there are exceptions to grace, but if the Emperor grants grace at will, won't it hurt the hearts of the emperors? The son studied hard for ten years in order to participate in the imperial examination and serve the country. ; and some people can become high-ranking officials without passing the imperial examination, which will encourage the trend of students all over the world to abandon their studies and pursue careers, which is not a good idea."

Zhao Zhen groaned and said: "There is some truth, but Su Jin is a meritorious person. If I don't reward him heavily, wouldn't the world accuse the imperial court of being ungrateful and unrighteous, which would also hurt many people's hearts."

Lu Yijian said: "So the ministers dare not make a decision. It would not violate the ancestral system to confer the seventh-rank and eighth-rank official positions on Su's special envoy, but it seems unfair to Su Jin; this matter is the emperor's own decision."

Su Jin felt an unknown fire in his heart. The Yangtze River and the Yellow River were crossed, but they were stopped by a stinky ditch. If you are paralyzed, do you mean you are ignorant if you don't take part in the imperial examination?What kind of rules is this? I worked so hard to do my errands, but I was blocked from the mainstream by this reason, and I could only end up with the life of a junior official of the seventh rank and eighth rank. I am really pissed off; I can't afford to lose it.

Zhao Zhen looked at Su Jin's unfriendly expression, and asked Wen Yan: "Special Envoy Su, you have heard that this matter is indeed a bit tricky, I want to hear what you think."

Su Jin breathed out and said: "Your Majesty, this humble minister will not embarrass your lords. The purpose of my humble minister to do food affairs is to do my part for the imperial court, not for the sake of high officials and generous salary; At this time, I have experienced the risk of death several times, if I want to get promoted and get rich, how can I fight with my life?"

Lu Yijian, Du Yan and others smiled, thinking: "If you show your heart again, it may be too late."

Su Jin continued: "On Bagong Mountain, the humble official was imprisoned in the dungeon, dripping into ice at night and was splashed all over his body, but he was able to grit his teeth and persist; The sword slashed against the tip of the nose, and never frowned; in Luzhou City, Zhu Shiyong led six or seven hundred soldiers to trap my Su family in the courtyard, and more than a dozen servants in the family died. The whole family was wiped out, and I have never regretted it. I just thought about one thing. Since the emperor trusts me so much, I will die for my confidant. If the business affairs are done well, the Mo officials and businessmen must be brought to justice; I have been taught by Lord Bao of Yingtianfu, and I always remember what he said to me, "The top is worthy of the emperor's grace, and the bottom is worthy of the people of the Li people." words; that's why I can persevere and complete my mission."

Su Jin's words moved the officials in the palace with horror. The officials only knew that Su Jin had accomplished a few major events, but they didn't know the details inside. It was the first time for everyone to hear about Su Jin's life-threatening situations. Even Yan Shu heard it for the first time.

Most people attribute Su Jin's success to good luck and a little cleverness; they don't have much respect for Su Jin in their bones, but at this moment, many people respect Su Jin in awe; not to mention Su Jin shouting slogans Whether it comes from the heart or not, the experience of these few life-threatening fights alone is enough to make people have to sigh that this person has extraordinary courage; when contacting Yingtian, this gentleman dared to challenge Teng Wang Zhao Zongdan, and he almost Lost his life, it can be seen that this person is indeed not simple.

Zhao Zhen was instigated by Su Jin several times today, but he calmed down quickly. Everything today is under his control. The current situation is precisely the situation that Zhao Zhen has single-handedly controlled; In the main hall, Zhao Zhen is a smart director and an actor who is good enough to win an Oscar statuette. At the critical moment of this scene, how can he let Su Jin steal too many scenes.

"Special Envoy Su, I know that you have suffered a lot of grievances, but the ancestral system is like this, and I am really embarrassed. In this way, I plan to grant you an official title, a fellow Jinshi and a rank. If you are willing to stay in the capital, the two governments and three divisions Among them, you can choose the seventh-rank official position. If you don’t want to stay in the capital, you can choose from the large and small counties under the jurisdiction of each state. You can go to be a county magistrate. As long as you have political achievements, I will promote you in the future, and no one else can. There's more to talk about."

Su Jin shook his head and said: "Don't worry about it, Your Majesty. This minister has already decided not to be an official. I just ask the Emperor to honor the conditions he promised me before. My minister will still go about my business and become a grassroots citizen. What am I doing?" No more official positions."

The officials were stunned, it was obvious that this kid was angry, but what's the use of being angry?If you don't want to give you a reward, who can blame it?If you think the official position is low, whoever told you that you were born in Yeluzi, and you have not passed the imperial examination to become an official, that's all you can do; the emperor's conditions are already generous enough, there are many vacancies in the two government and three divisions, just pick one to muffle the sound It is better to make a lot of money than to be a grassroots person in a fit of anger.

Yan Shu stomped his feet in a hurry, he told him well last night, this kid has changed his mind again; he has skills, but he is too impulsive and doesn't know the severity; if the emperor said: Sure!Couldn't all the efforts of the previous episode be in vain; hey!What a wild horse, there was no way to predict his behaviour.

Zhao Zhen looked at Su Jin, studying the credibility of Su Jin's words, whether it was from the heart, or expressing dissatisfaction in anger; Zhao Zhen didn't want Su Jin to gain nothing, and he didn't want him to gain too much.

Su Jin didn't know at all that when he was still drunk in Yan Shu's mansion last night, Ouyang Xiu secretly entered the palace to meet Zhao Zhen. A bloody sharp knife hangs above his head; no one knows when the sharp knife fell off and made his head smaller.

After much deliberation, Ouyang Xiu decided to take the initiative to confess the matter to Zhao Zhen; now that the food crisis is over, Zhao Zhen is in a good mood, and the chances of asking for a pardon will be much greater at this time.

So Ouyang Xiu made careful arrangements, changed into ordinary clothes and hats, folded the official uniforms and hats neatly, and entered the palace. When he saw Zhao Zhen's face, he knelt down and cried loudly, expressing his pain. Due to the emperor's favor, his forehead was dripping with blood.

As Ouyang Xiu expected, Zhao Zhen pardoned his guilt, because Ouyang Xiu knew better than anyone else that as long as Zhao Zhen held his own handle, Zhao Zhen could better control himself and be his eyes and ears among the courtiers. Zhao Zhen has everything to gain but no harm.

As for what Su Jin had done, Zhao Zhen didn't go into a rage as he imagined, but just sat there thinking for a while, then comforted himself a few words, and let him leave the palace.

The power of the sky is unpredictable, Ouyang Xiu guessed that Shangyi had two hands, but this time he couldn't figure out what Zhao Zhen was thinking; so today in the court hall, Ouyang Xiu became very honest and didn't say a single unnecessary word.

At this moment, Zhao Zhen was thinking about whether to speak out the outrageous things Su Jin had done, so as to frighten this young man with all kinds of tricks; but he quickly vetoed this idea. They couldn't save him, including Yan Shu.

The killing of Su Jin is just a trivial matter, the trouble is that it will put Yan Shu in an awkward situation from now on, what Zhao Zhen wants is a balance of strength between the two sides, not dominance of one side, this is exactly what he understood In other words, if Yan Shu is suppressed, Lu Yijian and others will be even more difficult to control, which is definitely a disadvantageous situation for him; many of his previous proposals were jointly blocked by ministers, and these old guys even He has already begun to criticize his own harem family affairs, if they are allowed to sit on the throne, it will be even more difficult for him to be the emperor.

"Special Envoy Su, don't be angry. You are telling people all over the world to scold me for being unclear about rewards and punishments. It is a fact that you have made great achievements, but it is also a fact that you have not taken the imperial examination. I am also in a dilemma. You have to Forgive me and understand me."

Su Jin said: "Can I be blamed for failing the imperial examination? Last year, the imperial court stopped the tribute examination. I wanted to take the scientific examination, but I didn't have the chance. This year's government examination will not be until autumn, so I don't have time to take the examination."

<The day is over, you can go to take the scientific examination, once you win the exam, I will reconsider your official assignment, this is always fair. "

"Crap!" Su Jin was dumbfounded. It was a prevarication reason, but he didn't expect to get angry. Although he had studied in Yingtian Academy for a few months, he was working on errands for the remaining months, and he didn't even touch the book. Wait, isn't the exam life-threatening at this time?

"Special envoy Su, the emperor has done his best to you, but it may be difficult for you. If you are not sure, you can find another way. In fact, it is not bad to be a county magistrate. The old man was in Jiande back then. I have been the county magistrate for three years." Lu Yijian took no time to stimulate Su Jin, he could see that Su Jin was already dumbfounded, and he couldn't wait to see the joke about Su Jin's fame being lost to Sun Shan.

"That's right, that's right, with the talent of the Special Envoy of Su, he must be named on the gold list, and I still hope to have a wedding wine." Some people saw the clue and quickly followed suit.

Su Jin scratched his head, cursing endlessly in his heart, seeing Mandian's gloating expression, and the sympathetic eyes of Yan Shu, Fubi and others, suddenly the blood welled up, and he said with a heartbeat: "I will take the exam, I will not be afraid of death, Are you still afraid of the exam?"

Yan Shu sighed secretly, and said in his heart: "It's over, I was fooled, do you think it's so easy to pass the imperial examination? Every year, one hundred thousand applicants take the exam, and only a few hundred pass the exam. Do you really think you are an all-rounder in civil and military affairs? "

The matter has come to this point, it is useless to say more, I hope Su Jin is really full of knowledge.

"Okay!" Zhao Zhen said with a chuckle: "Decree, temporarily conferring the position of important person in the Su Jin History Museum, just to spare time to review books, and take the imperial examination as a student of Yingtian Academy in a month."

The officials tweeted and laughed, and congratulated Su Jin one after another. Su Jin knew that these guys were laughing at him, so he could only stand in the hall with a bitter face, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.