The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

After knowing what happened, Su Jin felt a little sympathetic to the situation of Xiao Temo and others.

After losing a large sum of money yesterday, he ran into trouble when he went back at night. Xiao Temo suddenly found that his dinner was missing, penniless, he had to plunder the pitiful little money from his entourage and ask Ren Dao to go outside to buy some food.

But the Liao soldiers who went out to buy food came back empty-handed after a while, saying that the Song people in the taverns and food stalls on the street did not sell them food at all, and when they were in a hurry, they asked for prices. Two silver coins; more than 100 people overturned the bottom of their pockets and only got together less than 100 pennies, and they couldn't buy [-] pancakes, which was enough for more than [-] people.

Even Xiao Te was annoyed at the end, and took people to smash taverns and stalls on the street, Liu Liufu hurriedly stopped him, reminding him that this is the capital of the Song Dynasty, not his own Liao Kingdom, if there is a real trouble, it will be him who will suffer .

Although the Liao Kingdom is not afraid of the Song Dynasty, this move is definitely not advisable, buying and selling is free, if you can't afford it, don't sell it, but to make a noise, this is not a reasonable reason.

Originally, there were cooks, horsemen and others from the Song Dynasty in the posthouse to take care of the Liao envoys' daily life, but they forced these people away yesterday, and the cooks gave them food, vegetables and meat in advance. Take away, and the free supplies are gone.

Xiao Te jumped his feet in frustration, everything was going wrong, he almost took off his pants when he lost the bet, and he was desperate to save face and refused to give in, which caused the Su deputy envoy to sweep away all the money, and then Song Guo The common people sell food at exorbitant prices, which is obviously adding insult to injury to drive themselves and others into desperation.

But there are also advantages. When people are hungry, people's thinking is extraordinarily quick. After a little speculation, the two of them came to the conclusion that someone deliberately instigated it. After considering all aspects, they naturally pointed the finger at Su Jin; so when the situation remained the same early this morning Afterwards, Xiao Temo and Liu Liufu went all the way with dozens of dizzy Liao soldiers in a rage, and even let him find Su Jin's residence.

Su Jin can't laugh or cry, it's nothing to be shot while lying down, it's just that, how could the Liao envoy sit down and negotiate, but his own arrangement was disrupted by an invisible emergency, Su Jin was a little annoyed, why The current strategy is to quickly resolve this ridiculous matter; envoys from other countries starved to death in the Song Dynasty. No matter how funny this matter sounds, it seems that it does not look good.

"Chao Dynasty, take a few people to the street to investigate and investigate who is manipulating in secret. After finding out the news, don't be alarmed, and come back to report immediately; in addition, you can stop by Mr. Fu's mansion and invite him to come here. "

The dynasty agreed and went out with the two nurses.

Su Jin cupped his hands and said to Xiao Temo: "Master Xiao, you don't think I did this. Although I, Su Jin, dare not say that I am a gentleman, I will never do such a dirty thing. I have ordered people to investigate and see who is behind the scenes. You two calm down first, and I will order people to pack wine, vegetables and meals so that all the distinguished guests can have a full meal. Let's just wait for the news. "

Xiao Temo snorted, and said: "I will believe your words for the time being, but I will not give an explanation on this matter, and there is no need to talk about the negotiations between our two countries. I plan to leave for the country tomorrow, and the rest It is up to God to decide.”

Su Jin smiled and said: "Be safe and don't be impatient. You and I are responsible for the good relations between the two countries. How can you make a hasty decision? I assure you, I did not do this, and I will definitely give you an explanation. If I can't find out who did it, I will definitely report the matter to the imperial court for investigation; if your envoy really wants to make things out of hand, I can't help it, I can only advise your envoy to calm down."

Xiao Temo puffed his mouth, grabbed his messy beard with his hands and fell silent.

Su Jin stood up and said to a servant: "Go to Linshuiju and book ten tables of banquets. I will accompany your envoy to the banquets later."

The servant responded, and Rou Niang and Huan Niang also brought out some cakes and dried fruits to distribute, so that the Liao soldiers would fill their stomachs first; the Liao soldiers were obviously very hungry, and there were two small bags of dried pastries , It was all sold out in the blink of an eye, and the two Liao soldiers almost punched each other for a handful of pastries. Liu Liufu hurriedly came forward to scold them, and then they stopped.

Xiao Temo was so ashamed that he wanted to die, but he thought again, anyway, he was ashamed and thrown home, so why do he care so much?

Su Jin tried his best not to show contempt or ridicule, and only poured tea for the two of them attentively. Xiao Temo and Liu Liufu drank several cups of tea, their stomachs growled louder, and they felt even more hungry. .

Seeing that the time was almost up, Su Jin got up and said, "The food and wine are probably ready, let's go to the restaurant for dinner. People are iron and rice are steel. Let's talk about other things when we are full."

Xiao Temo said: "It's no wonder that the envoy didn't remind you, all the restaurants along the way are not allowed to let us in, and we may not be able to eat if we go."

Su Jin smiled and said: "No, they won't give me face, so I copied their restaurant."

A group of people rushed to the "Linshuiju" restaurant on the west side of the Desheng Bridge. Su Jin stepped through the door first, and the boy in the cloth hat came forward with a smile and said, "Isn't this Su Xiaoguan? .”

Su Jin smiled and said, "You have sharp eyes."

The young man said: "That is, although you have only moved here this month, you have been taking care of our business every three days. The shopkeeper specially ordered that you don't need to know anyone. You must remember Su Xiaoguan's dignified appearance."

Su Jin laughed and said, "What a clever mouth, is the banquet my little guy ordered ready?"

The young man bowed and smiled: "Look at what you said, can your banquet be properly prepared? What kind of distinguished guests are you going to entertain? There are so many banquets."

Su Jin chuckled, turned around and pointed outside the door and said, "It's those distinguished guests."

The young man squinted his eyes and looked out, his face changed immediately, and hesitantly asked: "Are they from the Liao Kingdom?"

Su Jin said: "I can't tell, your eyesight is quite good, you can recognize it at a glance."

The young man was very bluffing, and said: "Mr. Su Xiaoguan, I'm afraid it won't work. Our innkeeper ordered us not to let Liao people into our restaurant."

Su Jin frowned and said, "Why? This is my treat."

The little guy said with a mournful face: "I don't know, I dare not listen to the shopkeeper's orders? Officer Su, please do me a favor, don't make things difficult for me, or pack the food and wine for you to send home, or you Go somewhere else."

Su Jin stared and said, "What's the matter? Don't you want to give me face? I'm sure I'll eat here today."

The little guy smacked his lips and frowned, and scratched his head anxiously; Su Jin didn't care about that, and waved towards the door and said: "Come in and have a drink, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu will keep an eye on me, and anyone who dares to stop will overturn this restaurant; Was it stained with horse manure? How dare you not sell it to me for food."

Zhang Long and Zhao Hu stood viciously towards the door, like two door gods guarding the door. Xiao Temo and Liu Liufu led their soldiers into the restaurant in a swarm, and the banquet was placed in the lobby downstairs. Seeing the table full of food and drink, the eyeballs were green, and a swarm of bees rushed over like mad dogs, clattering and munching.

Xiao Temo and Liu Liufu still had scruples about their identities at first, and Mance ate and drank methodically, but seeing that the food and wine disappeared at an astonishing speed, it would be a big loss to put on a show, so he quickly speeded up and started chewing regardless of his image.

Su Jin looked at a group of Liao soldiers like hungry wolves with his hands behind his back, and thought to himself: If you go hungry for two more meals, this group of people will definitely cause trouble, and then it will be out of control. Such a bad idea.

Seeing that he couldn't stop him, the guy from Linshuiju stomped his feet hurriedly to the second floor and dragged down the shopkeeper who was accompanying the private seat to eat.

When the shopkeeper heard the boy's report, he staggered when he went downstairs in a hurry, and almost rolled down like a meat ball. He ran to Su Jin's side panting, and said repeatedly: "Mr. Su, what are you doing?" Killed us."

Su Jinqi said: "What's wrong with me? Are you unhappy that I brought you a group of guests? I don't pay for the meal or what?"

The shopkeeper's anxious cheeks trembled wildly: "Mr. Su, you misunderstood. If you come a hundred times a day, I would also like to ask for it, but these Liao people are a disaster. Why do you still bring them?" With these disasters coming here, the little old man's restaurant is about to close down."

Su Jinqi said: "This is strange, why can't I understand it. People from Liao Dynasty are guests, so doing this is against the way of hospitality."

The shopkeeper sighed again and again, pulled Su Jin aside and said: "We common people don't know what is going on in the government; the little old man opens the door to do business, and he only asks for money, so it doesn't matter whether his visitors are Liao people or Han people. "

Su Jin said: "Yes, why not let people come in for dinner."

The shopkeeper said: "To tell you the truth, the little old man was warned by the government yesterday afternoon that the Liao people were not allowed to eat in the restaurant, and those who disobeyed would be charged with the crime of collaborating with the enemy. The house would be confiscated and the restaurant would be confiscated. Little Fabian, don’t you think this is killing the little old man?”

Su Jin was startled, and hurriedly asked: "You mean the government's police notice? Has the government put up a notice?"

The shopkeeper shook his head with a sad face and said: "It's not a notice, but an official came to give an order. More than a dozen officials came along the street to say hello, holding a government notice with a large cinnabar seal in their hands. The entire restaurant in the second wing on the left I have already said hello to the food stalls, do you think we people dare to say no to the government’s orders? Widow Li, who sells tofu flowers on the front street, said a few words, and the tofu stalls were almost overthrown by those officials; I understand what they think, we ordinary people just follow suit, how can we control so much?"

Su Jin was thinking in his heart that the government servants greeted each other with notices, which sounded strange, and it seemed that they had to wait for the dynasty to come back to see if they could find any deeper clues.

Immediately said to the shopkeeper: "Don't worry, I am an official, I will take care of this for you, and keep you safe; just order people to serve the Liao people carefully, they will eat and drink enough for me Then take them away, and if someone really comes to talk, you can say that Su Jin, the deputy negotiator sent by the imperial court, is the one who made the decision, and ask them to come and reason with me, and it will definitely not affect you."

The shopkeeper pointed at Su Jin and said, "You...you are Su Jin?"

Su Jin said: "What?"

"Are you Mr. Su who gambled heavily with the Liao people yesterday and won the Liao people and almost took off his pants?"

Su Jin hissed and said: "Don't let those Liao people hear it, this is adding salt to their wounds."

The shopkeeper turned his worries into joy and said: "It turns out that it is Master Su. This is great. If Master Su comes forward, the little old man has nothing to worry about. Don't worry, he will take good care of you and don't lose your place to Master Su." Son."

Su Jin nodded and smiled, "Thank you so much."

The shopkeeper bowed again and again, turned to leave, and suddenly turned around and whispered mysteriously: "Master Su, you are going to punish them again, do you want the little old man to put some crotons in the soup?"

Su Jin staggered and almost fell over.