The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

According to the rules of the Song Dynasty, on the third day after the couple got married, they had to take each other back to their natal home and live in Guining for a few days, which is what the market called "worshiping the door".

Su Jin and Yan Biyun are no exception. On the third day after their marriage on May 21, the two prepared a large number of gifts and went back to Yan's mansion to pay their respects; It's only ok, and you can go home until the 23rd, but Yan Shu tried to persuade Su Jin and Yan Biyun to stay for another two days, so he stayed until the 25th before returning to Su's house.

That's all for Su Jin, these few days are nothing more than going to the various yamen of the imperial court to go through the formalities. Great India; and Dynasty Ma Han and others also need to go to the Ma Junsi of the Imperial Army under the Privy Council to accept the title of military attache capital.

During this period, Su Jin found time to get together with Wang Anshi, Wei Songhe and others. During this period, Su Jin learned that Huainan Road had been divided into two. The original Huainan Road was divided into east and west roads. And Song Xiang was immediately promoted to be the transshipment envoy of Huainan East Road. This time, Wang Anshi was awarded the post of Jiedu Judge of Huainan East Road, which is equivalent to the similar position of director of the general office of Huainan East Road. Wei Songhe is about to go Shaoxian County on Jinghu South Road was the local county magistrate.

In the past, each of the good friends had their official positions, and while they were full of ambitions, they couldn't help but sigh for a long time. At that time, six righteous brothers were sworn brothers, two of whom had already passed away, and the remaining four would soon go their separate ways and work hard for their future. I don't know what year and month it is.

Since Wu Hengxin did not pass the imperial examination, how could Su Jin allow him to go home and sell pork with his parents, and Wu Hengxin got along well with him, so Su Jin racked his brains to arrange for Wu Hengxin an official from Weizhou Prefecture. position, he must bring Wu Hengxin by his side and wait for the opportunity to be promoted in the future.

It was only at this time that Su Jin realized why nepotism was flourishing in the government, and the phenomenon of appointing private individuals was common. Before he took office, he had already sought personal gain for his friends, not to mention those senior officials who had been deeply rooted in the officialdom for a lifetime It seems that as long as you set foot in the big dye vat of officialdom, you will inevitably be polluted in a mess, and no one can escape it.

……

This afternoon, Su Jin was sitting in the inner hall discussing with Yan Biyun about taking up his post in Weizhou, and transferring funds to accompany him to Weizhou to open a Yinzhuang; Therefore, as soon as he takes office, he must establish the Yinzhuang immediately. The military salary must not be in arrears, otherwise it will cause chaos.

In addition, the people who will follow me to Weizhou must be selected well, and Yan Biyun, the young wife, must decide who will go with me in the family. Yan Biyun will definitely not be able to follow her. She still has to take care of the mansion's business, so she can only stay in Bianliang City.

When the two were discussing, Xiao Xianer came in outside and reported that a woman left a letter at the door and ran away in a hurry without saying a word. The nurse on duty in the front yard picked up the Letter, so ask what to do.

Su Jin asked, "Where is the letter?"

Xiao Xian'er said: "It's placed in the outer hall, sister Rou Niang is testing the poison with a silver needle dipped in water."

Su Jin laughed dumbly and said, "Try poison? What kind of poison to try, you guys are too fussy."

Xiao Xian'er said: "Sister Rou Niang ordered that from now on, no matter what food or drink or food brought by unknown people, you will have to test the poison. She also said that the last time the young master dealt with those Liao people, those Liao people were In this way, he saved his life and was not poisoned to death by the assassin."

Su Jin laughed loudly and said: "You are all soldiers, there is no need to be like this, how can you be so worried."

Yan Biyun smiled and said: "Don't worry about it, Mrs. Rou Niang, sister is also kind, it's always good to be more careful, after all, it's not peaceful, some people have targeted our family several times, even in broad daylight during the Dragon Boat Festival, there are people who dare to treat you Under the black hand, what can these people not do?"

Su Jin smiled wryly and shook her head, and could only let these women toss about, ordering Xiao Xian'er to bring in the letter to read; after going out, Xiao Xian'er came in with Rou Niang Xiao Sui'er and others, holding a crumpled letter in her hand. Baba's letterhead with vegetable leaves stuck to it.

Su Jin reached out to take the letter paper. There was no word on the envelope, so she felt a little puzzled. She hurriedly tore open the seal and took out the letter paper to unfold it, only to see a few words written crookedly on it with eyebrow pencil: "Brother Su, My slave is in the old house, come and save me quickly."

Su Jin was startled, and frowned in deep thought. Yan Biyun looked up and saw such a nonsensical sentence. He didn't know who sent it, so he asked softly, "Sir, who wrote this?"

Su Jin took a deep breath and said, "The one who calls me that, and calls himself a slave, must be Miss Xia."

Everyone was stunned and exclaimed: "Miss Xia? How could she be in danger?"

Everyone in the Su family already knew a lot about the affairs between Su Jin and Xia Siling, and they had some complaints about Xia Siling at first, but when they knew that Xia Siling would risk his life for Su Jin to save Su Jin from danger, the Yuzhang Tower wanted to protect Su Jin from danger. The whereabouts of Su Jin and others did not hesitate to kill the servants around them, and everyone's impression of her has been greatly changed.

It's just that once bitten by a snake for ten years and afraid of grass ropes, when they read the letter, everyone unconsciously thought of the trap from last time. Could this be Xia Song repeating his old tricks to trap Su Jin again?

Everyone's doubts were written on their faces. Su Jin didn't know why, he quickly read the letter a few times again, and said in a deep voice: "I know what you are thinking, but according to my judgment, it was written by Xia Siling himself. The handwriting is scribbled and written with an eyebrow pencil, but this just shows that Xia Siling is in danger, she can no longer grind ink slowly and write with a brush, it can be seen that she wrote it quickly and secretly for someone to deliver."

"However, why didn't the person who sent the letter make it clear? Besides, if there was any danger, why didn't he report it to the officials? Besides, she is the eldest lady of the Xia family, and she is in the Xia family's mansion. What danger can there be? Could it be the old thief Xia Song? Can you still kill your own daughter with your own hands?" Rou Niang asked with a frown.

Su Jin shook her head and said: "I can't answer these, but can I turn a blind eye? Miss Xia is kind to me... If she is really in danger and asks me for help, but I waste time thinking about it , if she gets hurt or loses her life, what should I do in the future?"

Everyone was silent, not because they didn't want to save him, but because they were worried that Su Jin would fall into the trap again.

Yan Biyun said softly: "Don't be anxious, Mr. Xiang. Since Mr. Xia said that it must be Miss Xia's handwritten distress letter, it is naturally true; don't worry too much, if you go to rescue this time, you must bring more people. , instead of going alone like last time."

Su Jin blushed, last time he went there with the intention of stealing jade and fragrance, so he was naturally alone, but this reminded Su Jin, Su Jin slapped his hands and said: "My lady is right, you think, If it was a trap, how could there be a cry for help, and I would definitely take the man to go when I saw the word for help, so how can he carry out his trap?"

It was only then that Rou Niang and the others figured out the reason behind it, and then they became really anxious, especially Rou Niang, if Xia Siling hadn't rescued her, she would have passed away long ago, and once it was confirmed that it wasn't a trap targeting Su Jin, she would be more invincible than anyone else. Anxious.

Su Jin sat down slowly, closed his eyes and thought for a while, everyone knew how Su Jin was planning to save people, so they didn't dare to speak out.

In fact, Su Jin already knew that Xia Song left Beijing in a surprise to go to Bazhou on business. If Xia Siling was in danger this time, it must not be Xia Song's doing. Xia Song was placed under house arrest, but the servants did not dare to do anything wrong to her.

Needless to say, there must be a lot of nursing homes in the Xia Mansion, and there are dozens of people looking after a small courtyard in Yuzhang Building. The old house that Xia Siling mentioned must be the Xia Family Mansion in Sock Lane, and the staff inside must not be enough. few.

That is to say, the danger cannot come from foreign enemies, but more likely from the inside; Su Jin's heart was shocked, and he jumped up from his chair, and said loudly: "No, it must be that group of people who want to kill you!" The nest is reversed."

Yan Biyun and the others were startled, but before they could react, Su Jin had already stepped out of the room, went straight outside, and shouted at the same time: "Where is the dynasty, tell him to come see me quickly."

……

It was getting dusk, and the air was getting hotter and hotter. After a day of scorching sun, the whole earth was exuding bursts of heat; but the originally clear sky had dark clouds rolling in at some point, and it was about to rainstorm.

Xia Siling sat upstairs quietly, watching the black clouds rolling in the sky, praying silently in her heart.

Tonight may be a stormy night, tonight may be my last day in this world, if no one comes to rescue me, the bluestone floor under the rear window will be my final destination.