The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Su Jin was amazed by the facts that Lu Laosan said. After the defeat of Haoshuichuan, the imperial court asked all state governments to follow Fan Zhongyan's suggestion and gather all the people from the countryside to the city. It was looted by the western thieves who raided from time to time, and they also used the labor of the people to strengthen the defense of the city according to local conditions.

At the beginning, a large number of people entered the city, and the reinforcement of the city wall also required the labor of the people. Therefore, the state capitals in the northwest strictly followed the instructions of the imperial court. The panic of leaving the land to live without.

Not only did the good times not last long, a few months later, the reinforcement and defense of the city wall came to an end, and the people suddenly realized that they had nothing to do. There is almost no way of making a living outside, and the food famine last year was almost fatal to the people. The army's food supply is still insufficient, and there is no surplus food for the people to eat.

The large-scale hunger made the people more anxious. Officials also came out to explain that there was not enough food in the severe drought in the south, and asked the people to endure it for the time being; but they didn't think about how to endure such things as eating. They wanted to endure in their minds, but their bodies He didn't agree either, and the government donated a bowl of porridge every day that could be seen, and it was as if he hadn't eaten anything, and the rice grains in the bowl could be counted.

Correspondingly, a black market for grain has gradually sprung up in the city. The price is naturally frighteningly high, and no one knows who started it; the people are so hungry that they can only buy some rice with all their limited belongings. But how can a drop in the bucket fill the bottomless pit of hunger? Over time, there are those who sell their children and daughters, those who send their wives and daughters to be humiliated by others, and those who steal and rob.

In March of this year, some knowledgeable people in the city jointly wrote a document requesting relief from the government, but there was no news about the document, and not only that, but after a few days, the leading men were all arrested by the yamen servants and sent to the prison. Dealing with the crime of rioting the people almost lost his head.

The common people want to cry but have no tears, and they can only live hard every day. Every day, they look for food everywhere with empty stomachs and green eyes. The horses and livestock in the military camp are secretly taken out by desperation, slaughtered and eaten. For this reason, they are deployed Officers and soldiers killed many civilians.

Walking on the streets of Weizhou now, as long as there are living things that can be eaten, if you are not careful, you will be stolen in a blink of an eye, and you will be plucked and steamed into your stomach the next moment, which is even more hateful. It was a group of people who actually gathered together to form a gang, extracting property and food from the already miserable people, which made the people worse.

Su Jin couldn't believe his ears. Isn't this the second Yangzhou?With Fan Zhongyan’s good intentions, the imperial court allocated an excessive amount of food to the northwest. As a result, most of the people here were starving. They only had a bowl of clear soup and fruit belly every day, but they had to dig poisonous vines and wild vegetables in the wild to satisfy their hunger. Some became gangs of thieves.

Su Jin finally understands, no wonder Wang Yan left in such a hurry, the whole place is a mess, and Wang Yan may have a part in the grain business, judging from Su Jin’s experience in handling grain affairs, the grain in the black market is allotted by the imperial court Food relief, but instead of being a life-saving item for the people, the food has become a life-threatening poison that forces the people to sell their sons and daughters; there is no doubt that someone has made a fortune in it, and it should not be difficult to find out who it is.

"Old man Lu, after hearing your words, I am heartbroken. The people have suffered so much, and the court has no sense of it. I hereby apologize to the old man and the folks in the city. Don't worry, I will definitely deal with this matter." Deal with it, but before that, don’t make any noise, I want to find out who made a lot of money in it, fish and meat people.”

Lu Laosan sighed: "Is there still a need to investigate? The leader is Xu Wei. He is the general judge of the government. Wang Lushi often patrols the states and rarely stays in the city of Weizhou. All the affairs of the city are Xu Wei is in charge, but... it's not that the old man looks down on you, Mr. Su, and Wang Lushi is pretending to be deaf and dumb, so I'm afraid you can't cure him at all."

Su Jin said: "Why can't he be cured, he is a relative of the emperor?"

Lu Laosan said: "That's not true, but the old man heard from everyone that the generals deployed in Weizhou are the same as Xu Wei. Think about it, with tens of thousands of soldiers in hand, can you turn against them casually? It's not good, you are in trouble yourself."

Su Jin's pupils contracted, and he thought in his heart: "If this Xu Wei really colluded with the generals deployed, then this matter really needs to be considered carefully. In a border town like Weizhou, where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, whoever has the soldiers Ma Duo, who is the emperor; if I rashly investigate and be slaughtered by the soldiers led by these people, when the time comes, I will push it on the head of the Xixia people, and everyone will say that it is the sin of the Xixia people, wouldn't I be taken advantage of?"

"Lord Su, I can see that you are a person who wants to do something for the common people, but it is enough for you to have this kind of intention, and the common people in the city have nothing to look forward to. If you survive a day, if you die from starvation, sickness and death that day, it is considered as a disaster. The reason why I didn’t want to tell you the old man just now is not only because I was afraid that you were with them, but also because, even if I told you, it would be useless for you to save us and the people.”

Su Jin bowed his head and remained silent. What he thought was that since the situation was so bad, he could use the power of the court to punish these guys by submitting a letter to the court. All the officials, including the officers and soldiers deployed in Weizhou, said that there was no such thing. Could it be that tens of thousands of mouths can't talk about my own mouth?What's more, if they dare to do it, they are not afraid of someone poking it up. Maybe the depth of the water is endless and unknown.

"Don't worry, old man. What you said is reasonable. This matter must be carefully considered, but the evil does not overwhelm the righteous. I will definitely give an explanation to the people. I will leave for the time being. You don't want to talk to anyone about what happened just now. thing."

Lu Laosan cupped his hands and said: "Don't worry, my lord, someone will come to question me later, but I believe in my lord, I will never tell them anything, I just advise you, don't force yourself to do things that you can't do, so as not to risk your life .”

Su Jin smiled and said, "Thank you, old man, for your concern. I have agreed with you that if this matter is resolved properly, you must go to Longshan to get some game for me to taste. I haven't eaten game from the Northwest."

Lu Laosan patted his chest and said, "Put it on the old man, and I'll shoot you a big fat deer and deliver it to your lord's office."

Su Jin clapped his hands and said, "It's a deal."

……

Coming out of Lu Laosan's house, Su Jin didn't want to inspect the city again, the sight of devastation was nothing to see, all he could think about was what to do about this matter.

When I returned to the government office, I saw that there were already a lot of people in the lobby of the government office. After asking, I realized that it was officials from Weizhou who came to see Su Jin. They came early in the morning, but Su Jin went out to inspect. Everyone The son stayed in the lobby and waited. The weather was too hot. The officials took off their hats and uniforms one by one. extreme.

Seeing Su Jin's return, everyone quickly dressed up and saluted. Su Jin looked at these subordinates with crooked coats and hats, and was furious, but still smiled and bowed his hands to everyone.

Xu Wei, the general judge, was also among them. It seems that Su Jin told him to send someone to find out the household registration book, but he didn't take it to heart at all. Approaching Su Jin's ear, he whispered softly: "My lord, please don't blame everyone. Everyone has no time to spare. The officials have collected all the things and sent them to the inner house of the lord. There are many people. Not quite right."

Su Jin was taken aback and said, "What?"

Xu Wei smacked his lips and said, "Master Fu, why do you need to ask knowingly? You came all the way to Weizhou, how can we not feel uncomfortable when we are subordinates? It's not much, just 1000 taels of gold, but it's all gold and gold. Forged in the state capital, it is absolutely genuine."

Su Jin took a deep breath, this was the first step to win him over, maybe Wang Yan kept silent about this matter, because he was dragged into the water by this group of people, or he had a clue in the hands of this group of people , so I can only pretend to be stupid.

"As for making the household register, the subordinate officials will send someone to do it right away, and will never delay your lord's orders." Xu Wei said lightly.

Su Jin smiled slightly and said: "Not busy, I was in front of people on the street just now, in front of so many people, I have to say that, the matter of book making and grain inspection can be postponed, and we can do it slowly No, it's not busy for a while."

Xu Wei smiled lightly, stretched out his thumb and said: "Your Excellency is wise, no wonder you are a young man, and others are still ignorant. Your Excellency has already opened up your mind and become a fourth-rank official. It turns out that your Excellency is a first-class smart person." .”

Su Jin smiled and said nothing, then Xu Wei said: "Your Majesty, tonight everyone will hold a banquet in the Hongbin Tower to clean up the dust for you. It's only the first time for us to get together after your lord has been here for three days. Also please adults must reward face."

Su Jin nodded and said: "Of course we are going, it's rare that everyone is sincere, why not invite the generals of the city's garrison to get to know each other together, after all, they are guarding our Weizhou mansion, without them, we are nothing ,Yes or no?"

Xu Wei laughed and said: "I really admire your lord. Your lord is thoughtful and he is a person who does great things. The generals who have been deployed did not come to see your lord. Your lord didn't care at all. On the contrary, you made friends sincerely. They will definitely meet in the evening." Go, I dare to assure you."

Su Jin laughed out loud, and Xu Wei laughed too.