The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

() Su Jin was overjoyed when he saw Li Zhihe's arrival. Although he didn't know why Li Zhihe had delayed his arrival until now, he thought it was probably because the military supervisor had compromised, so it's good to come, at least to show that last night's pretentiousness was not Be seen through.

"Master Supervisor, I am very sorry to come here in person on such a hot day. Come and have some tea!"

Li Zhihe handed the whip and cloak and other things to the attendants, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "The better yesterday, I will come to visit today, how dare I break the appointment, I am already late, please forgive me, Master Su."

Su Jin laughed and said: "What did you say? I hit it off with Mr. Superintendent, and I just wanted to make friends with Mr. Supervisor. If Mr. Superintendent can come, Su will be proud of himself."

Li Zhihe laughed dryly, waved someone to bring up a big wooden box, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency is humble, I and Master Su also hit it off immediately, there is a reason for being late today. I bought some things to cool off, so I delayed."

Su Jin was taken aback, pointed to the wooden box and said: "It's not monkey brains again, let me tell you first, I can't get used to that, God has the virtue of good life, but I can't do the thing of eating monkey brains alive , my heart is too soft."

Li Zhihe waved his hands and said with a smile: "General Ge was reckless last night, Master Su don't need to worry about it, this is a rare thing, it is definitely not a monkey's brain, come here, open it for Master Su to take a look at."

Two attendants came forward to pry up the lid of the wooden box, and after opening it, a gust of cold air rushed in. The whole lobby seemed to be much cooler. There was a whiff of air-conditioning in the wooden box. Group of ice.

When Su Jin looked around, he saw a box full of ice cubes and snow foam in the wooden box, and couldn't help saying in amazement: "This is..."

Li Zhihe smiled, stretched out his hand to paw and pull gently on the ice and snow, and suddenly half of the big emerald green and round watermelon was revealed. It turned out to be a box of frozen watermelon.

"Lord Su, cold melons are on the market. If you are in Bianliang, you will not be rare in Bianliang, but this thing is hard to buy in Weizhou. In order to keep the taste cool, I specially ordered someone to get it on the top of Longshan Mountain this morning. The few buckets of ice and snow came back to chill this box of cold melons for my lord, to cool off the summer heat for my lord, so I came late."

Su Jin repeatedly said: "Master Supervisor is really a caring person. I am grateful for taking such care of me. The top of Longshan Mountain is covered with snow, but it is not easy to get it. Besides, I have to travel dozens of miles to keep it, but It took a lot of work; even though this cold melon is not a rare item, it is really rare to find this item in the wild and chaotic Northwest, and the military supervisor has bothered you."

Li Zhihe laughed and said: "There is nothing difficult in the world, as long as there is a caring person, it really took a lot of effort to get these things for Mr. Su, but if Mr. Su likes it, it is worth it."

Su Jin repeatedly said that he liked it, and repeatedly bowed his hands to thank him, so he ordered people to nail the lid on the box, covered the box with a quilt, and ordered the handymen to carry it into the inner hall.

Su Jin invited Li Zhihe into the side room at the back of the yamen lobby, served green tea, the host and guest sat down and chatted for a while, Li Zhihe said: "Master Su, what you mentioned last night, I went back and thought about it, and finally did it." a decision."

Su Jin smiled and said, "Oh? What decision?"

Li Zhihe said: "Since Mr. Su came to the northwest, I waited a little longer in the northwest. I naturally understand some things better than Mr. Su. Although it is a barren small town, there are people of all kinds. In times of war, how can anything be as desired, so some people like to talk nonsense and suspect, so that many troubles arise."

Su Jin said calmly: "It's true, those who can't eat grapes will say that the grapes are sour, maybe they want to muddy the water."

Li Zhihe clapped his hands and said: "My lord's incisiveness is precisely this kind of mentality. We have managed Jingyuan Road and Weizhou City in an orderly manner. The West Thieves have committed no crimes. The Privy Council has also rewarded us several times. People like you just don’t like others, so they create some rumors with bad intentions, so when you come here for the first time, my lord, there might be someone whispering something in your ear, so just ignore it, my lord.”

Su Jin put on a serious face and said: "Li Jianjun, after all, you still don't see me as a friend. It seems that there is nothing to talk about between us. That box of cold melon Li Jianjun brought back I don’t have the good fortune to enjoy it, so I’ll see you off.” Su Jin yelled and picked up the teacup, which meant serving tea to see off the guests.

Li Zhihe didn't expect that Su Jin belonged to a dog, so he turned his face when he said he would turn his back on him, and hurriedly said with a smile: "Master Su, be safe, don't be impatient, I haven't finished my words yet."

Su Jin frowned and said, "There's nothing else to say. I've made it very clear. I just want to make a small fortune with you. You're just like this. You get a few cold melons and then send me away. Treat me as a Are you a beggar?"

Li Zhihe said with a smile: "My lord, please calm down. I will tell you the truth. Several officials and generals and I have indeed opened some business in Weizhou City. Think about it. We have worked so hard to fight in the Northwest, and our salary is not comparable. He is tall, but still has to carry his head to do things, which makes people feel a little unbalanced, so, the few of us pooled some money to do some business, and naturally we will occasionally use the power in our hands, all for the sake of Earn some small money for future needs; think about it, I am waiting for no one to stay in this shitty place for the rest of my life, but if I want to move to another place, I need to have a way to manage it. If there is no money, it will never be possible. Yes, Lord Su please understand."

Su Jin nodded and said: "It's still like a saying, it's nothing, the right to be an official without vain, get some money to take care of your future, this is an enterprising spirit, who will criticize you."

Li Zhihe said in relief: "My lord is really a bosom friend. If you say this to others, it must be a great truth, but Mr. Su is not at all coquettish and pretentious. I really admire you; since Mr. Su also wants to participate , We naturally can't ask for it, so I decided to count it as a dry stock for the adults, and I will give you five thousand yuan a month, and the adults don't need to come forward, just sit back and enjoy the achievements."

Su Jin laughed and said: "That's so embarrassing, isn't this a hard grab? No, no, I have to work hard to feel at ease."

Li Zhihe hurriedly said: "Lord Su, can you listen to me? Although we are justified in earning some money for the future, but after all, it is because of the use of power, it is a bit dishonest. To be punished by the court, there is no impenetrable wall in the world, and sooner or later people will find out. If one day it is found out, if Mr. Su also personally participated, wouldn't he also be involved? And Mr. Yan San Si's niece and son-in-law, if Yan Sansi is involved in this, what should I do? Think twice, my lord."

Su Jin turned his head and thought for a while, "So, it's for my own good that Master Supervisor doesn't let me participate?"

Li Zhihe said solemnly: "Naturally, I am thinking of adults, but I am sincere."

Su Jin nodded and said: "What you said makes sense. Since Supervisor Li is taking such good care of me, how can I not appreciate it, so I will do what you say; but at least you can tell me what you are doing. What kind of business, when it is time to give convenience, I will give some convenience."

Li Zhihe said with a smile: "It's all trivial businesses, I can't tell you the specifics, don't ask me, adults, just sit and get money, even I don't know what kind of business they are doing. It is handled by the people below, and it is not easy for me to come forward.”

Su Jin laughed and said: "Understood, I would like to thank Li Jianjun for this. I have a drink in my mansion in the afternoon and let me do my best. It is really embarrassing to take [-] guan for a month for nothing."

Li Zhihe cursed secretly, but said with a smile on his face: "What's the matter, everyone earns money, maybe I will ask Mr. Su for help later."

Su Jin laughed and said, "Definitely, definitely."

Li Zhihe shirked that he had something to do in the army, he didn't want to entangle Su Jinduo, he chatted a few irrelevant nonsense, and left.

Su Jin sent him to the gate of the yamen, and looked at Li Zhihe's back with a horse and sneered inwardly. This old fox would not say what he said about the relief grain and sell it for money, but he would not give himself direct evidence. They are rich As soon as he made a move, he would block his mouth by five thousand per month. One can imagine how big these people's profits should be.

It's no wonder that the amount of grain that was deducted was huge, and the cost was not spent, and the selling price was astonishingly high. Naturally, there was no profit at all. No wonder so many people took the risk.

Su Jin's original plan was to break into the enemy's interior and obtain enough evidence before he could act. Now it seems that he has penetrated into the enemy's interior, but in fact he is still excluded and has no effect.Originally, if there was plenty of time, I would have performed well all the time, or I would have had the opportunity to obtain evidence, but Su Jin didn't have time to endure it, and the people were about to starve to death, how could they wait?This has to be resolved quickly.

Su Jin's mind turned sharply, and soon a plan came to his mind, didn't you play riddles with the young master?The young master will also play charades with you, to see who can kill the other.