I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 533: The Bianjing Looting Incident, the Poor Eighth Rank

The twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month is the Chinese New Year.

Both sides of the streets in Bianjing City were filled with stalls selling door gods, Zhong Kui, peach charms and other New Year's items.

Bustling and lively.

Su Liang no longer went to the government office, and instead accompanied his family to the market to buy items for the New Year.

It doesn’t matter what you buy, what matters is to enjoy the atmosphere of the New Year.

Su Zimu and Su Qin were like ponies running wild, trying all kinds of snacks and watching all kinds of new performances...

For children, the New Year is the happiest time.

Because there are new clothes, delicious food, playmates, parents to accompany you, and you don’t have to study anymore.

Near dusk.

Just when Su Liang and his family were having a great time shopping.

A clerk from the Censorate walked over quickly, holding a wooden box used to store documents.

"Central Minister Su, this is the list of candidates for the position of Censor sent by the Emperor. There are eight candidates in total. The Emperor orders you to go to the Imperial Palace to respond to this matter on the afternoon of the 26th."

"understood!"

Su Liang took the wooden box, and after the clerk left, he turned around and put the wooden box in the carriage, and then continued shopping with his family.

These two days.

The busiest people in the court were Zhao Zhen and the ministers of the Secretariat.

Because we will launch a full-scale war against Liao at the beginning of next year.

Therefore, the promotion, demotion, and appointment of local officials were moved forward from before the first half of each year to before February.

The Censorate was responsible for assessing the performance of officials and had already handed over the performance documents to the Secretariat, which in turn decided on the appointment of officials based on their performance.

Next year will be a year of great war for the Song Dynasty, and local governments must be stable, so many officials need to be replaced this time.

Han Jiang and Lu Hui, both censors, will be sent to other places to serve as prefects or assistant magistrates of a state.

The Censorate will also welcome fresh blood.

This time, the Censorate will add an additional censor.

The appointment of censors was different from that of local officials. It had always been done by the emperor himself after the recommendation of the ministers and the avoidance of suspicion by the Secretariat.

The emperor will also fully consider the suggestions of Su Liang, the chief censor.

The Censor-in-Chief has a low position but great power.

Those who could serve as censors would almost always be important officials in the court in the future, so Zhao Zhen was very cautious and selected eight candidates and asked Su Liang to provide advice.

But there is no rush, Su Liang wants to look at it in the evening.

……

into the night.

Su Liang and his family returned home in a horse-drawn carriage with a full load.

At this moment, the city of Bianjing became more and more lively, and a ritual unique to the twelfth lunar month began to take place.

This ceremony is called: Da Ye Hu.

The so-called "Da Ye Hu" means that in the twelfth month of each year, especially in the nights from the beginning of the year to the New Year's Eve, groups of poor people or beggars will dress up as Zhong Kui, the Kitchen God, the Judge, etc., beat gongs and drums, and knock on doors in the streets and alleys to beg.

According to folk customs, this action can drive away epidemics and evil spirits for the donor and bring good luck in the new year.

In general.

Whenever these people knock on the door to beg, the owner of the house will give them alms.

They might give two scoops of rice or flour, or three feet of coarse cloth. Some kind-hearted people with a wealthy family might even give a chicken, a pig's head, a pig's elbow, etc.

Tang Wanmei asked Uncle Ji to prepare copper coins in advance, and anyone who knocked on the door for the first time that day would be given a string of copper coins.

This is also the way many poor people make money during the New Year. They pretend to be gods or ghosts for a few days, and then they don’t have to worry about new clothes or food and wine for the New Year.

At this moment, there are more and more "exorcisms" on the streets.

Su Zimu and Su Qin, each clinging to a window, were very curious about these "ghosts".

"Daddy, that's Zhong Kui, that's Zhong Kui, he's so ugly!"

"Dad, I saw the Kitchen God. Every time we cook, he is always watching from the side!" Su Qin asked with her big bright eyes open.

Su Zimu at the side said with a smile: "Yes, if you don't speak well in the future, the Kitchen God will catch you. He only catches children who don't eat well."

"I'm not afraid, Daddy will save me!" Su Qin raised her voice. "Daddy can't find the Kitchen God at all, gods and us humans don't meet." Su Zimu said seriously.

Su Qin was immediately annoyed, and she pulled Su Liang's hand and said, "Daddy, beat my brother, beat my brother, and let my brother be captured by the Kitchen God."

"You can't beat children during the New Year. As long as you eat well, the Kitchen God won't take you away!" Su Liang said, touching Su Qinyi's head.

……

The brother and sister nodded, then looked out the window and started talking again.

They especially like to stick to Su Liang.

Tang Wanmei on the side was very happy. These two naughty kids had troubled her a lot. With Su Liang around, she felt much more relaxed.

Not long after.

The carriage arrived at an alley called Slaughtering Pig Lane west of Zhouqiao.

Su Liang opened the window and was looking out when three people dressed as ghosts ran out with hurried steps.

One is the Judge, one is Zhong Kui, and one is the Kitchen God.

Su Liang had never seen a "ghost" with such hurried steps. Just as he was wondering, the Kitchen God, who was running at the end, suddenly fell down.

The mask was thrown out as well.

At this moment, Su Liang was only three meters away from him and could see his face clearly.

This "Kitchen God" quickly put on his mask and did not notice Su Liang at the carriage window not far away. He and the other two turned into an alley and quickly disappeared.

Right now.

A voice came from the Pig Slaughter Alley: "Robbery! Robbery! Bandits are robbing in the guise of ghosts!"

Su Liang looked at Liu Sandao who had been following behind him and protecting Su Liang's family.

The latter immediately understood and quickly sent someone inside to check.

Not long after.

Liu Sandao came to Su Liang's carriage and said, "Boss, there are bandits pretending to be ghosts and gods to rob an official. The Kaifeng government officials have arrived."

"Robbery? Such a thing hasn't happened in Kaifeng Prefecture for a long time!" Su Liang murmured.

Since Bao Zheng became the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, although there were occasional thefts in the city of Bianjing, this kind of burglary has never happened again.

Su Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "The three 'ghosts' who just ran past us are probably thieves. I happened to see the face of one of them clearly. Go home first, and then you can follow me to Kaifeng Prefecture."

"Yes." Liu Sandao bowed.

After a while.

Su Liang sent everyone home, and Liu Sandao took him to Kaifeng Prefecture.

He remembered the appearance of the "Kitchen God" particularly clearly, and when he went to Kaifeng Prefecture later, he was able to draw his portrait.

……

In the back hall of Kaifeng Prefecture, Su Liang met Bao Zheng.

The Kaifeng Prefecture has received the case, and two judges have begun investigating and searching for the murderer.

"Jingming, you said you saw the murderer?" Bao Zheng asked in surprise.

"It should be. There were three people in total. After the robbery, they came out from the Pig Slaughter Alley. One was dressed as the Judge, one was dressed as Zhong Kui, and one was dressed as the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God at the back fell to the ground, his mask fell off, and I saw his face."

Lean slightly.

A prosecutor took out a confession.

Bao Zheng took the confession and looked at it. He couldn't help but said excitedly: "What the confession said is exactly the same as what you said. Now, this case will be easy to solve."

Su Liang took the confession and said with some surprise: "The person who was robbed was Dali Temple Sizhi Bai Zhen, and he was only robbed of three strings of cash and two hundred coins?"

Seeing this amount, Su Liang was a little confused.

The Dali Temple Sizhi, an eighth-rank official, is in charge of prison administration, supervision, and preliminary judgments.

The annual salary, just in cash, was three hundred strings of cash.

The robbers only stole a little over three thousand coins from the house, which Su Liang found a little unbelievable.

And this time.

The Kaifeng Prefecture prosecutor said, "This Bai Sizhi is well-known in the Dali Temple for his poverty. He donated most of his salary to government and private schools. He said that this is all the remaining money in his family."

"This... this is too poor. If I have the chance, I would like to meet him." After Su Liang said this, he picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, and began to draw a picture of the looting person.

(End of this chapter)