Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Now that he had accepted Lu Ci, even though Liu Qi felt from the bottom of his heart that his friend was too cautious, after dawdling for a while, he bit the bullet and persuaded his high-spirited colleagues.

The officials of the library headed by Su Shunqin thought Liu Qi was joking at first, but after joking around for a while, they realized that Liu Qi was serious about persuasion, and all of them showed indescribable expressions.

To them, who admired Lu Ci as a man and an official, it was unbelievable to associate "timid and fearful" with this young official who often made extraordinary and surprising moves.

"Brother Liu," Su Shunqin glanced at Lu Ci who was waiting in the distance, and asked half-believingly, "If you want to leave us behind and celebrate with Lu Jiedu, that's also reasonable, you can just say so That’s right, there’s really no need to make excuses.”

Liu Qi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "When did I ever make a joke when it comes to serious matters? It's indeed what Xiao Tao——Yu Yu meant. But having said that, he is by no means a coward, but he is very vigilant and never shoots without purpose. For the sake of friendship between you and me, I sincerely advise you to obey."

If Lu Ci only told him not to go alone, he could make up a lie instead of telling the truth.

But according to Xiao Taotie's reminder, Su Shunqin and others who presided over the "private loan to officials" had to make a remedy immediately, so he had to speak with difficulty.

Everyone heard the seriousness and helplessness in his tone, and couldn't help but look at each other.

It's just that Lu Jiedu, as a royal doctor, has only been in office for a few days, and he has become so timid, treating impeachment like a tiger, and no longer has the courage to take the lead with his sword, which is really disappointing.

However, there are many feelings in their hearts that are still politely hidden on their faces.

In particular, Lu Ci was still waiting, and he was someone they had admired very much. Although he felt quite disappointed, Su Shunqin discussed with his friends, but decided to obey the other party's kind reminder and did so.

Fortunately, the merchant who bought their used paper hadn't returned home, and was still walking around the street shouting and drinking. A large pile of old paper was bought and piled back into the warehouse.

The warehouse, which had become somewhat empty due to clearing out the piles of old newspapers, became crowded again.

"Oh, what is this all about!"

The history museum inspected Wang Zhu's moving around, and he was sweating profusely in the cold weather, so he couldn't help complaining in a low voice.

"Forget it." Su Shunqin was also very upset, and finally persuaded him: "I did it, don't show it."

After they finished their work, Lu Ci, who was well aware of the dissatisfaction these young and vigorous library staff would have, stood up with a smile and said, "Everyone treats me kindly to Brother Liu, and I often treat Brother Liu very well. I've heard it everywhere. It's rare to have a gathering now, if you don't mind it, I'd like to have the audacity to do this and invite you to Fan Lou for a gathering, I wonder if you would like to come here?"

He insisted on being the villain who poured cold water on him, although he mainly wanted to protect Liu Qi, but he really didn't want to see these good young people who didn't know how to impeach 'sinister' get killed too early because of their informality.

It's just that he is more aware that the kindness that hastily imposed on others is often not accepted, and he understands most of their 'lack of gratitude'.

In order to prevent Liu Qi, who had listened to his advice and persuaded his friends, to do nothing in the future, Lu Ci took the initiative to invite them to fulfill their original intention of getting together.

Hearing Lu Ci's invitation, everyone was taken aback.

For them, the most important thing is of course not the generosity that Lu Ci expressed by paying out of his own pocket to invite them to Fan Lou, the largest restaurant in Beijing, but the gentleness that is not arrogant, even called ironic. Affectionate tone.

Looking at the smiling Lu Ci, and remembering that although he followed his advice just now, he was full of complaints and disapproved, and the thin-skinned young people felt a little ashamed for no reason.

... To be honest, whether this matter is a big deal or not, it has nothing to do with Lu Jiedu at all.

Linglong, who handles things in a Lu Jie way, still chooses to persuade them. Isn't it because she is worried that they will get into trouble, so she comes forward to be this 'wicked person'?

The more I think about it, the more I feel that I take good intentions as evil rewards, and I really don't know good from bad.

Su Shunqin said slightly blushingly: "Your official admires Jiedu's demeanor, and it's a great honor to be invited. How can you let Jiedu spend money?"

As soon as he started, everyone also politely said that it is better to obey than respect for inviting them, but it is inappropriate for Lu Ci to spend money.

"You don't need to be too polite." Lu Ci patted Liu Qi's shoulder affectionately, and said with a smile: "After all, Lu Sanyuan is ruthless, leaving Miss Liu in Beijing to guard her empty boudoir for several years. If nothing Please enlighten me, I am afraid that Miss Liu will be killed to the border early, and I will not have a peaceful life for the past few years."

Unexpectedly, Lu Ci was so funny, everyone was amused and laughed on the spot.

Liu Qi: "..."

With Lu Ci as Jiedu envoy, excluding other subsidies, the salary alone is already as high as [-] guan. He really wouldn't spend the little amount of inviting more than a dozen library officials to Fan Lou for a gathering. in the eyes.

Even though they tried their best to refuse, Lu Ci still made this proposition with a slight smile, and led the group of people with embarrassment all over their faces to Fanlou.

Because of the presence of Lu Ci, who is both a stranger and a high-ranking official, the officials of the library who originally wanted to indulge themselves, even if they knew that the other party was very friendly and didn't feel too restrained, they would inevitably pay more attention to themselves image.

As a result, there was no trace of the unrestrained behavior at the banquet in previous years; this time, there was no sign of it; the original idea of ​​inviting a few official prostitutes to drink and sit with him disappeared without a trace; Subconsciously, instead of being frivolous and rebellious, he wanted to make Lu Ci Dianping, who was once Lianzhong Sanyuan and well-known in the capital, rack his brains and write some poems seriously...

Although Lu Ci knew that they were restrained more or less because of his existence, he did not respond to it.

From the beginning to the end, he only had a breezy smile, leaning back in a relaxed almost lazy posture, with one hand propping the side of his chin, and the other casually playing with the wine cup, elegant, And from the bottom of his heart, there is an irresistible romance.

No one could see that Lu Jiedu, who nodded from time to time as if agreeing with them, was actually very absent-minded at this moment.

While secretly competing with each other, they subconsciously imitated Lu Ci's demeanor, while ignoring the "colleague feeling" and competing with each other.

Even Liu Qi was a rare onlooker, and couldn't stand it anymore. With a lot of emotion, he secretly whispered to Lu Ci: "What a sinful Lu Sanyuan who provokes bees and butterflies!"

"Nonsense." Lu Ci, who used to make some random jokes, raised his eyebrows this time, and corrected him with a solemn expression: "I am very well-behaved and clean, don't make fun of me."

If it was in the past, Liu Qi would just tease her.

But now, even though the distance is far away, he has a family. How can he let some rumors reach the ears of Di Qing, who is already a little restless and far away in Qinzhou?

Liu Qi was dazed at first, and then had an expression of having just swallowed a fly alive.

...what the hell?

He gave Lu Ci a hard look.

Only when he thought of the difference in force between himself and the little glutton in front of him who kept saying that he was a 'weak and gentle man' but was much more 'violent', in order to avoid being 'beaten', he held back painfully More words.

Although they didn't return as drunk as expected, these pavilion officials still had a good time under the hospitality of Lu Ci, a senior member of the court whom they admired a lot.

When the drunkenness gradually got worse, they wisely got up one after another to leave in order not to lose face in front of Lu Jiedu.

After they slept comfortably at home for a night, they still had some headaches due to hangover early the next morning, and arrived at the museum on the clock, when they were about to get busy...

Unbeknownst to them, waves of turmoil have been set off in the court.

However, when they learned that Su Shunqin and others were going to organize a year-end gathering, many people who had not been invited felt unwilling.

But most people have self-knowledge after all, knowing that they don't have a deep friendship with those proud and proud sons of heaven, so they don't want to speak rashly, so they give up silently, or make other arrangements.

But there was an official surnamed Li Mingding who didn't have such self-awareness. Instead, when he hadn't waited for an invitation for a long time, he took the initiative to greet him and asked about the meeting.

However, Li Ding's reputation is not good in the eyes of the library staff who consider themselves noble. In the eyes of Su Shunqin, who has no tolerance for shame, Li Ding is no different from an ignorant but lacking talent.

Of course he didn't want to add such a spoiler to the banquet, so he politely declined on the spot.

Although he was polite when he refused, how could Li Ding, who rushed forward to ask questions, not feel ashamed and humiliated himself?

Although he pretended to be generous on the surface, as if he didn't care, his heart was full of resentment, and he made up his mind to stare at Su Shunqin's group who didn't realize it.

When he was still in the museum yesterday, he saw with his own eyes that Su Shunqin and other small officials counted and weighed the old paper in the warehouse, bundled it up and sent it out of the museum door, and sold it to the peddlers he had agreed in advance. He wanted to invite a few official prostitutes to sit with him for fun, so he left quietly.

Just in case, he sent his servants to investigate the situation of the party at night, and confirmed that Su Shunqin and others were really going to Fanlou, and even added Lu Ci, a member of the court who came to look for Liu Qi, and felt even more excited.

If it's just people in the library eating, drinking and having fun, it can be called a slight flaw in character, but it may not cause much trouble.

——But if Lu Ci, a majestic military envoy who should be a model official, was also involved, the weight would be completely different.

As long as this important official can be pulled down, how difficult is it to kill Su Shunqin and others in their official careers?

Li Ding pressed the button full of excitement, and inquired about the details of the gathering, but he kept pressing the button without saying anything.

After the banquet was over and everyone returned home, he added fuel to the scene of the banquet that he had heard and spread it around: the supposedly noble officials in the Daoguan Pavilion, but because they obeyed the instigation of the official surnamed Lu in the middle of the court, Not to mention stealing the old paper from the concert hall and selling it for money, but also using the public money to openly drink flowers and wine, and even sit with and have fun with prostitutes privately summoned...

It didn't take long for these rumors with nose and eyes to spread smoothly to the ears of Yushi Zhongcheng Han Jiang, who had been paying attention to Lu Ci's office.

The author has something to say: Notes:

The original appearance of this incident in history is the case of entering court:

In the autumn competition in the fourth year of Qingli (1044), according to the custom of the Song people, all the halls would prepare banquets, so Su Shunqin also sold the old newspapers in Jinzuoyuan, exchanged a few pennies, and invited Jinzuoyuan His colleagues and a few close friends went to a restaurant to drink and have a party, and even invited a few official prostitutes to sing, dance and play to accompany the drink.

At that time, Jinzou Yuan was responsible for publishing the morning newspaper of the central government and then distributing it to local governments.After a year of accumulation, there are often a lot of waste newspapers.You can't make much money from selling waste newspapers, not enough to spend on drinking, so this banquet was actually "crowdfunding" by individuals.

It happened that an official named Li Ding came to express his desire to attend the party after learning about this.However, Su Shunqin kept looking down on him and refused.Li Ding held a grudge in his heart, and asked people to inquire about the details of the gathering, and then added fuel and jealousy, spreading the rumors to Yushi Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen.

Soon, Wang Gongchen wrote a letter to impeach Su Shunqin for the crime of recruiting prostitutes and holding banquets with public funds obtained from selling old papers from the government.After a thorough investigation by the Kaifeng government, it was found that it was indeed true: Su Shunqin and others, as the chief executives of Jinzuo Academy, stole old paper money to drink flowers and wine for the prison master; Wang Zhu and others "sat with prostitutes" ( Calling official prostitutes privately is prohibited by law, and can only be used as official banquets, and cannot serve as pillows in private); Zhou Yanjun and Zhou Yanrang and others participated in "prostitute music" because they were still in mourning; Wang Yirou made "Proud Song" , to slander Zhou Kong (in the sentence 'Zhou Gong Confucius was driven into slavery').

So with the help of a group of people, Su Shunqin and others who were "supervisors stealing themselves" were demoted to the people; Secretary Cheng...all those who attended the banquet were expelled.

-

In this regard, my opinion is that although it seems to be a common practice to sell old things for drinking at parties, if you really want to investigate it, breaking the law is indeed breaking the law, and the nature of guarding and stealing is quite bad.Therefore, even if it is sympathetic, it is difficult to say that Wang Gongchen and others attacked them for no reason.

Another interesting point is that Wang Gongchen, who made great efforts here, was also the leader of Su Shunqin, and he was also the first person to recommend Su Shunqin to be a post in the museum. In fact, there is no personal grudge against this severe performance, but purely a "trickster" 'Fulfill your duty, don't talk about personal affairs.

(Wu Gou, author of "Knowing the Song Dynasty: The History of the Song Dynasty Written to Her Daughter", Guangxi Normal University Press, p125-133)