Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Mrs. Li traveled so far, and after seeing his favorite student as he wished, he was arranged to retreat to the temporary residence and live in this place under the respect and attention Lu Ci treated his father. courtyard.

Lu Ci has always been that if someone treats him with sincerity, he will return it with sincerity.

The three masters have always treated him very kindly, especially Master Li who regarded him as his own son, so in return, when Lu Ci took care of him, he almost never pretended to be a servant, but mostly did it himself.

This thoughtfulness is much more comfortable and real than what the unscrupulous grandfather of Suzhou enjoyed back then.

Naturally, Master Li was reluctant to order his beloved disciple around, so he couldn't resist Lu Ci, and led by his favorite disciple, he took a tour of Bianjing Haosheng, who was in the future for a long time.

Even if it's just to watch the flowers, Li Fuzi is satisfied - the one who accompanied him is the world-famous Lu Sanyuan!

The three of Mrs. Li, who looked so proud, probably completely forgot about Zhu Shuo and the others who were accompanying them.

It is inconvenient for Liu Qi to go out with a few people, teachers and students, if he wants to follow them.

I can only stay at home alone in resentment, and I don't even have the intention to go to Huajie and Liuxiang to relieve my boredom. I just compose some lyrics and music sadly to vent my inner melancholy.

When a few people go out, they naturally attract countless attentions.

Especially Lu Ci, who has been in the limelight recently, no matter where he goes, but in any place that is a little lively, there are definitely people who can recognize him immediately.

Only because the good time to catch a son-in-law under the list has passed, and the icemen sent have returned one after another, the Jiaojiao pride themselves on being reserved, so they can only watch with fiery eyes from a distance, secretly guessing the relationship between him and those old men related.

I'm afraid it's the elders of Lu Ci's family who are here, and they will probably be able to make decisions about his marriage, so why not send the Iceman to have a try?

After all, Lu Ci is perfect in terms of talent, appearance and future. If he misses this time, he will not be able to produce a similar character until decades later.

He has a high vision, and at this time he is still unwilling to concede to other envoys as his son-in-law, and he only thinks about this rich, handsome and promising three-year-old champion. All of them are from high-ranking officials or wealthy businessmen.

When they feel that they still have the power to compete, they are really unwilling to give up the lover of their dreams.

However, the second batch of icemen they sent still returned in vain, and were severely criticized by Master Li who believed in Lu Ci's "Ming Zhi" confession.

After dealing with such a small trouble for his lover, and enjoying the meticulous care for the whole day, the masters did not want to delay his business, and were ready to go back home.

But when they came, there were only three old people, and they had to be careful in everything, and it was different when they went back.

After all, early yesterday morning, the specific duties and assignments of the dispatch had already been issued.Among them, Zhu Shuo was sent to the south of Yongzhou Lingyun County to be the chief bookkeeper, and Teng Zongliang's errand was in Yiling, but Liu Qi had the best luck and was sent to be a magistrate of a familiar county under the jurisdiction of Mizhou.

In this way, when Liu Qi hired a car to take office, he could not only bring Yi Shu and Zhong Yuan with him, but also travel with Mrs. Li.

After Liu Qi got the news, he laughed out loud on the spot, feeling as happy as turning his back on himself.

In the next few days, his face was full of radiance, completely sweeping away the depression that had been left alone by him a few days ago.

He wasn't even that affected by the pain of separation anymore, he was proudly bathed in the envious eyes of Zhu Shuo, Teng Zongliang and others, happily dangling around Lu Ci all day long, as if hinting at something.

Lu Ci knew what Liu Qi wanted to say, but it was not what he wanted, so he deliberately frowned and said: "Brother Liu is the official of one of the parents, so you have to be a little bit more modest, and you can't do the usual frivolous things, especially don't do some ridiculous things like overhauling the brothel song hall. Come on."

"No way!" Liu Qi's face darkened, and he said angrily, "In Yu Yu's eyes, does brother Yu look like this?"

Before Lu Ci could answer, Zhu Shuo and Teng Zongliang nodded in agreement, and almost threw Liu Qi on his back in anger.

On the other hand, when Lu Ci looked at Teng Zongliang who was smiling and teasing Liu Qi, his eyes were a little subtle.

In history, Liu Yongzai managed to become a small official, but Lu Ci couldn't remember the specific performance.

But according to his speculation, there is probably nothing out of the ordinary, otherwise it would have been recorded in the poet's life and written down by future generations.

But Teng Zijing is different.

Whether this person was relegated or rebuilt a certain building with great fanfare, all his deeds were faithfully recorded in Fan Zhongyan's composition, and Lu Ci would never forget it even if he wanted to.

And the legendary Yueyang Tower, if he remembered correctly... is indeed a brothel.

Of course, this brothel is not that brothel. Although it is also a place where literati and poets meet and listen to music, it does not have the vulgar beauty, but more literati elegance.

But in the final analysis, Teng Zongliang is almost the same as Liu Yong in some respects, and at this time, he is just laughing at fifty steps.

Seeing that Liu Qi was still filled with righteous indignation, Lu Ci raised his eyebrows, and half-jokingly said: "Brother Liu is going to work in Mizhou, I have a lot of old friends in my hometown, but if there is something special about you, I will know immediately gone."

Liu Qi: "..."

After one sentence hit Liu Qi so weakly, and his expression was in a trance, Lu Ci said a few words to Zhu who was the most worried.

The most important town in the southwest of Yongzhou, but it is too far away from Bianjing, and because the Song Taizu group destroyed the Southern Han Dynasty, they got lazy for some reason and did not continue to go south.

So Jiaozhi, who has been obeying the orders of the Central Plains regime for many years, took the opportunity to go out independently.

Because Yongzhou went further south, most of them were deep mountains and old forests, which were not conducive to management, so the Xiyuan Man, Guangyuan Man and Xidong Man were simply allowed to continue to be active in it.

Although Lu Ci couldn't remember the details, he knew roughly how the Northern Song Dynasty fell.

Because of this, he is naturally very sensitive to the movements of the various forces around the Great Song Dynasty, and has always been very concerned.

Because the wars in the west were very frequent at one time, he obtained a lot of information.

In contrast, the south side has always been quite quiet, and the content of the sermon he heard from the merchant traveler was also extremely vague and limited.

However, Lu Ci vaguely felt that the imperial court’s practice of putting heavy troops on the northwest front while ignoring the quietly rising Jiaozhi and Dali kingdoms in the south, as well as the ethnic minorities caught in the middle of the three, might not be long. Here comes the big question.

But at this time, he is very soft-spoken and beyond his reach, even if he wants to do something, it is just a dream.

Fortunately, Zhu, who he cared about the most, said that as soon as three years passed and his term of office expired, he would be transferred to another place, at least he would no longer have to stay in the border area where a landmine was planted who did not know when it would explode.

Although in the eyes of most people, being assigned to the extreme south is not a good place, but for Zhu Shuo, who is eager to try and show his skills, it is a good place.

Lu Ci saw that he rarely showed a happy expression, so he swallowed some words that seemed to pour cold water on him, and only patted him on the shoulder, solemnly saying: "Remember to write to me every month , if you encounter a problem, you might as well talk to me, and I will help if I can."

Zhu said nodding his head vigorously, and said with a longing smile: "Yongzhou is located at the southern end, and the taste of food must be quite different from that in the north. When I take office and receive my first salary, I will immediately send some to brother Yuyu. .”

"..." Lu Ci: "No, I really didn't mean to say that."

However, Zhu said that he had already calculated with great interest how to spend his first month's salary in detail.

For the first time in history, Lu Ci had a feeling that he couldn't explain it. He shook his head dumbfounded, and simply didn't say anything.

Wait for Zhu to say that he will take office, and then we will see how the situation goes.

The night before leaving, whether it was Zhu Shuo and Liu Qi, who are used to being the most clingy to Lu Ci, or Teng Zongliang, who was a little further away, when it was time to fall asleep, they hugged the pillow tacitly and knocked on Lu Ci. Ci's door.

Lu Ci was reluctant to part with these friends who had been with him for many years, so he asked his servant to carry an extra bed, and put the two beds together.

In this way, even if four big men lie on it at the same time, it is not too crowded.

Lu Ci learned the lesson from last time, and he was determined not to sleep next to Liu Qi, who slept poorly, and Zhu Yue even stood between him and Liu Qi without hesitation.

Liu Qi's repeated protests were futile, and she could only lie down next to Zhu Shuo who was staring at him with a stern face, sighing, and talked with Teng Zongliang.

But after thinking about it, Liu Qi's thoughts turned around again.

Anyway, Mother Lu didn't plan to leave Mizhou because she didn't want to leave her hometown again, and she couldn't bear to part with the thriving small business, and stayed in Beijing with her son for a long time.

Lu Ci is also a dutiful son, so at least he has to go back at the end of every year to visit his mother.

The county he knew was in Mizhou, so wouldn't it be easy to go to a party by then?

Thinking about it this way, Liu Qi was very happy, so he generously disagreed with Zhu Shuo, who was pitifully sent to southern Xinjiang, and fought for the day and night.

Because they thought about parting at dawn, the four of them talked for a whole night.

When they went out early the next morning, they all yawned and their eyelids were blue and lethargic.

Lu Ci got the experience of being hugged by six people, including his masters, without letting go in turn. The original sadness was replaced by funny feelings.

He tolerantly let them hug them around, until they dawdled until it was almost time for lunch, and then seriously urged them to go out.

Although several of them went to remote counties to report on their duties, but they were not on urgent business or rushed to the post, naturally they could not apply to the transshipment department for the treatment of the leader of the horse and post coupons, and they had to hire their own horses and carriages.

Lu Ci studied the journeys of several people to take office, and found that except for Liu Qike who traveled all the way by land, the other two traveled by land and water, so he quietly bought a good horse for each of them as a means of transportation, out of his own pocket. Consider it a practical gift.

In this way, they also saved the trouble of having to replace the horses every time they got on and off the boat.

Although a horse is cheap, a horse only needs seven rounds, but it is timid and easy to be startled and kicked. Naturally, Lu Ci will not be greedy for such a cheap price.

A horse with more than 100 calibers is too extravagant and unnecessary, but a horse with about [-] to [-] calibers is still affordable.

After Lu Ci secretly made this arrangement, he only told him that the horse was bought directly, not leased. He had already renewed the contract, and each of them would take up the post with the two of them, so as to save the two of them from having to push back and persuade It's troublesome to get up.

Before getting into the carriage, everyone wiped their tears and handed Lu Ci a neatly folded piece of paper.

Lu Ci's eyelids twitched, and he felt that this scene was very familiar, but when he really opened it up to see it, he was completely speechless.

There are three more poems with the same title and neat format, but the content is quite different——"A Special Presentation of Feather at Linlijing".

Lu Ci's face was dull, and the sadness of parting was gone.

——These brats must have made an appointment to fight him in the ring.

The author has something to say: Notes (still all from "Cultural History of the Song and Song Dynasties" today):

1. The price of horses in the Northern Song Dynasty was seven guan for the cheap ones, and more than 100 guan for the expensive ones

The vast majority of officials of the central government of the Song Dynasty could not enjoy the treatment of being equipped with "official cars" (official horses).If you don't want to walk to and from get off work, you can only rent a horse or buy a "private horse" out of your own pocket.

Another anecdote to share.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, there was a judge named Sun Liangru in the Military Inspection Court of Kaifeng Prefecture.Once, when he escorted a death row prisoner to the execution ground for execution, the court in Kaifeng didn't dispatch a "bus" for him, but called a "horse for hire".The groom asked: "Where are the officials going?" Sun Liangru said: "To the execution ground." The groom asked again: "Then come back?"

2. About the bus:

In the Song Dynasty, senior officials at the ministerial level were equipped with special official horses (the military officials are another matter, middle and high-level military officials are all equipped with more than three official horses), which is equivalent to a "special car"; Driver”; there is also an item of “horse millet” on the salary list, which is equivalent to “fuel subsidy”.

However, once the prime minister retires, the "public car treatment" will be cancelled. For example, after the famous prime ministers Fu Bi and Wang Anshi retired, they bought a small donkey to ride.Fu Bi once "crossed the donkey out of the suburbs", and met a small official "Shuinan patrol", and the pawns of the patrol yelled for Fu Bi to get off the donkey to make way.Fu Bi didn't care too much, and silently whipped the donkey away.

Although the civil servants (subordinate staff) of the prime minister's agency (three provinces) are not high in administrative rank, they can also take "official vehicles" because of their busy official duties and the nature of their work.

However, civil servants from the sixth rank and above were all given "official car subsidies", which the Song people called "Ma Chusu".According to the system of the Song Dynasty, "those who give millet to horses, ranging from [-] to [-], all seven grades", that is, "official vehicle subsidies" are divided into seven grades, with the highest subsidy for materials used by [-] horses and the lowest subsidy for one horse materials.

3. "Zoumatouzi" and "post coupons"

With the "Zoumatouzi" you can call the official horses of post stations and delivery shops; with the "post coupons" you can have free board and lodging at various post stations.

According to the system, if an official "goes on a business trip for official business", that is, if he is on a business trip, such as being assigned to other places to handle prison cases, pay for victims of disasters, inspect places, or enter the court to perform affairs, etc., he can report to the Privy Council, the Ministry of Households, or the local transshipment department. Apply for a "Zoo Horse Leader" and a "Post Coupon"

However, the government of the Song Dynasty had very strict management over the board and lodging of the official horses and post stations. Only urgent official duties or urgent trips to the post can be used. If you do official business, you can beg for a horse, and you can’t beg for money. If you violate it, you will be punished and punished.”

If it's just a trivial matter like taking office, it is impossible to get permission to use the official horse.