On the afternoon of October 20, the first year of Qingli, a group of soldiers with bright armors rode out of Xuandemen on tall horses and headed straight for Yulin Alley on the second side of the left wing. After the group passed by like a gust of wind, the people pointed and commented.
Someone familiar recognized the two people riding side by side at the front of the team. One was the short and fair-skinned guard Sima Jun, deputy commander Long Zhen, and the other was Eunuch Huang, the chief chamberlain beside the emperor.
It took less than half an hour for the soldiers to arrive outside Yulin Alley. The soldiers dismounted one after another and dispersed the pedestrians and onlookers. Long Zhen helped Eunuch Huang off the horse, and the two of them strode into the alley with more than a dozen soldiers.
Eunuch Huang walked into the courtyard holding the imperial edict in one hand. Su Jin and everyone in his family had already lined up in the courtyard to greet him. Eunuch Huang stood proudly and shouted in a loud and high-pitched voice: "Su Jin of Luzhou receives the edict."
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Su Jin magically took out a futon from behind and placed it on the ground. He lifted up his robe and knelt on the futon. Behind him, everyone in the Su family knelt down and shouted: "Long live my emperor."
Eunuch Huang rolled his eyes and thought: I have delivered the order hundreds of times, but I have never seen the person who receives the order get a futon and kneel down. Who doesn't make a "plop" when receiving the order, even if there are mud, puddles and dog shit on the ground?
Jingji didn't even frown, but this guy was so nice that he even made a futon to spread out, which really left people speechless.
"The emperor's edict said: I am very pleased that Su Jin, a student from Luzhou, has helped the country by taking care of the country's worries and offered a good strategy for raising grain. After my inspection, he found that he can be of great use and has been specially appointed as a special grain envoy to go to various states to raise grain and provide relief.
I hope Su Qing will work hard and repay the kindness of the country. I admire this!"
"Long live my emperor!" Su Jin shouted loudly and reached out to receive the imperial edict.
With a smile on his face, Eunuch Huang cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, Special Envoy Su has been re-employed by the imperial court at such a young age. I am very happy and congratulated."
Su Jin chuckled and said: "We are all happy, this is a hard job. Your Majesty is driving the ducks to the shelves. Thank you for your hard work, Lord Chamberlain. Come into the house and drink some tea."
Eunuch Huang said with a smile: "Nao Nao Nao Nao, Your Majesty, the Emperor has one more gift, please continue."
After saying that, he took out something wrapped in yellow cloth from his arms and handed it to Su Jin's hand. Su Jin knew by the feel of it that it was the gold medal that Zhao Zhen had promised, "Seeing the card is like seeing me."
This thing is a good thing, something that can save lives in critical moments, so I treasure it and hide it close to my body.
Eunuch Huang stretched out his hand and gave way to Long Zhenyi: "My lord, I would like to introduce to you. This is Lord Long Zhen, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard Sima Army. Please get close to me."
Su Jin hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "Commander Dragon, I have admired you for a long time."
Long Zhen knelt down on one knee with a bang and saluted: "My subordinate Long Zhen, I have been ordered to come here and wait for the envoy's dispatch."
Su Jin hurriedly stretched out his hand to help Long Zhen up and said: "Get up quickly. Commander Long has experienced hundreds of battles. The emperor sent you to help me, and I am even more powerful. From now on, you and I will work together to run errands. There is no such thing as a subordinate who is not a subordinate."
, don’t mention it anymore; just call me brother if you think you can.”
Long Zhen said with a naive smile: "How dare you do that? I only want to make you successful as a young man. I'm afraid my subordinates will have to learn more about Qingyun's ways if I follow you."
Eunuch Huang laughed and said: "The special envoy, Mr. Long, is a man of Zhixing. He is not very good at words, but in official affairs, one is one and two is two. With his help, the special envoy will succeed immediately."
Su Jinxin said: I am just being polite, do you think I really have a discussion with him? But this Long Zhen seems to be a simple and honest person, and the emperor was so cruel that he assigned all the deputy commanders of the Guards Department to him.
Okay, this time it's a big investment.
Su Jin was right this time. Du Yan and Lu Yijian strongly opposed Su Jin's intention to lead the imperial guard in the capital. There was no precedent for this move.
The highest military organ in the Song Dynasty was the Privy Council, but in fact the Privy Council did not actually control the army at all. The army was actually in the hands of two divisions and three yamen, and even the Ministry of War was nothing more than a clerical agency.
The so-called two divisions and three yamen originally referred to the Dianqian Division and the Guard Division; but later, after restructuring, the Guard Division was divided into the Guard Horse Army and the Guard Infantry Army.
The upper two divisions or the third yamen are only in charge of the army, and the power to mobilize the army is still very small. Moreover, someone should have been the head of the two divisions and the three yamen. However, the emperor was worried and just left the position of commander vacant and transferred the subordinate commanders.
Officials at different levels come to command respectively.
A strange phenomenon occurred. A regiment commander was transferred to command a corps, but the regiment commander did not have the authority to command other troops. Moreover, he was assigned more than a dozen regimental-level deputies, each in charge of his own affairs; even the deputy regiment commander
The leader cannot interfere with matters that are in charge, which can be regarded as a strange thing in the Song Dynasty.
Such an incident happened in the previous dynasty of Zhenzong. In the third year of Zhenzong's Dazhong auspiciousness, a fire broke out in Bianliang, the capital. The fire was too big and there were not enough people to put out the fire. In desperation, Chen Qi, the commander of the front department of the palace, mobilized his bodyguard Sima Bu.
The army participated in putting out the fire, but the fire was extinguished. Chen Qi was also unlucky. He was impeached by Yushitai and the two government officials and almost lost his head. In the end, he was dismissed from office and sent back to his hometown. The bodyguards Sima Bujun and other officials who participated in putting out the fire were
They were all dismissed from their posts, and some were even thrown into prison.
The Palace Front Division has no authority to command the Guard Division, even to put out fires; such a thing is simply unbelievable, but it did happen. Once Taizu released his military power over a cup of wine, his control and mobilization of the army have been imitated by emperors of all dynasties.
, no matter what your purpose is, as long as you take a step beyond the yellow line, you will be punished.
Zhao Zhen persuaded everyone with earnest words, and even knelt down to beg for permission. Finally he agreed to allocate 200 guards and horsemen to Su Jin's call, and recommended the deputy commander Long Zhen to come to assist.
Even so, Lu Yijian, Du Yan and others still made wild remarks about the emperor appointing this rude young man named Su Jin to handle such a big thing. In Lu Yijian's words, the emperor was playing with fire and actually delegated such a big thing.
It was completely against the rules to do this for such an unknown person, and something was bound to go wrong. When they found out that Yan Shu had recommended him, they unceremoniously attacked the three envoys to their very core.
Zhao Zhen was finally irritated, and the clay figurine was also very angry. Zhao Zhen got angry at Lu Yijian for the first time, and warned them in stern words not to spread the matter, nor to get entangled in it, or to raise food.
The matter is within the jurisdiction of the three departments, and the two governments have no right to interfere in it.
This was the first time that Lu Yijian and Du Yan saw Zhao Zhen getting angry. Although they were unwilling to do so, it was obvious that the emperor had already made up his mind on this matter. When the matter was settled, they had no choice but to accept the reality. The two of them were very annoyed. Not only did they feel angry this time,
Even Yan Shu and Su Jin, who had never met them before, also made a note of it.
Su Jin didn't know all this. When he accepted this job, he was still a little reluctant. Little did he know that he could become the food envoy. It would break the heart of the emperor and Yan Shu; and if things went wrong, he would be heartbroken.
, not only him, but also Yan Shu will be unable to stand up.
After Eunuch Huang announced the decree, he sat in Su Jin's small courtyard for a while, had a few sips of tea, and then left. Su Jin ordered the small pillar with his eyes and hung a small package on Eunuch Huang's saddle, saying that it was
Some sweet-scented osmanthus cakes from my hometown were brought into the palace for my father-in-law to taste.
Eunuch Huang knew very well that it didn't look like Osmanthus Cake, but probably something yellow and white. When he arrived at the palace, Eunuch Huang secretly opened it and took a look. He immediately beamed with joy. They were four yellow-orange gold ingots.
Such a generous act, even Eunuch Huang, who had seen the world, couldn't help but smack his lips. When he reported back, he praised Su Jin in front of Zhao Zhen, praising Su Jin so much that there was nothing like it in the sky or on earth. She looked like a flower.
Su Jin happily took the blue official robe that was not among the four colors and turned it over and over. Long Zhen, who was sitting next to him, took a sip from the tea cup and asked, "I dare to ask, sir, let's go first."
Which state capital are you going to?”
Su Jin said without raising his head: "Go to Luzhou."
Long Zhen asked in confusion: "Why do you want to go to Luzhou?"
Su Jin said: "My hometown is Luzhou."
"Oh, I understand, I will return to my hometown in fine clothes. The envoy is now the emperor's messenger, so naturally I want to go back to my hometown to enjoy the scenery."
Su Jin laughed and said: "That makes sense, but it's not me who goes, but you who go."
Long Zhen was stunned and said: "What? The envoy won't go?"
Su Jin said: "I have my own place to go. You can escort one person to Luzhou. When you get to Luzhou, just follow her instructions. You can also take all the two hundred soldiers with you and put them to use."
Long Zhen shook his head and said: "That's not possible. I am responsible for protecting the envoy, so I cannot leave you without permission. Besides, how can the envoy be so grand without anyone around him?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "What kind of arrogance does a little envoy like me want to do? I am just doing something. I don't need anyone to protect me. This matter is extremely important. It is related to major events in Yangzhou. Commander Long has worked hard."
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Long Zhen thought for a while and said with a smile: "In that case, I will obey the order, but what are you going to do? Can the envoy reveal his identity first?"
Su Jin thought for a while and said: "It's better to go to Luzhou and let someone tell you. You go and pack up and prepare. The brothers also go home to reunite with their families. I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the capital every two or three months."
, we must give them time to say goodbye; we will gather here tomorrow morning and set off, I will walk with you for a while, after passing Bozhou, you go south, I will go east to Yangzhou first, and we will meet in Yangzhou Mansion."
Long Zhen stood up and clasped his fists and said: "I follow the special envoy's order, but before leaving, I also asked the special envoy to go to the household department of the Third Division to collect salary. Brothers, you can't go out without some pocket money."
Su Jin said: "Isn't it your responsibility to receive the salary?"
Long Zhen smiled apologetically and said: "I heard that the Special Envoy and the Third Secretary are quite familiar with each other. This time we are dealing with special matters. In the past, military pay was distributed uniformly by the Guards Department. I am afraid of those cumbersome procedures. It's you.
It’s easier to go get it.”
Su Jin said "oh", thinking that it was not a big deal, so he agreed; Long Zhen said goodbye and went out, riding away with all the soldiers.dd