Became a feudal lord in the late Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 61 Cai Zhizhou’s lonely city takes over the important task, and General Liu takes care of his orphan in prison

(The chapter name of the previous chapter has been changed)
  It was cold and freezing, and the heavy snow fell to the ground, as if melted by a little bit of heat exhaled by the prisoners inside, so there was a constant sound of dripping water in the dark and cold dungeon.

Guo Yaoshi captured all the Song officials stationed in Yanjing, and a small-scale mutiny broke out during the period. A completely surrendered general, led dozens of his own soldiers and slaves, planned to kill Guo Yaoshi during the chaos, but failed Zhen Wuchen and others led an army to counterattack and kill him. In the end, his whole family died, and their bodies were hung on the top of Yanjing City.

None of the Song officials died.

Cai Jing sat cross-legged among the withered grass, listening calmly to the sound of dripping water, counting the time in his heart. When Liu Ling was away, Pharmacist Guo's order was passed to Zhuozhou. The defenders of Zhuozhou might hesitate and chew on other orders, but since they wanted to capture Song officials, they did it.

The surrounding cold almost penetrated into the bone marrow. Occasionally, the shouts of other Song officials could be heard in the dungeon. The jailers did not beat or scold them, so in the first few days, the Song officials were in high spirits. Except for Cai Jing, they shouted Encourage each other with the story of Su Wuchi's class surpassing and expanding their borders.

But soon these people gave up. Two of them even cried and shouted to see Liu Ling, saying that they had secret military information from the Song Dynasty.

When footsteps sounded, Cai Jing opened his eyes and listened silently, thinking that the time for the jailer to deliver meals today seemed much earlier than usual.

Until the owner of the footsteps stopped in front of his cell, a slightly familiar joking voice sounded.

"Hey, Mr. Cai, are you tired of sitting in the government office and have come to experience the sufferings of the people in the dungeon?"

Cai Jing looked up and saw that Liu Ling had sat down in front of his cell door and knocked on the iron fence, making a crisp sound.

"Today I was thinking about my old friendship and ordered someone to cook an extra dish for you."

Cai Jing glanced lightly and moved his eyes slightly.

Two bowls of fish noodle soup.

Recalling the past when I was sitting leisurely in Bianshui, a bowl of fish smell seemed to return home.

There are many fish sellers in the capital of the Song Dynasty. Not only are there special fish markets and fish shops, but also Xinzheng Gate, Xishui Gate, and Wansheng Gate. Thousands of loads of fish are brought into the city for sale every day. In winter, Vendors specialize in transporting live fish from the Yellow River and other places to Beijing for sale, called "car fish". The price of a pound of fish is about 100 yuan, which is almost the same as mutton. However, considering many factors, plus the fact that it is winter live fish, The price for fish is actually very reasonable.

In the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, the price of fish is naturally even cheaper.

And if you go all the way north, especially in Zhuozhou, it is already quite north. It is not that there is no good fish here, but the price is not affordable for ordinary people, let alone
  Cai Jing's nose twitched. He had not eaten for a long time and was already hungry, but he could still distinguish different scents. Liu Ling showed a smile on his face and waved to the side. The jailer immediately took the key and opened the cell door.

Cai Jing stood up, pushed open the door and walked out. He knelt down next to two bowls of fish noodle soup. He picked up the spoon and took a sip of the soup first, then another sip. He couldn't help but sigh.

"How much are these two mouthfuls of fish soup worth?"

It was clear that a war was about to begin outside the city, but Liu Ling did not mobilize his troops immediately. Instead, he sat here and watched with interest the old guy Cai Jing drinking fish soup.

It was clear that he could be beheaded at any time with an order. From the common people to the soldiers, the whole city was full of hatred and disgust for the old people of the Liao Kingdom. He had no way out, but Cai Jing was really tasting these two bowls of noodle soup at this time. fish soup.

"This bowl of fish is called Jiaxu in the north. It is a rare item that only noble people can afford. But to me, it is not expensive. A piece of Jiaxu only costs a few dozen dollars."

Pang Yuanying of the Northern Song Dynasty praised it in "Wenchang Miscellaneous Records", saying that its "skin is thicker than that of sheep, and its taste is better than that of perch and mandarin fish." However, in such a snowy weather, the price of a few guans on weekdays is already sky-high, and now the price has increased dozens of times. .

Liu Ling handed over another spoon and said, "Try another bowl."

Cai Jing reached out and took the spoon, and when he looked at the other bowl of fish noodle soup, he felt a solemn feeling. After taking a sip, he not only sighed, but also tasted a familiar taste.

"This is."

"Yellow River golden carp," Liu Ling spread his palms, "I sent someone to buy fifty of them, fished them out from the Yellow River. Each car costs at least three to four hundred cents, and put them in the water truck for transportation, and then bought them along the way. It cost more than 6,000 yuan to transport the ice cubes to the north day and night. After arriving in Zhuozhou, more than 40 carps have been completely damaged. Among the remaining ones, only the fish in front of you is the most intact, and can even be said to be fresh. .”

Cai Jing's throat moved and his voice became hoarse, "A mouthful of fish soup is worth ten thousand dollars. General Liu is interested."

"But I have to tell you, the first bite of this bowl of fish soup you drank was not worth 6,000 yuan." Liu Ling actually felt a little regretful. At first, he wanted to have a sense of ritual and make a plate of "baked carp noodles" When I came out, there was no cook in Zhuozhou City who could make it. I was afraid of spoiling the best and freshest fish, so I had to make a bowl of fish noodle soup.

But in the end, it's not about whether it tastes good or not, just like Cai Jing's expression suddenly became complicated when he saw the fish soup noodles.

In other words, it can be described in more Chinese terms:
  What he ate was not fish soup noodles, but loneliness (dropped) and homesickness.

"The cost of eating a fish from the water of your hometown in a foreign land." Liu Ling stretched out his hand and tapped Cai Jing's chest. "It's worth it for you." Cai Jing frowned slightly.

He is Xianggong Cai, but he is definitely not the kind of Xianggong in the "Xiangongguan". He is more disgusted with this kind of physical contact.

After a moment of silence, he nodded: "Indeed."

"When I am about to die, I can still have a mouthful of fish soup from the Song Dynasty. I will die without regrets."

Cai Jing stood up, bowed to Liu Ling and saluted, hesitated for a moment, and finally knelt down, "I know that no good thing in the world comes in vain. The general treats his officer favorably. The friendship in this, whether he has his heart or not, but I thank you.

If the general asks you for something, I will do my best to do it. It's just that Quan Zisong is young and ignorant. He had offended the general with his words before, so he asked the general to be lenient and let him return home. Whatever the general asks for, I will grant it to you. "

Cai Jing thought he was going to die. He thought that the Chang Sheng Army had completely rebelled. No matter whether they surrendered to the Jin people or not, as a Song official, he would definitely die.

Who is Liu Ling?

A cunning, cunning and dangerous person, but now he is so kind to him, there must be something to do with him.

It's impossible that Liu Ling is really Song Zhongliang, right?
  Cai Jing knelt on the ground, while Liu Ling grinned.

He actually didn't want to kill Cai Jing, let alone make Cai Jing kneel down and humiliate him.

Look, this is what he wants to kneel down on.

He really wanted to say, "I'll take care of your wife by myself, so don't worry about it." But the atmosphere was already heightened and it was not suitable to tease Cai Jing anymore.

"Cai Zhizhou is right. In fact, this general does have something to ask of you."

".Say it." Cai Jing sighed in his heart.

Looking at Cai Jing, who looked like he was being forced into prostitution, Liu Ling couldn't hold back his smile.

In fact, Cai Jing is also very interesting in history.

In the "History of the Song Dynasty", Cai Jing was the chief official in Yanjing after Wang Anzhong. It is recorded that when the Jin people went south, Guo Yaoshi was finally defeated, captured Cai Jing and other Song officials, and raised Yanshan Mansion to surrender to the Jin people.

In "History of the Jin Dynasty", it is recorded that when the Jin people went south, Cai Jing took the initiative to go to the Jin people's general and raised Yanjing to surrender.

The two records represent two completely different people.

But after spending some time with Cai Jing, Liu Ling still believed that although Cai Jing was a typical Song official, he was still a somewhat responsible man after all.

"The last general will go north today and lead the entire army to merge into Duke Guo's army and go north to resist the Jin Dynasty!"

Facing Cai Jing's raised face, he was shocked and confused, looking extremely twisted and complicated.

Liu Ling was too lazy to provide evidence to convince him, because everything he and Yaoshi Guo did next could be described by the sentence "My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror, and everything I do is righteous."

"Zhuozhou City, after much thought, no one else has the ability to defend it, only you, Cai Zhizhou." Liu Ling chuckled lightly and said, "Cai Zhizhou, Cai Xianggong, Cai Jing, you are an official of the Song Dynasty. I am a general of the ever-victorious army, and you and I didn’t have much grudges in the past.

When my wife was pregnant, you gave me a painting. To be honest, it was really ugly. But no matter what, from today on, I want others to know that your painting is worth a city.

Didn't you just ask me for help? Didn't you ask me to let your son go? Now, I want to say the same thing to you. "

He grabbed Cai Jing's shoulders and applied a slight force. Although there was still a smile on his face, there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I give you the city of Zhuozhou. The general's palace in the city contains my wife, children, family members, and my unborn child. I will hand them all over to you together with them." Liu Ling stood up, while Cai Jing was still kneeling. On the ground, he didn't know how to answer. His expression was filled with great surprise and shock.

Liu Ling said softly:
  "I don't ask for anything from you, I just want to tell you that you are from the Song Dynasty, and this is the city of your Song Dynasty. Now, I will fight for your Song Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)