No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 38: Handover
Three days later.

The Yasi Hall of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Yasi was the name for clerks in the Song Dynasty, who generally assisted officials in handling clerical work.

With the increase in grassroots governance affairs, the number of officials in the Song Dynasty government also increased significantly compared with the Tang Dynasty.

An ordinary county usually has seven to eight bailiffs, while a super-large prefecture like Kaifeng has more than 40 bailiffs and even a special office called the bailiff hall.

Feng Shiyuan's carriage stopped at the gate of Kaifeng Prefecture. When he walked into the bailiff's hall, a look of sadness flashed across his face.

Although commercial activities were active in the Song Dynasty, it was still a feudal dynasty in essence, and the clothing system was very strict. There were restrictions on the clothes that different people could wear.

For example, in the Yasi Hall of Kaifeng Prefecture, the Yasi, as a clerk, although not as good as an official, can also wear a black gown, tie a long Confucian belt like a scholar, and wear boots.

Feng Shiyuan was an ordinary citizen, so he could only wear a short shirt and high-top shoes.

Although due to the development of commerce, it is normal for some wealthy families to violate the system regulations and wear silk and satin, but these are matters that the people do not report and the officials do not investigate. Few people make a big deal out of it. If you, a businessman, wear silk at home, no one will punish you for it.

But it was okay to dress like that at home, but coming to Kaifeng Prefecture and dressing better than the Yasimen was equivalent to stealing in front of the police. So every time Feng Shiyuan came to the Yasimen to handle the signing and transfer of real estate, he had to change into ordinary people's clothes.

Because he couldn't wear a Pu headdress, the tattoo on Feng Shiyuan's forehead that showed he had been exiled to the military was exposed, which made him even more uncomfortable.

The clerks coming and going in the Yasi Hall were already familiar with Feng Shiyuan, as he had worked here before.

Although he was wearing a short shirt, the bailiffs in Kaifeng Prefecture were all well-informed. They all knew that Feng Shiyuan had climbed up the social ladder and was now the head of the shop and house guild. No one dared to neglect him.

However, when Feng Shiyuan looked at the yamen's shiny black gowns, a trace of melancholy flashed through his heart.

Once upon a time, I was one of them. Although clerks were not as good as officials, these clerks were also passed down from generation to generation in the family.

In the eyes of these former colleagues, in addition to the desire for wealth, there is also a hint of contempt and disgust.

Su Ze, dressed in a Confucian robe, also stepped into the bailiff's hall and walked towards Feng Shiyuan.

"Captain Feng, we can make the deal today."

Feng Shiyuan nodded, and he walked to the bailiff's office as if he was familiar with the place. He gave one string of coins to the bailiff in charge of issuing the petitions, and then gave another string of coins for "pen and ink" and bought a set of cheap pen and ink.

This amount of money was the money the government earned from buying and selling petitions, and this "writing fee" probably went into the pockets of the officials in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Feng Shiyuan picked up the pen, filled in the residential address, transaction amount, agreed transaction time, etc. on the petition, signed his name, and handed the pen to Su Ze and said:

"Mr. Su, please sign the agreement."

Su Ze signed his name without hesitation. Feng Shiyuan took out a piece of exquisite paper from his pocket, handed it to Su Ze and said:

"This is a thousand strings of cash worth of Jiaozi. You can exchange it for cash at any Jiaozi shop in Bianjing."

Is this Jiaozi?

Come to think of it, one string of coins weighs about five or six jin, and one thousand strings of coins weighs about five or six thousand jin. Such a transaction cannot be conducted with copper coins at all.

Due to the lack of money, the Song Dynasty government was very active in financial innovation. During the Tiansheng period, after the people began using Jiaozi for transactions, the government quickly followed suit and established the Yizhou Jiaozi Office in Yizhou, which was short of copper coins.

As a place with prosperous merchants, Bianjing City also established a Jiaozi Office after the great success of Yizhou Jiaozi Office. It was under the Taifu Temple and was responsible for the issuance of Jiaozi in Bianjing and surrounding areas.

However, at this time, Jiaozi was still a long way from being a paper currency. It was more like a valuable bond circulated in a region. Jiaozi had a limited trading scope. For example, Yizhou Jiaozi could only be used in Yizhou, and Bianjing Jiaozi could only be used near Bianjing.

There are also restrictions on the issuance of Jiaozi, which are issued in batches, each batch lasting three years, and can be exchanged for new Jiaozi at the end of the batch.

Su Ze took a copy of the petition and left the bailiff's office readily. This made Feng Shiyuan wonder. Why would the Second Yamen specifically instruct such a person to deal with him personally?

Forget it, as long as I complete the task assigned by the Second Lord, that’s enough.

An attendant came up behind Feng Shiyuan and took out another petition from his bosom. This was also a real estate transfer contract, with Lu Gongbi's name and seal already signed on it.

Naturally, Lu Gongbi was not at ease letting Feng Shiyuan hold the real estate on his behalf. Any house purchased by Feng Shiyuan would soon be transferred to Lu Gongbi's name.

This follower was actually the accountant and informant arranged by Lu Gongbi to be beside Feng Shiyuan, to ensure that Feng Shiyuan could not embezzle the property.

In this way, the property that Feng Shiyuan had just purchased from Su Ze was transferred to Lu Gongbi's name.

Feng Shiyuan smiled bitterly in his heart. Now, as the head of the shop and house guild, he seemed to be rich enough to rival a country, but in fact, it was just an empty shell. He was just a white glove for the upper class to make money, and the money he passed through his hands was just floating wealth.

When Feng Shiyuan left Kaifeng Prefecture, two guys, one fat and one thin, who looked like strangers, also walked out of the Yasi Hall.

They came up to Su Ze and said to him:

"Mr. Su is right. It is indeed so."

Su Ze nodded slightly. As servants of the Imperial City, the two men had decent business abilities. They had just mixed in with the people going to the Yawu Hall to do business, and they had seen Feng Shiyuan signing the transfer agreement after Su Ze left.

Su Ze looked towards Kaifeng Prefecture, and next it was his turn to look at Zhang Yaozuo.

At this time, there was chaos in front of Kaifeng Prefecture.

A grand procession led the way, and a carriage stopped at the gate of Kaifeng Prefecture.

The arrogant bailiffs that Su Ze had met in the bailiff hall were now standing at the gate of Kaifeng Mansion with flattering smiles on their faces, welcoming him.

The person who came was Zhang Yaozuo, the judge of Dengwen Drum Court.

When no one was paying attention, Su Ze, along with one fat and one thin man, sneaked into Zhang Yaozuo's guard of honor.

Dengwen Drum Court, with a Dengwen drum hung at the Que Gate, allowed people to appeal for justice. It was under the jurisdiction of the Sijian and Zhengyan, and was responsible for receiving memorials from civil and military officials and common people.

Although Dengwen Drum Court was a noble transitional position, it also belonged to the Taijian system.

The Renzong Dynasty had been strengthening the power of the Censorate. As a Censor, Zhang Yaozuo could freely access the archives and official documents of various ministries.

A middle-aged official in a green robe came forward to greet him and said to Zhang Yaozuo:
"Zhang Dengwen sent a letter the day before yesterday, requesting access to the files and archives in the Kaifeng Prefecture's treasury. I have already prepared them."

If other censors wanted to check these files, Kaifeng Prefecture would naturally not be so happy to do so.

But it is rumored that Zhang Yaozuo will take up the post of Kaifeng Prefecture Procurator and be in charge of prefectural affairs. This means he will be the second-in-command of Kaifeng Prefecture in the future. Maybe one day he will be the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture.

The officials in Kaifeng Prefecture thought that Zhang Yaozuo was about to take up his post and was using his authority to come to Kaifeng Prefecture to check the accounts in advance, so they naturally cooperated very well.

Zhang Yaozuo nodded slightly and walked into the Kaifeng government office with his entourage.

(End of this chapter)