Chapter 61 Mid-Autumn Festival Cruise

It was not until August 16, the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, that Mao Xiang and Dong Xiaowan arrived in Nanjing. Originally, they planned to arrive before the Mid-Autumn Festival.However, because Mao Xiang was left by Shi Kefa to participate in the drafting of the reply letter to Dorgon, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, he was delayed in Yangzhou for another two days.After repeated discussions, they all agreed that the arrogant demands made by the Qing Dynasty were absolutely unacceptable, but considering that even if peace was not achieved, they should try to buy as much time as possible to prepare for the war.Therefore, how to be neither humble nor overbearing in the reply letter, not only to express the attitude, but also to avoid unnecessary stimulation of the other party, really needs to use some brains on the text.The reply letter was drafted by the staff member named He Lianggong. During the revision and polishing process, both Zhang Zilie and Mao Xiang participated in the comments.The wording in the letter can be said to be twelfth percent euphemistic.In addition to citing many historical precedents to explain that the establishment of the Hongguang court was completely reasonable and legal, and did not violate the principles of discipline and etiquette, a large amount of space was specially devoted to sending troops to the Qing Dynasty to help the Ming Dynasty defeat the "rebellious" peasant army , to express my heartfelt thanks; and hope that the other party can continue to help, so that "join the divisions to discuss, aspire to the top of Qinzhong, and be the leader of the rebels together, so as to vent the anger of mankind and heaven."As for the tyrannical threat raised in the letter, the reply letter only said the following passage:

Thus completely avoiding the words of "fight to the death".Originally, Mao Xiang should be quite satisfied with this way of handling it.However, he also understands that to expect the peace talks to succeed, in the final analysis, he has to rely on his own strength that the other party dare not underestimate.However, after this visit to the north, it can be said that he saw the corruption and darkness of the Ming army more clearly than ever before. Therefore, this reply letter not only did not give him any confidence and expectations, on the contrary, the whole mood changed. Even darker and more gloomy.

Dong Xiaowan, who was sitting in the same cart with Mao Xiang, undoubtedly did not understand the depression in Mao Xiang's heart.On the contrary, because of revisiting Nanjing after two years, she seemed quite excited along the way.Among them, naturally, she realized that she was no longer a prostitute, but a concubine of an official family.So in the excitement, there is a little more pride and happiness.This mood made her glow and smile, and she showed great interest and wonder at everything she saw along the way. "Ah, look, sir! There are so many people on the road, all carrying burdens and holding baskets. They must be visiting relatives for the holidays, right?"

"Hey, look at that woman's clothes, how weird! Bijia doesn't look like Bijia, half arm doesn't look like half arm--and that young lady is chubby, so funny!" "Aha, what is that? A pavilion with a person standing in it—no, not a person, it's a stone tablet! So, it's Xiaoling Mausoleum, really, Xiaoling Mausoleum has arrived!" In this way, along the way, her eyes hardly left the car window.For a while, she leaned against Maoxiang coquettishly, and for a while, she put her face close to the curtain and looked out, her little mouth was also chattering endlessly. one person.

Mao Xiang looked at her silently, only occasionally answered a few words, but thought in his heart: "A woman is a woman after all. The time when she fled was only three months ago. If the situation is a little more peaceful, she is still carefree. Don't worry about it!" However, he didn't bother to talk bad about his concubine, "I'm afraid there won't be many happy days in the future, as long as she is happy, let her be happy!" He smiled wryly in his heart. After noon, the car entered Nanjing.Mao Cheng had already arrived one step ahead, and arranged a place for them to stay—it was still the Taoye River House by the Qinhuai River.But this time, the money is not as rich as in the past, and instead of renting out everything, we only rented a small courtyard in the east.After settling down and resting for a while, the sky will darken.Although I was a day late and missed the Mid-Autumn Festival, August 16th is the day of "giving the moon", and there is no need to hide at home tonight, so the atmosphere is even more lively. When they entered the city, they saw people in the streets and alleys. , every household is continuing to make preparations for the festival - setting up magical tables, hanging lanterns, giving banquets, and inviting relatives and friends. The bustling scene makes it hard to see that this is a city that is facing a huge threat of war.Although Mao Xiang was not in high spirits, he didn't want to pass the night away in a deserted manner, so he ordered Mao Cheng to report to the apartments of those close friends and invite them to come and enjoy the moon together.Unexpectedly, he went away for a long time and came back to report that all those friends were not at home and had gone out early.Mao Xiang was quite disappointed, seeing that it was already dark, even if he asked his servants to look for it, there might not be any results.He pondered for a while, then waved his hands and said:

"Forget it, let's set the meal!" "My lord, since this is the case, why don't we hire a boat and just go for a swim in the river, enjoy the moon and eat whatever we want, it's better than staying in this house!" Probably found that her husband was not very happy, Dong Xiaowan suggested with a smile from the side. "..." "Maybe in the river, I can meet my husband's friend!" This reminded Mao Xiang.He looked back at Maocheng, meaning: How, can it be done? "My lord," Mao Cheng immediately replied, "I also think that my uncle and my aunt are going to swim in the river to enjoy the moon tonight, so I have already hired a boat to wait. When my lord wants it, I will ask them to come here." "

On a full moon night like tonight, it is usually difficult to hire a cruise ship on the Qinhuai River, but Mao Cheng always predicts everything in advance and arranges it properly.Therefore, Mao Xiang did not object.After a short while, he and Dong Xiaowan had already boarded an elegantly furnished light boat and slowly swayed into the Qinhuai River. At this moment, just a moment before the moon rises, the heavy night seems to become darker, except for the lights on the river houses and the lanterns hung by the cruise ships on the river, trembling and floating far and near In addition, everything around appears blurred.Sometimes, you can't even tell where the water is and where the shore is.People leaning on the railing of the boat seem to be floating in the illusory realm, only hearing the gurgling sound of oars at the stern, light and heavy, as if urging people to fall asleep... However, after a while, the white jade-like circle The moon showed its face from the east wall.The Qinhuai River was illuminated all of a sudden, as if a horse with shining silver light had been unfurled.The dotted lights dimmed suddenly, but the surrounding scenery stood out clearly—the black tile roofs on the river houses, the trees along the river banks, the decks and canopies of the cruise ships were all covered with a layer of silver. Thin frost, even the figures on the balcony and in the cabin became clearly recognizable.The rhymes played by the sheng, xiao, qin, and drums were blown by the night wind, making them pleasant and melodious.

"Sir, do you still remember the Mid-Autumn Festival two years ago?" Dong Xiaowan suddenly said after being intoxicated silently for a while. "Two years ago?" Mao Xiang asked suspiciously, while taking a piece of mooncake from the concubine. "Hey, in the Taoyehe room. At that time, the Gongyuan had just finished - why can't you remember?" Dong Xiaowan's voice was full of coquettish anger. Maoxiang took a bite of the mooncake, chewed it slowly, and finally said "Oh", and remembered: on the Mid-Autumn Festival two years ago, he had just finished three provincial examinations, and he was in the Taoyehe room with a group of commune friends. Xiaowan also arrived from Suzhou at that time to drink wine and admire the moon. As a result, with the joint efforts of his friends, he agreed to marry Xiaowan.

"On that day, it was Sister Meiniang who brought her concubine to find her husband." Dong Xiaowan handed over a slice of crispy pears, and seeing her husband shake his head, she put it down and said, "After the New Year, Sister Meiniang will marry you." I gave it to Mr. Gong, and went to Beijing with him, and then I lost the news. Now that there is a big disturbance in Beijing, I don’t know what happened to them!" Gu Mei and Gong Dingzi were indeed trapped in Beijing when the upheaval happened on March 19th and they could not escape.However, when Maoxiang was in Yangzhou, he had already heard that Gong Dingzi did not commit suicide and died for the country, but surrendered to the "rogue bandits" soon, and was hired by Li Zicheng in his original position.Later Li Zicheng was defeated and escaped from Beijing.Many officials of the Ming Dynasty who were trapped by "thieves" took the opportunity to flee back to the south.But Gong Dingzi never came back, and today, he has probably surrendered to the Qing Dynasty again.Maoxiang never told Dong Xiaowan about this news.Because it disgusted Mao Xiang very much, and he was ashamed to have such a friend as Gong Dingzi.Now, hearing Dong Xiaowan's question, he thought of this incident again, and from this incident, he thought of the serious threat from the north, so the little interest in traveling that was finally brought up, suddenly sank down again.He frowned, put the leftover mooncakes on the plate, leaned back, and lay down next to the pillow.

Dong Xiaowan didn't notice the change in her husband's mood, maybe she did, but she only thought that he was worried about his friend's fate, so she still kept talking to herself: "However, thinking about it carefully, Master Gong and Sister Mei Niang are both extremely good. Smart people, knowledgeable and kind, the Bodhisattva will surely protect them from disaster. Maybe they are living safely in some mountain or temple at the moment! When they come back, I will definitely see them I saw her last time, thank her well! Speaking of which, I haven't seen her since the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I haven't even sent her a message. I don't know what she will think in her heart, she will definitely blame me... "

At first, Mao Xiang just listened silently, but gradually became impatient.He simply turned his body to the right, so that his face was facing out of the rail.Just then, he heard a rough voice saying: "Are you sure that those hypocrites are there?" "My lord, the villains can see clearly, there is no mistake!" Mao Xiang's heart moved, and he felt that the first voice was a bit familiar, he quickly fixed his eyes and found a boat, which was passing by, and there were several people sitting on the boat, one of them was a fat man dressed as an official.Under the light, his two thick and black broom eyebrows and a big beard on his chest are very eye-catching. "Hey, isn't that Ruan Huzi? How did you meet him!" Mao Xiang thought in amazement, trying to get a better look, but the boat swung past as if it was rushing somewhere. . "Ruan Huzi—what did he just say? Well, 'the hypocrite is there'...Could it be, could it be Dingsheng, Ciwei and the others?" Thinking of this, Mao Xiang immediately became vigilant.He sat up, thought for a while, then turned around and greeted the back, saying: "Boater, hurry up and follow the boat in front—the one that just sailed past! Quickly, follow it, and the truth will be rewarded!" After speaking, he waved his hand at Dong Xiaowan, asking her not to ask; then, he moved to the hatch of the ship, opened his eyes wide, and began to closely monitor the whereabouts of Ruan Dacheng's boat. "From the tone of their words just now, it seems that they are going to find a place to give birth to them. But at this moment, what is it for? Besides, he keeps calling 'hypocrite', obviously he has no good intentions. No, since I ran into him, so I have to follow to find out what happened!" After making up his mind, he ignored Dong Xiaowan's suspicious expression, and just kept urging the boatman to catch up. At this time, the boat had arrived near the school palace.Mao Xiang found that the river gradually became crowded and crowded, and the way out was often blocked by cruise ships slanting past.If it weren't for the boatman's agility, he might not be able to track him down. "Strange, why does everyone seem to be rushing this way?" Mao Xiang thought inexplicably while looking at the passing boats.At this time, they had arrived at the famous Yu Family River House.It is the largest river house on the Qinhuai River.Every year of the big competition, it is always full of candidates for the exam.This river house not only has many houses and a spacious courtyard, but also the two terraces facing the water are also very large, which can accommodate dozens of people standing at the same time.Mao Xiang saw from a distance that the place was full of people now, most of them were scholars in square scarves and Confucian uniforms.However, the most striking thing is that a small platform has been erected temporarily on the water between the two terraces, on which several civil and military characters in costumes and beards are drawing and walking around.Accompanied by their actions, there were bursts of gongs and drums, clearly some drama was being staged. "No wonder it attracts so many cruise ships! It's probably the trick that some good-for-nothing person came up with, but I don't know what kind of play he's playing?" Mao Xiang suddenly thought, and then found that his own boat was also approaching, so he stopped the boatman loudly. : "Don't go there, go fast!" "Sir, that boat has passed too!" said the boatman. Mao Xiang was stunned again: "Why, so this is where Ruan Huzi was looking? So, those people standing above are Dingsheng and Ciwei?" "Ah, Xianggong, listen, it's "Happy Spring"!" Dong Xiaowan suddenly said pleasantly. "Happy Spring" was a well-known play in Nanjing more than ten years ago.The content is about the period of Wei Zhongxian's dictatorship and chaos in the reign of Emperor Tianqi, the brutal persecution of the Donglin party members who fought resolutely with it, and finally the history of being persecuted by Emperor Chongzhen in one fell swoop.Since Wei Zhongxian's downfall had not been long at that time, everyone held incomparable hatred in their hearts, and many real people and real events were written in this play, so it was very popular as soon as it was staged, and it caused a sensation for a while.However, as time went on and more updated scripts became available, the play had not been staged for several years.Now, it suddenly appeared on the stage again, and at such a time and such a place, it is obviously not an accidental arrangement. "Well, could it be that this is aimed at the remnants of the eunuchs trying to overturn the case, so that's why Ruan Huzi came to visit so angrily?" After thinking about it, Mao Xiang's heart suddenly surged with enthusiasm, and he quickly ordered the boatman: "Boatman, shake it, shake it!" "Yes—Master, but the boat just now..." "Leave him alone, get to the shore, and go to the terrace!" However, the cruise ships in front of the terrace are too dense.The boatman tried a lot, but he could only squeeze to a distance of two or three feet from the shore, and could no longer move forward.However, with the help of the bright lights on the stage, it can already be seen clearly that the scholars sitting and watching the opera on the terrace are vaguely Wu Yingji and Huang Zongxi's group of communal friends, and there are many people around them, either sitting or standing.Mao Xiang was disappointed that he couldn't find his friends tonight, but now he unexpectedly found that they were all here, and he couldn't help being very excited.In addition, he was eager to find out what the purpose of this practice was, so his desire to meet them was even more urgent.However, there was only such a short distance, but he couldn't reach the shore, which made him angry, anxious, and helpless. "Master, you can't get close here. If you want to go ashore, you have to go around from the outside." Standing on the bow of the boat, Mao Cheng said loudly. Mao Xiang looked back, and found that after they stayed for such a long time, many boats had come behind them, blocking the way of retreat.Even if you want to go out at this moment, I'm afraid it will be difficult.He was undecided when he suddenly heard Dong Xiaowan whisper: "The ghost soldiers are torturing Wei Zhongxian, and we're going to sing 'Liangzhou Seventh'!" Hearing what she said, Mao Xiang couldn't help paying attention.Sure enough, there was a bang of gongs, drums, cymbals and cymbals. On the stage, Yang Lian, the late vice-capital censor who was named the city god of Zhuozhou by the emperor of heaven, pointed his halberd at Wei Zhongxian who was pushed to the ground by the ghost soldiers. Sing in a high-pitched Yiyang tune: This is a famous libretto, which was passed down and sung by people in those days, and it was widely circulated.Mao Xiang has long been familiar with it, and he doesn't need to wait for the little student who plays Yang Lian to sing, he already knows the following sentence.However, when this libretto reached his ears, he was suddenly taken aback.Because the sound suddenly became like thunder, it was strengthened dozens of times, and it roared on the terrace.It turned out that those scholars gathered around to watch the opera, who commanded them, let go of their throats and joined in: The first stanza scolded Hakka, the wet nurse of Emperor Tianqi, who was in collusion with Wei Zhongxian;The libretto itself was written passionately and heartily, and now through the voices of hundreds of people, it is sung in unison, and it is even more like a group of lions roaring at night, and the wind and thunder are furious, the momentum is really amazing.With the pouring of the melody, the song is like a raging river tide, rolling and circling on the Qinhuai River for a long time.Both the singer and the listener were obviously shocked by the upright singing, their blood boiled involuntarily, and their feelings agitated.So, at the end of the song, the people who were sitting on the balcony watching the show all jumped up at the same time.One of them opened his arms, raised his head to the vast night sky, and screamed shrillly: "Emperor Daxing, Emperor Daxing! Can you hear His Majesty's spirit in heaven! Someone dares to overthrow the rebellion case that His Majesty ordered back then! Quickly show your might and kill this group of traitors!" Mao Xiang saw clearly just now that this was Zuo Guofen, the son of the late Donglin leader Zuo Guangdou; Gu Gao, Yu Huai, Shen Shizhu and others who were standing beside him shouted loudly: "They are good at deceiving the emperor, blocking the way of speech, citing private parties, rejecting loyalty, and messing up the state affairs. If they don't punish them, the cause of Ming Dynasty's revival will be ruined in their hands!" "They also sell officials and nobles, give bribes to the public, pretend to be state officials, and search for major events, causing public resentment and riots. If they are not punished, there will be no law in the country!" In this way, they stood up one by one, gnashing their teeth and denouncing the crimes of Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng and others. Although they did not name them publicly, most of the listeners obviously knew it well.At this time, the performance on the stage had already stopped.For a while, there was silence on and off the stage, and even breathing seemed to have stopped.Only the bright moon that has risen to the middle of the sky casts a round of white jade-like reflections on the water beside the ship's side. Like everyone else, Mao Xiang listened quietly.However, perhaps he was not in Nanjing a few days ago, so he lacked a keen sense of what happened at the court; on the contrary, what haunted his heart like a nightmare at this moment was the letter from the Qing Dynasty full of shameless blackmail and violent threats. It is the cruelty and corruption of Liu Zeqing and his ilk, and it is Shi Kefa who is struggling to support the crisis and is exhausted physically and mentally. "Yes, what's the point? In Liudu, it's still all about fighting each other and fighting endlessly. How good is it? What's the use of it!" Thinking of this, Mao Xiang's mood suddenly became disturbed. The desire to meet them is no longer so urgent.Although Dong Xiaowan suggested that it is better to raise his voice to let the communes on the terrace know, he still hesitated, and finally shook his head and ordered the boatman to turn the boat around and find a way to exit. After half a day, they were already on the waterway back to Taoyehe House.