Chapter 66 Against the odds

When Dong Xiaowan was in trouble with Liu Rushi, Mao Xiang also dealt with Qian Qianyi and Yang Wencong in an irritable and hesitant mood.However, his situation is much better - Dong Xiaowan is still suffering from hunger and thirst, while in the outer flower hall, three food tables with rich food and wine have been laid out in a Chinese character pattern, and the guest and host have also reached the end of the three-day meal. It's time for a tour. For today's date, Mao Xiang didn't have any special purpose at first, it was just that Dong Xiaowan was talking too much in his ear, and he himself felt that it would be better to pay off the debt of favor earlier, so he decided to visit him.However, this morning, just as he was about to leave, Chen Zhenhui and Hou Fangyu unexpectedly visited and told him that Zhou Biao and Lei Zuo had been arrested and imprisoned.It is said that Zhou Biao was guilty of "sit together" because his cousin Zhou Zhong surrendered to the traitor when he was in Beijing and wrote "Persuading Jin" to Li Zicheng; Seven cannot be established", it is considered an intolerable crime and must be investigated.Regarding Zhou and Lei, although Chen Zhenhui and Hou Fangyu didn't think highly of them, they believed that in order to control the social situation, they did not hesitate to reject Chen Zhenhui's correct ideas by various despicable means, and they were actually responsible for the current situation in the capital.However, the arrest of Zhou and Lei was obviously the first step in Ma Shiying's plan to completely destroy Donglin and restore the society.Its real purpose is to use this as an excuse to implicate a large number of honest men.If it is not stopped in time, the persecution on a larger scale may follow.Therefore, whether it was for the sake of Donglin, Fushe, or the overall situation in the south of the Yangtze River, Chen and Hou believed that they must try to rescue Zhou Bi and Lei Zuo as soon as possible.Regarding this change, Mao Xiang was shocked at first, and then became nervous.Hearing that Zhou and Lei were arrested by Jinyiwei, he thought of a former retainer of his father, Zheng Tingqi, who was now the captain of the school captain in Jinyiwei, so he immediately went out with Chen and Hou to visit. Please ask Zheng Tingqi to take care of him in the dark, and let Zhou and Lei suffer as little as possible.Later, during their discussion, they thought that the second assistant, Wang Duo, was obedient and easy-going, without party or affiliation, and was currently quite favored by the emperor.If he is willing to speak out, there may be hope for things to turn around.However, the students of Fushe had no relationship with Wang Duo, but it was heard that Qian Qianyi was quite similar to him.Therefore, taking advantage of Maoxiang's going to pay a visit today, Maoxiang took over the job of asking old man Qian to mediate.Chen Zhenhui and Hou Fangyu hurriedly searched for other relationships...

Now, Mao Xiang is sitting in front of the banquet with this concern in mind.Given Qian Qianyi's relationship with Dong Lin, it was not difficult for Mao Xiang to speak up.Unexpectedly, there was another Yang Wencong at the table.As we all know, this person is Ma Shiying's brother-in-law. Although he is usually not too bad, Mao Xiang has to be on guard against such an important secret.In order not to leak the news, he played tricks and self-defeating, so up to this moment, even though he was quite impatient, he still could only pretend to be a normal person, listening to Qian Qianyi and Yang Wencong chatting silently.

"Hey, Old Mu," Yang Wencong squinted his small eyes, and asked excitedly, "Since the intruders escaped from Beijing, many old friends who were trapped in the hands of the thieves have returned to the south. Only Gong Xiaosheng has not heard from him so far. Does Elder Mu have any news?" Qian Qianyi shook his head: "No. But in fact, it's not just Gong Xiaosheng. People like Chen Baishi and Cao Qiuyue have no news? Hmph, these people are very clever! Since they have sent down thieves before, they must know that Nanlai is also here. It's hard to escape public opinion, I'm afraid they simply hide away, or follow the example of Hong Hengjiu and Feng Zhuo'an, and change things to the Eastern Captives. I don't know what this kind of person wants him to do!"

"I didn't want him at first, but I heard people say that after he betrayed and surrendered to the bandits, someone asked him why he was like this, but he said: 'I wanted to die, but my concubine didn't want to do it!' So I would like to ask Ask him if that's really the case." Qian Qianyi snorted: "He is Rujun, isn't he Gu Mei from the old courtyard? If it's someone else, I wouldn't dare to speculate, but if it's Mei Niang, I definitely won't! It's likely that Gong Xiaosheng is greedy for life and afraid of death. To explain it myself, but push it to the concubine!"

"Oh? I don't know why?" Yang Wencong opened his eyes curiously. Qian Qianyi didn't answer right away.He stroked his beard with a smile, looked at Yang Wencong, then at Maoxiang, showing hesitant to speak.Finally, he said: "This matter is not enough for outsiders. But neither of you is an outsider, so I might as well talk about it, and talk about it at the banquet—this is something that happened in the seventh or eighth year of Chongzhen. At that time, Meiniang was only seventeen or eighteen years old. One day, Yu Zhongcheng called her to his home for a drink. It happened that Huang Shizhai was here. The guests saw Shizhai's daily conversations and movements, and strictly observed the etiquette, so they secretly agreed to try him. Entering the secret room, he ordered Meiniang to loosen all her obscene clothes and lie down on the couch with her..."

"Ah, is it a piece of obscene clothes?" Yang Wencong asked with a smile, he was obviously excited, and a pair of small eyes twinkled strangely. Qian Qianyi gave a serious "Yes", and then said: "Afterwards, all the guests locked the door to wait for news. It is said that in the middle of the night, Meiniang saw Shi Zhai sober, so she approached him. Who knew Shi Zhai Zhai just shook his hand, then turned his side inward, and fell asleep soundly. Meiniang pushed him so he couldn't wake up, so he had to give up. At the fourth watch, Shi Zhai had already woken up, and turned his face outward. This time, Meiniang pretended to be asleep and went back to sleep Her body and skin leaned against her. Unexpectedly, Shi Zhai still did not move. Before long, she fell asleep again. Until the next morning, Meiniang came out with her clothes on, and said that she was in the mood of coming at night. All the guests began to admire Shi Zhai's concentration. "

Having said this, Qian Qianyi stopped and reached for the wine glass on the table.Yang Wencong, who was fascinated by the sound, was taken aback for a moment, and asked hesitantly: "Hey, just this matter, how can it be seen that Meiniang will not stop Gong Xiaosheng from dying?" Qian Qianyi took a sip of wine, wiped his beard, and then smiled slightly and said: "However, Meiniang also said a word at that time, what she served was extremely strange and extremely serious! She said to the guests: 'The public is a celebrity. , composing poems and drinking wine can be said to be the ultimate happiness in the world; the only one who will become a saint and a Buddha in the future, who will become loyal and filial, is Huang Gong! Just imagine, she can clearly discern this truth with a piece of fireworks in Beili. When the intruder entered Beijing, If Gong Xiaosheng really decided to die, how could she insist on not allowing it!"

Qian and Yang talked with great interest, while Mao Xiang was listening, but felt more and more boring.If he was still a little curious about this kind of inquiry into why someone lost his integrity when the news of the fall of Beijing came, then it is different now.Yes, at that time, apart from shock and grief, he only wanted to rush to Nanjing immediately and join the struggle to save the nation.Even during the ten days and a half months when his family fled, he felt anxious and extremely stuffy.Now, he finally got his wish.But what about the result?Not to mention the outrageous things we saw and heard during our tour with Shi Kefa in the north; just take the situation in Nanjing city as an example, it is still a scene of singing and dancing, peacefulness and drunkenness.If there is any tension, it is that the struggle between the two factions in the DPRK and China is intensifying, and they are determined to fight to the death. "Ah, could it be that I've been away for too long, and I've become estranged from the social situation?" Mao Xiang thought uneasily and boredly, "However, judging from Jianlu's arrogant letter to Shi Gong, Their heart of tigers and wolves has been clearly revealed, and they intend to take over China and force Jiangnan to submit to him. Could it be that the imperial court thought that they could sit back and relax without worrying about such barbarians who don't know what etiquette, justice, loyalty and trust are? Do you want to find a way to deal with it? Could it be that the elders of the dynasty, including the emperor, thought that they could just hang around and fight like this, but they didn't even know that once Jianlu came over, everyone would be finished?" It is this huge Mao Xiang felt deeply worried and troubled by the fear of the situation.And when seeing Qian and Yang laughing and chatting freely, this kind of inner trouble turned into strong dissatisfaction and even resentment.

"Old Dragon," he asked suddenly, and since it was inconvenient to vent to his master on today's occasion, he turned to Yang Wencong, "Now that the imperial court is newly established, the Son of Heaven is holy, and it is the time when the most talented and quick-footed are the first to ascend. It's really hard to understand why Mr. Long's reincarnation ended up with a post of Cao, which is a bit of a humiliation!" Yang Wencong was appointed as the head of the Ministry of War two months ago.Compared with his relative, Tian Yang, the Fenghuai governor of the governor's water transport, the official residence is the sixth rank, but it is a lot lower.At this moment, he was talking happily with Qian Qianyi, when he heard Maoxiang's question, he was taken aback for a moment, looked back suspiciously, but did not answer.

Mao Xiang then said: "There is a saying, there are people in the court who are good at being officials. Now Ma Yaocaogui is the ruler of the country and a very high-ranking minister. With such a big backer, the promotion of the elder dragon is just as easy as turning the palm of your hand. Why did you delay to date?" "Well, I'm also very puzzled by this matter. With Lao Long's talent, he should be put to great use!" Qian Qianyi also took it seriously.He obviously didn't hear Mao Xiang's sarcasm. Yang Wencong blinked his small eyes: "This..." "Could it be?" Discovering that Mr. Hao Hao, who is always on the right side, blushed, Mao Xiang felt a kind of malicious pleasure, "Could it be that Mr. Ma Ge doesn't think that Mr. Long and my Donglin Fushe are in contact, so he refuses to help? What if? In this way, Elder Mu and Wansheng should avoid suspicion in the future, haha!"

Yang Wencong shook his head: "No." After a pause, he said hesitantly: "To tell you the truth, my younger brother's appointment as Wai Lang will be announced within a few days." Yuanwailang is a fifth-rank official, and has been listed as an important official in the ministry.So Qian Qianyi immediately changed his face and bowed his hands, congratulating him and said: "Oh, why didn't Mr. Long tell you about such a gratifying thing earlier? It might make my younger brother happy!" Yang Wencong smiled wryly: "However, my brother has already submitted a letter to the Ministry, insisting on letting him go!" "Oh?" Qian Qianyi, who was about to toast with wine, stopped his movements, and asked in surprise, "How can you let the comfortable Beijing official not work, and brother insists on letting him go?" Mao Xiang also came up with a sneer: "Yes, although the capital is dangerous and it's not easy to be an official, but with the support of Mr. Long, this capital is not only not dangerous, but also a silver man with no troubles. The road to the court is smooth!" This time, the sarcasm was more obvious, and even Qian Qianyi was taken aback.But Yang Wencong was not worried.He blushed and said in a low voice, "Because he is here, I insist on letting you go." "What, what?" Qian Qianyi, who was inexplicable, obviously suspected that he hadn't heard clearly, and asked with his ear sideways. Yang Wencong did not reply.He raised his glass, brought it to his lips, and then put it down again.A melancholy, depressed, and decadent expression emerged more and more clearly from his round face.In the end, he smiled wryly, and said, "Brother, do you think that there is really nothing to do if the state affairs are in trouble like this?" "..." "Could it be, brother, you still can't see that the situation of the court, if it goes on like this, will this half of the south of the Yangtze River be finished sooner or later?" It is really surprising that a good man who seems to be carefree and carefree on weekdays suddenly utters such a profound and ominous prophecy.Mao Xiang's heart was slightly shocked, he couldn't help putting away his contemptuous look, and asked hesitantly: "But..." "Tell me the truth!" Yang Wencong waved his hand roughly and distressed, "Because the Dukes of Donglin insisted on 'reversing the case', Ruan Yuanhai strongly refused to use him. Resist. He implicated Zhou Zhongyu and arrested Zhou Zhongyu on the grounds that Zhou Jiesheng surrendered the thief, which was just the beginning, and the prison is still to come!" Because when Li Zicheng became king in Xi'an, his country name was "Dashun", so the "shun case" naturally refers to the investigation and punishment of surrender and treachery among Ming officials when Beijing fell.Among such officials, there are quite a few people belonging to Donglin and Fushe.Ma, Ruan and others planned to start from here, and their intentions were clear at a glance. If it is said that what Mao Xiang heard before that was only Chen Zhenhui's guess, then.What I got from Yang Wencong's mouth at this moment is undoubted empirical evidence.Even for a split second, it was like a thunderbolt had exploded on the table, and he was so stunned that he couldn't utter a word. Yang Wencong didn't seem to pay attention to the listener's reaction.It seemed that he had accumulated a lot of thoughts and anguish in his heart, but he had never had a chance to vent it in the past, and now once he started talking, he didn't want to stop halfway. "It's not the younger brother who wants to blame the elder brother." He stared at the wine glass in his hand and said distressedly, "This matter has reached the point where it is today, and the actions of Donglin and Fushe are also inappropriate. Ruan Yuanhai, since the first year of Chongzhen After he was convicted and dismissed, he was bored. The person he planned and plotted was nothing more than an official. If Donglin could be lenient and let him go, he might not be able to use his strengths. However, he suppressed and spared no effort, which made his hatred deepen. As a result, oh..." In the past, when hearing the other party's discussion like this, Mao Xiang would suddenly change color and refute it.However, for some reason, at this moment, for the first time, he felt a little dazed. "Perhaps, we were indeed not sophisticated enough to think things too simply. If we were smarter and cleverer, we might be able to avoid today's situation. But..." Just as he was meditating, Qian Qianyi, who was sitting beside him, lowered his eyes, stroked his beard, and said in a sour tone: "Mr. Long's responsibility is self-righteous. It's really deafening. Only the world is so eloquent. How many people can be the ones who can see it like this? It's my younger brother. Back then, it was just because... hey, those things, don't say anything, Don't say anything!" Mao Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then he understood that what Qian Qianyi was referring to was two years ago, when Qian Qianyi himself tried to use the Huqiu meeting to excuse Ruan Dacheng.And the "talkers" he blamed undoubtedly included Mao Xiang himself.However, at the moment, Maoxiang has no intention of arguing. He only glanced at his master, then turned to Yang Wencong, and blurted out: "Then, according to Long Lao's opinion, how should we deal with this matter so that gentlemen can avoid the 'White Horse Disaster'?" Yang Wencong shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not easy to be caught off guard." After a pause, he said thoughtfully: "Well, if Zhou Zhongyu and Lei Jiegong can be saved, Ruan Yuanhai can lose his excuse. It can be solved. At least, it can slow down its plot... But it is also difficult!" "Ah, could it be that Ma Yaocao's intention has been decided?" Mao Xiang became nervous.Because Yang Wencong pointed out the key to rescue, which was completely consistent with Chen Zhenhui's opinion, which made him feel more trust in Mr. Hao Hao. "Ma Yaocao is not very thoughtful. Although he is headstrong, he has no deep-rooted grievances with the gentlemen of Donglin, and he has a broad mind. As far as I know, he has no intention of building a big prison. Only Ruan Yuanhai once had I have to do everything possible to repay my kindness to him... Well, for the current plan, if the emperor can be invited to intervene with a decree, this matter may be possible." Mao Xiang's heart moved, and he quickly asked: "Please come out to the emperor - but I don't know who is worthy of this entrustment?" Yang Wencong twirled his beard for a while, then raised his head, his small eyes shone decisively, and said word by word: "Wang Juesi!" Wang Juesi is Wang Duo, the second assistant of the cabinet.The other party's proposal actually coincided with Chen Zhenhui and the others again!Mao Xiang was stunned, but couldn't help getting excited.Because even Yang Wencong, who is Ma Shiying's brother-in-law, can be so righteous and sincerely advise Donglin and Fushe, this is beyond Mao Xiang's expectation. "Now that I've reached this point, it seems that I don't need to dodge any more. Just take this opportunity to spread the matter out and settle it!" So, he turned his face excitedly, intending to ask Qian Qianyi's opinion, and asked the other party to persuade Wang Duo by virtue of his friendship. However, unexpectedly, Qian Qianyi lowered his head and only cared about drinking. Yang Wencong's suggestion didn't seem to be heard, and he was clearly avoiding Maoxiang's gaze...