Chapter 69 Chaofang Lantern

Since he still had fresh memories of the siege and humiliation he suffered during the Huqiu Conference two years ago, Qian Qianyi really didn't have the enthusiasm and interest to rescue Zhou Bi.What's more, doing so might offend Ma Shiying and his gang.After 15 years of hard waiting and drilling, Qian Qianyi was able to re-establish the imperial court, but Qian Qianyi would never take this black gauze hat to take risks again, even if he only let him communicate with Wang Duo in private! However, then again, according to the news revealed by Yang Wencong during the meeting, the arrest of Zhou and Lei this time is only a beginning. Next, Ma, Ruan and others will use the excuse of pursuing the so-called "successful case" to deal with Dong. Lin sent a big attack, trying to use the means of implicating and connecting to catch them all.If this statement is true, it is very difficult to say whether he, Qian, and others can escape the catastrophe.In fact, even though he suffered such a great grievance in order to excuse Ruan Dacheng two years ago, it seems that the other party did not buy it at all.On the contrary, because I worked too hard to act as a counselor of the Donglin faction during the period of supporting the new monarch, the handles that fell into the opponent's hands were definitely no less than Lei Zuo.As long as the other party brings out any of them, he will be unable to eat, or even be unable to walk, and will end up in jail and beheaded in the end.Thinking of it this way, Qian Qianyi couldn't help panicking, and at the same time felt a desperate pain: "Oh, why am I always so unlucky! If I didn't call myself Donglin, I wouldn't be tied to those nerds who can talk nonsense at all. Being together, but like Wang Juesi, wouldn't it be safe and comfortable!" However, the fear of remorse and remorse, and the fear of dying, forced him to stay out of the matter.Therefore, at the banquet, he hesitated and refused to make a promise to Maoxiang; but afterward, after repeated weighing, he finally decided to test Wang Duo first.

Now it is the sixth day of September, and this day is the day when the emperor "makes a final decision".Qian Qianyi reckoned that he would definitely see Wang Duo at that time, so after getting up at the fourth watch, after washing and dressing, he hurriedly got up and came to wait outside the Duanmen of the Forbidden City.Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, most of the officials have arrived one after another, but Wang Duo was nowhere to be seen; after inquiring, I found out that it was Wang Duo's turn to stay overnight in the court room inside the Meridian Gate. .Qian Qianyi was quite disappointed, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only hold back his temper, and after the first drum sound from Wufenglou, he followed all the officials into the Duanmen, and came to a row of facing rooms on the east.

Since May, most areas in the south of the Yangtze River have been dry for a long time without rain, and the weather is abnormally hot, but after all, it is the season when the days are short and the nights are long.According to the scene of the fifth watch, it was still dark all around, and candles were lit in the chapel.When the officials walked around, saluted, and gave up their seats, the whole room seemed full of people.This kind of court room is allocated according to the yamen as usual.The seats inside are also arranged according to rank and size. However, some officials often visit each other temporarily in order to find acquaintances to talk to, and the system is not very strict.Now, Qian Qianyi sat down on the chair he used to sit in with a feeling of uneasiness, while thinking about the matter of clearing up with Wang Duo, while silently listening to the chattering of the officials in the headquarters.

"Have you heard about it?" said a hoarse voice, "Recently a strange incident happened in the city, many internal prisons suddenly carried their sedan chairs and led a group of stickmen to search through the streets and alleys. Whenever there is a woman's family, they are ordered to call out for inspection. Once they are matched, they paste their foreheads with yellow paper and carry them away immediately. There is a commotion in Lujing, and no one dares to ask. They only guess that it is the selection of concubines. It is illegal for the Chinese envoy to search for it before the imperial decree is issued."

"That's right," the other one also picked up, "The students have heard about this. In the past, when concubines were selected in the past dynasties, they had to visit the prefectures and counties. Leading the governors and sticklers, trespassing into people's homes, regardless of age, they carried them away. They even said that the elders chose to serve the palace, and the younger ones taught opera, which is clearly an excuse to deceive! What a shame!" It was the two heads of the department who spoke.About the errands such as the selection of concubines by the emperor belonged to the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites according to regulations, so they were very concerned about what happened and were a little bit annoyed.However, as usual, Qian Qianyi just listened to the complaints of his subordinates and did not express his attitude.Because being calm and stable, unpredictable and profound, is the cultivation that should be possessed by an officer.Moreover, such things that harass people's homes should be checked by Xuncheng Yushi, and he doesn't need to take care of them.What's more, although he currently has the title of Minister of the Ministry of Rites, his actual position is a Bachelor of Attendance at the Imperial Academy. Since the illegal behavior reported by the principals has already involved the emperor's housework, it is even better for him not to intervene.Right now, Qian Qianyi suddenly remembered another strange situation, that is, when he was waiting outside Duanmen just now, although Wang Duo did not wait, Ma Shiying was the only cabinet minister.Neither Gao Hongtu nor Jiang Riguang seemed to show up. "Well, Jiang Juzhi was severely impeached by Zhu Tong, so it's okay to be a member of Dumen, why didn't even Gao Yanwen come?" The drum sounded "dong dong".He had no choice but to temporarily stop talking, and after the sound of the drum, he asked again:

"Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever seen Gaoge's youngest today? The student Shicai paid special attention to it, but he has never been seen. I wonder if he has come?" "Oh, Mr. Qian didn't know that Mr. Gao Ge had already caused Du Men to suffer!" A familiar Kunshan accent replied, it was Gu Xichou, another minister who had been in charge of the affairs of the ministry.Seeing that Qian Qianyi was in a daze, he stroked a lock of yellow beard on his chin, and then said: "Duke Gao was angry at Jiang Ge's slander, and repeatedly drafted edicts, urging the prosecution of those who made false accusations, but they were all rejected. As a last resort, I had to ask for a retreat."

Gu Xichou, who was born obese and had a rich square face, was also persecuted by the eunuch party in his early years, and was classified into the Donglin faction in the court.In fact, he was really dissatisfied with what Ma Shiying did after he came to power.It's just that Gu Xichou usually speaks too casually, and often doesn't care about the occasion.He probably thinks that Qian Qianyi is a member of the same faction, so he has no scruples, and often accuses Ma Shiying in front of Qian Qianyi, which makes Qian Qianyi secretly feel embarrassed while listening, but it is inconvenient to stop him, so he has to try to hide Then, avoid entanglement with him as much as possible.However, Gu Xichou didn't understand that as soon as he met Qian Qianyi, he would talk about Ma Shiying with him, and he was always full of complaints.Now, he ignored Qian Qianyi's deliberate silence, Guan Zi let out a long sigh and said:

"It seems that Mr. Gao and Mr. Jiang will be in power soon! If this is the case, I'll go with them too! I won't stay here and suffer Ma Yaocao's cowardice! It's just that the country is in danger now— —The trespassers returned to Sichuan and Shanxi with a lot of money, and the eastern captives stole their names and took Yanlu. It is no different from the time of peace. This is really like what Chen Wozi said a few days ago, how different it is from "in the midst of singing songs in a leaky boat, under the burning house of drunken wine", I really don't know where it will end!"

These words should be said in private, Qian Qianyi may still be able to keep silent, and even echo a few words.Now in front of many subordinates, he couldn't sit still.But he also knew that Gu Xichou had no attachment to the black veil on his head, and it was impossible to stop it.But it didn't seem appropriate to keep silent, so he had no choice but to quickly divert the topic: "Hey, when it comes to the Eastern captives and the Liu thieves, in my opinion, the Liu thieves have gone far away from Sichuan and Shaanxi. It is obvious that their strength is exhausted, and I am afraid it will be difficult to recover; as for the Eastern captives, they are naturally ambitious, but fortunately there are still Wu Pingxi Control his side. Although he lied to me with big words, he did not dare to act rashly even though he was afraid."

Gu Xichou blinked, and seemed a little surprised by the change of the topic, but then he shook his head and said, "Wu Sangui? Huh, as early as the end of June, there was a Tang newspaper in Shandong, saying that he had the title of 'Pingxi King of the Qing Dynasty', The card is in the area of ​​Lin and De, and the local officials and people are required to "look up to the great Qing and stabilize the people's morality" and not to resist. Last month, he came to Qingdu again, set up the banner of "the first year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty", and forced people to shave their hair. He still Are you interested in this dynasty?"

"However, a few days ago, didn't the imperial court also bestow upon his late father Wu Xiang the title of 'Duke of the Liao Kingdom', and said that Shen Tingyang of Guanglu Temple still followed the original proposal, and promptly shipped 100,000 shi of rice to pay Wu Pingxi's soldiers. Are you staying?" Someone interrupted and asked in confusion. This time, Gu Xichou did not answer.He probably felt that the court's wishful thinking, although ridiculous and pathetic, was inappropriate to publicly criticize the emperor's decision.Qian Qianyi watched from the side, secretly heaving a sigh of relief.He was about to explain a few words on behalf of the court, when the third drum on the Meridian Gate sounded again.Then, the bell of "Dang-dang-dang-" came, slow and solemn.This is the signal for all the officials to come to court to meet with His Majesty.Therefore, Qian Qianyi gave up his plan to continue talking, and stood up with everyone.