Chapter 3 Both ends of the first mouse

Gong Dingzi was served by Xiaofeng, and Gu Mei walked in as soon as he changed into his casual clothes.The former famous prostitute who used to be the most popular on the Qinhuai River has lived with her husband in Beijing since she married Gong Dingzi three years ago.Although she is nearly thirty years old, the years have not left any traces on her body.From the looks of it, she was still so graceful, delicate and charming.Because of the hot weather, she was only wearing a thin peach red dress, with a moon white skirt under it, and a Japanese bun was loosely tied behind her head, making her hair look round and round.Since she must have known that her husband had returned, she hurriedly sent the guest away.As soon as she stepped into the living room, she put down the cloud-covered and snow-covered Persian cat in her arms, approached, took the silk belt from Xiaofeng, tied it on her husband, and told the maid:

"You are no longer needed here, let Zhang Luo cook!" Afterwards, she kissed her husband quietly again, and asked with a cunning smile, "My husband is going out to visit today, is it going well?" Gong Dingzi said "hmm": "Nothing is going wrong, isn't it just dealing with the Manchus, it's a piece of cake, and it's easy to deal with!" "Hey, didn't you say that this Baylor called Ji-Ji is so fierce and domineering that everyone is afraid to see him?" "It's called Jierhalang. Hmph, others are afraid, but I'm not! Don't look at the Manchurian tartars, who are very arrogant and arrogant, but they are actually bullying and fearing the hard. As long as you are not afraid of him, he will turn upside down and salute Thank you!"

"Oh, is that so—" "I'll talk to you later. Let's eat first, I'm almost starving!" After waving his hands like this, Gong Dingzi went straight to the dining table and sat down on the chair. Gong Dingzi stopped talking because although he said it tough, he actually had nothing to boast about.The Prince Jierhalang did not make things difficult for him, but made him wait at the concierge for more than an hour, and in the end he had no more than five words with him, so he served tea to see off the guests according to the official etiquette.If he hadn't learned the important news that Nanjing had opened for surrender from other interviewees while he was waiting for an interview, his trip today would have been a waste of time.However, as a rule, Gong Dingzi would not tell his concubines about such situations. "Anyway, it's useless for her to know, but it will cause a lot of nonsense!" he thought.

Now, lunch is on the table.Beijing is no better than Jiangnan, and it is a time when chaos is beginning to settle and everything is in short supply. Even a family like Gong Dingzi can only keep things simple when it comes to eating and drinking.Nowadays, what is placed on the dining table is nothing more than pickles, millet porridge, steamed buns, and a small dish of fried shredded pork with bean sprouts, which is considered a rare luxury.However, Gong Dingzi was really hungry and couldn't care less about being picky, so he ate the steamed buns as soon as he grabbed them.While eating deliciously, I suddenly heard the concubine "puchi" smile.

Gong Dingzi raised his eyes: "Well, what are you laughing at?" "It's nothing." Gu Mei shook her head, and the dimples on her cheeks flickered, "I just remembered that I couldn't wait for my husband to come back just now, so I just said that Belle stayed with him for dinner!" Gong Dingzi was stunned for a moment, then rolled his eyes, nodded, and said: "Well, he wanted to save a meal, but I thought the Manchurian food had a strong smell, so I resolutely resigned." After a pause, Finding that the concubine didn't say anything, he frowned again and asked, "Why, don't you believe it?"

"Oh, letter, letter!" Gu Mei hurriedly replied, then picked up a chopsticks of bean sprouts fried shredded pork with chopsticks, put it into her husband's bowl, and said with a smile, "Since this is the case, the matter that Wang Mama said , maybe it will be easy!" Gong Dingzi stopped chewing immediately. "What did Wang Mama say? What's the matter?" He asked warily.Because in order to show her ability, this unwilling woman always likes to solicit some messy things and pile them up for her husband, which has already made Gong Dingzi very annoyed. "That's what happened—" Gu Mei frowned, sighed, and said, "Just now, Mrs. Wang's mother from Mr. Xiong's family came over and told us that when we fled outside the West City last summer, The Jin Yuan’s family who lived there for a while had the bannerman enclose the land a few days ago, and ordered their whole family to move to the Shepherd’s Castle three hundred miles away. The land was also cancelled, and the whole family was made to be beggars! Do you think that Jin Yuanwai, in his seventies and eighties, could bear the thunder from the blue sky? He was so anxious that he had a stroke on the spot. His family was desperate, and went to the city yesterday to find Xiong's mansion Help us intercede. Mr. Xiong is a timid person, how dare he stand out? Mrs. Xiong was at a loss for ideas, so she sent Madam Wang to entrust us. Mr. Xiong, look at this matter..."

"You mean that old Jintou outside the west city? Isn't his land obviously being planted by himself! How could he be encircled?" "It's really been circled! Mama Wang said just now that several members of the Jin family came to his house yesterday, and they were all in the front yard, crying so sadly!" Gong Dingzi let out a "huh" and stopped talking.He knew about the enclosure.As early as December last year, the imperial court ordered that the unowned farmlands in the states and counties near Beijing that had been abandoned due to the war, as well as the imperial relatives, son-in-law, nobles, and eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, could not be resettled in view of the fact that a large number of bannermen from outside the customs could not be resettled. All the land owned in the past was confiscated and distributed to the princes, nobles and soldiers of the Eight Banners under the dynasty.The method is that the competent yamen distributes ropes of different lengths according to the pre-determined distribution quota, and let the banner people go to the field to measure the enclosure, so it is called "enclosure".However, the order issued at that time made it very clear that it only occupied those unowned fields.Why is the field planted by Jin Yuanwai's family also circled now?It seems that either the deacon's yamen made a mistake, or the banner people below did not follow the law and took advantage of the situation.

"It turns out that his land has been encircled. Then—do you know how it was enclosed?" Gong Dingzi's tone was obviously hesitant because he found that things were not so easy to handle. Gu Mei didn't seem to notice it, and just poured out everything she heard from Mother Wang.However, there is not much new in fact, it is nothing more than how violent the banner people who enclose the land, how begging and begging the Jin Yuanwai family were, and how they were beaten; Farm tools, as well as two well-looking maids, were also occupied by the other party, and so on.Gong Dingzi listened silently, feeling more and more frustrated.It is true that when he fled outside the West City last year, his family had indeed been taken care of by Jin Yuanwai, but the lawsuit he encountered now was not a single matter, but related to the livelihood of the banner people after they entered the customs. It is a major decision of the court.Although it may not be in line with the original intention of the imperial court to occupy such a random circle, but after all, this imperial court is a world full of people. As a Han official, if I speak rashly, I will definitely offend the bannermen. He was charged with interfering with the court's plans.This is absolutely impossible!However, he also knew that Mrs. Ru was not so easy to deal with.She can act coquettishly, be angry and unrestrained, and..."Hey, let's just deal with her for the time being, so as to save her from talking!" With this made up, Gong Dingzi raised his head and said solemnly: "This You have recruited too quickly for this matter, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. However, I still have a few people who can make sense among the Manchurians. I will visit them tomorrow and see if there is any way—in any case, let You just have to explain it!"

"I also know that this matter is very difficult." Seeing her husband agreeing to come forward, Gu Mei suddenly smiled, "But Yuanwai Jin will at least meet us for a while. Now that it is difficult to ask, we must give him some face!" Saying, Seeing that her husband had stood up and walked towards the bedroom, she also followed, and walked to the bedside one step ahead. While brushing the bed and putting the pillow on the bed for her husband herself, she turned her head and said flatteringly, "Tell my husband something new." Son——that's what Ms. Wang said just now. Mr. Sun Zhixie, whom Mr. Xiang Chang hates so much, someone saw that he had already imitated everyone in the past two days. He shaved his hair and put on braids. They all changed into Manchu costumes, and they became so weird that they were almost unrecognizable!"

Such a piece of news was nothing more than a joke to Gu Mei, but Gong Dingzi didn't pay much attention to it at first.However, he suddenly felt a move in his heart. "What did you say? Sun Zhixie—have you shaved your hair and changed your clothes?" Due to accident and shock, his eyes suddenly opened wide. "Mother Wang said that the gates of her house and Sun's house are facing each other. She even saw it with her own eyes!" Gu Mei said, because she was busy making the bed and didn't notice any change in her husband's expression. Gong Dingzi let out an "ah" and couldn't help being stunned.Sun Zhixie is currently the right servant of the Ministry of Rites.This person sold himself to Wei Zhongxian, the leader of the eunuch party during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne, he was listed as a "rebellious case" and was demoted and returned to his hometown; Good at drilling camps, he quickly climbed to a high position.Gong Dingzi was originally a member of the Fushe, and they became political enemies as usual. In addition, he was quite jealous of Sun Zhixie's rapid promotion, so there was always nothing good to say about this person on weekdays.However, Gong Dingzi still did not expect that after the new dynasty had allowed Han officials and people to keep the clothes of the previous dynasty, Sun Zhixie would shave his own hair and refit himself!

"Damn it, this eunuch! How shameless!" Enraged by the other party's despicable behavior, Gong Dingzi couldn't help cursing.Indeed, retaining the clothes of the previous dynasty is a kind of "right" that the officials and people in the city struggled to fight for. It is also after the people were fooled by Wu Sangui and forced to submit to the force and power of the Manchurian "Tarzi". , the last bit of "masturbation" left.Perhaps it was based on a certain deep-rooted concept that he had inherited since childhood, and even Gong Dingzi, who didn't have much nostalgia for the previous dynasty, thought so in his heart.Now that Sun Zhixie, as a Han official, did such a despicable act in order to please the Manchus, Gong Dingzi really couldn't help being furious when he heard it. "Sanggong, what are you—" Gu Mei who turned around found that her husband was walking around the room with his hands behind his back, and he couldn't help being startled. "This time, in short, he has to kill him, he has to kill him!" Gong Dingzi gritted his teeth and ignored the concubine. "Killed? Who was killed?" Gu Mei was even more confused. "I mean the one surnamed Sun! It's the one surnamed Sun who wants to kill us all!" "The one surnamed Sun? Oh, Mr. Xianggong was talking about the incident just now!" Gu Mei suddenly realized, then pouted her lips and said nonchalantly, "He did this because he wanted to flatter everyone. Why bother..." "What do you know!" Gong Dingzi waved his hand irritably, "If the surname Sun makes such a move, the court will naturally think that he is devoted to the Manchus, and treat him even more differently! But what about us? Follow his example? But then, in my majestic Huaxia region, billions of officials and people, will they all be reduced to barbarians from now on? How will we face our ancestors? How will we explain to future generations? But if we don’t follow If he learns, it may be regarded by the new court as not sincerely submitting, or even having two ambitions. At least, he will be jealous and ruin his future; Death is!" Gong Dingzi, who has a slender figure and a pale face, is originally a shrewd and capable person, and he is quite calm when he encounters problems on weekdays.Therefore, seeing him like this, Gu Mei also became nervous: "Then, what should we do?" "No!" Gong Dingzi suddenly stood still, and said decisively, "This Sun is a remnant of the eunuch, a villainous villain. If he is allowed to succeed like this, there will be no place for us gentlemen to stand in the court!" "Ah, then..." "We have to find a way to deal with him!" After saying this, Gong Dingzi started walking around the room again. It was only at this time that Gu Mei finally understood.She narrowed her eyes, lost her mind for a while, then walked towards the side table gracefully, picked up a cup of tea from above, held it to her mouth and drank it slowly.I saw that her expression became more and more relaxed, even somewhat complacent.Finally, she put the teacup on the side table "dumbly". Gong Dingzi couldn't help but stopped, and looked back at her. Gu Mei turned around and sat down on the chair, picked up a green gauze fan, slapped it twice, and then said with a half-smile: "If you want to keep that surnamed Sun from being proud, I have a way. I don't know if my husband will dare or not?" "Ah? Say it, say it!" "According to my personality—" Gu Mei looked at her husband with piercing eyes and said, "His grandson's family can shave their hair and change their hair. Could it be that my Gong family can't shave their hair and change their hair?" "What did you say? My family also shaves their hair?" Gong Dingzi couldn't help being surprised. "Well," Gu Mei nodded, "there is a saying, a poisonous snake stings a hand, and a strong man cuts off his wrist. Otherwise, how can he lose the limelight of the surname Sun?" "But……" "Listen to me—think about it, Mr. Sun, once the person surnamed Sun takes the lead, even if Mr. Sun refuses to follow suit, I'm afraid it's hard to guarantee that others will not follow suit. It's better to just let them hurry and make a profit. Let us take the lead!" Gong Dingzi was surprised and annoyed at first, but now his heart was moved again, and he immediately withdrew the blame he was about to say.Indeed, just now he was so concerned about being angry at Sun Zhixie's "betrayal" that he forgot about another danger, which is that in the competition for climbing the officialdom, he was ruthlessly pushed back because he failed to seize a favorable position in time. danger.For him who is still counting on his success, this is undoubtedly something to be on guard against... So, he turned around ponderingly, sat on another chair, and began to stroke his beard silently. The green shadow of the crabapple tree is reflected on the window screen.For a while, the room became very quiet, except for the ticking of the copper kettle's drip.Now, Gong Dingzi more or less felt that the concubine's suggestion had indeed pointed out to him a surprisingly winning move.In the present circumstances, this may still be the only feasible one.However, in this way, it is tantamount to putting himself in the same position as Sun Zhixie, which will inevitably arouse strong resentment from Han officials and people.As a result, they may be able to draw a tie with Sun Zhixie and others in terms of pleasing the new dynasty, but they will be despised by most Han officials inside and outside the court and lose their trust.In the current situation where the Manchus are in power, and the only way to avoid being bullied is to huddle with the Han officials, this is undoubtedly not worthwhile. "No, this limelight can't come out!" He thought with a wry smile. Seeing that her husband was silent, Gu Mei spoke again, "That's right," she stroked the edge of the round fan, and said slowly, "You told me back then that if the new court ordered you to shave your hair and change your clothes, even if you couldn't bear it." I can't be a monk, and I have to wait until I can't do it any longer. I can't humiliate my ancestors. But looking at the current situation, it's hard to say how long the new dynasty will allow us to delay. Besides, these days I also I figured it out, isn't it just a change of dress! In the past when we were in Liudu, just this hair, we couldn't figure out how many times to change it throughout the year!" After saying this, she found that Gong Dingzi was stroking her beard, but still didn't express anything, so she blinked and said in a voice that suddenly became excited: "Isn't Mr. Xiang looking at the banner man's attire? My concubine thinks the style It's pretty good!" After saying that, she dropped her fan, stood up, walked quickly to the suitcase, first took off the clothes on her body, then took out a set from the suitcase, and put on herself. Gong Dingzi stared blankly, not understanding what she was going to do.It wasn't until Gu Mei finished dressing and turned her face to him again that Gong Dingzi could see clearly.It turned out that it was a Manchurian-style high-necked white satin gown, covered with a royal blue waistcoat with pipa breasts.The waistcoat with five coat buttons is trimmed with a wide corrugated lining and embroidered with floral patterns.It is said that the bannermen's women's clothes have always been narrow, and Gu Mei's figure is already very slender.Gong Dingzi's mouth was so wide open that he couldn't say a word. "A few days ago, I asked someone to go to the inner city to ask a bannerman tailor to make it, and it was delivered yesterday." Gu Mei said proudly, "It's not the right hair now. If you even comb your hair like they do Looks really good!" As he spoke, he looked his husband up and down, nodded his head and said, "If you have a figure like my husband's, if you wear a long robe and mandarin jacket, I'm afraid you will be full of energy!" Gong Dingzi was staring dumbfounded at the concubine who looked like a different person, and was taken aback when she said this so suddenly.He coughed unnaturally, stood up, and began to circle around the room again.But it's strange to say that after Gu Mei's coaxing, his mood is no longer as angry and nervous as before. "Yes, what to do, you don't have to rush to decide right now, let's see the situation before it's too late..." "Hey, Xianggong, have you made up your mind?" Gu Mei's voice rang in his ears. Gong Dingzi raised his head and found that the concubine was holding a mirror and was still fiddling with it, looking left and right.He made a haha, waved his hands and said: "It's really a woman's opinion! How can things in the world be so simple and easy?" After a pause, he walked forward again, touched the body of the concubine, and said: "You can wear your clothes inside the house, but don't go outside, and let the neighbors see the joke! Remember?" After finishing speaking, he turned around, left Gu Mei, who was stunned by the lesson, in the room, and walked out.