Chapter 5 Chaos

On the second day after meeting with Chen Mingxia, Gong Dingzi went to the court to take a rotation in the middle of the court as usual.In Beijing, since it officially became the capital of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court's system of setting up government affairs has generally followed the Ming Dynasty's system. Therefore, Gong Dingzi's daily office is still the old place - the court house outside the Meridian Gate.It was two long rows of bungalows built against the wall, connecting between the Meridian Gate and the Duanmen on the left and right.The staff of the six departments of rites, soldiers, criminals, officials, households, and engineering are here to handle daily official affairs separately.

Although Gong Dingzi was quite tempted by the concubine's suggestion, Chen Mingxia's analysis made him give up the idea of ​​immediately shaving his hair and refitting.To be honest, Gong Dingzi really didn't have the slightest liking for the "Tartars" with their hairstyles.Being able to keep his current clothes, he would never think otherwise.However, as Gu Mei pointed out, after Sun Zhixie took the lead, is this still possible?Although Chen Mingxia said so confidently, it was only his personal estimation after all, and the Manchu ministers including the regent may not think so.If you have to shave in the end anyway, it's really better to grab it first.However, when he thought about taking that step, he still had an instinctive resistance in his heart...

Now, Gong Dingzi has arrived in the imperial city, and he habitually walked towards the court room.Although the area between Duanmen and Meridian Gate is not small, it is surrounded by high palace walls and a huge gate tower stands on top of the two gates. A deep valley-like feeling.Every time Gong Dingzi walks here, he can't help but feel how humble he is, and how majestic and fearsome the sacred ruler who stands above the heads of all people is.At this moment, he passed by Manchurian guards with shaved hair and braids, who looked like menacing spirits, silently looking up at the beast-like Wufeng Tower under the sky, and his heart throbbed again: "Oh, I hope The regent can clearly observe people’s hearts and act cautiously, which is not only a blessing for our generation, but also a blessing for the people of the world!" After praying secretly twice, he regained his composure, quickened his pace, and walked into the court room where he was on duty every day. in the room.

Right now, the political situation across the country is still very turbulent, and wars are still going on in many places, so the court affairs are actually quite busy.Gong Dingzi took a short rest in the duty room, and then went to the Hongben room in the inner courtyard to get back a stack of "question books".Two of them are marked with "Zhu Bi", indicating that they are more important: one is the appointment list of a group of local officials by the Ministry of Officials.Since the military ahead was advancing smoothly, a large number of officials were urgently needed to fill up the large and small yamen in various states and counties, so this official matter was approved very quickly, and it was completed in just one day.This was unimaginable in the Ming Dynasty.As for the other one, it was a memorial from Yu Wang Duoduo from the south of the Yangtze River, asking for instructions on how to deal with the surrendered officials of the Hongguang regime in Nanjing. The attached list includes the names of Qian Qianyi, Wang Duo and others.Today, the front of the inscription book is marked with the vermilion words "I will come to Beijing to see you when you write it, and you can use it according to your ability" in both Manchu and Chinese. "Ah, it turns out that even Qian Muzhai surrendered! He still has to come to Beijing to see you. Well, it would be good if he came. I'm worried that Donglin's forces in Beijing are weak. If he brings a group of people to help You won’t be afraid of Sun Zhixie’s arrogance!” Just as he was thinking this, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, Gong Dingzi looked up and found a short and fat figure looking around the door, and then stepped in.

"Brother Xiaosheng," he called Gong Dingzi, "are you alone?" The other party asked this question because according to the regulations on the equality between Manchu and Han in the new dynasty, in addition to one Han official, there must be a Manchu official present on each shift. "Oh, I haven't seen anyone yet! From the looks of it, I probably won't be here again today!" After recognizing the person as Xu Zuomei from the Bingke, Gong Dingzi waved his hand and replied nonchalantly. "Hmph, good luck, brother! It's not like my department, where people stare at you like thieves every day, and you can't even breathe through it. It's unlucky!"

This Henan native, Xu Zuomei, is a well-known cannonball.Although he was also demoted, he had a lot of complaints, and he vented them out at every turn.Finally, the imperial court is quite gracious, and he has not seen any crime so far, but he still often makes people sweat for him.Therefore, when he found that he was coming again, Gong Dingzi didn't talk to him, and he didn't stop his business. Being left out in the cold, Xu Zuomei was obviously a little embarrassed, but still unwilling to leave.He came closer, glanced at the official document on the case, and said half-sarcastically, half-accusingly: "It's hot weather, what's so great, it's worth your great talent to do it desperately?"

"It's a memorial from the south of the Yangtze River. Qian Muzhai and Wang Juesi will come to Beijing to see you." Gong Dingzi had no choice but to perfunctory him. "Really?" Xu Zuomei regained his spirits immediately, "Aha, it turns out that another group of people joined the group! It's even more lively now!" Pausing for a while, and seeing that Gong Dingzi didn't argue any more, he continued talking to himself. "Qian Muzhai, I'm an old acquaintance, but I haven't seen him for many years. I heard that he has been nested in the country for many years, and finally earned a black yarn. Who knows that it will be enough to finish playing again in a year. Unlucky!" He paused, rolled his eyes again, and said jokingly, "I don't know if they have shaved their hair and changed their uniforms? If they are already 'Man and Han', Sun Zhixie won't be afraid of being alone!"

Gong Dingzi hadn't planned to talk to him at first, but when he heard him mention Sun Zhixie suddenly, his heart moved, he couldn't help raising his head, and asked, "What about Mr. Sun—Brother Xu also knows?" Xu Zuomei blinked, seeming to be surprised by his questioning, but then he laughed, waved his hand, and said, "My brother is so closed! It's true, evil things spread thousands of miles. The ugly appearance of that hozen bastard, the whole court Among the Han officials, there are not many who don’t know about it!” In such a solemn and solemn place as the imperial court, Xu Zuomei laughed out loud, which was too presumptuous.So Gong Dingzi was taken aback, stood up quickly, walked to the door in a hurry, looked out for a while, and did not come back until he confirmed that no other court houses were disturbed, and warned: "Brother, keep your voice down!" He made a gesture of concession, "Well, brother, sit down!"

After Xu Zuomei sat down on a chair, he lowered his voice and asked, "So, I don't know what you plan to do?" "What do you mean?" "Of course it's about the surname Sun." "Hmph, he can't be proud, he'll be the one to look at!" "Oh?" Gong Dingzi suddenly cheered up, "It turns out that there is such a happy event! I wonder if I can tell you something?" "Is this..." Xu Zuomei rolled his eyes and suddenly became cautious, "It's not time to talk about it yet, anyway, brother, just wait and see the good show!"

Seeing that the short fat man finished speaking, he stood up and was about to leave, but Gong Dingzi was busy instead.While trying his best to keep him, he opened his arms, trying to stop the other party.Who knows that Xu Zuomei is a stubborn man, just now he tried to push him away, but he insisted on not leaving, now he wants to ask him to stay a little longer, but he refuses to do it, so he stamped his feet and yelled: "This is How should I put it? My department is no better than my brother’s here, there are scouts watching all day long, so there’s no time for idle talk!” Seeing that Gong Dingzi couldn’t keep him, he had to let him go.

"Well, he said there is a good show to watch, but I don't know what good show it is?" Gong Dingzi thought suspiciously as he walked back to the book case, "Sun Zhixie tried his best to please the Manchus, and the Manchus are naturally satisfied. As long as the court gives the surname Sun's support, Xu Zuomei and his group, how can they take someone surnamed Sun? Do they dare to beat him up? He didn't dare to brag about it. Well, unless he got some news...well, is it true that as Lao Chen said, the regent knew that this matter would be bad and would cause trouble, so he didn't approve of Sun Zhi What Xie did, you even think that he is trying to be a good boy for favor, can't he go the right way?" Guessing like this, Gong Dingzi was immediately relieved. "It's just that, why is Xu idiot refusing to tell me the truth? I asked myself that I have always hugged everyone very tightly... Ah, could it be that the story of Amei making Manchurian clothes in private has already spread? Xu idiot just now Running in turbulently, are you actually warning me? Hey, this is really unfair..." Just as he was secretly smiling bitterly, suddenly, there was a loud noise outside the door, which was also mixed with cursing.Gong Dingzi hesitated for a moment, not knowing what happened, he hurried to the door and looked outside, only to find: a Han official with a big beard—Gong Dingzi recognized that he was an engineering student, He was standing in the aisle with a sad face, embarrassed, and several Manchu officials with long braids behind his head surrounded him aggressively. One of them was gesticulating and chattering in Jurchen, as if accusing his companions. Dolittle's is not.A little far away, there were still several Han officials standing, but they just whispered to each other and didn't dare to approach.Gong Dingzi couldn't understand what happened because he couldn't understand Jurchen's words.An officer happened to pass by the door, so he stopped quickly and asked: "Where the hell..." The officer blinked, half covered his mouth with his hands, and whispered, "It's common for Uncle Man to lose his temper, so don't worry about it, my lord!" After saying that, he shook his head and walked away. Since the establishment of Beijing in the Qing Dynasty, in order to win over the descendants of the Han nationality, the imperial court has set the general principle that the number of Manchu and Han officials in each yamen should be divided into half and that they should negotiate together in case of problems, but many Manchu officials are more or less unavoidable. Considering himself a conqueror, he often doesn't pay much attention to the Han people, and even calls them around and bosses them around.Coupled with the fact that they do not understand each other's languages, misunderstandings and frictions occur from time to time.The troubles Dolittle encountered now probably belonged to this category. "Mother Bazi!" There was a fierce scolding, and Gong Dingzi turned his head in horror, and found that one of the Manchu officials had already raised his fist, threatening to hit Dolittle.It was his companions who stopped him.But Dolittle was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he "plopped" and knelt down for the other party. "Oops! His kneeling has completely disgraced our Han members!" Gong Dingzi heard someone whispering behind him.With that Henan accent, he recognized the short and fat Xu Zuomei. "Hey, I have to find a way to rescue him!" Another person said anxiously. Another groaning voice came up: "Help? Brother, dare to go there? Brother, I don't have the guts!" If it had been another time, or hadn't discovered that Xu Zuomei was behind him, Gong Dingzi would never have cared about such a matter.However, he felt that he was being regarded as a dissident by the Han officials, so he was eager to confess, but it made him feel as if he had been mistaken by a ghost, and he stepped out involuntarily. "Hmph, isn't Amei just playing around for a while, and she's full of clothes! You guys 'crows' are making a fuss, and you sent Fatty Xu to drug me! It turns out that they are all 'silver-like pewter gun heads' that can't be seen." '! Now look at me saving Lao Du and making you feel ashamed!" As he walked forward, he thought resentfully and protestingly, and at the same time, he felt that the Han officials standing beside him were also following him to move forward. However, this courage lasted only a few steps.Because Gong Dingzi suddenly realized that there were several sharp sword-like gazes piercing towards him, which made him shiver involuntarily.And when he saw clearly that those Manchu officials had stood in front of Du Lide intentionally or unintentionally, and were staring at him, Gong Dingzi's heart began to "pound" wildly, "Oops, how could this happen? I It's not that I want to fight with him, I don't know how to fight, can't they see it? I just want to persuade them to let Lao Du go, why..." From the place where Gong Dingzi was originally standing to the place where the dispute occurred, there are only a few court houses separated.As the distance between the two sides got closer, Gong Dingzi's footsteps became slower and slower, and he didn't even know where to look. "Hey, what to do? What to do? To pass, or not to pass?" He thought distractedly, feeling that the last bit of courage had disappeared.However, the voices of the Han officials behind him made it difficult for him to retreat. "No, idiot, don't touch this bad luck!" A shout from the bottom of his heart made him stop suddenly.Now, Gong Dingzi has somewhat sobered up: "Yes, I'm really confused. I don't want to show off for anything, but I come to find the Manchus to fight!"In a panic, he glanced left and right, and found that the door of a facing room was right next to the left, "Yes, hide in! It's as if I'm not here for them at all!" He thought, so he immediately pretended to be okay. Looking at the appearance, he smiled flatteringly at the Manchurians. However, just as he was about to turn around, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind the officials: "Hey, get up, get up! What are you kneeling here for?" Gong Dingzi was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly followed the prestige, only to find that at some point, Xu Zuomei had already circled to the front and was appearing beside Du Lide at this moment, intending to help the latter up. Apparently, those few Manchu officials were not wary of this move, and they all turned around after a "sudden". "Well, I'm afraid the fat man will be in trouble this time!" Realizing that the upcoming conflict had already been transferred to Xu Zuomei, Gong Dingzi didn't rush to hide in the house.However, out of concern for the matter, he still shrank his neck and watched nervously, waiting for the terrible eruption. However, what surprised him—and probably everyone in the audience was that after Xu Zuomei helped Dolittle up, he sensibly didn't say anything more, and the officials seemed to feel that it was too inconvenient to do too much, and they just squinted at him. Then, it didn't stop him. A seemingly sinister turmoil ended like this, without devolving into a bigger conflict.The people who were watching nervously at the side were clearly greatly relieved.After the pale-faced Du Lide quickly left with Xu Zuomei, everyone also exchanged glances and left silently with their own concerns. In the end, only Gong Dingzi was left in the empty field. "Hey, it's actually just one step away. If I had known this, I would have made it to the end!" He stood in a daze, thinking blankly.