Chapter 32 Out of mind

Since Gong and Xu never disclosed the purpose of their visit, Qian Qianyi didn't know what kind of expectations and disappointments the guests experienced during this short half day.However, even if Gong and Xu explained their intentions, given Qian Qianyi's messy mood right now, they would never get involved in their lawsuit.Indeed, it was only at the moment when he met and socialized with two acquaintances just now that he felt like never before how old and weak he was, and how tired and bored he was with the ever-changing world.Undoubtedly, the evil thieves and bandits are finished, but the Hongguang regime, the symbol of the Ming Dynasty, is also completely finished!Jianlu was left, the former formidable enemy and today's conqueror, a complete victory.However, can these foreign barbarians really stand up?Even Gong Dingzi mentioned nervously just now that with the order to shave outrageous and unreasonable hair, Jiangnan immediately reversed a lot!And it is estimated that not only Jiangnan, but also other regions will not be peaceful and obedient.If the situation were really reversed, what would people like me do?Could it be that he fled back to the outside of the pass with the Tartars?Even if it can't be reversed for a while, but the chaos continues for ten or eight years, maybe even longer, making it difficult to run away from home and vote in the country, that is a terrible thing!Not to mention whether Liu Rushi and Sun Ai can survive by chance, at my age alone, I may not be able to survive it!If you can't make it through, won't you never see them again in this lifetime?Just now, during the conversation with the guest, Qian Qianyi was actually haunted by this terrible thought over and over again.If, earlier, he had imagined that if the Qing court decided to appoint them, he would take the initiative to ask to participate in the compilation of "History of Ming Dynasty"; then now, a painful voice in his heart became sharp and urgent. : "Oh! I've had enough of all this! I shouldn't have come here at all! I have to try to go back to the south of the Yangtze River! Before the war spreads and the roads are still passable, hurry back home as soon as possible. Death is the same as it is! Together with relatives! Hmph, it would be best for the Qing court to let me go, if not, I have to find a way, the sooner the better! Really!" After the guests left, and In the next few days, such an idea became even more stubborn and strong in his mind.

Now, it's the fifth day of October.The day before, several demoted officials from Jiangnan—Wang Duo, Chen Hongfan, Zhang Bingzhen, and Qian Qianyi himself were notified to wait in their apartment instead of going out today.This is obviously a signal that the emperor will receive.Originally, since he made up his mind to return to the south of the Yangtze River as soon as possible, Qian Qianyi had no interest in the few Shi Lumi of the Qing court.But he also knew that since he came to Beijing, things had to be dealt with after all.Therefore, although it was another night of tossing and turning, he didn't sleep for a long time, and when he got up he felt his hair was heavy and his heart was weak, but he still pulled himself together, washed and dressed, and walked slowly to the west wing to wait.

"Hey, brother is here!" Wang Duo, who had already put on his court clothes and was sitting on a chair in the living room of the west wing, stood up immediately when he saw Qian Qianyi coming in, and saluted him with his arms crossed, as if he had been pardoned. Said, "Just then, a man came from the Ministry of Rites and told me to wait until three o'clock in the morning to enter the palace to see you. He also said that Chen Shilang from the Ministry of Officials would come over later and lead us there. Brother saw that the old man had not come out yet, so he kept guarding Don’t dare to move here. Now brother is here just in time, and he will take over the guard for brother, and come over when I go back to the house and finish a few jobs!”

At first, when he heard that people from the Ministry of Officials had come, Qian Qianyi felt uneasy for a while, but later he learned that he did not come to see him until the third quarter of the hour, which was a full hour before now, so he was relieved again.So while returning the salute, he asked strangely: "Work? What else do you want to do?" Wang Duo spread his hands, and said with a bitter face: "What else can I do! Isn't it just half a piece of paper for a scholar's favor! By the way, my brother, Lao Chen and Lao Zhang next door, have been notified by someone, let them When the time comes, come over here to get them together, and enter the palace together!" After saying that, they turned around and left.

Qian Qianyi stayed and said: "It's already at this time, why is brother so busy? Isn't it just a matter of socializing with pen and ink, what's the point of delaying him for a few days?" Wang Duo shook his head: "It has been delayed for two days, and someone was sent to inquire yesterday, saying that he is going to move to a new house, waiting for Zhang Hang - they are all Manchurians, so you can't offend him! What's more, you have already promised him that later Send someone to pick it up, there is nothing to do, nothing to do!" Hearing what the other party said, it was hard for Qian Qianyi to keep him.However, watching the obese back of his old friend leaving in a hurry, pity and bewilderment suddenly surged in his heart, yes, "They are all Manchurians, I can't afford to blame you!" If he continues to stay here, the future I'm afraid there are still many things that can't be blamed. Wang Juesi is like this, so why not me... Thinking about it this way, he became more and more bored and frustrated with the situation in front of him, so that for a long time to come Time, sitting blankly on the chair, doing nothing, thinking about nothing...

The cold wind swirling down from the roof jingled the iron horses in front of the eaves, and the faint sunlight on the square brick floor moved towards the threshold bit by bit... Finally, there was a rattling sound in the yard. footsteps.Then, the doorman's hoarse voice came: "Sign up to the lord, Mr. Chen from the official department is here to pay respects!" Qian Qianyi, who was already drowsy, froze for a moment, then raised his head in doubt. "It's coming, yes, it's time to come too! Hurry up, it's all over!" Thinking of this, he rubbed his sticky eyes, left the chair, stepped over the threshold, and walked into the yard.At this moment, Wang Duo had also heard the call and came out from the upper room.The two then cleaned up their clothes, followed each other, and greeted them out of the gate together.

The "Master Chen of the Ministry of Officials" reported by the Mengong is Chen Mingxia, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials.According to the appointment of the imperial court, these days, he has been in charge of contacting the descended officials from Jiangnan, so it is not the first time to visit.Moreover, like Gong Dingzi who visited a few days ago, Chen Mingxia was also a celebrity in Fushe in Jiangnan in his early years.Qian Qianyi not only knew him a long time ago, but also had close contacts with him.In terms of the old friendship, it was a little deeper than Gong Dingzi.It's just that Qian Qianyi doesn't have much enthusiasm for this old friend's presence.Because after getting along with each other these days, he obviously felt that the current Chen Mingxia was different from the past.It's true, when we first met, due to the many people and Wang Ming's presence, it was inconvenient for the other party to flirt with me openly and get close, but it was justifiable, and it was hard to be deeply responsible.However, in the next seven or eight days, they met each other several times, and on some occasions only the two of them were present, Chen Mingxia still put on a businesslike air, with a straight face, and even half a superfluous sentence was ignored. Not to mention, it's as if they didn't know each other at all in the past, which made Qian Qianyi feel a little abnormal and funny.However, he is a person who has experienced hardships and is familiar with the world. He has long been used to this kind of "strange" things, so he is not very surprised, let alone indignant, but he has consciously distanced himself from the other party since then. So as not to make fun of yourself.

Now, Chen Mingxia, who was wearing a red coral top hat and a second-grade men's suit, had already dismounted in front of the door, waved off his servants, and walked over in a leisurely manner.Qian Qianyi and Wang Duo—as well as Chen Hongfan and Zhang Bingzhen, who rushed out from the next door in time, immediately clasped their hands together, and said in various ways: "I didn't know that my lord was coming, and I was far away to welcome you. Forgive me, please forgive me!" "Oh, dare not!" Chen Mingxia replied with a blank expression.Seeing that several masters had already bowed their waists and made concession gestures, he was a little humble as usual, and then boldly stepped on the steps and walked straight in.

The hosts crowded each other, and then they followed each other like stars.Among them, the two who lived next door—the left governor of the Hongguang regime, Chen Hongfan, and the governor of Zhejiang, Zhang Bingzhen—appeared to be extraordinarily energetic and enthusiastic.They accompanied Chen Mingxia from left to right, and by virtue of this favorable position, they chatted endlessly to show their hospitality to the distinguished guests. I have admired him for a long time, I am overwhelmed, and I hope that the other party will continue to teach me and give me advice, etc. in the future.Fatty Wang Duo, in terms of status, should be considered the highest in the past, but now he is squeezed to the back, and can only occasionally help with a sentence in a hurry, and his expression is a bit awkward and awkward.On the other hand, Qian Qianyi, because of his different mentality and Ye Lai's insomnia, has been a little depressed, so he is even more lazy to go up to join in the fun, just slowly following behind.

After arriving in the West Wing, everyone saluted again, and then embraced the guests in the first seat as usual.But then, because Wang Duo was obviously angry with the scene just now, he insisted on sitting at the bottom and refused to sit according to the established official rank, so the rest of the people appeared to push and give way for a long time. sat down.At this moment, I found that Chen Mingxia had already frowned, showing obvious impatience in his expression, everyone quickly calmed down, cast respectful and expectant eyes together, and waited for instructions. "Everyone," Chen Mingxia cleared his throat, and said coldly, "there is one thing that students have long wanted to say—one of the reasons for the downfall of the former Ming Dynasty was the excessive emphasis on red tape. Once seated, he salutes constantly, pushes back and forth, and can't sit down for a long time. This kind of flamboyant and slow-moving style, how to make decisions on the fly, how to defeat the enemy! Now that this dynasty is here, everyone has to change this old habit to be able to You should conform to the customs of Manchuria and live in harmony with your colleagues. Otherwise, there will be a lot of misunderstandings, and if you don’t do it well, you will even have eccentric thoughts. This is the most important thing!"

China is originally a country of etiquette.Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu established a set of strict etiquette norms.After more than two hundred years of implementation, both the officialdom and the people have long been accustomed to it.Although it became more and more complicated and elaborate later on, people didn't think there was any trouble and inappropriateness. Instead, they felt that this was the perfect and thoughtful way, which brought the profound connotation of etiquette to the fullest, far ahead of the previous generation.Now, when Chen Mingxia suddenly heard that this set of norms that everyone had always been proud of was belittling, several people present couldn't help being stunned.However, the other party linked this matter with whether they could live in harmony with the Manchus and whether they were loyal to the Qing Dynasty, and everyone was moved by it, so they quickly clasped their hands, and only agreed with sincerity, expressing gratitude for the teachings of the other party. .Only Qian Qianyi, because of poor hearing all the time, and Chen Mingxia deliberately used a nasal voice when speaking, so although he kept his eyes open due to lack of sleep for a long time, when he was in a trance, the other party's words , out of ten sentences, five sentences were not listened to.It wasn't until he found a quiet scene in the room that he became confused, but he couldn't figure out what happened, so he just followed the others, making the same expressions and gestures. "This is the first one. There is the second one," Chen Mingxia continued, "The fall of the former Ming Dynasty, the party united against dissidents, and the sects fought each other. This is another major reason. This kind of bad habits in the officialdom is deeply hated by the current emperor and the regent. Here, students may also wish to inform everyone: a few days ago, ten officials including Gong Dingzi and Xu Zuomei in the Ministry of Civil Affairs handed in chapters to impeach Feng Quan, a scholar of the Inner Academy, Li Ruolin, Minister of Rituals, and Sun Zhixie, a Jiangxi recruiter, for corruption and perverting the law. In this case, yesterday the Regent summoned all the officials and questioned them one by one. It was found that none of the impeachments were true. Therefore, it is inferred that the root of this matter lies in the old grievances of the former Ming Dynasty, which has been inherited to the current dynasty. Gong Dingzi, Xu Zuomei and others It was supposed to be a rebuttal, but fortunately, the regent was merciful and only gave him a strict order to make him change his ways. However, Li Senxian, the censor, still ordered him to be dismissed because of his aggressive words in the bulletin, as a punishment..." When Chen Mingxia said this, he stopped.He first glanced at the people present for a week, and finally stopped his eyes on Qian Qianyi's face, and said lightly: "You old gentlemen are all from the Ming Dynasty, so it is inevitable that you will have some ties with the old party-community disputes." Side. Then you have to be vigilant, and don't get involved in it!" This time, in order not to miss any important information, Qian Qianyi listened attentively with his ears turned sideways.Suddenly, he felt stunned, remembering that Gong Dingzi and Xu Zuomei had visited a few days ago, and sat and chatted for a long time, but he didn't know whether it was related to this lawsuit, let alone whether Chen Mingxia was talking about himself at the moment.Thinking of this, he involuntarily became nervous, so he tried his best to recall the situation of that day.He felt that he was quite steady at the time and didn't talk much with the other party, and the other party didn't seem to mention impeachment or anything like that. "But just now, why did Chen Mingxia stare at me? And when he mentioned Gong Dingzi, why did he call him by his first name, as if he was talking about a stranger? You must know that Chen and Gong are also closely related My close friend! Could it be that Gong Dingzi, like me, is very disgusted with Chen Mingxia's posturing and arrogance, and the two have fallen out..." Now, Qian Qianyi is no longer drowsy.He opened his eyes wide, and his thoughts gradually became clear and sharp. Many questions, including Chen Mingxia's hateful attitude towards him, popped up, and there seemed to be clues to the answers. "Well, that's not right, Gong Dingzi mentioned Chen Mingxia when he visited a few days ago, and he didn't say anything dissatisfied. Then, I'm afraid there is no falling out. Hmph, or it's just the opposite, just because Chen and Gong have a very close relationship. It is unusual, but Gong Dingzi has encountered a big thorn in this lawsuit, and has already been hated by the regent. In order to avoid suspicion, Chen Mingxia pretended to be irrelevant..." Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi felt a twitch in his heart. Liang suddenly felt excited, "Aha, that's right, now that Chen Mingxia publicly mentioned this matter, he wants everyone to learn from it, and he didn't come here for me, but he deliberately used this in full view to do it for the court. watch!" Being so excited and restless looking for the bottom line, coupled with the weakness of being unable to shake off and sleepiness, made Qian Qianyi's mind tense and dizzy. He felt his heart throbbing and his ears began to buzz. ring.He forgot everything around him, leaving only a flickering, drifting thread in front of his eyes.Now he tried his best to follow this line. "Yes yes yes! This shrewd fellow, his words and deeds, he deliberately distanced himself from me, and what he just said-even though he used such an arrogant tone, it is clear. I am warning everyone that if you want to hang out in this place in the future, you have to be extra careful, and don't pull each other too tightly... It's just, it's just that this kind of warning is actually not a big treason, so you can say it clearly Hmph, but he refused to do that, but pretended to be clear, as if he was afraid of being caught by others. Why? Yes, yes, yes! It turns out that he has been hiding all kinds of relationships from the Qing court. Haha, haha, haha! It turns out that he is afraid! It turns out—eh, what is he afraid of? Could it be, could it be that he has other plans? Could it be that he wants to rebel? Could it be that he has something to do with the south?” Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi felt Suspicion suddenly arose, and he felt that the seemingly calm and stable capital city was full of murderous intentions and dangers were everywhere.This discovery horrified him and made him extremely nervous.Although at the same time, a voice kept reminding him in his heart: "This is nothing. You are too nervous and tired, and you are already thinking wildly!" But he still couldn't stop the chills on his back and sweaty palms. After a while, the whole person seemed to be out of his body, so that even though he vaguely felt that Chen Mingxia said some other words and other people asked some questions, he couldn't put it into his mind at all... … "His Royal Highness the Prince Regent has arrived!" A shrill voice suddenly called out.Qian Qianyi's heart beat like a drum, and he raised his head in horror, and found that at some point, there was a tall official in the room.The others, including Chen Mingxia, were already kneeling on the ground. He instinctively felt that the matter was serious, and he struggled to get out of the chair, but his legs didn't work, and he struggled twice without success.He was anxious, gasping for breath, and with all his strength, he finally rolled to the ground; then, he heard the official say loudly: "His Royal Highness Qiansui, the regent, said: I am not feeling well today, so I will temporarily disappear for the time being. Let's talk about it another day. Then Wang Duo, Qian Qianyi, Chen Hongfan, and Zhang Bingzhen will stay with him and wait for his appointment." With just a few words, the oral instruction was conveyed.However, it came so suddenly that for a moment there was silence in the West Wing.Yes, everyone was expecting to be interviewed today, but as a result, the interview was cancelled; originally, everyone was still looking forward to the conferment of official positions today, but with the phrase "waiting for appointment", it seems that it will have to be postponed, and I don't know how long it will take.Therefore, when everyone stood up again, Wang Duo, Chen Hongfan, and Zhang Bingzhen all looked at each other in blank dismay, speechless. Only Qian Qianyi felt his heart lighten, and felt that all kinds of fears, pains and fantasies surrounding him suddenly disappeared, and everything around him became clear and normal again. "Yes, 'waiting for appointment' means not being appointed for the time being. It would be the best to be able to do this!" He wiped the sweat from his brow, held on to the armrest of the chair, and thought as if he was exhausted.