Chapter 7 Section VII

An Dehai never forgot Delu's date, but on the one hand, he really couldn't spare time, and on the other hand, he had to put on airs, so after the date was decided, Delu was made to wait all night.The second time I had a chance to meet him was already in the twelfth lunar month. "My Uncle An, you have wronged me so much! If I catch you today, I won't let you go!" Delu stopped him at the time and wanted to find a place to talk in detail.An Dehai came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to handle affairs according to Yi's order, so how could he have the time to entangle with him?Whether it's good or bad, the God of Gamblers punishes him with a curse, and Delu is willing to let go only if he promises to go to the appointment that night.

This time he didn't break the appointment again, not because he wanted to redeem his credit, but because Delu was so serious, it can be seen that what he said about "getting a few taels of silver for the New Year" was not nonsense.Moreover, it seems that if you want to get these few taels of silver, you have to come forward yourself.For the sake of money, let's go through this. As soon as the watch was opened and the key was issued in the Sixth Palace, An Dehai took advantage of this gap to quietly instruct his subordinate eunuchs, slipped out of the Changchun Palace through the back door, and meandered to the back of the House of Internal Affairs. North place.There is a row of bungalows there, which are used as a place for the House of Internal Affairs to pile up useless sundries and serve as accommodation for officials on duty. The eunuchs of the West Sixth Palace often meet there for entertainment.When he pushed in the door, he saw a big brazier burning in the room, wine and food on the table, and several eunuchs who had always been close to him and the pens of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sitting scattered around.Seeing him arrive, they all stood up to greet him, apparently waiting for him alone, An Dehai was delighted, and his words towards Delu were quite different.

"Come on, come on! Drink and chat!" An Dehai said, lifting his legs, sitting on the seat honestly, took off his hat, and stretched it to the side. Someone flattered him and hurriedly accepted it. over there and put it on the hat stand. This can be regarded as the most relaxing moment of the day for an eunuch, but only a "character" with a head and a face is eligible to come here to drink, chat, push a few squares of Pai Gow, and throw two dice after the key is issued at the palace gate.But we can't be too unscrupulous, and if something happens, the punishment will be extremely severe.

I don't gamble because I have something to talk about today.What I talked about at the beginning was not "business", but when I thought about it and talked about it, it was really "unreasonable".This is not all about eunuchs' knowledge, but their disposition is different from ordinary people. They are born to like to talk about people's private affairs. The most popular topics are talking about palace maids, who is arguing with whom over a cat, who stole a box from whom Rouge, who has pimples on his face, and even whose menstruation is irregular, they all talk about it with gusto.If that court lady recognizes that eunuch as a "god brother", it would be a piece of endless news.

After spending an hour talking nonsense like this, Delu winked at An Dehai, and while everyone was talking about Double Happiness, who had been released from the palace, he specially came to pay respects to the Empress Dowager Ci'an for entering the palace. One after the other, they slipped out and whispered in the corridor. "There was a local rich man who didn't have much money. He wanted to get a piece of 'Fu' from the Queen Mother, and he was willing to pay forty taels of silver." "That's why?" An Dehai asked in surprise, without hiding his disappointment.

"It's irrelevant! Do it if you can, and forget it if you can't." "It's not impossible." An Dehai said, "I have a lot of these forty taels of silver." "Then let's be serious!" The "serious" thing Delu said was to seek redress and punishment for others.There was an alternate county magistrate surnamed Zhao who was distributed to Jiangsu in the ninth year of Xianfeng and commissioned to handle the donations. In March of the second year, more than 100,000 Hong troops stormed the "Jiangnan Camp". Unable to pay, he met the enemy outside the city with the imperial envoy and spring retreat to Baodanyang. The morale of the officers and soldiers was low due to lack of payment.He Chunduo besieged Changzhou, and the warlord was seriously injured in the battle, and died at Hushu Pass in Wuxi.

The "Jiangnan Daying" collapsed, and Changzhou and Suzhou fell one after another, so from Jiangsu to Zhejiang, the southeast was corrupted.Local officials died and fled, and there were naturally many unlucky ones, but there were also those who made a fortune by fishing in troubled waters, and the alternate magistrate surnamed Zhao was one of them. There is no obligation to keep the land for donations. The surname Zhao could have reported to the "Anqing Daying" of Zeng Guofan, the new governor of Liangjiang, and waited for orders.Only because he had a case of extorting merchants and people was under investigation, and at the same time, he still had a donation of hundreds of thousands of silver, which had not been paid, so he didn't dare to show up.When the battle in Jiangnan came to an end, Zeng Guofan and the new governor of Jiangsu, Xue Huan, investigated the actual situation of officials, soldiers and civilians who were martyred and fled. The man surnamed Zhao was testified and fled to Shanghai with a large amount of tax money, so he was included in the "all-in-one arrest, Included in the list of the case investigation office".But in Shanghai, even in his hometown, this person was never caught.

"Do you know where he fled to?" Delu said, "Hi! He fled to Beijing. Do you think he is brave? " "This kid is very smart. He escaped rightly!" An Dehai nodded, admiring him, "Under the feet of the Son of Heaven, the red-capped man has to be put in a basket. Who would take such a man seriously and ask him?" The details? Isn’t it right to escape?” "By the way, this kid is smart. He sees that in the past six months, many people who have been punished have been dismissed. He also wants to close the case and get ahead, and then spend another 10,000 to 20,000 silver to donate a big 80% trick." ’, the new class ‘fills in the gaps first’, find a real shortage of county magistrates to play with.” Delu then said, “Second master, this kid has quite a few papers in his hand, so he found our brother , isn't it 'Fat Pig Arch'?"

"Well. Tell me, how is it?" "If he can close the case, he is willing to come up with this amount." Delu said in a low voice, stretching out two fingers. "Twenty thousand?" "Twenty thousand." Delu said, "Second Lord, you can make half of the deal, and we have a few others who have handled it, and we will share half of it together." Ten thousand taels of silver is not a small amount, and An Dehai's heart skipped a beat!But in the past few years, he served the Empress Dowager Cixi to read the memorials, and he has a good understanding of these situations. He was thinking in his heart that He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang at that time, had absconded because he lost his land and had his head cut off. There is no one surnamed Zhao who speaks, so it is hard to be caught off guard.

"Has he ever fought a war?" An Dehai asked. If he had fought a war, it would be easier for him to be recounted by a military leader to guarantee his recovery. "No. Never fought." "Then..." An Dehai suddenly had an idea, "Wu Tang has been running the 'Jiangbei Grain Platform' in Jiangsu, and it has something to do with the donation. Wu Tang's face is so great that he can let him Give me a discount, it will definitely work." Delu smiled wryly: "The first person to arrest Zhao is Wu Tang." "This is really difficult!" An Dehai shook his head vigorously, "There is no way at all."

"Leave it alone, and leave this article alone. There is no way to earn him a lot of money." "Oh!" An Dehai was surprised, "Is there such a good thing?" So Delu said the second plan.This is a complete scam!Delu had also consulted with others, and knew that it would not be easy for Kaifu to deal with this level, so he didn't have much hope for An Dehai.Just now I just talked about the cause and effect. If An Dehai can do it, it is naturally the best. If it can't be done, it will not be too late to talk about the second plan.Underhay had to do with this plan, and he was sure to be able to carry it out. "Now the outside world knows that the Empress Dowager in the west is in power, and everyone knows that you, Second Master An, are the first-class celebrity in front of the Empress Dowager." "Okay! Alright! No need to flatter people!" An Dehai waved his hands regretfully and said, "Let's talk serious!" Before Delu opened his mouth, he felt his eyes light up, the door curtain was lifted, and someone came out and said loudly: "What's the matter? We've finished drinking, and you haven't finished chatting yet? Come, come, I'll be a treasure, come and bet two. " "No!" Delu replied, "Go and play, I have something to talk to Mr. An." "Why don't you come inside if you have something to talk about? It's cold outside." It's okay not to say, but when I said it, I felt that my feet were numb from the cold.Fortunately, others wanted to gamble and would not pay attention to their conversation, so Delu and An Dehai entered the room and continued to discuss secretly over the leftovers of wine and food. Delu was able to solicit this deal from Zhao's because of An Dehai's way, and Zhao did not doubt An Dehai's supernatural powers, but doubted whether Delu could walk through An Dehai way?So as long as this is proved, the person surnamed Zhao will be hooked. "Second Lord!" Delu explained what had happened, and asked, "What do you think?" An Dehai clarified the matter, and thought it over thoroughly, but there was only one layer of concern, "Won't he make trouble after taking his money and failing to get things done?" He said, "If this trouble happens, It's not fun." "Don't worry, he doesn't dare! He's a 'black man'. If he makes a fuss, he will be the first to suffer. Besides, we don't have much money from him, so he, a dumb man, can afford it!" "Hmm, um!" This reminded An Dehai that he had no intentions, but in front of Delu, he refused to tell the truth, and answered simply: "Okay!" "Then, second master, you are free that day. Tell me a day so that I can let him treat you." "There's no need for a treat. The day after tomorrow afternoon, as soon as I arrive, I have to leave. I'm going to the jewelry market that day. " "What are you doing in the jewelry market?" "There are a few pieces of jewelry on it, and I changed the setting there, and I have an appointment for the day after tomorrow." "Great!" Delu was very happy, "Second Master, it's done! You go to the jewelry market first, and then come to my house after you pick up the jewelry Come." The matter was settled, An Dehai didn't want to waste time, he was busy sleeping for a while, so that he could return to Changchun Palace to work as an errand when the palace gate just opened.But with such a plan in his heart, he lay on a kang bed in the inner room, but he couldn't fall asleep; he was thinking about the ten thousand taels of silver!If King Gong hadn't been in power, such a thing would have been successful based on his "face" in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi.But now, even if the "superior" agrees to save face, it is still useless, because Prince Gong's test will definitely not pass. The more An Dehai thought about it, the more he became unconvinced, but there was nothing he could do, so he had to force himself to persuade himself: Prince Gong's popularity is not good, he always offends the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the prosperous days are not long, let's wait and see him. Abandoning Prince Gong, thinking about himself, looking forward and backward, suddenly there is a feeling that everything is boring, and I don't know why I am a human being.He was thinking: Wife, wealth, son, wealth, the first one will fail!Although I've heard that some eunuchs still marry wives and concubines, that's nothing more than a mirror image, it would be less torture than not having one.He was thinking again: I don't know who invented the eunuch as a "person" in the past?The goddam boy!He cursed in his heart: If you are alive, you should be hacked into pieces. If you die, you will be sent to the eighteenth level of hell, and you will never be reborn. All thoughts were lost the first night, but the next morning he was full of energy, throwing the thoughts of Ye Lai out of the sky.After the empress dowagers of the two palaces retreated to serve the Chinese food in the Changchun Palace, the Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "Has my monthly routine come?" "It's been closed early, and there is an extra one thousand taels of silver for the next year, all of which have been collected." "You go to Fangjiayuan." This is another reward for her natal family.An Dehai was the most happy to be this kind of job. He could take this opportunity to relax outside, take care of his own affairs, and at the same time inquire about some news to report, so as to win the favor of the Empress Dowager Cixi.But there are a lot of miscellaneous tasks during the new year. One day they arrive at Fangjiayuan, and the next day they have to go out of the palace to the jewelry market, and then go to Delu's appointment. The delay is too much. Why not do it together? Wouldn't it be easier? That being the case, it is better to simply go back home.He made up his mind, and when the Empress Dowager Cixi sent off the rewards of silver, clothing, food, etc., he said: "Talk to the master, and I sent the jewelry to be re-set. It was originally arranged to pick it up tomorrow. Maybe it will be fine today." , the slave stopped by to take a look and took it back, saving me another trip tomorrow." "Good" "If it's not healed today, the servant will just sit there and ask them to rush to work overnight, and the servant will bring it back tomorrow morning." "You said you sat there for reminders, did you mean you sat there all night?" She caught the tricks in An Dehai's words again, knelt down quickly and replied: "New Year's is coming soon, and the servant has some bills to take care of. I wanted to ask the master to give me a day off. Seeing that there are many things in the palace. I dare not open my mouth. I am following an order today, and I beg my master to allow me to take some time to go home and take a look." "Of course you can. You want to ask for leave to go home. I didn't allow you that time? Why did you lie?" Empress Dowager Cixi scolded: "You bastard, get out!" An Dehai always thought that being scolded by his "master" was a sign of respecting his performance, so he kowtowed happily.On the one hand, he sent someone to pick out the things, and went to the respect room to get the ticket for taking things out of the palace. On the other hand, he notified Delu to advance the date of appointment by one day, and explained that he would have dinner at Delu's house. After leaving the palace by car, he first went to Fangjiayuan, explained the rewards of the Empress Dowager Cixi clearly, sent back the little eunuch and Su La who followed him, and then rushed to the jewelry market.The Empress Dowager Cixi hates the color green, because usually the concubine wears red and the concubine wears green, so green has become a taboo for her. All emerald-encrusted jewelry is replaced with rubies, but she also thinks that the craftsmen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stick to the old rules and cannot change it. For the new style, I specially ordered An Dehai to bring it outside to inlay it.The commission from the palace is also a jewel for the imperial use. The jewelry shop is not sloppy at all, and the work has already been completed. An Dehai got it as soon as he went there. fanny pack. It's not far from the jewelry market to Delu's house, and An Dehai just walked there.Not far into the alley, I saw Delu waiting in the distance, greeted each other with eyes, Delu walked up quickly and said happily: "Great, great! I'm afraid you will be late and waste your time." "what happened?" Delu looked up at his head and replied in a low voice: "I have prepared a flower feather for you." An Dehai understood and wanted him to pretend to be generous.Pretending to be poor is not what he really wants, or it is not easy. For him, pretending to be rich is nothing to worry about. His stomach is full of anecdotes that can be said to show off, and talking about a few casually can scare people away. As soon as I arrived at Delu's house, I could smell the smell of paint. The lobby had just been repaired, and a large mahogany Kang bed was newly installed. On one wall was a large mural of a maple tree with a white horse tied under it. There was a monkey on the tree, stretching out its long arms, teasing the white horse, with four big characters "Immediately seal the prince" inscribed on the corner.On this wall are four banners, with four characters in real grass, official script and seal script. The title on the first one is "Brother Lu Weng, Master Fazheng", and the next one is signed: Pan Zuyin, Xu Pengshou, Li Wentian, and Sun Yijing. "Be good!" An Dehai made a grimace, pointed to the wall and said, "These are all top-notch famous Hanlin, three are in the South Study Room, and one is Zuo Fudu Yushi. These four characters are very precious. Now! Is it reliable?" Delu blushed: "How do I know if it's reliable or not? Fatty Rong from Changdian found it for me. It only cost eight taels of silver." "It's not expensive." An Dehai smiled, "I'm afraid he came here in a hurry for that kid surnamed Zhao?" Delu also smiled back, and led him to the "study room", took out a flower feather from the drawer, and replaced the blue feather on the warm hat for him.Take another mirror to look at it, and "serve" An Dehai to "promote the crown".Eunuch Dai Hualing, even An Dehai himself thought it was funny, but he closed the door, not afraid of being seen, as long as he can scare Zhao. "When will Zhao come?" "There is still a while." Delu replied, "I specially asked him to come later, so that we can discuss it first." "That's right! What should I talk about?" "Do I still need to say it? Anyway, in a word, if you want to convince him, it's a big deal, as long as you have enough money, you can solve it." There was a loophole in the words, An Dehai hurriedly asked: "How much is he going to spend?" "As I said earlier, if it can be done, he is willing to pay 20,000 yuan. Now, I have to ask him to pay 10 percent, and I can only use his little money. If you are too cruel, something will happen." An Dehai didn't quite believe what he said, but he couldn't find out at this moment, he thought to himself, let's just ignore it and talk about it after getting the one thousand taels of silver.If there is something wrong with Delu, then I will settle the account with him later.There is also a "black man" surnamed Zhao, and depending on the situation, he can try to make another money.This "business" is very lucrative, and it is worth spending some time on it. "Second Lord An!" Delu asked: "Ming'er got the silver, I will make a ticket and send it to the house, or wait for you to pick it up?" "I'll go to the House of Internal Affairs to find you." An Dehai asked again: "Where does this Zhao live?" "Ah! You live far away." Delu Gu said to him, "Second Master An, sit down for a while, I'll go outside and have a look." Both of them are "ruthless people", one wanted to find out where the surname Zhao lived so that they could deal with him directly, but the other had guessed what was on his mind, but refused to say anything.This time An Dehai became more suspicious, and decided that Delu had other tricks. After sitting for a short time, I heard footsteps, looked up, and saw Delu walking in with a fat man in his forties, who was naturally surnamed Zhao.He was born very rough, with a green coat and a small cap, and a black satin sheepskin waistcoat. He looked like an accountant in an oil and salt shop. No matter how you look at it, he didn't look like someone who could spend 20,000 denarii for official affairs. . Pushing open the door and entering, Delu introduced Zhao: "This is Director An of Changchun Palace." "Director An!" The surnamed Zhao was very respectful, and asked An to say: "You are always cultivated." "Don't dare, dare not!" An Dehai stabbed the ground, and only bowed his hands to pay back the salute, then turned to Delu and asked, "What's your name?" "Surname Zhao, line four, fourth master Zhao." "Oh, Fourth Master Zhao. What is Taifu?" "Don't dare, dare not!" I don't know if he didn't say it on purpose, or because he couldn't understand the word "Taifu", he just said, "Director An, please call me Zhao Si." An Dehai gave an ambiguous smile, turned to Delu and said, "You said Fourth Master Zhao has something to say, and you need me to tell you something. You don't have to be polite, just say it!" "Not busy, not busy, let's drink and chat." So in Delu's "study", a square table was set up, and food and drinks were served.An De was sitting on the sea, accompanied by De Lu and Zhao Si. After toasting two rounds of wine, De Lu began to brag about him. "Fourth Master Zhao, you are lucky today, and it was Director An who gave me a face to invite him here." He said to Zhao Si, "You have never been to the palace, so you know that Director An is in there." That's busy, it's hard to talk to him. I said, Mr. An," he turned his face, and pouted at An Dehai, "You make Fourth Master Zhao open his eyes!" An Dehai understood, smiled reservedly and said: "It's not a good thing that can be picked up outside. Well, let's show it to Fourth Master Zhao!" So Delu went to take the cloth bag that An Dehai brought over, opened it, and inside was a yellow satin bundle, wrapped in a jewelry box of red sandalwood inlaid with snails, and inside the big box were many small brocade boxes, An Dehai Uncover them one by one, the precious light is dazzling and beautiful.There was an awe-inspiring look on Zhao Si's face. "Ask Manager An?" Zhao Si pointed to a box of emeralds and said, "These are all high-quality glass emeralds. Why is one piece useless?" "Our queen mother doesn't like green things." "Oh, why?" "This..." An Dehai smiled reservedly again, "It's inconvenient to tell you about this." "There are many secrets in the palace, even our servants in the inner court don't know." Delu leaned towards Zhao Si, lowered his voice, and seemed very solemn, "Zhao Siye, turn around and listen to Mr. An's speech." You talk about the matter between the two empress dowagers and the emperor, but you have to be a little bit restrained, don't talk too much outside, it's not fun." "Yes, yes!" Zhao Si nodded desperately, "I know, I know." So Delu threaded the needle, cleverly and naturally allowing An Dehai to talk about the secrets of the officialdom.It was very successful at the beginning, because it was talking about Sushun's past, and An Dehai was a person who experienced the situation and had an effect.When it comes to Shuangxi, the confidant of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, co-starring in "Bitter Tactics", even Delu, who has been in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for many years, is still the first to hear about it, so he stopped drinking and listened attentively.Such a foil further shows the "authority" of Ande Mansion.Zhao Sisi was very excited, thinking he had found the most reliable way. "Look!" When his conversation came to an end, Delu pointed to the warm hat on the coffee table and said to Zhao Si, "For such a great achievement made by Director An, King Gong played the two empress dowagers in front of him and rewarded him. I got a flower feather from Second Master An." Looking around in the blink of an eye, Jin Cui Ling's "eye" shines brightly, Hua Ling is so many times prettier than Lan Ling!Zhao Si was an official, knowing its identity, he admired An Dehai more and more. "It's nothing but a show! It's useless if you don't have real power." An Dehai said, "For example, the two empress dowagers, no matter in words or in words, the empress dowager in the east must be in front, but who Don't be afraid of her either." "That's what people say outside, the real power is in the hands of the Empress Dowager West. I don't understand," Zhao Si asked, "Is the Empress Dowager East really that honest? Does she really care?" "You have to manage it!" Zhao Si attached great importance to this sentence, because it dispelled a doubt in his heart, fearing that among the two empress dowagers, Empress Dowager Cixi was from the "west side" after all, and she was one step behind in everything, and the legends outside were not entirely credible.Listening to An Dehai's explanation now, the Empress Dowager Ci'an can't take care of things at all, so just work hard from this path. So I talked about the text, but it was not a glorious thing, so when I mentioned his situation in Jiangsu, I hesitated and couldn't speak freely.Fortunately, Delu made the necessary supplements.And An Dehai didn't intend to do it for him from the "right way" at all, so if there is something he doesn't understand, there is no need to ask more questions, but only by pretending to understand, can he slightly reduce Zhao Si's feeling , can't finish the embarrassment. "I understand your brother's matter. The trouble is a bit troublesome, but..." An Dehai paused on purpose, and asked Delu to continue the following: four eyes met each other, knowing each other not far away, the person who should answer said: "However, there is always a way to think about it, right?" "Let's see!" An Dehai said, "Anyway, you know how capable I am." Delu nodded, pretending to be happy, but deliberately turned to look at Zhao Si, and the expression he handed over was: It's done! After Zhao Si nodded and replied with a smile, he winked at An Dehai: "Please come here, let's have a word." The two stood up, sat down on a chair far away, separated by a coffee table, put their heads together, and whispered in a low voice.From Zhao Si's point of view, they were planning a way for him, but that was not the case at all. "It seems that this kid is determined." Delu asked, "Look, what should I tell him?" When this question was asked, An Dehai couldn't help being dazed, he thought that Delu had already thought up a set of words, but he just asked himself to come forward to put on a cover, but he didn't know that he asked for a plan temporarily, which stumped him. "I have an idea," Delu's voice became lower and lower, "I'll just say Master Cao's way, do you think it will work?" "Lord Cao" refers to Cao Yuying.An Dehai thought to himself, to get Zhao Si to hand out the money willingly, it is natural to have someone famous and powerful to call him, under the guise of the Minister of Military Aircraft, of course it is best, fearing that the wind will spread to Cao Yuying's ears, it will be inevitable Find out, then you can't finish eating and walk away. Therefore, he shook his head and said, "No, no!" Since other people's methods are inappropriate, then you have to come up with a method yourself!The meaning in Delu's heart was fully expressed in his silence.An Dehai knew in his heart, Gu Lulu rolled his eyes, thinking hard to find someone who could convince Zhao Si, but could not prove the truth, and could shirk responsibility for himself. "Yes!" He finally thought of it, couldn't help but slapped the coffee table, and yelled out loudly, attracting Zhao Si's attention. Seeing his longing for the result, De Luyang raised his hand and said with a smile: "Don't be too busy, wait for me to hear the brilliant trick of our second master An." "It's this person," An Dehai said, covering his lips with his hand, "Wu Tang! You just tell him that the only way to draw his salary from the bottom of the pot is to report his case from Wu Tang! Isn't Wu Tang just talking to him?" Is he right? It doesn’t matter, it’s me. Wu Tang often sends cronies from Qingjiangpu to buy things for our queen mother, and I will connect them. If the queen mother has something to tell Wu Tang, I will pass it on to the person and let him take it back. Let him take the alternate magistrate. Re-sentence, the matter is too small to be considered a big deal!" While listening, Delu couldn't help showing a smile.Returning to the banquet, he told Zhao Si what An Dehai had said, the only change was that "Wu Tang" was called "Master Wu, Governor of Water Transport". When Zhao Si heard this, he was both excited and worried.The excited thing is that doing this is equivalent to having the Empress Dowager Cixi at the waist, which is really "great face"; the worrying thing is that this way the whereabouts have been leaked out, and Wu Tang is a person who hates him very much. , Isn't it hot? Seeing his silence, De Lu was surprised, "How is it, Fourth Master Zhao?" He couldn't help asking. "I'm afraid, afraid that Master Wu will write a letter to the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion if he finds out." "What are you talking about?" An Dehai's face darkened, as if he was very angry, "Is it because the Empress Dowager doesn't have enough face, or does she not believe me?" The empress dowager's face must be enough, as long as the confession is made, Wu Tang dare not refuse to obey, because he is afraid that An Dehai will not have such a big face, and Wu Tang does not believe that what is said comes from the empress dowager's mouth, this is a very clear truth.Delu complained to Zhao Si, and Zhao Si hurriedly apologized.But after all this pretentiousness, Zhao Si's doubts disappeared. "Then," when An Dehai calmed down, Zhao Si looked at De Lu and asked, "Should..." "I know, I know." Delu said indiscriminately, "Let's talk about it later." After the next afternoon, An Dehai took some time to go to the House of Internal Affairs. Delu invited him to a secluded place and handed him an envelope, which contained a bank note. He took it out and took a look. Not a lot: one thousand taels. "That's what I told him," De Lu said in a low voice, "Director An doesn't want money, the Military Aircraft Department needs to arrange it first, otherwise, Wu Tang's memorial will come and be criticized as usual, and the Queen Mother can't sweep it for an alternate county magistrate." The face of the Minister of Military Aircraft." An Dehai has always had this prejudice, thinking that the money Delu took from Zhao Si was definitely more than two thousand taels, and now he has brought out the signboard of the Military Aircraft Department, how can this place be paved with two thousand taels of silver?It becomes more and more obvious that I have a good opinion.But he also knew that even if he spoke bluntly, Delu would never admit it, it would only hurt his feelings in vain!In this way, he had no choice but to make out his details by insinuating. His thoughts were extremely quick, and he turned his thoughts to a fixed point, and then asked: "Two thousand silver is not a small sum, does that kid have something to say?" "It's still the same as before. After washing his body, he will pay 20,000 silver." After speaking, Delu handed him an "abbreviation". "Then 2,000 is 10%." An Dehai continued, "Is this the 'deposit money' we collect from him?" "No, no!" Delu smiled proudly, "The two thousand is extra. I told him that this is not considered a real item. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, so I have to give a New Year's gift first. He asked how much? I He said two thousand, and he gave two thousand." Money comes easily!An Dehai was thinking in his heart, Zhao Si's purse was as fat as his own, and he couldn't be reconciled to only giving him a thousand silver.Leave it alone, he said to himself: cast the net first before reasoning. So he asked Delu: "Do you know about Wu Tang?" "Why don't you know? Where there is the Empress Dowager, there is him, just like there is the Empress Dowager, Mr. An." "It's good that you know, let me tell you, Wu Tang will soon be the governor." "He was the governor of water transportation!" "I'm talking about a governor with a formal territory. I think..." he thought for a while and said, "It's probably from Guangdong and Guangxi. Mao Hongbin is almost the same." "Oh!" Delu asked puzzled, "How about Wu Tang being transferred to Guangdong and Guangxi?" An Dehai put aside the sentence he had thought about long ago, and put on an air of serious consideration. For a long time, as if he had made up his mind, he said with confidence: "Tell him, if he wants to go to Guangdong to make up It’s really lacking, and including the punishment of re-examination, I asked him to bring a total of 30,000 silver. I will cover it all.” When Delu heard this, he looked at his face again, and couldn't help being surprised and delighted: "Second Master An, you, can you really do it?" "Just wait and see if you don't believe me!" "I believe it, I believe it. That's all. I'll have an answer tomorrow." The words have been spoken, and An Dehai came back and thought about it, and things can really be done.Wu Tang's official reputation in Jiangsu was not so good, people often sued him, and those impeachment notes were often kept unpublished, this was an opportunity that could be used. If Wu Tang can be made to know that his official career is prosperous, although it is due to the special favor of the Empress Dowager Cixi, it is also because someone helped him speak well in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi and helped him cover up everything, then Wu Tang must have kept it. I am grateful for the heart of repayment, and it will be effective to speak for Zhao Si myself. This is what An Dehai figured out by himself, the trick of the "traffic diplomat".If you think about it, do it. The first step is to check the files at the Internal Memorial Office, and extract the reasons for all the memorials for the impeachment of Wu Tang over the years, or "retain" or "deliver", and explain them one by one. "Stay" means to stay in China, so there is no need to ask again. "Pass" means handed over to the military aircraft department. Naturally, there is still the following, so I have to check it further.Fortunately, there were not many "handovers", and they were quickly found out. At this time, Delu also replied, and Zhao Si was willing to do so, but the money was not yet available. Fortunately, Wu Tang was entrusted and reported to Beijing. It would take a month or two to go back and forth. There must be enough money to send it up, and there will be no delay.An Dehai knew in his heart that this was an excuse, and Zhao Si would not pay until he had real evidence.Looking at it this way, it's all up to me. If there is a way, there will be tens of thousands of silver in the account, otherwise it will only be a thousand taels. The Chinese New Year is only half a month away, and the few days before "Feng Ying" are approaching, all the yamen are extremely busy. Special messengers from various provinces also come to Beijing. The "official affairs" under the new year are different from usual. ", all belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the second is "giving festival gifts", the mansions of princes and ministers, especially Prince Gong's mansion, are really like a market, and roughly all the special products that need to be paid in various provinces, Prince Gong still has a copy; The third is "send charcoal respect". Hanlin, Yushi, the officials of various ministries who don't care about their affairs, and those poor Beijing officials all rely on the governors and officials of the provinces to moisturize on time, "ice respect" in summer and "charcoal respect" in winter There are many names, and the number varies, depending on each person's strength, status, and friendship. The most extensive is the "Charcoal Respect" of Pan Zuyin, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, sent by Zuo Zongtang, Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces. At that time, when Luo Bingzhang was impeached by the official, "one official has two talents, and Zuo Zongtang was convicted because of Pan Zuyin's efforts to save him. Of course, there are also some gifts, which are close to bribery, or have other functions, and the giver and the recipient are all secretive about it, and Wu Tang is like this.In order to repay the Empress Dowager Cixi's special knowledge, tens of thousands of silver must be sent to Fangjiayuan's "Zhaogong Mansion" every year and festival.Coincidentally, when the messenger he sent came to Fangjiayuan, An Dehai happened to be there to "deliver Yi's decree". As soon as they talked, the messenger naturally knew that there was such a favored eunuch in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and he was immediately in awe, saying: Lots of compliments and admiration. An Dehai felt that there was something unfortunate about this unexpected encounter.If you know in advance that such an official will come to Beijing, you can arrange it through Delu and put on a scene so that he looks like it, and your speech will be more powerful.Now it is not easy to decorate one's own shelf out of thin air. Therefore, while listening to the officer's compliment, he thought about it in his mind. After thinking about it, he always felt that he should use some means to scare him first, so that the next play will be easy to sing. So he stood still and didn't even ask the official's residence.When he returned to the palace from Fang's homeland, he thought of a plan on the way. He told Empress Dowager Cixi that Wu Tang's messenger was very happy to meet him, and that person didn't know how to find him. "What are you looking for?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked in surprise. "It's not that he's looking for a slave, it's because Wu Tang has a lot of filial piety, so he asked him to find a slave and play it for the master." "Oh," Empress Dowager Cixi asked with great interest, "What does Wu Tang have to say?" "Wu Tang said, the Empress Dowager's kindness is so great, I don't know how to repay it? Apart from the usual tribute, if the Empress Dowager wants to eat or use something, just ask her to do so, and he will try his best to honor the Empress Dowager." "It's hard for him, he's a conscience." Just this one sentence can't achieve his effect, so An Dehai urged: "It's rare for him to be so filial, the master can't bury him." Empress Dowager Cixi thought for a while, and said casually: "Isn't 'Su embroidery' quite famous? Do you see any new clothes?" "Yes! The servant will send the decree to him immediately." With the Queen Mother's words, An Dehai is "titled Tianxian"!According to the rules, first go to the respect room to pass the decree to "record the file", and then send a sura to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to notify, summon the official of the governor's yamen of water transport, and come to Longzong gate early the next morning to listen to Xuan Yi's decree. That's the "official" set, and he has another set.Find Delu and quietly ask him to try to get the summoned errand down.This matter was not difficult. When Delu returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he found the colleague who was sent to summon him without having to report to the Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and asked for the errand in private. 到了兵部街提塘公所，寻着那名差官，德禄交代了公事，那差官大为紧张，“请教，”他问，“不知道是什么事儿？” 德禄歉意地摇摇头：“那可谁也不知道了。再老实说一句吧，这种事儿，我们内务府也是第一次遇见。那当然是因为'上头'对你们吴大人，另眼看待的缘故。” “是，是！”听得这句话，那差官放了一半的心，为了想多打听些内廷的情形，他跟德禄大套交情，彼此通了姓名、职衔，这差官自道姓吴，是个漕标的记名守备。 德禄也是有意结纳，出以诚恳谦虚的态度，颇有一见如故之感。他为吴守备说了许多宫内的规矩礼节，附带也大捧了安德海一番，说慈禧太后对他，言听计从，最后还加了句：“什么事儿你只听他的，准没有错！”