Chapter 46 Section forty-six

An Dehai overhauled his family's house, and took his uncle, sister, and a niece from the village to live there. Besides the original two servants, he also brought a trusted servant from the palace without authorization. A colleague named Wang Tianfu called the housekeeper.The butler didn't care about the chores, he just contacted all parties for him, those who talked about favors, those who sought errands, those who lent money, and those who colluded with each other to make money were all connected by Wang Tianfu, so when An Dehai came home, he immediately sent those two servants , to notify separately, anyone who wants to meet "Second Master An" face to face, come quickly!

Soon, all kinds of people came to An's house one after another. Wang Tianfu had already heard about their reason for coming. An Dehai was very straightforward, but also very arrogant. There was only one sentence of "OK" or "No".Those who couldn’t do it left sadly, and those who could help were accompanied by Wang Tianfu to discuss the details, the most important thing was to “negotiate the price”. It's time for dinner in the afternoon.His family had the same rules as in the palace, dinner was at four o'clock, and An Dehai took the seat by himself, accompanied by his sixty-year-old uncle named An Bangtai and Wang Tianfu.If An Dehai was alone during the banquet, there would be a "Queen Dowager" on the left and a "Queen Dowager" on the right. They talked happily and ate a meal for nearly an hour.

Finally, Mrs. Anbang had the chance to speak: "Has the queen been chosen?" "It's too early!" he said, "there are sixty-two left in the re-election. If you choose again, at least half of them must be brushed off, and the other half will be marked with your name, and you will be selected after a year or two." "What year was the big wedding?" "There are still three years." "Has the date been fixed?" Mrs. Anbang asked, "Then the Qin Tianjian should choose the date?" "Of course, it has to be selected by the Qin Tianjian. You will not know that day will be auspicious until the queen chooses it and look at it together with the emperor's horoscope."

"It turns out that it is no different from ordinary people's homes outside." "Who says there is no difference? The Ministry of Households allocated one million yuan for the wedding, and the money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the 'Fu Ban' things?" An Dehai counted his fingers and said: "Chang Lu No one can run away from the rich yamen, the Yanzheng, the Lianghuai Salt Administration, the Guangdong Customs, and the Jianghai Customs.” "Dehai," Mrs. An Bang, who was delighted to hear it, had a longing look on her face. "Didn't you say that the Queen Mother will send you to Jiangnan to make dragon robes? How soon will you leave?"

When An Dehai entertained relatives and friends during the New Year, when the wine was hot, he used to brag, bullying everyone that they didn't understand what the three weaving yamen in Jiangning, Suzhou, and Hangzhou were doing, saying that the Empress Dowager Cixi would send him to Suzhou to make dragon robes.Mrs. Anbang kept this sentence in her heart all the time. She thought about it many times in secret. The queen mother sent her out as an "imperial envoy". I also enjoy the wealth and glory, so I couldn't help but mention it again at this time. "Hurry up! Hurry up!" An Dehai answered very crisply, as if he had obeyed the order, "When the time comes, everyone come with me!"

Mrs. Anbang refused to believe the promise, and asked timidly, "Is that okay? At that time, you were an imperial envoy." "By the way, imperial envoy!" An Dehai rushed over and said, "Doesn't the imperial envoy bring an entourage?" "Oh, attendant, attendant!" An Bang Tai nodded again and again, knowing his own "identity". The two uncles and nephews were talking, but Wang Tianfu didn't say a word.When Mrs. Anbang left his seat, he asked in a low voice, "Second Lord, are you really going to Jiangnan?" In front of him, you can't blow it too far. Andheilo thought for a while and replied: "I mentioned it to my superiors. The superiors didn't say no to teaching. It seems that there is 70% of it."

"It would be a great pleasure if I could actually go there." of course?An Dehai was thinking in his heart, after this trip, he would at least earn one hundred thousand or eighty thousand. After finding out the prices of all the items purchased for the big wedding ceremony, he would settle accounts with the Ministry of Internal Affairs when he came back, that would be fine. If it's not good, let them vent their feelings, "If you overturn the dog food bowl, everyone can't eat it"! "Second Lord!" Wang Tianfu had other ideas, "We can make a good deal."

"Business?" This was what An Dehai didn't expect, "What kind of business?" "Jewelry sale." Wang Tianfu himself had many jewels, almost all of which were stolen from the palace.But in the capital, it is impossible to sell it, because Fujin and Gege in the prince's mansion have some rare treasures, and the lady of the noble official has some outstanding jewelry, those experts in the jewelry market can source the books and tell the origin.However, the jewelry used by officials and family members is not the same as the popular styles among the people. The jewelry market is afraid of causing trouble, so they dare not sell these black goods.But in the south of the Yangtze River where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, there are many wealthy families. As long as the things are good, they are not afraid of high prices, and they are said to be treasures of the big family, and they can sell a few more coins.

"It's really a good deal!" An Dehai's mind was also very flexible, "We have two options for this deal: one is to buy their goods and resell them; the other is to let them follow. Cheng, thirty-seven, forty-six, or split." "That's right." Wang Tianfu said, "I know that there are several people who have something in their hands and are eager to get rid of it. Second Master, you can find a way to get this job off. All other trivial matters will be left to me, and you will take care of everything. " An Dehai tightly closed his lips, thinking about this matter very seriously, and made up his mind that it must be done.

The first thing Wang Tianfu did for An Dehai was to find a wife for him.The eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty were different from the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. There were tens of thousands of eunuchs and court ladies in the Ming Dynasty. There is only diet, no sex, so those pairs of fake couples are called "vegetable households", or "pair food".The biggest "vegetable household" is Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka family. They came up with tricks when they were eating together. They poisoned the Liugong and brought down the entire Ming Dynasty. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty set this bad example the most. During the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, they were especially serious. Eunuchs and court ladies were not allowed to scream "sister and brother", but the emperor didn't care about things outside the palace.And those eunuchs are mostly from Jingdong and Jingnan. They saved a few money and bought fields in their hometowns that are close at hand. Some of them settled down in Beijing and brought a woman from their hometown to serve them. The law cannot help.

Of course, wealthy families would never marry eunuchs, even if they were barely able to make ends meet, they would never marry their daughters to eunuchs, because it would not only get a bad reputation, but also ruin the girl's life.Being a husband and wife with an eunuch is equivalent to being a widow. It is not a last resort, and I will not take this road. Therefore, eunuchs often spend money to buy a wife when they get married.Anbang had been planning this matter for his nephew too early, so when he heard Wang Tianfu mention it, he strongly agreed, "I have persuaded De Hai many times," he said, "I went to Beijing from Nanpi last year, and I also took him with me. A girl came here, no matter how honest she is, she has a passable appearance, Dehai thinks she is rustic, so she doesn't want it, it will be difficult." "Of course I'm looking for it in the capital." "I'm not familiar with the capital, so I don't know where to look for it." "I know." Wang Tianfu said, "It's not an urgent matter. Now that we're going to Jiangnan, it's convenient to have someone to take care of us on the way. Uncle An, let's ask the matchmaker to find some people to look at before we talk about it." So I asked a matchmaker to tell her, and also visited several poor families' daughters, and when An Dehai came home, he described them to him one by one, that one was thin, that one was fat, that one was naughty, and that one was honest.After An Dehai listened carefully, he said hesitantly: "The family surnamed Ma seems to be suitable." "That's right." Wang Tianfu said, "I also think that girl from the Ma family is good. She is nineteen years old, and she is not too old or young. She is suitable for Second Master An. Second Master An is twenty-five this year?" "No!" Mrs. Anbang said, "Dehai was born in the 24th year of Daoguang, and he is 26th this year. First, combine the Ma family's horoscope, and then read it." "No! I don't like it, and it's useless to close it." So it was decided that An Dehai would go on a blind date first, Wang Tianfu said: "Today is too late. Can you leave the palace that day?" "Ten days later." "Today is March 29th, the ninth day will be ten days later, so let's make an appointment at Longfu Temple!" Wang Tianfu said. The Longfu Temple in Dongsi Pailou held the temple fair on September and October, and it was very appropriate to have a blind date there, An Dehai nodded in agreement. "How about going to Jiangnan?" "It's about 80%." An Dehai said excitedly, "The higher-ups explain it this way: you have to tell the emperor." "Then have you mentioned it to the emperor?" An Dehai didn't answer immediately, and after thinking for a while, he said: "I don't intend to mention it to the emperor." That's not right!Wang Tianfu remembered the wonderful thing that the emperor rewarded Andehai with the green cap last year, so he reminded him: "Second Master! The emperor seems to be not quite right with you, you have to be careful!" The last sentence, An Dehai thought it was contempt, he was very unconvinced, "Huh!" He sneered, "A boy in his teens, what are you afraid of?" "It's not like that." "Okay, okay!" An Dehai twisted his face, shook his hands, and said impatiently, "I don't know about my own business? Why should you teach me a lesson?" Wang Tianfu knew that he had a "crazy temper", so he didn't say any more. He was thinking in his heart that he was relying on the power of Empress Dowager Cixi. He was in the limelight, and if he fell out of favor, he would be killed.I should pay more attention to myself, and if I see that the wind is not right, I should get out early.However, that is always something after the emperor takes power, and he is not busy right now. Seeing that Wang Tianfu remained silent, An Dehai felt a little uneasy. No matter what, he always helped him with things. He felt uncomfortable, kept silent, and secretly played tricks on the money in and out. The one who suffered was himself, so he immediately changed to He put on a face and mouth to perfunctory Wang Tianfu. "Brother Wang," he called very affectionately, "You have seen a lot, I have an idea, do you think it will work? I plan to give Xiao Li a little sweetness, let him test his breath in front of the emperor." Wang Tianfu is an old fox, and he has no reason not to accept An Dehai's diction: he immediately replied in a calm voice without any grievances: "Yes! This move is quite high." "Xiao Li is greedy and likes to eat sweets, so I will stuff his mouth with these things. Do you think it's okay?" "Why not? But..." Wang Tianfu said, "It's better to be more affordable." "Give money?" "There must be a way to give money." Wang Tianfu taught him a way. So An Dehai went back to the palace that day, and went to look for Xiao Li, holding a few wooden boxes in his hand, and raised them up as soon as he entered the door. It was clear at a glance that the box was full of pastries, and the greedy Xiao Li couldn't help swallowing. "Brother," An Dehai said triumphantly, "Look, what did I bring you, brother?" As soon as the box was put down, Xiao Li shouted happily: "Hey! It's from Zilanzhai." As he spoke, he opened the box, took a piece of crystal cake with Jiangmi and peach kernels, and stuffed it into his mouth. "How about it?" "It's not bad." Xiao Li's voice was muffled, and he kept nodding his head. "Look at this one," An Dehai read a poem on the poster: "'The southern hawthorn is not the same as the northern hawthorn, and the golden cakes are wonderfully made of huifeng; the color is as sweet as honey than rouge, and it has the effect of waking up and digesting food! 'Huifengzhai's hawthorn honey cake, try it!" "Thank you, Second Uncle!" Xiao Li greeted him with a smile, stood up, wiped his hands on his clothes, and ate hawthorn honey cake. While eating and chatting, he didn't care what An Dehai said. When he got tired of eating sweets and drank the emperor's leftovers, he brought back a pot of Pu'er tea and drank it mouth to mouth. Only then did he have time to answer An Dehai. Because they ate southern food, the topic fell into the south of the Yangtze River. An Dehai told the story of Kangxi and Qianlong's southern tour, and then suddenly changed to talk about the purpose of coming. "Brother," he asked, "have you ever heard someone say that the queen mother wants to send me an errand?" Here comes the word!Xiao Li suddenly realized that he didn't dare to make an answer, but thought for a while and replied: "The queen mother sent the second uncle a lot of errands, I don't know which one you are talking about?" "Aren't you going to send me to Suzhou?" "Oh!" Xiao Li made a look of sudden understanding, "This one. Did you send your second uncle to Suzhou to make dragon robes?" "That's right!" An Dehai said, "The two empress dowagers, and the emperor's. The empress dowager's is easy to handle. I am used to weaving yamen servants, but the emperor's is troublesome. I can't make it according to the current size." "That's right, there are three years left before the big wedding. By that time, you have to wear it according to the size at that time." "You understand!" An Dehai said happily, "the year of the wedding, the emperor was seventeen years old, how tall he was, and weaving yamen can't make wild guesses, so what the queen mother wants me to look at, first make a Appearance, if you think about it properly, it will look good when you wear it." "Yes, it must be done this way. Second Uncle, when are you leaving? I have to ask you to bring something back." "Does it need to be said? Food, clothing, use, you can give me a bill, and you will get a lot of it. However," Andheilo paused, and then continued, "Although the emperor has not yet personally governed , It is absolutely necessary for us to respect our master, that's what the queen mother said, wouldn't it be better for the emperor to nod when he saw my filial piety as an servant?" "This..." Xiao Li asked: "Second Uncle, there is nothing to say about the task you entrusted. You can just order me to perform the performance, or let me mention it to the emperor first, saying that you If you have something to do, please invite the emperor to summon you?" "It's not acting on behalf of the emperor, nor is it asking the emperor to summon you. Brother, what I mean is that although I am the person in front of the empress dowager, the emperor is also the master. Please give me a breath." Xiao Li sneered in his heart, up to this moment, An Dehai still said that he obeyed the Queen Mother, and only respected the system to the emperor, just say it!As long as it is played back according to the truth, it will immediately arouse the emperor's wrath. Sure enough, upon hearing Xiao Li's report, the emperor raised his voice and said, "Good! He really has no brains! " Xiao Li was very anxious, fell on his knees, hugged the emperor's legs, and said in a complaining voice: "Long live Lord, please don't shout! If you shout, things won't get done. " The emperor also came to his senses, nodded, and said in a low voice, "Come on! Let's check and check." Therefore, Xiao Li led the emperor to a very secluded place, and told the emperor all the news he had inquired about An Dehai.An Dehai was going to sell jewels in the south of the Yangtze River, the word had already spread in the palace, the emperor couldn't help but sneered when he heard it. "Slave asks for orders, how should I answer Xiao Anzi?" "What do you say?" "The slave said that the Lord Long Live has already nodded." "No!" The emperor was still naive, "I nodded and agreed, what should I do with him in the future?" "What are you afraid of?" Xiao Li replied, "Will he still dare to say that he followed the order in the future? Where is the evidence? Long Live Lord didn't write a handwritten order for him." "Then...," the emperor thought for a while and said, "Just tell him that I don't have that much time and mind his business." "Cha!" Xiao Li immediately felt that this was the best answer.He said "nodding", it seemed that the emperor treated An Dehai very well, which was not in line with the usual situation. If you think about it carefully, you will find that something is wrong, so you can only answer like this.It fits the emperor's temperament, and he pretends to be like him. "Xiao Li," the emperor said again, "go ask again, what tricks did Xiao Anzi do?" "The slave must follow the order to inquire, and if he finds out, he will play back and forth at any time. However, if the slave wants to invite the Lord Long Live, it's best not to take this matter to heart, Xiao Anzi is very ghostly, maybe he is watching the face of the Lord Long Live secretly. He sees it through, if Jiangnan doesn’t go, then it’s no fun!” The last sentence reminded the emperor and touched his heart, thinking that one day An Dehai would be captured, and the decree would be issued to rectify the law, and everyone would applaud and applaud, that would be really fun! Therefore, what Xiao Li said, he followed.And Xiao Li is really flattering too, there are constantly "news" to tell the emperor, what interests him most is that An Dehai bought a 19-year-old girl as his wife for a hundred taels of silver . "One hundred taels of silver to marry a daughter-in-law?" The emperor asked in surprise, "So cheap?" "That's the age of peace, and girls in famine years are not worth much." "What does that girl look like?" "The slave doesn't know, I heard it's quite neat." "Alas!" the emperor sighed and said, "Who is not easy to marry, marry Xiao Anzi? You will have to be a widow soon." After a pause, the emperor said again: "Go back and see, what do you look like?" Xiao Li was very strange, wondering why the emperor cared so much about that girl?Naturally, it is inconvenient to ask this question, but I was just thinking, how can I go and have a look, so that I can come back to do business? "There is only one way." Xiao Li felt that this was an opportunity to go out of the palace to find friends. "The slave asked the master to give me two days off to ask around." "Why two days? I'll give you a day off. Go and inquire first." The next day, Xiao Li was given a day off. He left the palace early in the morning. He went to the House of Internal Affairs first, and found a good friend named Rui Nian, and asked him about An Dehai. "I don't know!" Rui Nian said this with a raised face, looked around again, and then whispered: "Brother, don't mention Xiao Anzi here." "Why?" Xiao Li was surprised, but also a little displeased, "You can't even mention it?" "It's not that I can't mention him, it's that I don't want to mention him." Rui Nian's voice became lower and lower, "Seeing that he is going to cause a big disaster, stay away and don't mention this person." This said, where is "don't know"?It is a tone that knows a lot.However, An Dehai has always colluded with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and there are also close friends, like Rui Nian, Xiao Li knows that he is also very fond of An Dehai, why he suddenly has such an indifferent attitude at this moment, he has to ask why. "Xiao Anzi is going to cause trouble, and you don't persuade him?" Xiao Li asked tentatively. "Why don't you persuade him?" "Me?" Xiao Li said with a smile, "I want to persuade him, isn't it just a dog and a mouse?" "It's all the same." Rui Nian replied, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs has agreed, so let him do what he wants, just watch from the side!" "Ah!" Xiao Li understood. "Do you understand?" Rui Nian also tried to test him, "You tell me, what do you understand?" "Little Anzi has bad intentions. He really wants to go to the south of the Yangtze River, and you will suffer in the future." After hearing what he said, Rui Nian kept silent for a while, smiled slowly, and finally nodded and said, "You really understand." After confirming his idea, Xiao Li was very excited, "So," he asked, "how do you treat him?" Without finishing a sentence, Rui Nian hurriedly pulled his clothes and complained, "What are you yelling for?" "Oh," Xiao Li stuck out his tongue and lowered his voice, "tell me, how are you going to treat him? I will never tell. You know, he and I are enemies, and we are at odds." This last sentence moved Rui Nian's heart. He blinked his eyes and said solemnly: "Let me tell you the truth, even the Sixth Prince knows about this matter. What to do depends on his eyes. There are three people in front of you." Word: Pretend to be confused! So no one mentions him. Brother, when will you meet Uncle Wen, how about it?" The Uncle Wen he was talking about was Wen Xi, and Xiao Li knew that Wen Xi was giving orders to the House of Internal Affairs to deal with An Dehai, and Wen Xi was following the will of King Gong.For a person like Zhi'an Dehai to alert the prince to intervene in person, it is conceivable that this matter has a lot to do with it, just like hitting a poisonous snake, not hitting the "seven inches" but scaring the snake, and he will be bitten back.Thinking about it now, I feel that my vigilance is still not enough, and I have to be careful. Therefore, he felt that meeting Wen Xi at this time would be harmful but not beneficial, so he replied sincerely: "It's not that I don't want to see Uncle Wen, because I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to leak the news. Please tell Uncle Wen first, and I will greet him , take care of each other. When that kid leaves, I will go to see Uncle Wen, and I have a few important words to say." "Okay, that's it! I must say what you said." After resigning from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Xiao Li was very happy, and felt that this trip was very rewarding.Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is united in one mind, and An Dehai is a "public enemy", let alone Prince Gong is also involved in it!From this point of view, even with the strong backing of the Empress Dowager Cixi, An Dehai is outnumbered and must still collapse. The more he thought about it, the more complacent he was, and he was eager to go back to the palace to play the story of being on the line with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so as to win the emperor's favor, so he gave up on going out to find friends to listen to operas, eat in small restaurants, and go shopping for a day plan.Turn around and walk north along the palace wall.