Chapter 50 Section fifty

The eunuch in charge of the respect room came to the House of Internal Affairs to ask for Mingshan, and secretly talked with them, saying that An Dehai had told him that he would take some people with him when he went to Jiangnan for business according to the order of the Empress Dowager Cixi. "Oh!" Ming Shan asked, "What did he say? Is it Chuan Yi's decree, or is he here to discuss with you?" "It's not Chuanyi's decree, nor is it discussing with me, it seems to be telling me." "Well, what do you mean by telling me now? Tell me, or something?"

"The eunuchs are not allowed to leave the capital. Now that Xiao Anzi is messing around, I have to answer Lord Ming." "Okay, I got it." Mingshan replied, "Xiao Anzi told you, just listen. If you come back to me now, I will listen too." "This...!" The chief eunuch was very honest, a little confused, "Master Ming," he said anxiously, "this is going to happen! If something happens, I can't afford to go around, how can I do it?" "Nothing is wrong!" Ming Shan saw that he was honest, and taught him a trick: "Xiao Anzi said to follow Yi's decree, you just 'record' it!"

The eunuch in charge understands, once the file is recorded, it's okay if there is no accident in the future, and if there is an accident, there is something to say, An Dehai is a member of Yikun Palace, and he came to pass on the order of the Empress Dowager Cixi, can he not obey it? So he smiled with relief, and greeted Ming Shan respectfully: "Thank you, Lord Ming, for your guidance." "You just understand. Go back to the palace and tell your colleagues that Xiao Anzi's backing is strong, so stop gossiping about him." "Yes. I'll tell them right away, and pretend I don't know about it."

"Not bad at all." Mingshan asked again, "When will he leave?" "I picked the sixth day of July. It's a good day for a long journey." "Good day! Yes, yes, good day!" Mingshan sneered, paused and asked again: "Does Long Live know about this?" "That's not clear. I didn't talk to Lord Long Live, maybe Xiao Li will always talk about it!" "En." Ming Shan said casually, "I'll ask you to send a letter to Xiao Li. Come to my place when you have time. I have a little gadget for Long Live Lord." The Chief of the Respect Room resigned from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and returned to the palace. The first thing he did was to ask the little eunuch to get the "diary file", take An Dehai's words as "Chuan Yizhi", record them according to the facts, and then sit down and think about it. go through.Although he is honest, he is quite prudent, thinking that among the eunuchs, nine out of ten are at odds with An Dehai, but there are also some who belong to his party, if he tells everyone about Ming Shan's words, someone will surely tell them he.He might think, what is the point of saying that?If he was smart, he would definitely have thought that this was because he was afraid that he would leave Beijing unhurriedly, and it would appear that he had malicious intentions.With such a vigilant heart, An Dehai must have made more proper arrangements, and even canceled the trip, and no matter what, he will definitely try to get revenge.Wouldn't it be self-defeating and self-defeating?

After figuring out the key joints, he felt that it was best to pretend to be confused.Anyway, as long as he has room to shrug off his responsibilities in the future, he doesn't care about everything about An Dehai.So he didn't say anything, just asked someone to find Xiao Li, and told him quietly that Mingshan wanted to see him. "Uncle," Xiao Li asked, "Master Ming is looking for me, is there something else?" "I haven't heard of it." "Then, uncle," Xiao Li asked again, "You know about Xiao Anzi, right?" "I know." The chief eunuch asked calmly, "We have to respect the master, don't we?"

How could you say this?Xiao Li thought about it carefully, understood his attitude, and replied repeatedly: "Yes, yes! How can you not respect the master? Wouldn't you be struck by lightning?" When it comes to this, there is no need to ask any more questions.Early the next morning, when the emperor went to the study, Li Xing hurried to the House of Internal Affairs to ask to see Mingshan.Please An stood up, and saw Mingshan opened the safe, took out a small telescope with extremely exquisite decoration, handed it to him and said: "I just got a little thing, I entrust you to give it to Long Live Lord."

Xiao Li agreed, and tried the binoculars at that time. Mingshan's shadow changed from big to small in his eyes, which was very amusing. "This is for you." With a clank, Ming Shan threw a piece of shiny golden foreign money onto the table. Xiao Li was overjoyed, he thanked An with a smile first, and then took Jin Yang to look at it, and saw the head of a "foreign woman" with a tall cloud girl, a nose augmented and sunken eyes carved on it, and asked: "Master Ming, what's the matter with you?" who is it?" "It's the Queen of England." Mingshan said again, "British Gold Ocean is the most valuable, you should keep it for fun, don't sell it for nothing, what a pity!"

"No, no. I will keep all of Master Ming's rewards." "Let me ask you," Ming Shan lowered his voice and asked, "Does Long Live know about Xiao Anzi?" "Know." "What did Long Live say?" Xiao Li didn't reply immediately, looked out the window very carefully, then stretched out his palm to his waist, put his four fingers together and pushed forward, and winked at the same time. "Oh, like this!" Mingshan thought for a while and then said, "When you hit the snake on the seven-inch mark, you have to be sure!" "Yes, I will play back with Lord Long Live."

"No, no!" Ming Shan shook his hands vigorously and said, "You don't have to mention my name, as long as you know it in your heart. I know that Long Live God cannot do without you." This sentence complimented Xiao Li so high that he was ecstatic, and at the same time encouraged him to feel that he should make up his mind for the emperor.But how to get this idea?I should ask Mingshan for advice. "Master Ming, you keep watching, when will you do it? Just hit 'out of the hole', or what?" This question made Mingshan think hard.He discussed it with his son when he went back yesterday—Wen Xi's wrist is smooth and his voice is very loud. He found out that night that Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, had already told others that if An Dehai dared to go out of Beijing in violation of the regulations, he would not pass through Shandong. Forget it, when you pass through Shandong, you have to be careful.In terms of Ding Baozhen's fresh and fierce temperament, this statement is credible.And if An Dehai goes south from Tianjin along the sea road, there is nothing he can do. Now he is going along the canal from Tongzhou, and Shandong is the only way to go. No matter what, he can't escape Ding Baozhen's grasp. The article is easy to do.Telling this to Xiao Li will naturally satisfy him, but I am afraid that he will be too young and let it out, or the emperor's mishandling will be noticed by the Empress Dowager Cixi, which will cause great disasters.After much deliberation, I always feel that it is better not to break the news.

So he replied: "Calm down! Once the poisonous snake came out of the hole, it didn't just run away without a trace. What are you doing?" It seems that Mingshan has a plan, but he just refuses to say it.Xiao Li didn't want to inquire any more, so he went back to the palace, gave the little telescope to the emperor, and whispered to his face, saying that he was afraid that An Dehai would commit a capital crime if he left Beijing, and he could bring the case to light at any time. Kill him.He also said that Prince Gong and the minister of military aircraft must have a way to persuade the emperor not to be impatient and wait for the evolution of the situation.

"Okay!" The emperor agreed, "However, you still have to inquire. If you have any news, come and play." So Xiao Li had to go out of the palace every day, and he didn't need to inquire when he was near An's house. He just sat on the "big wine vat" there, and he heard a lot of news about An Dehai.On the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, I saw with my own eyes more than a dozen large carts, men, women, children, old and young, with boxes and belongings, heading east in a mighty way. "Little Anzi is gone!" "Really gone?" The emperor still seemed a little unconvinced, "Are you really that bold?" "Little Anzi's courage is greater than the sky." Xiao Li replied, "It's so majestic! It's like releasing the governor of that province and bringing his family to take office." "There are still family members? Who are they?" Xiao Li unhurriedly took out a piece of paper from the boot leaf, "I am afraid that I may not remember clearly, so I specially copied a list here." Then he looked at the paper and dictated the name of the person: "He spent a hundred taels The daughter-in-law Ma Shi bought for silver has his uncle An Bangtai, his brother An San, his sister and niece—named Lazai, who is only eleven years old. There are two servants and two old mothers." "Hmph!" the emperor sneered, "it's quite rich." "I heard that when you arrive in Tongzhou, you have to hire escorts." "What?" asked the emperor, "What guest?" "Escorts." Xiao Li went on to explain that the escort agency and the escort industry are designed to protect the safety of passengers or precious items: "Xiao Anzi has dozens of pieces of luggage with him, and I heard that they are all rare treasures, so we have to hire Darts." "Oh!" the emperor asked, "He really brought people to Jiangnan to do business? Who are they?" "Chen Yuxiang, Li Ping'an..." Xiao Li read a string of names of eunuchs. "Is this okay?" The emperor was furiously moved: "We must kill him!" Xiao Li wanted to persuade him to be patient, but when he got to the point of speaking, he suddenly thought about it. At this moment, his thoughts changed. As soon as An Dehai left Beijing, he would be charged with the crime, and the emperor arrested him at this time and chopped off his head. Nothing.So his silence means that he does not object to the emperor doing so. However, the emperor was just talking in a fit of anger and didn't intend to do it immediately. In fact, he didn't know how to do it yet.With Empress Dowager Cixi at the top, he is not allowed to make his own decisions, and this is why An Dehai is confident. The emperor didn't realize until this time that it would be really difficult to kill An Dehai if he didn't try to break through this barrier.After much deliberation, the only option is to discuss it with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. "Emperor Niang," he said, "there is news in the palace!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an understood immediately, and instead of answering his words, she pouted at Yuzi, signaling her to avoid it, and then asked, "You mean Xiao'anzi?" "Yes!" The emperor resolutely said: "If this matter is not strictly handled, what kind of decent is it? What is the order and discipline, it's all nonsense!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an remained silent, thinking about it for a while, but still didn't know how to satisfy the emperor? "Emperor Niang," the emperor said angrily, "I'm going to talk about this matter." "Don't be too busy!" Empress Dowager Ci'an quickly replied, "Wait for me to think about it slowly." "Until that day?" "It's useless for you to be anxious." The Empress Dowager Ci'an accompanied and listened to the politics for eight years, and she naturally understood the rules of the border officials: "Didn't he say that he wanted to go to the south of the Yangtze River? The two rivers can't just rely on what he says, so they can do it." What to give, Ma Xinyi or Ding Richang, you have to ask for an order. Wait for their notes to come." This sentence reminded the emperor that he had found the crux of the problem, "Once the record comes, what should I do if I keep it?" He asked, which is conceivable. If there is such a memorial, the Empress Dowager Cixi will definitely suppress it. "That's right!" Empress Dowager Ci'an said, "I'm just thinking about this. There is a way, but I don't know if it will work? Let me try it." Her method is to take advantage of the recent frequent illnesses of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and prepare to propose that the emperor read the memorial.Didn't the Empress Dowager Cixi often say that the emperor is not young, so he has to understand memorials?What's more, there is "half homework" in the study now, and the days are long and there is nothing to do, just for the emperor to work more on this aspect. The Empress Dowager Cixi thought so deeply, and passed on Yi's decree on the same day: the "yellow box" from the internal performance office should be given to the emperor first.However, Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid that the eunuchs around the emperor would take advantage of this opportunity to cheat or leak important secrets, so she appointed the emperor to watch the memorial in Yikun Palace.In this way, she can supervise herself. The emperor's joy was no small matter.Every day when I get out of the study, I go to Yikun Palace to read the notebooks, open the yellow box, and the first step is to find out if there is any memorial about An Dehai?Ten days passed, and there was no news, and the emperor was a little impatient. "What's going on?" He asked Xiao Li, "Should we go to the south of the Yangtze River? Governor of Liangjiang or governor of Jiangsu, there should be a discount!" "It's early!" Xiao Li replied, "Xiao Anzi went to Tianjin for two days first, and took a monk with him at Tianqi Temple." "Another monk ran out there?" "The monk said he wanted to go back to the south, Xiao Anzi was very generous, so he took him away." Xiao Li said, "It took another day or two to hire escorts in Tongzhou. I'm afraid I just arrived in Shandong at this moment." Xiao Li guessed right, An Dehai's ship had just followed the canal to Dezhou and entered Shandong Province. Dezhou is a large pier with water and land rushes, and An Dehai decided to stop here for a day.Two peaceboats were moored outside the west gate, and the dragon and phoenix flags on the boats were fluttering in the evening wind, making a sound of hunting, which immediately attracted a lot of onlookers who asked each other, wondering who was inside? "Probably the official ship of the imperial envoy." Someone speculated. "No!" Another person immediately refuted him: "I have seen a lot of official ships, and there must be high-ranking plates with official titles, and the lanterns are clearly written on them. How can they hang the dragon and phoenix flag?" "That must be someone from the palace." A theater fan, recalling the plot, felt that he had a wonderful understanding, and said with great confidence: "That's right! It must be the Empress Dowager who went to Mount Tai to offer incense." "Aren't you talking about the emperor's southern tour?" Another person said in a sneering tone, "If the queen mother came to Mount Tai to offer incense, she would have been too busy with the emperor's mission! Master Zhao had to come to welcome her." "What do you know?" The fan was unconvinced, "Can't you send someone to stop first? Look," he pointed to the middle of the boat and said, "Isn't that your husband?" "Husband" is the eunuch's honorific title.There is both a husband and a dragon and phoenix flag, and it is said that he is the front station staff of the Queen Mother's pilgrimage. This makes sense, and everyone accepts his point of view. "Let's inquire about it first." Someone said, pointing to the person who got off the diving board. That man was a servant of An Dehai's family, named Huang Shikui, with a Beijing accent, he asked in a grandiose manner, "What's the name of your prefect here?" "Oh!" The person who wanted to inquire about the news leaned forward and replied with a smile: "The surname of the Zhizhou master is Zhao, and the official seal has a new character. His name is Qinglan, from Tianjin." "Your Mr. Zhao, is the official voice good?" "Okay, okay, very capable." "Since he is very capable, why didn't he know that the imperial envoy is coming?" Huang Shikui said with a sullen face, "I still know, pretending to be confused on purpose? How promising is he, how dare he put on airs!" "It must be that Mr. Zhao doesn't know about it." The NPC said courteously, "Wait until I find a land guarantor for your master, and let him go to the city to report." "No, no!" Huang Shikui shook his hands and said, "Let's see how long he pretends to be confused?" "Excuse me, sir," the man asked timidly, "this imperial envoy, is...?" "It was ordered to go to the south of the Yangtze River to buy dragon robes." Huang Shikui said again, "Unless you are a first-class celebrity in front of the empress dowager, you won't be able to send such an errand." "Yes, yes! May I ask the imperial envoy's surname? Your lord's surname?" "My surname is Huang. Our imperial envoy is Mr. An, who is unknown to everyone in Beijing. Don't gossip," Huang Shikui asked, "Where can I buy ducks here? It must be fat, the fatter the better!" "Yes, yes. I'll take Mr. Huang there." "I'll leave it to you!" Huang Shikui took out a piece of broken silver and handed it over. "Here is more than two taels of silver. Buy four fat ducks and bring some green onions. If you have more money, I will give it to you." There will be no surplus of money, and maybe a few more will be posted.The man felt that it was a face-saving thing to do for the imperial envoy, and he could boast about things in the village, so he posted a few papers, and he was willing, so he agreed to take the money and ran away.