Chapter 20 third quarter

He set off from Beijing on the 25th of July, following the post route, without any delay, one stop at a time. It was at the end of July that the Yamen of Chengde Mansion, where the "Mountain Resort" is located, received a call from the front office. The "roll sheet" at the station said that Prince Gong had arrived in Luanping County, sixty miles away. The next day was the first day of August.Qin Tianjian calculated in advance that on this day, "the sun and the moon will unite, and the five stars will unite the pearls", which is a great auspicious omen, but they don't know that it is the day of the "Yin Memorial Ceremony" on the "February 7" of the Emperor Daxing.

In order to catch up with Yin Dianli, Prince Gong set off from Luanping County in the middle of the night, and the pioneer guards rushed to the gate of the "Summer Resort" palace one after another. From this, they knew Prince Gong's whereabouts. Shuangta Mountain, cross Sanchakou, reach Guangrenling, ten miles away is Chengde Mansion, but there is still half an hour's journey from Fucheng to Xinggong. Princes, relatives, civil and military officials were all waiting to greet them near the palace, but the time for the "Yin Dianli" to salute had already been determined. Seeing that there was no sign of Prince Gong's eight-carrying sedan chair, we had to rush to Feng'an first. The Danbo Jingcheng Hall in Zigong went to stand on duty to serve the emperor to salute.Outside the palace gate, some officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were left waiting to take care of Prince Gong.

In the main hall of Tanbo Jingcheng, it has been properly furnished at this time. There are twenty-one feasts, eleven wine venerables, nine sheep, and ninety thousand paper money. However, the princes and officials, according to their ranks, stand in ranks from the inside of the hall to the outside of the gate.Chen was about to arrive, and the imperial minister led the little emperor to come, and then began to salute. The master of ceremonies of "Zan Li Lang" and "Du Zhu Guan" of Taichang Temple read the sacrificial rites, so the little emperor, who had been taught in advance, stopped his feet and cried "ho ho ho". Crying, the civil and military officials on Danchi cried along, crying all the way, which is called "passing crying".

After crying, Zan Lilang praised the "liberation" again, and then the emperor's leader kowtowed three times.Mourn again.This is the end of Yin Dianli, and there is only "Fen Liao" left. It would take a while for the 90,000 paper money to be burnt, and in the midst of the blazing fire, I saw a long white shadow outside the palace gate, rushing in, staggering all the way, crying like rain all the way, it was the middle of the night Prince Gong who came from Luanping. At this time, he couldn't think of what it means to be disrespectful. He didn't care about trespassing on the court, and he didn't care about meeting the emperor. He ran up to Danbi and stepped into the gate of the palace. In the hall, just fell down and cried loudly!

The sudden incident made the emperor at a loss what to do, not only the little emperor, but all the princes and ministers in front of the imperial court did not know what to do, and in fact they were also helpless.When Prince Gong cried, his voice shook the hall, his grief came from his heart, no one else could dissuade him, and they couldn't bear to dissuade him, they just wept with him sourly. The righteousness of the monarch and ministers, brotherhood, grievances between life and death, grievances and disappointments, all mourned, so the more King Gong cried, the more sad he became, and the sound of crying even spread to Yanbo Zhishuang Palace.

The empress dowagers of the two palaces were sitting idle in the East Nuan Pavilion. The Eastern Empress Dowager was thinking about the little emperor, fearing that he would be disrespectful, while the Western Empress Dowager was thinking about Prince Gong.When they faintly heard the voice of mourning in front of them was different, the two asked in unison, "What's the matter?" "Wait for the servant to ask." Shuangxi replied like this. As soon as she stepped out of the door, a eunuch came to report: "The sixth master is here!" Of course, this is when it comes to Rehe!It doesn't matter if you don't ask, you can know that at this moment, you are paying homage to the Zi Palace in a humble and respectful manner.The Western Empress Dowager nodded deeply, then turned to look at the Eastern Empress Dowager, waiting for her to speak.

The Eastern Empress Dowager didn't know much about the internal and external systems, so she hesitated and asked, "When can we meet Liu Ye?" "It's fine right now." The Queen Mother replied very crisply. "Then, let's 'call'!" "Slow down, sister!" The Empress Dowager Xi said, winking at the same time, obviously, she had to make arrangements. Working together for more than ten days, the Eastern Empress Dowager has quite reached a tacit understanding with the Western Empress Dowager. Seeing this scene, he nodded slightly, got up and went back to Dongnuan Pavilion, asked Shuangxi to pack a bag of cigarettes, smoked slowly and thought about it, and had to think carefully about what to say to Prince Gong.

People are in the room, but the movement outside can still be heard. She heard the Empress Dowager Xi instructing the newly transferred chief eunuch Shi Jinzhong to send several eunuchs to do non-urgent tasks, and the places to go are quite far away. An hour or two.Hearing the name of the eunuch who was sent, the Empress Dowager Dong knew in her heart that they were usually regarded as suspicious and suspected of being Sushun's spies, and she wanted to "tune the tiger away from the mountain" and the details of the performance when summoning Prince Gong so that they would not be leaked out .

After the people who should be kicked out were kicked out, the Empress Dowager Xi yelled majestically: "Shi Jinzhong!" This was an urgent order, Shi Jinzhong didn't dare to neglect it, and replied loudly: "Zha!" The Queen Mother's voice became very gentle again: "There is something I have to ask you to do. It is best if you can do it. If you think you can't do it, just tell the truth, I don't blame you." "Crap!" Shi Jinzhong said, "Your servant asks for an order." "Go and deliver the decree: summon Prince Gong!"

It was only then that Shi Jinzhong understood what the Empress Dowager meant. She had already worried that Sushun might try to stop her from summoning King Gong, so she said "it can be done, but it can't be done".But as the chief eunuch, he said that he couldn't even find someone, so what's wrong with that? So knowing that the task was difficult, I could only bite the bullet and agree: "Yes, I will do my best." "Okay. Go." So Shi Jinzhong took two steps on three legs, half-running straight to the Danbo Jingcheng Hall.Walking halfway, he saw the emperor driving back, so he hid aside, knelt down and waited for the emperor to pass by, and when the procession was about to end, he waved quietly, stopped the last eunuch, and asked in a low voice: "Is Liu Ye still there?" ? What are you doing?"

"It was there just now. They were talking to him and saluting him." "Where's Su Zhongtang? How about the Sixth Master?" The eunuch was stunned for a moment before answering: "Su Zhongtang and Liu Ye are very polite! It's nothing." Hearing this, Shi Jinzhong was slightly relieved, stepped faster, and rushed to the Danbo Jingcheng Hall, only to see civil and military officials standing on duty, and a group of princes and ministers, surrounded by Prince Gong, came out, Shi Jinzhong thought this is a good opportunity , in front of so many people passing the decree, no one dares not to obey!So he opened his voice and shouted solemnly: "Bong Yi's decree..." The princes and ministers who were walking at a leisurely pace, upon hearing this, quickly stopped and stepped aside to make way. Shi Jinzhong hurriedly walked to the top and stood still, facing Prince Gong and said: "The Empress Dowager summons Prince Gong." After saying this, he walked up to him to greet him and said, "Please, Sixth Master! The two queen mothers are waiting." Prince Gong didn't answer, but slowly turned to look at Zai Yuan. "I don't understand this etiquette." He said with a little hesitation, "Come with me to meet!" There is a certain season when the princes and nobles visit the concubines, and they are not allowed to meet each other.As for the empress dowagers of the two palaces summoning Minister Gu Ming who is in charge of government affairs, it is to consult state affairs, which is another matter. Other than that, they are all foreign ministers, and there is no reason to summon them.That's why Prince Gong asked that question.Zaiyuan thought to himself, it's a trivial matter if the etiquette is not in compliance with the rules, you must know what the two palaces are talking about with Prince Gong, it is indeed necessary to accompany him to the meeting.However, he was timid towards the Empress Dowager Xi, who was particular about etiquette, knew how to find hair, and was always picky about details, for fear that Mao would rashly follow her in, and the two palaces would disappear, and she would encounter a big setback and lose face.Chen Fu'en, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, is like this. A few days ago, he went from Beijing to Xingzai to greet the queen mother. The eunuch went up to report, but he didn't even say "I know". He froze there for a long time, and finally had to lie down in the yard by himself , Kowtowed his head and stepped back.This lesson must be remembered. Therefore, Zaiyuan said: "Please give me an order!" "Alright." Prince Gong nodded, turned to Shi Jinzhong and asked, "Did you hear clearly what I said to Prince Yi?" "yes." "Then entrust you to play back!" Prince Gong pointed to the court room outside the Danbo Jingcheng Hall and said, "I will wait there with the 'eight'." So Shi Jinzhong was ordered to return to Yanbo Zhishuang Hall to play again.Gu Ming's eight ministers, as well as King Dun and King Chun, accompanied King Gong to rest in the court room, asking each other about the recent situation in Beijing.Prince Gong only briefly talked about the "Western Affairs" he was in charge of.Sushun asked him about the date of his return to Luan, and he expressed that he would listen to the decisions of the two palaces and the ministers of state affairs of Zanxiang. He himself had no objection, but he hoped that the date would be fixed and that the "Mingfa" would be issued as soon as possible so that Beijing could make preparations. After talking for about two quarters of an hour, Shi Jinzhong came to pass the decree again, saying that the Empress Dowager summoned Prince Gong just to ask about the situation in Beijing and the palace, and said: "The Empress Dowager has something to say, and she said that she is thinking about 'Fang'. Homeland', I also need to inquire with the sixth prince." "Holy Mother Empress Dowager" is the official name of the Queen Mother, following the story of Wanli in the previous Ming Dynasty, and "Fangjiayuan" is her natal family.It seems that they are only inquiring about the private affairs of the family members, so although they did not expressly order to summon Prince Gong alone, the meaning can be imagined.So Zaiyuan cupped his hands and said, "Sixth Master, please! Let's talk about it later." "Old Six!" Sushun is the same generation as King Gong, and is older, so he has always called him this way, "At noon, I will catch the wind for you. Come back and see how the mansion I prepared for you is like. " "That must be good." Prince Gong said very humbly, "Thank you Sixth Brother for your trouble." After speaking, Prince Gong followed Shi Jinzhong and left.Sushun invited everyone present face-to-face to accompany them at noon, and then they dispersed. Kings Yi, Zheng, and Du Han walked with Sushun all the way. Du Han said that King Gong should not be allowed to visit the two palaces alone, and said: "Actually, it is easy to stop him. You only talk about young uncles and sisters-in-law, so you have to avoid suspicion. This Isn’t it just an aboveboard reason?” "Then why didn't you say it earlier?" Zai Yuan asked displeased. "Yes!" Duan Hua also echoed: "After the fact, it doesn't work!" "Yes, yes! Let's not give opinions first." Sushun shook his hands wildly, and said in a very confident tone: "There is no need to be like this! What can Gong Lao Liu do?"