Chapter 28 Section five

When Chen Shengwen retreated, the empress dowagers of the two palaces looked at each other sadly, the empress dowager Dong hesitated several times, and finally sighed with grief: "Emperor Daxing passed away in less than a month. Alas!" The Empress Dowager remained silent, thinking about the history of this dynasty with her lips tightly closed. Is there any precedent for this?How to deal with it?After much deliberation, there is only one incident of Kangxi killing Oboi.But the present and the past are different, without fists and courage, there is nothing that can be done here and now.

"What should we do now?" The Empress Dowager Dong said again, only looking at her with sad eyes. Her train of thought was interrupted, and she asked blankly, "What should I do?" "I mean I keep that draft with me." "It's still there!" Empress Dowager Dong raised her voice, "Isn't this the solution?" She hesitated and expressed inappropriateness. "Aside from spending time with them, is there any good way?" The Eastern Empress Dowager was silent, there was something she wanted to say but dared not to say. The Queen Mother was obviously angry, "No one is going to make me bow my head!" She said loudly, her face flushed, "I only have two options."

Ken said it would be fine.The Empress Dowager Dong hurriedly said, "If you have a solution, speak up and discuss it." "Let's summon the group of them, but we have to ask them, 'what's the sincerity'?" Using the words in their draft to question, tit for tat, sharp, is a good word, but it's just verbal satisfaction, the Queen Mother shook her hands and said: "Not good, not good!" "Then let's spend it, let's see who can spend more than whom? Is there no public discussion in the world?" The Empress Dowager East took a deep breath, these measures were said as if she hadn't mentioned them yet, but she also knew that she was angry at this time, and the more she talked, the more angry she became, so it's better to wait for her to calm down a little before talking about it.

So she stood up, suppressed her emotions and said: "Sister, although I am useless, you can still tell whether the matter is good or bad. I am not angry, but there is a saying that you and I are useless today." on." It is rare for the Eastern Empress Dowager to express great truth in her tone, so the Western Empress Dowager couldn't help but pay attention: "Sister, what did you think of saying?" "There is a way to 'bear the burden of humiliation'." "Then you have to endure it." "It's just because it's not easy to bear. If you can bear it, it will be more valuable." The Queen Mother said again, "Sister, you have always been more decisive than me. If you can afford it and let it go, I will rely on you. You take your time Think about it!"

After talking about the East Queen Mother, she left, leaving the West Queen Mother to plan alone in the small study, thinking about it, without any power at hand, and couldn't stop Sushun and the others at once. How can I not get out! The Empress Dowager Dong was in the Yanbo Zhishuang Hall, and her heart was in a state of agitation. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, but the outside came to the secret concert again and again, because the eight ministers decided to "put the car aside", and people were very disturbed. This may be the truth, or it may be Eunuch Zhang Huang.She was in disarray and couldn't make a detailed distinction. She just felt that it was necessary to talk to the Queen Mother again.

It just so happened that the Empress Dowager West also came out, and the two met under the plain veil, they spoke at the same time, but stopped at the same time, finally it was the Empress Dowager East who asked the Empress Dowager West to speak first. "I want to find all the close relatives, let's ask everyone's opinions, do you think it will work?" "It's a good idea, but unfortunately it can't be done." The Queen Mother shook her head and said. "Why?" "Sushun and the others said that it is not appropriate for the Queen Mother to summon foreign ministers."

"There are such words?" The Queen Mother was surprised, "Why haven't I heard of it?" "This is what Shuangxi heard from somewhere and told me. Also, when the sixth master came, Duhan wanted to stop him and not ask him to meet with us, saying that uncle and sister-in-law wanted to avoid suspicion." The Empress Dowager was even more surprised: "I don't even know this." "I was afraid that you would be angry when you heard it, and I didn't tell you." The Empress Dowager gave a heartfelt glance, knit her brows into a knot, remained silent for a while, and asked in a voice almost hopeless: "According to this, don't we just put them under house arrest?"

The Empress Dowager Dong remained silent, her eye circles slowly turning red. "It's not about crying!" The Empress Dowager walked to the porch by herself, looking at the southwest sky, imagining the scene of the imperial chariot arriving in Beijing and being picked up by the ministers, and unconsciously spit out a sentence: "On that day, you will be able to bear the burden." Can't I speak?" So she came back, took out a small Shu brocade pouch, and silently handed it to the dazed Empress Dowager Dong. The pouch contained the stamp of the "Tongdao Hall" of that party. With his own hand, he stamped the draft of the refutation of the curtain, and sent it along with Dong Yuanchun's original copy.

Duanhua's unique trick of "choking the neck" finally forced the empress dowagers of the two palaces to "surrender"!Gu Ming and the eight ministers won a complete victory, and the joy is beyond words.But after "Mingfa", the reactions caused are extremely complicated, some are horrified, some sigh, some are frustrated, some are angry, but there are also many people who recognize the authority of Minister Gu Ming to praise government affairs, and are planning their own The way to go. However, these reactions are either in the heart, or in private conversations, and they dare not reveal them easily.The only exception is King Chun. When he saw the words "Sincerity and Hexin", he was furious, and said in a stern voice, and "wait and see". Stop drinking.

In this situation of outward relaxation and internal expansion, he was allowed to visit Shengbao, who was walking in the Zigong Palace, and arrived in Rehe from Xuanhe. Shengbao was also a person whom Emperor Daxing admired, but was also a person whom Sushun feared.His surname is Su Wanpai Erjia, style name Kezhai, and belongs to Xiangbaiqi. He was originally from Juren, but he was promoted by Professor Shuntianfu to Chanshan of Zhanshifu, and became Hanlin.In the second year of Xianfeng, he changed from civil to military, and won several victories in Anhui and Henan. Appreciating flowers, feathers, yellow jackets, and the title of "Batulu", all the honor and favor that a military officer can get will soon be lost. There is.

In July of the third year of Xianfeng, Huaiqing broke the siege, and Shengbao took advantage of the victory to pursue him. He entered Shanxi from Henan, conquered Hongdong and Pingyang, and was awarded the title of "Imperial Envoy". The "God Sparrow Saber" of the Kangxi Dynasty was equal to Shangfang's sword, and those below the second-rank lieutenant general, who would hinder the military situation, could be cut first and played later.At that time, Shengbao was only 30 years old. While he was full of ambition, he engraved two chapters in a hurry. In conjunction with his surname and nickname "Kezhai", he thought of a pun: "If I fight, I will conquer." When it came to the internal crimes of the British and French allied forces, Seng Gelinqin and the governor of Shengbao tried their best to protect Gyeonggi. In the battle of Baliqiao, Shengbao was injured. It is not the same as the alliance under the city where the soldiers have no fighting spirit, so the "fuju" is not too difficult, and Shengbao's "prestige" has not lost much. During the period when the "Fuju" was being handled, Shengbao had a relationship with Prince Gong. Wen Xiang and Zhu Xueqin made a plan to find him from the front, and the purpose was to get him to demonstrate in Rehe.Sushun looked down on their own Manchurians the most, but he did not dare to underestimate Shengbao.Of course, compared with those bewildered nobles of the Eight Banners, Shengbao can be regarded as an all-rounder in civil and military affairs, so Sushun had to look at him differently.Another reason is that Shengbao pretended to be Nian Gengyao and was arrogant and domineering. He didn't pay attention to people like Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Sushun at all. Embarrassing things can be done. Therefore, as soon as Shengbao arrived in Rehe, he was even more grand than King Gong, and he brought five hundred soldiers with him, with layers of guards, which was equivalent to setting up a palace for imperial envoys at the feet of the emperor.The relatives and noble ministers are from Sushun's faction, so naturally they have to pretend that they are from Prince Gong's side, and they place great expectations on him, deliberately make love, and respect him very much. On the day of arrival, according to the rules, he did not enter the palace, went to the gate of the palace first, handed over the fold to say hello, and then led by the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he went to the Danbo Jingcheng Hall to pay homage to the Zigong, and wept bitterly.After returning to the hotel, before I can change my clothes, there will be distinguished guests visiting, entertaining until late at night, and there is another most important visitor to be received. This visitor is Cao Yuying.He knew Shengbao's temper, even though it was late at night, he paid homage to him in official uniform, and when they met, he performed the grand ceremony of attending the hall as a subordinate.In Shengbao's school year, Gengyao's demeanor was domineering to the military officer of Hongdingzi, and he was regarded as a servant, but he was very polite to the aides, so he avoided Cao Yuying's big gift, and Cao Yuying invited him a "double security" , he returned a bow.Then, the guests were invited to change into plain clothes, and extended into the small living room, where they had a private conversation with wine. Of course, it started with the itinerary. Shengbao told Cao Yuying that when he left Beijing, Prince Gong hadn't returned to Beijing, but they met during the journey and had a long night's talk.He also said: "Prince Gong takes special care of you. When it comes to doing well, you might as well follow the advice of the old man. A martial artist has no other skills. He only read a few books and knows how to salute the soldiers of the world!" His pair of big sunglasses covered half of his face, and he was twitching a mustache, laughing loudly. Cao Yuying didn't dare to be contemptuous just because of his seemingly bold and unrestrained demeanor, but still replied with trepidation: "Master Sheng speaks seriously. If you ask me, you will know everything." "To each other, to each other." Sheng Bao went on to say, "As soon as I arrived today, I saw the hair that scolded Dong Yuanchun. Su Liu went too far." "Yes." Cao Yuying agreed, while thinking about what to say next. Not allowing him to open his mouth, Shengbao changed his tone: "However, Dong Yuanchun really deserves to be reprimanded! Can such words be listened to by Datian?" Upon hearing this, Cao Yuying complimented casually: "Of course it can't be compared with Mr. Sheng's memorial." Shengbao's important memorials have always been done by himself. Cao Yuying's compliment was exactly what he wanted, so he was very happy. "It's not impossible to discuss with the curtain." How do you say that?" Hearing his tone, it seemed that he was very eager to try, but he was afraid that he would be like Dong Yuanchun, ignoring the timing, and rushing to present Zou, which would bring a problem to the two empress dowagers, so Cao Yuying thought for a while, and answered like this He said: "This is the great plan of the country. It is not suitable for important ministers who are not attached to Chinese and foreign material expectations, and it is useless to speak, but it is my humble opinion that we have to wait until we return to the city before we can talk about this." "Well, well!" Shengbao nodded and said, "This is a matter that should be delayed rather than urgent. If you don't plan everything out, you should not act rashly." "Yes! It shows that Mr. Sheng is so experienced in seeking the country, he really lives up to the knowledge of the late emperor Teda." Sheng Bao smiled slightly, expressing his gratitude, and then changed the subject, talking about all the deeds of the eight ministers of Gu Ming.Cao Yuying also talked a lot about what he had seen and heard in a calm tone, and Sheng kept his cup to listen, tapping the marble table lightly from time to time, appearing rather hesitant. After he finished speaking, Shengbao said: "Gu Ming was originally made by the ancestors, but the current situation is beyond the expectation of the late emperor. I insulted the late emperor to know, handed down the edict to reward him, and knew that I was 'dedicated to the country' Naturally, I can’t just sit and watch.” At this point, he stood up, took two steps, took out a green jade snuff bottle, picked up a pinch of snuff, and sucked it vigorously. Cao Yuying didn't speak, but kept her gaze around him, waiting for him to make an important decision. "At this time, it is not yet possible to follow what Fenquan did. Because the rebellion of the eight ministers has not been revealed in the end. Zhuo Weng," Sheng Bao asked, "what do you think? " Fu Quan was a senior official of the Chu State in the Spring and Autumn Period. He used to give military advice. Shengbao used this allusion to express that he was still unwilling to use force to change the political situation. purpose, he fully agrees with. So, he calmly replied: "Master Sheng is very right. If there is any action at this time, I am afraid that the two palaces will be disturbed, and the day of returning to the city will change, which is not good. Besides, tigers and leopards are in the mountains, so we might as well make a plan for the future." move. Otherwise...." Cao Yuying didn't say any more, and Shengbao didn't ask any more questions. They had already reached an impediment. At this moment, Sushun had great power and was in a hurry. He could eliminate Shengbao's military power. Wouldn't it be self-defeating? "Fortunately, the time to return to the city is coming soon, and they will not be blatant and plotting in front of them." Shengbao paused, took off the big pair of sunglasses, stared and said: "I am here, forgive me They don't dare to disagree!" Cao Yuying also felt that Shengbao's trip, although he did nothing, was enough to deter him, but after he returned to Beijing, he needed to give his full support, so he specifically said: "Master Sheng must wait for the two palaces to return to the city safely, before you can go back to the city." It’s good to leave Beijing and go back to the defense.” "Naturally, naturally." This can be regarded as a conclusion invisibly, and Cao Yuying said goodbye happily.As soon as he got home, a servant came up to greet him and reported in a low voice, saying that King Chun had an invitation, and the person he sent was still waiting in the porter's room. Invited late at night, and not going to sit and wait, it is obvious that there must be an extremely important matter to discuss, so Cao Yuying did not go back in, and the original car turned to King Jin's mansion.As soon as they saw him get off the car, someone came up to say hello.Without saying anything, he turned on the light and led him into the back garden. King Chun was already waiting in the flower hall. "I heard that you are at Sheng Kezhai's place?" King Chun asked without caring about the pleasantries. "Yes, I just got back from him." "How did the talk go?" Chun Wang said again, "The higher-ups are very concerned about his visit. This man has a temper, and the higher-ups are a little worried. He won't act recklessly, will he?" Cao Yuying didn't answer his words first, but asked: "How does the Seventh Prince know that 'the superiors are not at ease'? But what did Qi Fujin bring back?" "That's right. My wife was summoned into the palace in the afternoon." King Chun waved his hand: "Come here!" As he said that, he lifted the curtain by himself and entered the back room, Cao Yuying naturally followed him in, looked up, and unexpectedly, Qifujin was inside, and wanted to leave in a panic, but King Chun stopped him. "It doesn't matter! My wife has two words, and I want to tell you personally." Then Qi Fujin asked with a smile: "This must be Mr. Cao?" Cao Yuying agreed, flicked her sleeves, reported her name respectfully, greeted her, stood up and said, "Qi Fujin has something to say, please tell me!" "It's not that I have something to say." "There are two sentences above, let her pass it on to you." Chun Wang intervened and said, "Stand and listen." "The two empress dowagers also know that Mr. Cao has been on duty for many years. He is very loyal and capable. When I enter the palace today, the two empress dowagers specially asked me to tell Mr. Cao face to face. The hard work, the higher-ups naturally know." Unexpectedly, it was the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces who ordered Qi Fujin to deliver a decree to comfort her personally!Cao Yuying felt grateful and apprehensive at the same time, she didn't know what else to say besides answering "yes" repeatedly. "Master Qi, let's sit outside with Mr. Cao!" Hearing Qifu Jin's words, Cao Yuying just woke up, so she invited another Ann and said: "Please ask Qifu Jin to return to the queen mother of the two palaces, Cao Yuying dare not be unsatisfied." "Okay, I will play back for you." Sure enough, Cao Yuying served her life sincerely.That night, he had a secret discussion with King Chun and tried his best.King Jin conveyed the secret orders brought back by Qi Fujin, saying that the two palaces are of one mind, and that the eight ministers of Gu Ming must never stay any longer.How to deal with it, and when to do it, the two empress dowagers have no prejudices. There is only one request, and this matter must be handled safely and carefully. Under this request, Cao Yuying opened up the general situation for King Chun, detailed the progress of the deployment in all aspects, and then proposed the steps in an orderly manner, and at the same time made a distribution of duties. "What about me?" Chun Wang asked, "What will I do then?" "I have a nice job for the Seventh Prince." After speaking, she leaned into his ear and whispered a few words. "Okay, okay! Sure enough, it's a beautiful errand!" King Chun smiled happily, stopped laughing and asked, "What about you? Of course it's up to you to pass the secret edict." "To tell you the truth, the Seventh Prince, that's a matter of course." "Since it's decided, you should do it earlier! It's easy to deal with the work after it's done." "Don't be busy!" Cao Yuying replied calmly: "First, I have to deliberate carefully; second, send it in early, if it leaks, the whole thing will be closed, which is not good." "That's true. Then when will it be sent in?" "Wait to send it in the day before the departure." At this time, King Jin was already very attracted to him and obeyed his words, so the more interesting he talked, the better, and before he knew it, the dawn was about to be revealed.Naturally, Cao Yuying didn't need to sleep anymore, so she had a sumptuous breakfast at Chun Wang's place, took a short rest, and drove to the palace gate to go to work. After picking up the discount and finishing the routine affairs of the day to an end, his spirit was a little bit overwhelmed.Usually his health is not very good, his diet is on the verge of respite, he should always be careful, but now he feels that the task is difficult and he must take care of himself, so he pulled Xu Geng aside, whispered the reason, and entrusted him to take care of the shift, but to others , I just excused my poor stomach, so I resigned first. As soon as I got home, I ordered the door to block any guests that day, and then undressed and went to bed.This sleep did not get up until noon, after lunch, drinking tea, recalling all the things Xiao Lai had talked with King Chun, and felt that Zhu Xueqin should be notified immediately, and passed on to King Gong. So I closed the door in my study and wrote a very long letter.This letter was of course important, but it was not too urgent, and there was no need to borrow the courier from the Ministry of Heavy Military, so he sealed it himself and sent a capable servant to deliver it to the capital. At that time, it was still early and the spirit was not bad, so I planned to draw up the edict that I would use as soon as I returned to Beijing.First, I took Jiao Youying's main manuscript to refute Dong Yuanchun's "Mingfa", and carefully considered it sentence by sentence, and felt that the four words "Sincerity and Heart" just happened to be "to use the spear of the son to attack the shield of the son." After this point, the general idea of ​​the whole article is immediately available.Zhang Jing of the military aircraft has always been writing rhetorical edicts, and it has become a habit. Even if the time is leisurely, he refuses to sit and think carefully, so he took a piece of paper, picked up a pen and wrote: "To the princes and officials: last year, the sea and the border Unrest and martial law in the capital were caused by the planning of the king and ministers who were in charge. Zaiyuan and others could not do their best to negotiate a peace agreement, but only lured the British envoys to take their own responsibilities. The emperor's inspection tour of Rehe was a last resort, and it is the last resort of the sacred heart. After the affairs of the various countries, the kings and ministers have properly managed the affairs that should be handled by each country, and the peace is as usual inside and outside the gate." I wrote it here in one breath, and it became a long paragraph. After reading it myself, I feel that the wording is sparse and rough, which is in line with the tone of helplessness and delay in conveying the message.It is also appropriate to attribute "the peace and tranquility inside and outside the gate of the capital" to Prince Gong who is in charge of the "government of affairs of various countries".I was proud of my heart, and my writing was flowing, but just as I was writing again, the servant reported outside the door that a guest had arrived. Cao Yuying was very upset, and cursed in an official tone: "You bastard! Didn't I tell you a long time ago, didn't you all go ahead?" "It's Master Xu." It turned out to be Xu Geng.There is no reason to block the driver, and it is wrong to blame the servant.At that time, I ordered you to sit in the small living room, hesitated for a while, and finally burned the unfinished draft before coming out to meet the guests. After meeting for a while, Xu Geng took out an envelope from the boot leaf, handed it to him with both hands, and said with a smile, "I don't have to worry about the expenses under the festival!" Cao Yuying didn't answer, and asked, "What is it?" "Sheng Kezhai gave it to me, and I decided to accept it for you. Don't you think I'm presumptuous?" Take it over and take a look. It says "Jie Jing" on it, signed by Sheng Bao.Inside is a silver ticket from a Shanxi bank in the capital: "With the ticket, it will be exchanged for four hundred taels of flat foot pattern." Cao Yuying held the bank note, quite surprised.The officials in Beijing are so poor that they had to rely on the frontier officials to share their profits. There are many festivals and festivals. There are many names for "Ice Respect" in summer and "Charcoal Respect" in winter.When the governors and feudal officials come to Beijing, they all have to entertain. All expenses range from 20,000 to 30,000 to 100,000 to 80,000; It doesn't matter if you are safe and sound, and it doesn't matter if you spend a few more.But giving away four hundred taels is too big a deal, and most of these gifts are usually given by oneself or by relatives to private houses. It seems unreasonable to openly distribute them at military planes like Shengbao. When he was meditating like this, Xu Geng could already see his thoughts, and immediately explained: "Although Sheng Kezhai didn't care, I was a little embarrassed at the time. Thinking about it carefully, I have to accept it. There are two reasons." "Oh!" Hearing what he said, Cao Yuying felt a little more relaxed, "Please tell me the details." "First, everyone knows Sheng Kezhai's temper. If he doesn't accept it, he will lose face. He invites him here, but offends him. Why bother?" "Um, uh. Second?" "Secondly, everyone made the 'Palace Lantern' extremely harsh. If you don't accept one of them, everyone is embarrassed to accept it. This August and a half will be miserable." Cao Yuying didn't take this reason seriously, but it's inconvenient to say it now, so I just asked: "How much is each colleague?" "Two hundred taels." Xu Geng lowered his voice again and said, "Of course the other party will know, and I want to know what I mean, so show no ambition!" With these words, Cao Yuying was relieved, not only relieved, but also pleased: "Uncle Xing! Your thoughtfulness is beyond my reach." "Absurd award, absurd award!" Xu Geng arched his hands and said, "If there is nothing else, I will leave." "No, let me ask you something. How are you doing under the festival, can you still pay?" He said, and handed the bank note to him. "No need!" Xu Geng shrank his hands, "My uncle knew about my situation here, so he sent me five hundred taels of silver to supplement me. Let me tell you the truth, Sheng Kezhai's two hundred taels were only transferred to me once. Turn around and go out again immediately." "If that's the case, I won't be polite to you. But..." Cao Yuying handed over the bank note again, "I entrust you to arrange it. If the family is burdened and the situation is difficult, you will distribute it for me according to your ability." "Good! I'd be more than happy to oblige." "Please, please." Cao Yuying asked again, "In Uncle Ling's letter, did you mention those elders?" Asked about this, Xu Geng sat down and told his master that the Beijing Central Committee was also launching a discussion about the curtain, and the person in charge seemed to be Zhou Zupei, a university scholar, and his teacher was Li Ciming, a famous scholar who has risen in recent years.Zhou Zupei asked him to research the story of the queen mother's appellation system in the previous dynasty. Li Ciming wrote an article called "Preparation for the Imperial Dynasty", which listed Empress Xi Deng of the Han Dynasty, Empress Shunlie Liang, Empress Kangxian Chu of the Jin Dynasty, and Empress Kang Xianchu of the Song Dynasty. In the early Liao Dynasty, the wise Empress Xiao, Empress Yiren, Empress Zhangxian Liu of the Song Dynasty, Empress Dowager Guangxian Cao, and Empress Xuanrengao, a total of eight stories were used as the basis for the discussion. "This is very fun!" Cao Yuying laughed, "Even Empress Dowager Xiao from "The Order of Sitting in the Palace" has moved out!" After chatting and laughing like this for a while, Xu Geng left.After dinner, Cao Yuying lit two bright candles, took advantage of the cool autumn and quiet, and wrote down the secret decree "to the princes and officials" with great interest. In a small safe bought from a foreign company.Rubbing his eyes, blowing out the candle, looking at the clear moonlight, imagining the earth-shattering shock caused by the decree when it was announced to the ministers, I felt an indescribable dignity and satisfaction in my heart.