Chapter 35 second quarter

At that time, there were rumors outside, but I only knew that there was a major reversal in the court situation, but I didn't know the details?Because this coup d'état that could shake Nine Cities, in Beijing, only Zaiyuan and Duanhua were taken to Jiaozong's mansion, which is an obvious sign, and this sign only appears in the inner court, not the outside world. .At the same time, most of the officials above the third grade have left the city to live in Qinghe, a dozen miles away from Deshengmen, in order to welcome Zigong, and they don't even know about this change in Beijing.Generally, low-level officials are not qualified to hear the secrets of high-level officials, and they can't even inquire about them. It is inconvenient to talk about it openly, so as not to get involved in the whirlpool for no reason, so these rumors did not cause any waves in the officialdom.

On the contrary, the folks got the news earlier and truer than the official circles, especially the residents in the Xichenghuangmuchang area. They learned from the dismissed sedan chairmen and attendants the day before that Prince Zheng was dismissed from the rank and arrested. It was discovered that there were more soldiers patrolling bravely near the Prince Zheng's mansion. On the evening of the first day of October, I finally saw Sushun ransacking the house again. It was Wen Xiang who came to copy it himself in a green woolen sedan chair. His entourage included not only the military officer of the yamen commanding the infantry, but also the officials of the yamen of the Clan Mansion, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Punishment, and the magistrates of Shuntian Mansion.These entourages have entourages, and each of them has several extremely capable book clerks.As soon as we arrived at the residence of Sushun in Pichai Hutong of Erlongkeng, which was opposite Wangheng of Prince Zheng's Mansion, the infantry commanded the army under the right-wing commander, and immediately surrounded the surroundings. The whip was swishing and rattling, but the onlookers couldn't be driven away. They stood in the distance one by one, watching Wen Xiang get off the sedan chair, lead his entourage, and enter Sushun's house with amazement.

Sushun's wife had passed away a long time ago, and his two aunts and grandmothers were with him, and they were also arrested in the secret room at this time. There were only two sons in the family, and each of the two aunts and grandmothers gave birth to one. The eldest was thirteen years old, and his name was Zhengshan. Duanhua was inherited as the son of Prince Zheng, the youngest was Chengshan, only eight years old, he was born like Sushun, he was not afraid of anything, seeing so many people came, he thought it was very fun, he had to come out to watch the fun. Except for Chengshan, all the teachers, tents, butlers, servants, and maidservants in Sushun's family were trembling with fear, and none of them dared to speak to Wenxiang.Fortunately, Wen Xiang also understood this situation. When he sat down in the living room, he first ordered his attendants: "This job must be done beautifully and neatly! If anyone's hands and feet are not clean, don't blame me for not being sympathetic."

"Cha!" The attendants agreed in unison. "Also, 'the crime is not as good as his wife and children', Sushun's crime has nothing to do with his family members. Don't make things difficult for others! " "Cha!" The attendants agreed again in unison. The task of copying that part has been assigned long ago. Seeing that Wen Xiang has nothing to say, everyone wants to spread out, but Wen Xiang shouted again: "Wait! Get the housekeeper here!" Sushun's housekeeper knew that he had to show up because he couldn't bear it, so he had been waiting by the hall wearing a big hat. Hearing this, he ran over, took off his big hat and kowtowed for Wen Xiang, and gave his name.

"Your master's eldest child, has he passed away?" Wen Xiang asked. "Yes. Adopted to Sifang." That refers to Duanhua—Duanhua Xingsi. "Are you here now?" "exist!" "Send the two little brothers to his fourth uncle. It belongs to the two brothers, take them away as much as possible." At this time, Yang Yuansan was standing beside Wen Xiang, understanding what he meant, and woke up Sushun's housekeeper: "You have to understand Mr. Wen's words, it belongs to the two brothers, and you can take it away as much as possible. You should hurry up." Son!"

Sushun's housekeeper woke up like a dream, kowtowed in thanks, and left in a hurry.This is Wen Xiang's kindness, let them take some soft things out, and sell them to make ends meet.Sushun's housekeeper had already understood, and knew that he would not allow him to take care of things calmly. When he got inside, he discussed with the teachers and accountants. So they ran into the upper room together, took an ax to split the box, first looked for jewelry, second calligraphy and painting antiques, and then picked large fur goods, and filled two boxes full.At that time, the servants of the whole family, according to word of mouth, also rushed to the upper room, took advantage of the fire to rob, and picked out good things to carry on their bodies.There were two or three more decent ones who yelled to stop others from looting, but they couldn't stop them, and they were jealous when they saw people getting rich, so they finally fell into the muddy water.

After going on like this for half an hour, I heard the outside shout: "Everyone inside comes out!" Everyone turned around and looked out the window, only to see a military officer with a knife, leading several soldiers and servants, entering the yard, and then dodged to the sides to make way for Wen Xiang, who walked peacefully, walked in, looked up, Immediately he frowned. The people in the house came out one by one evasively, and the two large suitcases were also moved to the corridor. Sushun's housekeeper found Zhengshan and Chengshan and asked them to kowtow to Wenxiang to thank them.

Thinking of Sushun Xuntian's arrogance and such a bleak end today, Wen Xiang felt very sad. Apart from the national law, the only thing that can help Sushun is to take care of his descendants.So Wen Xiang asked their brothers to stand up, and with the qualifications of elders, he comforted and said: "You two should go to your fourth uncle's place and study hard. After all, your father also contributed to the court. He is a talent. In the future, you two Learn from his talent, don't learn from his temper." At this point, he turned to Sushun's housekeeper: "I will send someone to send you out. I will leave your two little masters to you!

You have to show your conscience.Otherwise, hum! " He tensed his face, frightened Sushun's housekeeper, and hurriedly knelt down: "I dare not!" "I forgive you for not daring." After saying this, Wen Xiang ordered Yang Da to send brother Zhengshan and the housekeeper, including people and things, to Prince Zheng's residence. The rest of the people wanted to take advantage of this and slip away, but Wen Xiang had already prepared himself, ordered an interception and search, and searched out all the things they robbed and stuffed in their arms.The most unlucky thing was that teacher, a Hanyu pendant tied to his trouser belt was also confiscated as something rebellious.

"You can't take this!" The teacher protested, "This piece of jade is a family heirloom for three generations!" The person who searched for him was an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the tradition of flying under the Five Banners, he looked down on teachers and called him a "teacher". So when he heard what he said, he was furious: "Fuck you! A teacher is a thief, throwing your house away. A man from three generations of ancestors!" After speaking, he was slapped on the top and booted on the bottom, kicking him into a somersault.

"You are not allowed to beat people!" Wen Xiang said in a deep voice, and saw another guard molesting the maidservant by taking the opportunity of the search, so he shouted again: "No frivolity!" In this way, not allowing this, not allowing that, Wen Xiang set up strict enforcement rules for everyone.After the search is over, those who took advantage of the fire will be driven into the vacant house. Except for the cook in the big kitchen, who can work as usual, and two or three accountants, who must accompany them to work, the rest of the people are temporarily under house arrest. up. "Everyone, spread out and work separately!" One order, full action.How many classes have been assigned in advance, each class has at least three people, as many as five or six people, and the highest-ranking person is used as a temporary leader. He does not do anything, but only uses his eyes. Half of the accounts are kept, and the search of the house is called "registration confiscation", which must be registered in the book. Wen Xiang himself also led a team inside, and this team copied Sushun's study, mainly to check Sushun's personal documents.As soon as he walked into his spacious and exquisite study room, the most striking thing was a large safe next to the desk.Needless to say, if Sushun has any confidential documents, they must be placed here. Here comes a problem, the safe needs not only the key, but also the password to the Western numerals, the key is of course Sushun himself with him, and only he knows the password. "What should I do?" Wen Xiang looked around and asked, "Who knows this foreign thing?" Everyone looked at each other, unable to answer, even the most capable secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was helpless. At this time, Yang Da had already sent Brother Zhengshan to Prince Zheng's Mansion, and came back to deal with business. After seeing the situation, he had an idea: "Master Wang of the Prime Minister's Commercial Office must have a way to get him out." "That's right, that's right!" Wen Xiang was overjoyed, "You reminded me, hurry up and invite Master Wang here." Mr. Wang refers to a Zhang Jing of the prime minister’s commercial yamen. This man has drunk foreign ink and has been in Shanghai for many years.But the prime minister's commercial office was in Dongcheng, and it took a while to come and go, so Wen Xiang first opened Sushun's desk drawer, took out the manuscripts and letters inside, read it, and waited. I don't know how long I waited, but Master Wang came and brought a foreigner with him.After seeing the ceremony, the foreigner took out a large bunch of keys and tried them left and right, then put his ears on the number dial, turned it slowly, and listened intently.Those officials who ransacked the house had never seen such a lock unlocked before, and they stopped their hands one by one, looking at it with great interest. The tense face of the foreigner finally showed joy, and then he opened the heavy box door.Wen Xiang was overjoyed, and asked Master Wang to thank the foreigner. After being polite to each other, the foreigner was still taken away by Master Wang. In the safe, as Wen Xiang expected, there is nothing too valuable, but there are many documents.Most of them are secret letters sent to Sushun by others. After a little reading, the writers either use aliases, or use anonymous names, or just write "well-known", or even have no names at all.You don't need to look at the content, just look at these, and you will know that there are many words that are not humane. This is a very rich harvest, but after reading one or two letters, Wen Xiang felt that the situation was serious. Because these secret letters, although the names are not obvious, the wording is cryptic, and it seems inexplicable to outsiders, but in Wen Xiang's eyes, most of them can find the correct explanation.First of all, from the handwriting, he can recognize the person who sent the letter, and from the experience of the person who sent the letter, can he infer what those cryptic words refer to?In this way, people are known by words, people are asked for things, and they are carefully searched and explained, and seven or eight out of ten can be explained, and in the seven or eight out of ten that can be explained, it is confirmed that the rumors outside are not groundless. There have been such rumors for a long time that Su Shun has a different ambition. Naturally, most of these rumors are absurd, but they also seem to be reasonable. For example, Su Shun supports the Hunan Army, saying that he is cultivating his own Power, and courtesy and corporals are nothing more than Wang Mang's year.It's just that no matter how these rumors spread, no one dared to pursue them seriously, and no one dared to admit that he had said these words. Don't dare to provoke him. Naturally, Wen Xiang has heard many such rumors, and he thinks they are ridiculous. He doesn't believe that Sushun would do such a foolish thing. He is at most a powerful minister, not a rebel.Wen Xiang didn't even believe that anyone would dare to "persuade" Sushun, because that was not the virtue of loving others, but at this moment, Wen Xiang felt that his thinking was wrong. Among those letters, the most suspicious ones are the letter from Chen Fuen, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, with some ambiguous words, and the so-called "six sons of Sumen" - all from Hunan, Wang Kaiyun, Li Shourong, Yan Xian, Huang Hanxian, Zheng Mizhi Deng Baozhi, these people are considered "celebrities", scholars still have a long-standing habit of commenting on people, criticizing current affairs, and making high-level remarks, which is unavoidable. Naturally, the arrogant words that show off for a while will naturally be regarded as evidence of rebellion.At the same time, in these letters, it is inevitable to quote other people's opinions, which will lead to a lot of right and wrong, and will cause a big prison that is difficult to deal with. Thinking of this, Wen Xiang was terrified!I can't take a closer look at it for a while, so it's important to check all these things first.So in the safe and the desk drawer, I put all the documents, and two account books in which others gave money to Sushun, and Sushun gave money to others, wrapped them into a bag, sealed it tightly, drew the monogram by myself, and carried it with me. , get on the sedan chair first, and go to see Prince Gong to discuss how to deal with it. At that time, news of the coup had spread throughout Nine Cities.There are three sources of information, the most obvious one is naturally the cabinet's official decree, but at this time, only a few people can be seen, followed by the Pichai alley, the conspicuous house raids, and the solemn and respectful people talked about by the visitors from Miyun. Shun was asked.All the officials, big business houses outside the front door, and teahouses and restaurants all made this a topic of discussion. In those discussions, most of them welcomed the new government. This was not only due to Prince Gong's prestige, but also because five of the six military ministers were originally in the capital. This had an unexpected effect. People in the capital, I feel that these five ministers of military aircraft shared the difficulties with the common people when "foreign devils came in", so I have a kind of affectionate feeling psychologically. They were especially lucky for Prince Gong, thinking that he had suffered a lot of grievances in the past. Emperor Xianfeng should not have treated his brothers badly. Of course, if you sympathize with Prince Gong, you must not take Sushun for granted, especially those bannermen and companies related to the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all clapped their hands and applauded. Those firms colluded with the Ministry of Households officials to commit fraud for the sake of Wuyu Ziguan's money, and they suffered losses because of Sushun's vigorous and resolute actions. With grievances and grievances, it is unfair to speak, and blame Sushun for the sharp rise in silver prices, the depreciation of money notes, and the impact on the livelihood of ordinary people. Of course, no one will know that Sushun is eager to set a "Qixiang" year No. I just want to mint new money as soon as possible and redeem the bad money bills, so as to stabilize the price of silver and stabilize prices.Even Li Ciming, a famous scholar who is proud of his knowledge of the past and the present, can't save the capital, let alone a common man. In addition to grievances, the most important thing is the interest.Gu Ming's eight ministers have all collapsed, and those who rely on them as their backers are like ants on a hot pot. They all want to find out the detailed inside story, so as to avoid them.But knowing that the color is too strong, it is inconvenient to show up in public, so I have to hide at home and worry. In addition, those who have suffered in Sushun's hands, who have been suppressed and have no ambitions, are quite different from those who are frustrated. start. The gates of Prince Gong and Guiliang's mansion were too high to step in. Shen Zhaolin, Wen Xiang, and Bao Yun were all red-capped men, and it was rare to climb high, so the targets were concentrated on two people, one was Cao Yuying and the other was Zhu Xueqin. Cao Yuying was very busy. In addition to dealing with the Zhang Zuo's edict that was suppressed during his return to Luan, he also had another very important task: to appease the generals who were away.The central coup will inevitably affect the morale of the troops in front. When the Hunan Army is doing its best, the death of Hu Linyi, who was sitting in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and coordinating with all parties, is enough to damage morale. Another Sushun, who supported the Hunan Army the most, may be killed. It will arouse suspicion and provoke accidents.If this is the case, the consequences will be extremely serious. Even if the eight officials in the capital took over the power smoothly from Gu Ming's eight ministers, the coup d'état launched this time will still not be considered a success. Prince Gong and Wen Xiang have seen this for a long time, and Cao Yuying and Zhu Xueqin are also well aware of the benefits involved. Therefore, the two discussed and wrote letters to important governors in various places in the name of Prince Gong. The most important point, apart from the origin of the sin, is the strong implication that their support will only increase, not decrease, than in the past.The wording of these letters is very difficult, too much or too little, it is not appropriate.So I was busy at the military plane until it was time to turn on the lights before I could go home. As soon as Cao Yuying arrived home, the congratulators from Yingmen came out to greet him, congratulating him one after another on his new life, being admitted as a cardinal, and then surrounded him in. There was still a group of people waiting in the hall, and they went around again as before. But when the door came to report, another guest came. Cao Yuying saw that the situation was not good, Prince Gong still had a lot of things to discuss, and the next morning he had to go out of the city to Qinghe to greet Zigong, so he had time to socialize with these people?Therefore, he didn't take off his robe or gown, and didn't go into the upper room. He gave a wink to a confidant servant who was close to him, and then sat in the hall to accompany the guests. After exchanging pleasantries, Cao Yuying's same year asked a question, and he asked very frankly: "Zuo Weng, there are rumors outside that the decree of asking the 'Three Evils' came from a large sum of money, is there such a thing?" It was the first time Cao Yuying heard of the term "Three Evils". Gu Yan said, "The 'Three Evils'? Could it be Yi, Zheng Liangwang and Su Zhongtang?" The person who asked the question was a little embarrassed, but those who had experienced the situation still politely used their official titles to Zaiyuan and the others. The irrelevant outsiders have already convicted them and given them the notoriety of "three evils". This time, the other guests didn't dare to speak indiscriminately, and only talked about insignificant things in general, but one person asked, in Cao Yuying's view, very relevant, asking about the new emperor's year name, but still using "" Qixiang"? He didn't have time to answer, and in fact it was very difficult to answer. Fortunately, his confidant servant arranged for him to escape. He held a business card on the door, went to the hall, bent one knee and slapped him with A very clear voice announced: "Prince Gong sent someone to say, please go to the palace immediately, and discuss something important." Those guests who wanted to inquire about news or make friends had to get up one after another and bid farewell sadly.Cao Yuying originally wanted to go to Jianyuan in Daxiangfeng Hutong, saw off the guests, then got into the car and drove straight to Prince Gong's villa. Prince Gong and Wen Xiang had already talked for a while, and when they saw Cao Yuying arriving, they immediately said, "You came just in time. I have a problem, and you have an idea, what should I do with this package?" Cao Yuying was baffled, opened the paper package that Prince Gong pointed out, and saw that there were many letters, picked up one, and after a little inspection, he knew that it was from Sushun's house, so he put it down immediately. "Could it be that there is something in it about the language?" he asked. "You'll know it when you look at it." Seeing Prince Gong's serious face and Wen Xiang's serious face, Cao Yuying knew that he had guessed right. He pushed the letter and said calmly, "It's better not to read it!" "Watch!" Prince Gong suddenly called out, startling both Wen Xiang and Cao Yuying. He looked at him in a daze, but he looked at Cao Yuying again and asked, "Zuoru, why don't you read these letters?" ? To avoid worrying about right and wrong, isn’t it?” Cao Yuying nodded with a smile: "Your Majesty, Mingjian!" He said: "If there is something related to the same year, I can't plead for them, and I can't treat it as nothing. It's better not to see it, and not to worry about it." "What a 'out of sight, out of mind'!" Wen Xiang smiled wryly, "Zhuo Ru, you are luckier than me." It can be seen that Wen Xiang felt very embarrassed after reading those letters.Cao Yuying thought to herself, how many people's lives and wealth were implicated in these letters, it would be best to burn them, it was also a sinful act.But it is inconvenient to say these words hastily, so I have to suppress them first before speaking. He had just thought about it, but Prince Gong had already put it into action. He wrapped the envelope with his own hands, "I haven't looked at it carefully." He said, "Zuoru's method is the best, just ignore it. Wait for the matter." It's almost settled, I will hear about the two palaces and destroy them in public, so that everyone can feel at ease." "Excellent, excellent!" Wen Xiang blurted out his praise, feeling relieved, "It is a blessing for the country to deal with it like this." "Only in this way can people's hearts be settled, and together we can maintain the overall situation. I wish you two have the opportunity to tell everyone, don't be alarmed. But..." Prince Gong pondered for a while and then said: "There are a few people who must do it!" "Those named 'Su Dang' should not be generalized. If there are no traces, you might as well be lenient." Wen Xiang advised. "Of course." Prince Gong said, "I want to take care of two people, one is Chen Fuen and the other is Huang Zonghan." Cao Yuying didn't find it strange that Chen Fuen was going to be dealt with. Chen Fuen was famous for his ability, but he was also famous for his cunning.As for Huang Zonghan, he served successively as Fengjiang, with mixed reputations, and among the Qingliu celebrities, he was quite close, such as Weng Xincun, Weng Tong and his father and son, who were very close. Although he had doubts in his heart, he did not express it verbally.Wen Xiang has always advocated generosity, but Cao Yuying is not what it used to be. He used to be a military officer Zhang Jing, but the counselors behind the scenes may as well know everything about their schemes. The title is "Learning to walk on a military plane", but after all, he is the Minister of Military Aircraft who is in charge of the country, so he must learn the demeanor of "the prime minister can pull a boat in his belly".And Kuang Sushun is too sharp and likes to offend people, the same mistakes are not far away, how can he be unruly?So they kept a prudent silence on what Prince Gong wanted to do with Chen Fuen and Huang Zonghan. In this way, Prince Gong doesn't have to talk any more.Cao Yuying suddenly thought of a question, "Someone asked me just now," he said, "Is the current reign name still using 'Qixiang'?" At this point, both King Gong and Wen Xiang stood up, "By the way," King Gong said loudly, "Of course you can't use 'Qixiang'! This is Sushun's year name. He turned to ask again: "Bo Chuan! I seem to have heard you say that Elder Zhi has made a proposal. Is that so?" "Zhi Lao" refers to Zhou Zupei, "Yes!" Wen Xiang replied, "the title of 'Qi Xiang' has been criticized by some people. Li Ciming, Zhi Lao's teacher, has many opinions." "How did he say?" "It's nothing more than a scholar's opinion." Wen Xiang said again: "It's no wonder he didn't know Su Liu's intentions. Li Ciming criticized the meaning of the word 'Qi Xiang' as inconsistent, and the word Qi has never been used in ancient times. The character is only the reign title of Song Shaodi'Xiangxing'." "Isn't that an ominous number?" "Yes!" Wen Xiang replied, "Now we might as well use what he said as an excuse." Prince Gong was noncommittal, but only asked, "How can you say that the meaning is not in order?" "Qi is Xiang." Cao Yuying explained, "Qi Xiang is used repeatedly, it seems to be too repetitive." "By the way, that's a better way of saying it." Prince Gong also said without conscience: "Su Liu was eager to change the yuan to make new money, which is not wrong. We also have to find ways to make money to equalize the price of silver." "This is inevitable." Wen Xiang then proposed the proposed new year name: "It is said that it was also Li Ciming's proposal, advocating the use of 'Xi furnace, or' Qianxi'." "What's the point of this?" "The Kangxi and Qianlong dynasties were the most prosperous in this dynasty. Shengzu and Gaozong had the most blessings and the most eternal enjoyment. They each took one character and used 'xi furnace' or 'ganxi'. It is an auspicious year name." King Gong didn't take it seriously, because no matter "Xi Lu or Qian Xi", they deliberately set aside Yongzheng, which made people think that there was a taboo in it. Wasn't Yongzheng fratricidal? Comparing the present to the past, it seems that the overthrow of the Gu Ming system is an intentional follow-up Daxing Emperor can't make it through! How can this be? So Prince Gong said disdainfully: "This Li Ciming is really a scholar! And he is a scholar who has never seen the world. No, neither 'Xilu' nor 'Qianxi' can be used. Think about it!" Then they talked about other things, because they had to go to Qinghe to meet Zigong the next day, so they left early.In the early morning of the next day, horses and chariots streamed out of Deshengmen, and the Qinghe River was crowded with crowds, making it very lively.