Chapter 20 Prequel to Empress Dowager Cixi (9-2)

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?" This is the first time Cao Yuying heard of the term "Three Evils". Gu Yan said: "'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 the overall situation can be maintained together. If you have the opportunity, you two might as well tell everyone, don't panic. 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, King Gong and Wen Xiang both stood up, "By the way," King Gong said loudly, "Of course you can't use 'Qixiang'! This is Sushun's reign name." He turned around and asked: "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, who advocated using 'Xilong' 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 'Xilong' or 'Qianxi'. It is an auspicious year name. " Prince Gong didn't take it seriously, because no matter "Xilong" or "Qianxi", they deliberately left Yongzheng aside, which made people think that there was a taboo in it. Wasn't Yongzheng fratricide?Comparing the present to the past, it seems that the overthrow of the Gu Ming system is intended to make life difficult for the Emperor Daxing!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 'Xilong' 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. There is only one main street in Qinghe. On the north side of the street, along the two sides of the road, each yamen has set up tents for the high officials to rest.The two inns on the street were all requisitioned, and the original tourists were invited out as a resting place for princes and ministers. Prince Gong borrowed another spacious residence for receiving guests.As soon as he arrived, he invited Jia Zhen, Zhou Zupei, and Zhao Guang, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, to talk about how to settle the charges against Gu Ming's eight ministers. Talking about the purpose of coming, Jia Zhen first said: "Shangyu sent the prince to meet with the cabinet and the ministries to discuss. Naturally, the prince will set the date." "Today and tomorrow, the Zi Palace will be in peace. The notice will be issued on the fourth day, and the fifth day will be the soonest." "It's the fifth day of the lunar new year!" Prince Gong accepted Zhou Zupei's suggestion, "I'm going to ask the two Prime Ministers to be overworked." This is a trivial matter, there is nothing to study, just let it go.What needs to be studied is that the crimes of Gu Ming's eight ministers should be discussed in advance, so that there will be no lawsuits and no clues during the meeting. So Zhao Guang, Shangshu of the Ministry of punishment, spoke.He is also the one who hates Sushun the most, because Sushun seized power and often violated the duties of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. One of the things that made Zhao Guang the most distressed was the case of the Wuwu examination room in the eighth year of Xianfeng, killing the academician Bai Ling.It is true that the atmosphere in the examination room needs to be rectified, but it is rare in ancient times to punish Zaifu for this reason. At that time, everyone thought that they would be pardoned to death. The son prepares his luggage so that he can go as soon as he hears the grace. How do you know that Emperor Daxing was really a Zhubi at that time who personally approved and killed Bai Ling.Zhao Guang clearly remembered that when the first emperor specially summoned the ministers to announce the decree face to face, their faces were miserable, and the hand holding the pen kept trembling.Sushun was the only one who gloated about his misfortune. When he left the Old Summer Palace, he exclaimed triumphantly, "Today I killed someone, today I killed someone!" Now he's going to kill someone too!Zhao Guang protested, "Sushun deserves to die! Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Yulu are not guilty of living. The other five should also be severely punished." "That is to say, the eight people are divided into three classes." Zhou Zupei made a summary: "Sushun is the first class, Zai Yuan and Duanhua are the first class, and the other five people are the first class. Is that so?" "The Shangyu Zhongyuan said, 'Separate the severity, and perform according to the law'. It is quite appropriate to divide them into three classes." Jia Zhen nodded his head in agreement. According to Zhao Guang's intention, the third class should be divided, and Xiang Kuangyuan echoed the most, it's another matter.However, both Jia Zhen and Zhou Zupei disagreed. Huang Zhen was from the same village as the guard, and Zhou Zupei thought of Jing Shou, who was the brother-in-law of King Gong. heavier than others. Zhao Guang's original intention was to let go of Sushun, so he didn't insist on it.At the moment they were talking, someone came to report that the vehicle escorting Sushun had crossed the Qinghe River and was on its way to Beijing.Then came to report: King Chun has arrived in Qinghe. Brothers are all excited to meet each other.Only during the great funeral, it is inconvenient to put a smile on the face.Jia, Zhou, and Zhao were all very knowledgeable, and after a salute and greetings with King Chun, who was all in suit, they said goodbye together, so that they could have a secret chat with their brothers. "How is Beijing?" Chun Wang asked first. "It's very nice in Beijing!" Prince Gong asked back, "How's the road going? I heard that Su Liu was yelling about lawlessness, what did he say?" "Anyway, lawless bullshit. But..." When the words were on the verge of speaking, they stopped suddenly, and Prince Gong wanted to ask more, but he didn't open his mouth, and only looked at King Chun with majestic eyes.He was most afraid of his sixth brother, so he had to tell the truth. "Su Liu cursed 'Ximian'." King Chun lowered his voice extremely low, "He said that when Emperor Taizu destroyed the four tribes of Haixi, Bu Yanggu, minister of Yehe, swore that among his descendants, even if There is only one woman left, and she wants to take revenge. Now this has been fulfilled, the Great Qing Dynasty will be handed over to Yehenala. He also said, 'Ximian' is a poisonous snake, be careful, one day she will bite back!" "Hmph!" Prince Gong just sneered, taking Sushun's words as a rage to vent his anger.Although there are legends that Yehenala and Aixinjueluo are feuds, and the beautiful women in the palace, it is absurd and nonsense not to choose Yehenala. Later, Emperor Taizong had a side concubine, the holy ancestor had a concubine Hui, and Gaozong had a concubine Shun, all of which came from Yehenala.As for the Empress Dowager Cixi, she is shrewd and decisive, not like a weak woman, but it is true, saying that she is a poisonous snake, one must guard against backlash, this is very ridiculous to Prince Gong. So Gu said to him, talking about King Jin's new position, King Gong was going to appoint one of Sushun's leftovers, Zheng Huangqi to lead the guards and internal ministers, to recommend him to be in charge of the guards of the Forbidden City.This is a very important errand, Chun Wang gladly accepts it. "Go to Beijing! The two palaces have a lot to ask you." So King Chun set off immediately, took a good horse from the imperial stables, and galloped back to Beijing with his guards.Arriving at Chongwenmen, just in time for Sushun's prison car to enter the city, King Chun personally escorted him to the clan mansion on Hubu Street, east of the imperial city, in order to be cautious and thoughtful on duty. There are many "vacant rooms" in the clan's mansion, which is an official name, and it is specially used for the confinement of offended clans.As soon as Sushun arrived, because he was a criminal ordered by the imperial court, the prime minister of the third rank came out to take care of him in person. After greeting King Chun, he lifted the curtain of the car to look at it, and then said to King Chun: "Your Majesty, please come back." Go! Leave it to me." Jin Wang originally wanted to wait for Sushun to get out of the car, verify his integrity, and formally deliver it, and then explain a few words of "careful guard" or other official accents, but he was afraid that Sushun would scold him like a bloody spout, so it would be better to think about it. If there is one less thing, why bother to make fun of yourself?So he nodded and walked away. Fu Cheng had also heard that Su Shun was rebellious and not easy to serve, so he was extra careful, took off the curtain of the car himself, bowed his waist and said: "Zhongtang, please come down." His hands were tied, closed Sushun, who was sitting quietly, opened his eyes, looked at him and asked, "Where are the two kings Yi and Zheng?" "In the back, there is a very spacious yard." "I want to be with the two of them, okay?" In Nafu Cheng's memory, Sushun has never been so humble, he has spoken to others in a consulting tone, and after being flattered, he promised repeatedly: "Yes, yes!" "Excuse me again, send someone to Pichai Alley to inform my mansion to bring the things I need." Fu Cheng thought to himself: Sushun probably didn't know that his house had been ransacked.At this time, there is no need to say much, anyway, as soon as he met Zaiyuan and Duanhua, he knew everything.So he said perfunctorily: "Okay, okay!" Then he sent two Bi Tie Shi to lead Sushun in, and at the same time sent another escort official sent by King Chun to handle the procedures for handing over the prisoners. The yamen of the clan's mansion faces east and west, and the last courtyard faces east, but it never sees the morning light, because it is the famous so-called "high wall".The prince's family made a mistake, and they were often dealt with by "family law", and they were not sent to "prison", and they were confined in the "high wall".Except for a very brief midday sun, there was hardly any daylight.Hundreds of years later, in the dilapidated house, there are thick moss growing on the brick floor, dark red spots faintly appearing on the gray-black walls, which make people think that they are spattered by torture. of blood. It was really an "empty house". It used to have nothing, but after Zaiyuan and Duanhua moved in, they naturally had their family members, arranged up and down, and brought in the things they used. Of course, there would be no furniture, and the floor was covered with thatch. However, the grass is covered with wolf fur mattresses that are only allowed for officials above the first rank, fine porcelain blue and white bowls, waxy yellow tooth chopsticks, sharp meat knives, golden water pipes, etc., are scattered all over the floor.It was getting late, Zaiyuan and Duanhua were about to have dinner, and the nobles under his banner valued enjoyment the most. Although he was under confinement, Zaiyuan still remembered that Yueshengzhai was nearby, and he was calling a pen post style who took care of him. , sent someone to buy Yueshengzhai's sauced mutton to eat, and the pen post came back and forth, bringing news of Sushun. Sushun had already been untied, and was escorted by the director of the Zuo Division with a principal and two pens. When he saw Zaiyuan, he widened his eyes, spat hard, and said in a hateful voice : "Okay, this is good! It's all over! You have to listen to me early, where will there be today?" Zaiyuan didn't expect that he would be scolded first when they met.He also had a stomach full of grievances, so don't be a hereditary and irreplaceable iron hat king, and let Sushun hold him hostage to fight against Prince Gong and Empress Dowager Cixi, so that he ended up like this today. If Sushun understands the truth, he should feel guilty. Who would have thought that instead of venting his anger on others, where did he start? Zaiyuan turned pale with anger, and was about to explode, Duanhua rushed to the front to scold Sushun: "Lao Liu! Why are you still talking about those things now? Stop talking nonsense that doesn't work, let's have a good discussion." "Huh, discuss it! Who should I discuss it with?" Sushun wanted to lose his temper and speak harsh words. When he saw the officials of the clan's mansion listening carefully, he realized something in his heart and asked, "Where do I live?" Ah? There’s nothing there, how can I ask someone to live? Please send someone to Pichai Alley…” "Old Six!" Duan Hua rushed to cut off his words, "Take a break first, and I will tell you slowly." "By the way!" Director Zuo raised his face and looked at Duanhua and Zaiyuan: "Please, the two lords, talk to Su Zhongtang carefully. As long as we can explain our mission, we will still respect you as before. Otherwise It’s a little inconvenient.” After speaking, he left another Bi Tie Shi there to take care of him, and he retreated out with the two chief writers. The heavy wooden door slowly closed with a “click”, knowing that it was It's locked. The three returned to the house dejectedly, and sat cross-legged on the wolf fur mattress, silent for a long time.There are words, but I don’t know where to start?The two strokes were a little strange, they walked under the window and peeped in quietly. Duanhua saw it at a glance and shouted: "Hi! Wait a minute." He went to the window and said: "Please send another person to my place, just say that the sixth master is here, and give me another set." Here comes the bedding. Also, I have run out of snuff, so ask my family to bring it quickly." "Okay, I'll send someone there." The pen post belongs to the Xianglan Banner, and Duanhua was originally the owner of his banner, so he has a sense of incense, so he took good care of it. "Wait!" Sushun jumped up, looked around and asked, "Do you have a brush and inkstone?" Zaiyuan and Duanhua couldn't figure it out for a while, what is the use of the brush and inkstone he wants?I have seen a lot of similar things in the pen with the blue flag, and my response was extremely quick. I laughed and said: "Talk to Zhongtang, your old man wants other things, such as some clothes, food, and supplies. No matter what, even if it was blamed by the superiors, I admit it all, but it’s the same, I dare not serve, and I can’t take a piece of paper out! It’s a thing that cuts off heads, and I can’t play with Zhongtang.” The previous words were all good, but in the end it didn’t sound good!Sushun waved his hand in annoyance, turned Zhang Taibai's face away, and ignored everything. The people outside the window, seeing this scene, left immediately.Sushun heard the sound of footsteps far away, and then turned around, his face was still sullen, his brows were slightly furrowed, full of that stubborn and unyielding air, ready to accept any challenge.Zaiyuan and Duanhua had always been at his mercy, seeing his expression, their confidence was greatly boosted, and their eyes couldn't help revealing an expression of eager expectation. "Don't worry, they want to kill me, it's not that easy." Hearing Sushun's words, Zaiyuan and Duanhua were very excited, they gathered around at the same time, the three of them sat on the wolf fur mattress, put their heads very close, and whispered secretly. "This is the first step!" Sushun took the tooth chopsticks and wrote the word "drag" on the wet brick floor.When will it be delayed?He then wrote the word "Jiazi". Duanhua couldn't comprehend it for a while, but Zaiyuan understood it.Jiazi Day is the ninth day of October, and the emperor holds a grand ceremony, and the next day is the longevity of the Empress Dowager Cixi. There are many happy events and people must not kill people. At this time, Sushun wrote "or there may be an edict".It means to grant amnesty. Before finishing writing, Zaiyuan shook his head and said, "Not necessarily." Sushun also knew that the ten evils would not be pardoned by the great amnesty, and the first clause of the ten evils was the treason that King Gong accused the three of them, but: "Please governor to protect you." "Ah, ah!" Seeing his handwriting, Zaiyuan understood the function of "drag", and the supervisor of the activity made sure that it would take a while, if no one could be kept under the knife, no matter how powerful the memorial was, it would be useless. "Do you understand? Look!" Sushun wrote several surnames: "Zeng, Luo, Lao, Guan, Peng, Yan, Li." This refers to Zeng Guofan, governor of Liangjiang, Luo Bingzhang, governor of Sichuan, Lao Chongguang, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Guan Wen, governor of Huguang, Peng Yulin, acting governor of Anhui, Yan Shulin, governor of Henan, and Li Xuyi, governor of Hubei who recently took over the vacancy of Hu Linyi. Efficacy, words are quite weighty, and the relationship with Sushun is not bad, if they can play separately from the front line and ask for the three of them to die, Prince Gong would not dare to take the blame anyway. Seeing Zaiyuan and Duanhua's pleased faces, Sushun explained his purpose of sending a letter, and wanted to find someone outside to try to "delay the day" for him, try to do activities to supervise Libao, "this person You can do this!" He then wrote three words: "Chen Zihe". Chen Zihe is Chen Fuen.As soon as he was mentioned, both Zaiyuan and Duanhua remembered the story of him saving Mu Zhang'a when he was the military plane Zhang Jing.This is what was said 20 years ago. Wang Ding from Pucheng, Shaanxi, and Mu Zhang'a are both university scholars and direct military officers. He hates Mu Zhang'a as a virtuous person for harming the country, and denounces him as Qin Hui and Yan Song. , Wang Ding refused to listen to the bitter remonstrance, followed by the corpse remonstrance, hanged himself with a rope, leaving a trace in his clothes belt, impeached Mu Zhang'a and strongly recommended Lin Zexu. The disagreement between Wang and Mu was something that Chen Fuen had been paying attention to all the time. Wang Ding hadn't gone to court that day, and there was no notice, so he knew something was wrong.Kai Shi hurried to visit, and as soon as he entered the door, he heard Wang's family crying together. Chen Fuen asked what happened, and went straight into Wang Ding's bedroom. Na Tong Yishu secretly called out: "It's dangerous!" If he came a step late, Mu Zhang'a would be in great trouble. Therefore, Chen Fuen took Wang Ding's son, Wang Kang, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, aside, and quietly analyzed his interests for him: First, the minister committed suicide, which hurt the country's constitution. Waiting for severe punishment; second, the emperor was annoyed that Wang Ding was too straightforward, and his words were so agitated that the emperor would not listen to them; The family forged a deep enmity, Wang Kang was no match for an Hanlin, how could he beat Mu Zhang'a? Hearing this was true, Wang Kang panicked and naturally wanted to ask him for advice. Chen Fuen took advantage of the situation to persuade him, reported Wang Ding's sudden death, and at the same time changed Wang Ding's legacy for him.Of course, he also agreed to mediate for him, so that Wang Ding can get a good shirt, and Wang Kangding can be promoted after he recovers. Wang Kang, the tiger father and dog son, actually believed Chen Fuen's words, and Mu Zhang'a was safe and sound. He was grateful and promoted Chen Fuen vigorously. He became governor of Shandong in a few years, and he was awarded a plaque of "Qing Zheng Liang Chen" by Xuanzong's imperial pen.However, because Wang Kang could not fulfill his father's ambition, his fellow villagers from Shaanxi and Gansu, and his father's old disciples all looked down on him, so he died in depression. Duan Hua remembered this past event very clearly, so he blurted out his praise at the time: "Good! This kid can really walk out of the belly of dead chess!You have found the right person. " Zaiyuan looked disapproving, so Su asked by the way: "How is it?" He wrote another line: "Chen Suizi Palace arrived in Beijing, so we should try to communicate without delay." "Is it okay not to look for him?" Zaiyuan asked in a low voice. "No! It must be this person." "I'm afraid they may not spare him." "That's for the future." Sushun wrote again: "Zi'e must do his best to protect himself." Zaiyuan nodded, and wrote a reply: "I can do something about the correspondence." Before he was arrested, he had been the "Zong Ling", and the people in this family house were all his old subordinates, so he had This grasp. As soon as Sushun arrived, he brought hope, and Zaiyuan and Duanhua once again listened to his instructions.At that time, Duanhua had something to tell him and comfort him, and he had been thinking about it for a long time, and when he was in a better mood, he said in a very gentle tone: "Lao Liu, calm down first, I will talk to you." Talk about something. Pichai alley, let them copy it..." Before the words were finished, Sushun suddenly jumped up and asked angrily, "What, did you rob? Whose idea was this to rob the house before being convicted?" "I don't know." Duanhua had expected such a reaction from him, so he was still able to maintain a calm attitude, "Before there was any order, Wen Bochuan led someone to copy it. However, he was fine, he was merciful and let The two kids came out with something and stayed with me." Su Shunyi was in a mess, anxious and worried, and walked quickly around the house, not counting steps, suddenly stopped and asked: "I wonder if they opened that safe of mine?" "What do you think?" "It's over, it's over!" Sushun's face was ashen, and at some point, he got the key of the safe in his hand, threw it out of the window vigorously, and shouted loudly amidst the clanging in the empty courtyard: "We are over! Chen Zihe is also over. !" He saw it very accurately, but he didn't know that even if Chen Fuen hadn't written those ambiguous letters to Sushun, his salary would not be guaranteed.Zhan Xu Pengshou, the head of the Zhan Shifu, had written a note when he first issued the edict to ask the eight ministers of the Gu Ming, asking for the aid of the party and the party, and he was referring to Chen Fu'en.In addition to Xu Pengshou despising him as a capricious snob, there are inevitably grievances involved.Chen Fuen relied on Sushun, and once forcibly squeezed out Xu Pengshou's father, Xu Naipu's Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and replaced him.At that time, after the British and French coalition forces burned the Old Summer Palace, at the moment when the garden was burned, Xu Naipu and his son, Shen Zhaolin, Pan Zuyin and others were still on duty in the Old Summer Palace.However, Chen Fu'en didn't think about the righteousness of being in a dangerous city and sharing adversity, so he had the heart to use Sushun's power to exert pressure on Xu Naipu who was still in shock, forcing him to seek medical advice and vacating the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials for him.In this way, not only did Xu Naipu lose the opportunity to worship the prime minister, but it was also like a blow that made things worse in those difficult and gloomy days.Although he didn't say anything, Xu Pengshou, who was in a depressed mood and a son of man, naturally felt great hatred!What especially made him unconvinced was that Chen Fuen did not have the qualifications to be the Minister of the Ministry of Officials at all.The Ministry of Officials is the head of the six departments, and it has always been impossible to be a minister unless he was born in the Imperial Academy, while Chen Fuen was born in Bagong. Han Zhan Kedao originally allowed to hear the rumors, but if the ruler wants to investigate the matter, he can order it to be played back by name, and this is the method used by King Gong.So Xu Pengshou played again, impeaching Chen Fu'en, and Chen Fu'en was not the only one who took advantage of Brother Sushun and Zaiyuan's connections, Huang Zonghan, the servant of the official department, Cheng Qi and Liu Kun, the servants of the household department, and De Kejin, the young minister of Taipusi. Wait a minute, the traces are the most dense, and the officials and courtiers in Beijing are annoyed, so they are also listed together. There is Huang Zonghan's name on the bullet, just in line with Prince Gong's wishes.His hatred of Huang Zonghan came from the peace talks.As early as the winter of the seventh year of Xianfeng, Huang Zonghan succeeded Ye Mingchen as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. At that time, the warships of Britain and Russia had already parked outside Wusongkou. In Shanghai, He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, wanted to stay there to negotiate with foreigners, but Huang Zonghan knew that the people in Guangdong were passionate. If he negotiated peace in Shanghai, he would not be welcomed by the local people. Fujian, went to Guangzhou to receive the seal of the Superintendent's Office. Because of this delay, the allied forces of Britain, France, Russia and the United States invaded Tianjin, while Huang Zonghan was still in Guangzhou, still pandering to the popular will, inspiring the militia groups to fight needlessly with a sense of vanity and arrogance, making the situation worse and worse.However, at last, Guiliang, a scholar of the University, and Huashana, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, signed the "Tianjin Treaty" with the four countries through the mediation of the United States, stipulating tariff rules, renewing the contract, and returning Guangzhou, etc. Negotiations were held in Shanghai.At that time Huang Zonghan had already returned to Shanghai, Gui Liang naturally wanted to ask him about the situation in Guangdong in order to prepare for the negotiation, but he would have avoided answering.This inexplicable attitude made Gui Liang angry when he talked about it. After being actually exposed to international negotiations, Prince Gong believed that Huang Zonghan, who made such an unfavorable alliance under the city, and the peace agreement broke down again, turned into British and French allied forces invading the capital, and the emperor fled.And such a treacherous border official, because of his dependence on Sushun, was transferred to the governor of Sichuan at that time, which made Guiliang and Prince Gong more and more unable to swallow that breath. Because of these reasons, the future of Chen Fuen and Huang Zonghan was doomed to end when King Gong returned to power, and when Sushun’s house in Pichai Hutong was raided and those ambiguous letters were found, Chen Fuen’s mind would not even be safe. possible.However, there are certain procedures for dealing with affairs, and the rectification of "party aid" must wait for the principal offender to discuss the crime first before taking action. Zi Palace arrived in Beijing on the third day of October. It entered the capital through Desheng Gate, Donghua Gate entered the Forbidden City, and served as the Qianqing Palace where Emperor An was officially sleeping. Afterwards, a ceremony was held to reward the subordinate officials. After two days of busy work, it arrived on the morning of the fifth day of the lunar new year. At that time, the officials of the six departments of the Jiuqing and the yamen, as well as the Hanlin and Yushi, gathered in the cabinet lobby. As soon as King Gong and the three academicians arrived, the meeting began immediately, and the eight ministers were publicly prepared to be accused of crimes. The decree specified that King Gong was called to convene the meeting, so he was the first to speak.Prince Gong had prepared in advance and adopted an attitude of obeying orders, so before he opened his mouth, he took out a piece of paper from the boot leaf and said calmly: "By the order of the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces, Zaiyuan, Duan Hua, Sushun and the others are gangsters, domineering and domineering, all kinds of rebellious behaviors are outrageous. The two palaces will face to face the crimes of these three people, and I will read it to everyone." He looked at the records on the paper and read out the charges against Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Sushun. There were eight charges in total: "1. When Emperor Daxing was dying, he ordered Zaiyuan and others to establish the emperor as the crown prince. There was no order to praise him for government affairs, but to make a name. He presided over everything without asking for orders. That is, the empress dowagers of the two palaces Even dare to disobey the orders.