Chapter 56 Jade Seat Bead Curtain (16-1)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Okay!" The emperor agreed, "However, you still have to inquire. If you have any news, come and play." So Xiao Li had to go out of the palace every day, and he didn't need to inquire when he was near An's house. He just sat on the "big wine vat" there, and he heard a lot of news about An Dehai.On the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, I saw with my own eyes more than a dozen large carts, men, women, children, old and young, with boxes and belongings, heading east in a mighty way. "Little Anzi is gone!" "Really gone?" The emperor still seemed a little unconvinced, "Are you really that bold?" "Little Anzi's courage is greater than the sky." Xiao Li replied, "It's so majestic! It's like releasing the governor of that province and bringing his family to take office." "There are still family members? Who are they?" Xiao Li unhurriedly took out a piece of paper from the boot leaf, "I am afraid that I may not remember clearly, so I specially copied a list here." Then he looked at the paper and dictated the name of the person: "He spent a hundred taels The daughter-in-law Ma Shi bought for silver has his uncle An Bangtai, his brother An San, his sister and niece—named Lazai, who is only eleven years old. There are two servants and two old mothers." "Hmph!" the emperor sneered, "it's quite rich." "I heard that when you arrive in Tongzhou, you have to hire escorts." "What?" asked the emperor, "What guest?" "Escorts." Xiao Li went on to explain that the escort agency and the escort industry are designed to protect the safety of passengers or precious items: "Xiao Anzi has dozens of pieces of luggage with him, and I heard that they are all rare treasures, so we have to hire Darts." "Oh!" the emperor asked, "He really brought people to Jiangnan to do business? Who are they?" "Chen Yuxiang, Li Ping'an..." Xiao Li read a string of names of eunuchs. "Is this okay?" The emperor was furiously moved: "We must kill him!" Xiao Li wanted to persuade him to be patient, but he stopped suddenly when he was on the verge of speaking.At this moment, he changed his mind. As soon as An Dehai left the capital, he would be charged with crimes, and it was all right for the emperor to arrest him and chop off his head.So his silence means that he does not object to the emperor doing so. However, the emperor was just talking in a fit of anger and didn't intend to do it immediately. In fact, he didn't know how to do it yet.With Empress Dowager Cixi at the top, he is not allowed to make his own decisions, and this is why An Dehai is confident. The emperor didn't realize until this time that it would be really difficult to kill An Dehai if he didn't try to break through this barrier.After much deliberation, the only option is to discuss it with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. "Emperor Niang," he said, "there is news in the palace!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an understood immediately, and instead of answering his words, she pouted at Yuzi, signaling her to avoid it, and then asked, "You mean Xiao'anzi?" "Yes!" The emperor resolutely said: "If this matter is not strictly handled, what kind of decent is it? What is the order and discipline, it's all nonsense!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an remained silent, thinking about it for a while, but still didn't know how to satisfy the emperor? "Emperor Niang," the emperor said angrily, "I'm going to talk about this matter." "Don't be too busy!" Empress Dowager Ci'an quickly replied, "Wait for me to think about it slowly." "Until that day?" "It's useless for you to be anxious." The Empress Dowager Ci'an accompanied and listened to the politics for eight years, and she naturally understood the rules of the border officials: "Didn't he say that he wanted to go to the south of the Yangtze River? The two rivers can't just rely on what he says, so they can do it." What to give, Ma Xinyi or Ding Richang, you have to ask for an order. Wait for their notes to come." This sentence reminded the emperor that he had found the crux of the problem, "Once the record comes, what should I do if I keep it?" He asked, which is conceivable. If there is such a memorial, the Empress Dowager Cixi will definitely suppress it. "That's right!" Empress Dowager Ci'an said, "I'm just thinking about this. There is a way, but I don't know if it will work? Let me try it." Her method is to take advantage of the recent frequent illnesses of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and prepare to propose that the emperor read the memorial.Didn't the Empress Dowager Cixi often say that the emperor is not young, so he has to understand memorials?What's more, there is "half homework" in the study now, and the days are long and there is nothing to do, just for the emperor to work more on this aspect. The Empress Dowager Cixi thought so deeply, and passed on Yi's decree on the same day: the "yellow box" from the internal performance office should be given to the emperor first.However, Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid that the eunuchs around the emperor would take advantage of this opportunity to cheat or leak important secrets, so she appointed the emperor to watch the memorial in Yikun Palace.In this way, she can supervise herself. The emperor's joy was no small matter.Every day when I get out of the study, I go to Yikun Palace to read the notebooks, open the yellow box, and the first step is to find out if there is any memorial about An Dehai?Ten days passed, and there was no news, and the emperor was a little impatient. "What's going on?" He asked Xiao Li, "Should we go to the south of the Yangtze River? Governor of Liangjiang or governor of Jiangsu, there should be a discount!" "It's early!" Xiao Li replied, "Xiao Anzi went to Tianjin for two days first, and took a monk with him at Tianqi Temple." "Another monk ran out there?" "The monk said he wanted to go back to the south, Xiao Anzi was very generous, so he took him away." Xiao Li said, "It took another day or two to hire escorts in Tongzhou. I'm afraid I just arrived in Shandong at this moment." Xiao Li guessed right, An Dehai's ship had just followed the canal to Dezhou and entered Shandong Province. Dezhou is a large pier with water and land rushes, and An Dehai decided to stop here for a day.Two peaceboats were moored outside the west gate, and the dragon and phoenix flags on the boats were fluttering in the evening wind, making a sound of hunting, which immediately attracted a lot of onlookers who asked each other, wondering who was inside? "Probably the official ship of the imperial envoy." Someone speculated. "No!" Another person immediately refuted him: "I have seen a lot of official ships, and there must be high-ranking plates with official titles, and the lanterns are clearly written on them. How can they hang the dragon and phoenix flag?" "That must be someone from the palace." A theater fan, recalling the plot, felt that he had a wonderful understanding, and said with great confidence: "That's right! It must be the Empress Dowager who went to Mount Tai to offer incense." "Aren't you talking about the emperor's southern tour?" Another person said in a sneering tone, "If the queen mother came to Mount Tai to offer incense, she would have been too busy with the emperor's mission! Master Zhao had to come to welcome her." "What do you know?" The fan was unconvinced, "Can't you send someone to stop first? Look," he pointed to the middle of the boat and said, "Isn't that your husband?" "Husband" is the eunuch's honorific title.There is both a husband and a dragon and phoenix flag, and it is said that he is the front station staff of the Queen Mother's pilgrimage. This makes sense, and everyone accepts his point of view. "Let's inquire about it first." Someone said, pointing to the person who got off the diving board. That man was a servant of An Dehai's family, named Huang Shikui, with a Beijing accent, he asked in a grandiose manner, "What's the name of your prefect here?" "Oh!" The person who wanted to inquire about the news leaned forward and replied with a smile: "The surname of the Zhizhou master is Zhao, and the official seal has a new character. His name is Qinglan, from Tianjin." "Your Mr. Zhao, is the official voice good?" "Okay, okay, very capable." "Since he is very capable, why didn't he know that the imperial envoy is coming?" Huang Shikui said with a sullen face, "I still know, pretending to be confused on purpose? How promising is he, how dare he put on airs!" "It must be that Mr. Zhao doesn't know about it." The NPC said courteously, "Wait until I find a land guarantor for your master, and let him go to the city to report." "No, no!" Huang Shikui shook his hands and said, "Let's see how long he pretends to be confused?" "Excuse me, sir," the man asked timidly, "this imperial envoy, is...?" "It was ordered to go to the south of the Yangtze River to buy dragon robes." Huang Shikui said again, "Unless you are a first-class celebrity in front of the empress dowager, you won't be able to send such an errand." "Yes, yes! May I ask the imperial envoy's surname? Your lord's surname?" "My surname is Huang. Our imperial envoy is Mr. An, who is unknown to everyone in Beijing. Don't gossip," Huang Shikui asked, "Where can I buy ducks here? It must be fat, the fatter the better!" "Yes, yes. I'll take Mr. Huang there." "I'll leave it to you!" Huang Shikui took out a piece of broken silver and handed it over. "Here is more than two taels of silver. Buy four fat ducks and bring some green onions. If you have more money, I will give it to you." There will be no surplus of money, and maybe a few more will be posted.The man felt that it was a face-saving thing to do for the imperial envoy, and he could boast about things in the village, so he posted a few papers, and he was willing, so he agreed to take the money and ran away. ※ ※ ※ At this time, the "Master Zhao" in Zhizhou Yamen had received the news that Ding Baozhen had issued a warrant ordering Zhao Xin, the governor of Dezhou, to pay attention to An Dehai's whereabouts. The warrant stated very clearly that once An Dehai entered the province, if he committed any crime, he could be arrested and reported at the same time.Therefore, Zhao Xin had already dispatched capable officers to wait on the northern border of the state government. As soon as he found the two peaceboats with dragon and phoenix flags, he immediately reported to the state.When the boat berthed at the west gate, Huang Shikui asked someone to buy ducks, someone nearby heard it clearly, and immediately reported it to Zhao Xin. "How do you call it 'illegitimate'?" Zhao Xin asked his friends and "officials" to discuss, "Ordinarily, hanging the dragon and phoenix flag is illegal. Can he be arrested based on this?" "Can't be caught!" The old master surnamed Cai shook his head like a rattle, "This eunuch surnamed An made great achievements in the time of Zhu Sushun, and Prince Gong was helpless! Dong Weng went to arrest him. It's really called 'eggs hit rocks'!" "That's a good word." Zhao Xin asked, "How can I explain to my superiors?" "There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with the surname An. Even the ducks were bought with their own money, and they didn't harass the local area. How can it be called 'lawless'?" "Otherwise!" There is an "official relative" who is Zhao Xin's distant nephew, who is also very shrewd. "They spend their own money to buy ducks, which shows that they have no 'reconnaissance'." "Reconnaissance" is issued by the Ministry of War. All officers and soldiers who are allowed to go out of Beijing must submit to inspection and reconciliation every time they arrive at a post station to prove their identity and obtain all local supplies.Therefore, it is not only an obligation to show the platform survey, but also a right to be enjoyed. If An Dehai has a survey and cooperation, there is no need to spend money on eating two ducks. Everyone thought his opinion was good, only Old Master Cai disagreed: "Even if there is no investigation, it can't prove that he is illegal. Who dares to say that he has no decree? You can't ask him!" Zhao Xin decided not to arrest An Dehai, but, "The report must be reported!" "No way!" Old Master Cai shook his head again, "Ding Gongbao has just made a promise that he will not care about the past and the future, and if he plays according to Dong Weng's report, the Queen Mother will only say: No one talks all the way, so why is Zhao making trouble out of nothing?" Please think about it, Dong Weng, Ding Gongbao’s royal family is in the prime of his life, and he will perform according to the report, so there will be no punishment, so Dong Weng will be the Empress Dowager’s punching bag!" This is very thorough, and Zhao Xin thinks it is, but because of this, he encountered a problem. If he does not care about it, although he will not offend the queen mother in the palace, he will offend the governor of the province. He is not afraid of officials but only of management. You will lose your job.So Zhao Xin frowned and paced back and forth, not knowing what to do? The screen friends couldn't just see the owner's embarrassment, they discussed quietly for a long time, and finally came to a conclusion, the report must be reported, it just depends on the method?Someone proposed to go to the province to report to the provincial government, but Old Master Cai thought that this was absolutely unacceptable, if Ding Baozhen told him face to face: arrest An Dehai!It is impossible not to follow the order, and if you follow the order, something will happen, and there is no evidence to say it.That would be too bad! "I have a plan." It was still Zhao Xin's nephew's idea: "How about using 'clip sheet'?" Subordinates use the "red handbook" to write their resumes when meeting their superiors, and use the "white handbook" to report something. In this book, it is called "clip sheet".The folder does not have a title, so it has always been kept by the Shangguan at random, and it is not an official document. Zhao Xin, who had been walking squarely for a long time, stopped and said, "I've been pondering for a long time just now, and I've figured out the truth. The higher ups are going to play a performance. The sky is falling because of the top of the elders. The misfortunes and fortunes may not have anything to do with me. I'm afraid I don’t want to play, but I leave a report there. I don’t know if it was turned out that day, I must be troubled. Using the idea of ​​clipping the list, the good thing is that you don’t need to file the case. It must be done this way, but there is no need to be busy, it’s not a joke The horse bandit has arrived, so there is no need to fly overnight to report." "Dong Weng is right." Old Master Cai replied, "You might as well take another look, and report when they leave, it's not too late." "Yes, yes! If you send the ghost out of the house, there will be no business for us in Texas." Zhao Xin's nephew echoed.After the discussion was over, they dispersed.Zhao Xin always felt a little uneasy, so he found his nephew and Mrs. Cai, suggested to change into plain clothes, and quietly went to spy outside the west gate. What is the situation? Old Master Cai was more serious, thinking that one thing more is worse than one thing less, but "Master Nephew" was young and curious, and tried his best to encourage them, but he couldn't hold back their uncle and nephew, so Old Master Cai agreed. All three of them were wearing only a gauze shirt, and each held a round fan to cover their faces.When I got to the canal outside the west gate, I saw people on the shore watching the excitement, there were always three to five hundred people.It was July 20th, the moon hadn’t come up yet, and it was pitch black on the shore, but the boat was brightly lit, and the windows were wide open. From a distance, it seemed that there were more women than men in the cabin, and they were playing bamboo and tuning strings, having fun . "Why, did you get a troupe of actresses?" Just as Zhao Xin asked, a gust of wind passed by, and indeed he could hear the strings ding-dong, but he was afraid that people would discover his true colors, and stand too far away, so he couldn't hear or see clearly, so he asked his nephew to take a closer look. Squeezing to the front of the crowd, it was very interesting. Eight women in their twenties with heavy make-up were sitting in groups, some were playing the pipa, some were playing the huqin, and some were playing the flute.It’s the same musical instrument, and two people serve it. The person who plays the pipa only uses his right hand to hold the pipa lightly and slowly, while another person presses the strings for her. She frets.Such intertwining is used, but it is not entangled.The people on the shore looked stupid. Zhao Xin's nephew, however, paid attention to something else. He saw an eunuch sitting in the middle of the head, about twenty years old, fair-born, with a effeminate face, and other men, women and children, sitting around him about.I thought this was An Dehai, he didn't look like a bad person, how could he act so boldly? "Did you see it?" He heard someone pointing to the boat and saying, "There is a dragon robe hanging there!" "Yes, I saw it." "I heard from the people under the boat that tomorrow is Erye An's birthday, and everyone should kowtow to the dragon robe." "What kind of rule is this?" Someone was asking, "Why do you kowtow to the dragon robe on my husband's birthday?" "That's right, I'm also surprised. When I asked, it's said that Mr. An said this: You all don't dare to pray for my birthday. You must not forget your roots. I have today, it is all the grace of the queen mother and the emperor. Pao kowtowed and saluted, which can be regarded as a filial piety for me." What kind of courtesy is this?It's nothing more than wearing a dragon robe for self-respect!Zhao Xin's nephew thought, this is a big crime!So he squeezed out again and told Zhao Xin everything he had seen and heard. "The thing where two people serve a musical instrument is called 'Eight-tone Gala', which is rare now." Old Master Cai said. What "Eight Music Festival" is all gossip.Zhao Xin was thinking in his heart, looking at it like this, did An Dehai follow the order to go out of Beijing?It's hard to say.Now I just hope that he will leave the country early without causing trouble, otherwise this trouble will be serious.So when I got back to the yamen, I immediately called for the arresters to come and ordered them to monitor the two peaceboats while protecting them in secret. If any disputes happened between An Dehai's subordinates and the local people, they must resolve the suppression and prevent any troubles. . Early the next morning, the person sent to watch came back to report that An Dehai's boat had left.The reported situation is different from what Zhao Xin saw last night.There are two big flags on the boat, one says "Imperial Envoy by Order" and the other says "Purchase Dragon Robes". On the two big flags there is a small flag, which depicts a sun and a crow under the sun, which looks like a crow. In particular, three legs. "Ah!" Zhao Xin lost his voice and said, "I'm afraid it's really an imperial envoy under Yi's order!" "This..." Old Master Cai asked in bewilderment, "What did Dong Weng see?" Zhao Xin was born in Juren, and there is some ink in his stomach, "Old Master," he said, "There is a saying in "Spring and Autumn", called 'There are three-legged crows in the sun', do you remember?" Old Master Cai thought about it for a while, and thought of it: "Ah, ah, so it is such a scripture!" "There is another classic." Zhao Xin told his nephew, "You fetch the "Historical Records." Take "Historical Records", turn to "Sima Xiangru Biography", Zhao Xin pointed to a place and showed it to Old Master Cai: "Fortunately, there is a three-legged crow as an envoy". The Queen Mother of the West feeds on the north of Kunxu." "Did you see it?" Zhao Xin said proudly, "That's very clear, the 'envoy' is the imperial envoy, and the 'Queen Mother of the West' is the Queen Mother of the West!" "There is such a profound and appropriate scripture," Zhao Xin's nephew said with a smile, "It seems that he was instructed by an expert." The belly is Zhao Xinkuan, but the brain is the old master Cai who handles the punishment. He sneered at the time: "Hmph, not at all! Just with this three-legged crow, this person is innocent!" Zhao Xin was taken aback: "How do you say that?" Old Master Cai took a look around, pulled Zhao Xin aside, and said quietly: "Please think about it, Dong Weng, to feed for the Queen Mother of the West. Doesn't that mean that you come to fight the autumn wind under the order of the Empress Dowager West? During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty There are many such things, and there are such things in this dynasty? Even if it is true, how can it be used as a cover? What crime should be for slandering the Holy Mother? It is really a common saying, and it is necessary to 'copy and kill'!" "Ah! Old Master," Zhao Xin bowed his head and said convincingly: "You are better than me. From this point of view, he is still a fake imperial envoy. The Empress Dowager Cixi is very shrewd. Even if she taught him to fight the autumn wind, she would never teach him. Put up the cover. It's obviously An Dehai's ostentation." "Dong Weng sees it. It is not too late to report. This small flag is more important than those dragon and phoenix flags. Now there is no need to use a clipboard, but a formal report. The matter of the three-legged crow must be mentioned in it. But there is no need Explain that Ding Gongbao was born in the Imperial Academy, and there are many famous people in the shogunate, so he understands it at a glance, and once he understands it, he must kill An Dehai! If he kills him, he must teach Empress Dowager Cixi to meet her, because this is to defend the 'Queen Mother of the West'." Zhao Xin was naturally educated. At that time, Mr. Cai started to write a letter, and immediately handed it over to the provincial capital. But An Dehai didn't know it. After paying homage to the dragon robe, eating birthday noodles, and celebrating his happiest birthday since he was born, he sailed south and arrived at Gucheng County in Zhili that day.From here to the west is a section of the canal that is famously curved, and the locals call it "Three Bends and Three Looks". After walking ten miles for a day, I arrived at a huge town called Zhengjiakou. There are people on both sides of the canal. The Weizi is as high as the city wall, and it is also a large wharf for land and water. Mooring the boat for dinner, An Dehai had just picked up his wine glass when Huang Shikui walked up and said: "Second Master, as expected, you will have trouble getting through Linqing." It is difficult to pass because the canal is shallow.In the fifth year of Xianfeng, Tongwaxiang broke through, and the Yellow River "shenlong dropped its tail", swung from south to north, and broke the canal between Shouzhang and Donghe. The Wenshui River cannot reach the North Canal, but the Yellow River is poured in with silt, causing the riverbed to silt up over time. Only in spring and summer when the water rises can a light boat pass.The water has dried up due to the recent drought, and the section of the river from Linqing to Zhangqiu has become a sewer with only a few feet of water. "Then let's have a drought!" An Dehai said, "I've never been on a boat except for 'Visiting the Second Sluice'. I really think it's stuffy." He said it lightly, but Huang Shikui got into his mind.With so many people and so much luggage, it took two or three days of continuous work to complete the journey from Beijing to Tongzhou. At this time, it was really difficult to find twenty or thirty carts at once. "What's the matter?" An Dehai asked puzzled. Huang Shikui didn't answer immediately, turned to look at one of his colleagues and asked, "What do you think?" This man's nickname was Tian'er, and he was also An's servant. He was from Shandong, so Huang Shikui asked him for advice.But Tian'er also frowned, with a bitter face, and thought for a while before saying, "It would be great if I could 'catch the job'." "Why can't they be caught?" An Dehai immediately interjected, with a loud voice, looking a little angry, "You two are my 'former station officers'!" "Yes!" A eunuch, Li Pingan, said, "You two will follow the orders of the second master." It seems that it can’t be done, and at the same time, he is afraid that An Dehai will be angry if he fails to do it for a while, so Huang Shikui came up with an idea: "Well, the boat will go as usual, and we will go to Linqing to catch a drought. I will catch up with Tianer along the way The car, caught and waiting in Linqing." "That's fine." An Dehai nodded. What Huang Shikui wanted to say, Tian Er quietly gave him a hand, so the two went to the bow of the boat to discuss closely, Tian Er complained to him and said: "You didn't figure it out, so you just agreed to come down. This errand It's very troublesome, and if you don't do it, you will cause a big disaster!" Huang Shikui was startled, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" "Just look at this," Tian'er said, pointing at Weizi, "you know that the common people here are not easy to mess with. If the stragglers are restless, they will either be buried alive, or their heads will be smashed and thrown into the river." Huang Shikui became more and more frightened, but also somewhat disbelieving: "Isn't there no kingly law?" "Hmph!" Tian'er sneered, "That's not bad. Youfang Town, forty miles away from Linqing, killed six or seven hundred officers and soldiers at once last year." The more he said the more mysterious, Huang Shikui suspected that he was trying to scare people, so he deliberately asked: "Then, what do you think should be done? The job has already been taken, and there is no room for you to retreat!" Tian'er was stunned for a while, then replied helplessly: "I have no choice but to go forward. But I have to go with the five bodyguards. " "That's a good idea, even if it's just for show." After Huang Shikui said this, he turned around and went back to the middle cabin to discuss. An Dehai didn't express yet, but there was a 60-year-old eunuch Hao Changrui who was accompanying him, so he had a hard look on his face.Huang Shikui knew in his heart that they carried a lot of jewels and needed protection, and he couldn't let go of the bodyguards once they left. "Look," Huang Shikui said, pointing to the village on the bank, "everyone in this area has muskets, and the place is the most peaceful. And with the flag of 'imperial envoy' hanging, who would dare to go to Tai Sui to break ground?" "Yes!" An Dehai agreed deeply, and made a decisive decision, "You take Old Han and the others away." Old Han's name is Han Baoqing, and he is the brains of their five bodyguards.When Huang Shikui went to hire their bodyguards, he asked a question, saying that since he was ordered to go out of Beijing and was escorted by officers and soldiers along the way, why hire bodyguards?Huang Shikui smiled but didn't answer, just took out a silver note of one thousand taels and handed it over.The remuneration of two hundred taels of silver per person is considered very generous, and the protection is the humble "dark bodyguard".No one would have thought that the eunuch would bring such valuable things with him, and nothing would happen to him. Therefore, there was no need to worry about whether he was really following the order. Due to such a tacit understanding, Huang Shikui and Tian'er pretended to be "former station officials" to seize the car, and Han Baoqing didn't think it was strange. Fortunately, they still "give the official price" to seize the car, so the trouble was not too big.The main purpose of the five bodyguards is to deal with the small officials on the checkpoint. If someone expresses doubts and wants to question the details, Han Baoqing will lead his colleagues to rush forward, clasping his arms and fists, as if preparing to beat someone. It can scare the other party into silence and let them go away. Walking all the way, grabbing all the way, captured more than 20 large carts, and headed straight to Linqing South Bay in a mighty manner. More than a dozen people drove south along the dry canal.